Being Ignored In A Group

You are patiently waiting for your turn. Everyone is giving great input; you're looking around and thinking, " OK, it's my turn. You can't seem to find room to interject. So you wait a bit more and then finally you find the guts to say what you have on your mind. Everyone else continues talking. But for you, you just heard the biggest silence you've ever heard in your life. Now your head is getting hot, and your ears are hot too. You're wondering, should I repeat that again? Maybe they didn't hear me. But the thing is they did. They're just ignoring you. You feel the overwhelming experience of elite embarrassment.

Why do people do that? It is so ruthless and distasteful to make somebody else feel left out. You can find this kind of animalistic behavior in schools and in the workplace. This is what made me dread group activities growing up. Are they going to be kind to me? Or was I going to have to fight for my spot? The few times someone else would call attention to me and highlight that I was speaking was God-sent. Sometimes you just need somebody else to advocate for you and let these weirdos know you are present. This can happen in friendships too but for me, it hurts more at work or school. I typically have a bomb idea and discussion points. I never do this to anyone. I make sure everyone feels included. I can't stand making people feel stupid.

Mary