August 29, 2008

Motormouths Anonymous

Hello, my name is Robert and I am a recovering motormouth...

Spare a thought for those of use who are born with verbal diarrhea, we have to work very hard not to monopolize any conversation and are typically very uncomfortable with silence.

My whole family seem to be motormouths, some recovering like me, other just keep talking. My father was famous in the family, he was late in learning to talk and my paternal grandmother was convinced that he was spending the rest of his life making up for lost time.

I have it largely under control. Every now and then I catch myself talking too much and deliberately stop talking. I can have actual conversations with people and learn things from them. A few things make me go off the wagon - I had a concussion recently and a friend had to put up with me talking non-stop for 4 hours straight. More everyday, I find myself having to avoid caffeine, a cup of coffee and I am off and 'talking for England'.

Being a motormouth has its advantages, to be one you have to have a brain capable of keeping up but on balance the disadvantages are too great.

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