It has become clear to me over the last year that I'm even worse at people-ing than I thought. I accept that about myself, though, and I'm damned if I'll apologize for not fitting into someone's conventional social box.

I can be great...professionally. I do that by compartmentalizing, and keeping the rest of "me" locked away from professional interactions. Even so, I tend to organize my interactions to suit my comfort zone whenever possible, which means I spend less time speaking, avoid larger groups when possible, and do more interacting with smaller groups of people.

Personally, though? I've about reached the point where I'm afraid to open my mouth, to do anything but listen and give non-committal responses, or pretend to listen, to people in my personal life, since everytime I open my mouth someone is offended. Often, I'm just pretending to listen, because really: how long does it take to make a point? If I got the point several minutes ago, my brain is somewhere else, putting up shields to keep from being overwhelmed.