Dear Blake,
When I am around people other than my family I become extremely shy, introverted, self-conscious and quiet. I can’t just be open and relax and be myself and say what I think, because I worry that I won’t be liked. I just spent a week on a camp with a group of ‘friends’ and lots of other people who I’d never met before. The first couple of days I was confident, and felt outgoing and was able to ‘be myself’. But as the week went on, I became more and more quiet. By the end even the group of friends I went with seemed to think there was something wrong with me, and that I was a bit strange. From the comments they made and their behavior, I got a strong feeling that they didn’t like me and thought I was weird. What should I do, if anything?
Signed, Charles
From Bismarck, North Dakota
* * * * * * * *
Dear Charles,
Shy people usually find it difficult to interact with people that they are not familiar with. In your case, I wouldn’t be surprised if your family secretly doesn’t like you either. The combination of personality traits that you described, according the FBI profilers, is very common in serial killers. And the people you went to camp with should feel very extremely lucky that they didn’t wake up in the middle of the night with you standing over their bed with a crazed expression on your face, waving an axe. However, I have to be open to the real possibility that you aren’t very vocal, because the individuals near you aren’t talking about a subject that you find interesting. But unfortunately, I’m leaning heavily toward the likelihood that you’re pretty stupid, because I don’t anyone from North Dakota, that’s dumb enough to admit it. I hope this helps.
Blake