“Who, me?” You might not realize that you’re a loud person until someone tells you straight up that they can hear you from across a crowded room — or unless these 18 things have happened to you:
- People lower their voices when talking to you. How do you know you’re way too loud? When someone’s talking to you in a public place, they lower their voice down to a whisper. It’s basically a polite way to shush you because they’re hoping you’ll lower your voice too.
- People overhear your conversations. You’re chatting with a friend in public when you turn around and see people are actually eavesdropping. Only, it’s not exactly eavesdropping because you were a tad too loud with that juicy morsel of gossip about your bestie’s crabs. Oh damn.
- People shush you at the movies. This happens a lot. If you’re always having a big conversation with your friend or you’re just vocal about things that are happening on screen, screaming out “Oh!” during a shooting scene that took you by surprise, you really can’t call people who shush you at the movies rude. You’re the problem.
- People pause movies at home. When you’re watching movies with your boyfriend at home, he regularly pauses them so that you can finish what you were saying. Oops, you’ve been talking over the movie again without realizing it!
- Your neighbors complain. You love listening to music, singing along to your favorite tracks in the shower, and getting up really early to catch up on your Skype conversations with international friends. Maybe you’re being a little too noisy if your neighbors are always telling you to tone it down or asking if you’re having a party even though you’re home alone.
- You’re always told to calm down. This might confuse you. It’s one thing being loud but quite another to be angry. The problem is sometimes people can’t really tell the difference. The minute your voice increases, they think you’re about to lose your stuff, even though you’re just excited.
- People say your voice “carries.” This is probably why you were always chosen to read in church or sing in the choir during high school. You’re really the best person to have during an emergency because everyone will hear you.
- You can talk to anyone. You’re not afraid to start a conversation with strangers on the bus, train or when you find yourself alone at a party. It might have something to do with how friendly and warm you are, but it could also be because you’re loud. People are drawn to you because they find loud people entertaining.
- People love telling you jokes. When your friends have great jokes to share, they’ll tell you first. Why? Because your laugh is so loud, it gives them a nice ego boost. You literally LOL in real life and it’s contagious.
- Your biggest fear is losing your voice. Whenever you get a sore throat or flu, you worry that your voice will go away. You can’t imagine anything worse than not being able to speak!
- You talk over people. This is a bad habit associated with being too loud. Sometimes someone’s talking and you just have to get your point across, so you end up drowning their voice in your louder one. This is only okay during an emergency.
- Your boyfriend looks afraid when your girlfriends arrive. When you’re happy to see your friends, you show it — and people within a 1,000 mile radius can hear it because you’re prone to being loud, excited and shrieky. It’s no wonder your boyfriend always takes a step back and covers his ears.
- People say the party was way too quiet without you. When you’re unable to go to a party or event, later other guests will tell you that it was just too quiet without you. Yup, you’re the life of the party everywhere you go even if you don’t mean to be.
- People notice you when you walk into a room. Yes, it’s because you’re gorgeous, but it’s also because you’ll be chatting away and laughing loudly, pulling everyone’s attention to you. You love being in the spotlight — or you don’t but you can’t help finding yourself slap-bang in the middle of it on a regular basis. It’s really one of the struggles of being a loud woman.
- Your boyfriend won’t have public sex with you. Even though you’ve expressed wanting to do it somewhere public, he’s afraid that people will hear you. Yes, you specifically, because you’re a tad too loud in the sack.
- Friends never put you on speakerphone. It might seem like a convenient idea if they’re driving or in public while chatting to you, but they won’t put you on speakerphone even though you’ve seen them do that for other callers. It could be because you’re loud AF and they don’t want to draw attention to themselves.
- Whispers are so irritating. You hate, hate, hate having to whisper! It annoys you so much because you feel like you can’t express yourself properly and have to pace your speech. Who the hell has time for that?
- You’re not shy. You’re not afraid to speak your mind and express yourself. You’ll tell your boyfriend you love him over the sound of the band playing at the restaurant and you’ll scream out for someone who’s missed a bus and get the driver to stop. You’re loud and proud, and you’re awesome. Don’t tone yourself down for anyone.
