Why is it that all of us have such different personalities but so many of us have some of the same annoying personality traits? I’m not just talking about others: I have a tendency to annoy myself on a very regular basis with some of my personality traits.

I know we all know what I like to call a “me-monster.” This is the person that finds it necessary to educate everyone of their awesomeness. Somehow a me-monster finds a way to bring any conceivable conversation back to themselves.

I’ve noticed that most of the time me-monsters take joy in one-upping another person’s story. If they happened to hear about your new car, they would counter with some story about when they bought their first Ferrari. Oh sorry, I didn’t realize I was in the presence of such greatness!

One that I am constantly guilty of is that I’m a “zinger.” I can be in the middle of a conversation on one subject and at a moment’s notice it’s “ZING” off too some completely unrelated topic that popped into my head in the middle of a sentence. I can see the look on peoples faces as they wonder if I lost my mind for a brief moment.

For some reason I’ve never been able to stop doing this. That and I have the ability to appear as though I’m listening to someone without actually hearing a word. The worst moment is when you realize the other person was talking for five minutes and suddenly they ask you a question, but you haven’t the slightest clue what they were talking about. Usually the other person realizes I was on another planet when they see the deer-in-the-headlights look on my face.

One interesting personality is the person that is comfortable enough to share personal information with people they barely know. I had a very interesting experience with a former co-worker who was a big fan of sharing what should be strictly personal information with near strangers.

Somehow she found it necessary to blindside me with a story about breast feeding her kids until they were four years old. How are you supposed to respond to something like that? Some warning that the conversation was headed in that direction would have been nice.

I made my best attempt to flee the scene which leads me to another annoying mannerism. When someone abruptly walks away from a conversation, sometimes it’s best not to follow them around until you finish your piece. I got to learn way more about a person than I wanted to which lead me to a state of paranoia as I would peak around the corner of my office to be sure the hallway was clear.

None of this should suggest that these traits make someone an annoying person. I just find it interesting that we all know people with the same mannerisms. I actually think it gets to the point of hilarity when you notice these tendencies in people, that is, up until the point that you’re running for your life to escape an incredibly awkward conversation.