I Don't Want To Talk To You

There isn’t a polite way to say “I don’t want to talk to you”.  

Or better said, "Talking to you exhausts me emotionally and I don't want to put myself in a position where I will be accidentally rude and offend you, so please don't talk to me."

I haven’t found a way to say it. I haven't been brave enough to even try it because no matter how many times I begin to type the text, I end up backtracking and deleting it in fear that I'll be called ‘rude' or 'a bitch'. 

Instead, I consider my options:

1. Just not responding. I think to myself, "I just won't engage and they'll get the hint." But then the anxiety creeps in and I end up caving. 
2. Respond. I end up fumbling my thumbs and say something like, "sorry, just saw this." Even though I didn't JUST see it. I saw it when you sent it, I've just been procrastinating in responding because I didn't have the mental  wherewithal necessary to engage in a conversation with you. 

I don’t have a diagnosed anxiety disorder, but I do feel anxious. I don’t believe that I am truly an introvert, but I do have introvert tendencies. I’m not anti-social, but I really would rather spend my time off from work alone.

I do not appreciate the notion that because I don’t want to talk to someone, because I don’t want to talk about a certain topic, or because I don’t want to talk at all means that I’m an inherently rude person. I’m not. I’m actually quite the polite person. I’m empathetic. I allow my friends to vent to me and offer advice. 

I just put “How to tell someone you don’t want to talk to them politely” into a Google search engine, and while many forum topics came up with the same head, the responses were riddled with answers ranging from “make excuses!” to “just lie”. Even one forum respondent put to lie and say you have a form of Autism. What the actual fuck? 

There’s a WikiHow page dedicated to avoiding people. JennaMarbles made a video titled “How To Avoid People You Don’t Want To Talk To”. 

This isn’t a new phenomenon. Sorry, mom. Or cousin. Or sister. Or friend. Sometimes my brain is heavy and I’d rather avoid coming off as an asshole. I’m looking out for you, really.

So the next time you send out a message or text and it goes unanswered, before assuming that the receiver is ignoring you or being rude or bitchy, take a moment to consider the possibility of them just not being in the mood to talk. It's ok.