My roommate and I have been friends for decades. She’s one of my closest friends. She’s generally a good roommate, doing her part of the chores without complaint. Also, for reasons I’d rather not go into, moving out or asking her to move out is not an option.
The problem is that I’m an introvert in a public-facing role. When I get home, I’m looking for some silence and time to myself. On the other hand, she’s an extrovert who works from home and barely interacts with her co-workers during the workday. When I arrive home, she wants to finally socialize with someone. And it’s driving me crazy.
She just… won’t shut up. If left to her own devices, she’ll literally talk for hours without even letting anyone get a word in edgeways.
If I tell her I’m busy with something/have a migraine/am not in the mood to talk, she’ll shut up for like five minutes, forget that she was supposed to stay silent, and go back to talking. If I retreat to my bedroom and close the door, she’ll open it and talk to me. If I use the toilet or shower, she’ll talk to me through the bathroom door.
Literally the only way to get her to stop talking is to pretend that I’m going to bed, and even then she’ll try to talk to me if I accidentally make noise and she figures out I’m awake.
One time, I even bet her she couldn’t be silent for 10 minutes. We timed it, and reader, it only took her 1 min 47 seconds to start talking.
To be fair to her, she has ADHD and has confessed to me that she genuinely forgets I asked her to shut up, and she seems contrite enough when I remind her (but not contrite enough to stay silent for more than five fucking minutes!!!).
I’m at the end of my rope. Is there anything I can do to get her to finally shut the fuck up?
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