Today we’re going to start off with this :

1. Definitely. Even pleasant surprises throw me for a loop, and might not get someone the reponse they seek. If I am really thrown off, it might even seem like I am rejecting them and/or their surprise even when I am not. It’s just that I don’t like surprises and don’t handle them well. That’s why I really don’t like it when people visit unexpectedly. Oh, a surprise AND social interaction? Um no. Not ready. Go away. Next time, phone ahead.
2. Somewhat. My hot take on it is that while I don’t like people making choices for me, I am capable of evaluating the choices they have made for me and choosing to go along with it because I approve said choices. I will still resent the presumption, but I can quash that in the name of social harmony.
3. Um, totally no. I love getting gifts. And I love giving gifts even more. It’s a social interaction I enjoy and embrace because not only is it full of the positive social input I crave, it is easy to understand.
4. Yes, but wow, what a dickish way of putting it. It’s true that I don’t care for small talk and prefer to talk about ideas, I am not some spoiled intellectual whining about having to participate in something not entirely to my tastes for even a few seconds. I cam handle small talk just fine because while I am not interested in small talk qua small talk, I am extremely interested in people and their lives, and you can learn a lot about that by listening to small talk. Problem solved.
5. Oh yeah. Hell year. You can disagree with me all you like. In fact, I encourage you to do so. You can tell me I am wrong, wrong, wrong. You can even say I am the sort of person who is ruining the world. But don’t you dare impugn my integrity and/or honesty. Saying I am stupid is bad but not that bad. Saying I am incompetent might well be true depending on the area of endeavour we are talking about. But don’t you DARE attack my honesty and/or integrity. I am a one hundred percent honest and sincere dude and don’t you forget it!
6. Well yeah, but who doesn’t? Nobody likes to be manipulated. Personally, generally I am annoyed by attempts to manipulate me because they are pathetically obvious to me and thus insult my intelligence.
7. Yes and no. On paper, I definitely loathe insincerity and hate lying. Insincerity is like fingernails on the blackboard to my empathy. At times it can even make me nauseous. And lying bothers me the same way manipulation does. But in practice, I know people have a lot of reasons to lie and some of them are ones with which I have great sympathy. So I reserve judgment. I don’t take being lied to as a personal attack and go on the offensive. In fact, on the personal level, I might do nothing at all and let myself be lied to and even let the liar think they tricked me if I think it’s what’s for the best. Most social lies are harmless bits of psychosocial self-defense and as such challenging them is unjustified and cruel. Insincerity, on the other hand, will always piss me off.
8. Oh yeah. I definitely need my alone time to ever have a chance of keeping my marbles together and so if something is keeping me from getting that alone time, I will grow increasingly agitated. Kind of like when something is keeping me from blogging, come to think of it. Now usually I am too shy and/or timid and/or sensitive to tell someone to fuck off so I can get my solitary time, although I am pretty sure I would have to speak up if it went on long enough. But one of my “things” is that I never, ever, ever want to make someone feel rejected. That makes telling people to go away tricky. Oh, and I have never had to deal with someone who I felt wasted my time on a regular basis because, in general, I don’t have any big time commitments. I can do whatever whenever. But if I am working toward a goal with a time limit, it’s a totally differeny story. Plus there is the fact that I hate to be interrupted, so just by breaking my flow, the person has already pissed me off.
9. Yes yes yes. If you are chronically late, we might not be able to be friends. I dislike uncertainty and that extends into intensely disliking people who are unreliable. If we agree to do thing X at time Y, you better be ready to do thing X at time y, or I will lose respect for you, and if it keeps up, I will lose all regard for you entirely and you will be struck from my list of associates and become just someone I know. I know that sounds quite harsh, especially to flaky people, but I can’t deal with unreliable people. Maybe you would understand if you could feel how hurt I am when someone flakes on me, I dunno. But I gotta do it.
10. More or less yes. Yes if we are talking the classic chatterbox type who just goes on and on and on incessantly without thought or substance to anything they say. That would drive me crazy because I am strongly keyed to pick up verbal information but there isn’t any. On the other hand, I love to talk and I am very verbal and if I am not governing myself I can reach near-chatterbox speeds. I am a person who perpetually has a lot to say. So I try not to judge others too harshly if they too have a lot to say.
11. Um, yeah. I get bent out of shape by the incorrect usage of language all the damned time. It’s definitely a thing with me. Less so on the personal level and even less so in person. Basically, if I am not reading it, it’s…. well, not good, it will still annoy the heck out of me. But it won’t be too bad.

Well that was fun. I should do listicle reply articles more often. That was way easier than my usual form of blogging.

Oh, and I feel I need to say this out of loyalty to my fellow INTJs : this guy is not representative of our personality subtype and should not be allowed to color your opinion of us.

We’re very nice people. Honest.

Just maybe rethink that surprise party, okay?

I will talk to you nice people again tomorrow.