I Can Tell By His Stutter...

I can tell by his stutter that I intimidate him. I know this is going to make me sound terrible, but here it goes anyways. One of my former co-workers at the movie theater I worked at the last few summers has a stutter. He's a really friendly, conversational guy so I feel bad for him that he has to struggle with this impediment. His stutter tends to get really bad when he's nervous or anxious.

When I return to the theater to see a movie I frequently see him there working so I usually talk with him for awhile. I've noticed that when he talks to me his stutter becomes increasingly more obvious. He gets to the point where the conversation literally comes to a stand still because his stammering won't allow words to continue flowing from his mouth. I stand there, pretending that I don't notice. I smile and continue to nod my head in understanding. I think to myself, "I think he must get nervous around me." This never happens! Do I intimidate him? And I noticed it doesn't get bad around everyone. Once, while standing in his line he was speaking with a customer perfectly fine, but as soon as he started to talk to me the stutter became obvious. I guess I am a senior in college and he's a senior in high school so it might seem like a big deal to him that I'm talking to him. However, while working together, age never really seemed to matter.

So here's the bad part. I truly have sympathy for this kid, I do. However, I must admit, I get a little ego boost every time his stutter pops up in our conversation because I know he's anxious. My confidence gets a boost knowing that a high school kid is intimidated by me. I know, I'm pathetic and for that I apologize. This is simply an observation that I found intriguing.

Carson