That’s how I grew up. My dad would always tell me speak up and use my voice. I remember many family gatherings with many people around a dinner table, many of them I didn’t know at all, let alone felt comfortable with the ones closest to me. They’d all be loud, type A, attention seeking, and boisterous. They’d talk whatever they’d talk about and I knew nothing of what they were talking about. I thought they were so smart and with so much knowledge that I felt dumb. I look back, and realize my attention span wasn’t there. I had more anxiety about the social situation than being in the moment. I always felt uncomfortable and dreaded family gatherings. I never wanted to say anything because i thought it might be dumb. Little side story, I remember watching a concert with a friend on TV, and he was in the moment with the show and asked me something, and I said, I dont know, I wasn’t paying attention. While I’m still a shy and introverted person, while I’m more of a listener than a talker, and while I’m more of a process information type than quick thinking, I no longer think what I could say would be dumb. I still dread large gathering and just prefer one on one moments where you really get to know someone, and can have a chance to say something rather than feeling like i need to talk over someone to say something. Theres things I know that noone else knows about. I choose not to boast about like trivial pursuit. I also now have no problem saying exactly what I think to someone, if they’ll let me. Plus, loud people are just loud as much as crowds.