I only seem to cry in public out of rage, twice in the last 35 or so years (I’m 38).
When someone is crying, I pass them the Kleenex. I may or may not think it would be cryworthy to me, but it is to them and I respect that.
One of my classmates got run over by a truck when we were in 10th grade. He had been making googoo eyes with a girl from the class for years, but she’d been out of town (she was a twin, the parents had divorced and the judge wanted to feel like King Solomon); they’d just retaken the googoing after a 3-year hiatus. You could hear harps and see pink clouds when both were in the same room, I swear.
She was sniffing, trying to keep the tears in. The “normal” girls were saying “don’t cry”; the four of us who had a reputation of being tough enough to make any nail run away were the ones who said “yes, CRY, cry your heart out, because if this isn’t worth crying over I don’t know what is”, we took her home and took turns staying with her until her mother came home, and again next day (her mother had to go to work, we could skip a couple of classes - and woe betide anybody who dared say a word, the chemistry teacher would have ripped them a new one with assistance from the nun who taught french).
When she came back next Monday and her friends went over to coo, I’ve never seen them look more like overdressed guinea hens, she said “where were you these last four days? What, you can’t remember where I live? I know who my friends are and it isn’t you!”
I’m that way! I cry when I get angry. I know the rule is to never cry at work (or around the boss). So when I get that way, I have to remove myself from the situation completely. I won’t discuss it on the phone or in person until I can compose myself. Do. Not. Talk to me.
Sure I am. I started a whole thread about it.
I’ve learned to be pretty stoic in public. I almost never cry at movies, I very very rarely cry at school or with my friends even when things are crazy awful, and I won’t cry at work ever-period-amen.
In some situations, I’m okay going off by myself and crying. Things in life have been awfully rough the past few weeks and there’ve been a few tears. I usually am okay with it at the time, but then afterwards I’m embarrassed for myself. “I cried over THAT? I’m such a baby.” Normally, though, I hate doing it at all.
My dad can still turn me into a dripping mess if he so chooses, though. I’m getting better about just tuning him out and picturing him with a teakettle for a head or imagining his reaction when I get my own apartment and invite my sisters and mom to a housewarming party and tell him he can’t come, but he still gets me more often than I’d like.
I’m not really someone who cries. I would find it too embarrassing. I can think of two occasions in the last two years where I have cried in front of another human being. And one of those was in sympathy for my fiancé, who had just received a call saying his father had passed away.
Someone who cried all the time over anything would bug me. But I don’t know anyone like that. So other people crying doesn’t bother me. I just want to make it all better.
Yes, I cry genuinely when I’m very angry, afraid, or frustrated, even in situations where I shouldn’t. I hate it. I can’t do anything about it. It just happens, and once I get started, that’s the end of me. I strongly believe that adults should be able to control their emotions in public and I have more than a bit of contempt for people who can’t, so the tears unleash this whole ugly cycle of shame and self-loathing. It’s a real drag.
On the positive side, the tears landed me a better financial aid package in college and once got me out of a traffic ticket. So, :rolleyes: for me.
I’ve always been tender-hearted, as Mom calls it–I cry way too easily at movies and such, happy ending or sad. I don’t cry much for other reasons, unless there’s a forest fire or something, although when Aunt Flo is about to visit I can easily get frustrated almost to tears. I hate crying so easily–I’m not the kind of person who likes to show emotion much. I almost feels like showing weakness to me. So I especially hate it when I start crying, because I can never stop myself. I do try to hide it from others as well. I don’t mind when other people cry at all, I just hate it when it’s me.
I’ve always hated to cry, especially in front of people. When I was younger, I had iron control. In fact, my family was a little worried there was something wrong with me. When I was told that a beloved pet had died, I answered, “Okay”, and went on watching television for a few minutes until I felt that they had stopped focusing on me. At that time, I went into another room and cried.
However, since I’ve been an adult, and specifically since I had kids, I want to cry for all kinds of things and my control isn’t what it used to be. I’m not sure what the connection is there, just more vulnerable in general, I guess. I swear, today I was telling my husband about this one time I saw a guy win on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” and I felt my throat begin to tighten up!
I’m not very sympathetic to the tears of other adults either. A lady at work (who is always very emotional) started to cry the other day. She had a somewhat valid reason, but I just kept talking to her and ignored the fact she was crying until she quit. Control yourself in public or go in the bathroom and get over it! It’s indecent.