There aren’t many things that truly offend me. By which I mean things that are so repulsive to me that I can’t help feeling outraged, and it takes me some time to calm down. And for some reason, the things that offend me are very bizarre subjects that nobody else in the world would give a second thought to.

One of them is Introvert Discrimination, a phenomenon that is rampant in American society yet nobody knows or cares. I just saw this actual real-life headline go through Lifehacker: How Can I Avoid Becoming An Introverted Weirdo? Ha-ha. Yeah, that’s really funny, Lifehacker editor Thorin Klosowski, who I hope sees this in a vanity search. Let’s all make fun of those icky introverts!

(Fyi Thorin Klosowski claims to be an introvert himself, and that he meant “weirdo” in an endearing way. It’s still not funny.)

Introvertedness is not an illness. You don’t “become” an introvert. You can’t “catch” it, like the flu. You are born an introvert. Like you are born with black hair, or blue eyes, or mottled, scaly lizard skin. Introversion has nothing to do with whether you like to go outside or not. An introvert, when standing outside, or in a coffee shop, or at a wild party, is still an introvert.

If you are afraid to leave your house, you are agoraphobic, which is a debilitating mental disorder. So, Lifehacker, change your damn title to “How Do I Avoid Becoming An Agoraphobic Weirdo.” Except that sounds kind of rude and ignorant when you say it like that, doesn’t it?

Grrr.

P.S. I love everything else about Lifehacker. :)