Interruptions

Person 1: "The other day as I was getting the mail, I noticed this huge snake slitheri---"

Person 2: "Oh I HATE SNAKES!!!! In fact I saw one two days ago on our back porch."

P1: "Ya, well this snake was slithering across the ro--"

P2: "I had to jump into the house and slam the door to keep it outside."

P1: "Well, I completely forgot about actually getting the mail, which is what I'd co--"

P2: "I was so freaked out that I put on a pair of boots to clean the kitchen."

Silence.

P2: "Aren't you going to finish your story?"

Hearing conversations like this make me want to examine myself, and my conversational habits to ensure that I am actually listening when another person is talking to me. There is nothing worse than trying to tell a story to someone who is more interested in what they're going to say in response.
I usually discontinue talking and let the interrupter have the floor. A perceptive person will notice my silence, and usually apologize after realizing that it's because they interrupted. But some people just don't get it. They're so completely engrosssed in what they have to say, that they notice nothing else.
You can actually have quite a bit of fun with these people, at their expense, and without their ever knowing it. I've had "conversations" last up to 2 minutes where I've continued talking, despite the interruption, just to see how long they would keep talking at the same time as me. This is especially amusing if there are others in the nearby vicinity who can actually follow both conversations at once.
It is also quite comedic to make sassy comments about the person right to their face. They rarely discontinue talking, and usually have no clue that they've been insulted. Although, once in a while, after a little monologue was finished, the person has looked quizzically at me and asked "Did you say something about my shirt?", or "What did you say about yellow teeth?"


So I'm not complaining--I need a good laugh at another's expense every now and then.