Am I really boring?

[Suchafooooool]

Colleague told anecdote about a mutual colleague who doesn’t cough once but coughs in quick succession and was laughing about it. I laughed along but didn’t really know what to say in response - so said something inane like “oh it’s interesting isn’t it when people do that” meaning it’s interesting when people have funny little quirks.

He obviously just didn’t really get what I was going on about and it made me think how weird everyone at work must think I am!

Feel like I try and fill silences sometimes so just harp on about something random - thing is that if someone else is really chatty and nice, I will take it as a positive and think well of them... So I don’t know why I always give myself such a hard time

just feel useless and incredibly socially awkward

Im sure everyone has felt like this from time to time, I know I have.

Try not dwell on it. I have a colleague who to some may come across as socially akward but as Ive gotten to know her over the years I find her to be a sensitive level headed person.

As you said in your post each of us have our own quirks & that what makes us interesting.

Thanks you’re right!! Do you think my comment sounded stupid? I never know what to say to things like that! Irony is when I want to be I can be very chatty and socially switched on but also the opposite...

I imagine it killed the laugh a little bit, but it wasn't such an odd thing to say that your colleague would think about it afterwards.

I've spent all day training a man who I really struggled to understand because of a very strong accent. I must have said "Err... Say that again please," about 50 times. I couldn't think of another way to word it, so I kept saying it after increasingly long and awkward pauses during which I was desperately trying to guess what he might have said. He definitely went home and told his family about the idiot he's going to have to spend all of tomorrow with as well 😳

No I dont think it sounds stupid.

Sometimes we are our worst critic.

If it was someone else that said this you would have probably wouldn’t have given their comment a second thought.

Doesn't sound stupid to me, it does sound like you are an over thinker though, everyone has awkward moments.

Nobody but you will have thought of it since you said it.

Sounds like a him problem more than a you problem tbh. Even if someone does say something weird, generally it just gets laughed off and brushed past without any awkwardness or he could have asked you outright what's interesting about someone coughing alot so you could openly elaborate on the quirks.
Don't worry about it though. I think I understand about being either super chatty or super awkward, I think it massively depends on who you're with and how well you all bounce off eachother in conversation.