Awkward Things People Do In Social Situations (Part II)

in life •  7 years ago  (edited)

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Human awkwardness is a fun thing to watch, but only when it happens to other people and not so much when it happens to you. Yesterday, I wrote a post about all the awkward things we tend to do in social situations and I am glad by the response I received.

I was also quite relieved to find out that I was not the only one that did all those things! Boy, that would have been super awkward and also ironical considering the topic of the post! haha.

Anyways, I’m not done exposing the awkward side of us humans and so I am writing this part II post, listing a few more ways the brains of introverts decide to stop working properly in the presence of other brains in the vicinity.

Also, do tell me in the comments section some other awkward things that you have either noticed or done yourself. The most hilarious one will get a full upvote from me :D

1. Trying (and failing) At Small Talk

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Awkward silences. Who doesn’t love those right? Wrong!! Everyone hates that period of silence which is just a few moments in reality but feels like an eternity. And the worst part is that it is bound to happen when you’re talking with strangers.

The reason for that is that most people aren’t good at small talk. For those of you who don’t know, small talk is the random, unimportant conversation that we usually have with people during social occasions.

So, when you can’t come up with another topic to talk about, there are moments of silences which are as painful as the deaths of your favorite character in Game of Thrones!

And then you have exchanges like these that make you want to crawl into a hole and disappear:
Person A: Hey, how are you? Person B: I’m good, what about you? Person A: I’m good. What about you? Person B: ...........

2. Using Insane Excuses To Escape!

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So, you are at a party and you are either getting extremely bored or extremely uncomfortable seeing all those extroverts having fun with each other. What do you do? Excuses to leave, of course!!

All you want to do in that moment is fall into the warm embrace of your bed back at home and you would do or say anything to escape that social situation. So, you start to come up with excuses.

That is all well and good, but often times, the excuses sound so insane and obviously like….well excuses, that it creates a moment of awkwardness among all parties involved.

So, you can’t really say things like “I have to attend my friend’s cousin’s pet’s funeral and so I need to leave.” or that “My aunt just called. She needs help baking cookies. She lives in China btw. So….gotta go catch that flight. Bye!”

3. Sharing Too Much!

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There is always that one person at any gathering who just starts sharing too much information about their life that you feel like stopping them midway and shouting, “Dude! What are you doing? Do you have no concept of boundaries?”

You see, when you’re meeting new people or meeting them even for a second or third time, you get to know them and they get to know you, a little by little. That’s how friendships are built. You don’t dump your entire life story in the first meet.

Yet, some people insist on telling you how they lost their first pet a million years ago and start getting all emotional in front of you when you don’t even know them and you’re standing there not knowing whether to console them or just teleport out of there!

4. Pretending To Be Busy In Your Phone

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What is the number one thing today that we do when we feel the slightest bit uncomfortable in any given situation? That’s right! We whip out our phones from our pockets like a boss, and start scrolling and swiping left and right.

Why do we do this? For one, it shifts our focus from having to face other human beings to the familiar world of internet we all know and love and also it makes us look busy and so other passing human beings won’t disturb us.

That is all fine and dandy but what really happens when we start using our phones is that we endlessly keep swiping left and right (often on the home screen) until we realize some time later what we are doing or someone else does, in which case, things can get super awkward.

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This seems familiar to me I do not know why Hahahh
Funny ..
Great post well done

Thanks :)

Man, I can remeber times where I am in a store and o see someone who is an “aquatintence” and I know that if we run into each other there will be that whole awkwardness so I change my direction or try to move elsewhere before hey notice me. I’m actually quite outgoing but in those situations I often just don’t feel like stopping to have that chat. Of course if you do get trapped in that conversation then you are now in a situation where you need to find a way out. Lol ever feel trapped in a conversation??? The worst. How do I make this stop without being rude?? Hmmm haha

Been there, done that!

haha, I have done that countless times myself. Sometimes you are just not in the mood to be 'social' you know? And yeah, the feeling of being trapped in a conversation is just painful. You can always use the classic, "Hey, I have to be there. See ya later." ;)

I often do that insane exit. Can completely relate to this blog. 😜

LOL yeah!!

Funny.

Yeah really funny and so true. Good post. Thank you.
And have a good weekend @sauravrungta
Kind regards,
Clemens

You too :)

Thanks! :)

Everybody does the phone one these days. I try not to do that. I'd rather than sit awkwardly.

I think how well someone can just exist with a state of discomfort says a lot about a person.

That is some wisdom right there!! :D

You actually right about pretending to be busy with my phone but most times I do that when the person close to me ain't saying meaningful things or talking too much ,,

Always a good escape that :D

Lol...that's so true that swiping left right thing.
I was in an elevator and was doing same to avoid something and I realised that I am just scrolling things when my floor came :D
Good examples. I haven't checked your initial post..gotta chk that too :)

LOL yeah, I have looked stupid doing that many times :D

Pretend not to hear and try to call to divert people's focus when I am awkward hehe

lol!!

Not sure of your past...but my upbringing...growing up in a very dysfunctional....anxiety based environment...made me a very shy adolescent and young adult...the ultimate "people pleaser"....wanting everyone to like me so do almost anything to make that happen...feeling like I had no life....so lived through other peoples" stories...awkward! Extremely...no ability to communicate especially with females...

I remember a good college friend of my wife years later telling me how she thought I was a "snob"...just looking too cool....little did she know I was just scared out of my shorts around women...

My first date was a disaster...assumed that all girls were good talkers...lol...my date was quieter than me...and of course...I locked my keys in my car so had to take a bus back home and wake up my mother to get my date home!

Somehow I managed the courage to continue to go to school and even date again...years later...saw my first date at a HS reunion and had a good chuckle over that whole thing...

However...it has taken years of "programs" mixed in with therapy to find my voice and get comfortable with me as me...still a natural introvert...but enjoy life a lot more today...thanks for the topic.

Yeah, the way a person is brought up has a huge effect on his behavior and ability to cope in social situations. A lot of men have trouble talking to women and that can stem from inner insecurities that one might not even be aware of. Just my 2 cents.

People need to release their judgment, thus freeing themselves from the judgment of others! The ego is what judges, and if we let the ego die then our internal worlds become filled with our authentic selves. When we are reflecting the truth within our hearts, we become our happiest selves, living a life of abundant joy. Awkward moment disappear completely, because there is no shame!

Absolutely agreed!! Being judgmental is one of the greatest drawbacks of today's society. I have actually written about this in the past too. Only by dropping our own judgements can we be free of others too. Rightly said :)

Haha, I can relate to first one as it happens to me a lot and Sharing too much is kinda my thing and usually makes me ask myself " Did I really tell her that?" :P

haha, yeah, we do tend to share a little more than we should :D

I hope I'm not the only one who, even though hungry, will refuse to eat in such awkward situations like suddenly seeing your ex dining in the same restaurant as you are or when you're on a train journey and you have to dine in front of random strangers sitting barely at an arm's distance away from you haha.

I never refuse to eat ;) Food is love, food is life :P

Lol, right
I know a friend who keeps talking everytime he get nervous around people and then lose control of the conversation and keep adding random facts/news which are totally irrelevant to the topic.

haha, I have never experienced someone like that before. Must be fun ;)

The 4th situation is my most favourite because I do this many times by myself because it will give me some silent time with myself and also giving an impression to others that iam a busy person 😅😅

LOL, most people today do this.

I am guilty of doing most of them.

Me too :P

LOL, I was always very bad at small talk and have experienced those long awkward pauses many times. When that happens it's exactly as you said, I wanted to crawl into a hole somewhere.

Or what's sometimes worse is when you are trying hard to make small talk and you suddenly realize you just said something really stupid!

Yeah, small talk is pretty difficult unless you actually want to talk to that person or are genuinely interested in their life.

I'm there in the edge of a bunch of people who are talking and I'm feeling cut out and awkward and then suddenly I focus on a part of the conversation I know something about and out of desperation to participate I jump in with enthusiasm and then the other people just - silence - and look at me like WTF? And that's the end of the conversation... everyone kind of gives a half-hearted end to what they were saying, makes excuses (or not) and drifts off...

Is that over sharing? maybe.

LOL. Now THAT must be awkward for everyone involved!! haha

pleasing & exceptional!

thanks! :)

pretending to be busy on a phone
best way to save yourself from awkward situations

haha yeah!!

Another thing I face most of the time @sauravrungta that when we are walking and face people in front of us, we both confuse the side we walk. You go to the right he or she also goes to the right. When you take the left side so thus they. Sometimes we even bump each other and sometimes the situation continues for several seconds. After that sometimes me or other times the other person stand steady and use the hands to show us the way.

haha yeah, that one is a really awkward one too. But at least that happens with strangers so it doesn't matter too much ;)

Yes. Thanks for responding. You are a role model for me.

AAhhhhh one thing I use to do a lot... when I was a teenager, I use to run and lock my self in the washroom whenever any guest and relative come to visit us... to avoid any conversation with them.