No one is immune to awkward moments—the times when your cheeks get warm and you start to sweat and you wish you could shrink to a microscopic level. We’ve all been there. The exciting news is that no one ever died of embarrassment! Moreover, no one's alone.
1. When you hold the door open for someone for an uncomfortably long time.
You’re about to walk into the campus center, and there’s someone behind you. You’re not sure how far away they are—all you can hear are footsteps. You pull the door open and turn to hold it for the person behind you. They’re about twenty feet away. You wonder if you should just keep walking. Is that rude? Now you’ve made eye contact. Maybe you should just hold it for them. This is taking forever. You smile at them. Now they’re running. Oh, gosh.
2. When someone waves, so you wave back. But they weren’t waving at you...
You’re walking through campus. You see an acquaintance—someone you sort of know, but not really. You prepare to smile at her once you get closer, but when you look up again, she’s waving. You’re taken a little bit by surprise. After all, you only talked that one time when you were in line for the bathroom. Maybe she’s just being really friendly. You wave back. She gives you a strange look, then says hi to the person walking behind you. Oh.
3. When you wave at someone, and a stranger in front of them waves back.
Basically just the opposite of the last scenario. It’s pretty awkward regardless of your role in the situation.
4. When someone repeats what they said for the third time… and you still have no idea what they’re saying.
You’re talking to a new foreign exchange student, and his thick accent keeps you from understanding what he said. You ask him to repeat himself. He does. Something about a fish and a branch? No, that can’t be right. You ask again. He repeats himself. Shoot. Is he asking a question? You resolve to just nodding and smiling. He looks confused. It was definitely a question.
5. When you ask someone what they’re name is, and then you forget it two seconds later.
Oops.
6. When you find out you’ve been calling someone by the wrong name… and they never told you.
You’re talking to your new friend Justin. Another friend walks up and calls him Steve. Wait… what? For a brief moment you think you’re right, but when Justin responds to being called Steve, you realize your mistake. You’ve definitely called him Justin to his face before. It would be one thing if his name was Brian and you were calling him Ryan. But Justin and Steve? That’s pretty cringe-worthy.
7. When you fall asleep in class and your professor calls you out.
Your professor is droning on… and on… and on. You’re trying to keep your eyes open, but they’re just so heavy… maybe if you rest your head on your hand… Zzzzzz… and, BOOM! You hear your name, you jolt awake, and everyone looks at you. Busted.
8. When you accidentally put an ugly picture on your snap story.
You just woke up, and you look like an ogre. You decide you’re pretty proud of this new level of ugly, so you snap your best friend an absolutely horrendous picture of yourself. Now you’re not just an ogre—you’re an ogre with a double chin. You check the box next to her name, and right before you press send, your thumb grazes the box for your snap story. Panic ensues. You exhaust the use of expletives as you aggressively pound on the screen to stop it from sending. But it’s too late. You delete the picture from your snap story, but only after three people have already seen it.
9. When someone in another car catches you belting out songs.
Adele’s Hello comes on while you’re driving. This is your jam. You sing through the beginning, then stop at a stoplight. While you wait, you hold up your hand to simulate a microphone, and twist your face into a slightly pained expression before belting out the chorus. There’s movement out of the corner of your eye. When you look, there’s a full car of people laughing at you. It feels like five years before the light finally changes.
10. When you find a big piece of food stuck to your teeth at the end of the day.
Spinach. There is massive leaf of spinach between your two front teeth. It’s five-o-clock. You ate your salad at noon. Noon! That’s five hours of interactions—five hours of no one telling you you’re growing a plant between your teeth. You start thinking of everyone you saw that afternoon, and you grow redder and redder as the list goes on.
11. When you sneeze and accidentally blow your nose on your sleeve at the same time.
You’ve had a pretty bad cold for about a month. You’re in class when you sneeze into your sleeve. You look at it—cringe. You try to play it off like there’s not nasty gunk on your shirt, but everyone knows when you stand up right away to go to the bathroom.
12. When you step on a patch of ice and almost fall.
It’s the middle of winter, and you’re late for class. You’re walking at a pretty brisk pace. Fresh snow is covering the sidewalk, so you don’t see the patch of ice a few feet in front of you until your feet are splaying in different directions and your arms are flailing in circles. You catch your balance and keep walking as if nothing happened. You look around. The guy behind you is trying not to smile.
13. When you step on a patch of ice and actually fall.
Okay, this is worse because it’s painful for both your pride and your body.
14. When you know a set of twins, but you can’t tell them apart.
You know a set of twins named Hannah and Taylor. They’re identical. You should really be able to tell them apart by now. One is walking toward you. You’re pretty sure it’s Taylor… or maybe not. She says hi and greets you by your name. You say hi, and start to say Taylor, but your lack of confidence makes your voice drift off where the rest of her name is supposed to be.
15. When someone forgets that they've told you a story five times already, and they start telling it to you... again.
Do you tell them you've heard it already and save them the trouble? Or should you be polite and listen to the punch line as if you've never heard it before? *Sigh*
Life is full of these moments. But if you can learn to laugh at them—if you can learn to laugh at yourself—everything is so much better.