Just walking across campus can be a struggle for people who are socially awkward or who just want to avoid talking to people. Here is a list of the thoughts and struggles that can happen while walking around campus.
1. Not knowing whether you know a person well enough to say “Hi.”
You are walking on the sidewalk when you see someone who you have been in one group project with before or you sat next to them in one class but only said about five words to them. You know of them but don’t really know them so do you say hi as you pass them? What will happen if I do say hi? What happens if I don’t say hi? Are they going to say hi to me? How do I respond? You pass each other, no one says hi and nothing happens. Life goes on.
2. Doing the awkward half smile and head nod.
As a result of not knowing whether to say hi or not and not wanting to be rude, you do that little faint smile by raising the sides of your mouth but not opening your lips. You throw in a little head nod that is more like a twitch to acknowledge their presence. While you are trying to avoid awkwardness, you just become more awkward even though the other person probably didn’t even notice.
3. Changing your speed and direction to avoid someone.
When walking to class, there are times you are going to see one of your professors or that kid in class who wants to be your friend but is really annoying. You know if you walk by them they are going to say something, so you do little things to avoid them like walking slower so you don’t pass them or you walk faster so you are gone by the time they get there. In a serious case, you might even hop on to an alternate sidewalk that takes you in a completely different direction than you want to go, but you take it anyway to avoid having to talk.
4. Listening to headphones or using your phone.
Technology is a great way to avoid having to talk to people. When you are looking down at your phone and scrolling through your Facebook feed or pretending to text, no one is going to bother you. Putting in headphones is also an excuse to say you didn’t notice them walking by or hear them say anything to you.
5. Making eye contact too far away.
As you are walking to class in the morning, you look up to spot someone you normally say hi to but right now they are about 25 yards away from you. You think they have seen you also but neither of you say anything as you anticipate what is going to happen as you keep walking. You get closer and closer looking down at your feet as to not make awkward eye contact again and at the last possible second you raise your head to say “Hi.” The rest of your walk to class you think about how awkward that encounter was.
6. Not being able to respond to “How are you?”
In America, we do this weird thing where we ask someone “How are you?” when we actually don’t care how they are doing. This happens all the time when you are walking across campus and someone says “Hey, how are you?” but all you have time to respond is “I’m g…” before they are already too far away to hear your response. Then, you spend time worrying about how stupid you sounded not answering their question but it really doesn’t matter.
