We have all done it. We have left a store without buying a single item. When you’re a broke college student, it’s bound to happen and should be a positive experience when it does. However, and perhaps it is just me and my social anxiety, I swear that every time I leave a store empty-handed, every cashier is looking my way like I’ve been caught red-handed committing a crime.

Sometimes I even check my pockets just in case I actually have taken something. Then I look straight at my feet, basically sprinting out the door (because that's not suspicious or anything), and I feel my insides screaming, “Stop looking at me! I didn’t take anything. I’m sorry I didn’t buy anything from your stupid store, just let me go in peace and I promise I will never ever do it again."

Some stores are kinder than others, and you can walk out a safe distance from the registers, slipping out unnoticed. When this happens, it is like the heavens have opened up and given you a free pass to say, “Why no, I did not go to the store today,” and glide out those beautiful sliding doors with the most satisfied of smiles on your face.

The cruelest stores, however, while wise in terms of avoiding actual shoplifting, make you walk through the check-out lane to exit, right past the judgmental stares created by the demons in your mind. That's when you walk out with your eyes basically shut, praying that you don’t literally run into anyone, drawing more attention to yourself, before sprinting to your car to dry-heave in peace. Really, when you think about it, that’s good marketing for any store, “Buy one measly thing and we won’t make you feel like you kicked a sick puppy."

Last weekend, I, unfortunately, prepared to leave Target empty-handed. I went up and down aisles, winding closer and closer to the door. I pretended to browse while secretly choosing a getaway point with the shortest path possible. This, my friends, is where geometry class reveals its purpose.

I remember saying to myself, “You have done nothing wrong. Nobody is looking at you. You are just a normal innocent person who happened to not purchase anything today. It is your right to not purchase anything. Come on, Emily, you can do this.”

And again, even louder to myself, “You have done nothing wrong. It will all be OK.”

And then, screaming to myself,“You have done nothing wrong. You are a good person. You have nothing to be ashamed of. You do not have to buy a pack of gum to feel good about yourself.”

I continued to fake interest in over-the-counter allergy tablets. Then, there it was in direct sight: the exit. Oh how beautiful it looked, like the Triwizard Cup. I headed towards the doors, wand, I mean, car keys at the ready. I was making good time, staring down at my flip flops, when something happened. Someone cut in front of my path to head to the coffee counter. I stopped and looked up. I looked up. I broke the first rule in the “Gotta Get Out of Here ASAP” rule book.

What did I see? An employee walking right at me, and, to my surprise, smiling. This was my moment. I could either smile back with confidence or bashfully throw my eyes back at my feet and continue my self-induced walk of shame.

Ladies and gentlemen, I did it! I looked back down in the guiltiest and most awkward way possible, briskly exiting the store. I had my chance and I absolutely failed. Needless to say, I did not dry-heave when I got to my car. Instead, I laughed at myself for a solid minute before making an oath that next time would be my time. After I avoid Target for at least a month, of course.

So this is my plea to you. Let’s never make this cheap walk of shame again. When it is your moment, take it. Walk out of that store, with your head up and shoulders back like you have nothing to hide, because you don’t. Your hands are empty? Your conscience should be, too. So push all complexes aside and look them dead in the eye. Kill those inner demons, because I guarantee, nobody is actually looking your way except to offer you a kind smile.