It is one of the worst feelings in the world to be embarrassed in front of people, but one of the most awkward feelings to experience is having "secondhand embarrassment". Secondhand embarrassment is "the personal embarrassment that one feels on account of and for another". Here are some moments that many of us can relate to when we had a premonition someone would embarrass themselves and then felt embarrassed for them.
1. When someone attempts to go in for a handshake and the other person automatically gives them a hug.
This is something many people have witnessed multiple times and you can almost sense how awkward the other person feels afterward. It tends to happen a lot with people who haven't seen each other in a long time or who barely know each other.
2. When people rant about their extremely personal issues on twitter.
It is completely normal to tweet that emotional lyric relating to how you're feeling or a subtweet here and there. However, we all know that person that uses hyphens after typing 140 characters to continue how mad they are at their "best friend" who was probably reading all of their tweets.
3. When someone claps before a presentation is finished.
There is always a time when a person's presentation feels as though it will never end and their peers are anxiously waiting for them to finally finish. One of the worst cases of secondhand embarrassment is when they take a breath and someone begins clapping before they tap to continue to the next slide.
4. When a teacher's personal emails come up on the smartboard.
We all know how awkward it is to have a teacher plug in his/her personal computer and have all of their emails pop up in front of their students. The class usually starts judging every email subject and business on their email and it definitely makes them feel awkward when it's something they don't want anyone to see or read.
5. When someone gets caught lying about their favorite band or artist
There are always those people that try to be relatable all of the time and will claim to like anything the person next to them likes. It is incredibly uncomfortable when they are asked what their favorite song from the particular band or artist they claim to "love" is and they cannot answer the question.
6. Stopping at a red light to find someone alone screaming lyrics and dancing while using weird hand motions.
It's very risky to look through the window of the car next to you stopped at a red light or stop sign. You have no idea what you might see and sometimes you may just find a person who believes they're Ariana Grande in that moment without any shame.
7. When someone thinks their headphones are plugged in, but their music plays out loud and everyone hears it.
I will admit this has happened to me and it is not the most pleasant situation to be in. It could be less or more embarrassing depending on how weird or random the song the person playing is. Everyone usually turns around to look at them and in most cases they will also try looking around to pretend it wasn't them.
8. When a person is using their phone to cheat on a test and Siri talks on high volume by accident.
This, in my opinion, is one of the most humiliating moments relating to secondhand embarrassment. It could be less awkward if the teacher doesn't hear, but in most cases they do and the rest of the class stares at the person and then back at the teacher to see what will happen.
