Today, let’s talk about awkward stuff.
There are all kinds of awkward situations that we find
ourselves in throughout each day. There’s the kind of awkward were you notice
your friend’s zipper is down. There’s the kind of awkward where Dora stares at
you for 5 minutes after asking you if you see the big red ball. And then
there’s what we’re going to talk about today…
I was going for a walk the other day and I saw my
neighbor about 50 yards away coming toward me. She saw me, too. Now, we’re not close friends but
we’re also not unfriendly so there will obviously be a friendly greeting as we
pass. My question is: How far away do you have to be from each other to say
“hello?” Because if you say it too soon you’ll have to take another, say, 10
steps before you have passed each other leaving a very awkward spot where you
both feel the need to look away because you really have nothing more to say
than “hi.” However, if you wait too long you’ll be stuck pretending you don’t
see each other for 20 feet (awkward) and then saying “hi” at the last minute
and then looking away again. Is there etiquette for this? At least when you’re
running you have an out. You can be really focused on your awesome run and have
to stare at the sidewalk so you can’t make eye contact. OR you can get away
with a quick, breathless “hi!” and split-second eye contact because you need to
get back to staring at the sidewalk.
Another situation I find extremely awkward is when you’re
in your car and sitting next to someone you know at a red light. Do you wave?
What if they don’t see you? Are you
supposed to keep looking over there until they do see you? Then you’ll look
like a weirdo because they’ll think “Has she been staring at me this whole time?”
Do you ignore them? Then you’ll look like a jerk. What if you both saw each
other, smiled and waved, and then the light drags on forever? Do you just stare
straight ahead? Do you pretend to look for something in your purse? What about
when the light changes? Do you wave again?
What if they don’t? Then you look
like an over-hyper puppy. It’s all just too much! That’s why I like sunglasses.
Happy Friday!
