The Awkward: A Rise And Fall Of Terror

"So how long have you worked here?" said he.

"Not long, since October. You used to work at Tim Hortons, right?" said I.

"No." said he.

"oh....." said I. Awkward.


It seems to me that I'm constantly the "I" in these situations. I would say I spend at least 33% of my life in awkward silence. This is a conversation I had in the break room at work today with a guy I've never met before. This awkward moment was followed by a 5 minute period of awkward silence, and then a second awkward conversation, followed by an equally awkward fizzle, and an equally awkward pause... Rinse and repeat, folks, rinse and repeat. It was like a never ending cycle of awkward.
But why must we succum to The Awkward? It does not own us, nor does it control us. We are in control of it! We own The Awkward! Later in my work day, I watched a little girl (maybe 4 or 5) prance through my department (floral) with a huge grin on her face, smelling all the 'pretty' flowers. Unfortunately, the only pretty ones we had were plastic... So, she continued to jump from display to display, smelling the plastic flowers for a few minutes before she looked up at me, realized how silly she must look, giggled, and went "they're not real!" in one of those voices adults usually use to talk to children, not the other way around. I laughed, she laughed, and there was no awkward tension.
But why was my situation with this little girl so different from my conversation with the guy in the break room? There are of course the obvious reasons: he's a teenage boy - that screams awkwardness in itself - we'd never met before, we were alone in a room together for a half hour, and I had nothing to say. But the important reason is that we let The Awkward own us, instead of the other way around!
My mom is reading this book right now, about effective communication. One of the concepts is Interrogate Reality. Say exactly what you need, what you want, and what you mean. Don't leave any room for interpretation. Get what you want out of every conversation. Why not apply this concept to The Awkward? In an awkward situation, state the awkward, and move forward. Don't let it own you!
Wake up and smell the artificial flowers, Internet! Take back your lives from the reign of The Awkward, and end the tyranny! Think about how different our lives would be if we could call out The Awkward and stop it in it's tracks? Like the little girl, state your foibles, and move on! Own the awkward, Internet. Own it.

Blessings,
Maddi.