We`ve all been through it. Every year around the holidays, you find yourself at the mall trying to get your Xmas shopping in, when you see an unfamiliar-familiar face. You do a double take just to make sure your not mistaken and ,while your performing your visual research, you suddenly realize that this person is looking at you in the exact same way. Awkward. You realize that this person is someone that you graduated high school/ college with & its been years since you've seen them. Now, what do you do? Do you pretend you didn't see them? Do you run the other way? You freeze. Now you have no choice. You now have to engage in a forced, awkward "conversation", with a person who, you barely remember, haven't thought about in years & probably wish you hadn't run into. Why is this so weird for people? Why is this so uncomfortable? I don't know about y'all, but I start sweating something terrible when this happens to me. I just don't know what to say to these people. You don't know what these people been doing wit the last five or six years of their lives so you don't want to rub it in if your doing well and they aren't. On the flip side you don't want to sound like a loser that's been wandering the earth aimlessly either. I have to go through this at least a dozen times during the months of November & December every year. These meetings are almost always nothing more than bullshit sessions. You ask generic questions, "Hey you! (cause u cant remember their name), How have you been? (cause your wondering why they are looking so crazy or differently than you remember) , and you ususally get generic answers, "Yea, Im doing well. Just been doing my thing". WTF!! I usually try to keep my accomplishments pretty basic and general without going into much detail, but surprisingly enough, you'd be amazed how many people actually give you their life story right then and there. And most of the time the stories are never good. So awkward. I had one acquaintance tell me about his stint in rehab and recent incarceration, like it was nothing. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to say to that so I just gave him the good old dumb-face and tried to change the subject.
[Maybe im being an A-Hole right now, but am I the only one that gets a kick outta seeing the highschool badass or mr cool getting the shit kicked outta him by life? I usually dont like to make light of other peoples misfortunes, but nothing makes me happier than running into guys who thought they were the shit in highschool. Life isnt so great for them now, unless you count , managing the local sonic ,scrubing toilets for a living or trying to relive their "glory days" at highschool football games. (true story, but I wont drop any names) God forgive me, but it makes me happy. I guess im easily amused]
Anyways, after you get through that forced awkwardness you have to deal with the portion of the conversation where no one says anything and your both nodding and smiling like idiots. Ugh!! That's the worst. Your just looking around hoping the other person breaks this silence by saying something, anything. Man!!!! I usually chime in with a "that's cool" or a "sounds good". But no matter what I say, it always leads to the worst part of the conversation: The End. "Well it was good seeing you, ill talk to you later." Oh man, this is the most bogus line ever used on the face of the earth. Do people even think when they let this phrase and others like it, come out of their mouths? "Well I come to this mall allot , so I'm sure ill see you around". I feel like my intelligence is being insulted every time I hear this shit! We both know damn well we ain't gonna see each other , yet & still these phrases are uttered with such conviction, that you almost believe them. Its crazy. If it took 5 plus years for me to run into you, it will probably be at least that long before i see you again & even then, I may remember our last conversation & avoid you at all cost........
New Rule: When your ending one of these awkward conversations and your sure that your not gonna see the person again, don't patronize them with a "Ill see you later". Just keep it real with a "It was nice seeing you, take care" & keep it moving.
Till next time.............
5 comments:
lol. I hate those moments. Especially when you have someone with you and you have to introduce them, so you say "Hey, this is my friend Bob" and then let them introduce themselves, so that you can remember their name. As soon as they say their name in your mind, your thinking...that's right...Jane..that was her name. lol. So then throughout the conversation, you go back and forth with the infamous "Yeah...sooo...how are things?" and in your mind, you are like...dang it, I already asked that. The most akward point is when you initially come together for a conversation and you don't know whether to hug the person, shake their hand, or just say hi. You do the dance...you lean in, they hesitate ...so you lean back and then they lean in...you hesitate...and then you both just sit and smile. HILARIOUS...and yes. very akward. =)
I promise Emeka, you are an amazing writer....reasons why:
1. You are real about every situation, no bs...u speak the truth 2. You know how to keep people engaged, that we cannot wait to read the next line 3. You keep sarcasm in your story line...makes it entertaining
4. You generally understand people, so you're able to describe other
people thoughts, which makes at least 1 person who is reading your blog say, "Wait, Im that guy he is describing"
5. You are great at using verbs, adjectives, nouns...etc and they are all
placed in the correct place
I promise E, maybe this is your calling from God. Maybe you are meant to be a writer or blogger...Writing articles for Sports??? That would be fun eh?
Damn right! I feel ya wit the "Ill see you later"…. People need to keep it real.
LOL I love it. You remember when that chick came up to us at the mall Thanksgiving week. Akward!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! See you later my ass.
how funny. Another homerun!!
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