That must be the road behind her.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt.
I think about this often-- followed by Homer Simpson’s voice saying, “Better say something or they’ll think you’re stupid.”
Awkwardly attempt to join the conversation, only to be talked over mid-sentence by someone else, and so you wait for another lull. Attempt to start again, only to be interrupted again by someone else. Watch helplessly as the subject of the conversation drifts far from the point you were going to make. Minutes pass, and everyone is glad to be talking about something else. You let go of the moment, and resign yourself to remain quiet. Then someone says to you, “Oh, what were you going to say?”
That one person is a gem and we should appreciate them. They noticed you got talked over, and made sure to circle back, noticeably so the others don’t do it again, to make sure you weren’t silenced. It shows they not only noticed, but were bothered by it.
Treasure those people, and be those people.
Agreed, those people are the best. But also, that’s a bit of a nightmare scenario, because now you have to decide if you’re going to risk saying something from five minutes ago, or decline the kindness and feel bad for rejecting the gesture.
Embrace the cringe. Be free.
the 3rd road; Be awkward by making random noises.
Mastering the awkward silence is a very powerful tool. I am not kidding. If done right, people become uncomfortable and start to talk in order to fill the awkward silence. In those anxiety filled moments, people tend to overshare.
Long silence combined with providing minimal information is also an amazing negotiation tool. You’d be shocked how often and by how much people will give up ground when confronted with awkward silence.
3rd: stutter badly and accidentally say something interpreted as offensive and then dig yourself even deeper trying to explain yourself
This is the way.
“it’s better to risk and make a fool of yourself by not saying a word rather than speaking and leaving no doubt whatsoever”
- probably an arab philosopher
But no
That was a more recent philosophical advance
I prefer the left road. The right one leads to a perception of being awkward AND stupid.
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Be awkward by not talking, they can’t hold your words against you if you don’t say any words.
Quick, shit on the floor!
Be awkward by having a right hand but no right arm…
I find simply existing to be awkward enough
Be awkward by sharing a weird hyper specific fact
Be awkward by singing
be awkward by sitting next to a dude you’ve never sat with in your class. don’t speak a word. just stay silent for the whole class.
