For some people, awkwardness is like a second language, but for others, it only really happens when someone else brings the awkward their way.
These 13+ people experienced the perfect storm and are here to share their uncomfortable experiences for the internet’s enjoyment.
Let’s thank them, and cringe in solidarity.
#15. I didn’t know.
“I’m about to go for supper with my mom’s new boyfriend, she’s 50. I didn’t know my parents were divorced.”
#14. When I said no…
“This chick asked me to be her BF while her mom was driving me home and we were in the backseat, it was really awkward when I said no….”
#13. Out loud for everyone in the office to hear.
“I was waiting in a school office to be interviewed for an Art teaching position in a middle school 7 years ago.
There was another art teacher who already worked at the school in the office and she was trying to be friendly and make conversation with me.
She pulls out her cellphone and asks me my name. I tell her and she immediately logs into Facebook and finds my profile (which I left open to public at the time) and immediately starts reading my profile out loud for everyone in the office to hear.”
#12. We never talk about it.
“The time my sister and her boyfriend moved back in with our parents and one night he texted me from their bedroom that he was starting to have feelings for me.
Edit: since then they broke up, worked out their differences and figured out what was going wrong in their relationship, got back together. They are now doing very well, they have two sons and are engaged. We never talk about that text.”
#11. She cried.
“I’ve been at a small boutique beauty studio for the past year and a half. It’s just 4 employees. The owner and I got close, but I realized I’ve been wanting to go on my own because our policies and client management seem to clash a lot. It’s her business afterall, and I’m an independent contractor there.
I told her that after much thought it’s time for me to go. She cried, a lot. It’s gotten to the point where her eyes water up whenever the topic comes up. We even thought it’s best I go before the 2 weeks notice is up because she feels it’s so hard for her emotionally to see me there.
I feel as though I am going through a breakup. Definitely not how I imagined this going. I literally feel like I broke her heart into pieces and as though this was a real relationship I’m getting out of.”
#10. That is just not right.
“My high school English teacher read us erotic poetry she wrote about her husband… who happened to be our History teacher.”
#9. I had to drive them.
“I was driving, third Wheeling with a buddy and his girlfriend and they broke up after a heavy argument during dinner, before the movie. I had to drive them to their own houses and I dropped the girl off last and got a whole ear full of what my buddy was like to her.”
#8. Real tough situation.
“My mom sent me an “invoice” for raising me; called her to see what was up. Says that if I don’t pay the amount she’s gonna lose the house she’s living in. Lamented that I was an expensive child (read: health issues), and how she was owed this money. I hadn’t spoken to her in 4 years prior to that. Real tough situation.”
#7. I didn’t cover for him.
“At my on-campus job, the manager was fucking an employee. His wife was very suspicious. I often had to answer the phone when she called or she would stop by right after he left with his side piece. I never explicitly said he was having an affair to her (I didn’t have absolute proof at the time) but I didn’t cover for him in any way at all. I knew he was pissed I wouldn’t lie for him but he knew he couldn’t say anything about it to me.”
#6. If the mom didn’t stop me.
“I grew up not actively doing religious stuff and I lived in the middle of an aggressively Mormon neighborhood. One day when I was in the third grade I was invited to one of my super Mormon friends house for dinner. I went and her mother asked me to say grace. Being a stupid 10 year old with no idea how to say I didn’t know how, I clasped my hands together and mumbled under my breath for five minutes. *five minutes *. I probably would of gone long if the mom didn’t stop me.
I didn’t have dinner with them again.”
#5. The guy you are replacing.
“Being trained to do the job by the guy you are replacing. Three weeks of hanging with the guy, talking, learning that he thought he was going to be able to go on vacation after I finished training and how thankful he was for them hiring me.”
#4. Never said a word.
“My dad told his then girlfriend he paid for my student loan and downpayment of my house because she kept begging him for money and he needed to make it look like he had none. He also figured it would make him look good. Gave my daughter all my money to help her kinda thing.
The way I found out he told her this was when she called me SCREAMING that I was selfish for taking all of my dad’s money. He’ll have nothing left for retirement you selfish piece of shit child! If you were my daughter I would DISOWN you. Good, bye. My dad didn’t defend me or anything. Never said a word.
What bothered me most though was the fact that my dad never, and I mean never gave me a dime for anything my entire life. He had to lie to make himself look good but never ever actually did anything to make himself good.”
#3. Super awkward.
“I went to school with a set of twin girls. The first one got pregnant super young. Then, after her baby was born, her twin got pregnant. At the baby shower for the second twin, the twins’ Mom is saying something about both of them having learned their lesson and not having any more babies for a long time. She noticed the look on the first twin’s face and started freaking out. Twin one was pregnant again. The mom was standing between the guests and the door yelling at her two teenage pregnant daughters. Super awkward.”
#2. He was a really good guy.
“I caught my sister cheating on her husband. I introduced them to each other, and I had worked with him for a few years. We weren’t really close at the time, but it sucked because he was a really good guy.”
#1. I wanted to just crawl under the table.
“My husband and I went to a Wine and Paint event one evening. My canvas was angled so I had to face the couple across us and to the left a little bit. There were about 6 couples at our table and everyone was pretty quiet focusing on their painting. The woman I was facing randomly said, “Do you know my husband?” to me because she thought I was looking at him across the table. In reality, I was looking at the teachers painting past him. You could feel how uncomfortable everyone at the table was and I wanted to just crawl under the table.”