Anytime that someone feels out of their comfort zone, feels alienated, or feels embarrassed, the situation is generally labeled as "awkward." In an "awkward" situation, people tend to be unsure on what to say or do, they become anxious because they desperately want to stray back into their own individual comfort zones, and this anxiety quickly spreads throughout all individuals in the situation. It is tacit among all in this scenario that the other individual or individuals are experiencing the same uneasiness as you.
The first day of Sociology class, our teacher did not follow the cliche idea formed in our minds as students since we were very young of standing in front of the class and introducing himself. Instead, he proceeded to sit in a chair in the back of the class, almost acting as one of our peers. Not only did he sit in the back, but sat right behind me. He did not say one word. All the students including myself, began to find a sense of nervous humor in the situation, that sense eventually turned into a quite uncomfortable feeling. The silence continued for a good couple minutes and as people looked around confused on what to do, I figured that since this was out of the "social norm", he probably wanted one of us to say something to start off the class. So as an icebreaker, I looked directly at him, thought carefully, and decided a subtle "sup" was a suitable option. After I said that, a few people chuckled, including my teacher, but the silence still continued. A few more minutes past and finally a girl sitting in the front of the class introduced herself. Our teacher got up from the back seat in the classroom, walked to the front, and began class.
Sup, Jared? :-) With your posts, you don't have to waste too much time explaining what we did - instead talk more about why we did it - what was the lesson? Then, don't forget to relate the lessons to something unique from your own experiences.
ReplyDeleteI like how you expanded your vocabulary my good man. I do believe that awkwardness spreads through the people in the situation because they are stuck to the norm of all other classes (stop talking and listen for the teacher at the start of class) in this case not having any direction by sal made everyone feel awkward, myself included, and out of our confort zones ending up in silence then a ""suble "sup"" haha this is how most "akward" situations tend to end up. We have had many totally different awkward situations in our time that always start in silence and always end in laughter because of a joke or something as small as "sup". People need to start being more "sociologically mindful" of the situations they are in so they can understand the origin of this awkward feeling and stop it. Then there will finally be no awkward situations- that would be sweet.
ReplyDeleteshibby,
feldy