I'd say that at my age, I've learned to care much, much less about what people think of me, and not to sweat weird situations too much.  Regardless of my age, however, here are just a few situations where I'll be completely paralzyed by awkwardness.

Parties where I only know the host--OMG how awkward are these situations?  You can't monopolize the host for the whole time, so you're forced to either stand right outside someone's conversation and just HOPE they'll pay attention to you.  Sometimes the host is nice enough to introduce you to another guest, but this can backfire, too.  This situation happened to me recently at a party:  the host introduced me to another couple, who immediately turned and pointedly ignored me as soon as the host walked away.  Blarg.

The old "There's that co-worker I barely know about to cross paths with me" Time-the-Hello Moment--How, as humans, have we been able to endure these overly awkward situations for so many years?  I'm TERRIBLE at them.  I usually blurt out an overly hearty HI or barely speak at all.  The former way makes me look like a crazy-pants, the latter makes me look like an introvert.  Neither way makes me look cool.

When someone else commits a faux pas that I'd be horribly embarrassed about if it were me, but he or she doesn't give a crap--I'm talking to you, Public Nose Picker, Loud Farter, and Inappropriate Language in a Fancy-Pants Place.  Oh man, I turn red for these people and want to hide under the nearest table.  I feel awkward by association.

What situations always make you feel awkward?

Posted by The Naked Redhead