- If you are talking to somebody who is looking around the entire conversation, they are probably eager to escape that conversation.
- Girls who are interested in you, act interested in you.
- Status exists in every social circle. There are “cool” nerds, and there are “loser” jocks. We create our own hierarchies.
- Sometimes, it’s way funnier in your head.
- Stories should be succinct and clever. Not long and convoluted.
- I’m a judgmental asshole sometimes. I think it’s a defensive move, a consequence of how I was socialized. But maybe it’s just my nature.
- “Ironic racism/sexism” relies heavily on a pre-establish social context. Without that context, it’s just racism/sexism.
- Don’t answer the question “how old do I look” if you are a man and the person asking the question is a woman. Just don’t. There is no correct answer.
- Awkward people are sometimes so awkward that they make people around them awkward. And then you start to feel like…hey, do they hate me, or do they just not know how to make small talk?
- Be certain that she really is looking at/talking to you before striding on over. There is a good chance that she is not.
About Josh BowmanJosh Bowman is a professional fundraiser, story-teller, comedian, and blogger. He has worked and consulted in Vancouver, New York, and now Toronto for almost a decade. Josh improvises around Toronto, including regular shows with Opening Night Theatre, and also blogs for the Huffington Post. You can email Josh or follow him on Twitter. If you want to submit a guestpost or know more about Josh, check this post and this post out first.
Number 9 definitely applies to sociologists and linguists (i.e. of the linguistics kind, not the multilingual kind). They are so literal-minded about most things they make everyone else around them awkward. Probably the worst in my experience are the sociolinguists, who must be the tensest bunch of people I ever encountered.
Lawyers (and I’m one) are just plain arseholes, but they’re hardly awkward (at least not out of the office). Which, of course, leads on to #6 – they’re arseholes mainly because of how they’re socialised in courtroom settings.
Just my twopence worth. Good post. Love it.
Love your thoughts…and agree. Academics in general are pretty obtuse socially.
One thing I would also add to my post…often when a person is cranky or rude, it’s not about you (or me) at all. They are just having a hard day, or are busy. But it can feel like getting dissed!
Truth, bro, truth.
We’re all judgmental assholes sometimes.
Truth too, especially when we’re face to face with judgmental assholes. It can’t be helped sometimes, so long as 90% of the time we’re not like that.
True!