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The world would be one hell of a boring place without the endless amount of awkward conversations people endure on a daily basis. When you’re in the middle of it, it’s very little fun indeed. We get it. Blushing, sweating and wanting to disappear are some of the very well known adverse effects that come with it. But that’s the price to pay for one heck of a story you gotta tell months and even years later. So in perspective, it’s relatively cheap, right?

So today, we are going on a cringeworthy trip into hilariously painful and embarrassingly awkward exchanges between individuals that have been shared by people online. Scroll down through the collection of priceless convos below, upvote your favorite ones and be sure to share your own awkward convo experiences. And if it feels like you’ve heard similarly cringey dialogues in the first seasons of The Office, it’s likely because only reality can be stranger than fiction.

No one is immune to awkward conversations. I mean, we are all social animals living among fellow human beings, and just as it’s sometimes fun and wonderful to be among them, it's also pretty awkward too. We gotta pay the price for all the fun, right?

So even if we agree that the awkward exchanges you wish would disappear are part of human communication and occasionally we’re gonna get that blushing convo thrown into our daily errands, sometimes the exchanges are so much more complex than that. Especially if you’re dealing with someone who really annoys you. Yep, your colleague, tutor, a friend of friend, you know it.

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Jan Willem ten Dam
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2 years ago

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Foxxy (The Original)
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2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Haha, oops. Yesterday morning my daughter and I were having a chat. She stopped for a minute and started talking into her phone to send a voice message to her bf. I thought she was done and let out a fart. I realised she hadn't finished when she started laughing. She played it back, and yep, you could hear the fart. We said if her bf hears it we will blame the dog.

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Samantha Lomb
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I hate those things. It really does seem like they are talking to you and then they always have the nerve to get pissy when you respond as if you routinely look at people's ears before talking

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In order to find out exactly how to remain calm when dealing with people who irritate you, because as you know very well, it’s unavoidable, we spoke with Susan Petang, a certified stress management coach specializing in painful life changes. “For people who are irritating and annoying, ask yourself, 'Why could they be doing that?' Maybe the dog threw up in their shoes. Maybe they had an argument a few minutes ago. Maybe they had a horrible childhood and they don't know any better.”

Susan also reminds us of a truth as old as history: “usually other people's bad behavior has nothing to do with us.” And even if that doesn't justify their behavior, it helps you to stay calmer.

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Narwhal Blast
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No, I would've done the same. She should've been more specific. I want ice cream.

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Evil Hornet
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You just need to change Your name to "Muslim" - the easiest way to live with it

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The next phase when learning to deal with people you don’t find comfortable is setting boundaries and limits. “Most of the time, the best strategy is to let people's irritating behavior go. It's usually not worth your energy to confront every person who steps on your toes or annoys you. Sometimes, though, you may decide that a line has been crossed and someone's behavior has to be stopped so it doesn't have a negative effect on you.”

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Susan gave a useful example: “To do that, use an XYZ statement: 'When you do X, I feel Y, and I'd like Z.' Here's what that might sound like: ‘When you criticize the reports I do, I feel angry and unhappy. I'd like to get some constructive feedback instead, if you don't like the way I'm writing them.’”

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Marco Conti
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2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Put yourself in her shoes. She is probably posting on Reddit this very moment "Some weird guy asked me if he could pet a muffin I was holding" (I figured that "...he could pet my muffin..." would sound even weirder)

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Most importantly, tone and attitude are everything! “There may be a day when you might irritate someone else—so how would you want to be spoken to? Be the change you want to see, because your actions are teaching others how you want to be treated,” the stress management coach concluded.

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Samantha Lomb
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2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In fairness I've never heard of wine served by the liter even in metric countries. In Russia its glass or bottle.

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Jo Choto
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

When you work in customer service of any kind, it's best never, ever to make a comment on people's choices, purchases, transactions or anything else.

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Dodo
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Some places actually tell cashiers to make small talk, which is very likely to be about the purchases. One of the reasons I prefer self-service.

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Nubis Knight
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Can't wrap my mind around the fact checks are still a thing in some countries. It's so much safer to use cash Transfer. @_@

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Id row
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah, I wish employees would stop commenting on what the customer is doing/buying. Really rude at the supermarket and bank. "Oh, you're buying a lot of x. That's a lot of sugar." If I wanted your personal opinion and criticisms, I'd ask. Please just be semi-professional and keep the personal commentary about the customer's business out of it.

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Helen Davies
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

True story ...a man I knew slightly sat his wife down beside me at an event he was busy hosting. We got to chatting, small talk. She was nice. I said, do you and *husband* have children? She said ... none that lived. Mic drop. Later I found out she was grieving a stillborn. Lesson: children are now in the category of religion and politics at social events unless you know someone well.

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Anita Pickle
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That is why you do not make chit chat. I once saw a man breakdown in a grocery store buying flowers when the cashier said "you must be in the dog house" the flowers were for his wife's grave, she past recently he was on his way to visit.

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Jill Bussey
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I admired how much weight someone had lost. She said "actually I have terminal cancer."

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Tami
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oy, I did just the opposite once. Saw a guy I hadn't seen in a long time, and he'd lost a bunch of weight. I asked him, "Have you been sick?" No, he hadn't, he'd been dieting.

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Rocky Mom
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yup, should not ever comment on someone's business. That isn't casual to say, it demeans it.

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Robert Thompson
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I feel like it would be inappropriate to talk about money at the bank unless the customer was leading the conversation. 🤔

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. a
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Kind of like the MRI tech who said "Wow, you're super lucky they got you in same day--it normally takes months to get an appointment". ME: "Um, it's not lucky if they think you need to get scanned the same day. It means it's very serious."

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Tami
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yikes! I notice the tellers at my bank are very non-chatty about transactions, and this may be one reason why.

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LH25
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I was 18 when my dad died. I got a little money from a life insurance policy he had for us. I actually had an acquaintance tell me how lucky I was...

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LoveAllOfYou
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I was 16 years old, and a new waitress at an ice cream/burger joint . A guy sits down and starts ordering (I think), only I can't understand him at all. He looked strange too. So I panicked, and just scurried back to my manager, and whisper "Can you take the customer at that table? The guy is creepy, and I think he's on drugs or has a mental disability because he's making no sense." She walks up front and said "Oh, no. That's my husband. He's deaf, so his speech can be difficult to understand." I quit that day because I felt so bad. Still makes me feel horrible to this day when I think about it.

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Brandi VanSteenwyk
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That reminded me of the time, new to working in our satellite clinic, I was getting to know the regular patients with a bit of conversation. One young man came in and presented me with his driver license and insurance card as requested. I took a look at the ID just before placing it in the copy machine and did a double take at the patient's picture. If was obvious that he had lost a great deal of weight since the picture was taken. He was now an average sized fellow verses the obese one in the picture. Taking that as a positive conversation cue, I said "Wow! You've lost a lot of weight. That couldn't have been easy. Congratulations." I was kind of surprised when he didn't offer to share his journey or tips learned et al. Then I started adding the patient data to our system and completely understood..... This young man (no older than 25 years) had Stage 4 Colon Cancer. He was dying. A few HUGE lessons learned that day.

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Jace
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is the only one in this list so far that I’ve seen that is truly painful. Everything else is harmless. This is sad and definitely a social faux pas.

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Susan Stead
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That happened when I took a check from my mom's estate to the bank. Yeah, I told the teller I'd rather have my mom when she commented that she'd like a check like that.

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beau danner
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That near EXACT conversation happened to my mother 😳😳😳 She replied "I'd rather have my husband back" ... Are you in Indiana??

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Monsieur Joey
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2 years ago

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Davo gifman
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2 years ago

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S
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2 years ago

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While I totally understand them wanting the person back instead of the money, saying that was kind of rude in my opinion. How does anyone respond to that?

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Marco Conti
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Reminds me of my dad when he forgot his glasses and asked my mother who the weird guy by the door was. The "weird guy" was a coat hanger in a restaurant.

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Mihai Mara
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Tesco lad trying to get out of an awkward situation: "nooo, it's part of the meal deal" :D

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Mihai Mara
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The customer: "I was afraid to ask, but yes, I would like them in a bag" :) *Po-po-po-poker face po-po-poker face*

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Narwhal Blast
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is my nightmare when I go shoe shopping: that someone will try on or steal my shoes...

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Davo gifman
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's hilarious! It's almost as funny as falling down, and eating ass.🥴😁😆🤣

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Kendra Miller
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Librarians help a LOT of people. There is a good chance they didn't know you. They were probably ready to point you in the direction of the bathroom except you turned and left. They wouldn't have known what to do with the money so it would have been entered as a donation at the end of the day. Lastly, library accounts expire after a year and at my library are deleted after two years of inactivity, meaning no record of the original fine. It's been three years, it's time to go back and start afresh.

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Donkey boi
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's why I always make surely to cheek what I've typed before I press scent!

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Luther von Wolfen
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Same thing happened to my grandmother. She thought her son (my dad) was calling from college. It was actually some other college kid trying to call his mom. They had a nice chat before they figured it out.

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Davo gifman
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well let's hope this story comes to mind if he ever asks you to marry him.

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Monday
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I did something similar....We had a second unscheduled school assembly one week (the first was because a student had died) and asked my friend group "geez who died this time?"...it was a teacher. He was murdered. We got to go home early.

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Narwhal Blast
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

First of all, maybe they should've started with that and secondly, please learn how to phrase, no matter your position. Not taking orders seems like a good response.

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