You can find embarrassing situations left, right, and center. The closer you’ll look, the more you start thinking about what situations are truly socially awkward, the more likely you are to realize that navigating through life can be a nightmare, with pitfalls everywhere. Hopefully, alien species don’t have to deal with the same stuff that we do, whatever part of the galaxy they’re from.
Even situations that logically thinking shouldn’t be embarrassing at all can have us blushing from the awkwardness. That’s exactly what TikTok user Lily, aka Big_big_simp shared in her viral video about all the little things that she sees as totally embarrassing for no reason. From sneezing in class (oh, Lord, I’ve been there and it’s awful) to walking across the street with a car stopped in front of you and more.
The internet’s full of similar simple but super awkward situations that many of you Pandas are bound to relate to. I know I do. Check them out below, upvote the ones that you find the most embarrassing, and let us know in the comments what situations make you cringe inside so much, you want to run away and live as a hermit on a mountaintop. And be sure to read on for Lily's interview with Bored Panda. Oh, and keep in mind that being embarrassed has its upsides!
A lot of people related to Lily's viral video about the weird things we find embarrassing
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People watching you do things then it makes you forget how to do things normally
Pretending to need something else at the groceries until the person moves out of the way of what you actually need
Bored Panda reached out to Lily to learn more about her viral video. She told me she "definitely didn't expect" to get so much attention online. Going viral was a pleasant surprise for her. "One of my friends actually inspired me to make the video. My friend and I were talking about things that we think are embarrassing and I decided to make a TikTok video about it," she revealed the inspiration behind the incredibly successful video.
When your chair moves and makes a fart noise and then you have to try to recreate it to let everyone know u didn’t fart
Walking out of a store without buying anything
my mind goes "oh god what if i've accidentally shoplifted"
I’m a former cashier. You wouldn’t worry so much about what I thought of you if you knew how seldom I did.
I don't like to waste people's time. But I just say Thank you if I leave without buying anything. They seem to appreciate that.
I'm not as bothered in a big shop, but in a small, independent shop I feel guilty for not buying anything, because they are small and likely need the money. :S
Actually with this one I just find it frustrating. I just want to feel that (thoroughly temporary) sense of satisfaction… walking out of a store with a bag.
Why should anyone be embarrassed of not spending their own made money...?
It's not so much the money. It's weird but walking out of a store empty handed always gets me thinking "act natural, you haven't stolen anything, just act natural". I KNOW the detector thingies aren't going to beep and the security guard isn't going to stop me because I haven't done anything wrong....but the thoughts still come.
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Probably because sometimes they think it's suspicious you walk in and walk out without buying anything like you stole something.
I give off a vibe from my disappearing spine which says 'Hey, you didn't have what I was looking for, so your store's s**t and here am I leaving it, see yeah!" and find it's easy to leave empty-handed!
total o.k. ! if the fridge is filled and you´re looking for something special, but it´s not offered in that place ....
Not sure why that's embaressing or awkward. I've done that dozens of times when the store didn't have what I wanted. I just had a look around, couldn't find it and left. No biggie.
Honey sticks! The stores around me never have them! I walk out empty handed most of the time! It’s so annoying!
When the shop doesn't have what I need I walk out blaming the staff for not having them in stock.
Lol! We have a hardware store near here that is FULL of products, but has never ONCE had the item I need. I still check them out, but have NO problem walking out on them. Had a key made there once for my car door. Didn't work. I just trusted the girl knew what she was doing. I went back, and explained to a different clerk, and he was very nice, and searched his rack going "hmmm. GM, GM, GM...I can't find which GM key she used??" I said, well, I have a Dodge...
Leaving Costco empty handed, I just threw my hands up and declared, "I've bought it all".
Meanwhile if you are in vloyhes store, it's not a big deal. I guess it's because you usually don't go to grocery store just looking like 'hey, very nice potatoes here but not in my size, bye'
*clothes store (sorry, BP keeps crashing when I try to edit my comment)
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Really? I walk out of stores empty handed many times. I never thought of it being embarrassing. LOL!
Whenever I'm leaving a store empty handed, that means they didn't have what I came there for, and I walk out with the attitude that I WANT somebody to stop me. I won't voluntarily go all Karen and seek someone out to complain at for not having what I want, but if you come up to me? Get ready.
That doesn't bother me anymore. I end up being frustrated I didn't find what I wanted.
If you can't afford it or what they advertised is gone no reason not to walk out wave as you leave!
You say bye and you both walk to the same direction together
I wanted to get Lily's take on why the video resonated with so many people and why they find these situations very embarrassing. According to her, it's all about unwanted attention. "I think that people find these kinds of things embarrassing because you feel like everyone is watching you. The best advice I could give is to try and ignore everyone else and just focus on yourself," she told Bored Panda.
Lily added that she fully believes that showing signs of embarrassment strengthens social connections.
Walking back after bowling
Gutter balls - that will do it every time - and with me that is every time.
Getting out of the pool
I’m convinced that a lot of these are learned. I have medication-level social anxiety and it’s never occurred to me to worry about stuff like this, and it makes me wonder if that’s because I spent so much time alone that I never learned those insecurities.
Lily’s viral video got over 7.5 million views since being posted on July 22. What’s more, the video was liked a whopping 1.4 million times, reshared 35.5k times, and received 24k comments. Obviously, a whole bunch of people could relate to the TikToker’s brain finding random situations embarrassing.
It got me thinking that life can truly be incredibly difficult if we don’t have the mental fortitude to accept things as they come. Fortunately for us, embarrassment is, well, nothing to be embarrassed about! Earlier, I had a chat about this with Vanessa Bohns, an Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior at Cornell University and the author of the forthcoming book 'You Have More Influence Than You Think.’
when you see someone coming your direction from super far away and you have to awkwardly wait until theyre close enough to smile or say hi
If it's someone I know well, I sometimes make big goofy arm waves from far away. That way they're more embarassed than me. And sometimes a stranger may think you wave at them, wave back and be embarassed as well when they realise it was not for them. Wich is a nice added bonus.
somone holding the door open for you but you're still a bit far from the door
Vanessa explained to Bored Panda that when we openly and honestly demonstrate that we’re embarrassed, instead of hiding it, this helps us connect to others better.
“Displaying signs of mild embarrassment can actually be socially constructive and make people feel more sympathetic towards you in the face of your faux pas,” Vanessa told Bored Panda earlier.
when someone knocks on the door while you’re in the restroom & you have to answer so they know you’re in there
I either say "Come back with a warrant" or "There's room for us both if you're willing to cross streams"
Walking up the stairs in front of someone
And holding your breath so they don't hear you panting like a dog.
“I don’t necessarily think you need to take pains to hide it,” she said that we should embrace how we’re feeling at the moment. The goal, however, is to prevent your embarrassment from turning into shame.
“What you want to be careful not to do is to let embarrassment morph into the more destructive self-conscious emotion of shame, where you feel so badly about a minor mistake that you start to think there is something wrong with you and feel the need to completely disappear and hide away yourself,” Vanessa said.
The worst one is looking for someone in a restaurant who is already there but you don’t know where they’re sitting
I get embarrassed the most when I speak and no one hears me then someone goes WHAT
Entering a elevator with a bunch of people and the whole time it’s silent.
Turning around and walking the other way.
This used to feel awkward for me. I would be walking on a road filled with people then remember that I forgot something at home. Then I would whip out my phone and pretend that I got a call so as to turn back. Not anymore. I just turn around whenever I want to.
Eating messy food
Coughing/sneezing in class
I have a story for you, before covid I got a cold during winter and none of my professors at university were bothered by this, as it is quite common for a few students to get colds. That is until I had a class with one of the associate professors and he told me to leave the classroom... Not because I was sick and would give it to others, but because I was breaking his concentration when I coughed occasionally!!! The funniest thing was that most students hadn't even noticed, so everyone was shocked by his petty comment. From my point of view, he created more disruption by stopping the class and forcing me to leave
Pushing your grocery cart to only realize you got the squeakiest/loudest cart
I thought it was going to say "only buying beer and snacks". Because I find that slightly embarrassing. Without any "adult" items like bread or milk or egg etc..
Wiping my nose
Blowing my nose is embarrassing. Unfortunately I am a loud blower, I have tried many times to do it quietly but I just can't seem to.
Walking past a group of 8th graders
Young people! Scary. I'm always afraid they'll make fun of me, just like in 8th grade.
when you’re backing out your car and someone is waiting to take your spot
Walking past a group of people the same age as you
It gets less and less frequent the older you get, if it can reassure you.
Eating in front of ppl
Its worse being overweight and eating, even if it's healthy.
Note: this post originally had 37 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
A lot of these dont suggest embarrassment so much as extreme social anxiety. I remember feeling awkward with some of these, not embarrassed, but one of the lovely things about reaching the other side of 35 is that there seems to be a switch in your brain and you no longer even notice, much less care about many of these situations. However - the farting chair *never* loses the embarrassment factor!
Yes! As I said on a couple of them, I’ve never been embarrassed by stuff like that and I still qualified to go on social anxiety medication. If these things embarrass you, it’s worth trying to talk to an expert.
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Sometimes I’ll randomly wonder if I’m walking weird and then I’ll forget how I walk normally so I’ll just keep walking hoping I’m doing it right
I choke on my own spit embarrassingly often, enough that I fail at being human.
Yesss.... And it seems like everytime I choke on spit its always in public...
Load More Replies... Coughing, sneezing or laughing and suddenly a fart slips out.
Tripping or stumbling in public. I still remember a time I tripped, but didn't fall, outside a pub in London in 2009 and everyone went "waaaaayhaayyyyyy". 10% of me died that day.
Walking through customs at an airport. Did I pack £3million's worth of cocaine back at the hotel? I'm sure I didn't.
I'm a bit worried for some of these people. Age cures many of these problems though, as nsg says
I relate with each of these situations. I have First World anxiety. Hahahahaha
One that gets me is following a host/hostess to my seat and they are speed walking
Even worse when you are there with someone! Then, you are stuck in the middle of slowing down so the person you came with catches up or getting lost after losing sight of the hostesses.
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Walking past other humans makes you nervous? I'm sympathetic here guys, but honestly, if it doesn't bother you when other people do it, then it doesn't bother them when you do it. The small percentage of the population which sits in a restaurant and judges everyone who walks through the door reminds me...""How dangerous it is to allow other people to determine how you're going to feel about you? It's like looking into a broken mirror, and you're going to look at a broken mirror and then change your face to try to look good in this defiled busted, broken mirror." (Will Smith)
Thank you. I hadn't heard that before, and it kind of helps.
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If your reading this I hope you have a great day and know. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 NIV
Before the pandemic… when you are walking in a crowded parking lot and have no idea in which isle your car is. I would walk aimlessly but then a car would start following me in order to take the spot I would be pulling out off. No this is not a cover parking; that would be dangerous! I would turn and yell that I wasn’t leaving.
I'll be turning 52 later this month, and I realize that most of these just really don't bother me anymore. You just get to a point where you just don't care. Although public speaking should have made this list.
When you've dropped some food on your shirt and it's really obvious (like white shirt and tomato sauce) and you have to walk past a lot of people out of the restaurant
It’s a confrontational therapy kind of thing. After being mortified by all this, you reap your reward and get used to it to the point of not feeling ashamed anymore.
I say stupid things and rue the day AND never forget them. These are mostly nothing to blush at. Passing wind in front of lesser friends is, however, mortifying.
This should be titled, a few awkward things and the rest an introvert's daily life.
I always feel irrationally embarassed when the seller/waiter knows exactly what I'm going to order. I'm the type who will listen/eat/drink something that I love until I'm sick of it, so this situation came very often.
Seems like everything is becoming Awkward in this technically suppressed world
I always feel like I'm being watched cause cameras are everywhere nowadays..
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Have we devolved to the point where any movement/action is a cause for dread? If so, why? My theory is that we're all terrified (or some of us are?) that we'll end up on the internet for a perfectly natural OOPS! moment. And be mocked. Etc.
You know some of these appear to be just silly but most of them are fear of not being accepted because we think we do something strange by sneezing or walking in a strange manner. Get an attitude of WHY NOT Just watch everyone else each one has some strange manner look at them closely they are probably dealing with the same thing you are. Remember what Ben Franklin said "FART PROUDLY".
Using a fan on public transports. They're loud and I feel kinda stupid holding it. Is it just me?
There have been times when I could have done with one on the bus. I'm sure it's not as annoying to other passengers as a loud phone conversation or someone watching videos without headphones. And someone beside you is probably glad of the breeze too.
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This young woman is mentally ill and in need of a trip to a doctor. It's NOT NORMAL to obsess about these things. Not one of them is legitimately embarrassing.
If this is true, why do so many of them get a high score from other pandas? Anyway, who's to say what's normal?
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Bullies like you are the cause of that anxiety for most people
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A lot of these dont suggest embarrassment so much as extreme social anxiety. I remember feeling awkward with some of these, not embarrassed, but one of the lovely things about reaching the other side of 35 is that there seems to be a switch in your brain and you no longer even notice, much less care about many of these situations. However - the farting chair *never* loses the embarrassment factor!
Yes! As I said on a couple of them, I’ve never been embarrassed by stuff like that and I still qualified to go on social anxiety medication. If these things embarrass you, it’s worth trying to talk to an expert.
Load More Replies... Sometimes I’ll randomly wonder if I’m walking weird and then I’ll forget how I walk normally so I’ll just keep walking hoping I’m doing it right
I choke on my own spit embarrassingly often, enough that I fail at being human.
Yesss.... And it seems like everytime I choke on spit its always in public...
Load More Replies... Coughing, sneezing or laughing and suddenly a fart slips out.
Tripping or stumbling in public. I still remember a time I tripped, but didn't fall, outside a pub in London in 2009 and everyone went "waaaaayhaayyyyyy". 10% of me died that day.
Walking through customs at an airport. Did I pack £3million's worth of cocaine back at the hotel? I'm sure I didn't.
I'm a bit worried for some of these people. Age cures many of these problems though, as nsg says
I relate with each of these situations. I have First World anxiety. Hahahahaha
One that gets me is following a host/hostess to my seat and they are speed walking
Even worse when you are there with someone! Then, you are stuck in the middle of slowing down so the person you came with catches up or getting lost after losing sight of the hostesses.
Load More Replies... Walking past other humans makes you nervous? I'm sympathetic here guys, but honestly, if it doesn't bother you when other people do it, then it doesn't bother them when you do it. The small percentage of the population which sits in a restaurant and judges everyone who walks through the door reminds me...""How dangerous it is to allow other people to determine how you're going to feel about you? It's like looking into a broken mirror, and you're going to look at a broken mirror and then change your face to try to look good in this defiled busted, broken mirror." (Will Smith)
Thank you. I hadn't heard that before, and it kind of helps.
Load More Replies... If your reading this I hope you have a great day and know. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 NIV
Before the pandemic… when you are walking in a crowded parking lot and have no idea in which isle your car is. I would walk aimlessly but then a car would start following me in order to take the spot I would be pulling out off. No this is not a cover parking; that would be dangerous! I would turn and yell that I wasn’t leaving.
I'll be turning 52 later this month, and I realize that most of these just really don't bother me anymore. You just get to a point where you just don't care. Although public speaking should have made this list.
When you've dropped some food on your shirt and it's really obvious (like white shirt and tomato sauce) and you have to walk past a lot of people out of the restaurant
It’s a confrontational therapy kind of thing. After being mortified by all this, you reap your reward and get used to it to the point of not feeling ashamed anymore.
I say stupid things and rue the day AND never forget them. These are mostly nothing to blush at. Passing wind in front of lesser friends is, however, mortifying.
This should be titled, a few awkward things and the rest an introvert's daily life.
I always feel irrationally embarassed when the seller/waiter knows exactly what I'm going to order. I'm the type who will listen/eat/drink something that I love until I'm sick of it, so this situation came very often.
Seems like everything is becoming Awkward in this technically suppressed world
I always feel like I'm being watched cause cameras are everywhere nowadays..
Load More Replies... Have we devolved to the point where any movement/action is a cause for dread? If so, why? My theory is that we're all terrified (or some of us are?) that we'll end up on the internet for a perfectly natural OOPS! moment. And be mocked. Etc.
You know some of these appear to be just silly but most of them are fear of not being accepted because we think we do something strange by sneezing or walking in a strange manner. Get an attitude of WHY NOT Just watch everyone else each one has some strange manner look at them closely they are probably dealing with the same thing you are. Remember what Ben Franklin said "FART PROUDLY".
Using a fan on public transports. They're loud and I feel kinda stupid holding it. Is it just me?
There have been times when I could have done with one on the bus. I'm sure it's not as annoying to other passengers as a loud phone conversation or someone watching videos without headphones. And someone beside you is probably glad of the breeze too.
Load More Replies... This young woman is mentally ill and in need of a trip to a doctor. It's NOT NORMAL to obsess about these things. Not one of them is legitimately embarrassing.
If this is true, why do so many of them get a high score from other pandas? Anyway, who's to say what's normal?
Load More Replies... Bullies like you are the cause of that anxiety for most people
Load More Replies...