The Inevitability of Awkward

The older I get the more I realize, awkward is inevitable. 

This past weekend Mary was on a Mimi's World binge and while I popped in and out of the vaguely entertaining reality special I was horrified by one thing: awkward flirting. Mariah and one of her dancers Tanaka flirted in the most excruciating way. The really unsexy, kind of 12 year old way where you say stuff while smiling too much and then giggling while you walk away. Every time they were on screen together I couldn't help but hide my face.

Fast forward to tonight during a meeting with my teens while debriefing about how well they facilitating an event last week. "Talking to the other kids is so awkward!" One after one they each said the same thing and then resolved to learn how to make it less awkward when talking to strangers. I tried to explain that talking to strangers rarely gets less awkward, you simply have to deal with the awkwardness and keep it moving.

Later I watched my current favorite and VERY awkward show New Girl. I love that show because it highlights the everyday stupid stuff and of course the unbearably awkward. Like when you blurt out how something you know about someone because you stalked them on social media. Like when I FB commented on my elementary school's crush last week exclaiming, "1997! Isn't that the year you moved to Hawaii?" UGH! Why would I divulge that I knew that information, TWENTY YEARS LATER? Classic Jessica Day move. 

The thing about awkward is that it's real life. We've been fed so much media that shows relationships coming together so smoothly, both people are brilliantly witty and suave. I think that's why Issa Rae's Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl did so well. Everyone can relate to feeling like the most awkward person every once in a while. 

So, next time you do something awkward just chalk it up to real life and keep it moving. To quote Hanson "isn't it strange how we all get a little bit weird sometimes?" But really, how awkward was it that I quoted Hanson just there?

via GIPHY

Ok, baiiiii.