There's little more embarrassing than being caught in an awkward situation.
These include telling an ill-timed joke which might be too true to be funny, passing gas in a moment of silence, or going in for a hug when all that was expected is a handshake.
The sheer humiliation of these experiences is enough to keep us up at night for days, weeks, and even months.
However, cold comfort it may be, these situations are not at all uncommon.
In fact, the above situations, and countless more, occur far more frequently than anyone might think.
Redditor LaiqTheMaia was curious to hear about awkward situations in which everyone has likely found themselves, leading them to ask:
"What's a really awkward situation that everyone can relate with?"
The Dryer Was Broken...
"Someone trying to initiate a handshake after you’ve just washed your hands."
"It’s either a few awkward seconds of quickly drying your hands on your jeans, or shaking their hand anyway and seeing the discomfort in their eyes."-- JDizzlez99809
Left Hangin'...
"Saying 'hello' or 'how are you' to somebody and getting 100% ignored."- 2Alien4Earth
The Anticipation...
"Someone showing everyone in the group something on their phone and waiting until it is your turn."- cbakapeiehnak
Bored Cabin Fever GIFGiphyLoud Bodily Functions...
"Having your stomach rumble in the middle of a quiet class /meeting."
"Both in college, and at store meetings, my go-to cover-up strategy was to furiously flip through pages of notes to try and drown it out."- JSuperStition
...[Crickets]...
"When you run out of things to say during a conversation and you’re not quite sure how to end it..."- Ronin12793
Isn't That Interesting?
"Not being able to pick up when someone else is completely disinterested in what you are talking about."- st0pxer
Tired Pbs Nature GIF by Nature on PBSGiphyMysterious Noises...
"Ever drag your shoe across a tile floor and have it make a loud, wet, fart sound, so everyone in the room looks at you?"
"Then you insist it was your shoe and try to make the sound again, but nothing happens?"
"Yeah, that."- StillN0tATony
"Hi... You..."
"When you've had multiple interactions with someone but you can't remember their name but it's gone too far to admit you've forgotten it so you just have to call them love or mate forever."- Ells_Bells1
Who Can Answer That?
"Being called on to answer a question you really have no idea how to answer."- drbrockstar69
sitting eric cartman GIF by South Park GiphyAt Least They're Not My Parents...
"Being at a friends house as a kid and the friend's mother starts yelling at your friend."
"Being at a friends house as a kid and the friend's father walks in only wearing underwear."- TheBassMeister
Who hasn't found themself the awkward situation at least once.
Such having gone through a humiliating experience which you think everybody goes through.
Only to ask your friends if it ever happened to them, and found yourself greeted with stunned silence.
Reasons why you should always make sure there is ice cream in your freezer...
Curious to hear examples from those who've witnessed extremely unusual behavior at these facilities had plenty to share when Redditor N3SSDOGGDOGG asked:
"People who have spent time in a Psych Ward what is the craziest thing you’ve witnessed?"
One thing is certain. There is never a dull moment.
Consequences Of Enabling Drug Addiction
"In our tiny community some kids are smelly because typically the parents are addicts who either didn't pay their water bill, don't own a washer/dryer or are too brain dead to care. The nearest laundromat is now 30 miles away because the local one got broken into and robbed too many times by. Our school is awesome, there are staff members who do laundry for these kids and make sure they get showers. It's discreet so they're not ridiculed. I hate how our society enables addiction and even celebrates drug use, but I don't know how we can fix it at this point. It's gotten completely out of hand."
– Marisleysis33
Taking You To A Live Commercial
"My brother-in-law had a stint in a psych ward a little over a year ago, and on a particularly manic day they were in the middle of the community room and started singing."
“I have a structured settlement and I need cash now”
"This was then met by about 40-50 psych patients shouting back."
“CALL J.G. WENTWORTH!!! 877-CASH-NOW!!!”
"After getting a few verses in the orderlies stepped in and kindly requested they stop, which was kinda a shame since it sounded like they were all having a good time."
– MikeMars1225
Select Highlights
"I've worked in one for about 2 years now. The staff are just as crazy."
"Here's some highlights"
"Patient got into the ceiling, couldn't get them down for a while."
"Patient milked themself into their coffee. Did you know some anti-psychotics make you lactate?"
"The entire adolescent unit escaping because maintenence forgot to lock the gate. Don't worry. They all came back eventually."
"And myself getting a concussion from a patient trying to escape, they weren't successful, but at least I didn't work for 6 weeks."
– NeverlandEnding
Character Performance
"The funniest thing I ever saw (spent total of about three years in in my teens and early 20's): a kid in seclusion who was having a genuinely good time making staff's life a living nightmare while he was in there, took apart the plastic mattress, tore the foam inside into small pieces, donned the empty mattress and started yelling 'I'M GUMBY, DAMMIT!' while tossing the pieces of foam around like confetti. Even most of the staff were laughing about it."
– t_portch
Physical violence seemed to be a common occurrence.
He Had A Violent Streak
"Not a patient but an employee. Had a 16 year old kid come in who was about 6'2 220 pounds. Built like a linebacker. I found out since he was technically a child he somehow ended up at an autism school for children with very little security. He ended up inflicting a TBI on one of the teachers and got sent to us. The kid had a violent streak the likes I hadn't seen before, he knew he was stronger than most and liked to fight unprovoked and it always took 4 to 6 people to restrain him. I never seen a patient spend more time than him in the 'safety room' an incredibly small padded room with nothing in it. His parents wouldnt authorize his move somewhere else and they wouldn't take him home either. We were not equipt for someone with his level of violence. So there he sat... For one and a half years..."
"It wasn't like a single incident that was crazy, it was the entire situation."
– DisagreeableFool
David And Wendy
"I was in an adolescent inpatient facility for 30 days. One kid named David who was very tall for his age, I think he was only 13. He insisted on watching Friday the 13th movies on movie nights and everyone was afraid to disagree with him because of his violent nature and frequent homicidal fantasies. He hated taking his meds, and probably 2 or 3 times a week he'd brawl with the psych nurses over it. No joke, it took 5 to 6 large grown men to overcome this kid. He was scary."
– better-off-ted
A Mother's Experience
"My mother worked in an asylum in Ireland when she was about 15. This was in the early 60s. She loved working there, despite the fact that some of the patients would physically try and kill her. One patient always stuck out to her, every day he would tell my mum he was going to kill her when she finished work. She knew he loved music, so would tell him she was out dancing that night, and could he wait until the next day, which he agreed to. The next day he would forget what he had said, and would threaten her again, and she'd say the say thing again. This went on for a couple of years that she worked there."
– tiredandstupid82
Turns out some patients weren't seeing a change of scenery any time soon.
Fighting To Stay
"I work inpatient and we had someone who was in for 2 1/2 years. They would try to take him out but he would start fighting immediately and eventually said he preferred it."
– Deathdad
Simon
I was a social worker at an institution that had a hall for what we called 'lifers,' it was essentially for people who had no hopes of ever being released due to their conditions. Anyway, my hall had 14 beds and it was full. There was this one guy who was huge. He was 6’7 and about 350. His name was Simon. He suffered from drug-induced schizophrenia and had bipolar disorder. He talked to himself all day, but never talked to others. All the other men in the ward were scared of him."
"It was my day to do first shift. I got there early to start on some paperwork I needed to finish. When I got my keys in the door, I heard Simon hit the door with his fists. I looked through the tiny window on the door and he and the hall was covered in blood. I panicked and called security for backup because I thought he had killed somebody."
"Turns out, Simon was in the throes of an extreme manic episode and had managed to walk the literal soles of his feet off. Other medication he was on thinned his blood and led to him bleeding all over the place."
"We checked the camera footage and he had walked and talked all night. The orderly (who was fired that day) had slept through his whole shift and never heard Simon walking back and forth."
– CamillaCream02
Some of these examples sound like they could patients in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, without Nurse Ratched tormenting them.
But props to the real humans who are compassionate and look after those who can't function alone in society.
