Questions tagged [awkward-situations]
For questions about situations which are awkward for anyone concerned. This tag should be used when awkwardness is the key part of the problem.
368
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How can I carefully inquire if I would be welcome to join a group of colleagues at their regular social event?
I have learned that a group of colleagues sometimes meet after work for a social activity. I might be interested to join them, but they have not invited me. How can I carefully inquire if they would ...
- 2,041
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365
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How can I enforce boundaries with a clingy younger woman without hurting her
Background
Six months ago two sisters started to attend an association I am volunteering at. I developed a huge crush on the older sister, so I tried to approach her, but without success. Unexpectedly ...
- 21
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370
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Is it acceptable to save seats for friends/relatives in waiting areas?
I've come across this rude habit of some people in the waiting areas at airports or hospitals wherein they place something (like a handbag or a water bottle) on a vacant seat next to them, and claim ...
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251
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How to turn down all future invitations without sounding rude?
Situation:
I am invited to various functions by someone I see regularly (peers, coworkers, friends of friends). When I reject their invitations they will continue to invite me to things even if I ...
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1
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352
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Best way to bring up you real name, after fake has been used [closed]
Some months ago I joined a website because I wanted to get better at a certain skill. As happens so often, for the registering I had to give a name, and since I didn't know back then how visible my ...
- 3,115
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670
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How do I tell my online girlfriend that I'm actually a girl? [closed]
I met this girl on online a few weeks ago and we started dating two days after. She assumes that I'm a guy and I was going to tell her that I'm actually a girl, but then I felt bad because what I ...
0
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1
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295
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How to avoid division without being divisive yourself?
I’m in a situation where I believe cohesiveness would be both sensible and desirable, in a “house divided against itself cannot stand” sense. The other parties, however, don’t see this. This is partly ...
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902
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How to handle being a faster-paced walker than someone you are walking behind?
I am a 6'2 male with fairly long legs. As a consequence, I find that I am a much faster walker than most people (even compared to other tall people...I just have a quicker pace).
I often find myself ...
- 153
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3
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448
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What is a good way to ask a tech retail worker tips on how to apply for a job where he works at and how the job is like with salesmanship tips?
I moved with my family to enter university in Eastern Turkey from the west coast and I decided to try working in a place since I couldn't join the classes due to certain reasons. I first worked at a ...
3
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287
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How to request someone assisting me to not to involve others right away without offending?
I approached someone regarding a work opportunity through email and they gladly provided me the information I had asked for.
Furthermore, they asked for some more details about what I am interested in ...
- 31
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418
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Decline giving personal information to salespeople [closed]
My country is full of pushy salespeople who are asking for a phone number, name or email in scenarios where they are not warranted.
Scenario 1: Cashier at a pizza shop asks for my phone number before ...
- 19
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1k
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Dealing with a depressed partner with personal hygiene issues
My wife and I have been living together for about three years now (we just got married under a year ago). Recently, I have been having several issues regarding my wife’s personal hygiene. I’m looking ...
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1
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327
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How to offer financial support to acquaintances?
I have two kindergarden age children and the acquaintances are parents of the other children. I frequently meet them on the playground and there is friendly chatter. People talk about life and their ...
- 123
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684
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How to avoid being a wallflower in a group conversation
Is there anything I can do to avoid being the only person who doesn’t say anything in a social group setting?
The obvious answer is to talk, but I find it difficult to (i) find the right time to ...
- 33
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642
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How to let people know I am fine?
When I'm sitting by myself, people sometimes come to talk to me or ask me if I'm okay. I suspect this is because when I'm not controlling my expressions, it looks like I'm scowling or frowning, and ...
- 138
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How can I talk to my friend in order to make sure he won't stay more than two weeks?
I recently bought a 3 bedroom house as a single male and as a result I have more than enough space for myself. My close friend has contacted me saying that his landlord wants to evict him and if he ...
- 307
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880
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How can I prevent my girlfriend from promising things out of obligation?
I've been in a loving relationship for over a year, but especially with coronavirus, my girlfriend is somewhat convinced that she is not meeting my needs since I feel lonely quite a bit. (It's not ...
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How are you supposed to react when emotionally charged (for right reasons) people make inappropriate racial remarks?
To describe further let's take an example. Consider a person V, victim of an event or witnessed injustice. It seemed quite obvious that a person X who belongs to a group G is responsible for said ...
- 361
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366
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How to express to a friend that someone outed their HIV status to me and that they should be aware who they share it with? [duplicate]
One of my gay friends told me that another friend of ours is HIV+ and that I should therefore avoid him. I told him is HIV status doesn't matter to me and that he should never have to tell me. And ...
- 2,274
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456
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How to avoid awkwardness with an ex-acquaintance
Background:
I have this acquaintance I have known for quite some time (approx. 2 years) over that time and he has grown to hate me. I have personally reached out to him to know what's wrong and he ...
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562
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How do I get to the point of asking questions and getting answers?
No matter what I say or do, I am truly just always asking questions about what I do not understand to people who are capable of helping me understand what I need to know about that topic, and no one ...
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6
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446
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How do I make sure I don't get credited for other people's work?
At work I have a co-worker who frequently gives me credit for the accomplishments of my female colleague. I am acting primarily as a consultant on the project where as she and her team are the ones ...
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690
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How to respond to a particular aspect of Indian culture?
In my line of work, I spend lots of time meeting people from various companies. Often, especially when the companies are tech companies, my counterpart will be Indian. One useful skill in working with ...
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How to politely deny service in barbershop from specific barber? [duplicate]
I'm really having hard time here. There are three barbers working there and there is no reservation possible. People go inside without an appointment.
One of the barbers is really skilful however the ...
user20269
3
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1
answer
623
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Buying an expensive item from an acquaintance -- making an offer
I want to buy an item from an acquaintance---we work in the same field roughly and have hung out a few times, I might refer to them as a friend loosely. The list price at a local shop is $1,050 pre-...
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897
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How do I stop a person I am not interested in being friends with from contacting me?
There is a middle-aged Scandinavian educated chap (similar age) neighbour who befriended me (I am male too), even though I never wanted be anything more than neighbour or associate at best, but he is ...
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501
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How to open up a discussion with my parents about their funeral and last wishes?
My parents are in their 80s with degrading health. Visits to the hospital for various medical reasons have been increasing. I absolutely hate to admit this, but at some point, they might not come home ...
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804
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I have trouble making new friends
I take art classes non dedicated to school and there are a lot of other teens there but I have trouble making friends because everyone is doing their thing and I don't know when is the right time or ...
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1k
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How to convice a girl I like that a 3rd wheel is unnecessary
Hi guys looks like I need your advice again. Right now I'm working in an East-Asian country and there was this girl in the office that I like but has left the company. I don't really know her very ...
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How to save face and apologize after a text was taken the wrong way?
Okay, so our coaching has a discussion forum for all members to post questions related to our studies. The group is on Telegram, where I'm registered with a gender-neutral username and a profile pic ...
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How do I tell my internet friends I'm actually female?
So I joined this online group roughly 2 years ago for a specific purpose that I thought would be short lived. It's centered primarily around a sports team and I came there from a social media site ...
- 831
2
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628
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Asking housemate’s partners to contribute toward bills during pandemic?
I share a 5 bedroom house with 4 others. We all get on and they are nice people.
As the Coronavirus spread in the UK I was put on furlough (temporary leave paid for by the government, as long as I ...
- 121
3
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879
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Confronting an Inconsiderate Co-Worker
A little background:
I am very conflict averse. I go out of my way to be friendly and accommodating. Recently I was promoted at work, but I am in a different group. I used to be in a technical ...
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39
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I'm in marketing in a team whose name sounds too much like mine. What to do when introducing myself?
Let's say I'm in a small team called Adhyan, and my name is Adhyan.
(I've changed the names for privacy.)
There's no correlation, and I happened to join this team because I wanted to learn a topic ...
- 3,198
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458
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How to tell friends I am looking to move away?
I am 24, I have been in my job since graduating, and while I am well settled, I don't want to live here for the rest of my life and so I am looking for a job abroad. I have a group of friends that I ...
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How to talk with girlfriend about avoiding events because of other people?
Me and my girlfriend were invited to a common friend's farewell party (this friend is going to live in another country). She does not want to go because some people I've been romantically involved in ...
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3k
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How to avoid former friend who is being creepy?
I have a guy friend who likes me romantically. I already turned him down through his friend (he asked a mutual friend to ask me if I like him, I told him no, and his friend told him my reply). After ...
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786
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How to politely tell someone to clean their nose? [duplicate]
Today at work one of me colleagues was talking to me but I had no concentration on what she was saying because there was something on her nose and I was thinking about "how am I supposed to tell her?"
...
- 963
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847
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How to know when a conversation is over, and how to end it?
This happens to me a lot at work. I'm in a conversation with a coworker and I can't tell the difference between a pause/change topics and when the conversation is over. I'll frequently start walking ...
- 41
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1k
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How to communicate to a fellow student of the opposite sex that avoids me that I have no interest in her whatsoever
It seems more and more evident that a fellow student (we are in the same engineering year) of the opposite gender tends to avoid me because she seems to fear that I am somewhat interested in her. This ...
user27486
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683
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How to talk to someone who is interfering with my parenting?
I am an introvert and recently moved into a house where I live with my wife's brothers as their mom has recently died. The elder brother of my wife is very cocky and proud and yet does nothing. He is ...
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How to politely ask for a price for a commision, when I only intend to ask?
I wanted to ask for a price for a commission from an artist. However, my budget is lower than what I think the commission would be worth, hence I intend to only ask for the price and not buy the ...
- 8,458
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732
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How to convey interest after I've declined multiple invitations?
My neighbor who lives across the hall from me in my apartment building is clearly trying to extend an olive branch of friendship. We met at a community gathering for residents a little over a month ...
- 557
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3
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2k
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How to ask people not to push in front of me at concerts?
I have some experience with concerts (mostly heavy-metal ones, but pretty sure it's the same for any genre).
And every time some people try get to the front rows either by just walking as they have a ...
- 163
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4
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3k
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How can I refuse to disclose my occupation, without marring friendship in slightest?
I want to follow up my earlier question please. As I wrote, this year is husband's 10 year high school reunion. Some schoolmates emailed him about catching up separately. He's grappling — society, ...
user2423
3
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0
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439
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How to politely decline an invitation to a dinner from a colleague? [closed]
TL;DR: A colleague invited me and my wife to a dinner and we don't want to go. How to politely decline?
More background:
I have a colleague that sometime works on the same project as I do. When he ...
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150
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3
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23k
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I was mistakenly identified as a criminal, and this has caused rumors. How can I convince my friends that it is all a mistake?
A while ago, I was at a popular, busy local nightclub (this is in the Unites States) and ran into a friend of a friend. Let's call her Anne. After a bit of conversation with Anne, and mutual name-...
- 841
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628
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How can I approach the situation where I feel I’m neglected?
I’m the youngest child out of three and I’ve felt passive and alone most of the time since I was a kid. My oldest siblings were and are closer to each other (now even physically since I’m abroad). ...
- 141
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881
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Possible Girlfriend in the ICU [closed]
Long story ahead, you've been warned. Could really use sound advice here.
Some background first, I'm terrible at reading social cues, to the point when I was younger medicos told my parents I might ...
2
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3
answers
2k
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How to neutralise the behaviour of gym rats in the gym?
I participate in group activities at the local gym, I'm new there (about three months,) however all other people have been members since a year ago. I can tell there is a special bond between the ...
- 173