Social IssuesAUG 3, 2021

30 Awkward Situations That Are Embarrassing For No Real Reason

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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!

More info: TikTok | Instagram

A lot of people related to Lily's viral video about the weird things we find embarrassing

#1

30 Awkward Situations That Are Embarrassing For No Real Reason

sitting there while people sing you happy birthday

Tik Toker

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347points

#2

People watching you do things then it makes you forget how to do things normally

Ruby Willis

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295points

#3

Pretending to need something else at the groceries until the person moves out of the way of what you actually need

Cavazos

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260points

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.

#4

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

Sierra

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254points

#5

Walking out of a store without buying anything

Kayla

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230points

#6

You say bye and you both walk to the same direction together

Giri11

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220points

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.

#7

Opening cards trying to act like you don’t see money in there

Sierra

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196points

#8

Walking back after bowling

big_big_simp

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186points

#9

Getting out of the pool

big_big_simp

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169points

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.’

#10

Introducing yourself to the class on the first day

Juju

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168points

#11

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

stanguyfieri

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159points

#12

somone holding the door open for you but you're still a bit far from the door

dulce

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150points

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.

#13

when someone knocks on the door while you’re in the restroom & you have to answer so they know you’re in there

kailey

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143points

#14

Parking next to someone sitting in their car.

lovedeleted

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128points

#15

Walking up the stairs in front of someone

Thissgirl_

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126points

“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.