By Lizzie Arroyo, TIWP Student

I’m probably the most socially awkward person you’ll ever meet. And not like the cute socially awkward where your voice goes a little high-pitched and childish, and your smile’s all demure, and it doesn’t make people feel uncomfortable. No, my awkwardness is professional. My voice goes into a monotone, I say “my phone’s out of charge” instead of “my phone’s running out of battery,” and my mouth makes contortions unseen on human lips when I’m listening. Personally, I think that last one is because I won’t smile unless you say something funny, which limits the positions I can rest my mouth in. Seriously, normal people smile way too often.

I’m probably not going to start liking this part of myself for a while. But in the spirit of being more positive, I guess I’ll try to find something good about it.

I’m pretty good at weathering awkward moments. When someone says something that might be offensive but not enough to be hate speech, I don’t immediately yell at them. Talking to people is hard enough, so I don’t want to compound it by arguing when I can’t change their minds. Plus, who am I to scold others for the embarrassing, stupid stuff that slips out sometimes? I’ve said plenty that I regret myself. That’s why I can just nod and humor them until they change the subject.

Being socially awkward is a huge inconvenience, but I guess it ends up balancing itself out.