Being Socially Awkward

In my Sociology class, we are learning about becoming socially institutionalized. This means being socially normal, like everybody else in your society. The author of my textbook questions how a person from a socially-acceptable normal family can go wrong and be socially awkward, and then it turns right back around itself, and dares the reader to do something socially unacceptable the next time we go out.

Then, I got to thinking about how hilariously awkward life would be if you actually carried out the author's dare...

Maybe this is going too far. This isn't ever going to happen in real life.... So let's talk about socially awkward moments that do happen.

For example, remember the last time you were trapped in a conversation that you didn't want to have about something you didn't really care about? But because you are socially institutionalized, you were polite about the conversation, even while trying to disengage yourself?

and even if you do have a polite excuse to leave, it somehow makes the whole encounter awkward??

 What about being really awkward around the person that you really like? I still don't know how to conquer this one with social-normalcy...

And, I'm sure that I'm not the only one that says "hi" to people they don't actually know, thinking that they are somebody they do know, on accident. This problem has an easy, socially-acceptable solution though. Just keep saying hi to the people beyond the person you didn't know...

Then, there's the unavoidable awkward silence after you put your foot in your mouth...

But, life goes on, awkwardly or normally. Luckily, we have social institutions to keep us properly and normally socialized for the most part. And when awkward things happen, we can just blame the institution...