The awkward (almost) interactions of people who (sort of) know each other.

By the end of this post, you will almost certainly be judging me. Some of these things are things I've had happen to me. Others I've done, and probably shouldn't have. So, you'll judge me. And that's perfectly okay. I'm pretty sure you've done similar things.

You know the people I'm going to be talking about. The friend of your friend. You got dinner with them once, maybe twice, but can't remember their name. You have the same group friends, or you had a class last semester. You're in a club together and had the obligatory talk about your majors and hometowns the first night, but have seen each other since.

And now, you see them off in the distance, walking towards you while you walk towards them. What do you do? You don't know them well enough to say hello. They probably won't recognize you. But what if they do recognize you? You don't want to be a jerk and ignore them. You have to have a reason to not say hello.

I've identified a few of the ways this happens:

The Fake Text

This is by far the most common, and perhaps the most effective. You simply pull out your phone and pretend you just received a very important text message. It happens to be very deep and intense, you know, because texts usually are. As such, it takes you a good long while to type up a reply. Coincidentally, it takes just long enough for you to pass this person.

This technique allows them to still greet you, in which case you can be surprised to see them and offer your own greeting in reply. You successfully avoid awkward eye contact, but still allow for an exchange of hellos if they notice you.

The Fake Call

I'm not certain I've actually seen this one in action, but it makes enough sense. I'm sure someone has used it. You simply  pretend to suddenly have received a phone call. It's probably from your mom so you can't not answer it, obviously.

This one gives you an excuse for not verbally acknowledging the other person, and if you're caught up in your conversation enough, reason to not nod or otherwise make a gesture. This does not protect you from awkward eye contact. Also, you better make sure your phone is on silent. You don't want it ringing while you're in the middle of a fake call.

The Death Stare

What's the really the awkward part about seeing someone and not knowing whether to say something? The eye contact. If you make eye contact, they absolutely know that you saw them and didn't say something. And for some reason, when you recognize someone, it's impossibly hard to not look at them. So, the death stare isn't an angry sort of stare, but more of a strict denial of your natural tendency to look at them. You stare straight ahead as if you're caught up in a little own world of your own. Who could blame you for not noticing?

The Wave

You're in the middle of deciding what you're going to do. Your hand heads for your pocket as you consider the fake text, when all of the sudden, everything is made clear: they wave at you. Or so you think. You happily wave back, glad that they remembered you, when you realize it's actually someone behind you they're waving at. At this point, you have two choices: put your hand down as inconspicuously as possible, or pretend that you're waving at someone behind them. Both of these choices are hard to pull off. You're pretty stuck here.

Did I miss anything?