The dreaded text message comes through with a disruptive beep. You tear your eyes away from the book you are reading, and see that your friend has texted you. Fear sets in. Terror consumes your body. This is the worst case scenario in real life. Your friend asked you what you were doing tonight.
As much as we love our friends, sometimes you just really aren’t feeling the whole human interaction thing. Here are 13 signs that you have fully embraced your inner loner.
1. You have a more committed relationship with Netflix than you do with most people.
2. You relate to this Overheard L.A. post on an emotional level.
3. You cringe a little bit (okay a lot) anytime someone puts you into a new group message.
4. And on that note, group or partner projects are basically your worst nightmare.
5. Skipping class is just an excuse not to make meaningless small talk with your classmates.
6. Working in foodservice or retail and having to put a smile on your face and talk to people tests you every day.
7. You walk the long way to class specifically because you know you will run into less people that way.
8. You get better grades simply because you don’t feel the desire to go out.
9. You aim to live your life like Henry David Thoreau lived his- away from all people in a cabin on an isolated pond.
10. The people at Imperial Garden know your name- actually your phone number because why would you order at the restaurant when you can order takeout?
11. You walk around everywhere with headphones- even if they’re not actually playing music, or even plugged into anything at all.
12. Having conversations with yourself has gradually become more and more normal.
13. You have perfected the “smile and duck head” method of avoiding small talk down to a science.