Oh, awkward moments. We can’t live with them but we can’t live without them. Well, maybe we can live without them and we’re pretty much forced to live with them, but they definitely make our days a little bit more interesting. Living on a campus filled with approximately 20,000 people, you’re bound to encounter at least one awkward moment a day. Here are a common few for us UMass students:
1.) Trying to pack yourself onto an already packed elevator at the library
Are you supposed to take off your backpack for more room? Do you leave it on and just hope you don’t hit every single person behind you? Did you just accidentally step on that person’s foot?
2.) Being the person on the already packed elevator
It is no less awkward to already be on the packed elevator while the doors open, and to watch the disappointment appear on the person’s face as they realize they must wait for the next one.
3.) Overloaded busses
I’m not sure if this goes under the category of awkward or just pure defeat. Nothing is worse than watching the time tick by, your hope diminishing each time a bus drives by that reads “overload”.
4.) Seeing your TA/students
As a student, seeing your TA out at a party can be a weird experience. You know them, they know you, do you say hi? Do they remember you? Would they want you to say hi? Well, not to worry. The same unsure thoughts are probably also running through your TA’s mind.
5.) Being mistaken for someone else/mistaking somebody for someone else
We go to school with a sea of humans. Maybe you forgot your glasses that day, maybe you’re delusional and tired, or maybe your friend has a twin that they don’t know about roaming around campus. No matter what, we have all at least once waved to somebody/started talking to someone who is absolutely not the person we intended on. It is no less awkward being the one who was mistaken for someone else.
6.) Accidentally matching your best friend
This happens usually at least once a semester. It’s easy to do, really, especially since we all own the same UMass sweatshirts/shirts. However you feel the obligation to walk around telling people, “No, we did not plan this.”
7.) The middle seats in an aisle
If you are late and the only available seats are in the middle of the aisle, you’re stuck climbing over a whole bunch of people or making them all stand up. This also happens when you’re the first one finished with your test in a whole row of people. Either way, all eyes are on you and you know it.
8.) Running into someone you don’t want to see
At a school with thousands of people one would think that avoiding someone would be fairly simple. Well, think again. Your old roommate that you hated, your old friend you had a falling out with, that boy who you used to talk to, you’ll run into them all, probably on the same day, when you chose to dress like a slob with no make-up and messy hair.
9.) Walking past the library on a windy day
Walking past the library on a regular day seems windy, but when it’s actually a windy day you might blow away. Warning for anyone in a skirt/dress: avoid the library at all costs. Or be prepared to keep that flowy skirt tamed with all the strength you have. Even when dressed appropriately it is still unpleasant. The wind hurts your face, you can’t hear anything, your hair wraps around your face, and you actually debate for a portion of time if your feet might leave the ground.
10.) The fight for a cab
We’ve all been there; we have all attempted to steal someone else’s cab, actually stolen someone else’s cab, or squeezed ourselves with our own friends in a cab full of people we don’t know. It’s a cruel world out there on a Saturday night, especially in the dead of winter.
11.) The fight for a table at a Dining Commons
This is equally as bad as a fight for a cab, if not worse. There is now food involved, and no one messes around when it comes to their eating time. May the quickest to spot a table, run to it, and throw their UCard down win.
12.) The morning after
The morning after an interesting night out almost always has a little bit of awkwardness to it. Whether it be a “walk of shame”, a new contact that you have no idea what they even looked like, or when you ask yourself “I did/said WHAT?!” At the end of the day we’ve all been there once. Take your shower to wash off a little bit of the shame, but I promise your dignity will come back.
What would our lives be like without our awkward moments? Well, most of us will never know. We love you anyway, UMass, you and all your awkward glory.
