Awk.

Image courtesy of: http://www.tumblr.com/dashboard/2/1275112387

 Is awkwardness contagious the way yawns are contagious? Because I swear, nine times out of ten, when I'm being awkward (through no fault of my own, mind you), people get awkward right back.


I was born awkward. Words come flying out of my mouth in no particular order and there's physically nothing I can do about it. The only thing worse than listening to an awkward person talk, is being the awkward person who's talking. There's a point in the conversation where I'm thinking to myself "It would literally be less weird for me to just walk away mid-sentence than it would for me to finish this conversation."

So what I want to know is, when I have an encounter with someone who is equally as uncomfortable, is it because they're an awkward human being too? Or is it my super-awkward-personality that's rubbing off on them?

Studies have shown that a sober person who hangs around inebriated people is likely to show the side-effects of alcohol, just because they are around people who have consumed alcohol. (Don't look into this study because I think I may have just made it up.) Is this the same thing with me? Should I warn people right off the bat that I'm awkward and that hanging out with me is very likely to increase their awkward tendencies?

It would go something like this:

"Hi I'm __________, it's nice to meet you! Now just to warn you, I'm going to laugh at my own jokes, quote movies and television shows that aren't well known, fully expecting you to understand them, and over-dramatize about 40% of the goings-on in my life because I'm a little bit sensitive. Sometimes I'll talk in a slightly baby-ish voice and I also do strange accents. I get overly excited when I see animals and I'm not afraid to tell people that I'm obsessed with my cat. Do you think you can handle all this? Because it'll make you uncomfortable a lot of the time... and you'll start to think that you're actually the awkward one because you're not quite sure what it is that's going on. But don't worry. It'll always be me."

I think it's a safe assumption that anyone who knows me can agree with everything stated above. The good thing is that I honestly don't worry about it. I think these qualities are funny as hell. But the friends that I already do have seem to be able to look past all of this and see me for the good qualities I have. I'm compassionate, and I would do almost anything for almost anybody. I'm a fairly good listener and I'm able to see the positive in even the murkiest situations. And I always, always keep in the back of my mind that what we choose to do today determines what happens to us tomorrow. Not to mention I'm a phenomenal dancer and I do kick-ass impressions. Who doesn't wanna hang out with this chick?

Do you have any tendencies that you feel obligated to warn people about before they notice them for themselves and run for the hills? Anything from "I have really bad morning breath" to "I feel compelled to have memorial services for leaves that have fallen off trees."