Has The Pandemic Made Everyone Socially Awkward or Just Me?

Is anyone else having problems socializing again with people when you’re out in public or is it just me?

As things have started to open up again, I’m starting to see more people that I know and haven’t seen in quite a while because of the pandemic.  Problem I have now is, I don’t want to see them because I’m probably going to do something dumb and then over-think whatever it was I did.

I fist bumped a guy who was handing me my receipt after I ordered food, and I don’t know why. I stuck his hand out, as one would if they were handing you a piece of paper, yet for some reason I thought he was doing an awkward fist bump while he was holding something… so I returned it, only to get a weird look and a “um, cool.  I was actually just trying to give this to you.”

Then one of my friends got her haircut recently and my response was “yeah, wow, your hair looks good actually.”  She looked at me and said, “I wasn’t questioning it; until now.”  I was more remembering that she went to get a haircut and was trying to compliment her but said everything from that was in my head from the thought of remembering that she had gotten it done, rather than putting it into an actual compliment.

Here at work, I was talking to a coworker, catching up and in the middle of the conversation, I just walked away.  Then immediately turned around and said, “I’m sorry, that was rude. I just had a thought and walked off to take care of what I was thinking about.”  We laughed, thankfully, but OMG, what was I thinking?

Those are just two that have happened in the last 36 hours or so that I can vividly remember.  Point is, after so many months of being alone or just interacting on Zoom where I can turn my camera off or show up just as the meeting starts and hit LEAVE when I’m through and not have to stick around for small talk, It’s ruined me, at least in the short term.

I’m hoping all of us are readjusting to social interactions, so we all are feeling this and also feeling forgiving for all the awkwardness. Otherwise, I’m sorry for being that weird person when we interact.