How awkward is being at work for you socially?

bitingthepea

Well-known member
I feel like im the only one but im sure im not. I jus cannot for the life of me socialse at my work, and its stressful ! I stand there like a lemon infront of the others and have no clue what to say.
They say im reserved and quiet but i can't help it, grrrr
anyone else in the same boat as me :)
 

Crumpal

Member
A lot of the people I work with I have worked with for over 10 years, and I still get that way sometimes. Ive had the same boss for almost a decade, and I am still get afraid of talking to him sometimes. Some days it still takes a lot of effort to get myself up to speak up in front of everybody in meetings. Other days its not so bad. Some days I think everybody secretly dislikes me. I go over conversations I have with coworkers in my head over and over and over to try to think if I might have said something wrong and offended them. Other days I'm fine and have no problem joking around and having fun. I guess that's just the way things go, though.. :)
 

Crumpal

Member
The jobs I worked at in the past were a lot of ones in restaurants so naturally I was around bored waitstaff all the time when the days were slow...it was often painful to create conversation with those coworkers. They also liked to remind me constantly how quiet I was, which made it increasingly painfully awkward.

Ugh, don't you love that terrible question "Why are you so quiet?".. ::(:
 

coyote

Well-known member
i try to keep any socializing quick and to the point

if any awkwardness comes up, I just say something like, "ok, time to get back to work"

the benefits of being the boss
 

Deus_Ex_Lemur

Well-known member
It depended frankly on the employees and boss. A few I was awk with, esp some older ones, others very comfortable with, my true personality showed. I was fortunate with the job tho, I was even promoted.

IN SHORT, AND TO SUMMARIZE - So my work experience tho ups and downs but was very positive overall, it definitely helped me fight SA better than anything. I was a big flirt too, being a toy store, lots of female employees =) In fact, that was part of the reason I got fired lol, I was a receiver/buyer, but worked the floor a lot too, BUT was still up in front a bit more often than I should hav been ;) So, the key is comfort level at the job, with your bosses, and workers. And I had a higher up position too, and by this time I knew the job very well, so it didnt stress me out. All of these ingredients is not always possible to add up to positive things, I realize I was lucky.
 
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Rembrandt Broam

Well-known member
I've been at my current job for a few years now, so people know that I'm not exactly Mr Social and just tend to accept it. It's tough whenever I start a new job though, so yes I can understand how you feel.
 

LazyHermitCrab

Well-known member
A total disaster, it depends who the coworkers are that day though. On Sunday for me it's a mix of the loudest people all at once... Sunday is not great at all.
 

GloomySunday

Well-known member
I actually find talking to people, whilst having the distraction of working on something, quite easy. I've always felt more comfortable doing that.

However, whenever someone leaves or goes on maternity leave and they have a little 'get together' at work (a social gathering with food laid on etc) it becomes quite awkward, I have to say. I need something to do!
 

Solitudes_Grace

Well-known member
It can be quite awkward and stressful for me too. Sometimes I feel like my coworkers have accepted that I am just a quiet person, but sometimes I feel like they try to avoid me because they think I am weird. I hope their avoidance of me is just my imagination, but still...
 

scoobycrawler

Well-known member
I feel so ashamed that I don't go to work and draw welfare. Then my probation officer threatens me and say s that if I won't get a job that he will revoke me and have me put into prison and I just laugh at the little old looser lol...
 

Waybuloo

Well-known member
Don't work now, but all the temp work i've done before were disastrous for me because everyone constantly asked me or talked about me amongst eachother within my earshot about how quiet I was. They just went on and on about it. At one job I had to take frequent bathroom breaks jsut to get away from it all and cry..

So, the actual work is piss easy, but being with people like that (which makes me think that all people are extremely ignorant and intolerant of different personalities) makes me despondent about any future employment.
 

Crumpal

Member
Don't work now, but all the temp work i've done before were disastrous for me because everyone constantly asked me or talked about me amongst eachother within my earshot about how quiet I was. They just went on and on about it. At one job I had to take frequent bathroom breaks jsut to get away from it all and cry..

So, the actual work is piss easy, but being with people like that (which makes me think that all people are extremely ignorant and intolerant of different personalities) makes me despondent about any future employment.

Starting a new job is absolute hell, for sure. Too bad when you're a temp, you're pretty much in a perpetual state of starting new jobs.. :(
 

AGR

Well-known member
To say the truth this job is the best I had,the only one I am left alone,after the earthquake I learned some people left and that made even better.
 
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Feathers

Well-known member
I feel so ashamed that I don't go to work and draw welfare. Then my probation officer threatens me and say s that if I won't get a job that he will revoke me and have me put into prison and I just laugh at the little old looser lol...

hmm, can you just tell them you have been having anxiety issues and such? maybe they could help you find a good program to 'recuperate' and actually get better??

shame can be nerve-wrecking yup.. remember usually people don't have magically mind-reading abilities and don't know who you were and what you did and just take you as 'who you are' and 'how you can help'em' (even if you did time maybe you have strong muscles and/or quick wit and could REALLY help someone make their lives easier!!) just remember most people look at their own problems more!!

it can be hard to recover from 'bad things one did' and move on.. I totally admire anyone even trying it!!

and yup, just seing people with SA *have* jobs/careers is VERY inspiring!!
I think the socializing would be the easy part (if the people there are okay-ish!) and everything else - well, kudos to everyone!! :)
 
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Waybuloo

Well-known member
Starting a new job is absolute hell, for sure. Too bad when you're a temp, you're pretty much in a perpetual state of starting new jobs.. :(

Being a temp could go either way - you can either continue to be quiet, or try and reinvent yourself (which requires hard work and courage). In other words it's a second chance time and time again.

I actually prefer to be a newbie because I have an excuse to be a bit awkward and uncomfortable in the job. If i've been there for months and still act like a newbie (which I do) then that's kind of inexcusable.
 

mikebird

Banned
This is the best post I've seen so far.

I hate the office.

I'm always stuck between a choice of giving a regular chuckle when people talk about trivia, or doing what I want to... IGNORE them

I am considering my next interview by answering the usual question by saying "I don't speak to idiots. I ain't a fluffy bunny team player". I wonder what they'll think of that

I'd like to be a farmer
 

chris11

Well-known member
Quite a bit. I work part time at a local grocery store in the meat department. My 'main' job, asides cleaning up fetid meat in the cutting room, is to serve customers. This can be a failrly awkward experiance.
 

Richey

Well-known member
For me it's often very awkward, why is this? Because i have a delayed wit at work, sometimes i'm ok but mostly i find myself being too serious not on purpose but just because i find it hard dealing with the intensity of the work and the requirement that is to be light hearted and funny, especially in labour type jobs. Alpha male guys who are very seasoned socially and in terms of joking around is very common and i always get times where the other person will say something that is a joke and i didn't pick up on it so they say "only joking, it was just a joke" in a tone ..so because they react that way then the entire conversaion is awkward and room goes silent... So if I work with someone for a day its difficult to keep up the energy to banter and feel good. Some people make it look dang easy though, right?! Lucky people.
 
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