Danny ChaiMore office uncomfortability.
I think I’ve mentioned this before. It’s awkward to me when I see a coworker at the other end of a long hall. When do you wave and say hi? Too early and it’s awkward for the rest of the time while you’re walking towards each other. Do you maintain eye contact and keep on waving? For like 20 yards? Just stare and smile? But you can’t just keep walking towards them and say nothing either. I don’t know what the right timing is. So I honestly duck into random rooms and corridors sometimes if I see someone at a distance, just to avoid the uncomfortability.
Here’s another thing that comes up. So when people ask me, “how are you”, for some reason I just feel really bad not asking the same thing back, you know, with “fine, how are you?” Otherwise I feel like I’m being vaguely selfish. The thing is, it’s awkward if the distance is too short, because then I’m asking how are you while they’re passing. So it’s like:
(5 feet away, walking toward each other) (other person): “Hi! How are you?”
(Just as we’re passing) (me): “Good! How are you?”
(Already past each other) (other person): “Doing good.”
It’s that last part that’s tricky. By that time we’re already past each other so now we’re awkwardly craning our necks backwards as we walk so we can finish the exchange. I dunno, it’s weird to me. But then, the exchange “Hi! How are you?” “Good.”, which avoids the neck craning, seems abbreviated and rude to me. I dunno the solution. I’m thinking I need to be more proactive and be the one to ask how are you first, then I can let them work the rest out.