Showerthought: Should you push through an awkward pause or just walk away mid-conversation?

I was at my cousin's patio party last Saturday when I had to tell my aunt her joke landed flat, and I froze for a solid 10 seconds before muttering 'not my thing.' She got defensive, and I ended up walking off to grab a soda. Does staying and smoothing it over actually help, or is bailing the kinder move in your experience?

2 comments

2 Comments

terry_walker12d ago

@taylorb94 nailed it, bailing gives everyone space to reset without digging the hole deeper. Pushing through usually just drags out the cringe, so grab that soda and call it a win.

taylorb9412d ago

Man, I had almost the exact same thing happen at my brother's BBQ last month... I told my uncle his hot sauce story was a little too detailed for dinner and he just stared at me for what felt like forever. I ended up saying "well, anyway" and just walked to the cooler. Honestly, bailing felt worse at first but then I realized we both got to reset without forcing more awkwardness. When I try to smooth things over, I usually mess it up more by rambling about nothing. So yeah, I think grabbing that soda was totally the right call... sometimes a pause just means it's time to exit gracefully.