You're walking down the hall of your basic office facility. Perhaps you're returning from the break room with a much needed cuppa joe in hand, thinking nothing more of this brief respite from your desk other than excitement for more caffeine, or how forcefully the fluorescent lights glare down upon you today. Then it happens: a coworker - one you've met before, but can't recall his name - appears on the other end of the hall. He walks slowly, not noticing you at first. But, inevitably, he looks up and you lock eyes. Quickly, you avert your gaze, not wanting him to think you were staring, but then you think, "Wait, I should nod, or smile, acknowledge his presence. Don't be weird." And so you do, and yes it's a little awkward, but not so bad.
However then you realize that there are still several feet of uniquely patterned, "office chic" carpet between you. You can't just continue to make forced eye contact with this person, smiling maniacally like an escaped circus clown. (Isn't that a sign of aggression in some cultures?) So you quickly feign interest in the color of the adjacent wall, glance through the open door you pass on your right, pretend you're suddenly wildly entertained by the steam rising from your black coffee. Furtively, you sneak a glance at your hall-mate; is he looking just as uneasy as you feel?
Yes. He is.
It's still too soon to break the silence. If you don't speak loudly enough, he won't be certain you're speaking to him, and then it looks like you're just a psychotic "loner" who keeps the voices in her head company by addressing them aloud.
Two more steps (could this hall be any longer?). Then, the moment. You pass, left shoulder to left shoulder.
"Hey, how's it going?"
"Oh fine, you?"
But by this point you're already several strides beyond the acceptable point at which to answer his return greeting. And so you remain quiet, his polite query forever hanging in the expanding space between you.
It's over. You grimace at how uncomfortably such situations always seem to play out, wonder "what would Emily Post do?" A quick shrug, and you're back within the relatively safe confines of your desk.
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