Today, I realized just how shy and awkward I really am when I averted my eyes to avoid making eye contact with someone who turned out to be a cardboard cut-out. FML
Collection
Halloween
A failed costume, stolen candy and a very real scare: Halloween, the one night when fear is allowed.
Today, I was at the mall in a store looking at movie posters. I turned around and suddenly saw a creepy guy smiling at me, holding his arms out wide. I screamed, "Holy shit!" really loudly, causing everyone to stop and stare at me funny. Then I realized the creepy man was a cardboard cutout. FML
Today, I realized at the train station that every day for a month, I've been waving to a cardboard cut-out of a person in the morning. I thought they were real. They're cardboard. FML
Today, I realized just how bad my problem with making eye contact is, when I caught myself looking the other way when the singer in a music video looked directly at the camera. FML
Today, I was in the gas station and I saw this creepy lady staring at me and smiling. She just didn't stop. I even gave an awkward wave to let her know that I saw her staring at me. Finally I decided to confront the woman, turns out the overly happy woman was a cardboard cut out FML
Today, I realized how truly insecure I really am when the guy in the show I was watching looked straight into the camera and I immediately looked away. FML
Today, I was out shopping with my friends when I saw my ex. I instinctively tried to hide by quickly turning around and walking into a store. It was a mirror. I walked straight into my own reflection. FML
Today, I went to a grocery store after work, exhausted. I nodded politely at a woman who smiled at me repeatedly. I realized at checkout she thought I was someone she knew. I nodded through a full conversation without knowing who I was pretending to be. FML
Today, I met a girl who was just as socially anxious as me. We spent the whole night staring at each other, then quickly looking away when the other person saw. FML
Today, I was trying to flirt with someone in a small bar. I thought they'd smiled at me, so I smiled back. Turns out, they were smiling at their phone screen. I just awkwardly sat there, smiling into the void. FML
Today, I was at work at an office store. I was instructed to put together several tape-free cardboard boxes. I then realized that I can disassemble and reassemble a computer with my eyes closed and one hand behind my back, but I was outsmarted by a cardboard box. FML
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Top comments
Tripartita 45
Uh, that's actually how you avoid getting trapped in the cardboard cutout, so I don't get the FML. After the cardboard cutout uprising, the only humans left will be the socially awkward.
Tomato_Cheese 22
As someone who spent years with severe social anxiety, I feel your pain OP.
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Comments (32)
TacoTheDank 27
Horace's backroom cardboard cutout
Coedster 8
Been there, done that
Saraishi 25
I was eating out one day and this man kept staring at me from across the room. After some furious squinting from my part, it turns out the man was a cardboard cut-out made to look like another diner. Moral of the story: I should put on my glasses more (I'm myopic).
GuiltyEren 11
Been there, done that... FYL.
lakesofire 13
same tho
JustRichard 9
I feel you OP, I was watching YouTube videos on Calculus and the person doing the videos was a very cute girl. She looks at the camera for a couple of seconds with such intensity that everytime she did, I would either look up or right for awhile. Realized it was really stupid of me to look away at the video of a girl, but I'm still uncomfortable everytime she stares deeply at the camera.
Wisernow 10
If you want to confront your shyness you can. It's not easy, but if you don't have panic attacks, just a bout of shyness, try to challenge yourself to, say , look the cashier in the eye at a checkout. Or as you walk down the street. Also, as you are a woman, a sense of confidence is portrayed and could ward off a potential threatening situation.
Mortoli 30
dont feel bad those things look real as hell while at work i was doing a round and went up some stairs and saw one i jumped out of me skin before realizing it wasnt a person lol
GhostFox 34
Once when I was sleep deprived, I watched a bunch of JU-ON/Grudge based videos, with the women with the broken throat. Sometime around 11 the next night, I still hadn't slept but my mother really needed something from the store. I go in the store and am look around when I hear, "grglglglglg"- the same Grudge gurgling I've been hearing in the videos. Cue me shrieking and practically bolting to the other side of the aisle, reaching the shelf, turning around, ready to face my doom to find... A cutout ad. For an over the counter insomnia medication. (And several very concerned patrons staring at the obviously sleep deprived and slightly delusional teenager.)