Does anyone else find it awkward when you bump into people you know?

[YouMustBeTheWeasleys]

In town? Or in the supermarket?

I find it doesn’t seem to matter who it is either - it could be a close friend or my own mother and I still find we are making awkward stilted conversation even though we usually get on well!

DH says it’s because you aren’t expecting to see them and you both have a task to complete that you are acutely aware has been interrupted.

YABU - it’s not awkward
YANBU - it’s awkward

Yes! If I see someone I know before they see me I will then actively avoid them 😂 Unless a really good friend maybe

I'm quite young compared to the crowd on Mumsnet.

When i started secondary I found it awkward when I bumped into people from primary. I'm ashamed to admit that I did the whole "look down at the floor" thing. I feel bad about it.

I'm different now and I do enjoy bumping into people that I know. But not everyone wants to say hello. Someone once did the "look down at floor" thing when walking past me and that really stung. All I wanted to do was to say hello and go about my business. I also tried waving and saying hi to people from primary and they pretended to not know what I was and asked me "sorry who are you?" Even though they definitely knew who I was.

For me I can't tell if people want to say hello or not. I've had some people my year at school greet me, shake my hand and ask me how I'm doing.. I've had people 4 years below say hi when they see me.

I have been known to hide if I see them before they see me 🤦🏻‍♀️

I hate it. But I'm autistic, so I think that's normal for me! 😂

I also hate this, there’s something that I just can’t cope with about being put on the spot.

It depends on the person and the situation. Most of the time I like bumping into people.

If its someone I've previously had an awkward encounter with, or haven't seen for years it can be tricky.

I hate it. I often change direction or pretend I haven’t seen them.

It depends on the person, but in general, I bump into neighbours/people I vaguely know-

-When I have no make-up on and my hair looks like I've been pulled backwards through a hedge
-Have loads of booze in my shopping trolley because its a buy 6 for 25% off or we're having a party. But yes, I do think they'll think I'm a piss head.
-In a rush to get back to work

I bumped into my neighbour recently in Aldi. She seemed more shocked to see me, and explained that she normally shops in M&S, but came to Aldi just to see what was there! 🙄😂

I don't know why it would be awkward unless you didn't like the person, I'd just wave, say hello and carry on with my business.

It depends but on the whole, yes. I’ve plenty of good friends but it’s always weird seeing them unexpectedly or out of context. A lot of the time I can’t be arsed to have a chat - just the other day I saw my friend’s husband was in Tesco Express. He hadn’t seen me so I backtracked and went to the Co-op over the road. It was first thing in the morning, I hadn’t had a coffee, I just could not be bothered.

This is what I do. I've had people do the blatant pretend they don't recognise me thing and idk why but it stings a bit.

How strange. It's honestly never crossed my mind it might be awkward bumping into someone I know

Yes I hate and try to hide. I’m perfectly capable of making small talk and being friendly/smiley, I just CBA with it unless it’s in a social situation I’ve planned before. My close friends don’t live in my immediate area so I’m very unlikely to see them.

Yes I find it awkward even seeing neighbours

It's almost not knowing how much to say or how long is polite enough but not too much

Undiagnosed autistic

I hate it, but I force myself to be social, and then I say awkward half sentences of partially remembered standard social phrases.

'Quite young compared to the crowd on MN'??

How old are you?

28

I do this too! 🤣

Yup. I hide to avoid seeing people.. would only want to chat to parents, dh, dc in these instances

Bear in mind that people generally spot if you’re trying to avoid them. Think how shit that feels. Just smile, say something about being in a rush and move on if you really can’t bring yourself to have a quick chat….

Oh wow. I didn't realise other people felt like this too. I don't think I've ever been pleased to bump into anyone that I know, ever.

I've posted about feeling a bit shit before on here but got told I was super sensitive and should just grow up and that I'm not entitled to their time.

On the odd times I’ve seen people do this to me I’ve felt relieved because it meant I didn’t have to do it!

Yep. Hate it.
I feel like a rabbit in headlights because I haven’t had time to prepare.

My dad hated it but simply because he was awful at remembering peoples names. He was very much a social person and was a great raconteur. People would come up and chat away and as they left, mum would say “ you’ve no clue what that person was called do you?” He ended up writing a few books and people wanted them signed with , to Ahwig best wishes etc. My mum said “ that’ll be interesting with your memory for names” . My dad hit upon a “ foolproof method “ . His plan was to say “ how do you spell your name?” This worked for a while until someone he had known for years said in a rather perplexed manner P. A. T.