Brinsley+F's+OpEd+Article

media type="file" key="brinsleyf-muckraker-2011.mp3" align="center"

Awkward people bug me. Their essence of awkwardness feeds my hatred towards them; I hate them with a passion. I passed this kid in the hall one time, and he had his hands clenched as if very uncomfortable, had his hair at that childish length so I could not see into this eyes, yet he could still hide. He wore an uneasy smirk on his face as he kept his eyes peeled on the floor. To add to all of it he had blue hair. I don’t know why this certain kid pissed me off so much that it initially ruined my entire day but later I glared at him again for making me so offended to the extent that I gave up on pursuing a cheerful mood for restof the day, but of course he didn’t see me because he was apprehensively staring at the floor again.

Did this kid honestly not have the decency to look me in the face? Sometimes I feel like I’m talking to a creature that would do anything but make eye contact with you; timidly gawking at me from the corner of their eyes. Are you serious? You don’t have the aptitude to look into someone's eyes while holding a conversation with them? Now, I wasn’t even having a conversation with this kid and he still disturbed me. When walking in the halls I almost always look up at the person I am passing and give them a genuine smile as I pass and maybe a little “hey”, doesn’t matter if I know who they are. I’m a people person so I guess this comes naturally, and I know I started this a little harsh but I don’t really have anything against awkward people because people in my own family are awkward. But this one kid that I passed seemed to take more energy to try to not look at me and try to make himself look uncomfortable than to look at me. I feel as if this weird character is to match with the Emo/Hipster lifestyle. He didn’t have the confidence to even look up, but instead, say me coming from a ways down the hall, then quickly cocked his head at an angle for it to be impossible for there to be eye contact. All I saw as I passed him was his timid smirk, looking for attention. He seemed to bask in his discomfiture. This just made me want to scream. He seemed to lack the confidence to take on my glance, I’m not like a black bear where if you were to make eye contact me I’d viciously attack you. Sweet Jesus children, please learn to at least communicate with your species.