Nod, Smile, Glare, Ignore

I am socially awkward because of two major life impacting things that were out of my control.

First, I grew up in Japan where people are polite and bow.

Second, I then moved to Nebraska where people tend to be like Golden Retrievers and are ready to be friends just because you both are wearing red sweatshirts with the letter "N" on them. 

Now I live in the Northwest and spend most of my time interacting with people from Washington and Oregon.  While we are no means like people from the other coast, people here tend to not be quite as friendly or polite. 

So, my awkwardness really shows when I run because I tend to do several things that when combined together come accross as creepy.

1.  I smile
2.  I make eye contact
3.  I nod

It is at this point that people either non, smile, glare, or ignore me.  They rarely say anything and I don't look over my shoulder to see if they are staring in disbelief. However, I imagine them shaking their head and wondering whether I'm evil or just weird. 

I have discovered two trains of thought that make me feel better.  I try to imagine them either thinking that I am the most fluid effortless runner they have ever seen or that they just can't get over how great my calves look. 

So, I keep running, awkwardly doing steps 1-3 and then doing this strange run in which I try to look like I'm floating while simultaniously flexing my calves.

See you on the trail and just smile back!