Bro, I swear, no one ever prepared me for this moment. Like, I’ve studied, I’ve worked hard, I’ve done everything I’m supposed to do to start my career, but nowhere in the onboarding packet did it say how to respond when a cute coworker tells you, "I appreciate you." And now I’m just sitting here, overthinking this to death because what does that even mean??? Was it just a casual thing? Was it some deep, meaningful thing? Am I supposed to say it back? I don’t know, and my socially awkward ass is malfunctioning.

It wasn’t even some big moment. I helped her with something small, like barely anything, and she just smiled at me and said it—like it was no big deal. But my brain froze. I think I muttered something dumb like "uh yeah, sure," which is definitely not the right response. Who says "uh yeah, sure" to appreciation?? And now I feel like I messed up some huge social rule I didn’t even know existed. The worst part? Now I can’t stop thinking about it. I mean, she’s cool. She’s funny, she’s smart, she actually talks to me without making me feel like an awkward loser. And now I’m wondering… did she mean something by it? Or is my lonely, never-been-in-a-real-relationship brain just making a big deal out of nothing?

I feel like if I was normal, I would’ve just smiled and said "I appreciate you too." But I didn’t. And now I have to see her at work every day, knowing I fumbled the simplest human interaction possible. I need a do-over. Or, like, an instruction manual for being a functioning adult in social situations. Because if this happens again, I gotta be ready. Next time, I’m gonna play it cool. Next time, I’m gonna say something that doesn’t make me sound like a total idiot. Right?

Stories in the same category