Introduction
There are those moments in life where you just feel really awkward because you don’t know what you’re supposed to do in a given situation. You know everybody’s watching you, waiting to see what you’re going to do, and probably judging you. They might even be laughing at you because you don’t seem to know what to do.
Example 1: Driving in Light Rain
Imagine you’re in your car, and it’s just barely drizzling rain. You’re not sure what to do: should you put your wipers all the way on, or should you use intermittent wiping? What do you do? You’re not entirely sure if it’s raining hard enough for full wipers. So, you look around to see what other people are doing. You watch the cars coming toward you and check your mirror to see what they’re doing behind you. Do they have their wipers going full speed or just intermittent?
You think to yourself, “I don’t know what to do.” But then you see that others have their wipers on intermittent. Now you know what to do: put your wipers on intermittent because that’s the social norm in that situation. Those are the social cues you are picking up. You want to be like other people so nobody’s laughing at you. If everybody has their wipers on intermittent and you’re the only one with full wipers, people might laugh at you, thinking, “Look at that person who thinks it’s raining so hard that they need full wipers.”
Example 2: Using Turn Signals in Turn-Only Lanes
Another example is on the highway when you pull into a left turn lane. It’s at a light with an arrow, so there’s nothing else you can do in this lane; you can only turn left. Do you turn your signal on? Instincts might tell you that you should, but is that the normal thing to do? What are other people doing?
If you turn your signal on and you’re the only one in this lane with your signal on, people might look at you and laugh, thinking, “Doesn’t that person see the arrow on the road? Why do they need to signal?” So, what do you do? The best thing you can do is not turn it on at first. Pull in and look around. If there’s someone in front of you, see what they are doing and take your social cues from them. Maybe look in the mirror to see if someone behind you has their signal on. If they do, turn yours on. If they don’t, don’t. You don’t want to be the only one in that turn lane with your signal on, or people might laugh at you, thinking, “Oh, that person needs extra instructions.”
Conclusion
Navigating these social cues can be awkward, but by taking your cues from the people around you, you can avoid being the laughing stock of the road that day.
