Social Awkwardness

Social awkwardness. Yes, these are two words I know very well. We're good friends, actually. I'm not sure if we're friends because I bring those situations upon myself or if it's just simple misfortune, but I'd rather us not be friends.

Take Christmas Day for example--the trek to my dad's girlfriend's house to eat an "early dinner" and to exchange the presents my dad mandated we buy for her. I'd been dreading this interaction since he suggested the idea a few weeks earlier. I respect my dad's desire for us to be closer with the woman he's about to get engaged to (as well as her young sons) but this is ridiculous. My brother, sister, and I barely know the woman and in order to rectify that, my dad forces us to smile and pretend that her house is the only place in the world we want to be at that moment and that we'd love nothing more than to share stiff conversation with her on several general topics. My brother was amicable, I was cordial, and my sister was stone cold silent.

And I could see/
That she was offended/
She said, "Well, anyway..."/
Just dying for a subject change

So what do I take away from such experiences? Don't force people to be close right away. If you want me to like someone, then let me get to know them on my own terms and in my own time. Don't force me into awkward situations so frequently and expect me to be completely comfortable. That's all I'm asking.