
A Field Guide to Awkward Silences

There is a certain awkwardness inherent in coming at life book-first.
Alexandra Petri • A Field Guide to Awkward Silences
Don’t be too earnest. Don’t look like you care. Then you’re vulnerable. Life is full of opportunities for rejection, and if you start really trying, you’re going to start really failing. Hard. And it’ll hurt.
Alexandra Petri • A Field Guide to Awkward Silences
Once you get rid of all the biggest problems, once you realize you can avoid them, you start to think you can inoculate yourself against the minor ones too.
Alexandra Petri • A Field Guide to Awkward Silences
A certain measure of fame just seems like our birthright these days, next to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Food, shelter, Wi-Fi, and the sense that someone’s watching; these are the modern requirements for survival.
Alexandra Petri • A Field Guide to Awkward Silences
Privacy is just an uncomfortable reminder that you’re not a celebrity.
Alexandra Petri • A Field Guide to Awkward Silences
I had all the dictionary knowledge I could have wanted. What I needed was context. I had to go out there and live. I had to use all these words in sentences.
Alexandra Petri • A Field Guide to Awkward Silences
Real life offers sadly few opportunities to win things.
Alexandra Petri • A Field Guide to Awkward Silences
Old people are just people, after the vigorous application of time.