I was talking to a friend the other day. He was recently ditched by a date. She was going out with friends to have drinks, and wanted him to join them. He wasn’t comfortable going, and she didn’t take it the right way.

“You see, we haven’t even met once. I felt awkward to meet her friends on the first date,” he said. “And rather than making up some story, I told her the truth, that I’m not very comfortable among strangers.”

The girl thought, for obvious reasons, that my friend was too shy (read “too much of a pussy”) and called it off for good.

It’s true there are certain people who don’t do very well among others. We call them shy, awkward, pussy, uptight, introvert — and ridicule them. I am one of them. Similar incidents have happened with me as well.

Want articles like this delivered straight to your inbox, read by 3k+ subscribers? Subscribe to my newsletter here.