One of the most embarrassing experiences that I have had from time to time is choking on food because of laughing while eating. As an ardent fan of funny clips, I find myself watching them while in public and alone. Recently, while eating in a restaurant with my friends, my internet connection on my phone was on, and I saw a fun clip notification on one of the apps that I use to access the clips. Although I have always been advised to always put away my phone while eating, I could not resist checking out the clip. I suddenly bust out laughing, spilled the food in my mouth, and started choking. Although I tried to prevent the embarrassment by quickly covering my mouth, most people had noticed it. I had already drawn everyone’s attention.
I used Zerubavel’s ‘rules of denial’ by pretending not to notice the mess I had created. I also tried to make the scene irrelevant by signaling my friends to continue with their initial discussions. Although I tried to cover up the embarrassment, I had already drawn everyone’s attention. The people around me were unable to ignore my situation. The social tradition of paying attention to an occurrence in one’s environment played a major role in ensuring a lot of people were not distracted by other occurrences in the restaurant. I apologized several times and tried to avoid cursing by using euphemism where it was possible. In the end, I calmed down but swore never to return to that restaurant before the occurrence is forgotten.
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Reply to classmate
Thank you for presenting a precise and descriptive piece on Zerubavel’s “rules of denial and general norms as they relate to social interaction. I agree with you that sometimes we act oblivious of our environment, which is embarrassing, especially when it is not generally acceptable in the general public. I agree with you that it is sometimes useful to use Zerubavel’s “rules of denial to avoid further embarrassment in such cases. Regardless, it is sometimes impossible to avoid embarrassment, especially when one is highly elated by a given situation. In such cases, the rules of social interaction, for example, saying sorry and using euphemism where possible, should come in handy.
