This past Halloween my friends and I decided to put on our costumes early and head over to a bar to watch some college football. Fast forward to 3pm: I’m drunk, dressed up as Rainbow Bright and smoking cigarettes on the street while my male friend jokingly shoved his hand up my skirt. Nothing too out of the ordinary…until a business associate – someone I had just had a very important meeting with on Friday and was planning on a follow-up on Monday – happened to walk by. And recognize me.

Yeah, Monday was a little uncomfortable.

It’s not uncommon for awkward situations to come up at work. There are so many rules, regulations and requirements, that it’s no surprise when something goes awry and things get very uncomfortable very fast. This week I reached out to CollegeCandy writers, friends and fans to find out their most awkward or embarrassing work story. And what I heard is enough to make you want to quit working all together.

Rachael – University of Miami: My first two years of college, I spent my summers as a “beauty consultant” at CVS (I sold makeup). Because the Beauty girls all dressed in black, not everyone realized we worked there, but for some reason the people who did figured we knew everything about the store and its products. One man spent a good five minutes telling me about his rectal bleeding problem before he paused long enough to let me explain that I only worked in cosmetics. I’m honestly not sure who was more embarrassed as I directed him to Pharmacy.

Nina – Michigan State University: At one of my internships, I swear one of the interns sitting near me had “bodily functions” going on ALL THE TIME. And when my boss walked past, he’d wrinkle his nose and look at me strangely. I couldn’t tell him it was HER… sooo awkward! Read More »

The summer of 2008. A summer drowning in recession, debt, ridiculous gas prices, and boring, trashy television (I mean, Greatest American Dog??). Lots of things seem to be going wrong…or at least…discussed to the point of having us all believe they’re going wrong…and many teens and twenty-somethings are turning to the web to air their grievances.

Because 2008 isn’t just the summer of expensive corn and Obama-rama, it’s also the summer of TMI. Over-sharing has become a form of communication for our generation; from blogging about bad dates, to blogging about our self-indulgent issues, to blogging purely to become famous. No matter who we are, we can become stars overnight by uploading naked photos, name-dropping about a wild party, or simply having an ounce of literary ability and a snarky way with words.

By late July, 2008, the percent of people in the US who haven’t seen a celebrity vajayjay flash or heard someone say, “dude, I’m gonna blog about this!” is monumentally small, and it seems like every day a new gossip or 24 hour news site pops up. However, amidst the clattering of fingers on keyboards and snapping of flashbulbs, I can’t help but wonder if this constant need to be seen and heard is actually doing us any good. Read More »

Pickup lines can be pretty skeezy, but honestly, who doesn’t like to be hit on? Getting hit on is the greatest confidence – booster that exists. Even when an ugly dude throws me a lame line with the sole purpose of getting into my pants, I can’t help but ride the “gosh golly, maybe I really am pretty!” high for a couple of days. Guys: are you listening? Genuine or not, compliments large and small work wonders.According to dating guru Julia Allison, come – ons are rather failproof. But so is buying a girl french fries. She explains: girls want greasy food, but they are too self – conscious to order it for themselves. So if a guy orders it for a girl, it’s the ultimate in symbiotic pick – ups. Even if they don’t end up getting together, at least they get french fries. And it’s a lot less presumptuous than ordering a girl a Long Island Iced Tea.

Hmm. I’m not sure. I think I might prefer compliments to french fries, but I’ll still take any free grub. Thanks, guys!