The False Goodbye Syndrome

Ever unexpectedly bumped into someone you don't know that well a few minutes later after you've just said a lovely warm farewell (complete with a hug or even a kiss?) and experienced the uneasiness & awkardness that comes with it? And wishing that you have waited a while more or loitered around before making your way home or anywhere else for that matters?

I have. And I thought it's just me. Finally found a name to cap on it (from a recent novel I read): "The False Goodbye Syndrome"

It was really funny to see it described perfectly in the book**. Picture this: After saying farewell a few minutes earlier, you unexpectedly bump into each other at the bus stop, mrt station or on the same stretch of road trying to hail a cab. There's really no plausible reason to explain this, but you can't help the mortification that whelms up. The pleasant and easy conversation you've been having only a few minutes earlier has disappeared totally and you can feel the change in mood....tensed, strained. And you're looking at the mrt tracks/road and praying: Come on train/bus/taxi, for Pete's sake, come on! While trying hard not to look at the person & focusing on your watch or attempting a weak smile from time to time.

Then when the transport finally comes, you say goodbye once more. But it doesn't feel as nice as the previous time and you're wondering if you should hug/kiss again and if you do, it feels fake and if you don't, you feel as if you've ended on a bad note. Taken from the book: "Like a souffle, a successful goodbye can really only be done once. A goodbye can't be reheated".

Of course, it's fiction and not official. But hey, doesn't sound too bad to give this a name. And this applies only to people you don't know well.

Do you suffer from the False Goodbye Syndrome too? :p

**By my favourite author Marian Keyes: "Anybody out there?"