Do you know that guttural burning sensation in your core that you feel when you’re doing a plank? Pain-loving exercise fiends love this feeling of turmoil, balancing their strength with the ability to endure discomfort. Regardless, the plank feels endless and time comes to a standstill. This same feeling occurs when an introvert is trapped in a conversation with an acquaintance.

Time stops, their arms start to shake, sweat beads on their forehead, and the aching sensation in their gut won’t go away. Unlike the fitness junkies of the world (who relish in the elongated minutes of a workout plank), to an introvert, unplanned small talk exists on that same plane of timeless, infinite torture. Thus, the ‘plank’ of the socializing world is equally everlasting. 

Luckily for the grateful introvert, there are amazing ways to serve unwanted conversation. One tried-and-true method for avoiding the gaze of random small talkers is to constantly be on you phone looking at relatable introvert memes. Would you look at that! Here are some below. Scroll onward to save yourself the trouble of planking in public with a stranger…