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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2014 Nov 20.
Published in final edited form as: Cogn Behav Pract. 2013 May 1;20(2):213–220. doi: 10.1016/j.cbpra.2012.05.003

Table 1.

Examples of Social Mishap Exposures
  1. Ask three people in the subway if they can spare $20.

  2. Walk backwards slowly in a crowded street for three minutes.

  3. Wear your shirt backward and inside out and buttoned incorrectly in a crowded store.

    Goal: Look three people in the eye.

  4. Pay for an embarrassing item with change, and then state that you don’t have enough and leave the store.

  5. Approach people on the street asking if they can help you tie your shoelaces when you’re wearing shoes without laces.

  6. Recite “Twas the Night Before Christmas” in the subway platform.

  7. Go to a fast food restaurant and only order water, then spill the water, clean it up, and stay in the restaurant.

  8. Ask multiple people in a specific and obvious location (e.g., right outside XXX Park, or a T stop) where to find that location (“Excuse me, I am looking for XXX Park”).

  9. Ask a staff member in Barnes and Noble for their opinion about whether to buy the Kama Sutra or the Joy of Sex, have a long conversation about this, buy the books and then return them immediately.

  10. Initiate conversations with/tell jokes to strangers in Barnes and Noble while wearing hair in a side ponytail with bandages on face.

  11. Dance or sing in the street or subway wearing attention-grabbing clothing.

  12. Call Barnes and Noble, ask to place on hold The Gas We Pass and Everybody Poops as well as a chocolate chip cookie from the in-house café.

  13. Go to a hotel. Have the patient conduct a long conversation with the concierge about romantic vacation packages (asking about in-room massages, arranging horse-drawn carriage ride, etc.), book a package, and then cancel for no reason except changing their mind.

  14. Go to every table in a crowded restaurant asking for Joe Smith.

  15. Tell someone at B & N that you don’t know how to read and ask them if they can read the back cover to you.

  16. Approach group of people at bar or restaurant and ask if you can practice a best man’s toast.

  17. Enter a food establishment and interrupt people asking if they own a silver Camry because their car is being towed.