Ship of Fools: well, that was awkward...

Thread: well, that was awkward... Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by cliffdweller (# 13338) on :

Today's awkward moment: a chance encouraging remark to an acquaintance led her to change her mind and apply for a new job opening, asking me to write her a reference. Which I'd be happy to do... but I'm applying for the same job. Awkward.

What are your awkward moments and/or advice for navigating one's Ship through these choppy waters?

Posted by chive (# 208) on :

About 15 years ago I went for an interview for my current job. One of the things I'd mentioned in my application was that I'd been involved in giving evidence in court on a case and another of the witnesses was my personal reference.

I walked into the interview and spent the first couple of minutes trying to work out how I recognised one of the interviewing panel before realising that she was the sister of the person I'd given evidence against.

I got the job though.

Posted by Mili (# 3254) on :

I had an awkward moment tonight. I work in a children's holiday program in the school holidays and one of my colleagues organised a staff dinner for tonight. I turned up at the dinner and it turned out the couple of other people who actually said they were coming no longer were. So it was just myself and my male colleague having dinner.

He is only 22 and I am nearly 36, but I look young for my age. The waitress kept smiling at us and my colleague suggested she might think we were on a date. Then he thought he saw one of the kids we worked with and we started worrying we would run into kids we knew and next holidays they would assume we were a couple, as kids do!

Luckily we get along well, so it was a nice catch up. Though it ended a little awkwardly as I think he was wondering whether to hug me goodbye and I didn't reciprocate as I don't feel we're at that level of friendship as yet.

I then had to walk home in the rain without an umbrella and nearly got hit by a car while crossing at a green man, so the near death experience has trumped the awkward one in my mind and emotions. There was a lot of screaming and then swearing and chastising on my part once I realised the driver had stopped in time not to kill me. So that is the solution - nearly be killed after the awkward experience and it will put things in perspective.

Posted by cliffdweller (# 13338) on :

Yikes! Hoping it doesn't take anything that dramatic! Glad you're OK!

Posted by Mili (# 3254) on :

Thanks Cliffdweller. Yeah, I would have preferred just an awkward evening, rather than a life threatening experience to go with it.

Posted by mark_in_manchester (# 15978) on :

Standing to one side of an event for kids at a old friend's church yesterday, an opportunity for the rehearsal of a standing joke between us emerged concerning his being the right-wing, misogynistic, homophobic bigot to my groovy liberal self. Part of the joke involved my implication that he belonged amongst the membership of a third congregation, with whom I have a lot in common at the moment and for whom (as background knowledge) we both know I hold a deep respect, not to say debt of gratitude.

Unfortunately this mis-timed comic masterpiece was delivered as a woman hung her coat next to us, who belongs to this third congregation and who nevertheless supports this kids' event faithfully. She is in ignorance of my (actual) high regard for her tradition...

I had to enlist my mate's wife to dig me out of it. She quite properly took the opportunity to humiliate me utterly.

[Hot and Hormonal]

Posted by Lothlorien (# 4927) on :

When I was in my teens, a friend of dad's used to ring frequently. If I answered the ohone, he would usually put on a silly voice, say something stupid etc,

The phone rang and I answered. Silly voice, bad joke, terrible accent etc. i replied that he could not fool me this time, I kne who he was and would he stop being stupid. Stunned silence. The caller was not dad' s colleague but a stuffy member of the family, rarely heard from and almost never heard on phone in those days.

Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :

The vicarage where I grew up was large and rambling - and the only telephone was in the study, which was at the end of a long corridor.

Lovely summer day, father is out, and we're all in the garden.

Telephone rings for the nth time so oldest child (again) makes the lengthy dash to study, snatches up the receiver and snarls "Bishop's Palace: who is it?". Lengthy pause, then a voice replies "This is the bishop, do I take it that your father isn't home?".

Thank goodness he found it amusing [Hot and Hormonal]

Posted by Dormouse (# 5954) on :

I still blush when I recall an event when I was acting in "Macbeth" at secondary school. I was Witch 1, and the first night we did the hubble bubble...bit and I said my part of the spll. There came a sickening pause as Witch 2 failed to say her lines, so I leapt in and continued. After she was very grateful.
Night 2 and the same thing happened. Witch 2 did not immediately come in with her lines, so Dormouse to the rescue...Except afterwards Witch 2 cornered me and snarled "THAT was not me forgetting my words. THAT was a dramatic pause. AND my parents were in the audience."

Witch 2 and I were never very friendly after that...

Posted by LeRoc (# 3216) on :

quote:
Dormouse: Witch 2 and I were never very friendly after that...

At least now I understand how you were turned into a rodent [Smile]

Posted by Sipech (# 16870) on :

I recall once, on joining a new housegroup, I arrived straight from work and someone asked if I'd had time to eat.

Of course I hadn't. So they suggested that I could stop at a McDonald's in between the train station and the home where we met. I proceeded to give my forthright opinion on why I do not eat McDonald's, including both the lack of quality in the food and their business practices.

As I was new to the housegroup, they kindly did some introductions later on where I was asked a few questions about myself and others in turn said a bit about themselves. It was at this juncture that my host revealed that he was the manager of the McDonald's branch that was situated between the train station and their home.

Posted by wild haggis (# 15555) on :

I was taking a bunch of kids, guitar on back out to an event. We were being silly and laughing and joking. My straight laced ex-boyfriend, who had 2 timed me just a couple of months earlier got on the train and sat down opposite this motely crew who were creating havoc.

2 weeks later I was visiting his sister and her children, with whom I was very friendly. The door-bell went. Guess who? Guess where I went...........yes, into the daughter's wardrobe.

Ah well, could have been worse!!!!!!!

Posted by Wet Kipper (# 1654) on :

Me (loudly enough for nearby colleagues in my group of desks to hear): "Can anyone else smell that wierd smell ? like furniture polish mixed with manure ? I wonder if there's something wrong with the air conditioning ?"
Colleague opposite (whispers) : "the woman 2 rows behind your back has just sprayed some of her expensive looking perfume"
[Hot and Hormonal]

[ 04. March 2015, 12:08: Message edited by: Wet Kipper ]

Posted by Zappa (# 8433) on :

quote:
Originally posted by L'organist:
The vicarage where I grew up was large and rambling - and the only telephone was in the study, which was at the end of a long corridor.

Lovely summer day, father is out, and we're all in the garden.

Telephone rings for the nth time so oldest child (again) makes the lengthy dash to study, snatches up the receiver and snarls "Bishop's Palace: who is it?". Lengthy pause, then a voice replies "This is the bishop, do I take it that your father isn't home?".

Thank goodness he found it amusing

Brilliant!!!! [Killing me]

Posted by Beenster (# 242) on :

I remember being an already awkward 12 y/o waiting a piano exam in a waiting room with my mother. There was a well-to-do gentleman with a posh voice (and I already have a posh voice, his was a few notches up in the posh-stakes) ticking off names of candidates as they arrived and waiting with us in the waiting room.

My mother, always one for small talk, said to the gentleman "I hope it will be ok, I heard the piano is not very good".

There was this silence and the response boomed back in the posh voice "I do beg your pardon madam but that piano is mine".

Thanks mom.

Posted by comet (# 10353) on :

When I was bartending, a woman came in, sat down, ordered a drink. Proceeded to go long on her shitty boyfriend, what a jerk he was, and how he kept talking about some pathetic bitch in this town who he obviously had some kind of crush on, and it just prooved that he had no taste, because this woman was al kinds of trashy. She had it on good authority that this other woman did X, Y, and Z shameful behaviors and was a complete tramp. Not like you, you're obviously aquality woman with a heart of gold. Her name is (comet) and her red hair is probably even some nasty dye job...

In walks a friend who shouts out, "Hi, comet!"

Heh.

Not exactly my awkward moment, but memorable.

fwiw, I have no idea who her worthless boyfriend was.

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :

My grandmother lived out her later years with us - not very happily, since she was from the country, and we were in the Big city. So it was always a treat if anyone visited from 'round home'. Two young women did, whereupon her opening conversational gambit was: 'Tell me - why did your Aunt Lizzie drown herself?'

Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on :

Me, in my mid-20s and first time in a former Soviet Union republic representing a charity that was trying to get established there, attending a meeting chaired by the country head of one of the main UN agencies there. Said republic has a population drawn from two different nationalities and languages, and his name was very clearly associated with one of those languages. Meeting trundles on, I notice that his English is pretty good with hardly any accent, but there were a few idiomatic sayings which were a bit stilted. At the end, during small talk, I say to him "You know, your English is brilliant, where did you learn?" To which he replied "I'm American". [Hot and Hormonal]

Nearly 20 years later the memory still makes me cringe.

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