Awkward things you do / encounter
Discussion
Thought it might be fun to share experiences of some of the awkward / embarrassing / socially inept stuff we've seen or done - this comes off the back of my prime example this morning, and another from last week.
Today (this one is a classic by now): a new and rather younger colleague greeted me earlier so I went in for a hand-shake, and he went in for a fist-bump, so I swapped and, unfortunately, so did he. Funny, but a little bit awkward for the both of us - and quite cringeworthy in retrospect.
Last week: went to a party with the missus, who introduced me to someone who instantly recognised me, and knew my name, from previous encounters I couldn't remember at all. Didn't even seem familiar. Thus ensued an awkward exchange in which he recounted memories of the fun times we hung out before, and I nodded and laughed as if I'd had some fond memory of it all. The other half pee'd herself when I told her I blagged the entire 10 minute conversation. Can't even remember his name now. I blame booze.
So; anyone got any awkwardnesses to share?
Today (this one is a classic by now): a new and rather younger colleague greeted me earlier so I went in for a hand-shake, and he went in for a fist-bump, so I swapped and, unfortunately, so did he. Funny, but a little bit awkward for the both of us - and quite cringeworthy in retrospect.
Last week: went to a party with the missus, who introduced me to someone who instantly recognised me, and knew my name, from previous encounters I couldn't remember at all. Didn't even seem familiar. Thus ensued an awkward exchange in which he recounted memories of the fun times we hung out before, and I nodded and laughed as if I'd had some fond memory of it all. The other half pee'd herself when I told her I blagged the entire 10 minute conversation. Can't even remember his name now. I blame booze.
So; anyone got any awkwardnesses to share?
Not long after starting at my current company, I saw a guy I used to work with at a previous place in the canteen. We didn't work directly with each other but he was always chatty and a really nice guy. We greeted each other right away and spent ten minutes talking about the good old days and old colleagues. I thought his memory must have been a bit off as everyone I mentioned he didn't seem to recognise. I was telling him about who had left, who had copped off at Christmas parties, etc. After the catch up I went to my new desk feeling better I had seen a familiar face.
It was then that I realised that I had indeed worked with this chap before but it was at a completely different company to the one I had spent 10 minutes updating him on. To this day he still thinks it is odd he doesn't remember any of the chaps "we" used to work with
It was then that I realised that I had indeed worked with this chap before but it was at a completely different company to the one I had spent 10 minutes updating him on. To this day he still thinks it is odd he doesn't remember any of the chaps "we" used to work with
The lady living in the flat opposite me is in her 60s i’d guess, lives alone, no husband or boyfriend, never seen any visitors.
One afternoon I bump into her downstairs (I hadn’t noticed any pregnancy) and she has a baby with her. I presume maybe she has adult children and this is her grandchild. She says “do you like the new addition?”, i say “where’s this one come from?”
I thought she said “online”, so I repeated it, laughing as I thought she made a joke.
She gives me a horrible look. Turns out she said “it’s mine”. And I just looked like I accused her of buying a child online.
Still no idea where this baby has suddenly appeared from though.
One afternoon I bump into her downstairs (I hadn’t noticed any pregnancy) and she has a baby with her. I presume maybe she has adult children and this is her grandchild. She says “do you like the new addition?”, i say “where’s this one come from?”
I thought she said “online”, so I repeated it, laughing as I thought she made a joke.
She gives me a horrible look. Turns out she said “it’s mine”. And I just looked like I accused her of buying a child online.
Still no idea where this baby has suddenly appeared from though.
toon10 said:
Not long after starting at my current company, I saw a guy I used to work with at a previous place in the canteen. We didn't work directly with each other but he was always chatty and a really nice guy. We greeted each other right away and spent ten minutes talking about the good old days and old colleagues. I thought his memory must have been a bit off as everyone I mentioned he didn't seem to recognise. I was telling him about who had left, who had copped off at Christmas parties, etc. After the catch up I went to my new desk feeling better I had seen a familiar face.
It was then that I realised that I had indeed worked with this chap before but it was at a completely different company to the one I had spent 10 minutes updating him on. To this day he still thinks it is odd he doesn't remember any of the chaps "we" used to work with
Done that. It was then that I realised that I had indeed worked with this chap before but it was at a completely different company to the one I had spent 10 minutes updating him on. To this day he still thinks it is odd he doesn't remember any of the chaps "we" used to work with
There is a lad in my town (quite a small market town where people of a certain age all know each other) who calls me Nick.
I'm not called, nor never have been called, Nick. Except by him.
I guess he did it in error once, and I didn't correct him, so he believes it is my name. This has gone on for 30 years+.
Now, to thicken the plot somewhat, he got married to an ex-girlfriend of mine who knows my name isn't Nick. I saw them out together a few times when they first got together and he called me Nick, I'm guessing she didn't put him straight either so he still calls me Nick.
I have seen him in other towns, on holiday, and at football. Alright Nick?". Every time.
It would be very difficult now to put this right, so Nick it is!
I'm not called, nor never have been called, Nick. Except by him.
I guess he did it in error once, and I didn't correct him, so he believes it is my name. This has gone on for 30 years+.
Now, to thicken the plot somewhat, he got married to an ex-girlfriend of mine who knows my name isn't Nick. I saw them out together a few times when they first got together and he called me Nick, I'm guessing she didn't put him straight either so he still calls me Nick.
I have seen him in other towns, on holiday, and at football. Alright Nick?". Every time.
It would be very difficult now to put this right, so Nick it is!
Welcome to my world... I just can’t grip the rules of society.
I’ve nearly stopped my undoubtedly annoying habit of just entering any conversation I come across at work. However I do still really struggle with meeting new people etc as I can’t get my head around this whole air-kissing thing and so in the past have ended up kissing someone’s ear...
Two from me that I've done/created.
About 8 months after my wife and I started dating, I was invited to the evening part of a wedding where my wife was a bridesmaid. I hadn't yet met the friends of hers that were getting married and didn't know anyone else attending. To cut a long story short (that I started typing but then realised I was waffling on too much) I ended up finding out that I had walked into the wrong wedding party at the same venue, when I confronted the happy couple asking where Katy was, for them to say "Who is Katy?" and before I knew what I was saying, I said "one of the bridesmaids..." - clearly the bride would know the bridesmaids and their names. There I was, drinking a glass of the free champagne they'd been handing around, not realising that I was meant to go to the venue and to a different suite of rooms altogether. The newlyweds I had encountered did not seem happy to have a wedding crasher, and I made a swift, red-faced exit.
Second one, from many years earlier
When I was about teenager, I was in the cadets at school, and one weekend we had a trip away to HMS Nelson in Portsmouth. All my family were not at home that day and we were all invited to a big party near home for a 40th birthday party of one of my Dad's friends. Again, I didn't really know anyone else there, but because of this, I was dropped off their after this trip rather than back at the family home. In I walk, looking for my parents because I am still in full CCF Navy cadet uniform and I want to get changed. There were probably 200 people at this party, I couldnt see anyone I knew, was I even at the right place. But knowing that my parents are very sociable and know seemingly everyone in our local area, I resigned myself to asking the next person I saw "Do you know my Dad? He's called Nick"
Who had I asked this to? Well, it turns out that, the person who was hosting the party. He was called Nick.. and so there was me, a lost "boy" (not that little) turning up on his doorstep like I was just out of the Navy. This guy was aghast.. he genuinely thought, for a few seconds I guess, that I was a previously unknown offspring of his, probably from some one-night stand back in the mid 80s when he was, apparently, something of a wild child.
20-ish years later, he's still friends with my parents, and we do still joke about it
About 8 months after my wife and I started dating, I was invited to the evening part of a wedding where my wife was a bridesmaid. I hadn't yet met the friends of hers that were getting married and didn't know anyone else attending. To cut a long story short (that I started typing but then realised I was waffling on too much) I ended up finding out that I had walked into the wrong wedding party at the same venue, when I confronted the happy couple asking where Katy was, for them to say "Who is Katy?" and before I knew what I was saying, I said "one of the bridesmaids..." - clearly the bride would know the bridesmaids and their names. There I was, drinking a glass of the free champagne they'd been handing around, not realising that I was meant to go to the venue and to a different suite of rooms altogether. The newlyweds I had encountered did not seem happy to have a wedding crasher, and I made a swift, red-faced exit.
Second one, from many years earlier
When I was about teenager, I was in the cadets at school, and one weekend we had a trip away to HMS Nelson in Portsmouth. All my family were not at home that day and we were all invited to a big party near home for a 40th birthday party of one of my Dad's friends. Again, I didn't really know anyone else there, but because of this, I was dropped off their after this trip rather than back at the family home. In I walk, looking for my parents because I am still in full CCF Navy cadet uniform and I want to get changed. There were probably 200 people at this party, I couldnt see anyone I knew, was I even at the right place. But knowing that my parents are very sociable and know seemingly everyone in our local area, I resigned myself to asking the next person I saw "Do you know my Dad? He's called Nick"
Who had I asked this to? Well, it turns out that, the person who was hosting the party. He was called Nick.. and so there was me, a lost "boy" (not that little) turning up on his doorstep like I was just out of the Navy. This guy was aghast.. he genuinely thought, for a few seconds I guess, that I was a previously unknown offspring of his, probably from some one-night stand back in the mid 80s when he was, apparently, something of a wild child.
20-ish years later, he's still friends with my parents, and we do still joke about it
WAVman said:
There is a lad in my town (quite a small market town where people of a certain age all know each other) who calls me Nick.
I'm not called, nor never have been called, Nick. Except by him.
I guess he did it in error once, and I didn't correct him, so he believes it is my name. This has gone on for 30 years+.
Now, to thicken the plot somewhat, he got married to an ex-girlfriend of mine who knows my name isn't Nick. I saw them out together a few times when they first got together and he called me Nick, I'm guessing she didn't put him straight either so he still calls me Nick.
I have seen him in other towns, on holiday, and at football. Alright Nick?". Every time.
It would be very difficult now to put this right, so Nick it is!
I'm not called, nor never have been called, Nick. Except by him.
I guess he did it in error once, and I didn't correct him, so he believes it is my name. This has gone on for 30 years+.
Now, to thicken the plot somewhat, he got married to an ex-girlfriend of mine who knows my name isn't Nick. I saw them out together a few times when they first got together and he called me Nick, I'm guessing she didn't put him straight either so he still calls me Nick.
I have seen him in other towns, on holiday, and at football. Alright Nick?". Every time.
It would be very difficult now to put this right, so Nick it is!
We were swapping ‘most embarrassing moment’ stories at work once, and a colleague had a scorcher on a National Express Rapide coach which comes to mind.
She was in the on-board loo, er...seated, when the coach went round a corner sharply, causing her to fall off it, hitting the loo door hard enough to open it, and causing her to land in the aisle. Worse, the loud noise of her landing caused the whole coach to turn round and look at what the commotion was and see her on the floor in a state of undress.
So she then not only had to get back up into the cubicle, but subsequently had to return to her seat, walking past an entire coach of people who’d seen her ‘in flagrante’ and spend the entire journey with them knowing this.
Awkward barely covers it...
She was in the on-board loo, er...seated, when the coach went round a corner sharply, causing her to fall off it, hitting the loo door hard enough to open it, and causing her to land in the aisle. Worse, the loud noise of her landing caused the whole coach to turn round and look at what the commotion was and see her on the floor in a state of undress.
So she then not only had to get back up into the cubicle, but subsequently had to return to her seat, walking past an entire coach of people who’d seen her ‘in flagrante’ and spend the entire journey with them knowing this.
Awkward barely covers it...
A few years ago I went to an evening reception for a wedding of some friends. The venue was at a large multi-room hotel. As we approached the hotel we saw the wedding in one of the function rooms, walked in and out our present down with the rest.
As we turned and looked around we slowly realised that we didn’t know a soul and concluded we were at the wrong wedding.
We had to recover our present from the pile and walk out with it, drawing some suspicious looks from proper guests, to the correct wedding function, We’ve been more careful since then!
As we turned and looked around we slowly realised that we didn’t know a soul and concluded we were at the wrong wedding.
We had to recover our present from the pile and walk out with it, drawing some suspicious looks from proper guests, to the correct wedding function, We’ve been more careful since then!
I talk to people who I am sure I know but not where from.
I think I struggle recognising people out of context.
Normally after a couple of minutes there are enough clues to place them.
I saw someone I spent about eight years with in the same class at school. She recognised me but only after she told me who she was and then our form tutor's name did I remember her, despite her looking the same ( as I found out on facebook when she friended me that evening)
Unlike me she had not even grown a beard and gone bald!
I think I struggle recognising people out of context.
Normally after a couple of minutes there are enough clues to place them.
I saw someone I spent about eight years with in the same class at school. She recognised me but only after she told me who she was and then our form tutor's name did I remember her, despite her looking the same ( as I found out on facebook when she friended me that evening)
Unlike me she had not even grown a beard and gone bald!
When i was repping fro BT one of my exchange areas was Southall. ( lots of great dits during my time there and the rest of West London) Anyway i had to visit the office of the Irish Times ( often wondered what it was doing in Southall when Kilburn would have been 100% better) in a couple of very small first floor rooms
of a building just on the corner of Uxbridge Road and Lady Margaret Road.
Having finished the call , thanked the chap and got up and exited the office straight into a cupboard..
of a building just on the corner of Uxbridge Road and Lady Margaret Road.
Having finished the call , thanked the chap and got up and exited the office straight into a cupboard..
Resolutionary said:
Last week: went to a party with the missus, who introduced me to someone who instantly recognised me, and knew my name, from previous encounters I couldn't remember at all. Didn't even seem familiar. Thus ensued an awkward exchange in which he recounted memories of the fun times we hung out before, and I nodded and laughed as if I'd had some fond memory of it all. The other half pee'd herself when I told her I blagged the entire 10 minute conversation. Can't even remember his name now. I blame booze.
I’m terrible for forgetting people. I’ve introduced myself to the same person twice in a night. I blame booze too. My best mate on the other hand is the complete opposite, will remember the name/face and every conversation he’s had with someone, even when drunk. Whether it’s just down to him having a genuine interest in others when I really don’t I’m not sure, but it makes him a good salesman.
I bumped into a male to female transgender work colleague last week, ''hello Dave, alright mate?'' says I. I've known 'Dave' for almost twenty years but he only had the op a couple of years ago, but I'm so used to using the name he was born with it just came out. 'Dave' didn't seem to mind, well not too much anyway... 
Man. So many it’s scary.
Like many I’ve had full blown conversations with people that have stopped me and knew a scary amount about me. All the while,the wife knowing I was blagging it stood behind this guy pissing herself laughing.
Had a conversation with a guy I swore was my physics teacher at school. Except he was dead, 5 years before this conversation.
Like many I’ve had full blown conversations with people that have stopped me and knew a scary amount about me. All the while,the wife knowing I was blagging it stood behind this guy pissing herself laughing.
Had a conversation with a guy I swore was my physics teacher at school. Except he was dead, 5 years before this conversation.
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