Innocuous things that make you irrationally embarrassed

well it didn't really make me IA so I figured this was as good a place as any :)

xpost but I got the feeling she had just came up with the greeting people thing on the fly to fill in the awkwardness of her role to begin with. OR the store just went completely bonkers over Christmas and gave her this stupid new policy to follow which is just as embarrassing for her

it's like the time our vp of sales came back from Seattle after visiting Pike's Market and decided that every time someone took a phone order they should yell 'order up'. I died of embarrassment for everyone who yelled it. It lasted maybe a week before everyone just quietly stopped doing it.

i'm not trying to censor you -- just noticing. pretty much nothing makes me IA, but i would only use this thread for things i am embarrassed about for a completely irrational reason
otherwise i would just post post post post post about moments of empathy all day
and that would be tedious for everyone

Greeting people is a commonly used loss prevention technique. They probably had been getting knocked over and LP told them that they had to greet "every single person who comes in the door" or face getting written up or something. In my experience, the greeter comes off as totally awkward and robotic and real shoplifters don't give a shit.

Yeah this is the worst. The obv. "we don't trust our customers" meshed with fake friendliness makes me IA.

Also being asked "Can I help you find something today?" 5x or more within a couple of minutes of hsving set foot in the place

i've been that guy so i feel a mix of empathy and hatred at the business for bringing ppl so low

Exactly. It distorts the humanity of both the employees and the people shopping there

one thing that sticks in my memory w/r/t this dates from when i briefly worked at this particular central fl bl0ckbust3r that was managed by a dude who was the type of gay that occurs in repressive environments like the south but are also so incredibly stupid and inertia-prone that they remain closeted their entire lives. this dude would be in the back of the store and would bellow "he-LLO!!!" in the most stereotypical richard simmons voice you can imagine. when this happened i would usually be at the front of the store and had already said hello to the person entering like a regular human being out of earshot.

not innocuous at all rly, fuck companies that have "greeters," fuck customer service forever

i was gonna say, that anger is totally righteous and justified

been there too btw

Is anybody else slightly uncomfortable putting down a tip, embarassed if the recipient sees you doing it, and downright mortified if they call out thanks?

yeah i feel that, but you should do it visibly anyway. once a bartender/barista at a bar/cafe in nyc got mad at me because i discreetly put his tip in the jar when he wasn't looking instead of in front of him after he gave me my change and he thought i had snubbed him. well, not "mad", he sort of made this facial expression that i took to mean "un. be. liev. a. ble." then i actually explained to him that i had put two dollars in the jar and that made me feel like the biggest idiot in the world.

Is this a UK thing? You tip openly here, it's better if they do see you, avoids any unpleasantness.

well, in my situation i paid at the register because i just got coffee but the server was also serving alcohol and so i guess in his mind he was a bartender who expects everyone, without fail to tip him. i tip baristas anyway, every time -- i used to be one -- but i usually don't make a big show of slipping some money into the jar.

well, i got coffee and some sort of snack. (full disclosure).

also maybe sometimes at starbucks i don't tip baristas when i use my debit card and don't have cash. (fuller disclosure).

tell us more about your tipping habits

When I was a kid, the only reason I started referring to my step dad as ” dad” was because I couldn't bring myself to say his name (lex). For whatever reason, I just found the idea of saying it aloud utterly mortifying.

I spent about 2 years calling him ” you”, before I realized ” dad” was a little less awkward.

― just1n3, Thursday, 13 December 2012 07:49 (7 hours ago) Bookmark

I am imagining a hilarious sitcom where the lex is your stepdad and has to cook you dinners and help you with your homework on the computer

Also: we had to do this thing called a ”mihi” at school (it's a Maori thing, you introduce yourself and list your parents, place of birth, etc.), and I would use some totally ordinary name like ” john” instead of ”lex”, that's how embarrassing I found it.

yeah i feel that, but you should do it visibly anyway. once a bartender/barista at a bar/cafe in nyc got mad at me because i discreetly put his tip in the jar when he wasn't looking instead of in front of him after he gave me my change and he thought i had snubbed him. well, not "mad", he sort of made this facial expression that i took to mean "un. be. liev. a. ble." then i actually explained to him that i had put two dollars in the jar and that made me feel like the biggest idiot in the world.

― return to the 36 yellowistic chambers (Pat Finn), Thursday, 13 December 2012 22:30

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svWjtDhGQFg

i used to get embarrassed when my dad would ramble on and never listen to the person trying to talk to him but now i don't care. i'm just glad he's still alive so i just watch him and smile. its like watching a big demented baby talk to people. who is hard of hearing. and who listens to jazz all day long and reads the wall street journal. okay, that's a really weird baby...

yesss

it is very embarrassing to have to wear something for work that isn't obviously job-related. casual acquaintances come in and say "oh hey, what's up?" and you either say instantly "i'm just wearing this visor for work because i have to it's not mine" or imagine them walking out thinking "so she's the visor type. huh."

are you a bookie?

bank teller

pro golfer maybe?

Bartleby the scrivener?

Welder?

Lieutenant Commander of the USS Enterprise?

beer pong champion

is why I really find it difficult to watch Curb Your Enthusiasm s

.. yeah, I have seen about two episodes, and enjoyed neither. Also, I didn't think it funny enough.

all very close; that was when i was a high school aged person working in a bubble tea store. my boss would make me walk up to tables of college students and say "uh, excuse me. hi. sorry. uh, the five chinese vowel sounds are: ah. AH! ah. aaahhh. ah" while he nodded encouragingly from behind the counter. that was not irrational embarrassment though

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mapmg3rb8M1qbqz2wo1_1280.jpg

Wtf ehkarl? What's that supposed to achieve?!

Referring to soda/soft drinks/whatever-you-call-it as "pop". I grew up calling it that & still live in a region where it's the unquestioned terminology, so I can't explain why it makes me cringe now. I'll try to use a specific brand name if I need to refer to the stuff for whatever reason.

Yes, "pop" for me too. Also "dungarees." I think it's because they sound like words a child would say, which also applies to "yummy," I hate when adults say that.

Yes! Those not-quite-proper-words-not-quite-slang are such a dangerous area, especially at school. How you refer to your grandparents is another minefield.

wrt to tv shows, i've found that i cannot watch reruns of kenan and kel now that they're showing them, and i loved it when i was a kid. every episode is just "bad things happen" and it makes me anxious now.

even though i KNOW everything will be fine in the end, it's just some visceral reaction to watching disasters unfold

aw here it goes

When a stranger at the check-out counter asks me If I have big plans for the weekend. Because I'm afraid they'll find what I'm actually doing very lame.

When I was a kid, the only reason I started referring to my step dad as "dad" was because I couldn't bring myself to say his name (lex). For whatever reason, I just found the idea of saying it aloud utterly mortifying.

I spent about 2 years calling him "you", before I realized "dad" was a little less awkward.

― just1n3, Thursday, December 13, 2012

my stepfather married my mom when i was three years and one week old, but i've always called him tony. to other people i refer to him as my dad (as opposed to 'my real father'/'biodaddy')

Referring to soda/soft drinks/whatever-you-call-it as "pop".

I grew up in the midwest, and even though I'm on the east coast now, fuck it, I'm still calling it pop.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Speaking of tipping: I haven't been in one in years but it used to be that if you tipped at USA "mix-in" centered ice cream chain Cold Stone Creamery, all the employees would stop their work and sing a song. Awful. Also bars that ring a bell when they like your tip. Stop!

I have the same response to tense/embarrassing TV and can't stand Curb Your Enthusiasm. Sometimes if its really bad I'll leave the room until the moment has passed.

The lady selling Streetwise in front of the drugstore by my work makes me feel embarrassed bc she is super loud and always says the same thing in the same tone "Streeeeeeeeetwise! Good morning Street-wi-ise! How y'all doing today? Streetwise!"

This episode of TNG where Q gives Riker Q powers and Riker grants everyone their dreams is killing meeeeeeeee

it's been 15 years but i still remember the homeless glaswegian dudes pushing the big issue

of course it took me several days to understand what they were saying

xp loooool

i used to go to the supermarket across the street from my (then) apartment. one particular cashier was always super friendly and chatty, which was nice. one day, however, when i hadn't been to the store in a while, she ran up and hugged me and told me how nice it was to see me and asked where had i been. after that, i was too embarrassed to shop there.

Referring to soda/soft drinks/whatever-you-call-it as "pop".

I grew up in the midwest, and even though I'm on the east coast now, fuck it, I'm still calling it pop.

I thought this was a New England thing (maybe also midwest).

pittsburgh, midwest, canada all otm

xp to contenderizer, today i went to subway in a kind of sullen mood and the cashier/sandwich artist was extremely friendly and talkative. i was so confused, nervous, and embarrassed that i only ordered one sandwich when i had planned to order two (i wanted to get out of that environment). i had a hard time explaining to my mom why i bought her a sandwich and didn't get one for myself. she didn't understand.