Innocuous things that make you irrationally embarrassed

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.

i think most days this wouldn't have happened. i was caught off guard.

I always feel about 2 years old when customer service people start being too friendly with me. All my answers become v quiet, shy, one word answers

*yes*
...
*i don't know*
...
*maybe*
...
*um. because?*
...

The Prince and the Pauper

- my dad owned a restaurant from 1989-1992. He mentions this to every server we meet at lunch.

- when I had the cancer, anything cold was painful for me. At one restaurant that I would go to, I would always order water without any ice, preferably warm. To this day, the waitress still gives me warm water with every meal and I don't want to correct her because that would involve getting into a story about my colon with her.

- anytime someone mentions an Internet joke that I've already known about for a week.

- I don't live in the densest of population areas, so when ever I pass somebody on the sidewalk, and I don't make eye contact with them, I think "do people in New York City have this problem?"

- when people point out a joke after someone else has told it.

Haha, yeah, because its not funny anymore when you have to explain it, amirite?

- anytime someone mentions an Internet joke that I've already known about for a week.
eating lunch with some coworkers, one person mentioned this hilarious thing they'd seen recently called honeybadger & no-one else had heard of it so he told them all about it and they looked it up on youtube and watched it for the first time
kill me now

any time someone brings up a fact they learned from a recent cracked article/etc everyone's already read

How you refer to your grandparents is another minefield.

Yes. When my oldest nephew was a baby, and learning to talk, he couldn't say "grandma" or any of the more common variants properly, so what he said came out basically as "mimi." It stuck, and so he kept using it, and then when my other nephew and niece were born, that's they word they were taught. Those kids are 23, 17 and 15 now and it makes me cringe to hear people that age referring to my mother as "mimi."

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

― nickn, Friday, December 14, 2012 11:38 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Nah, if you say "pop" in New England, they don't know what the fuck you're talking about, and/or will taunt you mercilessly.

I always feel about 2 years old when customer service people start being too friendly with me. All my answers become v quiet, shy, one word answers

As someone who does customer service, I always feel 2 years old when I have to make fake-ass friendly small talk with customer (we're strongly encouraged to do so). "So, the weather. You...um...r-rain?"

Typos. Whether online or in academic work or correspondence.

It's a combination of being able to type 90 wpm and years of ridicule by intimidating English teachers. Also my mom was an English major (drop out) and I have never been able to write perfect sentences like her!! I can barely read her grammar school English book. It has sentence diagramming in it!

-bloggers who respond to all the comments people leave them, especially if they're very polite and dutiful and non-controversial. it'll go something like...

blog entry: Here's a review of a book I read. I loved it!

commenter 1: I loved it too!

blogger: I know, huh? Thanks for reading my blog!

commenter 2: I hated it!

blogger: I actually hated it the first time I read it, but I went back to it recently and found that I loved it! Of course you're entitled to your own opinion :) Thanks for reading my blog!

commenter 3: I loved it too!

commenter 4: I loved it too!

blogger: I'm glad you feel that way, commenters 3 and 4! I'm so blown away by all these positive responses! Thanks for reading my blog!

What embarrasses me is the sense that they're grateful for getting any response at all — they feel so blessed and so *famous* for getting 200 hits and 5 comments that they have to express their gratitude publicly.

I'm also embarrassed by youtube users who respond gratefully to comments left on their own videos. It's even worse if the video isn't even their own creation (especially if it's a shaky home recording of a Family Guy clip) and the uploader still feels the need to go, "aw shucks, I never dreamed this would reach 80,000 views. Thanks for your support, guys!" Poor kid just figured out how to point a camera at a TV screen and upload the resulting clip to youtube, and suddenly they have aspirations of going viral, not realizing that thousands of youtube videos have 80,000 views and dozens of other people have uploaded that exact same Family Guy clip. I hate to find out that there's a real, earnest human presence behind what I thought was just a cynical grab for pageviews.

I mean like

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZJC6x7iebU

Uploaded on Dec 24, 2009

Hi everyone :D I made this video 3 years ago not really expecting what to happen i would of never thought of having 340,000 views i have met alot of amazing people here on youtube and i would really like to thank everyone who has liked the video and supported me thanks i hope i made you laugh !

er, and for similar reasons I get kinda embarrassed for tteggaR deN when I see him responding to every single mention of his name on a certain message board :-/

https://twitter.com/TTEGGAR

I feel the opposite
I love that shit, it feels like a Farmer's Market.

"ooooh you grew that kale yourself? and you're making $2 a bunch? so like you have to sell how much to make a profit on your drive down here? oooooh and you made your own yogurt? and jarred it yourself? do you have any idea how easily available domestically produced yogurt is?" etc.

Ah customer service...I'm always flustered but a bit flattered when they ask me if the food I'm buying is "good". But it catches me off guard.

tense/embarassing tv is big for me. the office, curb your enthusiasm, and most reality shows are completely unwatchable. i've had to bury my head in chair cushions when people have started watching "my super sweet 16".

at work we had a going-away party for some executive who was returning to france with his wife and kids. the ceo got up and starting telling french jokes and giving them ~american~ gifts like cowboy hats and plastic toy rifles for the kids. the executive and the ceo probably worked together every day and i've never talked to either of them, but that didn't stop me from curling up in the fetal position for 5 minutes while this was happening.

Oh lord, my work had a presentation for the longest-serving secretary when she retired, the centrepiece of which was the CEO pulling her most carefully-kept files out of the drops behind her desk and ripping them up - "You won't be needing these!" - to her visible discomfort. I imagine he was the only person present who didn't want to die at that moment.

i'm currently watching "The 25 Most Heartwarming Holiday TV Moments" on the TV Guide network which apparently still exists, and the whole thing is one big cringefest. the talking head to actual footage ratio is about 95:5 and apparently everyone was just told to describe every single thing that happens in each show. and every time someone pauses, they do this fake fast zoom-in for the beat, except they're all being interviewed in front of a green screen so it's just their entire bodies getting thrown at you and tilting to one side for some reason. and they're currently jubilating bob geldof. the whole thing is like some fluffy so-inoffensive-it's-offensive SEO-driven listicle except you have to sit through real people alternating each sentence.