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Laugh It Off.

I work at a place where I interact with lots of people on a daily basis. I am asked several questions, told lots of stories (whether I care or not), and basically talked to and at all day long. I am a people person, so I enjoy the interaction. I was once tucked away in an enclosed office for a few months while working on a project, and I thought I was going to pull each red hair straight out of my noggin strand my strand. I need people.

And scenery.

And wide open spaces.

Because of the constant dialogue between myself and the others, there are inevitable awkward moments. Moments that make me want to burst into hysterical laughter right in front of them. Moments where I try with every fiber of my being to keep a straight face and remain professional. A lot of them happen over the phone, so at least I can smile and cover the mouth piece.

But occasionally, they happen face to face.

Take for instance this conversation I had with a guy not too long ago.

Guy: Hey, I wanted to request a so-and-so be mailed out to such-and-such.

Me: Okay, if you’ll fill out this form, I can take care of that for you.

Guy: Great!

Me: *smiling and continuing on with my work*

Guy: How’s your husband doing?

Me: He’s good. Hangin’ in there!

Guy: I’m ____. I used to work with him back at so-and-so.

Me: Oh yeah! How are you doing?

Guy: I'm good. Remember that time you guys took me to the airport?

Me: Yes

Guy: That was hilarious.

Me: *Giggling and rambling on about absolutely nothing because I am trying to stifle my laughter that he just said “that was hilarious” when there was nothing funny about us taking him to the airport.* “Yeah, that was funny.”

It may not sound all that funny to you, but in real life it was hilarious. I could tell that he was just scrounging for something to say, and “that was hilarious” came out? We both knew it wasn’t hilarious. We both knew it wasn’t even funny! But I was laughing SO much that I agreed with him that it was, in fact, hilarious.

There are the times where other people are the ones making fools of themselves, and then there are the times where I make a fool of myself.

Those are the times that I hate.

For example:

Months ago, an important man where I work came in the office. I saw him coming through the big glass window before he walked in and Lindsey was sitting up by my desk shooting the breeze with me.

I mumbled to her out of the side of my mouth, “quick – what’s that guys name?”, because I could never, ever remember his name.

“Dr. Fred”, she said.

“Thanks”, I mumbled.

He walked in and I smiled cheerfully and asked him what I could do for him.

Dr. Fred: Can I please speak with Wilma?

Me: Oh, I’m sorry. Wilma’s not here yet this morning.

Dr. Fred: Okay. Will you tell her that I stopped by?

Me: Sure.

At this point, I started jotting down a note for Wilma to call Dr. Fred. I assumed Dr. Fred would let me handle the situation and he would make his way back to his office. Nope. Didn’t happen. He stood there and watched me write the note.

Me: What’s your phone number?

Dr. Fred: 555-2424

I scribbled down, “Wilma, Please call Dr. Fred at 555-2424.”

He stared at every word I wrote.

Then he looked up at me and said, “What does that say?”

“I….er….um….it says Wilma, please call Dr. Fred at 555-2424”, I meekly responded.

“You must be mistaken. I am Dr. Barney.”

I apologized profusely and gave Lindsey the evil eye out when he wasn’t looking. My face turned the color of a tomato and I started sweating. I was mortified. After I wrote down the correct information and Dr. Barney left my office, I screamed….

“LINDSEY!!! WHY DID YOU TELL ME THAT WAS DR. FRED!!!!!!!!”

She explained that she saw his hair and got confused and by the time she realized that it was Dr. Barney and NOT Dr. Fred, it was too late – the damage was already done and there was no way for her to inform me.

Suuuure. She just wanted to watch me make a complete FOOL of myself!

I'm pretty sure she laughed for 15 minutes straight at that one.

Dr. Barney comes in quite frequently these days and you better believe that EVERY time Wilma is not here and he needs to speak with her, he stands over me and watches me write my note.

And I get nervous and almost pass out every. single. time.

(Note: Names Were Changed To Protect The Innocent. Except for Lindsey. She deserves for the world to know what she did!) ;)
I am a modern day homemaker with a passion for family, cooking, celebrating, decorating, travel, and memory making! The Lord has blessed me with the desires of my heart in my husband and our two sons. We recently built our dream home and cultivating a loving and happy haven for my family is where I find so much joy.

Comments

  1. you are hilarious and even as I was reading about fred, barney and wilma I ACTUALLY thought theses were their names!!HaHa

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  2. Ah ha ha - I hate when stuff like that happens!!

    And I did the same thing as The Watermelon Tree!

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  3. I have weird convos all the time at work. My co-workers and I just laugh and laugh sometimes... Makes the day go by though right!

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  4. Awkward moments are what make the world go 'round. Life would be so boring without them. Thanks for letting us laugh at your expense!

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  5. The fist weird convo is so funny!! I would have laughed in his face even though he was just trying to be polite and bring up small talk he could have said anything better then "Remember that time".

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  6. Isn't 555-2424 the Tanner's phone number? :)

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  7. that's hilarious!!! oh i dread that happening to me...its like a nightmare...so sorry it happened to you!

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  8. this is how ridiculous i am (and after reading comments, i realize i'm not the only ones)... i was like, "what are the ODDS! all of their names would be Flinstone characters!! inCREDible!" i'm so slow. haha. i was like. ooooooooooohhhhh....

    funny funny! i can totally picture that scene.

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  9. oh lordy be, i think we have the same sort of job situation. i run the front desk at my office, an accounting firm, but i'm also the personal assistant of the owner of the company plus many other duties. and this happens to me all the time!!! there's this one guy who comes in and he always shakes my hand, and sometimes gives me starbucks cards... but i swear. for the life of me, his face is so unmemorable (sounds horrible i know) and i'm always second-guessing myself!!! i'm so sorry you had to endure this!! but humility is good for the soul, right? right? anyone? bueller? i think that's what they say.... :)

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  10. Okay, now that was hilarious!! I needed that laugh today.

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  11. So funny! I hate it when stuff like that happens!! You handled it better than I would have :)

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  12. Oh my gosh--I HATE awkward stuff like that! It's so weird!

    I can just hear you telling the part about taking the guy to the airport! "I'm so sure--like taking him to the airport was hilarious!" Ha!

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  13. haha! I didn't figure out these were Flintstone's names until the VERY end! :)

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  14. Haha! That is hillarious!! I work in my own office away from everybody on campus at my job. I try not to complain about it because I know most people would LOVE to have their own office, but it seems like other people in cubicles with other humans right next to them have so much more fun!!! We are so alike my friend!

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  15. hahah shame on Lindsey!! I do NOT like when people stand over and watch me. UGH!

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  16. LOL. I've done that so many times too... I mean all the professors and doctors at my job look alike! ;)

    Cowgirl in the City
    http://irishamy.blogspot.com

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  17. You should start greeting him by name when he comes in! hah

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  18. ha that's really funny and embarrassing. I hate embarrassing moments and hate how every time you think about them later, you get re-embarrassed. Or at least I do. boo.

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  19. Yes, that sounds embarassing. Does nurse Pebbles work there? He he.

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  20. LOL! I am constantly making a fool of myself each time I open my mouth!

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  21. Oh my goodness I love awkward office moments. THESE ARE HILARIOUS!!!

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  22. I didn't get the Fred, Barney, Wilma thing until I read the comments.

    I feel stupid.

    That's funny though! I have those conversations all the time too, makes it interesting :-)

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  23. When I was reading I was thinking "does she seriously have a Dr. Fred, Dr. Barney, and there just so happens to be a Wilma there?..weird!"....but then I caught on after reading some comments.

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  24. I'd rather deal with awkward situations than angry customers! :) I love being an admin and only having to really interact on a daily basis with those who work in my office.

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  25. Oh wow, I'm an idiot...I didn't get the whole Fred, Barney and Wilma thing until I started reading the comments. HELLO! Oh well, judging by the other comments, I'm not the only one.

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  26. I work at a music school and I know nothing about music. absolutely nothing. so during one of my first weeks there, someone handed me a concert program to approve and it had the name of the piece of music and then under it the author was listed as, "Anon." I laughed and said to the guy, "Oh, Anon. Is that like Madonna? Only needs a one word name?" "No," the guy responded. "That stands for anonymous."

    Oops. How do we get through the days sometimes?

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  27. I am LAUGHING OUT LOUD!!! I remember that like it was yesterday. SO FUNNY!! My bad! :)

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  28. Oh my that is too funny. I just kept thinking of Fred & Barney Flinstone. It cracks me up because it sounds like something I would say daily. It's good to know you young girls get mixed up at times too. Keep us laughing Whit.

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  29. Whitney Dawn, coming to Broken Arrow this weekend! Give me a call! love ya!

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  30. Oh no I would have been embarrassed too!!

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  31. Whitney, I just found your blog, and I too always only wanted to be a wife and mother. And that is exactly how my life has been and i have not regreted it for a second. My babies are now 20-somethings, like you, and my only advise to you is to just do it. Make money sacrifices, drive older cars, dont eat out at fancy restaurants, do what you can to spend as much time as you can with your kids, the time really truly flies by so quickly! I look forward to following your wonderful journey! The best of luck to you and your new family! Sue

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  32. Bahaha! So glad I'm not the only one who didn't get the name thing while I was reading. I got it at Dr. Barney, but ... :O

    The first one really made me laugh. I am the most socially awkward person ever, I'm sure I could think of a million instances where I was in that guy's place. Saying something totally stupid and laughable just because I was desperate for something to say. So mean of you to laugh at him. Ahaha =]

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