Engineer mistook my copper tape for cloud busting and now I am cringing....any foot in mouth moments to make me feel better?

[Theghostofchristmasarse]

Just had the most bizarre exchange that I might not stop thinking about for quite some time!

Have an engineer visiting, working on our heating system. He's in the garden and spots a plastic pot on my garden table with baby hosta in it which I'm protecting (or trying to) from snails (slimy little bastards, in a war with them currently to stop them destroying all my plants, that's a whole other thread!), the pot is wrapped with copper tape.
He says 'oh you're into all that are you?'..I responded with "yeah, trying to stop the little buggers, hands off, you're not touching my hostas, bought those in Chelsea and they were really expensive so trying to save them"...

He puts the pot back down like us a bomb, said sorry...took me a minute to understand he though I was talking to him (As he backed away slowly looking a bit scared and carefully adjusted the pot to exactly where it was before..)

He said oh, no, cloud busting.

I then realised we were at crossed wires so say oh no, snails! Trying to stop them eating my plants!

I'm now overthinking that he thinks I'm some loon into dispelling negative energy or something (I had to Google it! Mental!) and that I didn't want him touching my plants 😂

I do have ADHD and I feel like I have these moments very often and then I will literally overthink them for months, sometimes years later. I often will say things without thinking or think that other people's brains work as fast as mine, I also misheard things very often and only process them properly a few minutes later which just adds to the confusion.

If anyone else had any foot in mouth moments they'd like to share to make me feel better that'll help! (Although I'm not sure this was entirely my fault!)

In a snail related episode. My dsis is a Buddhist and is always at war with snails but tries not to hurt them. So she collects them all and relocates them. So shes got her paper bag full of snails and chatting to neighbours and said "Im just taking my snails to the park." And the neighbour looks at her funny and says "what, like for a walk?"

I think you just need to slow down and speak in full sentences a bit more.
Other people are not privy to your mind.
Slow. Short. Simple sentences.
That's what I'd suggest.
So with the school gate you could have said
Oh. Are you expecting too then?
Pause for answer.
With the heating man as I read it I had assumed you were saying hands off to him.
imagine you are sending morse code.
Over short wave radio.
Aim to be clear. And give space for response. Listen carefully.
With eyes as well as ears.
All the best.

Nor me lol

Thanks everyone for the helpful opinions and snail/foot in mouth stories/suggestions, also for the slightly more unhelpful ones, I'll accept that I'm weird/wrong/annoying for thinking about this too much/speaking too quickly/speaking without thinking and try to be better and not have ADHD in future...

I've certainly learnt something, off to Google snail mesh whilst I take some snails to the park.

He's obviously not a gardener!

Never heard of cloud busting but do know about copper tape so I would have understood you.

Does copper tape work for your hostas ? The snails ignored it and ate mine down to stumps.

I think pp have mentioned copper mesh, which I’ve used and seems to work. I think the mesh is probably more uncomfortable than the smooth tape for slugs/snails to crawl across! I bend it over away from the plant at the top, to form a lip, which does seem to stop them.

I found this book really helpful on the over thinking parts of ADHD www.amazon.co.uk/Why-Does-Everybody-Hate-Sensitivity/dp/1399827839

Glad you’ve learned something about snails. Ignore the idiots who lack the capacity to understand people with neuro divegency might think and act differently- who knew???? For what it’s worth - I have Audhd and knew exactly what your post would be about from the title. I’m still overanalysing conversations from 40 years ago!

Never heard of cloud busting! Glad he realised what you were talking about in the end.
The only thing that works for me with slugs and snails is separating pots so they don’t go “leaf to leaf” and using pampas grass cuttings, cut into small bits and put on in a thick layer. The little bits are sharp and the leaves have teeth so the buggers don’t bother with them. I’d tried everything (except soldier frass which seems very trendy currently) and finally my seedlings and leafy plants survive! But you will need a friend/neighbour with a pampas

Top tip, thank you!