Why am I so shit?

[JNicholson]

I just bought a sandwich from M&S after a work meeting in a different location, and ate half of it before getting on the train back to the main office. I put the other half in its packaging in my open laptop bag, which is crammed full of other stuff, to eat when I got back.

As soon as I sat down on the train I saw that the open package had fallen from the bag onto the floor, so no other half of the M&S sandwich for me. I couldn’t see the sandwich, assumed it had fallen under the seat but when I got up to throw the packaging away I saw it had somehow fallen to the side and slightly under me so although I have now thrown the squashed half sandwich away, there is now some squashed egg mayonnaise and ketchup on the seat, bad luck for anyone subsequent who wants to sit there, and ditto on my smart work dress which was newly washed this morning and which I will now have to wash again.

This kind of event sums up my life. Why? Why am I so shit? Why am I incapable of having a laptop bag that isn’t crammed and which I can close? Why am I incapable of eating a sandwich on the go without throwing it on the floor and mashing it into my dress?

FML.

How about this; you’re rushing round, carrying lots of work things, eating on the go (only managing half a sandwich in one location)

You’re not shit, you’re rushing around

It’s busyness and rushing about That’s the problem, I currently have stains on the thigh of my trousers from dropping taco meat all over myself while precariously balancing my dinner plate on my knee and trying to sneak bites of my meal while on a late conference call with work.

Theres only so many things you can do well at once. I can do lots of things shoddily at the same time.

Early yesterday morning in a rush I managed to drop a whole pot of yoghurt on the kitchen floor which burst open and spattered on my legs, the kitchen cabinets etc. So much cleaning up for one moment of clumsiness!

When this sort of thing happens to me I say OK, it's going to be one of THOSE days and brace myself for a whole day of such incidents.... then I'm pleasantly surprised if nothing else untoward occurs!

This is me. Every minor stupid thing builds on every other until my life feels like it is over. Need to prepare for job interview, but can't find the paperwork I need. Find paperwork and save on laptop, but then laptop gets smashed on the floor by the kids and charger breaks. Get new charger but it doesn't work. Decide to work on my phone but accidentally left it in the car. Go to get it from car but can't find car keys. Find car keys, open car door, pick up phone, promptly drop it over a wall and into a bush in the garden. And so it goes, on and on.

It’s not about this incident OP, you sound overwhelmed. I know it’s such a cliche but be much kinder to yourself and look at the root cause of why you’re feeling this way.

do you have any children OP? A partner?

@JNicholson well if you’re shit I must be shittier 😂 I’ve been known to struggle with the fiddly packaging of sandwiches and have them both falling on the floor!

I always open them sitting down and on a plate now xx

Stop giving yourself the narrative that you are “incapable of not having an overstuffed laptop bag”. Of course you are capable of that. You’re not an idiot. For whatever reason it’s not a priority for you, and that’s absolutely fine. If you’d like it to be then take all the crap out the bag that doesn’t need to be there. Now. Just do it. Literally nothing is stopping you.

I’m also a huge fan of the saying “did you really have a shit day or did you have a shit 5 minutes that you’ve turned into a shit day”. So you dropped half a sandwich and have to wash your dress before you wear it again…so? Don’t turn that into an existential crisis.

Also buy some of the Tide To Go stain remover pens to keep on you. A lifesaver.

Totally not the point of this thread but check out carter laptop bags, made by women for women. Stylish and practical 😊

I am accident prone which is highly likely due to undiagnosed ADHD.

That being said - I wouldn’t put a half eaten sandwich containing egg mayonnaise and ketchup in any bag containing my laptop.

When I had to take a laptop into the city I used a laptop sleeve (not a bag) and carried a small cross body camera bag (it’s what it’s called - it’s not large its small and rectangular sized and can carry a phone, a money pouch for my credit cards and room for tissues, some makeup and a travel sized perfume).

I wouldn’t carry a sandwich or any food. I wouldn’t save food for later because it is not safe to keep a supermarket sandwich unrefrigerated for over two hours. That’s just gross.

This is very similar to what I used:
Laptop sleeve

You need to invest in a decent tote bag. If you want to carry around food you need to buy an insulated lunch case which you can put ice packs in.

@Muffinmam

I wouldn’t carry a sandwich or any food. I wouldn’t save food for later because it is not safe to keep a supermarket sandwich unrefrigerated for over two hours. That’s just gross.

😆

I have plenty of sympathy but no advice as I'm the kind of person who will probably die by tripping over my own feet or choking on my own saliva 😅

I’ve also done that! I got £50 back once because the bank looked at the camera and saw that it wasn’t me that took the money so it was classed as fraud and refunded. Seems like it should be an idiot tax but actually worth checking with the bank!

..

@Muffinmam millions of children every day across the U.K. take a sandwich into school in their packed lunch. Often chicken or ham. Made somewhere between 6am and 8am and left in a bag in a warm room till 12pm/1pm before being eaten. We don’t have mass illness and death amongst our young population due to unsafe disgusting sarnies.

It really is fine to carry a sandwich around for a few hours before eating it.

Yeah you’re so right. The feelings are about much bigger things really. But it is also consistently the case that I drop food!

Whenever anything breaks and needs glueing, I always end up with my fingers stuck together. I'm not allowed glue anymore.

You poor pet. I am very serious about my food and don't cope well with hunger.
I probably would have had a really ugly cry...I'm not a crier, but losing food would do it!

I think you behaved with great dignity👏😁

@Weekmindedfool you might not be shit but you’re most definitely an arse.

This could be ADHD @JNicholson . As hormones started to go awry so does any masking or tenuous grasp on executive function. I feel like I’ve been body snatched by Frank Spencer most days. I can trip
up standing still, will drop whatever I put my hand on, ruin every piece of clothing with food stains and could lose an elephant in an empty room. I hate it!

What bigger things Op? Do you want to start a thread about the bigger things?

Do you have children? A partner?

@Xiaoxiong Final one (this is all just from today) was to find that I had replied to a client, and in my salutation his name had autocorrected to "Dear Bum..."

Dear Bum took me out 😂

This made me laugh.
I was cleaning my teeth and my cat ( always clean and house trained) jumped into the bath and had a wee!
My son said " never mind mummy. But just think of all the times she did and noone noticed!"
I too am a clumsy,non- white wearer. But a big enough bag and a food bag helped a lot. But you are not shit!

At least he had the right idea!! Love it :)

There's a lovely post on her substack from Katherine Needleman (an active campaigner against the US music rape culture, about whom I have mixed feelings). Anyway, in this post she was repairing an oboe with superglue. I'll leave you to imagine the outcome.....