Excruciatingly awkward misunderstandings

[kpnutts]

So It’s late at night when your brain reminds you of those awkward moments from your past...

Back at my first year at university it was a girl in my halls birthday and she was having a gathering of about 30ish people in one of the communal kitchens and I knew say about 5 of them. I arrived and had a few drinks, the music is playing loud and at some point noticed a girl on her own in the corner who happened to wearing a jacket I also owned.

So to make conversation I said something along the lines of “nice jacket, I have the same one”. I realise now she must have completely misheard me and she gave me a very odd look and said “err yes it’s mine”. A bit confused by the response I said “oh I just meant I have the same one, it’s from Zara right?”. Backing away slightly she laughed nervously and replied “haha no no it’s definitely mine, I don’t know Zara”. It’s pretty awkward now so I try to explain I meant Zara ‘the shop’, it doesn’t matter, let’s talk about something else, but she’s only getting more confused.

Suddenly her tone changes, she smiles at me sweetly and slowly says “ohhh I don’t know ‘Zara de-shop’ she must be your friend, is she looking after you tonight?”. In my awkward 18 year old way of trying not to embarrass her and the ridiculousness of the situation I stupidly grin as I think of a way to extract myself from the conversation. She takes this as a yes and continues “Isn’t it great you have such inclusive friends, are you living here by yourself?”. Arghh, feeling too far down the line to correct her and fearing someone I know may overhear, I quickly excuse myself to the bathroom and scuttle back to my room. None of my hall friends ever mentioned it and I never saw the girl again!

It plays over in my mind every now and again how a simple mishearing resulted in someone thinking I had a learning disability and talking to me like a child! She was (admittedly inadvertently) incredibly patronising even so, although I’m sure her intentions were good.

I do wonder if at some point in the next few years she walked past Zara and the penny dropped! I do giggle at the thought of her in a shopping centre having a complete Oh. My. God. moment.

Tell me mumsnet, have you ever had similar awkward miss understanding, or maybe you had a weird conversation about Zara many years ago.

Ha, I know what one is, I would also have laughed at someone bringing a kettle base in 🤷‍♀️

@IhateBoswell sorry, I didn’t mean to tag you. I was a little miffed at the previous response. 🤣🤣

I've never heard of a kettle lead, I'd assume it was the cable in the base of a kettle 🤷‍♀️

Feelthethunder. What does your sister's OH's salary have to do with anything?

And I'm still not getting the donkey thing from the other day. Can anyone explain

Jesus @feelthethunder way to kill the light heartedness of the thread. 🙄

Zero need for the indiscreet salary brag either.

Quite a few years ago I was chatting to one of my husband's friends about work. He asked what I did for a living and then I asked him. He replied 'job centre' and I said 'Sorry, I'm sure you'll find something soon'. He said 'no, I work for the job centre'. 😳Awkward conversation follows while I try to figure out how to get the hell out of there.

"Her partner is on 53k a year, I’m pretty sure he knows quite a few phrases to be on that wage!!"

😂

A few years ago I was in Asda. I wanted a jar of something from a bottom shelf and there was only one left at the back - so I knelt down on one knee to reach it.

Instantly a man approached and said ‘excuse me, could you tell me where the cereal is?’. I was wearing a bright green short sleeve t shirt and I realised that with that and my kneeling, tidying-the-shelves stance he thought I was staff.

I straightened up and kind of laughed and said ‘oh sorry I don’t work here!’

He looked at me for a full three seconds in confusion before giving a strained laugh and saying ‘ahh yeah haha. So sorry where are they?’.

So then I had to explain that no I wasn’t joking and I really didn’t work there. He still thought I was being weird and taking the piss and was giving me really strange looks...then he suddenly realised.

He was mortified and apologising for being so stupid, I was mortified and apologising for my green t shirt and we both retreated red faced and cringing

Is a kettle lead an HDMI cable? Never heard of it! Also don't get the donkey joke. But am mainly loving the amazing Britishness of this thread.

I've not heard of a kettle lead either, but Google says it's called this because it's "pretty much the same cable used to power an electric kettle" so maybe bringing the kettle base wasn't too far off the mark!

Tbh that's far worse for her 😂

I told a new colleague who had recently arrived in the UK that they should come over to my house for a drink over the Christmas break. (She didn't know anyone yet and I made a spur of the moment decision to do something nice).

She made a big fuss about how honoured she was, which was weird, and a few conversations later the penny dropped that she had thought I was inviting her over on Christmas Day itself.

I hardly knew her so I had to clarify the invite wasn't for Xmas day. She looked like she was going to cry. It was just super awkward after that and she never came round.

@MLMsuperfan while I get the misunderstanding, the right thing to do would have been to ensure you arranged a date for that drink...

My sister's DP is on 53k has really tickled me

I've no idea who my siblings partners earn. I need to ask them in case I ever need to prove they are well informed

I'm terrible with people's names and faces out of context, I really am. I was staying at a hotel and a very nice young woman bought up some extra towels for us all and I had a quick chat with her and we laughed together about something, no idea what. Anyway, coming into the hotel later that day same young woman (now not in uniform and not carrying towels) greets me warmly like an old friend. I say hello and I'm obviously mystified to know who she is. She then looks embarrassed and says, 'I bought your towels?' and I vaguely remember and try and recover to be pleasant to her but the moment has definitely gone. I felt so awful because she was so lovely and when she was carrying the towels I'd been so nice.

Donkey joke:

THe punch line is better without Hs - "ee-aw, ee-aw, 'e always calls me that"

If you say it out loud NOW, the ee-aw sound the same as the start of the " 'e always" segment, so it sounds like he just can't get the phrase out because he stammers.

Hang on, I can't remember how the donkey joke went now, can someone repeat it?

Why on earth wouldn't you say 'mains lead' in the first place, as it's clearly the more widely used term with no possibility for ambiguity?

I've told this one before but it still gets to me and I'm just left feeling mortified every time I think about it.
Dh was invited to a swanky party at his work with all the big bosses. I think he was definitely hoping to impress and had an in house interview lined up for the following week. Anyway, in was in my 3rd trimester with dd1. We get there, it's spectacular, everyone's dressed up and the venue is decorated beautifully, inwas very excited just to be out.
My DH introduces me to some of his friends and a couple of bosses and then excuses himself to get some drinks. While he's gone, one of the bosses offers me congratulations on the baby. He asked, "do you know what you're having?" And I replied, "yes, a baby." It was so awkward but I didn't correct the situation and the boss just walked off and left me standing there like an idiot.
I wish that was all...
As the evening neared the end, we got our stuff ready to go and say our goodbyes. My DH was saying goodbye to the big boss and so went to say goodbye too. He stretched out his hands and looked like he was going for a hug (blimey l, we've only just met, I thought!) Anyway, not to shy away, I also went in for a hug. Turns out he wasn't going for a hug, he was going for a hand shake. I'd got really close to his body by then when I finally twigged and managed to "salvage" the situation by straightening his tie! Oh the horror!!
Although it didn't do my DH any harm as he got the promotion but I dont go to their work do's very often!!

at @Feelthethunder 53k comment

I've also never heard of a kettle lead 🤷‍♀️ I guess my salary just isn't high enough to know such complex phrases

Is that 53k before or after tax?

@heartonastring if I’d met you I’d have laughed if you’d said that, I think it’s witty. And the hug? You’re obviously a warm person, he should have gone with it.
I think really good manners are about putting people at ease rather than sticking to some sort of formality.

Ah so glad it's not just me making these clangers.

One of my worst was at a mixer for the PhD I later dropped out of, in part due to this exchange. I'm an introvert and hate networking type stuff but was all like come on, you can do it, go for it, positive self talk stuff. So I go over to this woman and introduce myself and start asking her which course she's on. She gives me a frosty look and says actually I'm one of the lecturers. The conversation went downhill from there.

In retrospect I could have shaken it off and tried to talk to someone else. But I was so embarrassed I ran off to cry in the toilets and went home

@Feelthethunder
Her partner is on 53k a year

So fucking what?

MLMsuperfan that poor woman

@Feelthethunder a colleague of mine is on £70k but can't work out his arse from his elbow...but he does have social graces which is more than can be said for your sister and brother in law! Money earned is not an indication of intelligence sadly