Friday, November 14, 2008

When have you felt like "a fish out of water" like Queequeg when he carried a wheelbarrow or his chest, or the captain when he washed his hands in the ceremonial coconut water?

26 comments:

Mrs. Baird said...

The time that I felt most like a fish out of water was the first day of preschool. When I first learned to talk, I could only speak Taiwanese and Chinese. Needless to say, I had no idea what anyone was saying. I also couldn't communicate any of my thoughts or needs. Some of the others kids would try to say things to me, but I could only stare at them blankly. I know my complete lack of English-speaking skills was because my parents didn't want me to speak accented English, but it truly was an extremely awkward experience.

Mrs. Baird said...

I felt like a "fish out of water" when I went to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch a UFC fight. Every one there was excited about the fight and getting really into it. I felt completely the opposite and was actually kind of bored and a little bit disturbed by watching two people fight each other. I definitely felt out of place when I was there and was thankful to leave.

~Shamu~

Mrs. Baird said...

I felt out of place when I worked the polls when the rest of the wrokers in my precinct were all over the age of sixty.

~Queen of Babble

Mrs. Baird said...

When I was 15, my friend convinced me to go with her on our church retreat. At that time, I wasn't really involved in my church, and I didn't know a lot of the kids who were going, and I don't like being places where I don't know people, because I am really shy. When we got to where the retreat was being held, my friend went off and was talking to everyone that she knew(she had helped plan it, so she knew a lot of people from the other churches) and I was left standing by myself. To make matters worse, I was in a group with nobody from my church, so there was no one I knew even a little. But in the end, I ended up having a really good time, and am still friends with some of the people that I met.

Spock

Mrs. Baird said...

High school is a veritable breeding ground for fish out of water moments. Such as this one time when I was invited to spend the night at a friend's house. We hadn't seen each other more more than six months, so I was hoping for some one-on-one catch-up time. Needless to say that when they came and picked me up at my house, those plans were shot. "We're going to go watch movies at a friend of mine's house with seven other people!" Mind you, this friend goes to a different school so I didn't know ANYBODY there but my friend and one or two others. I've never felt so awkward in my life! Especially when all they talked about was moments they had at school or etc. Talk about being a fish out of water...

havemercy

Mrs. Baird said...

I felt like a fish out of water when I was picked last for dodgeball because I was a big fatty-fat.
-The Clique

Mrs. Baird said...

Hmm...when I felt like a fish out of water would be when I tried out for my first musical: Phantom of the Opera and I tried to sing on stage for the try-outs, of course, and I was so nervous and I felt so out of place that I could not even sing a tune on pitch and I was shaking very violently and, as you can determine yourself, I did not make it into Phantom of the Opera regardless of my spastic and fear-lfighting efforts lol. Show Choir, plays, and musicals were never my strong point though I am very interested in them and I am quite the character so it's o.k. with me that I have no talent on stage :)
--TheAdvocateonDeck

Mrs. Baird said...

I have felt so very out of place when I once attended a show at the Underground for my first, and last time. I suppose wearing a halloween costume wasn't the appropriate attire, therefore I was immediately shunned and asked to leave. It also didn't help that I attended the event with a friend of whom had never gone before either, and we were both clueless as to how to act or where to go. Although I say I will never return, someday I hope to go again, but in a much less embarrassing fashion.
Pineappleisland

Mrs. Baird said...
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Mrs. Baird said...

I have recently shared the experience of feeling like a "fish out of water". This happened last week at our church's 50th anniversary celebration. I had prepared a sing in which I performed on stage, and it was followed by thunderous applause. Much to my surprise, a lady around the age of 74 spoke up requesting me to play another song that I was unfamiliar with. I didn't want to upset her by explaining how I had not practice the piece, and at the same time I was wishing to be elsewhere and not up in the spotlight.

Diane Shao

Mrs. Baird said...

I felt like a "fish out of water" when I went to honor band last year. Everyone else around me was able to play the music easily while I struggled at first. The music was really difficult, and I had to focus hard to play the music. That was when I realized how bad I am at playing my instrument. --callmedick

Mrs. Baird said...

I felt like a fish out of water when I played on a co-ed soccer team a few years ago. I had only played soccer one other time in my life so I didn't really know what I was doing. There were large thirty-year-old men playing against us one game and I was extremely nervous. I ran towards the ball but one of the large men got there before I did. Of course, the ball hit me straight in the face. Because I was obviously not an asset to the team, I opted to sit out the rest of the game. People sympathized for my damaged face, but i think they were secretly glad I was no longer running aimlessly on the field.
--llama brain

Mrs. Baird said...

I felt like a fish out of water in sophmore Biology. I was one of two or three students out of heaven knows how many who paid attention and got A's, and when the teacher posted the grades the rest of the students stared at us like we had five heads! Not two, five!
And then there was my twin second cousins' baptism into the Catholic Church... AWKWARD MUCH! I grew up in an ultra-contemporary Methodist church, so the chanting and rituals seemed completely unnatural and unnecessary.

-Essex Haunt-

Mrs. Baird said...
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Mrs. Baird said...

when I was younger I was on a team wiht girls that were pretty popular and pretty much just like the coach, I was the ugly glasses braces, spandex wearing freak that wanted to take wood shop to make things and not meet guys. they thought I was a freek. on top of it all they were there just to be social and I wanted to actualy practice so that made it even more aquard then they started calling me mockingly "book Worm" I never mannaged to fit in wiht them and they hated me for it.

-Shark Bait

Mrs. Baird said...

Not only do I know how to play Magic:The Gathering,I actually enjoy it.Yes...geek-fest on parade.My dad taught me how to play at a very young age and several of my cousins also play, but alas,I am the only girl.One day while we were at my cousin's house I got bored sitting with my mom and all the girls, so i went downstairs to where the guys were playing Magic.I said I wanted to join in and they all laughed at me because "I'm a girl and girls can't play Magic."I gave them some of my infamous attitude and not only had I been allowed to join, I had sucessfully beat their butts in several games.Being the only girl, however, was quite unnerving.They made it worse of course by talking about sports,a subject of which I know nothing about.

maskedexcitement13

Mrs. Baird said...

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Mrs. Baird said...

I felt like a fish out of water one day after practice before my friends and I went home. I was drinking gatorade and somebody said something funny and suddenly the gatorade came out my nose!!! This has never happened to me before so I was extremely embarassed and didn't know how to react. All I know is everybody was laughing hysterically as my nose was burning and the purple liquid was dripping out.

--Henry

Mrs. Baird said...

A time that I felt out of place was a time in my English class when I argued my point of view to a class of girls. Apparently they believe it is okay to hit a man but he cannot reciprocate. This double standard is entirely unacceptable. I understand and support equal voting rights and equality in the workplace, but the feminists who preach this need to accept total equality. If it’s not okay for a man to hit a woman then don’t hit him. Why did the 26th amendment pass? 18-year-olds were dying for out country. They deserved and earned the right to vote by taking on more responsibility. If you want to get the perks of equal treatment then you need to shoulder the responsibilities and accountability that comes with it. I felt out of place speaking my mind, but I got it out.

-FatrickD

Mrs. Baird said...
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Mrs. Baird said...

The time I felt like a fish out of water was when I went to a dance class with one of my friends. She said it would be fun and really easy. It may have been to her because she has been dancing all her life, but it was the complete opposite for me. Lets just say it was an awkward hour and a half, which i spent most of the time looking around, acting like I had a clue what was going on.

bon qui qui

Mrs. Baird said...

Yes, I have.
I felt like a fish out of water when I was at the last family reunion. Usually, only my grandmother's side comes to the reunion. However, the last time, my grandmother's and my grandfather's side came. Pretty much, it was looking at a Bizarro World version of my family. There was even a me. Pretty freaky.

Another time, and this happens every year, is at the start of new classes. I'm very, very shy and I don't feel comfortable talking to people I don't know well. So new classes are torture.

Mrs. Baird said...

The post above was made by Batty.

Mrs. Baird said...

Okay, the first day of ninth grade was horrible. I had gotten used to being in the same class setting for four years but I found that I was now thrown into a sea of people that I didn't know. So as I walk into my first period class, which was a more remedial class, I don't recognize anyone. It doesn't really help that I have this weird fear of people, this explains why I either won't talk to anyone or that I have a totally different personality when I first meet them to when I get more comfortable. But back to story time, I just sat there, staring forward while everyone else talked because of course they all knew each other. I was about to cry when the teacher came around to take attendance. That was probably the worst day of my life and I hope it never happens again, even though it probably will with college.
-Starbuckaholic

Mrs. Baird said...

The time I felt like a fish out of water was when I met one of my friends for a "double date", the thing is , I wan't clued in on this little aspect of the get together. I later caught on as my friend and her boyfriend kept suspiciously leaving me and the other guy alone. During the meantime, I was completely clueless about the hints he was dropping about another double date. I felt so ignornat afterwards.

Shadows El Toro

Mrs. Baird said...

I always feel like a fish out of water when I go to my uncle's house for Thanksgiving. That's where my aunt's,his wife's, side of the family gets together. It's only awkward because I don't really know any of them or anything about them. They are all young adults or older and are either a biker or have biker parents. My aunt and uncle have bikes also. Pretty awesome I think. I wish I could ride one at least once in my life. I find it really hard to connect to any of them because they have led such different lives. Another bad thing is that many of them unfortunately smoke and I am against smoking. I wouldn't mind so much if they didn't do it in the house. It smells sooo bad!

~redbirdblue