Today, I am outing myself as a poor sport. Maybe you already gleaned this from just getting to know me here. Maybe you never would have guessed. In any event, let me confirm...POOR SPORT ON BOARD.
Let me give you some background. I am one of those people who don't like those practical joke shows like Punk'd and countless others of that sort. I don't laugh...they make me uncomfortable. I don't like seeing people get upset, worried, scared, even though I know it is all in good fun and moments later they will be laughing with relief. I am not against all practical jokes. Like...oh, wrapping my cubicle in foil, say. That would be funny. But I don't like to be scared or things like that on purpose. She is not amused... I guess it is just some weird personality quirk.
My family knows this about me. In fact, on Sunday we had an actual discussion about it as we had our lunch together. The kids were talking about things they'd seen on YouTube and how heeelarious they were. My notorious dislike of pranks like that was giggled over. And given all of this...maybe I shoulda seen it coming. After lunch we came back to the apartment for a visit. Kick Back Dude gave me the baby's bottle and asked me to rinse it out, please...so nicely. I went into the kitchen and turned on the water and was immediately sprayed with that hose attachment thingy. They had rubberbanded the handle down so that it was on when the water came on.
Quiz time. How did this joke go over? a)I laughed and laughed and then we all laughed together. b) They laughed and after I dried off I had to laugh a little too. c) I got seriously pissed and pretty much ruined the evening by yelling at everyone and telling them they KNEW how much I HATED stuff like that. Yeah. You got it.
Afterward, I felt awful. They all apologized to me. I apologized to them. It's fine. But I can't help but wonder why I react like I do. Maybe I am repressing some horrible humiliation from my past. Or I don't know...maybe I am just a poor sport, can't take a joke, beeyotch. I usually ask not to be judged :-) But I think this time it may be unavoidable. Guh.
9 comments:
Gee... I can't help you because I'm a poor sport too. April Fool's Day is usually hard for me. But at least I am mentally prepped for it. Out of the blue... I will get very upset.
I think its from years of being the family baby aka the easiest victim.
I enjoy some pranks, but I would prefer to not be the victim. I don't mind being an outside observer, but I couldn't be the perp. I would think the kids would know you by now.
I'm just like you. It's not just you. There are others out there. Let's form a support group.
I actually talked with a friend of mine about how he's different than me. He has different boundaries than me. He thinks nothing of pushing me over - like at the beach. I said there are certain rules. He said I lived in a 5th grade world.
Sigh.
Ananda: Ah, yeah, you have a good reason. I don't have that excuse, but it is good to know I'm not the only one who doesn't enjoy being pranked.
AlienCG: It sucks being the victim! And I don't even enjoy watching other people get tricked...I get so uncomfortable. But, for sure, my kids knew better :-)
Pamela: I am so relieved that I am not the only one, seriously. A support group sounds good :-)
Your friend sounds fun, but I'd probably always be getting my feelings hurt.
It doesn't bother me quite so much. I was the youngest, so I had to learn not to react to getting pranked, or my siblings would do it even more.
I would've reacted more towards b. but can you add a "d" to those options? I would get irritated and quiet and force out a heartless snicker. Then plot revenge.
I've seen that prank on America's Funniest Videos, and you are not alone about that kind of joke. A woman did that to her husband and he did not laugh, just asked "What is the matter with you?"
Now picturing your kids doing that to you, and knowing what happened, I giggled a bit. Forgive me! I'm slap happy right now and I think wallpaper would be funny at this moment. ;)
Churlita: I am going to try and work towards being less reactive. It is a bit crazy, actually.
Tara: haha! Your reaction is much more normal and balanced :-) I think that man might be my soulmate. The first thing out of my mouth was, "You have GOT to be kidding me." Well, duh, they were...but you know.
And I totally forgive you for laughing :-) I have it coming.
Haha, love it! Ok, gotta say, you sound like my mom, I've always been too afraid to pull pranks like that on her, she would go into a murderous rage.
I remember in college throwing water balloons at kids coming out of the coffee shop at the bottom of my dorm (I was upstairs with the troublemakers). We hit quite a lot of people, but then someone called the cops. Unfortunately, a couple of african american girls had taken it the wrong way and thought we were targeting them b/c of their race. I never got a chance to explain that we were equal opportunity pranksters (we all ran away as the cops showed up)!!! I do feel bad though, I hated thinking that those poor girls thought what we did to them was with malicious intent because of their color. I'm sure they've had enough experiences of racial disparagement happen to them that they might assume such a prank was based on race :(
So, I guess the moral is, pranks can be hurtful. Be careful.
Sebastien: See how us moms can be? Where is my kids' fear of my murderous rage?
Aw, it really is unfortunate that what was just a little game could have genuinely hurt someone's feelings or frightened them. Then again, looking at this and at my reaction...sometimes people just over react. I
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