Abreva, anyone?
An embarrassing moment I found funny later on3 total reviews
Comment from Carol Clark2
I think every office must have a 'Barbara' like you described, with no filter. I'm glad your presentation went well, and I'm glad you were able to forgive her for her comments. Have a blessed week. Carol
reply by the author on 23-Jan-2025
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I think every office must have a 'Barbara' like you described, with no filter. I'm glad your presentation went well, and I'm glad you were able to forgive her for her comments. Have a blessed week. Carol
Comment Written 22-Jan-2025
reply by the author on 23-Jan-2025
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Thanks taking time to
Read and comment! Hope you a great week too. Lori
Comment from Rachelle Allen
Hi, Lori ~
Oh my! What a tale. I've read this through three times now because although it has its amusing touches:
* actually, I wanted to re-enter my mother's womb and start my life over again
* She made me nervous on a normal day, let alone on Mouth Boil Day.
* like my face wasn't sporting its own nuclear explosion
* About as easy as ignoring a three-car pile up on the side of the road. .
it wasn't bend-in-half funny like it needed to be if we were going to finish it and say, "Well, at she was able to make lemonade from that lemon!"
I think slapping us right out of the gate with the problem made it more "yours" and less "ours." We could distance ourselves from you too easily and think, "Whoa. Sucks to be her." So, draw us in first. Maybe start with us in bed with you upon awakening and sharing how hard you've worked prepping for this important meeting, what it means to you and your career to succeed today and how you are just sure you are going to nail this presentation. You're PSYCHED!
THEN, we go to the mirror with you and learn what awaits.
Using more outrageous comparisons about what it looks like will keep us amused, too. Offering up many examples, each one a little more unhinged than its predecessor about its hideousness, will make for huge laughs from your reading audience, especially when you acknowledge that your mission is a futile one. Maybe along the lines of: I know I have to tame this Tyrranosaurus-size blight that has taken up residence on my upper lip while I slept or suffer from all my brilliant research being totally overshadowed by it. And I do mean 'overshadowed.' This things casts shade like King Kong on the entire town of Phoenix in August. There is not a hairstyle high enough to distract from the meteor that has become my lower lip or enough foundation to smooth out that lunar surface. Why oh why don't I own a birkha?
Then, when it comes to Barbara, not all of us are politically savvy enough (read: me, for instance) to understand the Mikulski reference. If you make her into an animal (a rabid ferret? a barracuda? a mongoose who attacks a snake and leaves it paralyzed?) you will de-humanize her, which is to your comic advantage. Make her simultaneously recognizable and deplorable. Then, when she strikes, making all your worst fears a reality, you can offer up some clever come-backs in your mind followed by what you said, instead.): My knee-jerk response was to exclaim "Oh, Barbara! Thank you for not disappointing me. I knew I could count on you for a moment of total humiliation and embarrassment here this morning. C'mere and let me give you a big kiss." But I knew it was in my professional well-being and best interest, instead, to smile, (even thought that increased the stretching and cracking of my mouth boil) and opt for the far less-satisfying, ""I'm treating it with Abreva. It should go down in a day or so." Freaking office etiquette and protocol! No wonder no one's happy after they leave home, where you can say anything you want and people still have to love you.
So, I guess what I'm trying to say here is: always keep us with you in the messy joke of it all. Let us stand with you on the front line of your suffering. Allow us to suffer with you, because we like rooting for someone who's managing to remain funny while being a hapless, fearless, tortured underdog.
Hope this helps!
xoxox
reply by the author on 28-Oct-2024
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Hi, Lori ~
Oh my! What a tale. I've read this through three times now because although it has its amusing touches:
* actually, I wanted to re-enter my mother's womb and start my life over again
* She made me nervous on a normal day, let alone on Mouth Boil Day.
* like my face wasn't sporting its own nuclear explosion
* About as easy as ignoring a three-car pile up on the side of the road. .
it wasn't bend-in-half funny like it needed to be if we were going to finish it and say, "Well, at she was able to make lemonade from that lemon!"
I think slapping us right out of the gate with the problem made it more "yours" and less "ours." We could distance ourselves from you too easily and think, "Whoa. Sucks to be her." So, draw us in first. Maybe start with us in bed with you upon awakening and sharing how hard you've worked prepping for this important meeting, what it means to you and your career to succeed today and how you are just sure you are going to nail this presentation. You're PSYCHED!
THEN, we go to the mirror with you and learn what awaits.
Using more outrageous comparisons about what it looks like will keep us amused, too. Offering up many examples, each one a little more unhinged than its predecessor about its hideousness, will make for huge laughs from your reading audience, especially when you acknowledge that your mission is a futile one. Maybe along the lines of: I know I have to tame this Tyrranosaurus-size blight that has taken up residence on my upper lip while I slept or suffer from all my brilliant research being totally overshadowed by it. And I do mean 'overshadowed.' This things casts shade like King Kong on the entire town of Phoenix in August. There is not a hairstyle high enough to distract from the meteor that has become my lower lip or enough foundation to smooth out that lunar surface. Why oh why don't I own a birkha?
Then, when it comes to Barbara, not all of us are politically savvy enough (read: me, for instance) to understand the Mikulski reference. If you make her into an animal (a rabid ferret? a barracuda? a mongoose who attacks a snake and leaves it paralyzed?) you will de-humanize her, which is to your comic advantage. Make her simultaneously recognizable and deplorable. Then, when she strikes, making all your worst fears a reality, you can offer up some clever come-backs in your mind followed by what you said, instead.): My knee-jerk response was to exclaim "Oh, Barbara! Thank you for not disappointing me. I knew I could count on you for a moment of total humiliation and embarrassment here this morning. C'mere and let me give you a big kiss." But I knew it was in my professional well-being and best interest, instead, to smile, (even thought that increased the stretching and cracking of my mouth boil) and opt for the far less-satisfying, ""I'm treating it with Abreva. It should go down in a day or so." Freaking office etiquette and protocol! No wonder no one's happy after they leave home, where you can say anything you want and people still have to love you.
So, I guess what I'm trying to say here is: always keep us with you in the messy joke of it all. Let us stand with you on the front line of your suffering. Allow us to suffer with you, because we like rooting for someone who's managing to remain funny while being a hapless, fearless, tortured underdog.
Hope this helps!
xoxox
Comment Written 27-Oct-2024
reply by the author on 28-Oct-2024
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This comments are tremendously helpful. I love the examples you give! I will refine it based on your suggestions. Thanks for taking the time.
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Your writing is excellent, so I am happy to invest in it. Plus, I know you genuinely want to hone your craft, so I have no reservations about offering my little tidbits as I can. You are going to do great things on here. It's obvious. And the teacher in me loves watching you blossom. Please let me know when the next draft is available. xoxxo
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I just now saw this. Thanks for your encouragement. It will be a little while before I share next draft but I definitely will. I'm knee in my next personal essay writing class and its a long form essay so I'm rolling up my sleeves.
Comment from Marilyn Hamilton
When life gives lemons make lemonade. When life gives you. Embarrassing stories, write about them and show people that their lives could be worse. LOL another funny story and that boss should have been fired. You handled it in a great way though. Thanks for sharing
reply by the author on 28-Oct-2024
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When life gives lemons make lemonade. When life gives you. Embarrassing stories, write about them and show people that their lives could be worse. LOL another funny story and that boss should have been fired. You handled it in a great way though. Thanks for sharing
Comment Written 27-Oct-2024
reply by the author on 28-Oct-2024
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Thanks Marilyn! Appreciate the review.
