Top Ten Thursday - Uncomfortable Situations

Welcome to Top Ten Thursday!

Today we're talking about top ten uncomfortable situations

I have to admit that I love my comfort zone, and that I get uncomfortable pretty easily. 

Riding an elevator with people who smell of sweat or cigarette smoke - uncomfortable. Noticing that somebody watches me eating - uncomfortable. 
Having to use a dirty public restroom - uncomfortable.

This is not what this post is about, though. We probably all think a visit to the dentist's or gynaecologist's office is not a walk in the park. Especially when you accidentally have a seat on his chair like I did that one time...

However, today we're talking BIG TIME uncomfortable like couldn't sleep all night or made my skin crawl. Here goes:

1. When I was in my mid-20s I worked for a job agency, and I had a meticulous reputation to uphold. I only suggested candidates for a job whom I had interviewed and screened personally, and who I thought were an excellent match. Until the day our intern handed me a resume that was looking mighty good on paper. Gotta trust your coworkers, right? The candidate was currently working at his first real job, so I couldn't call for a reference check without outing him to be job hunting, so I only did so after my client offered him the job, and he gave notice at his current one. Ohmigod, what his boss had to say was unpleasant. That guy only got hired because his Dad was some big shot at the company. Everybody assumed he had a drug problem. He was late, he was unreliable, he tried to cover up his countless mistakes... They were glad he was leaving. Sh**!!! My contact person at the client's firm was on leave so I had to talk to his boss who wasn't very fond of job agencies to begin with. I was upfront and explained that I had to withdraw this candidate, and yes, I was aware that they already sent him a contract. I was gonna take care of it. I invited that young guy, and the minute he entered the office I knew I was doing the right thing. Had I interviewed him in the first place I would have told him there was nothing I could do for him. Now I had to tell him he didn't have a job, not the old one, not the new one.
2. A couple of years later I had a job offer myself. I had been looking to switch sides for a while, and back then my pride prevented me from applying within my client companies. Anyway, the day I got the OK we had a team meeting, and to make matters worse, the CEO took part. I liked and respected him a lot, and I like to think it was mutual. We were discussing upcoming activities that were beyond my notice period, and I felt I had to play along for the duration of that meeting. I was so nervous that I was actually sick to my stomach. As soon as it was over I told them I quit. 
3. When I was working for Starbucks the entire management spent two days in the Vienna, Austria market every month and visited existing stores and potential future locations, met with vendors and in my case job candidates. One interview took place in the store just next to the Austrian Support Center, and as we wrapped up the conversation, there was just enough time for a last cup of coffee before heading to the airport. As I was fumbling in my purse I couldn't find my wallet. I dumped the whole entire content of my purse on the table. Everything was there - except the wallet. F***! Not only was it a nice wallet, and was my cash gone - so were all of my credit and bank cards, and more importantly, my ID! How was I gonna board a plane to go back to Zurich, Switzerland? I just realized, I blogged about this before, so head over here if you want to find out if I made it.
4. In a previous post I also told the story of my ex-boyfriend and I almost running out of gas at the Death Valley. The anxiety grew bigger when - against the info on the national park map - there was no gas station at the lodge. 
5. On a different trip we ended up without a reservation and therefore without a hotel room one night in Tampa, FL - who knew that some college basketball finals would cause the city and the greater area to be fully booked?
6. One day my husband and I inexplicably showed up at Newark instead of JFK airport for our flight back home. Imagine how our poor little hearts were pounding when we found out! Of course when it rains, it pours, and back then you needed cash for a taxi ride across town, and we had spent all of our dollars on our last day, and if you need an ATM you run through the whole entire airport, and there's a long line for the cabs, and there's rush hour...
7. In this "last day tales" post there is also a mention of the incident about my not considering enough time (90 minutes) to change planes when booking flights with two different airlines, and we had to get our bags from a domestic terminal and check them in at the international terminal ourselves. At JFK.
8. These were a lot of travel fails. Here's a completely different uncomfortable situation, it happened many years ago (I was probably 20) at Zurich Bahnhofstrasse (think 5th Avenue) when a stranger tried to touch me in broad daylight. I had no idea I had it in me, but I stopped half an inch before I punched him in the face, and I yelled at him "Don't EVER do that again! I HATE that! Understand? DON'T!" I was running on pure adrenaline, I could probably have given him a broken nose or something. After he ducked and ran off, I wasn't sure what would have happened if I had the same reaction in a dark alley, and the guy had a weapon? On the other hand it was good to know that I wouldn't freeze.
9. 3 weeks before our departure for this latest trip I found out that we made a terrible mistake when booking our flights. Usually around here fall break starts the last week of September, and we were convinced that this was what the school's website said when we checked before booking. We were wrong, in 2016 the first day of fall break was Oct 3rd. We had booked non-refundable tickets for Sept 25. Damn!!! I went to see Colin's teacher, and it was our first meeting as he had only just started 3rd grade. While she was very understanding and supportive, she said it was not up to her to allow for him to miss a full week of class, we needed to ask for an exceptional leave in writing, and we should do so asap because school board meetings take place twice a month, and she was not sure when the next was going to happen. I had read about families in other cities leaving early or returning late without permission, and they got fined by the school. Amounts vary from several hundred to several thousand... Damn! Luckily it didn't take long and we got the green light.
10. This one is the most recent one. During our trip I purchased a Darth Vader costume for Halloween. It didn't come with a light sword which is essential, as Colin explained. He bought it from is own money. USD 15 plus tax. As a joke I told him "you know you may get part of your money back if you dress up and hang out on the strip." We had witnessed grown-ups on Las Vegas Boulevard, dressed up as Olaf or Star Wars characters, who took your money if you wanted to have your picture taken with them. It sounded like a brilliant plan until a minute into his gig the light sword's switch broke. The next day we had to go back to the store to return it and get a new one. "Don't touch it till Halloween" hubby instructed him. I carefully packed it between layers of clothes for our flight back. Can you believe airport security inspected my checked bag and removed the toy? Apparently it qualified as hazardous material. I had to tell C who was heartbroken. "Those f****** took away my second sword!" he cried. Now we were going to replace it in Switzerland. For CHF 40.85 which is more or less the same amount in USD. Daylight robbery! Good thing I finished unpacking before leaving for the mall. The light sword appeared in the other bag! Phew...

So from the safety of your cozy living room this may have sounded pretty entertaining, right?  Your turn now - share an uncomfortable situation you got yourself into below in the comment section! If you're a blogger, please use the link-tool to submit your own post.

Better yet, join us for next week's Top Ten Challenge for our Halloween edition! Top Ten Things you (dis) like about Halloween, due Oct 27. Sign up for this event on Facebook!

The theme for the other week is gonna be Top Ten Clothing Items, (former, actual or on your wish list, accessories,...) and it posts November 3rd, sign up here