Depending on what law was broken, I feel the same way. I know a woman who actually sent her kid to the neighbors (under cover of night) to steal tomatos from their garden. That’s just wrong. However, smokin’ a little pot? Doesn’t phase me in the slightest.
I get uncomfortable when someone nakedly displays grief around me. I hate this sensation, because it makes me feel like an insensitive, cold lout. I think it originated with an incident at my first job - a much older co-worker who I barely knew and didn’t like very much hung around my neck and sobbed on my shoulder when her mom died. I was just seventeen years old and naive and it weirded me out big time.
I also get uncomfortable at live theater performances. I think I put myself in the place of the actor onstage, and worry what’ll happen if he forgets his lines or gets flop sweat. It makes me squirm and look away from the stage. I hate that!
[ul]
[li]I also feel bad for characters who are badly embarrassed and humiliated while everyone else is getting a good laugh at his expense. I know how these poor folks must feel, because I’ve been there myself. Of course if the character in question is a total dick and has had it coming to him, then it feels good to see him get his just desserts.[/li][li]I absolutely cannot talk about anything even remote sexually related with anyone in my family. If a sexual joke (even childish “bathroom humor”) appears on TV or in a movie I feel uneasy if I am with anyone in my family. I grew up thinking that sex and anything that has to do with the private parts of the body was “dirty” and therefore any such discussion was strictly forbidden. Even if I had to talk about it I felt embarrassed. It’s not that my parents planted these crazy ideas into my head intentionally, I was just afraid of getting in trouble for talking about it in any way other than in a strictly “clinical” nature and I never reached a point where I felt it was okay to talk about such things.[/li][li]Because I have always had issues with my body, I am very self-conscious about it. I never wear shorts no matter how hot it is. While I have hairy arms I can at least be at ease wearing short-sleeved shirts. Still, I won’t go around shirtless and I won’t go swimming since I don’t want anyone to see my hairy back and chest. I never talk about my private parts with anyone if I can avoid it.[/li][/ul]
I don’t like it when people demand to know how much things cost for any reason other than information.
For instance, if someone inquries about the price of my condo, or the price of my new car because they are in the market for the same that’s fine. But if someone asks about a top/jacket where it came from and I say Purr or Holt Renfrew and they sneeringly ask about the price it makes me uncomfortable. You just know that “It must be nice to have no dependants and enough disposable income to shop THERE.”
If I’m friendish with the person I’ll say something placating like “Well, it must also be nice to have your family and beautiful children.”
If it’s someone I could care less about I say “Why yes. Yes it is.”
But really, most discussions of money make me a little uncomfortable unless they are in very specific contexts.
Aside from things that involve or call to mind physical pain, the single most uncomfortable experience I can think of is watching a stand-up comedian bomb onstage. It’s ten times worse than watching a bad live band or play. It makes me want to run from the room and curl up in a ball.
I second the watching-people-get-embarrassed thing.
I hate when people ask what I’m doing at a particular moment, especially my boss. There’s so many ways of answering that question. You can say, “Well, I’m experimenting with some interpolation equations, so I can see which of these datasets generates the most accurate surface.” Or, “I’m working on the report due next week”. Or, “I’m working at my computer”. When someone asks me that question out of the blue, I have no idea what answer they’re looking for and I’m afraid I’ll come out looking like a doofus since I haven’t planned out an answer.
Related to the above, I hate when people hover over my shoulder, watching what I do on the computer. I cannot work under that kind of pressure.
I hate watching movies in which a character is repeatedly frustrated throughout the movie. I really can’t take this.
Pain and any sounds associated with it. I cannot/will not watch anything with torture or beatings in it. And I hate the stupid theme to CSI Miami (or indeed any ‘music’ that features shrieking) and, to a lesser extent, the one for Cold Case.
Hate bigotry and prejudice of any kind. It doesn’t make me so much uncomfortable as furious (don’t know if that counts).
Animal deaths. I haven’t even seen Lion King yet because I know there’s a death (yes, I* am* a wuss). Once watched some nature show thing late at night in which a baby lemur missed a jump and fell to its death - and mama lemur sat for two days watching over baby’s body. I still tear up over that blasted show.
And the state of the planet. This whole horrible Iraq mess and all the attendant effects worldwide. The environmental mess we’ve created. Man’s inhumanity to man. Again, ‘uncomfortable’ is the wrong word. ‘Distressed, depressed, disheartened’ are much more accurate.
I need chocolate now.
me too.
(Passes the box of chocolate to Quiddity).
In movies/TV/books, people being humiliated for their weight, their intelligence, or anything really just makes me cringe. Someone mentioned the screaming theme of Cold Case, which made me think of the episode with the retarded boy and the train. Ack.
I wrote a book of poetry and I can talk about it online, but my god. When people in person want to talk about it, I could just crawl out of my skin.
“You wrote a book of poems!” is said in the precise tones I imagine someone saying, “You are a space alien, you freaky freak!” and it is always accompanied by a Meaningful Glance. I don’t know what the Glance is Meaningful of, but you can see it, just dripping with Meaning.
I concur; I think I saw that same show about the happy jumping baby lemur who fell. When he went limp neck and head down, I saw where it was going and changed the channel. That was years ago and I still remember it and how horrible it was.
HATE to see animals hurt in any way, I can’t even watch my feline overlords getting shots.
I’m applying to several very competitive grad school programs this year (like, 300 applicants 10 accepted). I have a fair chance of getting in somewhere - my letter writers are friends with current faculty and whatnot. But under the statistical circumstances I’d never describe it as “likely” - maybe a 1/3 chance. The results come in in March.
I hate discussing it with anyone but extremely close friends - I feel like I’m setting myself up for failure when I have to tell people that I didn’t get in. I try and try to change the subject.
Normally I’d be more direct: “I don’t want to talk about it” - but there’s no way to do that in this case without coming off as weirdly defensive.
Cymro
Agreed! (I was hoping someone would say this!) I am also not entertained by watching a bullet/knife/axe/machete/chainsaw tear through a living Grey’s Anatomy innadards, breaking bones and blowing apart organs, while an actor/actress screams in dire agony in the background. Its not entertainment to see a coroner cut into what looks like a real corpse and see blood-spray splurt across their face. Granted, some people like it, but I sure wish this would be limited to after 10 at night TV shows. (My kids scream & run out of the room when I’m just flipping the channels to get to their show when they see that crap.)
flip those sunglasses, Horatio…
I first read this as “I get uncomfortable when someone naked displays grief around me.”
Gave me a good laugh. 
What’s weird is that it is my understanding that documentarists photograph what, 10 or more chase scenes before the predator catches their prey? Yet around %75 of the time it’s the prey that bites it. I wish the prey got away more, because it’s somewhat uncomfortable to watch prey getting caught, especially since it seems like they don’t really have a chance, even though in the back of my mind I keep telling myself that it doesn’t always work that way in real life.
I’ve thankfully only seen this once but it was uncomfortable the one time I saw a band not only bomb but be semi-heckled from the audience (I haven’t seen enough stand-ups to have experienced that.)
The audience actually sat down in the middle of a mosh-friendly concert in the middle of the front standing rows! There were a few chants but I’m sure that the band got the picture clearer than a few inaudible screams of demand to leave the stage!
Weird, me too. I think it has something to do with my hatred of khakis. We have business casual dress in the summer where I work (it’s professional the rest of the year). I dress up more than most because I feel uncomfortable in what most people consider “business casual” clothing. Not physically uncomfortable, just weirdly off and not myself. Like you, I’m fine in casual clothing though.
I agree with a lot of these, frustration, embarassment, animal deaths.
I can also add - child death - I refuse to watch that CSI episode in reruns where the parents leave their child in the backseat of the car because they thought he had tay-sachs.
And torture. I left the room during Reservoir Dogs when the cop is being tortured. I especially hate broken bones.
Yup this is mine too. I just don’t get how people find it funny to watch someone being made fun of or ridiculed. It always makes me want to go put my arm around the person.
A woman crying.
Someone undeservedly being picked on.
Such as posting on a public message board? I’m sure your car is very nice, but you did let us peons know exactly how much you were spending on it.