I just got back from a teaching demonstration from a job I really, really want. I wasn’t nervous at the initial interview, not even a little bit. I’ve been teaching for a decade, and I know that I’m a competent teacher. But for some reason - probably because I want this job so badly - I’ve been nervous since last night. When I get nervous, my stomach feels like it’s twitching inside me and my heart feels like it’s fluttering rather than beating properly. I didn’t even eat lunch because I was afraid I might vomit in the middle of class, which probably wouldn’t have gone in my favor.
Thankfully, once I was in front of the students, my instincts kicked in and I taught like I always do. I even made the kids laugh. Go me.
So, what gives you the shakes? Interviews? Dates? Parallel parking?
I get irrationally nervous when my car does anything out of the ordinary. Or, if I smell someone else’s dripping oil &etc while driving, I worry that it’s coming from my car. The independence I’ve managed to establish depends entirely on having reliable transportation, and I don’t have the money to afford a major repair. My entire world would come crumbling down if my car developed a serious problem. My car’s never had a serious problem, it’s never even broken down except once when I ran out of gas. But I still have nightmares about breakdowns. And sometimes when my anxiety spirals out of control, every little bump in the road causes me to freak out that my suspension is going to give way or my tire is going to fall off in traffic.
Usually? Class presentations, job interviews, knowing that I’m going to have to do something that will upset someone (breaking up with them, firing them, etc), loved ones being seriously ill/injured/missing.
It’s from a children’s TV show in the 1980s. It used to have swimming lessons as a child which I really didn’t enjoy, and this show used to come on at 4.30pm, just when I’d be waiting for a lift to the pool.
Those opening credits basically meant 1hr of cold water torture and still gives me butterflies 28 years later.
BEING LATE. I hate being late, and I hate being lost. It stresses me out like nothing else. I’d rather be 40 minutes early than five minutes late. I can’t stand late people and chronically late people generally lose my friendship. Sure, I’m judging them, but I’m also taking a significant factor of stress out of my life.
I now have family members who are chronically late. :smack: Thankfully the rest of the family have FINALLY gotten the point not to wait for them. We used to wait for them all the time to eat, etc., and they’d show up TWO HOURS LATE and say “We already ate, thanks.” While we were starving.
Confrontations. Like when I’m billed incorrectly, or have to go to the apartment manager’s office over problems with maintenance, etc. I hate them. My blood pressure shoots up, I’m shaky and red faced, and can’t think reasonably.
Asking someone out. This is probably the one big thing I can’t do. Never have done it, actually. Closely related is simply approaching someone in whom I’m interested. I thought maybe I’d be better online at dating sites, but nope. I even dislike that my profile thumbnail will pop up in someone’s “visitors” list on OKCupid. I have to rely on someone approaching me, which happens once every few years at best.
Weird thing is that I’m incredibly comfortable in situations that a lot of people find nerve-wracking: public speaking, research or classroom presentations, job interviews, teaching, first dates, being the only guy on a dance floor (hell, simply dancing in public… most guys act like they can’t), and so on. I don’t know why “saying ‘hi’ to the cute girl” is so much worse than “impromptu speaking in an auditorium,” or why I have no problem with first dates despite not being able to ask someone on one.
Lately it has been anticipating the flack I know is comming from a recent post on the dope. Either spelling, grammar or content, I know it is comming! Same with public speaking.
I’m a manager and I hate having to address performance problems with reports. I do it, because it’s part of the job I took, and I work very hard to do it fairly and well, but when I know I have to do it I will spend the night before and the day of with my stomach in knots knowing it’s coming.
Extreme heights, although oddly, rollercoasters don’t bother me. Anything that’s a steep cliff, a tall tower, the roof of a skyscraper, that gets the palpitations going.
Highway as in two-lane highway or highway as in busy interstate? I’m okay with highway driving, if I know the route. Getting lost makes me nervous, and I’ve been lost quite a bit. No sense of direction.
