The Strangest Look I ever got..

A post this morning reminded me of the strangest look I ever got.

We were staying in a high rise Condo in Ft Lauderdale while our new Sailboat was being commissioned. We had to keep all our boat gear off the boat so that the electricians could do their stuff.

A tropical storm was brewing (Sept 2006) and after ensuring the boat was safe I got a call from West Marine that my back-up Fortress Anchor had arrived. I picked it up and took it back to the condo for storage until we were allowed to load up the boat. An attractive young lady got in the elevator after me, her hair akimbo from the strengthening breeze. I made a comment about the wind, she looked at me, then at the anchor and said;
"Do you really think that is going to help?"


~Alan

After a week or two in the Keys, we were heading north up the ICW to where my dad kept his boat. We had not shaved during the trip, and bathing was going for a swim. It was summer and we of course had to motor which we had been doing for 10 or so hours. We were a scruffy looking lot.

In Fort Lauderdale, a dinner cruise ship went by us.

Flash bulbs, yes, it was that long ago that there were flash bulbs, were going off as the dinner ship went by as people took pictures of us. I don't know why we were that worthy of a photo, especially back then, when you had to PAY for the film and print.

The idea that there is a photo of us in a bunch of people's shoe boxes is oddly entertaining. WHY they took photos amazes me. It is like we were wild beasts in a zoo.

Later,
Dan

I spent two weeks sailing with a couple of friends along the Baja coast in an old Drascombe Longboat before boarding my plane at LAX for the flight home. At the gate seating area a woman about my age who was easily beautiful and charismatic enough to be an actress headed back to see family in Kansas or wherever kept constantly gazing at me, and after boarding I kept catching her watching me, all the way to Denver. I was sunburned to a peeling but nonetheless attractive purple (lol), long hair, two-week beard growth, was sporting a ratty old pair of Chacos, a stained straw hat, carrying on some snorkeling gear, and since I had broken my eyeglasses on the trip I was wearing an ugly tortoiseshell frame given to me by a sympathetic front counter person in a rather sparse optometrista in Loreto. To this day I don't know if she was looking at the most interesting man in the world, or this guy.

dannc said:

After a week or two in the Keys, we were heading north up the ICW to where my dad kept his boat. We had not shaved during the trip, and bathing was going for a swim. It was summer and we of course had to motor which we had been doing for 10 or so hours. We were a scruffy looking lot.

In Fort Lauderdale, a dinner cruise ship went by us.

Flash bulbs, yes, it was that long ago that there were flash bulbs, were going off as the dinner ship went by as people took pictures of us. I don't know why we were that worthy of a photo, especially back then, when you had to PAY for the film and print.

The idea that there is a photo of us in a bunch of people's shoe boxes is oddly entertaining. WHY they took photos amazes me. It is like we were wild beasts in a zoo.

Later,
Dan

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Had similar one year when anchored in the Daintree River in Northern QLD
The only traffic was the crocodile spotting tour boat that would go past.

Once when on deck getting a haircut, we heard the commentary over the PA "and to the right we have some cruising yachties (blah blah blah)" and tourists with cameras snapping away.

That was enough, figured we had been there too long if getting added into the commentary and left the next day.

My wife and I were getting a late morning start to sea kayaking south from Campbell River on Vancouver Island.

The currents were running southward fast into a strong wind, so we knew conditions off Cape Mudge were going to be horrendous until the tide turned.

Our plan was to turn north and head up the east side of Quadra after rounding Cape Mudge, so it made sense to wait for conditions to settle down.

Just as we were getting into our kayaks, an open fishing boat pulled up and they looked at us like we were crazy.

"You guys better not go out there! We've been out for hours and the waves are HUGE!"

We often found marina advice of little use.

I once bought 120 bananas (for food bank) and 3 gallons of bleach the look from the cashier was priceless.

Greetings,
I get so many strange looks it's impossible to pick just one superlative...


Me when I was young and wild (main squeeze, now wife, on the bitch rack).

I wish I had a photo of my face when, at about 20 years old, I did a favour for a friend who was in exams at university but convinced me I just had to buy him a vibrator so he could give it to his girlfriend that night for her birthday.

Of course, in situations such as this, you can't go in there saying your are there to buy a dildo for a friend, so I decided to pretend I wanted it for a fictitious girlfriend.

I got the grand tour.

He gave me money for it, but I chipped in a bit for a better model.

Probably looked like a deer in headlights...

Ok maybe a separate thread but here we go. I have played this before and it gets fun responses. Enjoy

You can go to Walmart and buy 3 items. What 3 will be the most bizarre for the cashier to check.

Greetings,


https://www.walmart.com/ip/Expert-Grill-14-5-Portable-Charcoal-Grill-Black/575252759


https://www.walmart.com/ip/Expert-G...-007-1798235ea0b52b&athancid=null&athena=true


https://www.walmart.com/ip/Urnsdirect2U-Beacon-Of-Light-Adult-Cremation-Urn-220-Cu-In/48810544


If I had a fourth choice, a bag of marshmallows.

AlanT said:

A post this morning reminded me of the strangest look I ever got.

We were staying in a high rise Condo in Ft Lauderdale while our new Sailboat was being commissioned. We had to keep all our boat gear off the boat so that the electricians could do their stuff.

A tropical storm was brewing (Sept 2006) and after ensuring the boat was safe I got a call from West Marine that my back-up Fortress Anchor had arrived. I picked it up and took it back to the condo for storage until we were allowed to load up the boat. An attractive young lady got in the elevator after me, her hair akimbo from the strengthening breeze. I made a comment about the wind, she looked at me, then at the anchor and said;
"Do you really think that is going to help?"


~Alan

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Fortress? Sounds like you met an astute judge of anchor design and quality.


A friend went into a store and bought toilet paper, condoms, and bread. The checkout person looked at the items,then looked at my friend, and observed "They`re really your basic items, eh".

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,


https://www.walmart.com/ip/Expert-Grill-14-5-Portable-Charcoal-Grill-Black/575252759


https://www.walmart.com/ip/Expert-G...-007-1798235ea0b52b&athancid=null&athena=true


https://www.walmart.com/ip/Urnsdirect2U-Beacon-Of-Light-Adult-Cremation-Urn-220-Cu-In/48810544


If I had a fourth choice, a bag of marshmallows.

Click to expand...

fourth item 'axe'

Wifey B: I've gotten strange looks so many hundreds of times, I'm going to have to spend time thinking of this. :lol:

Pulled into a yacht club in situate ma after surviving a storm. Had a through hull flange shear flooding the boat. Had the sails blow out. No electricity nor water as salt water over the terminals and vents. Survival situation and declared overdue. One hypothermic, one in emotional distress (had been screaming “we’re going to die”) two dehydrated. We tied to the launch dock. Chas and Buffy types started in on us “you’re not members” “you can’t do that and need to move”. “This is a private facility “.
Fortunately another member saw what shape we were in. Severely castigated those two. Called ambulances for us. Arranged for our boat to be handled. Involved the staff. The rest of the yacht club other than those two were totally wonderful people. But what was remarkable was the sourpus look on the faces of Chas and Buffy as both a number of staff and other members ragged on them about their unseemly behavior.

Hippocampus said:

Pulled into a yacht club in situate ma after surviving a storm. Had a through hull flange shear flooding the boat. Had the sails blow out. No electricity nor water as salt water over the terminals and vents. Survival situation and declared overdue. One hypothermic, one in emotional distress (had been screaming “we’re going to die”) two dehydrated. We tied to the launch dock. Chas and Buffy types started in on us “you’re not members” “you can’t do that and need to move”. “This is a private facility “.
Fortunately another member saw what shape we were in. Severely castigated those two. Called ambulances for us. Arranged for our boat to be handled. Involved the staff. The rest of the yacht club other than those two were totally wonderful people. But what was remarkable was the sourpus look on the faces of Chas and Buffy as both a number of staff and other members ragged on them about their unseemly behavior.

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So, did the crew ever go sailing again?

I knew a guy who called himself Chas. Maybe he was the one who met you at the dock. Sounds like him.

Makes one happy to see that not everyone is an a...s and the rest of the club helped out.

Later,
Dan

To keep it boating related, we were once boarded by about 8 USCG crewmen, including a k-9. I was in the galley answering the typical questions, when the dog handler came up from my stateroom and announced that his dog was hitting on something and asked me if I had any oxytocin or other prescription medicine aboard. I told him we did not, but he insisted there was something. Just about then one of the USCG guys came up from the engine room and had some question that necessitated that I join him in the engine room. About the time that I finished in the engine room and was on my way back to the galley, I could see that the dog and its handler were getting off my boat. So I went back into the galley and with an expression evidencing as much concern as I could muster, I asked the officer in charge "Did the dog find anything?" It took her about a second to process the implications of my question, and just a look of extreme suspicion came over her face, I smiled and another second later she realized I was joking. (But I don't think she thought it was funny.) I did end up with the coveted golden rod receipt.

The owner (first boat, a Hinckley pilot) never went sailing again. I did as did the other two. In fact they helped me as crew on several Bermuda races.

Wifey B: Ok, here goes. Picking this one as it involves us both. It was very early one Saturday in a small local diner we frequented. Hubby and I had some shopping to do that day. Well, the diner only had four light fixtures all with huge flood lights and one had burned out Friday night and now another. The landlord always replaced them and the diner had no ladder.

Well, I being the genius I am have a solution since we're the only customers there. Hubby tries standing on one of the tables and is just barely short of reaching the bulbs. Now I know this will shock many but it's necessary for the full impact to know that I may just be a bit of an exhibitionist even but at least like wearing as little as I legally can so that day wearing a mini skirt, a tank top, and heels and nothing else, no underwear. I tell hubby to get on his knees, I remove my shoes and I stand on his shoulders, then have him stand. We're now quite tall together since he's almost 6'6" with shoes and he kept his own and I'm 5' 9 1/2" barefoot so we extended easily to the 12' ceiling. Another couple entered about the time I changed the second bulb and stared and whispered and laughed, but I thought nothing of it or didn't think of the full extent, just thought they were whispering about a woman with long legs standing on a man's shoulders to change a bulb. It was only about the time I dismounted into hubby's arms that it hit me and I started giggling and whispered to him. And yes, I can still be embarrassed as I had no intent that time.

Now final proof of how I'd corrupted the well behaved business man I'd married as I giggled and whispered to him regarding the exposure, he just whispered back "I know" like it was just the norm for life with me.

Now does it bother me it happened and the others likely had a nice topic of conversation and laughter for the day or days? Not at all. In the course of human events and with all going on in most lives today, bothers me not at all. I remember once in a theater line waiting for an eternity our kissing might have become more a make out session but six feet or so in front of us a couple was arguing and cursing and calling each other names and so ugly and when an older lady said something to us, it fully hit me and I suggested the other couple was the ones needing the rebuke, not a married couple deeply in love.

So the embarrasing thing that got stares and likely made us famous in the diner is definitely not something I'm ashamed of or I wouldn't be telling it here. It's like television and movies, I'll take nudity and sex any day over ugliness, abuse and violence.

And the winner is....
nobody is going to top your story Wifey!

Every time I go into Lowes for Muriatic acid I make sure that I go out by the paint counter and ask whoever is there "This is the stuff that gets blood and DNA out of concrete, right?" Generally get a really good look . . . once I even had two sales people covertly follow me around the store after that . . . so I had to go to the garden section and look over axes, and pruning saws! Police didn't show up, but I think every sales associate got the word, as they all gave me a really close look (but wouldn't talk to me anymore) when I passed them . . . Totally made my day!

good try Scot, but Wifey still wins.

koliver said:

good try Scot, but Wifey still wins.

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Wifey B: Yes, mine was without trying. He tried to shock the poor guys. That's more like me making out with a girlfriend on an elevator just to annoy the old ladies chattering over the length of our skirts. That was knowingly and intentional.

BandB said:

Wifey B: Yes, mine was without trying. He tried to shock the poor guys. That's more like me making out with a girlfriend on an elevator just to annoy the old ladies chattering over the length of our skirts. That was knowingly and intentional.

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and no panties. LOL

OldDan1943 said:

and no panties. LOL

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Wifey B: As a teacher, I even wore a bra five days a week. That was suffering for my profession. :lol:

BandB said:

Wifey B: As a teacher, I even wore a bra five days a week. That was suffering for my profession. :lol:

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Ah yes, the days of the mini skirt.... The wife of a friend of mine was a teacher, slender lady. When she leaned forward to help another student, she would snap one of her high heels up to nail or discourage a male student behind her from sneaking a peek.

OldDan1943 said:

Ah yes, the days of the mini skirt.... The wife of a friend of mine was a teacher, slender lady. When she leaned forward to help another student, she would snap one of her high heels up to nail or discourage a male student behind her from sneaking a peek.

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That explains your scar.

I was standing watch as officer-of-the-deck one day at dusk on the bridge of USS Denver, a large amphibious ship with over 800 US Marines embarked. The captain, who had spent over six years in the Hanoi Hilton after being shot down, was in his big shot chair discussing events of the day with the senior Marine, a colonel who incidentally had been a high school classmate of the skipper. Up walked his mess steward with a silver coffee tray loaded with a silver service and a pot of coffee (who said it was all bad going to sea in the Navy?). In an expansive mood, the skipper looked over at me and asked if I wanted a cup. A life-long hater of anything tasting of coffee, I responded, "No thank you, sir; it keeps me awake." This man who the thugs in North Vietnam could not break in six years and who was NEVER seen to flinch at anything did the most classic, wide-eyed double take at me I have ever seen. I wonder how he slept that night with me on watch in the darkness.

Gdavid said:

That explains your scar.

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No, that is from shore leave in Malta.
Other scars from sledding accident, chain saw and doctors.

rgano said:

... The captain, who had spent over six years in the Hanoi Hilton after being shot down, was in his big shot chair discussing events of the day with the senior Marine, a colonel who incidentally had been a high school classmate of the skipper....

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I like history, always have, and in spite of all of the boat reading I do, I still find time for history.

In college, I found a real Professor of history, someone who was worthy of the title, and I took quite a few classes with him, even though I did not need the hours for graduation. I think I could have gotten, and I guess still could, a history degree with the amount of classes I took, or maybe take a few more.

Anyway, the Professor would have speakers in some of the classes to discuss what they had done or experienced. The Professor had recorded an interview with Ensign Gay, who was the sole survivor of his squadron at the Battle of Midway. I had read the history many, many, many times but listening to Gay talk about the battle, especially after being shot down and hiding under a seat cushion, while the Japanese fleet was all around him and being attacked, was something else.

I have only had the hair raise on the back of my neck twice. The first time was listening to a speaker in one of the history classes.

The class was on Vietnam, and the Professor had invited a USMC Colonel who had been shot down over Vietnam and had been a POW for seven years if my memory is working correctly.

Can't remember his name but I think he was very lucky, believe it or not, he did survive being shot down, survived as a "guest" of the North Vietnamese, survived their torture and starvation, and if that is not enough, his unit was supposed to go relieve the USMC unit in Beirut, Lebanon, but instead was sent to Grenada. His unit would have been in the building during the truck bombing...

The hair raising part of his speech was NOT when he talked about being shot down, nor his "interviews", i.e., torture sessions, with the North Vietnamese. It was when he said he wanted to spend a few minutes alone with Jane Fonda. He said he knew POWs had been tortured because of her visit, and if I remember correctly, tortured to death. His voice raised the hair on the back of my neck. He was not yelling or loud, it was simply the tone of his voice...

Twas the first time the hair raised on the back of my neck.

Later,
Dan

Offshore harnesses in Bag a Customs

I had helped race a boat across the Gulf of Mexica and was flying back through Houston. Had to go through customs of course.

The lady opened my bag to see several red and blue harnesses with large SS hooks. She clearly leapt to a conclusion as to what they were for but then proceeded to let me into the country.

I still laugh about that ...