Today I accidentally invented a new saying. I'm thinking it is going to catch on big time so I thought I'd share with my blog fans and leeches so that you can be the first to know.
I was at work training a new girl (which is quite draining and might be part of the reason for my post yesterday about how much I hate my job) and I was trying to explain a portion of the interpretative results we give for one of the lab tests we do. This particular part of the test is pretty vague and subjective...it isn't just a positive or negative, a high or low, or a numeric value. Giving the interpretations for this particular test is just something you have to learn to do by practice and by starting to recognize patterns in testing. So this new girl, let's call her Ali, (who by the way is really smart and nice and not the reason that I hate training people), was getting sort of frustrated because it is hard to learn things that are so subjective and so based on your opinion and experience.
So I said to her, "Don't worry Ali, interpreting these results is just like throwing a dart in the wind, so you just have to do your best and not worry about it." She looked at me kind of weird and then I was like, "that's not a real saying, is it?" She starts laughing and says, "no, it's not, but I think I know what you are trying to say." Then I hear laughing coming from my supervisor's cubicle, then from the other people on the bench...and it just kept spreading through our whole little department until EVERYONE was laughing at me (and sort of with me too). Glad I could provide the entertainment.
But then they kept laughing at me as I tried to convince them of what a great saying it is...and it really is a great saying. Let me tell you why. Because this saying could sort of be compared to saying "Like a shot in the dark," but it is a little different. Because with a shot in the dark you are shooting and you know that the bullet is going to go straight but you just can't see the target. With a dart in the wind you can see the target but there are other factors influencing where it is going to go...so you just have to do your best, aim well and throw it out there, and hope it makes it to where you want it to go.
I feel like I throw A LOT of darts in the wind in my life...and some of them make it to the target, others are way off, and some even fly back towards me and poke me in the eyeball. But hey, that's life.
SO, I think it is a great saying...I just said it not even thinking. But now that I do think about it I think it is a very useful saying and I plan to use it again. I hope you'll do the same. And then some day when you Wikipedia the saying "Like a dart in the wind," my name will come up as the person who coined the phrase and you can tell your friends, "hey I knew Becca B. and I knew all about the saying from her blog way before anyone else did." So there you go, I'm just trying to help you all be ahead of the times. And you are welcome.
9 comments:
Oh Becca, you do need help. Did any of your kind co-workers tell you why they were laughing or why that phrase may have sounded vaguely familiar? If not, ask them today. You may need to revise this post.
Now that I've read Aunt Millie's comment I can't stop laughing. Thanks for my morning giggle.
hmmmm, now I'm interested. what does Aunt Millie mean by that? I thought it was a delightful little phrase. (ask the people in your office!!!! I wanna know!)
Hello people...my saying is "Like throwing a dart IN the wind"...not INTO the wind! Totally different concept.
And today I asked Jerry at work (because he always knows what bad things mean) what was so funny yesterday and if it had anything to do with "darts" and "wind" from other gross sayings (that I would never say of course) as my mom suggested.
And he said, no. That it was just funny because it didn't make sense. So of course I then had to try one more time to explain to him why it DOES makes sense.
So Geri, don't you worry about what my mom was talking about. You go right ahead and use my new saying. It will get you places.
Hey, I'm confused. But, I'll try to use the new saying...just for you Becca.
Good for you. I think it makes you sound smart and like you know exactly what you are talking about. I on the other hand always try the "sayings" and analogies, but they never quite come out right. Other people end up correcting me.
"I feel like I throw A LOT of darts in the wind in my life"
Gross.
I love that saying and am so glad I know that you came up with it first. You're always coming up with great stuff. A new one my brother-in-law came up with was "It's a shoe in the bag." We laughed forever - we think it was a mix between "it's a shoe in" and "it's in the bag." Unfortunately that one has no deeper meaning like yours does.
Okay, I'm going to have to ask Cassie why she was giggling after reading your Mom's comment, but as for your saying - makes sense to me, but maybe that's because wind or no wind, I can never get a dart to hit what I'm aiming for.
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