Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Jelly in the Belly? Noooo...


I don't know if anyone else uses this term, "Jelly" for nervousness?  In high school some of my friends would say they were "jelly-legged", or had felt like they had eaten jelly (or something) and it had soured.

I have never felt 'jelly' when I am nervous.

Fear, on occasion, like when I was on the high dive, trying to get my courage up, and the (censored) coach threw me in.  I screamed all the way down, took in water, and barely made it back to the edge of the pool.  Then I wouldn't go on the high dive, and she just couldn't understand why.  Can't to this day.  Now that is jelly legs.  I even look at a high dive and start to shake.

But nerves?  No jelly.  I can be as cool as a cucumber.  (Well, except for the turning even whiter than my usually fair skin.  I keep thinking if I get much whiter, I might just go invisible one of these days...) But I get a ROCK in my belly.  Not butterflies, not jelly, but a solid mass, that feels like I ate a medicine ball.

I had an interview yesterday.  It was in front of more than a dozen or so people, and I hate with a passion speaking in front of people.  I dislike almost as much talking about myself.  Blogging is fine, but speaking just about tears me up. (No, I don't do well in job interviews, without an extensive amount of practice in the days before...  Something tells me I wouldn't do so well in sales.)

So, I had to do both.  Thankfully, I didn't have to stand, or I might have probably thrown up... Gotta get rid of the medicine ball somehow...

And oh, joy, the ball was right there in my gut.  I was dry mouthed, squeaked a couple times when I talked, and when I was challenged once, I nearly lost any thread of thought to respond.  I did manage to, and might have even sounded coherent.  I hope, anyway.  And through it all, I didn't shake, no jelly.

Odd, the terms we use for slang, yes?  I guess with slang, your mileage may vary...

6 comments:

stephen Hayes said...

Like Ole Saint Nick, I have a "...belly that shakes when I laugh like a bowlful of jelly." Does that count?

messymimi said...

Yes, i've heard of legs like jelly. That has only happened to me a couple of times.

Hope you don't have to go through that again.

notes4neta said...

Great post! I had the hardest time thinking of a j word! Jelly is a great word!
I, too, have a hard time with public speaking. But I guess (this is hypothetical) the more you do it, the easier it gets! :)

Tina said...

I so hate public speaking or speaking in front of more than two people that I don't know....makes me too nervous and anxious.

Andrea said...

I get the jelly legs and the pounding chest! You probably pass off the medicine ball without many noticing!

Dreaming said...

I get butterflies... clenching stomach... don't like it! Don't like interviews. My last was with 9 or so folks around a table. I KNEW the people... but still I was a wreck. Then for the next 24 hours I replayed the interview and picked at every single stupid thing I said and magnified each error. I had nightmares... when I slept and wasn't berating myself. Awful. I hope your interview went well.
You are right. We have some strange language to describe things... indeed!