Do your interests ever shock or appall your coworkers?

That sounds…...AWESOME!

I was kinda the odd one out at my last job too :P

I’m sure I know I have a few stories of things I was planning to do that coworkers just looked at me like “uhhhh…...” but most of them came down to bugs. Either the ones I occasionally kept as pets (the most “shocking” was probably the black widow) , or the ones I’ve eaten before. Tarantula tastes almost exactly like lobster, but tell a person you once ate a tarantula and they look at you like you have 12 heads.

That sounds nuts to me too. Lol. But, if you’re excited, I’m excited for you.

I’m very interested in Infectious Disease and I didn’t realize some people think that sounds funny until I wrote it on a document in an interests and hobbies space and my husband told me people will think it sounds strange. Like it’s too icky a subject I guess?

Everyone at my workplace thinks I’m crazy. I am constantly losing my pen.

Not really. Some people think my passion for horror is weird, as I like it a lot more than most people I know, but no one is shocked or appalled by it, at least not that I know of.

I am ashamed to say it… but… I actually like the power of amateur radio. It has the reputation of being a nerdy hobby for older white guys. Sadly I am not an exception to the rule.
In my defense I have almost as much transmitting and receiving capability as NASA and use it as a tool. My vehicle, house, and office are studded with antennas. It’s either an embarrassment or really cool depending upon your level of technical expertise.

When I tell people about my interest in recreational mathematics, they think that such a thing can’t possibly exist.

@LostInParadise Ooooo! I like it!!!

Haha..plenty. My pet geese, hand feeding moths to tree frogs, my love of rats and rodents, archaic medical practices, fascination with medieval diseases like the Black plague, serial killers throughout history.

I’ve had a couple coworkers gasp that I do anything outdoors, even as simple as going camping… I think this is why i purposefully try not to build friendships with coworkers, lets just talk about the weather then go our separate ways. haha

“Shock” may be too strong a term, but people definitely raise their eyebrows at my interest in animals.

That course sounds so exciting, I’d be thrilled!

^^^ It does…I’d do it in a heartbeat. I just used my elbow high welding gloves to move a log in the wood stove, they work great for ground squirrels and raptors too. haha

I don’t generally mention my shocking or appalling interests at work …

However, some of my co-workers are sometimes surprised to know the non-shocking things that I do, such as cutting my own hair, cooking, sewing and other domestic chores.

Dungeons and Dragons character building… Sometimes I don’t play the game and I just keep making new characters.

The only thing that comes to my mind is God.

A lot of people are shocked to discover that I am into weightlifting. Apparently people expect women that exercise to either be slim and use pink 5 lb dumbbells or lift heavy and be big and muscular. I’m slim and deadlift 180 lbs, so I confuse people. It’s funny how little people know about that topic. The idea that being feminine means being weak pisses me off.

One of our attorneys cornered me in the kitchen recently…

Her: Now I know why you eat so healthy (as I was heating up some chicken tacos with refried beans…not exactly a salad). Judy told me you lift weights.
Me: Yep, that’s right.
Her: Wow, well you don’t look like a bodybuilder. That’s a compliment, by the way!

Uh…thanks? I didn’t bother explaining that 1) lifting weights does not make one a bodybuilder, 2) what’s so bad about looking like a bodybuilder?, 3) women don’t bulk up like men from lifting, and 4) go fuck yourself. I just smiled politely and went to my office to down my tacos.

I lift because it makes my body look fabulous, thank you very much.

Never my coworkers. But my family… definitely.

I can’t think of anything I do that my co-workers find odd. We’re a pretty disparate group and I’m sure I’m one of the tamer members.

Given your field of work, I don’t find your interests unusual or odd. I can’t say I want to go out catching and restraining pythons, but I know a number of people who love snakes. I’m not into spiders either but I can see they would make fascinating pets.

@JLeslie I think infectious diseases are fascinating too. But I totally laughed picturing you writing it down under your interests. Makes me think about what else isn’t that weird—but would be odd on paper?

@LostInParadise Me too—I think? I like talking about math theoretically. Throwing ideas around with friends. But nothing serious. Hadn’t occurred to me to phrase it that way. But I suppose I do like recreational math!

I think I have a lot of interests that most people would find creepy or odd. Mostly, I just have a lot of interests. Inevitably that would include creepy and odd.

I wanted to be a Virologist years ago, a toss up between Veterinary sciences and Virology.
Great read “Bring out your dead” about the Yellow Fever Plague in Philadelphia back in 1793.
They were so clueless back then, thought it was caused by a cargo of rotting coffee beans abandoned on the beach, bad air, etc. They were kinda on target noticing the disease flared up in late summer and fall but made zero connection to the mosquitoes flourishing during those seasons.

No they are not shocked by my interests but some of my co-workers are shocked by some the words that come out of my mouth, especially when I am angry.

Class