The Dorkhead Incident and the Said/Heard Mishaps Contest

{This is a sponsored post}


The people at Alka-Seltzer are looking for your funny stories about miscommunication--you know, when you say one thing and someone hears something totally different. They asked me to write about one of my experiences, and immediately I thought of my husband, BSB, because he has been teased by his family about the Dorkhead incident for years!


Afraid I would tell it the wrong way, I asked him if he would write up the story for you, and he did! Take it away BSB...

Photo source: here--we think this may be the actual site of the incident!

The Dorkhead Incident

I love rocks. 

Wherever I go, I find myself staring at the ground, looking 

for new

rocks to add to the collection I have been building since I was four 

years old.  

And, while 

driving 

cross-country, if I’m not behind the 

wheel (and sometimes even when I am) 

I am looking at the mountains,

hills, rocks, rivers, and plains.

On one occasion when

I was about fourteen years old, I was traveling with my family near 

Kingman, Arizona. It 

was early in the morning, and the sun had just 

come up. As we crested the top of a hill,

 I looked out across the 

desert landscape towards a rock monolith that is set back several

hundred feet from the highway (it’s still there – I drove past it 

again a few months ago).  

At the base of the rock 

there is a rectangular doorway that was cut into the 

rock, 

likely 

leading 

into a cavity that had been hewn into the 

rock to serve as a stable or 

storage room.  

In my excitement 

I 

loudly said, “Look at the door cut into the foot of the mountain!”

After several moments of silence, someone said, “What?”  I repeated 

what I had said about 

what I had seen. And then the laughter started.

But I was confused, because the laughter 

was directed at me.

Confused and a little hurt, I wasn't sure what was so funny. It

turned out that what each member of my family had heard was, “Look at the Dorkhead 

at the foot of the mountain!” 

For the rest of that trip, and many trips since, someone in my family has recalled the incident by saying

“watch out for Dorkheads..

.”  Well, it’s not my fault that some 

folks can’t hear properly.

Do you have a funny story like BSB's?  Leave a comment below so we can all have a good laugh! You might want to submit it to the Alka-Seltzer Said/Heard Mishaps Contest on the Alka-Seltzer Facebook page,

The winner of the Said/Heard Mishaps Contest will receive:

• A trip to New York City to star in an Alka-Seltzer online video featuring their entry
• The winning spot will premiere on the Alka-Seltzer Facebook page!
• Plus $5,000 to spend toward whatever they wish.

That seems like pretty good recompense for having suffered the indignity of being misunderstood!

Abbreviated Contest RulesNO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Legal residents of the 50 United States (D.C.), 18 years or older. Contest ends 2/25/11. To enter and for Official Rules, including prize description, visit http://www.facebook.com/AlkaSeltzerOriginal?v=app_7146470109&ref=sgm.  Void where prohibited.

Thanks to TheMotherhood and the Alka-Seltzer brand for compensating me for this post!