That moment, when you hear The Word, and everything stops...

[AffectionateDan]

...including your heart beat, for a moment!

So, today at work I caught part of a conversation that stopped me like a deer trapped in the headlights...

"If that had been me, I would have been on the floor, peeing my pants laughing... I am REALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLY ticklish! You don't even *KNOW!* It's kinda weird, though... ever since the baby, I'm not as ticklish as I used to be. Before the baby, if you even *LOOKED* at me, it tickled."

I stood there, transfixed, as though I had stepped in one of those steel bear-traps, wondering about the look on my face. Oh Lord, why oh why dost thou layeth temptation upon my path again and again?

 

[voided9]

Every time I hear it from someone besides my husband. While my brother-in-law was visiting last week, he said it while we were in the car - I can't remember the conversation we were having - but my heart skipped a beat. It's always awkward for me, ever since I can remember - as a really young kid [I mean 3 yrs. old kinda young] I hated seeing it on tv if family was around. I was caught between wanting to leave the room because I was so uncomfortable, and being afraid to leave because I thought everyone would "know".

 

[goalie34]

Last week at work three of my coworkers (all female) were talking about pedicures. All three agreed that they hated them because their feet are so ticklish. I was in heaven.

 

[iloveddub]

I love hearing the word, yet I get kinda antsy/excited when I do. For a long time, like preschool age, I couldn't say it.There was that fear of "if they only knew".

 

[ticklemaniac191]

Whenever I hear or see anything involving tickling I instantly feel awkward. Seeing or being around tickling is probably more awkward though, for me anyway.

 

[CaliJosh]

Every time I hear it from someone besides my husband. While my brother-in-law was visiting last week, he said it while we were in the car - I can't remember the conversation we were having - but my heart skipped a beat. It's always awkward for me, ever since I can remember - as a really young kid [I mean 3 yrs. old kinda young] I hated seeing it on tv if family was around. I was caught between wanting to leave the room because I was so uncomfortable, and being afraid to leave because I thought everyone would "know".

My exact feelings

 

[JoePTickle]

When someone brings up their own ticklishness, I'm usually cool enough to talk about my own. Whenever I'm near a conversation about tickling my ears perk way up but I'm comfortable enough to listen and/or watch. Whenever I'm in a crowd (family, co-workers) and there's a possibility that I'll be tickled, then it's more uncomfortable. What's the most difficult for me is when I'm in a conversation with someone whom I would LIKE to be ticklish and into tickling, and she brings up tickling generally for some random reason, and having a few seconds to decide how/whether to steer the conversation down that "Do you like it" path. I had another moment like that the other day. When it's a co-worker, family member, or someone else with whom there could be a long-term relationship and a cost to being ill-perceived... I usually come away on the side of caution and then wondering in hindsight. Fortunately thanks to TMF and other sources there is plenty of tickling fun in my life, so these moments in my vanilla life aren't as wistful as they used to be. And since college, whenever I've taken the risk it's not ended well - conservative town, I'd say - so once the heart stops pounding it usually ends up feeling like the right decision.