Doi

Is this made up or do you know what I'm talking about?

The holidays are filled with a lot of couch and eating time with our family. Often, this leads us down the path of reminiscing, usually recounting the silly or dumb things we’ve done in the past. We spent the other night diving into some of my doi moments.

Doi (pronounced “doy”) is a word that I think to myself often, but when I use it in conversation people seem confused. I think of “doi” as an onomatopoeia for hitting your palm against your forehead after doing something or saying something stupid. It’s truly the best word to describe the situation or feeling.

Don’t understand what I’m saying? Here are a few examples:

Example 1: One day in college I had a super long morning of back-to-back classes. The last class of my morning was one where you sit at your computer essentially typing a transcript of the professors words so you can make sense of it later. After class, I remember feeling like I’d held my breath the entire hour lecture.

I knew I had a long afternoon in the library with an essay to prepare and two exams coming up, but I needed a moment to decompress. As you know, I love coffee culture, but don’t drink coffee. So, before finding a desk in Alderman library, I stopped at the cafe for a hot tea. Perfect way to get a quick break before diving back into the books.

With my head still pulsing from notes on Max Weber and his theories of modernity, I took my hot water and tea bag to the fixing station. I flipped the honey bear over for a big squeeze and plop! The cap was loose and dropped straight into my hot water. Honey oozed everywhere - in the hot water, all over the cup, counter, my hands, my jacket, I mean everywhere.

DOI!

Example 2: Another time in college, I was at a party for my sorority. It was my first semester joining the sorority, but with my sister just a year ahead of me, I felt like I knew a lot of girls. Despite my confidence, there were some nights when my social anxiety crept up on me and I wasn’t feeling like a social butterfly. On these nights, I clung to my friends or stayed by my sister’s side because conversation elsewhere felt too hard. I’d say in these scenarios, I’m good at masking my anxieties, but it comes out every now and again.

So we’re at this date function and it’s pretty crowded. I don’t remember the theme, but I remember it was at a bar above the Amtrak train station. Don’t ask, it’s college.

I went to the bathroom with a few girlfriends. It was so crowded in the bathroom it was a mini party within the party itself. As I waited in line with one of my friends, I made eye contact with a cool older girl from a different sorority who I sort of befriended during rush earlier that semester. In other words, we exchanged an hour-ish long conversation during which we made a nice connection.

My acquaintance smiled and said, “Hey Jackie! How are you?!”

In that moment, my social anxiety struck. My brain couldn’t make sense of her words or formulate a sentence to reply.

My friend nudged my arm, giving me the are you going to respond look.

I frantically replied, “Oh, you know, just making my way through the crowds.”

DOI!

Example 3: My first job was working in consulting. My eager-beaver self was super excited to start working after having the summer off since graduation. My office was in Time Square and I naively felt very cool commuting to work from my apartment downtown, even though Time Square isn’t an incredible location.

A few weeks into work and my team was organizing a Fantasy Football league. We were all going to sit in a conference one afternoon for the draft.

When draft day arrived, I walked into the conference room and gathered around the table. I’d never been part of a fantasy draft and honestly had no idea what to expect or how it worked. I tried asking some of the guys on my team, but they were distracted talking about stats, and I didn’t yet have the confidence to interrupt.

The draft started.

One of the guys astutely let me know that I was third to pick. The first person was already in the middle of picking his player.

I looked down at my laptop and realized that by undocking my computer from my desk, I lost internet connection. We were already on to the second pick and I was up next! I rushed back to my desk to get internet connection again.

One of the guys in the conference room must have seen me rush out and followed me to help out. As I reconnected my laptop, he approached the side of my desk to check out my draft. I went to sit down and in the flurry of activity totally missed my chair.

Ass thud, feet up.

DOI!

Hopefully we’re all clear on what I mean by “doi” now. I have a love-hate relationship with replaying “doi” moments in my head. They obviously make me laugh, but they’re also so cringe.

What are some of your favorite doi moments? Do you have another word you use to describe these memories?

XO, Your doi girl Jackie