Fun Stuff
Embarrassing Moments
You may never outgrow them
Anyone who has no embarrassing moments from their memories of the teenage years has to be a rare bird. Those exceptions were envied by the rest of us; very confident, always doing the right thing, saying the right thing, wearing the right outfit, etc.
None of that describes me. And I grew up in a very small town where your faults and faux pas are likely to be remembered for at least twenty years or so. Our dating history was very short so it is likely Gary S. has no recollection of his nervous date taking a spill on the ice outside of the movie theatre and falling flat on her derriere. But then again....
Now I can relate an experience like this in a social setting where the conversation is light and both laugh about it myself and enjoy others laughing with me. Usually everyone has a story to tell, no one is immune from unintentionally putting themselves in a position of being in the limelight in a way they would love to have avoided.
There's the former co-worker on the night shift who had a long drive home in the morning. So tired was she, she dozed off at the one red light in her own small town. As the cars lined up behind her and someone finally pounded on her car window, the mortified lady put it in gear with a stammered apology and took off, hoping no one in sight knew who she was or took down her license plate number. But being a good sport she allowed us to see the humor in it later.
Have you ever been so tired in the morning you forgot to put eye makeup on both of your eyes, then wondered why everyone in the elevator is looking at you oddly? Or after a visit to the restroom walked back into the posh restaurant dining room with a large piece of toilet paper stuck to the heel of your shoe?
The sad truth is, embarrassing moments are like pimples; they tend to pop up again when you think they're conquered. Sometimes the situation is easy to relate to a friend or relative; we should all be able to laugh at ourselves. On a couple of occasions - and maybe I'm too sensitive but there it is - the incident mortified me so much I buried it deep in the memory bank and never told anybody.
Why talk about it now? Because of what happened this weekend. I'm going to tell you, because it is a good lesson in caution for those of us who tend to be more absent-minded as we grow older.
My husband and I went out to breakfast on Sunday morning. Donning a denim skirt (I do wear skirts now and then), my intention was to wear my boots, which are kept downstairs. So over my tights I put on some socks, just to make sure the feet stayed warm and comfortable in our early morning temperatures. But after dressing completely and being side-tracked a couple times, I decided to
wear a pair of shoes instead.
No problem - except we were in the restaurant waiting for our food to come when I noticed it: I had forgotten to take off my socks! So there I was, with a midi-length skirt, a pair of flat but dressy shoes, and these navy blue socks the top of which was plainly visible below the hem of the skirt! There is no way anyone could say it was an acceptable fashion statement, it looked ludicrous. As casually as possible I slipped out of the shoes, removed the socks, and slipped them into my purse.
Then I had to be careful not to accidentally drop the socks onto the floor
when reaching for something else in my purse until we finished breakfast and got back to the car.
The sad truth is, embarrassing moments will probably never go away. Even sadder, they may happen more often as we move along in years, no matter how careful we try to be. Might as well laugh about it as often as possible.
How about toilet paper hanging from outside your slacks? I caught it before I went too far but I saw a woman once who did not. She walk through the airport with a toilet paper tail.
ReplyDeleteMaybe in the airport was better than down the hall in high school.... at least
Deleteshe might have been unknown to everybody in the airport.
(Always look on the bright side.)
A dear lady who seems to be unable to post here, but enjoys read them, got up with me personally to say she has these beat by a mile. Her true incident? A close relative who was wearing a long, layered skirt went to the ladies' room during a church service - and got a layer of the skirt caught up in her panties. That became evident when she went up to the front to receive communion.
ReplyDeleteThis is the stuff nightmares are made of.
I laught but Not funny for the lady it happened to. Hopefully a woman came up behind her and straighten things out.
ReplyDeleteThe lady herself probably laughs about it now - many years later and no longer living in the same community!
DeleteOK, I told you I was late to the conversation, but, yes, I do have an incident, and it beats all of these, hands down!
ReplyDeleteI probably don't have to tell you, MaryJo, that I was born to be a good little girl. It's in my DNA. I haven't always been good, but, still, it's clear I was designed and created to be a good little girl.
So, one day in second grade, a teacher (and I think it was a sub, not my beloved teacher) lectured, and lectured, and lectured and then walked from the front of the room right out the door, to the teachers' lounge, where she stayed. And stayed. And stayed. It was a well-established rule that we were not to interrupt, but to wait to be invited to ask questions, and that we must approach the teacher at her desk to ask permission to leave the classroom, say, to visit the restrooms, except when the teacher declared a class break.
Well, my poor bladder needed emptying before the lecture was over. Long before. But, the teacher left without returning to her desk, without any pause at all, so I followed the rules. Or, I did until my body and my poor bladder muscles simply gave out. And then I pretended that nothing happened, that I did not know there was a yellow puddle all around my desk.
My classmates, bless them, never said a word. No one whispered. No one giggled. Dead silence reigned in that room. And then a janitor passed by and, looking in the open door, noted what had happened. He returned with mop and bucket and, like my classmates, he never said a word but mopped up the mess.
Apparently, he also went to the principal's office and reported the incident. The teacher returned to the class and announced a restroom break -- which I skipped, because I was not about to get out of my desk and reveal my sodden skirts. That afternoon, deeply ashamed, I reported the incident to my mother, who complained the next morning, and learned that the teacher was justly disciplined and that strict orders were issued that no teacher should ever leave her class without first finding out if anyone needed a break.
It's only taken me 54 years to 'fess up.
I think more of us may have such a humiliating moment than you know....
ReplyDelete