Oh No! Did You Really?
Everyone has embarrassing moments. It can be anything from forgetting someone’s name that you are trying to introduce to a group of friends. It can be wearing two different shoes while trying to look chic and well put together, or it can be not being aware of your surroundings and saying the wrong thing.
Sometimes, you consciously try not to say or do something but can’t help yourself. It is not intentional, and it just comes out.
For example, I was once being spoken to by an adult who was really trying to help me in a difficult situation. I was not being nasty and trying not to be confrontational. This adult woman who was talking to the 13-year-old me had a very pronounced lisp. I was fascinated that while she spoke to me at some time in her youth, she didn’t have it corrected. I know I was concentrating much more on the lisp than her words. After a 10-minute (lecture) talk, she ended with, “Don’t you agree? Yeth?” I looked at her and agreed; all that came out was “Yeth.” Her face contorted and turned red. I was doomed. I knew I could not explain my way out of that dilemma. It just came out, and I would never have done it intentionally. Obviously, it still bothers me after 64 years.
I guess the thing that most bothered me was an incident when I was in 2nd grade. My birthday was coming up, and I asked my mother who I could invite to my party. She said I could invite anyone I wanted. I took that to heart. The next school day, I stood before the entire class and invited everyone to my party! I didn’t know how being invited to a party affected one little girl who was never invited to anything.
I went home and told my mom, and she exploded! She wasn’t expecting 24 kids for my birthday. She carried on, and I didn’t know what to do. So the next day at school, I UNINVITED half the class. Of course, one of those kids was that little girl.
Apparently, that child had gone home so excited the first day that she and her mom went out to buy me a present. When she came home the second day, her mother immediately called my mom.
My mother had a second conniption. “How could you do such a thing?” she screamed at me. I was so confused. First, she said I could invite whomever I wanted, and then she yelled that there were too many. I tried to correct it, but I didn’t think about the other kids. Most of the uninvited kids didn’t care, but that one little girl was traumatized.
The problem was settled. All I remember is having a small party and then having a special play date party with that little girl. I had a gift for her when she gave me her gift. I think she was happy. I never remember playing with her again. I hope she didn’t experience any repercussions from the incident. Apparently, I did, as I still remember it all these years later. That was a guilt trip more than an embarrassment, but this next memory is a whooper as far as embarrassment goes.
It was a misty, yucky day. I was on my way to get my hair cut, but I had to stop at the bank first, which was right across the street from the salon.
I had used the same guy to cut my hair for years. He was slightly older than me, and we always had stuff to talk about.
Because it was rainy, I parked in the bank lot, took an umbrella and started walking to the bank. Within a second of exiting my car, my haircutter ran up to me and ducked under the umbrella with me. He, too, was going to the bank. I felt someone around my hips slide, and I had no idea what was going on, After a few more steps, my underwear fell to the ground around my legs. I was shocked. I stepped out of it and tried to stuff it into my purse. He saw the whole thing and started laughing so hard that he returned to the salon. I was dying of embarrassment. Once he was gone, I removed the underwear from the purse and saw that the elastic waist had disintegrated. I hadn’t noticed that it was frayed or about to snap when I dressed in the morning. OK, I finished the banking, returned to my car and went home to get another pair. Now, securely dressed, I went back to the salon. When I walked in, all it took was one look, and he laughed his head off again. Apparently, he had told the entire world what happened. Everyone was snickering. I could never go back there again. I tried to think that he would be sorry as he lost a steady customer. In reality, I lost a great hairdresser. Oh well, I started with another salon about 10 minutes away. It was all women.
