Wednesday 5 June 2019

Was my face red

I often ask myself, what was my biggest ever embarrass-ment? I can't think of any really appalling embarrass-ment, the type where you want to fall through the floor and never be seen again. But of course there are myriads of minor embarrass-ments, the sort where I feel a bit of an idiot for a few minutes and then it rapidly becomes a fading memory. To name a few:

1) Driving the wrong way round a roundabout. Yes, I actually did that, though it was only a very small roundabout so no harm done.
2) Driving the wrong way down a one-way street. I've done that several times, to a cacophony of horn-sounding from other drivers.
3) Confidently getting someone's name totally wrong. Happily calling them Rebecca when their actual name is Natalie.
4) Confidently asking after someone's children when they don't in fact have any.
5) Discovering a large and conspicuous stain on my pants after I've returned home from a very smart social event.
6) Daydreaming briefly while someone is talking to me, then finding I've lost the thread and have no idea what they're talking about.
7) Tucking into a meal at someone else's house, then noticing everyone is waiting for the host to start their meal first.
8) At someone else's house, casually opening what I think is the toilet door and finding it's a bedroom with a strange couple in mid-snog.
9) Returning home from a restaurant where the food and service were superb and realising we didn't leave a tip.
10) On my way out of an airport, discovering that in an absent-minded moment I left that brilliant book I was reading on the plane.

At least my embarrassments are usually in front of a fairly small audience and are quickly forgotten. Pity those celebs and public figures who embarrass themselves in front of an audience of thousands or even millions and never live it down because the videos will be circulating on the internet till the end of human existence.

21 comments:

  1. I have done 2) & 3)....& 6)

    I have one moment that always makes me feel sick when I recall it. Even now. It was work related and featured a VERY IMPORTANT, missing file. Thankfully nobody ever found out that I had it because I sneaked into the office at 6am and put it back where it should have been. I had to get up at 5am to do that.
    Sx

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  2. P.S - I usually own up to such things, but in this case it really wasn't the best option.
    Sx

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  3. Ms Scarlet: I can imagine the embarrassment when you realised you had the missing file (and presumably weren't supposed to have it). I think I would have done the same - got up at an unearthly hour to sneak it back to its rightful place!

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  4. I would think that in #8, the couple should be the one embarrassed, not you.

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  5. I make a point of paying attention to people when they speak but find myself reddening when I realise I am not given the same type of undivided attention in return as they glance around the room or at their phones or start fixing their clothes. I think I must be boring them and want to leave immediately. So I find this hugely embarrassing along with devaluing.

    Worse name lapse for me was this fairly new friend who made some stage backdrops for me visited my house for tea a few times, etc.

    One night, about 5 years into our friendship as we stood at a bar celebrating someone's birthday and we chatted away, he coughed gently and said :"I've been hesitant to bring this up, WWW, but I have to as you're now introducing me to members of your family, my name is not Fred, it's Danny."

    I still blush.

    XO
    WWW

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  6. Bijoux: Maybe we were all embarrassed! Certainly I was embarrassed interrupting what seemed to be an intimate sexual moment....

    www: It's definitely embarrassing when the other person is obviously not giving you their undivided attention. Especially if they're checking their bloody emails.

    Five years of mis-naming him? That's seriously embarrassing!

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  7. One advantage of being old is we've forgotten of those incidents. :)

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  8. On my first visit to my boyfriend's home, opening what I thought was a closet to retrieve my coat and finding myself facing a toilet. In front of his siblings.

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  9. Jean: True. There must have been lots of other embarrassing incidents I've long forgotten about.

    Linda: Oops! Perhaps we should label our toilet doors (and coat closets) to save our visitors any awkward blunders....

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  10. I think I have done most of yours too! they made me laugh!
    one of my own that I have never gotten over was meeting Buzz Aldrin at a party. Bob introduced me to him. it was years ago. I only remember my mistake. nothing else about that evening!
    he had walked on the moon not that long before. Bob said his name and then added... "you know... the man who walked on the moon." I didn't believe him and said very 'cutely and coyly' and to make matters worse I reached out and patted his chest... "of course you did! how was the old man?" in a most unbelieving and probably irritating way. thinking I was being clever and funny. but I really didn't believe Bob.
    what gets me now are the moments that seemed like an ETERNITY when all around me went SILENT. in that silence I KNEW. it was true. and I had just majorly insulted the man and shown total ignorance to him and the entire room. OMG.
    the Real Buzz Aldrin threw his head back and laughed warmly. then he reached out and HUGGED ME! he was pure grace. he saved the moment for this poor ignorant little fool. very YOUNG fool. and every time I see a documentary or 'anything' about him now I relive that ridiculously terrible moment.

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  11. Tammy: I think I would have been just as sceptical if Jenny told me she had met some celeb like Lady Gaga. Right, yes, of course you did, and I just met Kate Moss. I like the way Buzz Aldrin tactfully skated over the awkward moment by hugging you! And you'd probably find that nobody else remembers that little contretemps anyway!

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  12. My instinct tells me I have been stupid, made an ass of myself often. I blame it on the TBI. At card club recently I find myself putting down diamonds for trump and announcing hearts. This really bothers me.

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  13. Joanne: I guess briefly confusing diamonds with hearts is fairly common, especially if you're a bit scatterbrained as I am.

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  14. I've done a lot of those. Never not tipped, though - that happens when I pay the bill.

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  15. Agent: We always give a tip directly to the server, as you never know where the money ends up if you just add it to the bill. Some restaurants simply pocket the card tips to bump up their profits.

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  16. Today at work I was making toast for morning tea and burnt it... And the fire service came....
    There's a fee of over $1000 for that

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  17. Kylie: $1000? Good grief. There's no fee for putting out a fire in the UK.

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  18. I''m pretty lucky - no big embarrassments for me. Lots of minor ones but absolutely nothing traumatic or dramatic

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  19. Chuck: We've both been very lucky. Most people can point to at least one hideous embarrassment in their life. Maybe mine is yet to come!

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  20. I don't think that really happens here with servers not getting their tips because they are paid well below minimum wage and are expected to make up the difference with tips. That's why people routinely tip 20% or more now.

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  21. I’m sure I’ve had some embarrassing moments but guess I’ve conveniently stored them away somewhere, or maybe I’m just too tired to try to recall them now. No one event stands out in my memory.

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