No matter how nice, upstanding and great on the empathy side we are, truth be told, each of us has a little devil that lives on one shoulder and kind of gloats when OTHER folks slip on a banana peel or have the errant petticoat or pants go south in public! But we tend to hide our OWN little life embarrassments…
Out of a lifetime of such moments, two stand out in my memory bank!
I'd been working my youknowwhat off in the Corporate World of Gotham Big Business. Had joined all the right clubs, paid all the right dues, got invited to speak of some pretty "swanky" places… when as a reward for my labors I was invited to be a guest speaker at the Yale Graduate School of Management at the New Haven Campus. This was a humongous feather in my cap! My head size grew several inches!
I planned carefully what I'd say, how I'd behave, what I'd wear, etc… you know the drill…
So, during my presentation, all was going Very Well… and I felt really really good about my performance in front of All Those Yalie Geniuses!
About twenty minutes into my talk, as I was writing some Great Thoughts on the blackboard, knowing my audience was Spellbound… someone tapped me on the shoulder and handed me a note:
"Your skirt zipper is all open at the back! Thought you'd like to know!"
I don't remember what happened after that… They did clap nicely at the end. But I'll never forget my mortification!
The other moment in time… was when I was a proud high school freshman—at the Huge Age of 13! And we all can recall how important the attainment of being 13 was! After 10, 11, then 12…
That day I was out on Chesapeake Bay in a rowboat with my little brother and his buddy, catching crabs. We had a whole boatload of live crabs, crawling on the floor of the boat, which we would sell for a bunch of $$$ on shore to the neighbors. We were thrilled—when suddenly, as happens on the Bay, a storm blew out of nowhere. The wind was furious, hard and too much for us to control the old rowboat. Two little boys and moi…
People on land saw us—luckily, or I'd not be writing this today!—and called the Coast Guard and the Navy!
One thing led to another. We threw the crabs overboard, scared of being bitten by them; the wind got worse, the waves were coming over the sides of the old boat. Land was getting more and more distant… we were terrified—there was no chance we could swim back to shore! When suddenly a Big Navy Sailor came in his boat, got the three of us into his boat and took us back to shore!
The next day, the local Norfolk newspaper had a huge headline: "THREE LITTLE TOTS LOST AT SEA!"
You can imagine my embarrassment when I went to school and all the kids yelled, " Hi, little Tot!!" I, a big freshman in high School! At the grand age of 13!
…I'd love to hear YOUR story!
…What was YOUR most embarrassing moment?
…Please share with us here…in the comment section…
Thelma J. Straw
Oh, how brave to disclose your embarrassing moments on the internet. I've had unzipped situations but never in front of a bunch of Yalie elites. I suppose my more embarrassing moments have not yet become news worthy. But then I think that most comedians use their own and other's moments like these to make their living and I never was too good at humor. Maybe I should laugh at myself more often. I'm such a serious nilly.
ReplyDeleteYes, Margaret,, the gift of laughter at oneself is what keeps the planet moving, in spite of all the wars and beheadings, actual or verbal! tjs
ReplyDeleteThelma, I thoroughly enjoyed this post and commend your bravery in putting this out there. I'm too embarrassed to reveal my most embarrassing moments. But they do keep one humble. Barbara Bent
ReplyDeleteOne thing about writing blogs for me - is - it's a good place to make public inner thoughts ... and be seen for what we are... we write very inner thoughts in our fiction... but rarely does one reader in a zillion guess they are actually true ! Thanks, Barbara. ... I have a blog coming soon re " Are we really our brother's keeper ? " Stay tuned, guys!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat an adventure, Thelma! Thank goodness for the happy ending!!!
ReplyDeleteAnnamaria, speaking of adventures... I admire your bravery in all these exotic travels... where you are often in dire danger! tjs
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