Life is full of embarrassing moments, and so many of them happen when you’re young. Here are a couple of my personal favorites.
Dodgeball Disaster
Gym class and hormonal pre-teens is never a great combination. Throw in a match of mid-semester dodgeball and watch the drama unfold. Split the teams into boys versus girls and you’re bound to have some popcorn-worthy action.
Since it was a casual day in gym class, nobody was required to change into the hideous P.E. uniform. So there I was, my back pressed up against the wall of the gymnasium, sporting a colorful top and a pair of white pants. As a naturally competitive person, I was so ready to kick some ass and take some names.
The whistle blew and I sprinted towards the center of the court, my eyes locked on a bright red ball in front of me. Just as I squatted down, my hands grasping around the rubber ball, I heard a loud RRRRIIIIPPPPPP! And suddenly felt a breeze on my backside. I dropped the ball and stood up straight, my hands reaching to cover my exposed behind as I ran backward to my starting position. Against the wall I desperately tried to play off my embarrassment until finally being hit by a dodgeball and being able to run to the locker room and change my clothes.
Pssst… Pissed
In my first grade class we were doing a reading activity in small groups. I was working with a classmate whose name was Joey and we were having a grand ole time — cracking jokes, chuckling under our breaths, and just generally being hyper 6 year old kids who would rather be doing just about anything but read. At one point in our tomfoolery, Joey got distracted just our teacher walked by, so obviously I had to get his attention.
“Psssst!” I hissed, prodding his book with the eraser end of my pencil.
Joey’s face lit up, a look of excitement and horror as he gasped, “Oooooh! I’m telling!”
Panicking for no real reason other than not wanting to get in trouble, I tried to figure out what I had done wrong as Joey’s hand shot up into the air and caught the attention of our teacher. Ms. McKinnon quickly came over and asked what was wrong.
“Cece said ‘pissed’!” he said, a grin creeping onto his face.
I shook my head profusely, “Nuh-uh! I said ‘psssst’, like…” I desperately tried to recreate the scene but Ms. McKinnon wasn’t buying my testimony.
And so, having been framed by my partner, I sat in the corner for the rest of the lesson and never actually forgave Joey for what he did, even if he totally misheard me in the first place.
