There is cringe all around us. Even inside ourselves. As a result, many people shared their most embarrassing moments after Reddit user PaddedValls posted on r/AskUK. We therefore agreed that it would be a good idea to select the most outrageous tales and remind one another that we are all quite skilled at embarrassing ourselves. about least we have something to laugh about after enough time has passed, even though I know this may not be very consoling right now.
1.
I got my very first massage at a little spa in Vietnam! We pointed a lot and made creative hand motions because neither the staff nor I could speak Vietnamese or English.
I gestured towards an image that read “30 minutes” for my massage. They gave me a shower hat and a towel. I proceeded to change after they directed me to a loo at the rear of the spa and performed a mine of someone taking off their clothes.
The women at the spa started pointing at my head and laughing when I came out in my towel. In order to let me know that the “shower cap” was actually a pair of paper underpants, they began entering something into Google Translate.
2.
According to psychoanalyst and AEDP psychotherapist Hilary Jacobs Hendel, “Embarrassment is a light form of shame, a universal emotion designed to inhibit anti-social behaviour,” she told Bored Panda.
Jacobs Hendel, author of It’s Not Always Depression, continued, “We are signalled by feelings of embarrassment to stop when we do something that makes us stand out in a way we don’t like or want.”
3.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t long ago. I was attempting to say, “Well, blow me down,” to my senior colleague. And the thought, “No, GCP,” came to mind mid-mouth. To put it another way, you could easily topple me. What I stated in reality. To put it simply, my employer was: *FeatherKnocker, blow me*
These days, my husband tells me this on a frequent basis.
4.
In high school, we had a maths test. Everyone received their test from the teacher, who always began the time at his clock “officially” so that we had precisely forty-five minutes to complete it. Everyone in the class had given up waiting for the start of the paper-turning process as he counted down. I unintentionally let out a very loud fart just one second before the countdown ended. Everyone began to laugh after a brief period of stillness. “Well, this was your starting signal, Go!” the teacher then remarked. We completed the test, and somewhere in the row, someone began giggling alone once more during the entire forty-five minutes, infecting a few others. The funniest thing is this stifled laughter, which spreads like a virus.
Despite our desire to avoid it, we must acknowledge that cringing is a natural human emotion in order to properly cope with the experience. Jacobs Hendel clarified, “We can’t stop it without limiting our authenticity.”
Nevertheless, the psychotherapist informed us that there are numerous things we can do, both inside and outside of ourselves, to lessen the negative emotion when we feel ashamed, chief among them being:
1. Be compassionate with ourselves right away.
2. Pay attention to our feelings of embarrassment and discover the reasons behind them. Next, consider whether we deserve to feel ashamed, decide whether we should apologise, or just forgive ourselves and move on.
For instance, according to Jacobs Hendel, if we think a pair of paper pants at a spa is a shower cap, we can:
“Yikes, I’m so embarrassed!” acknowledges and validates the embarrassment. (The Change Triangle might serve as a guide for you.)
Secondly, acknowledge that everyone makes mistakes. It’s alright. Then, show understanding, be kind to yourself, and ask for kindness from others.
5.
My supervisor informed everyone that she had a brain tumour that could not be removed. I said, “I told you this place would [end] you,” without pausing. Even after twenty years, I still feel ashamed.
6.
Similar to you, when I was around sixteen, I walked four miles to meet a girl in a nearby community.
I didn’t let her know that I didn’t have any money for the bus. I was unaware that my hair was covered with grass and leaves. She was perplexed.
I had to admit that I had crossed a cornfield on foot and used a shortcut.
She married me and we have been together for almost 20 years, so it must have worked.
When it was time for me to leave, her grandfather offered me a ride home. After walking all that distance to meet his granddaughter, it seemed that I had immediately won him over.
One must also consider whether they’re taking something personally, according to Leon Garber, a licensed mental health counsellor and psychotherapist and the creator of the blog Leon’s Existential Cafe, who spoke to Bored Panda.
This suggests that they might be misinterpreting how other people are responding to them. If shame and public disgrace are piling up, we need to ask ourselves if, in spite of the criticism, what we’ve done or who we are isn’t all that horrible,” he said.
7.
Yes, it’s simple. I had a crush on someone at work while I was in my twenties. One afternoon, after telling my colleagues I was leaving and asking if anyone had any requests, I ran into him on the way back from the workplace canteen. As a result, I was stuffed with chocolate and crackers.
Something along the lines of “I hope that’s not all for you” was uttered.
“I’m actually a little squirrel storing up all my nuts for the winter,” I stated in a squeaky cartoon character voice, though I’ll never understand why.
He appeared somewhat appalled. I broke into a frenzy and hurried out of the scene, squeaking and jumping like a squirrel.
The summer was lonely.
8.
I was putting in a lot of overtime to construct a studio set. I ultimately used my job to pay for my stay at a nearby Travelodge. “Thank you for last night,” I remarked to the boss the next day in front of the carpenters, warehouse workers, and everyone else in attendance. as well as this morning.”
9.
I had a serious crush on a girl in my class when I was around eight years old, but she was “going out” with my best friend at the time. As children do, they split up one day, and I saw my opportunity. She accepted my invitation to hang together one day after I asked her out. I decided to get her a present, so I went to New Look and picked out a sexy-sounding hot pink necklace. It’s ideal, I thought! I paid just two pounds for it, and when I came home, I showed my mother. She chuckled and informed me that it was completely unsuitable for an 8-year-old. Regardless, I gave it to her, and she ended our relationship.
10.
There was a blind student at university who attended classes in the same building as myself. He had a Golden Retriever guide dog, and since I was young, I chose to talk to him to show that I didn’t think of him as an ableist, that I was just another student, etc.
And as I opened it, what was the first thing that escaped my lips?
11.
The Amazon delivery guy approached me as I was smoking a joint at my back fence and said, “Are you 13?” I thought she was questioning my age to make sure I was older than eighteen so I could accept the shipment, but I was a little stoned and waiting for components for a vaporiser. “Yeah of course, I’m 28 years old!” I responded, giving her a dumbfounded expression.
She responds, “…I mean, is your house number 13?”
Although it wasn’t the worst, I felt really foolish after
12.
I was an apprentice working on a massive construction site. I frequently had to bring drawings to the site office of a different company that shared a project with my employer.
I had boasted to other users on the site that their attractive admin girl was flirting with me, and I constantly took advantage of the chance to “chat up” her.
“I guess I won’t be seeing you after this week eh” was her response when I visited her one day at the end of summer.
When I questioned why, looking perplexed, she replied, “because the school holidays are coming to an end and you’ll be returning to school.”
She believed that I was a schoolboy spending the summer assisting my dad.
13.
I had just begun my first work as an apprentice in information technology. I was a very quiet and reserved adolescent who hardly talked, much less participated in “banter” or jokes.
My manager once enquired as to whether I had completed a task. Saying something like “As long as there are absolutely no followup questions, yes, yes I have” in response struck me as amusing.
I actually said, “As long as you don’t ask me again, yes,” but I f****d it up.
Even though Boss had a very short fuse, he somehow avoided blowing out at me, even though I could see he wanted to because he became quite angry.
14.
A Chinese coworker said that she had played the piano during a discussion about musical instruments we had learnt as children. I enquired if she had mastered chopsticks. Until people started to turn away from the repulsive, racist me, I didn’t even consider the link.
15.
When I was a young adolescent, I began to go beside another family’s cart in the supermarket without looking. I didn’t realise until I was going to load a bag of crisps into their cart and the Not-My-Mum lady gave me a strange look.
I’ve never seen them since I escaped, and I frequently ponder what might have been.
