Embarrassing Moments

We’ve all had them: embarrassing moments where we wish the earth would open up and swallow us whole. In honor of those memorable (yet painful) moments, I’ve decided to dedicate this blog post to such a topic. Special thanks to Harry, whose own post on this topic inspired mine (please visit his blog and say hello; he's a new blogger and I'm trying to encourage him to blog because he's quite insightful).

Without further delay, here are my embarrassing moments, in no particular order:

1. In the 2nd grade, I couldn’t quite make it to the bathroom on time…you get the picture. The worst part was that I was wearing white pants. And everyone knows that anything white + liquid = a see-through disaster worse than Gwyneth Paltrow’s recent fashion disaster. I ended up having to go to the nurse’s office and stay there until my mother picked me up.

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2. In the 3rd grade, in an attempt to impress a boy I liked (I still remember his first and last name), I accepted his dare to do a back flip on the straight bars during recess ('cause after all, how hard could it be if he did it, right?). I ended up falling flat on my back on the ground and fracturing my back. The pain was so severe that I was screaming for him to call the yard duty, who called the paramedics.
The ambulance ended up coming out onto the field and the entire school (grades 1 through 6) came out onto the playground from the classrooms to watch me as I was carried away on a gurney. What a way to make an impression on my grade school crush, huh? Ironically, the guy I was trying to impress turned out to be gay (I found this out years later).

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3. During high school, I worked part time after school at a local Italian deli. I was always super polite to the customers, addressing them as m’am or sir. In one particular instance, the customer was waiting for the to-go order. In order to speed things up, I decided to ring the customer up.

“Is there anything else I can get you, sir?” I asked.

The customer froze.

“That’s M’am to you, not sir!”

I could have died. Literally. Truly. Totally. It was one of those ‘on-the-spot-I-want-to-die’ moments. The expression “ground open up and swallow me whole” meant nothing to me until that moment. In my defense, she really did look like a man. I hastily mumbled an apology and darted into the kitchen, where I didn’t emerge until after she left. Someone else ended up ringing her up. Every time after that when I’d see her come in to order, I’d dart into the kitchen to avoid helping her. I’m sure that today, if I saw her walking down the street, I’d probably cross to the other side to avoid her.

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4. Freshman year of college for Spring break, I visited Paris for the first time with a close friend I’d known since 7th grade and one of her college friends. We traveled from London to Paris via the Eurostar train and I ended up sleeping crooked on the train the entire time. I mention this because it plays a role in my story. I had a lot of luggage with me as well (I’m notorious for over-packing for any trip, no matter how long, because I have so many shoes), so I had to lug it around with me most of the trip (this is the only downside to public transportation, in my opinion). So, just to recap: weird sleeping position + heavy luggage lugging during the trip had ensued.

Whatever the case, the next day, I was in our hotel room and had just finished showering. I was wrapped in a towel and I sat on my bed to dry off. I then felt a strange sensation in my neck. Per my friend, what then followed was this: My eyes rolled into the back of my head, I had some convulsions, and I passed out cold on the bed and was out for about 10 seconds.

My friend was so freaked out that she ran downstairs to call a doctor, who arrived in minutes (in Europe, doctors make house visits vs. you going to the hospital). I also learned that in Europe, doctors are very fond of giving shots vs. prescribing pills to patients as they do here in the U.S. (we’re a pill-popping nation for some reason).

Turns out I had tweaked my neck muscles so badly that they had cramped (from sleeping incorrectly on the train or from lifting heavy luggage or from a combo of both). This led to decreased blood flow to my brain, and as a result, I passed out momentarily. Now the embarrassing part of this story, which you’re all probably waiting for, is what then transpired: the doctor flipped me over (mind you, I’m still in my towel), and gave me a shot…right in my butt…right in front of my two friends. Although the shot made me feel better, the fact that I had unwillingly mooned my friends did not.
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5. A week before my college graduation, I was at Albertson’s, standing in line waiting to be rung up, when I felt super dizzy. I ended up passing out in the line and hit my head really hard on the floor. The next thing I knew, I had four sets of eyes staring down at me in concern. My mom was getting her hair cut a few shops down from the supermarket so the staff ran there to get her. She was so freaked out by what had happened since the cashier told her I’d hit my head that she dragged me to the emergency room to have a head x-ray.

Needless to say, I never went back to that store. I could just picture them thinking, 'Great, here comes the walking liability again' every time I'd enter. The one time I did go back, the cashier who rang me up was the same one as before and asked me if I was the “fainting girl." I might not make a good impression, but I make a lasting one, huh?

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So there you have it: Jasmin in her less-than-finer moments. I'm sure I have a lot more, but I can't remember them at the moment, and some are not blog-appropriate.

Feel free to share your own stories or write a similar blog post...and let me know so I can read it, ha ha. :)

6 comments

  1. Good idea! Although I've got a couple moments that would be painful for me to even write down they're so embarrassing...

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  2. Jasmin, I'm sorry to say this but your failure to impress that boy is probably what turned him gay.

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  3. I'm glad you made it through all that unscathed. :) I've done the "sir / ma'am" mix up before. It's not pretty.

    But I like you're knack for falling down. That takes style. :)

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  4. I am laughing so hard right now you have no idea! This are HILARIOUS stories.

    I'm going to rebuke you (again) how come I never heard these stories before? 12 years! 12 years!!!

    We have a lot to talk about in August...LOL.

    Love you!

    SMR

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  5. Wow...my most embarrassing moments aren't so bad now! haha JK!

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  6. jasmin,
    i love all ur story.
    i want to make you as my new friend.
    im fifa,from Malaysia.

    love knowing you jasmin.
    =)

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