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Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Memorable Moments You'd Like to Forget

I'm talking about those moments in our lives that have us laughing now, but we may not have been so amused at the time. My friend Tawna calls them TSTL (Too Stupid to Live) moments, and her blog post the other day brought some of my own TSTL moments flooding through my mind. I've had more than a few.

The best and worst happened during my teen years. That was a long time ago, but some memories are made to last. Unfortunately. And just for grins, I'm gonna share one with you

Do you remember your first date? I do. It was a group date because that's all my mom would allow. And to be honest, I wasn't all that crazy about the boy I went out with. In fact, as I recall, I didn't even like him. But it was a date! And my very first one! Can you see where I'm going with this?

The other couple on this date was my sister and some guy she liked, who was probably a friend of my date and the reason I was asked to come along in the first place. That's why my mom even allowed this little outing. Big sister chaperone. Picture me rolling my eyes.

We went bowling. I suck at bowling, but I didn't really care. Did I mention how excited I was to go out on my very first date?

I remember exactly what I wore, too. This was the seventies and bell bottoms were still quite popular. I should have worn jeans, but instead I chose a pair of black and white floral print pants that were a wee bit too tight around my lower region. After many washings they'd become soft and comfortable. They were cotton and long enough to cover my flip flops. Heaven forbid you let your toes show from beneath your bells. Ahem.

Being forced to wear bowling shoes bruised my sense of fashion, but I bucked up and stepped up to the lane with bowling ball in hand. I eyed the pins as I'd seen others in the alley do, bent my knees, stepped up to the line with arm cocked back, and did an expert deep knee bend as I released the ball to roll quickly toward its intended target.

That's when I heard the rip. And I'm not the only one who heard it, either.

I split my pants from waistband to crotch. I'm proud to say, however, that I scored a spare for my trouble.

I wore a white peasant blouse that was almost long enough to cover the rip. Thank goodness I'd brought the sweater my mom had forced on me, because I was able to wrap it around my waist to hide the tear in my britches.

I think I sat out the rest of the game, I don't really remember. I just remember counting the minutes until it was time to go home. My date pretended he hadn't noticed, but I knew he did. I saw him and his friend chuckling about it. My sister... well, she was no help. She just laughed.

Lesson learned: Prior to a date, make wise wardrobe choices. Did I learn from this? Not really. I always was a slave to fashion, even when the apparel I chose wasn't appropriate to the event. It's how I rolled back then. Now? Not so much. I'm not sure I even know what fashion is anymore.

Care to share any embarrassing moments from your youth? Misery loves company. :)

31 comments:

Sisters of the Quill said...

I remember the ongoing embarrassment of wearing pants that my mother extended with gathered flowered material. As I grew up the length of these additions simply grew...oh if I only had grown in the waist...

I remember when I was a Freshman cheerleader (I don't recommend it) having one of the parents remind everybody to shave their legs for the next day's pop rally, then looking quite pointedly at my legs - I didn't shave my blond hair. So I was clearly an outcast, embarrassing to the whole group. Both of these I can now laugh at.

Karen Duvall said...

Oh, dear. LOL. Funny how devastating faux pas can be in our youth, and we look back on them now and laugh at ourselves. Makes me a little more sympathetic to today's teens. But only a little. :) They'll look back and laugh at themselves, too, someday.

Patricia Stoltey said...

Well, there was the time I threw up all over a friend's gorgeous sweater...and the time my stepdaughter loudly announced in a restaurant that an octopus has eight testicles, and the time I...but maybe I'd better not tell that one. :)

ReadingIsSoMuchFun said...

I remember the first time I got my period it happen while I was in school and that day I was wearing white jeans. It was horrible walking out to the bathroom with a big red spot.

Hugss
LindaH

BTW: Romance Junkies sent me. Love your blog & I look forward to reading books by you :-)

susan said...

Everything I did was embarrassing to me when I was young..I would have trouble eating a meal in front of anyone as I was scared I would drop something on my top/ BOY have I outgrown that one!!! Had I stayed with that thought I may not have a weight problem now. ha ha

Romance Junkies sent me here. susan L garysue@

Diana S said...

I remember getting drunk the first time and throwing up in my date's lap. Not one of my finer moments. HA!
Oh and by the way Romance Junkies sent me.
Enjoyed your blog.

Debby said...

HI, I Came over from RJ. I have to say that I have more moments like that than I care to remember.
debby236 at hotmail dot com

MOUNDSBAR said...

As kids we had Friday night date nights to an ice cream parlor with a group of friends and boys we had crushes on at the time. On one of these nites as I was walking along I turned my head to answer a friend when I tripped on a large rock and promptly fell on my face! I had the wind knocked out of me, a banged up knee and it took a few minutes to recover. WELL, the boy who was supposed to be my date made a big show of walking away and pretending he didn't know me!
EMBARRASSING MOMENT!!!!

P.S. Romance Junkies sent me.

Karen Duvall said...

That's so funny, Pat. Now I'm dying to know what you won't tell. Isn't that always the way it is? LOL.

Karen Duvall said...

Thanks so much for dropping by, Linda! Wow, Romance Junkies is just too awesome. I'm so happy to have new visitors.

OMG, I just flashed back to a similar memory of my own. I was 11, in the 6th grade, and totally unprepared for this unexpected event. I wore white shorts under my dress and refused to come out of the bathroom stall. A girl went to the nurse for me, and by the time I came out the entire 6th grade class knew what had happened. Big mouth. I was absolutely mortified. I feel for you!

Karen Duvall said...

Aww, Susan, I totally get that. My youngest daughter is in her twenties and you can always tell what she's been eating, LOL. It's great that you got over your shyness about eating in front of others.

RJ rocks! Thanks so much for dropping by! :)

Karen Duvall said...

Oh, dear, Diana. That would definitely be embarrassing. Anything having to do with boys as a teenager has devastating written all over it. Thanks so much for the visit!

Karen Duvall said...

Hahaha, Debby. Same here! And I intend to make use of them here from time to time. Why should I be the only one to get a good laugh from my embarrassing moments? I wanna share the wealth! :) Thanks so much for your comment.

Karen Duvall said...

Wow, Moundsbar, I think you were better off without him. Ha! He should have laughed with you, not at you, but isn't that how it always seems to go with teen boys. The little creeps.

This brings back another memory for me. I was warming up my car on an icy morning and didn't realize how frozen the driveway was. When I got out of my car to go back inside the house to wait for the engine to get warm, my feet slid out from underneath me and I slipped under the car. I got the wind knocked out of me, like you did, and couldn't move for a few minutes. I imagined myself stuck there the whole day and freezing to death. I lived in the mountains and the nearest neighbor was too far away to hear me yell. But all ended up just fine. I recovered and lived to tell about it. Ha!

Thanks for coming by! :)

Ashley Applebee said...

I think the most embarrasing thing that happened to me was when I was trying to act all cool and unaffected and get the attention of a hot guy at a store....yeah I got his attention all right! By knocking over a display of sunglasses! Needless to say that wasn't the attention I wanted!
Romance Junkies sent me :)
Ashley A
rvds_angel21@yahoo.com

Pamk said...

RJ sent me over and one of my most memorable moments was on a date too. My BF was having her first date and me and my guy were double dating with her. Good think the guy I was with was more friend that boy friend. We went out to eat before going to the movies and being a well endowed girl i knocked my drink off in my lab with my breast. I took their teasing as long as I could but wound up pouring the rest of my drink in my dates lap so we could match. Like I said good thing he was more friend that boyfriend.

Pamk said...

rofl I can't type. I meant lap.

Karen Duvall said...

LOL, Ashley! What a girl has to go through just to catch a guy's eye. Well, mission accomplished, yes? :) Even if it wasn't quite what you were expecting. Thanks for stopping by.

Karen Duvall said...

Oops! Hahaha. Matching damp laps. Sounds like a match made in heaven. :) Heehee. Thanks for the visit!

catslady said...

RJ sent me. I remember going to an awards ceremony/dinner where I was the secretary of the group and didn't realize until I got home that I wore my top inside out arghh.

Karen Duvall said...

oh no, Catslady! LOL. I remember being at an awards banquet and one of the ladies sitting at a table had a long trail of toilet paper sticking out of the top of herpanty hose where her dress was tucked in. After a half hour I couldn't stand it any longer and had to tell her the bad news. If it were me, that's what I'd have wanted. Maybe no one noticed your inside-out shirt! One can hope. :)

Lucy Francis said...

Ohh, there are just so many moments from my teen years that really should be forgotten, LOL.

I made a lot of fashion faux pas as a young teen. In the 8th grade, the school allowed students to wear Bermuda shorts. I didn't know those were a particular style of shorts, so I figured my white cut-offs, which were as long as what other girls wore to school but slimmer cut, would be fine. I even wore tights under them. Other students looked at me funny, but I didn't really worry about it.

I'd gotten through two classes when I was called to the office and required to have my mother bring me regular pants because what I was wearing was against school dress code and unacceptable. I wanted to crawl under the floorboards.

Memories like this really helped me cut my own teens some slack! Oh, and P.S. Romance Junkies sent me :-)

Christy said...

When I was a teenager we had a car wash fundraiser and I had white shorts on. There were 3 boys and my period had started. I didn't know it and it leaked through my shorts. I was so embarrassed because they noticed. We told them I sat on a red marker. Omg worst memory. Romance Junkies sent me :-) and your book looks great! christina_92 at yahoo.com

JoanneR said...

Karen, Romance Junkies sent me to you.
I remember in high school, dating a wonderful guy. We were standing in a crowd, with him right next to me. I turned to give him a kiss and he had turned his face away for a moment and I ended up kissing his sister!

Carol M said...

Romance Junkies sent me.

I was always afraid of something like that happening and it did. But for me it was only a small tear and I don't think anyone noticed.

Kathleen O said...

Oh I have had a few of them over the years. Some I really want to forget.

by the way Romantic Junkies Readers, recommended you blog.

Anonymous said...

Hi,

Romance Junkies sent me!!!

And I like your site here, very nice.

I'm a bit on the shy side so I can't really remember any embarrassing moments. Nothing that stands out anyways. I always try to avoid those kind of situations...:)

Valerie
in Germany
valb0302@yahoo.com

Juana said...

I remember falling not once, but a couple of times back in junior high in front of a whole bunch of students I guess I was going through my clumsy phase :)

Romance Junkies sent me.

jmesparza821(at)gmail(dot)com

Lisa said...

Books sound good and Romance Junkies sent me.
Hugs!
Lisa

Karen Duvall said...

Oh, my, Lucy. I got sent home once from junior high school for wearing something "inappropriate." I was so embarrassed. I feel for you! Thanks for sharing. :)

Karen Duvall said...

Christy... yikes!

Joanne, gives the song "I Kissed A Girl" whole new meaning, huh? LOL.

Juana, I was a clumsy kid, too. Still am! If there's ice to slip on, I'll find it.