How I embarrassed myself?

Am I ready to blog about this week’s theme, “How I embarrassed myself?”

I guess I am ready, after all the reading and thinking, to decide how I embarrassed myself.

The very fact that I had to think so much about embarrassing incidents is in itself embarrassing.

If I tell you that I had to spend half an hour to google what are embarrassing moments, can you think of anything more embarrassing than that?

The biggest problem that I have today, as I grow old is that I do not remember many things. And that in itself is embarrassing. Isn’t it?

I had to rake my brains to remember some embarrassing moments and I have come up with a few anecdotes.

Forgetting the name of the person you have met more than once: This has to be my favorite. I just cannot remember names. With the number of students and faculty members I have known over the years, I get to see quite a few passed out students in malls, restaurants and other places. I get their names wrong, departments wrong. I don’t mind that, because the students recognize me, come and wish me but I do feel embarrassed that I don’t remember their names.

Playing cards on the computer:  I love playing cards on the computer at work and I have felt embarrassed a few times when somebody walks in suddenly into my room, over the years.

Nodding during a conversation:   For the past few years, I have been telling everybody that I am hard of hearing and have been requesting them to talk loudly. People continue to talk to me very softly.  Nodding during such conversations and pretending that I understand what they are talking is very embarrassing.

Locking yourself out of your car:  It is a very embarrassing moment and this has happened to me a couple of times. I give you the liberty of imagining what a nerve wracking experience it is, to get a duplicate key and to contend with the disgusted faces of the other passengers.

My mother always enjoys recollecting embarrassing moments and laughs at them. And here are two of my favorites. My mother was walking to a temple in her village along with two of her sisters on a road which was very slushy during the rains. One of her sisters slipped and fell on the road. The other one was chiding this sister how she could fall down at the age of 40 plus and cannot walk carefully. And after a few minutes, she slipped and fell down too. My mother could not stop laughing for years after that. Luckily she did not fall.

Another incident is about how kids embarrass us. When my mother had some relatives visiting her, she asked them to stay for lunch. As courtesy, the visitor said, no we have to go. Promptly her grand daughter who was about 5 years old blurted out, Grandma, you told mother that we would eat in this aunt’s house.

It is always nice, recollecting embarrassing moments at other’s expense. Isn’t it?