Embarrassing Moments

We all have had them, those embarrassing moments in our lives. You know what I am talking about. It’s those situations when you try to call on some non-existing super power to make yourself invisible. The other day I was talking with a friend and we were laughing about dumb things we had done in the past. Then the subject changed slightly and we began to talk about things that have happened in our past that embarrassed us.

I told my friend about a football game I attended when I was a freshman in high school. First, I have to say that like most high schools, Friday night football games were the place to be and be seen. This is especially true for the yearly Homecoming game. As a freshman, this was my very first Homecoming. Also, like most high school girls I had a crush on a boy that was on the football team. He and I had been friends for years, but he had a crush on this other girl.  However, I was determined to get his attention. And I did get his attention that night.

Friday after school, I met up with five of my girlfriends at one of their homes. Our plan was to get all dressed up, do our hair, makeup and attend the game together. As freshmen we had that pack mentality, power in numbers. The six of us did just about everything together. We met in Jr. High and had been friends for over two years at this point.  We were not the cheerleader popular crowd, but we all had each other’s back.

The fashion back then was blue jeans, bright colored tops, 2 inch dress heels, lots of eye makeup, pale pink lipstick and long hair that the girls would pin up and place a pre curled wig-lit over. We had all brought our stuff to this one friend’s house that morning and left it there during the day so we would have everything we needed for the big game that night. My friend’s mom made us all something to eat as we worked on ourselves and each other for this major event.

By the time we were ready to walk the few blocks to the game we were all dolled up and felt beautiful. Wish I had a picture of that night to look back on, but the picture that is ingrained in my mind, while not perfect, always brings a smile to my face. The time was finely right for us to make our entrance. As we walked through the bleachers we felt like social butterflies. We stopped and made sure to say hello to everyone as we found our seats, the forth row up on the 50 yard line.

My sister was a junior and on the pep squad. She hung out with the popular older crowd. She came over to where we were sitting and asked if I would hold her stuff. She carried one of the letters in our school’s name. Just before halftime all the pep squad gathered on the track to go out on the football field. During normal games, the football team would go to the locker room. But since this was Homecoming, the football team gathered on the track to watch the Homecoming Queen get escorted and crowned.

As all of this was going on I see my sister wave at me in a panic and I realized she had forgotten to take her letter with her onto the field. I grab the letter, which was about 2 feet wide by 3 feet tall, and I made a mad dash, in 2 inch heels, down the bleachers, along the rail, down the 5 or so steps onto the track and ran as fast as I could to the middle of the football field’s 50 yard line. There I stood under the bright stadium lights, in the middle of the football field, on Homecoming night, in front of the entire football team, coaches, parents, teachers, students, pep squad, band and all I hear is this roar of laughter. I handed my sister her letter and as she takes it from me she points back to the track about 25 yards away and I turned to look, thinking whatever was going on had to be very funny.

In an instant my life changed. There was some teacher holding a gob of hair in her hands and at that moment without a second thought I reached up to touch my head only to feel bobby pins, no wig-lit. The crowd roared. There was nowhere to hide. No way to undo what had just happened. I ran to the teacher to collect my hair. As I reclaimed it I noticed the two guys in the ambulance were doubled over, laughing so hard that they were wiping their eyes. There was no way I could go back and sit in the bleachers. I ran to the bathroom holding my hair and wishing I could become invisible.

At that moment in time I was sure my life was over. I would never be able to show my face at school again, how would I survive?. But my girlfriends showed up and we all walked back to my friend’s house where we spend the night together. At first my friends tried to make me feel better, and by the end of the night we were all laughing about it. I am pleased to say that I am still in touch with some of those friends. Looking back, if that would have been the worst thing that ever happened in my life, I would have been one lucky girl.    https://www.facebook.com/ForSuchASeason