Memorable blunders

Unfortunately, there are no erasers for memories, especially embarrassing ones. Have you ever had the misfortune of being in an awkward situation?

Waved at someone you thought that you knew and then discovered it wasn’t the same person? Want to read about a blunder or two in my life?

I had just got married and moved to a new place. It was exciting meeting new people.

I was standing with a group of my husband’s friends outside church and the guys were commenting about every gal that passed by.

Along came a female with a funny walk (or so I thought) and I didn’t hear any remark. In a voice dripping with sarcasm, I asked the guys, why were they not commenting about this girl? I heard one of them mumble, “She is my sister”. Did I want to stick pins in my mouth? You guessed right.

I recalled the wise words of Thomas Fuller “Birds are entangled by their feet and men by their tongues”. If the above was a rib tickler, here is more to keep you amused. We were celebrating our Silver Wedding Anniversary. The church was beautifully decorated and crowded, with our friends inside.

My husband and I were waiting for the priest to come and take us up to the altar. I was just as excited as I was 25 years earlier. And then it happened! Snap! The heel of my shoe got stuck in the pavers and broke. My excitement changed to utter embarrassment. I was flustered and upset. My unease congealed into anxiety.

Then I decided to that the situation by the horns. Looking around to see if anyone noticed, I bent down, took the heel and put it in my clutch purse. Since I was wearing a gown, I decided to tip toe to the altar. To my good luck, nobody noticed it. I was lucky to have our house close to church, so my sister-in-law went and got me another pair of shoes. Rightly said, “Humour is emotional chaos remembered in tranquillity.”

Life gives us a lesson or two in humility, when we least expect it.There are more embarrassing escapades is my life.  Someday maybe, I will muster enough courage to reveal a few more. I end with these wise words of Bacon, “There is in human nature, more of the fool than of the wise.”