Embarrassing moments

This is my entry for Naina's Request.

On some days I wonder what was I thinking... that is, if I was thinking at all. I have a deathly combination of traits, I am cautious but absentminded, just the recipe for several embarrassing moments in my life. Some I cant even mention, my face suffers excessive blood flow .

Episode 1- Lovely chewing gum
I was in the 6th grade and we were invited to our neighbours home for a christmas party. Just before I got out our door I had to have that chewing gum treat that my uncle got(it was banned in our home so my parents never got me any). I had to feel COOL right?

So I chew and chew and chew on it... at my neighbours house. I want to spit it out but I couldnt tell my dad that I had a chewing gum in my mouth. So I do the next best thing I could do, I stick it to the side of my gum around my molars and hope my dad would decide to leave soon that way I could get home to spit it out.

After sometime I couldnt feel the chewing gum so I stick my index finger in to check...BAAAADDDDD idea. the next thing I knew, there was something sticking to my index finger. So I use my other hand to pull it out. Two BAADD Ideas in a row. I now had a few strings of chewing gum stuck all around my fingers. My dad saw it and didnt say a word, Uh Oh... The neighbour uncle decided that the best thing to do to remove chewing gum was to use oil.. Another BAADD Idea. It had to be a hat-trick of bad ideas didnt it? So here I was with the chewing gum stuck in all of my palm and fingers, and there were all these people I didnt know, asking me what happened... Was I embarrassed? I wished it was not me that all that was happening to. I wished I was dreaming. I wished I could disappear for a while. I wished I could turn back time to when I put that chewing gum in my mouth. Ah the could haves, would haves, should haves that I thought about.

Episode 2 - My favorite Jeans.
For my sixteenth birthday I got my favorite piece of clothing-a pair of jeans. I know for most Americans this is a cheap, everyday piece of clothing but it wasnt so in India when I was growing up. It was such a favorite thing that I wore it every chance I got. So one evening I dress in my Jeans and white t-shirt and go to get some grocery for mom. It was such an excitement to dress in my Jeans, riding my bicycle to the grocers. Along the way I pass the park where a group of boys were playing cricket. One of them stops and looks at me and the rest follow.. My typically teenaged brain went "ah I must look Goooooooddd in this pair of Jeans and T-shirt, must wear it more often." So I hum along, finish buying the things my mom asked me to, get home and give her an account of how much each item was and give her the left over change. My Mother looks at me and asks "did you go like this to the grocers?". "Yes". My mother starts to giggle, "You didnt zip up". "Oh MY GODDD, no wonder those boys were staring". I avoided going by that route for any reason, for a very long time. Even today, I double check when I wear Trousers. I wasnt embarassed, I just became obsessive compulsive when it comes to being cautious.

Of course now, being older and (hopefully)wiser, these dont embarass me anymore.