I was visiting a friend’s blog (another cartoonist) the other day and noticed one of his topics was about mis-speaking. The entry was about giving unintended and inappropriate responses to another person’s comment. For example, a cab driver drops you off at the airport and on your way out of the cab, he says “have a nice flight” our automatic, non-listening response is often, “you too”. I’ve done this before and it’s quite embarrassing and funny at the same time. This got me thinking about embarrassing moments of my own as well as a few that have been shared with me.
A year or two ago, I was standing in line at a movie theater with my daughters when someone walked up behind me and said, “Hey, what’s up?” I turned around and didn’t recognize this person, but trying to be friendly, I mustered a smile and said, “oh, not much” and then turned back around. He then continues the conversation by adding, “I’m about to see (whatever the name of the movie was) – you seen it?” Again, I turned around and, having seen the movie in question, I said yes and started to give him my critique. After the first couple of sentences, he started to furrow his eyebrows at me – which is when I noticed the Bluetooth earpiece he was wearing. Very funny and very embarrassing – however not as funny and embarrassing as the story shared with me by a friend of mine (whose name I won’t reveal).
My friend’s son had a ball game to play in and had gotten a ride with a teammate’s family to get to the field early for pre-game warm ups. My friend was going to get dressed and arrive just before the game started. He was running late and to save time, he decided to grab his shoes and socks and put them on at the ballpark parking lot. When he got there, he realized that he had two different shoes. His options? 1) Drive 20 minutes back home to get his matching shoe (He couldn’t do that though, it would’ve made him even later for the game.) 2) Wear the mismatched shoes. ( He would’ve looked silly). So, he went with option 3: He wore one shoe, leaving the other covered only by a sock and, yes, half-limped to the field as if he’d sprained his ankle. Although, at the time, nobody knew this but him (until he shared it with me) it was both embarrassing and hilarious at the same time.
Okay, your turn 
Follow