If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
I traditionally have mirror-style tint on my car. When my wife worked at Macy's, I'd park near the employee entrance at Ala Moana (on that weird middle parking level that tends to screw people up) and wait for her to come out. Well, the big square windows on my van were quite frequently selected to serve as makeshift mirrors as other female employees scurried to work. I'd be relaxing, driver's seat reclined all the way, then suddenly look up to find a woman making grotesque faces at me as she carefully checked the corners of her lipstick or something. Or adjust other parts, for that matter.
If only I was as obsessive with snapping photos with my cameraphone as I am now! That gallery of faces would've made a great exhibit.
Meanwhile, my wife has cheerfully pointed out that I have more than my share of stories in which I make an utter fool of myself. I credit an apalling deficiency in common sense. Among the few that spring to mind this evening, I'll share two:
While wandering Home Depot (or some large hardware store), my family and I found ourselves in the bathroom fixtures department. We oohed and aahed at all the nice countertops, cabinetry, porcelain fixtures... For some reason, my gaze came to rest on a particularly striking sink and mirror. Around the mirror, a narrow panel along which there were several mysterious holes. "Wonder what these are for?" I ask aloud. The funny part isn't that I didn't recognize electric light bulb sockets when I saw them. It was that I identified them the hard way by sticking my finger in one of them. Oh, and I was in my late 20s.
My second story is a similar one in which my curiosity gets the best of me, and where my fingers move faster than my brain. My family and I were making our regular pilgrimage to Hilo. We were queued up at the rental car kiosks across from the airport. The workers were swamped but doing their jobs well. Finally it's my turn at the counter. The nice local gal starts processing my reservation. As she types, I notice a white button on the back of her computer terminal. "Wonder what that's for?" I ask myself. And, like the mental 3-year-old I am, I answer my own stupid question with a stupid act -- by pressing it. Sure enough, it was the power switch. I certainly didn't help the efficiency of operations that morning... and again, this was a lot more recently than I care to admit.
There's plenty more where that came from. (It's a wonder I'm still alive.) So, enough snark, and more stories of humiliation!
During CNA class today, we practiced transferring a resident from the bed onto a wheelchair. I was the resident, and a female was the CNA. While she moved me with her arms beneath my waist and knees to move me, I accidentally farted. Whoo! Unfortunately, since this class was comprised mostly of filipinos, word spreaded to the other classmates who laughed their A off. Luckily the teacher told a few dozen stories of other student's embarrassing situations, which were much worse.
This happened a few minutes ago and my face is still red. I've decided to share my humiliation in an effort to purge it from my soul.
My friend Buzz1941 drove me to Longs so I could pick up a prescription. He dropped me off in front so he could go park and I could get started waiting in line. As I got out of his Jeep, I smelled something delicious coming from Safeway.
"I smell fried chicken!" I yelled with great enthusiasm (and a slight Southern accent) as I slammed the car door, then turned around to see a young black man walking across in front of the Jeep, who obviously heard my comment and didn't know what to make of it.
I was so flabbergasted and embarrassed, I just stammered, and then he was gone, and I fled into Longs. When Buzz came in, I almost died laughing from embarrassment and horror as he described the look on the man's face. He apparently wasn't sure whether he should be offended or what, and I don't blame him.
If you don't understand why this was awful, bless you.
This happened a few minutes ago and my face is still red. I've decided to share my humiliation in an effort to purge it from my soul. If you don't understand why this was awful, bless you.
Auntie Lynn
Be AKAMAI ~ KOKUA Hawai`i! Philippians 4:13 --- I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
I've been away from the mainland for so long...I wouldn't have thought twice had you said something like that while I was around...
I wonder if that guy has lived here all of his life or just recently moved here...If he has lived here all his life... he may not even realized what you had said and might have thought nothing of it... cause maybe he was also smelling "Chicken"
It's kind of like when I was on the mainland and we would see police officers radaring speeders on the highway.... If you saw them... you would say... "I smell bacon"
hahahaha, maddie...i got nearly as uncomfortable as you just reading your story...my ears got hot and i got that sinking feeling in the pit of my gut...
i once did the same sort of thing during a rock and roll tour through utah...i had been tossing a few back with a band that was hosting us and got off on a tangent about how wierd mormons are...before i found out that the club owner that was sitting with us was devout...yikes...i wanted to crawl up my own arse, i felt like such creep...
This happened a few minutes ago and my face is still red. I've decided to share my humiliation in an effort to purge it from my soul.
My friend Buzz1941 drove me to Longs so I could pick up a prescription. He dropped me off in front so he could go park and I could get started waiting in line. As I got out of his Jeep, I smelled something delicious coming from Safeway.
"I smell fried chicken!" I yelled with great enthusiasm (and a slight Southern accent) as I slammed the car door, then turned around to see a young black man walking across in front of the Jeep, who obviously heard my comment and didn't know what to make of it.
I was so flabbergasted and embarrassed, I just stammered, and then he was gone, and I fled into Longs. When Buzz came in, I almost died laughing from embarrassment and horror as he described the look on the man's face. He apparently wasn't sure whether he should be offended or what, and I don't blame him.
If you don't understand why this was awful, bless you.
Ok Maddie.... I am surely one of those that don't get this...... is this something racial... I am naive on some of these things...
What am I missing here.... what does the black man have to do with you saying I smell friend chicken?? PM me...
Tayo
FINALLY HOME IN HAWAI'I!
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
Mark Twain
Ok Maddie.... I am surely one of those that don't get this...... is this something racial... I am naive on some of these things...
What am I missing here.... what does the black man have to do with you saying I smell friend chicken?? PM me...
Queenolu, oftentimes fried chicken's associated with the African-American community, so yes it's race related. Unfortunately it's a stereotype that's been around for a while now.
I know some African-Americans take offense to it, but there are those who embrace and poke fun at it. Just watch Flavor Flav on Sundays on the Flavor of Love 2.
Maddie, I'm sorry this happened. I don't know what I would have done if it happened to me.
Tessie, "Nuf Ced" McGreevey shouted
We're not here to mess around
Boston, you know we love you madly
Hear the crowd roar to your sound
Don't blame us if we ever doubt you
You know we couldn't live without you
Tessie, you are the only only only
Comment