For most of us, our deepest fear is to fall flat on our faces in front of a bunch of people. No one wants to look the fool, especially when it happens before a group of people you're going to see every day for the forseeable future.
Embarrassing moments can come out of nowhere, but how you handle yourself in the aftermath is what matters. Laugh it off, shake it off, go with the chuckles, and let the people know you can't be hurt by it.
Well, unless you're any of the people in the stories below. Then I'd consider getting a new address and name.
Reddit user, Konke420xd, wanted to know when the shame was too much to handle when they asked:
"What is the most embarrassing thing you’ve ever witnessed?"
"Oral," Not "Oral"
"I was a sophomore in HS (so around 16) taking the last leg of my county's sex ed class. It was a co-ed day, so our full gym class of about 30 kids was in the room. Topic was STD's. The teacher mentioned oral sex a few times and I guess which diseases can be spread through it. One guy who was always pretty quiet and shy raised his hand and said "I just don't really understand how you can get an STD from talking about sex..."
"It took everyone, including the teacher, a few seconds to understand, but some quiet laughter came from a few students. the teacher then of course had to explain as simply as she could that oral sex did not in fact mean talking about sex (I think the stupid bylaws of the program in our county didn't allow her to fully disclose what it was)."
"Anyway, we thought he was joking but as he heard the laughter from everyone after getting this explained to him, he slowly put his head down and covered his face for the next few minutes. Poor guy. I felt bad, but it was hard not to laugh. At least no one directly gave him sh-t for it afterward"
– shlumpy_dumpyyyyy
Keep Your Preferences At Home
"Community college in Tampa, 2009. Spanish class. Shy goth girl walks to the front of the class and plugs in her USB drive to boot up her PPT and begin her presentation like the rest of us did. Except when she pluged it in, a file opened up and the most vile anime porn started playing. Everyone was mortified for her. It took her maybe 3-4 seconds to turn it off but the moment felt like forever. She said, "THIS IS MY BOYFRIEND'S DRIVE!" and ran out of the room crying. The teacher just moved on. The girl didn't show her face for a week. Just an absolutely insane moment."
– grandpasmoochie
Triumph, Glory, Embarrassment
"At a pep rally to celebrate a sporting victory, a student insisted that he carry the school flag and run laps around the team. He tripped and fell onto the newly displayed trophy, immediately breaking it. This was on the front page of Reddit for a bit and I’m glad I witnessed it as my school’s claim to fame."
– NathanialH0rnblower
When You Want To Stand Up To A Bully But Fail
"There was this kid in my high school that was taking karate classes. He decided he wanted to fight a kid that was bullying him after school in the town park. A sh-t ton of people went. He got all pumped up before the fight. Instantly, once the fight started, he began doing karate moves at the air. Once he reached the bully, the first thing he decided to do was a very flashy "spinning backhand"(?). He missed by a mile and was knocked out immediately. I felt really bad for him. He was always known for not being able to read situations very well and that, being his first normal fight, was just the absolute worst time to try that move out. Bullies suck. It was embarrassing for both of them."
– meetmeinthebthrm
To Be Fair, He Made The Right Call About His Idiocy
"Alright, so my husband and I were driving around the city and it was pouring outside. Absolutely pouring. We were about to pass the lightrail train tracks (going in both directions) when the crossing gates came down because the lightrail was approaching."
"One idiot in a van decided he could make it across before the gates came all the way down. He kept on driving, but he did not make it. Instead, his vehicle was now trapped between the gates."
"We could see from our car that this person was PANICKING. His life was flashing before his eyes. In his movie mind, the lightrail was about to crash into the van and drag it for dozens of yards before finally stopping... so he did what anyone would do. He violently pushed the door open and RAN in the pouring rain for his life."
"He was halfway down the street before he stopped, turned around, and noticed that the lightrail was patiently waiting for him to move the vehicle. The door was still open. My husband and I just about pissed ourselves laughing."
– JoyceReardon
Keep Your Passions At Home
"I was watching a symphony orchestra concert at the Sydney Opera House one evening. The concert hall foyer has these huge glass windows beneath the sails that overlook the harbourside. The sun hadn't quite set yet, and every audience member that was exiting the hall could see this incredibly drunk middle aged couple having sex on a bench outside the hall."
– cowbelljazz
When It's Not Just A Towel
"Was in a pool at a Euro beach resort. We’d been chatting with an old brit tourist, he got out of the pool and went to get changed poolside, using his towel to do the discrete swimming tog shuffle."
"Suddenly up steps an angry Frenchmam wanting HIS towel back..."
"Turns out our poor retired gent had grabbed the wrong towel. There ensued a desperate tug-of-towel as a very stroppy Frenchman attempted to rip his towel from this poor old guy who was butt naked and frantically trying to save his modesty."
"The old guy’s grandson saved the day, with an emergency towel transfer, but not before the whole pool complex had seen way too much hairy old British grandpa scrote."
– Bigfoothobbit
We're Not As Cool As We Think
"I was at a food court and I got the brilliant idea to jump over a row of those plastic chairs and tables.. You know, the ones that are fixed to the floor."
"Foot got caught and I fell flat on my face. I stood up to 30 people clapping. One guy yelled asking for my autograph."
– Niteryder007
Take It To The Dance Floor?
"I was on a high end cruise line at dinner. An older lady got up to go to the bathroom but missed and pooped herself in the dining room entrance. She left her panties there and continued on to the bathroom."
– SimbaOne1988
Maybe We Should All Only Poop At Home...
"I used to work in nightclubs. I once witnessed a girl leaning against a wall, casually flirting with a guy and as she laughed she actually sh-t herself. She was wearing a white dress and there was no hiding what had happened. The smell actually cleared the whole level of the club. She ran out crying. We had to clean poo off the floor where she had been standing. I often wonder what she is doing now..."
– Vaiken_Vox
Ice Ice Baby
"My childhood memories are very fuzzy but I do remember this one time as a teen. A couple of friends and I went ice skating at a local rink. They’d all gone before so I was the only new one on the ice. At one point I finally felt like I got the hang of it and gained a little speed. I proceeded to slip and eat shit in front of everyone on the rink. Bashed my knees straight into the ice so hard a random women skated over to ask if I was ok."
– ihasrestingbitchface
This Is Why I Don't Play Sports
"So we played this game in middle school called downer ball and basically all you had to do was kick a ball that was sitting still and run to a corner of the basktetball court before the ball was returned to the line. Kind of like a mix between baseball and kickball. Anyway this girl goes up to kick, and mean you shes not very athletic but enough to kick a ball sitting completely still. She runs up and misses the ball completely and the same foot that missed steps on the ball and she does a total banana peel style slip and fall. Smacked the floor so hard it echoed throughout the gym and everyone let out a “ooohhhh”. Quite a small school too so we all remembered it pretty vividly for the remaining years"
– BigJuice109
Did It To Myself
"Was in elementary school and our class went on this strange sailboat trip around the bay in Redwood City CA. It was a windy day, and the boys were spitting off the side of the boat and I decided to copy them. It immediately blew back and hit me in the face."
– Suitable-Presence119
Just Absolutely Unfortunate
"Not me, but my dad witnessed this one day when I was in university."
"He was coming home one day from somewhere, and he was on the tram, just chilling, doing his thing, reading a book...and a few seats away, a lady's colostomy bag ruptured or burst or exploded or something."
"In the middle of a tram."
"In peak-hour traffic."
"Shit was going everywhere."
"Literally."
– Dippycat149
"Gimme A B-I-R-D!"
"Was at a high school football away game. The opposing team’s cheerleaders come onto the field, were pretty much dead middle of their routine, and literally out of nowhere some beast of a bird releases the biggest dump onto the neck and shoulder of one of those girls who then proceeds to go into full hysteria."
"I was laughing so fucking hard at the time; but god I felt bad for her too."
– AutumnAtronach
Not Quite Yet
"When I was in late elementary school, I approached my mom about "blood when I go to the bathroom." She was psyched--threw me a "welcome to womanhood*" party and everything."
"Turns out it was hemorrhoids, which she only realized when l actually got my period in middle school."
"(I don't know if I'm cringing more for my sake or for hers...)"
"*Turns out I'm nonbinary and would later get a hysterectomy, but I still treasure the little charms and gifts her hippie friends gave me."
– SnubbyPears3144
Try, Try Again
"My friends and I got to the peak of this hike in winter. It ended at a lake that was frozen over, besides the edge near land, where the ice was obviously really thin. This guy came up out of the trail and ran straight for the ice covered lake. He obviously broke through into the water, but he was only an ankle deep."
"The really embarrassing part is that he tried to save his ego by continuing. He kept trying to get on top of the ice and it just kept breaking. He continued this until he was shoulder deep, in an ice covered lake, with 30 people watching his spectacle shaking their heads."
"He just got to the top of the hike and had to run all the way back down to his car covered in freezing cold water in the middle of winter before he got hypothermia"
– Khan_Khala
That's Gotta Hurt!
"In 8th grade a new pastor came into our classroom to teach us stuff we needed for confirmation (catholic school thing). First thing he did was the classic “sit on the chair backwards to relate to the cool youth” but as soon as he sat down the chair basically exploded underneath him from the weight of his body (which was fairly overweight). He got up and said something along the lines of “oh that chair’s all messed up” or something but of course a kid yelled out “yeah because you crushed it.""
"It was hilarious but the more I think about it as an adult that had to be horrendously embarrassing"
– aztechfilm
I think the lesson we can take from all of these is anything you would normally do in private that, in the moment, feels right to do in public, don't. Just, don't.
Have you ever seen something so embarrassing you felt bad from the person? Tell us about it in the comments.