Saturday, February 20, 2010

About that conga line...

Ah, conga lines. Who doesn't love them? Me, for one.

Let's journey back, shall we, to when I was living in England... What? You didn't know that England was the Conga-ing capital of Great Britain and Europe? Well, of course it is! (Iceland comes in a close second.) Don't you all know that the Highland dancing of the Scots is merely a variation on the conga theme? Really, that's common knowledge.

Anyway, one day I was hanging out with a bunch of my friends at a church activity, and some brilliant high-brow decided that a conga line would be just the thing to break up the monotony. Let me tell you, it did that! I don't think anyone was bored after my skirt hit the ground.

Unbeknown to the high-brow, the button on that skirt had popped off only a few moments before his announcement. I went into the Ladies, used a small safety pin-- this pin was not safe!-- and attached one side of the silky material I was wearing to the other. When I came out of the restroom, the dancing was in full sway. One of my friends pushed me into the line, and for a few seconds it was fun. Herein lies the rub. The conga-ers who joined behind me were far slower than the ones in front of me so the guy dancing at my back grabbed onto my waist for all he was worth.

You can guess what happened next. The faulty pin gave way, and my skirt dropped faster than a house of cards hit by a brisk Nor'easter. I happened to be shimmying by an exit when the unthinkable happened, and I picked up my skirt--luckily I was also wearing a long granny slip-- and congaed out the door. One of my pals came into the bathroom laughing so hard she started snorting and got the hiccups. The whole thing was so ridiculous, I couldn't even be mortified.

So there you have it. Now, I think turnabout is fair play, don't you?

C'mon, readers. I want every juicy, minute detail of your favorite embarrassing moment. (Let's try and keep it cleanish though.)

Don't be afraid! Nothing you say can be worse than when I fell off a bar stool on the stage into the orchestra pit during a talent show in Middle school. Or when I dropped all my sheet music, piece by piece, on my way up the aisle to perform a musical number in church... The list could go on and on..

Remember, sharing is a good thing!

16 comments:

  1. I love that story! And that you can laugh about it, I would still be mortified. Here's one about me, not that it compares but. . .
    I was on a date when I was 17 with this guy I had a huge crush on. He had a big Bronco that was really high off the ground. We pulled up to a curb where we were going to eat and I got out of the car. I was wearing heels of course and I totally fell in a hole that I didn't see! Bloody knee and everything, oh the shame.

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  2. PS. I started another blog in addition to my art blog, it's a writing blog would love to have you and any other writer friends interested in cheering this newbie on :)
    crystalcookwrites.blogspot.com

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  3. I have a story but you said to keep it cleanish so I'll just say, the bed broke, and you can use your own imagination. And whatever your imagination digs up, yes, that is what happened. I thought it was kind of hysterical, however there were no laughs from the other party.

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  4. I was learning to ski as a young teenager and came down an icy slope and couldn't stop. I ran over--I said OVER--a row of skis of people lined up in a beginners class. The shock on their faces, the humiliation on mine. No damage done except to my pride.
    Okay, I shared. I'm still humiliated.

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  5. Mine would involve skiing as well - I have no skills in that area - None! I was skiing with the school, wearing boots that were far too large. I unintentionally hit a jump, did a somersault and hit a tree - all without losing a ski. Not pretty. :)

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  6. Mine involves a small bladder and a sadistic kindergarten teacher. Enough said.

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  7. I was in some smarty pants competition in middle school that involved me and two teammates at one table up on the stage and another team on the other side of the stage. Kids were laughing but I didn't know why because the questions were dry and difficult. Later, I asked one of my friends in the audience what was so funny, and she said, "If you're sitting at a table up on stage, and we're all below you in chairs... you should probably cross your legs if you are wearing a skirt." (Thank goodness I was wearing something underneath!)

    MIDDLE. SCHOOL. HORROR.

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  8. So many moments for me to choose from...

    I'll go with the time in 8th grade Spanish class when I had a bad cold during an exam. My nasty, heartless teacher didn't have tissues in her classroom and wouldn't let me leave the room to blow my nose. So I was forced to sit for 45 minutes covering my face, since my nose had run all over me and I had nothing to wipe it with. Gross AND embarrassing.

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  9. I peed my pants at the World Series. And that's all I'm going to say about that.

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  10. Great stories. It takes brave people to admit those kinds of things. I'm feeling better about losing my skirt already. Thanks, guys!

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  11. Where to start?! How about the time I went to give a presentation in front of hundreds of people and realized I'd downloaded the wrong Powerpoint. Soooo flustering!

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  12. There was this time I wrote a prologue... :)

    You are my Prologueyest BFF.

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  13. And there was this time I wrote on my friend's blog and got carried away ranting about prologues. Talk about embarrassing!

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  14. Hardly. Someone needs to stand up to the Prologue Police! :D

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  15. Great story. I wouldn't know where to begin with mine. :)

    Anyway, I'm over here following from Anne's at Piedmont Writer.

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  16. That's just BEAUTIFULLY horrid--you know what I mean. :) Thanks for dropping by my blog.

    Now I'm trying to think of the worst of my embarrassing moments(so many to choose from . . .).

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