In seventh grade, I experienced my most embarrassing moment. I, along with the entire seventh grade, spent the afternoon outside playing football, soccer, kickball, and taking pictures for the end-of-the-year picnic. But I never anticipated for the day to take such an unexpected turn.
The day was coming to a close, and we were all sitting on the fence talking and taking pictures. Sitting on the top of a metal fence is not the most comfortable place to be sitting, so I jumped down in order to sit in the grass.
Of all the things that could have gone wrong that day, this was by far the worst. My pants ripped off in front of the entire seventh grade.
Other Leesville students and staff members have their own embarrassing moments to share.
Chelsea Lee, junior, says her most embarrassing moment was when she fell down a flight of stairs.
Similarly, Dustin Cable, freshman, says his most embarrassing moment was doing a 3-stair (skateboard term) in the front of the school and falling down in front of a bunch of people.
“Last year during the senior assembly, everyone was leaving the gym. My friend Matthew came to give me a hug, but we were walking at the same time, and we tripped and he fell on top of me in front of everyone,” said Megan Skiff, junior. “That was probably the most embarrassing thing that has happened to me.”
What is it about tripping or falling or ripping your pants that creates such an extreme feeling of shame? Why is it that some people are easily embarrassed, when others do not become embarrassed at all?
“I think people get embarrassed because, deep down, everyone cares what people think of them,” said Skiff.
Not able to think of any humiliating moments to share, both Mrs. Beaver and Mrs. Dotson concluded that not being easily embarrassed has a lot to do with self esteem.
And they are all right. Psychology Today says that “the experience of embarrassment alerts you to your failure to behave according to certain social standards, which threaten the beliefs you hold concerning how others evaluate you as well as the ways in which you evaluate yourself.”
People become embarrassed when they fall short of social and personal standards. Tripping and falling in front of a crowd is humiliating because society expects us to be perfect and graceful.
People laugh at those who trip and fall, but fail to realize that everyone trips and falls sometimes. Why do we make fun of people for embarrassing themselves when we, too, know the feeling?
The most logical reason that we, as a society, laugh at others when they trip or fall is because we would rather have it happen to them than to us.
The drive to be perfect and resist failure makes us do some pretty selfish things. The next time that someone trips and falls, remember that nobody is perfect.
