Embarrassments of life

Has something embarrassing ever happened in your life leaving you shattered or feeling cursed. The embarrassment could have tormented you to the level of going without food or keeping away from the public eye for days, all in protest. If you thought you are alone or your experience was the worst, you are wrong. Wrong because embarrassments have existed long before you were born, they are as old as man himself. No one is spared—everyone has been embarrassed at some point in their life. Even your role model, the person you have always viewed as perfect, has at least tasted it more than once. You can only prove that its part of life’s package, by getting to know about other people’s embarrassment tales. Perhaps you will realize that your experience wasn’t as bad after all. Below are some examples of tales I have heard. Elizabeth was a pretty girl back in high school. So many boys were attracted to her while several girls were envious. She had a great sense of style and was great at whatever she did. All these combined gained her royal-treatment from other students. However, Elizabeth became increasingly proud and arrogant. Perhaps her multi-blessings were responsible for her change in character. She started treating other girls with little respect and no longer spared any attention to most boys who wished to interact or be friends with her. So the admiration that students had for her was replaced with dislike. One fateful afternoon, Elizabeth had gone for lunch. After getting served food, she pridefully walked towards the seats with immense swagger. All of a sudden, she tripped over the stairs and fell flat to the ground, beans and rice covering her face and most of the body. The dining hall burst into wild laughter and jubilation and this continued for a long time. She at last picked herself up and walked away disgracefully, shading tears of shame. For the next two weeks, she did not attend class because the weight of humility was heavy on her. Another similar scenario at the same school was that of Paul, renowned for his thorough break dance moves. He had won medals at many inter-school dance festivals and this made him take on, that boastful and over-confident character. Senior six leavers party was just two months away, and he was scheduled to perform. He thoroughly prepared to avoid disappointing his fans who were eagerly waiting for his performance. The big day came. The hall was packed to capacity and loud music played. The platform was big and well decorated and everybody was impatient as they waited for Paul to go on stage. At last, the MC announced, “Ladies and gentlemen…….here comes the king of break-dance.” And the entire main hall burst into a frenzy of mad screams, ululations and jumping. Paul hit the stage and didn’t disappoint anyone. He danced with all his might, pulling strange moves and strokes, in a manner that portrayed that he had no bones. At the climax of his performance, everybody was now silent, watching in enjoyment without a blink. Suddenly, the audience exploded into wild laughter and boos. A fork had jumped out of his jacket pocket and dropped to the ground. Paul did not notice and instead danced with more vigor thinking they were shouts of approval. All that aside, it is important to know that embarrassments are part and parcel of daily life. We cannot avoid embarrassments completely however, we can choose how we handle them; either negatively or positively. ivan.ngoboka5@gmail.com