Free Day Friday: My Most Embarrassing Moment

Today is Free Day Friday here at Life's Little Lessons and because of my fantastic mood (it's the freakin weekend!), I thought it might be fun to spread the joy and put a smile on your faces by sharing a funny (and humiliating) moment from my life. It's Friday, so let's laugh together!

I grew up in a very conservative lifestyle... no swearing, no smoking, drinking, and especially no revealing outfits!! Not a surprise- lots of you were raised that way- religion is something to be respected. But we all have our times when we are dying to rebel... even if it's just for a day.

It was 7th grade. The time when we're all incredibly awkward and self-conscious about our rapidly-changing bodies. Some girls looked to be about 25 while others looked 12. Yeah, THAT time. Anyway, we were required to take gym class and it was the swimming unit at this particular time. Girls were NOT to wear two-piece swimsuits and if they did, they would have to cover up with a T-shirt provided by the school. Tankinis (the two-piece suits with the tops that ALMOST reach the bottoms, revealing only an inch of skin at most) were allowed without the T-shirts.

I wore my one piece every day. I didn't own two-piece suits, with the exception of my one and only tankini. The girls used to laugh at me because I was one of the only people who actually obeyed the rules and didn't need to borrow a T-shirt to cover up my non-existent curves with. One day I finally had it. I was going to wear my tankini and show everyone that I wasn't such a goody two-shoes.

I was always one of those girls who refused to change in the locker rooms, so I would have to go wait in the bathroom for one of the stalls to open up so I could change in there. On my day of rebellion, people were taking FOREVER in the bathroom and by the time I got in the stall to change, the instructor called in, "Last call to make it to the pool!" If you were tardy, you not only got that marked on your record, you might not be allowed to participate in class that day and get zeros on the activities.

This was my first time in a two-piece suit and I was confused as all get-up on how to wiggle into one so quickly, but I did my best, and RAN through the locker room, stopping only for a moment to stand under the shower so my hair could get wet and stepped out to the pool edge. I was relieved that I had made it "on time".

Everyone was in the pool by the time I got there: boys, girls, teachers and all and I found it weird that as I was entering the water by the pool stairs, everyone was STARING at me, hard-core. "Man, this tankini must really make me look grown up and hot," I thought. "They must be shocked to see me pushing the rules like this. Mission accomplished." And while I stood there on the stairs with people looking, my confidence sky-rocketed and I took my sweet time going down into the water.

A few minutes later, people were STILL staring, especially the boys, and I was beginning to wonder how good I must look to have them whispering about me instead of paying attention to the teacher. It was then that I realized how darn uncomfortable two-piece suits were, especially in the bottoms. Too big on one half and too small on the other?? That didn't seem right. And then I figured it out:

I had put my swimsuit bottoms on sideways so that the crotch portion was on my hip and the hip side was... well, let's just say it was in the wrong place and showing waaaaaaay more than I intended.

I suddenly longed for my ugly, goody two-shoes one-piece suit... and a school-issued T-shirt... and my dignity. I was mortified. What was worse is that it was SNORKEL DAY, where everybody went under the water with eyes wide open, safely behind their goggles... and they could stay under the water and stare for as long as they wanted.

I spent the whole lesson, pressed up against the pool wall, holding on for dear life, and telling the teacher I wasn't comfortable with the unsanitary idea of sharing snorkels (it wasn't a complete lie!) so I would be forfeitting my grade for the day. Turns out, failing the swimming unit wasn't the worst part of gym classs... imagine that!

Happy Friday,