The feeling of your skin burning up as a crimson-red blush colours your cheeks, the sensation of a million butterflies doing battle in your stomach, and the desperate, all-encompassing wish for a massive hole to open up in the ground in front of you… Yep, we’ve all been there. Embarrassing moments are a part of life, as Leah found out the hard way this week! You couldn’t help but feel sorry for her when Dan ruined her little surprise by bringing along a most unwelcome cast of thousands – the look on everyone’s faces has to go down as one of the classic moments of the week!
The feeling of embarrassment occurs upon having socially or professionally unacceptable behaviour witnessed or revealed to others. This can be anything from walking out of the loo with toilet paper stuck to your shoe, to accidentally emailing everyone you know a private message intended for your lover’s ears only! It’s not that you’ve done something morally wrong and completely irreparable – more than likely you’ve just transgressed one of the millions of silent social codes that regulate our society.
So after committing an act that has turned your ears the colour of overripe tomatoes, what’s the best way to fix your blunder?
1. Admit It and Apologize
If you really want to take the bull by the horns - definitely advisable if you feel like burying yourself alive - confront the situation head on. If you’ve accidentally revealed to your friends/ co-workers/ family that you call your partner Snooky-Wooky and you were planning a very naughty weekend via the old ‘reply-all’ on email, you’ll score plenty of brownie points by sending another email around apologizing and making a joke of the whole situation. If you’ve hurt someone’s feelings, apologize sincerely and with grace.
2.
Don’t Blow It Out of Proportion
Everyone makes mistakes, and if you’re feeling like moving to another town, state or country because of something you’ve done, chances are the people involved don’t care about it as much as you do. No one’s perfect and these kinds of transgressions are bound to occur, each and every day!
3.
Head Down, Bum Up
Have you been sitting at home, replaying those awful moments over and over? Regretting something you said? Trying desperately to work out how it could have been avoided? Stop right now! You can’t undo what’s been done and the important thing now is for you to start to feel in control of your life again. So get back to work, play or study and keep yourself busier than a hive full of bumblebees!
4.
Build a Bridge and Get Over It
Seriously – no matter how embarrassed you feel, there’s no way anyone is thinking about it more than you! Attitude goes a long way to handling the aftermath of an embarrassing situation and if you’ve made the right noises in apologising, there’s not much more than you can do than remember confidence, humility and humour are your friends now!
Have you embarrassed yourself something terrible? Email homeandaway@seven.com.au and tell us about it!
