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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to shrivel up and die of embarrassment?

363 replies

redbusbeepbeep · 13/08/2025 19:58

I am quite honestly never going to get over this. It was my birthday yesterday and as my partner works away he arranged for something to be sent to the house, along with flowers and a helium balloon.

A few weeks ago we had a leak from the bathroom, pretty bad, leaking down the walls and through our light sockets. The plumber came and fixed the leak, however 2 days later it’s leaking again, no where near as bad luckily as we caught it in time. He comes again and haven’t had an issue since.

Today I’m sat having a coffee and I notice a patch around the same area. Furious I phone the plumber to tell him the problem STILL isn’t sorted and he needs to come back as soon as possible, as I’m meeting friends in another city at lunch time and I wouldn’t dare leave it like that.

Plumber comes, it’s not a fucking leak, it’s the shadow from the helium balloon.

OP posts:
ickky · 14/08/2025 11:15

As a teenager, I could smell Gas in the kitchen. Got my Dad to come and have a sniff, he could also smell it. Called out the emergency gas man to check our gas meter, which was next to the fridge (relevant).

Took them about half hour to arrive, just as they rung the doorbell, I had opened the fridge and the smell of gas hit me in the face. I discovered that the minted lamb was the source of the very strong smell.

Did I tell the gas man? Did I fuck, I whipped it out of the fridge and slung it out the back door, up the garden.

Gas man checked it all out and obviously found no leak, I apologised for wasting his time, he assured me it was better to check. I was so red with embarrassment I must have looked like a belisha beacon. 😳

thisoldcity · 14/08/2025 11:12

My car broke down and had to be towed to a garage. The recovery guy said 'get in' so I started to get in my car and he had to stop me. 'No, get in the truck.' He then hoisted the whole front of my car so it was just resting on the back two wheels to tow it. Really really embarrassing as he must have thought I wanted to sit in it while it was towed like that. I hadn't really noticed how that sort of tow truck works...

The worst part then was after I'd been very red and embarrassed, screeched with laughter when I saw what was happening and did a huge 'omg you must have thought i was so stupid!' kind of routine, we then sat in an uncomfortable silence to the garage.

Marmaladelover · 14/08/2025 10:47

Very worried and expecting a large bill, we took our cat to the vets with what we thought was a large abscess on her front canine tooth. Horrible to look at : large, bulging, dirty colour which had appeared quite quickly.
I think it worried the vet too , until on examining the abscess a bit more, he realised that it was a clump of cat fur that had managed to wind itself around her tooth!

Lanzarotelady · 14/08/2025 10:44

Notmyreality · 13/08/2025 21:53

Another one - was an open zoo type place with the kids. Walked past the giant tortoise enclosure which only had a low fence you could easily step over and was shocked to see a family of 5 calmly walking inside the enclosure toward the tortoises. I instantly got the rage and said loudly “What on earth do you think you are doing in there?!!”
Then I saw the Zoo Ranger behind them who was conducting their special guided tour.
They all looked at me with combination of surprise and bemusement and I mumbled some kind of apology and quickly made my exit!

We went to an open zoo, animal place once, it was really busy, but we found an absolutely fantastic place for lunch, loads of space, no one else around, why is no one else here we thought, for a fleeting moment, we put out our blanket, all 6 of us sat down, we had a really nice lunch, people were looking and tutting at us, we thought it was because we had bagged the best spot!

We had lunch - cleared up - then saw a sign, picnics and food forbidden in this area!

LillyPJ · 14/08/2025 10:39

cannyvalley · 14/08/2025 10:15

This thread has me absolutely howling, thank you so much everyone for sharing and making my day!

When my son was newborn , many years ago, I was in a cycle of cluster breastfeeding … he seems to be feeding every 20 mins. I had feeding bras that clipped down, and that day was wearing a v neck top that pulled I down to feed.

I was sat half dozing on the sofa , baby in Moses basket having a snooze, waiting on the postie delivering a parcel.

when he knocked I shot up to answer the door, and couldn’t understand why he was being so weird, giving intense eye contact, stumbling over his words and handing me my parcel before scarpering.

I wondered if I looked as rough as I felt, sleep deprived , hair all over etc.

a few minutes later my baby woke and I went to pull my top down to get ready to feed him.

lo and behold, my v neck was already pulled down, and my feeding bra unclipped.

id answered the door with my boob hanging out the v neck of my tshirt, bra open and on full show like a crazy engorged peekaboo.

poor postie.

,🤣🤣🤣I can't stop laughing every time I think about this!

AugustSlippedAwayIntoAMomentInTime · 14/08/2025 10:36

Years ago, I went to meet my roommate at Uni once to sit with her in solidarity on a kerb in a parking lot while she waited for a car locksmith ... she'd locked herself out of her car.

Wish I'd checked her car when I got there ... the passenger window was down the whole time.... the car locksmith guy thought it was hilarious.

BoudiccaRuled · 14/08/2025 10:19

MsAmerica · 14/08/2025 01:47

This is another example of how, to me, there is an insane level of melodrama here.
Things like this happen all the time. I would have just said, "Oh, my god, I'm so embarrassed. This is like called the television repairman and finding that the problem is that the set isn't plugged in. Sorry - what do I owe you?"
And then I would have told it as a funny story to my friends.

You are clearly more comfortable with being an imbecile than the rest of us!

BoudiccaRuled · 14/08/2025 10:16

Hillrunning · 13/08/2025 22:24

DH and I had had our cst for about 3 months when we noticed a very concerning patch of missing fur. We dutifully took him off the the vet and spent a good 6 minutes rummaging about on his tummy to find this worrying patch. The vet looked at us pityingly and said 'that's his belly button'

We had similar but it was nipples on our dog 😄

cannyvalley · 14/08/2025 10:15

This thread has me absolutely howling, thank you so much everyone for sharing and making my day!

When my son was newborn , many years ago, I was in a cycle of cluster breastfeeding … he seems to be feeding every 20 mins. I had feeding bras that clipped down, and that day was wearing a v neck top that pulled I down to feed.

I was sat half dozing on the sofa , baby in Moses basket having a snooze, waiting on the postie delivering a parcel.

when he knocked I shot up to answer the door, and couldn’t understand why he was being so weird, giving intense eye contact, stumbling over his words and handing me my parcel before scarpering.

I wondered if I looked as rough as I felt, sleep deprived , hair all over etc.

a few minutes later my baby woke and I went to pull my top down to get ready to feed him.

lo and behold, my v neck was already pulled down, and my feeding bra unclipped.

id answered the door with my boob hanging out the v neck of my tshirt, bra open and on full show like a crazy engorged peekaboo.

poor postie.

ConnieHeart · 14/08/2025 10:11

I gave my brother a lift home one day. After he got out I started driving but I could hear this weird loud scraping noise, then every 10 seconds or so an even louder bang on the side of the car. I pulled over as soon as I was able to, to find my DB (who is v overweight) had pulled the seat belt to almost its maximum to go over his belly, then when he got out he'd shut the door on the very loose seat belt hanging out of the door. It was then trailing along the ground whilst I drove then every now & then the silver buckle would fly up & hit the car!

BigBillyButterBollocks · 14/08/2025 09:57

Pleatherandlace · 13/08/2025 21:27

A few years ago I left the house one morning to find that my car wasn’t outside. After some anxious walking up and down the street I called the police to give a statement and report the car stolen. The following day I remembered that I had parked it elsewhere 😳.

Edited

I read cat and I was really confused 😂

ConnieHeart · 14/08/2025 09:56

Hillrunning · 13/08/2025 22:24

DH and I had had our cst for about 3 months when we noticed a very concerning patch of missing fur. We dutifully took him off the the vet and spent a good 6 minutes rummaging about on his tummy to find this worrying patch. The vet looked at us pityingly and said 'that's his belly button'

My cat would have thoroughly enjoyed her "examination"!! 🤣

mumtoadhdadult · 14/08/2025 09:56

Thank you for making me laugh out loud. It rarely happens.

FlibbertyGibbitt · 14/08/2025 09:52

This also reminds me when I had two kittens and a white basin in the bathroom which, being kittens, liked to explore.

Came home from work to find tiny blood spots over said basin 😱 was terrified they / one had hurt them and immediately rushed them to the vets in a panic.

Yes, it was flea dust. Mortified.

PrincessHoneysuckle · 14/08/2025 09:39

BellaTheDarkOverlord · 14/08/2025 08:55

I always tell this one but I still laugh years later at my stupidity 😂

I once had a wood pigeon in my garden which was stuck down our newly dug foundations and had like 4 cats surrounding it. I saved it and put it in a box to take to vets as it wouldn’t fly.

I called vets OOH and had following conversation.

Me: Hi I have found a wood pigeon and I don’t think it can fly. It might be injured.
Vet: Ok that’s fine I can give you an address to take it to. Can I take a name please?
Me: Sorry I don’t know its name, I only just met him.
Vet: -silence- No…. YOUR name…

I thought they were asking what the pigeon’s name was 😂

🤣🤣

PrincessHoneysuckle · 14/08/2025 09:38

I contacted Virgin as our router wasn't working and we couldn't possibly survive without WiFi 🙃 the engineer turned up and promptly plugged it in properly.I was absolutely mortified! He put a legitimate reason for the fault on his paperwork so I wasn't charged though.I was so grateful 🤣

DeanStockwelll · 14/08/2025 09:26

NotDarkGothicMama · 13/08/2025 22:09

Yesterday I was waiting for Sainsbury's to deliver my shopping before I went to work, 7-8am timeslot. 8 o'clock came and went and I was getting more and more annoyed that they hadn't so much as phoned to say they were going to be late. I ranted to DH about how this was the second time they'd kept me waiting, I was going to be late, blah de blah. Opened the email to find the order number so I could phone customer services and spotted that I'd accidentally booked click & collect... Our Sainsbury's is the other side of town so I arrived at nearly 9 and had to explain to customer services before they would bring out my shopping. Eventually got to work just before 10.

I had a similar similar issue with tescos not turning up , but then I realised I hadn't had the reminder 'have you forgotten anything' text I normally get the day before the delivery.
I checked and , yup my fault I'd booked it for the following Saturday.
I am so glad I realised before I phoned to complain..

ladyofshertonabbas · 14/08/2025 09:21

Love this, OP! I once returned some jeans to GAP because they were damaged. Turns out they were that deliberately distressed look.

Dancingsquirrels · 14/08/2025 09:18

Called out TV repairman for faulty tv

Turned out our cleaner had unplugged TV to do some hoovering

Thefaceofboe · 14/08/2025 09:06

BellaTheDarkOverlord · 14/08/2025 08:55

I always tell this one but I still laugh years later at my stupidity 😂

I once had a wood pigeon in my garden which was stuck down our newly dug foundations and had like 4 cats surrounding it. I saved it and put it in a box to take to vets as it wouldn’t fly.

I called vets OOH and had following conversation.

Me: Hi I have found a wood pigeon and I don’t think it can fly. It might be injured.
Vet: Ok that’s fine I can give you an address to take it to. Can I take a name please?
Me: Sorry I don’t know its name, I only just met him.
Vet: -silence- No…. YOUR name…

I thought they were asking what the pigeon’s name was 😂

Haha 😂

Funnywonder · 14/08/2025 09:01

Ihaveonedaughter · 14/08/2025 07:49

I was really worried about the colour of my hands , they were going blue, and went to see the GP who told me to keep an eye on them over the next week or so. Then the next day i was washing my hair and realised my hands were blue from using purple shampoo!!

🤣🤣

This reminds me of something that happened with my eldest son years ago when he was about two I was getting him changed for bed when I noticed a large pale brown blotch on one of his legs. I rubbed at it a bit but it wouldn’t budge. It looked like hyperpigmentation. I got him to bed and of course started googling and got myself into a right old state that he had this really rare disease. I was about to phone DP, who was visiting his mum, when I spotted a tube of gradual self tanner lying open on the living room floor😬

FlibbertyGibbitt · 14/08/2025 09:00

Last week my ex mil rang me to say her gas hob wasn’t working and was going to ring the gas board (!) to come round to repair.

I went round the next day and switched the plug back on. Job done.

Applewatch · 14/08/2025 08:59

I was a facilities manager in my youth, new role and one of my first tasks was to replace a broken fridge in one of the kitchens. Got the thing delivered and put into place and it wasn't working - gah!! was standing looking at it pondering why it wasn't working and was just about to ring the company that supplied it when an employee lifted the cable with the plug attached and asked me if it might be because it wasn't plugged in 😳

BellaTheDarkOverlord · 14/08/2025 08:55

I always tell this one but I still laugh years later at my stupidity 😂

I once had a wood pigeon in my garden which was stuck down our newly dug foundations and had like 4 cats surrounding it. I saved it and put it in a box to take to vets as it wouldn’t fly.

I called vets OOH and had following conversation.

Me: Hi I have found a wood pigeon and I don’t think it can fly. It might be injured.
Vet: Ok that’s fine I can give you an address to take it to. Can I take a name please?
Me: Sorry I don’t know its name, I only just met him.
Vet: -silence- No…. YOUR name…

I thought they were asking what the pigeon’s name was 😂

ConnieHeart · 14/08/2025 08:53

Another time, around 40 years ago, my cousin really fancied this boy so wanted me to ring him up (from the phone box, no mobiles!) & ask him out for her. He said no. She was so mortified about having to face him she then got me to ring him, pretend to be her, and to sound upset & tell him there had been a misunderstanding. Rang him again, put on my best Oscar performance, pretended to cry & said that I didn't want to go out with him, my cousin (me) had done it behind my back, etc, etc, rambled on for 3 to 4 minutes. The reply was "this is his sister" 🤣