Cringes where you are still cringeing years later

[LemonWaterSugar]

I have no idea if cringeing needs the "e". I think it does.

Anyway, I was driving today and out of nowhere did a MASSIVE cringe shudder at something I did about two / three years ago. I forget about it for a while then BAM it comes back and I have to relive it again.

Basically it was when everyone was working from home, so meetings on Teams / Zoom were relatively new. I wasn't long back from maternity leave so even less experience with this type of communication in a work setting.

I was interviewing for a new team member with my manager. All going well, although it's slightly strange on a screen especially as you have no eye contact and it's not always clear who you are talking to.

My manager asked the question.. obviously to the candidate but because we were on a screen and it looked like she was looking at me I ANSWERED IT 😩😩😩😩 I don't know what I was thinking. Gave a full blown answer to an interview question.

I realised way too late, and my manager sort of smirked then asked it again and said something like "it would be good to hear the answer from the interviewee".

EUGH.

Anyone have any of these that just keep coming back?

Going to shake my friend’s grandad’s hand, not realising his lower right arm was amputated and I shook the stump instead 😂

Okay this is very embarrassing and was mortified for quite some time afterwards...

We flew to Greece and I was sat in the middle seat and husband at the window seat. Then this rude woman came along and sat on the aisle seat. She put her elbow right across my armrest and also shoved her foot in my foot compartment. She grunted when we got up to use the toilet.

Fast forward a week and we're at the gate to fly back home. I suddenly remembered this woman and jokingly said to husband "I hope I don't have that rude woman sitting next to me again... she had her elbow in my ribcage the whole flight!" We started laughing.

Then suddenly this deep evil voice spoke up behind me and said... "It's okay... we won't be sat next to each other again... I feel the same way about yooouuu!!!!!!".

I was absolutely gobsmacked! Fortunately she wasn't allocated next to me on the flight home thank god!!!

😂😂

Yours is great OP, can just picture their confused faces 😆

I was being observed by my department managers to see if I could pass probation at my new job as a library assistant. During the observation, a Chinese student came and asked me what sounded like "where is Jack London?" I dutifully took him over to the fiction section and showed him "White Fang" and "The Call of the Wild", and complemented him on his fine taste in literature. Cue his blank stare, before he took out an event leaflet from his pocket, for a jack o'lantern carving event happening in the same building.

*complimented. Gah.

I was doing my speech as part of the bridal party. I was very nervous and the Maitre D gave me a double brandy to calm my nerves. Next thing I know I start my speech by thanking the bride and groom for coming... to their own wedding 😂😂😂😂

I used to see those stories of people grabbing the wrong kid and think the people in them must be really dim. Until one day in a shop I yoinked DS by the back of his coat and said "What did I tell you about keeping out of peoples way!?" and apologised to the man he'd nearly walked into, only for DD to look at me in utter horror and go "Mum, that's not DS" no, it was the mans son who looked terrified while his dad is nearly doubled laughing.

I feel sick every time I go in that shop because I remember it.

Years ago when i was in uni a gang of us were meeting in town for a night out. I completely misjudged the night out and showed up in an arse skimming dress, fishnet tights and red stilettos (trying to impress a lad). I wasn't the type to be able to pull that look off at the best of times.. and then we ended up in a snooker hall drinking pints. Everyone else trendy and cool in casual clothes and i looked like a 1980's hooker

Does anyone else have tics related to reliving the cringe moments?

One of mine is to crossly shout the nasty insult my school bullies harassed me with constantly, it worked it's way into my subconscious and now it's an automatic reflex to shout it at myself in the car when those cringe moments haunt me as my mind wanders. The trouble is it's starting to happen in more public settings and it feels out of my control, it fills me with shame. I wonder if people without tourettes can have tics? Or maybe I secretly have tourettes but I don't know it? It's like an instant reaction that takes over my whole body that I can't control. I guess I'm taking the anger and aggression the bullies showed me and directing it towards myself.

I was a trainee solicitor who rocked up to court for my first debt recovery hearing. The judge kept saying “Can I hear you Miss Vinvertebrate?” So I thought he was deaf and raised my voice. He said it again, so I apologise and start yelling at him, wondering how the hell I can get to the end of my submission without losing my voice.

The court clerk eventually took pity on me to explain that “can I hear you?” means, in judge speak, you do not have sufficient rights of audience to appear in my court. I just picked up my papers and scuttled off, to sniggers from all directions, face on fire.

Still have regular nightmares about it <shudder>

Laughing out loud at this!

Years ago, when I saw the head of the school I did my teacher training at - she gave me a hug and I kissed her on the cheek (not sure what came over me). It was really awkward and she looked at me like.. why?!

My DC just started at her school. We had a snog when I saw her... joking about that one thankfully.

I am also interested in the answer to this. I do similar myself!

I was older then 25 when I learned what an abattoir is! And I still sometimes confuse it with the word "boudoir", which is very much not the same thing.

Early pregnancy had recurrent UTIs so had a kidney scan. The procedure was to strip and put on the gown that’s open at the back. Had scan. Fine.

A few weeks later I went back with Dh to have my first routine pregnancy scan. I strip down and put on the gown again. Somehow didn’t notice none of the other pregnant women had done this and they were all sitting there in their clothes whilst I was in the near naked gown. The scan lady said “why are you wearing a gown?”. I styled it out and said I just preferred to. Dh kindly ignored the whole thing but I spent my first view of dd1 just cringing to myself.

Someone once came up,to me in a shop to ask me where something was clearly thinking I worked there

Instead of just saying "sorry I don't work here " I took them to the product they were searching for

I've no idea why other than I just didn't know how to say anything.

Then at the checkout we ended up next to each other . I didn't know who was more embarrassed.

On holiday with the grandparents roughly 20 years ago, pushing each other under water, pushed my grandad under but when he surfaced it wasn’t him it was another bald man and my grandad was staring at me awkwardly from across the pool

Oh and another

I found a bank card on the floor and posted on a local fb group , the owner identified herself and came to collect it from my house

We got chatting and both said we looked familiar but couldn't place each other , but we were both new to the area and arranged to meet up for a drink at the local a week later

We were sat drinking and she suddenly said "I know where I know you from !"

Turned out I'd arrested her dd 3 years earlier

Luckily she was extremely gracious about it and we had a laugh. Could have gone so bad ......

This honestly has made me laugh for about 5 minutes. This is the kind of thing I’d think about every night at 2am 😂

So so many. In fact I need to hide this thread before it triggers a sleepless night of hideous memories 🤣

I still from time to time think about when I was 15 or 16 and me and a group of friends decided it was time to try and sneak into a night club.

We didn’t want to be way obvious so paired up and took our chances. Me and my best friend got in, but were the only successful ones.

After a few very cringe minutes of looking extremely out of place amongst a bunch of grown men just sort of staring at us, and to get out of an awkward conversation with some of them who had approached, my friend decided to try and contact the others in our group to try and arrange for them to meet up.

Cue me yelling over the music, clearly audible to everyone in the vicinity, “TELL THEM WE’RE IN ENTRANCE”

I thought the fucking club was called Entrance as in, entrancing, hypnotising. It was just a sign that said “entrance” as opposed to exit…..

Very mild in comparison to other cringe moments but it always stands out to me as I felt soo out of my depth in that stupid situation and how lame and unworldly I felt being completely flabbergasted at being let in, mortified at having to make conversation with actual grown ups… It was a nightmare!

I was working as a barmaid, and we got a new manager. He called me over on his first night and said "CapturedLeprechaun, are you available right now?" and I froze and then said "no, I'm so sorry, I have a boyfriend" and he looked HORRIFIED and said "what?! No. I just wanted to know if you could go to the shops and get us some ice because the ice machine is broken".

MORTIFIED.

I’ve just done one tonight! Walking along the street I saw a glamorous woman wearing her sunglasses on top of her head had lost them . They clattered to the floor . I pointed it out to her and she said thanks .. I realised she was expecting me to pick them up. And I stupidly did!!

Very strangely I also have this. I’m not one to talk to myself and am really quiet as a person but if I am remembering something cringey I will often end up saying something out loud!

Very odd, cringe is such a deep emotion 😅