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?

sorry that was supposed to be a reply to the poster who asked about tics!

On honeymoon 15 years ago we got chatting to an American couple, just pleasantries. One day they said, “Oh it’s our last day today, it’s been nice to meet you both.”

I had a complete brain fart and literally shouted in their faces, “HAVE A NICE... LIFE!” and then panicked and ran away.

my husband still says that to me now every time he wants to make me die inside

I've got a reclining chair and often stretch my arms out behind me . I did this at the dentist and my hand landed right on his crotch. I just mumbled sorry and got out of there ASAP

my hands are sweaty typing this.

between finishing uni and graduating everything was going right in my life. A handsome cool bloke asked me out, motor bike, long hair but chill. Couldn’t believe my luck. We went to a pool hall, I declared I’d never played, which was hand to god the truth. When we got there he knew some people and it was lovely. I was fitting in, he was paying me attention but not being showy in front of his mates. They realised it was a date so discretely left us to play at one table while they were at another. All the time I’m saying I’ve never played before. Then it was like I was possessed by the spirit of Steven Hendry! Couldn’t stop pocketing balls. Was all in good humour, the bloke talking about beginners luck while explaining the rules. I completely thrashed him in 3 games, it really looked like I was hustling him or at least pretending that I didn’t know how to play.

he took it in good form, genuinely wasn’t being pissy but it was so weird cause I stopped flirty cause it was so awkward. I suggested another bar just to get out the situation. On the way we stopped one of those shops that had magicky wizard and dragon statues and I said that adults who were into dragons were really weird. Which was A) horrible, B) not like me and fucking C) the ultimate cringe cause part of the reason I liked him was his massive dragon tattoo. I am sure that’s his worst date story. I really really liked him too.

Hahahaha that is amazing 😂

My DS age 3 was invited to a birthday party and I phoned the mum to accept the invitation and I asked if it was ok for DD to come too. She said yes and never made me feel awkward but I’m cringing as I type this and 20 years on I’m still mortified that I did it. It was genuinely out of ignorance but that doesn’t reduce my shame for what I did.

when I was 18 I pulled a lad from our town who was back from uni for the holidays. All was going well and we went back to his mum and dad’s. I think I was far too drunk to give much thought to were his parents were. However, as we were DTD in the lounge a light went on and his dad appeared. And stood there for what seemed like an age. There was no where to hide. Awful. I haven’t seen the lad for 25 years until my own children started football where he is a coach for the year above. Literally every time I see him, I massively cringe. Too much!!

I used to get the bus to college. It would be busy so you rarely got a seat to yourself and I quite often ended up sat next to another older girl who lived on my street but was just an acquaintance. I think we probably both thought each vaguely friendly and better than a random rude stranger... sometimes the conversation would flow ok, sometimes it was a bit forced, sometime's we would sit in silence which was ok.

I was quite socially awkward as had had a bit of an isolated/abusive upbringing so I was still honing my social skills and trying not to stand out as a total dick amongst my peers.

One time, we were chatting happily and she made a witty comment about something, we both properly laughed, it was a genuine good moment, and I mentally tucked it away in my 'great things to say' file which I used to try to get myself up to speed on this 'being good company and not weird' project I was working on. 🙈

However, it was a stressful day and though I remembered the comment I didn't clearly remember who'd said it.
A few weeks/months later, we were on the bus again and I decided it would be a great time to air this witty quip and pass it off as my own... to the very same girl I'd got it off in the first place... aaarrgghh.
She just gave me a look that said 'god you're pathetic'. Cue tumbleweed. I realise what I've done and die inside. Rest of journey shrivel into my seat... avoid her for ever more.
Oh the cringe.

Thankfully, I eventually succeeded in my project and I'm not an oddball anymore (most of the time) but that was a peak freak moment.

I don't know if I'll be thinking about it for years, but late this afternoon I saw someone I vaguely knew and said 'morning' as I walked past and I keep thinking about it randomly and dying a bit inside.

I was at a fancy restaurant with my ex. Making small talk with the lovely waitress between courses. Then, for some reason as she took my plate and thanked me, I replied ‘bye’. It was meant in a friendly way but came out as really abrupt and bitchy! So awkward. My ex never let me live it down.

Farted in the face of the handsome PT who was giving me a training session at the gym. We both pretended he hadn't heard it but he so did, it was really loud.

When I was 18 i was working as a classroom assistant in a school but hadnt been working there for very long. We weren't allowed to do our own photocopying and had to take it to one of the school admins to do. One day I took in my photocopying and the admin asked how my weekend was, I broke down a bit because I had split up with my boyfriend after finding out he had cheated on me with my best friend. I didnt know the admin well but I was devastated (first proper boyfriend and best friend since I was 4) and so I cried and told her about what had happened. She said, "aw I'm so sorry to hear that, no wonder you're upset," and put her hand out. I put my hand in her hand thinking it's a bit weird of her but that she's offering me a hand hold to help me feel better... then she said, "oh... no, I mean I'll take your stuff for photocopying."

I still think about it 18 years later!

🤣🤣🤣

No need to cringe about being polite and helpful.

Went to Nandos with my husband and children and didn't have the container for my Invisalign so put it in a napkin. Waitress cleared the table and that napkin too. I realised as we were about to leave and asked if I could have my plate back if they hadn't cleaned it already as I "left something in my napkin". She came out of the kitchen holding my retainers saying "do you mean these?". I nearly died of embarrassment 😆

A colleague came to speak to be in a busy noisy bar.

I said something along the lines of “hi how are you? “ But he pointed to his cheek in response and I took this to mean he wanted a kiss on be cheek…

(It was more of a reflex to kiss him in a greeting sense- you know, like the French do)

But in fact he was pointing to his ear, because he couldn’t hear me.
😵‍💫😳

I almost woke DH up laughing at this

Back from maternity leave after DS2- a year off looking after a 3 year old and a baby. First week back we all went to the pub for lunch. Crossing a busy road a fire engine went past. I reflectively grabbed the arm of the man next to me and went "Look! Nee naw nee naw!" He told the story at my leaving drinks 5 years later.

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

If anyone knows a cure for this sort of thing, would be interested. Asking for a friend 😀

You know when kids are learning to play baseball, they put the ball on a stand to hit it off? I don't know what it's called because I have never been anywhere near a game of baseball. Anyway. When I have a cringe, I sort of mentally put it on that ball stand and then I whack it over the horizon with a baseball bat.

A friend took me to a work do; Ainsley Harriot was there. My mate knew that as a teenager I used to be a huge fan of Ready Steady Cook. They introduced me to him and told him his this. He went in for a cheek kiss, I thought it was a hug - ended in a full snog collision. He did a comedy sexy eyebrow wiggle and said ‘oooh hello you ARE a fan.’ So I told him (honestly) it wasn’t him I liked it was AWT.

Not sure what bit was worse.

I have at least two that will haunt me forever.

I came on my period and didn’t have any tampons so I put a giant wedge of toilet paper in my pants and went off to the shops; obviously the first thing I brought was some tampons and headed to the loo. As I pulled my pants down my wedge of bloodied toilet paper came flying out and manage to waft slightly under to the next cubicle, which was occupied by some poor unsuspecting woman. She didn’t an audible “uooughh” and I died inside; I sat in the toilet for what felt like hours, was more like minutes after she left just so that I couldn’t be absolutely sure she wouldn’t see my face.

My other contender if when I had recently started dating my now husband, he brought me home from a date and he kissed me goodbye in the car mid-kiss I got a bit embarrassed and did a shy snort/laugh - except with the laugh came the contents of my runny nose. I tried to play it off and said sorry for ‘spitting’ on him.. but we both knew what happened. To this day I’ve never brought it up. I had to watch him wipe my snot from his face 😭

I thought the young lady who dissed his teacher, precipitating an enduring friendship with the teacher’s MIL won this thread for me, but lo - here is your story and it made me shake with laughter (shaking coz I have to be silent given the time and other peeps sleeping).

I LOVE you for styling it out. That’s the bit that makes me laugh. Excellent!! Thank you for sharing.

Oh gosh sorry I do have another one.

I suffer with the quite bad health anxiety and went through a phase of being convinced I had bowel cancer. - I went to the toilet one night and noticed a lot of blood coming from my bum, like a lot. So I was immediately on the phone to 111, crying scared that this was it and I was going to get the bad news. They said I would get a call back from a doctor within 3 hours, shortly after hanging up to wait for my callback I’m on the bed crying to my boyfriend about how scared I am when I get a very wet feeling in my pants.. but the front not the back. It was my period.

Whilst working in a call centre I was helping a gentleman complete a budget, because I’d done it so much it was just second nature to rattle all the questions off. I asked him how much he spent on clothes and shoes, cue a long silence so I repeat myself incase he didn’t hear. He then reprimanded me that he has no legs. I wasn’t to know but it still to this day makes me wish the ground had swallowed me up.