18 Awkward Moments To Make You Feel Secondhand Embarrassed

Why do we remember things that once made us feel embarrassed even years later? The most simple way to explain this is that some external stimuli signal a past memory unintentionally. These memories are usually negative experiences since we are motivated to avoid unpleasant moments. These 18 stories may make you feel second-hand embarrassment or remind you of a personal story.

• I hit face-first into a street light lamp post because I was staring (while walking) at a beautiful girl walking in the direction where I was coming from. It was in front of the main gate of our university. Hundreds of students saw it. @KiwiPin0 / Reddit
• I was at an NFL game and something I had eaten earlier had just wrecked my stomach and left me with horrible gas. Like the kind which clears a room, it is so bad. I was walking up the stairs to my seat mid-game and had to let one out. Right then the crowd cheered and I thought the moment was right. What I didn’t realize is that I was at the same level as a woman sitting in her seat on the aisle and I aired myself right in her ear. I looked back at her as she looked at me with shock and disgust, I quickly turned away and climbed the stairs as fast as I could and blended into the crowd. I still think about her from time to time, and how horrible that must have truly been for her and just cringe at what an idiot I was. @Rocketmax / Reddit
• I had a great day at a waterpark / outdoor pool and towards the afternoon a woman came up to me and whispered in my ear that I have a problem with my swimsuit. I reached behind a noticed a huge gap. The fabric was torn right in the middle and you could see my behind. I was running around like this all day and no one said anything. @flabinella / Reddit
  

• I wasn't there when it happened, but I have like, residual embarrassment because I sent my wife a naked picture of me and she opened her phone screen to show something to her family and, "Oh, I have a message from my hubby, what could this be? OH GOD!!" @Mistah-Jay / Reddit
• Recently went on a vacation with some friends + a mutual friend who I don't know that well. He and I took the pullout couches, and he was right next to the bathroom. Later one night, when we were all walking around away from our hotel, I got the stomach rumbles. Then the nausea hit. I have never felt so sick in my life. It felt like someone was grabbing my insides and twisting them. The second we got back to our hotel I made a beeline for the bathroom. Through that paper-thin wall, this guy I barely knew heard me empty my bowels while crying in a trash can in front of me. I spent the rest of the night shivering in bed and making runs to the bathroom. I hit the "been married for a decade" barrier with them in a single night. @teensysnek / Reddit
• In speech class, this girl gets up for her presentation and freezes up. For 3 minutes straight. The teacher did not stop the clock did not excuse her did nothing but watch her sit there and sweat. We all looked at each other and back at her for 3 minutes straight. @NeighborhoodStreet59 / Reddit

• This was during my Sophomore year in math class. I sat between two gentlemen. I was congested that day and thus pretty tired at the same time. I was resting my head in my hand and hunched over my math book when I felt a sneeze coming. I went to lean back but didn't move quickly enough when the force of this sneeze sent my face hurling into my desk. My head smacked the desk so hard that I bounced back up like a basketball. @sleepcantcatchme / Reddit
• I was in kindergarten and was playing in the sandbox at recess one day with my friend. We were making a sandcastle but didn’t have any sand that was wet enough to form a solid structure. I had been holding my pee for a while, and being 5 years old I didn’t want to stop playing, so I let it out while I was sitting and promptly let my friend know that I had magically found some wet sand that we could build with, and no one was the wiser. We built a really good castle. @yourideas*** / Reddit
• I used to work with a guy who had lost his leg below the knee in a motorcycle accident. One time he asked me if I was busy and I replied “I am busier than a one-legged man in a football match!” It didn’t even cross my mind until he replied “You know that isn’t that busy.” @Buffasippi / Reddit

• About 10 years ago I was walking into a gas station and a middle-aged man was pumping gas. He tried to awkwardly comment the graphic t that I was wearing. I believe it was a Motorhead tee. He asked if I liked some band and ran out of steam with his attempt to flirt. I assume flirting was the motive. I went in and paid. Upon exiting the store and walking to the pump I watch him half wave goodbye as he prepares to drive away. He took off a little quick and took the gas nozzle with him. It was still attached to his tank. He ripped it out of the pump. It was impressive. He was mortified. I thought it was better than his attempt at conversation, but felt awful for him. @stompyelephant77 / Reddit
• So the year was 2015 and my friend decided to tell a girl he liked her. So he walks up to her and she vomits straight on her. She cried and ran to a nearby teacher. The kid had detention for a week. @MicrowavingMetal / Reddit
• I ran into a long-time friend out of nowhere that I hadn’t seen in years. My first thoughts were, “Hey! It’s great to see you - wow, we’re so close to graduating!” That, however, is not what I said. My first words to her, after all this time, were an enthusiastic, “Wow! We’re so gross!” Going with it, she sarcastically played along and said “Yeah, because I’m so gross.” @prsjlnplng / Reddit
  

• I was at a Motley Crue concert in a big arena and before the show started, all the lights were on and a beach ball was being passed around. The whole crowd was watching the beach ball while people were filing into the floor section. When the ball reached the floor, a large man was walking out holding two full beers and he went to kick the ball and fell flat on his back and spilled both beers on his face. The whole stadium was laughing hysterically! @DokterManhattan / Reddit
• I was stuck in traffic, just a complete traffic jam. The car next to you was going to be the car next to you for a while. I’m settled in, got my tunes blazing, and look to my right and this girl is digging deep, a finger in both nostrils. She looks left, sees me looking, and you can see she had just totally blanked on the cars around her. She goes deep, deep, deep red, Like her eyeballs blushed red, slinks way down, and stays like that for the next 10 miles. @tdasnowman / Reddit
• In primary school (grades 1-6 in Australia) there was a school-wide assembly in the hall. I was a 6th grader sitting on the hard floor with my class then I got called up the front because I’d won an award. So I proceeded to stand up, but sitting on the hard floor gave me a dead leg and my foot collapsed under me making me immediately fall over on top of the girl that was sitting next to me. In front of the entire school. I still get embarrassed thinking about that. @mathiasbloodaxe / Reddit

If you love reading about embarrassing stories and situations, we have the perfect article for you. A guy was embarrassed at his girlfriend because she screamed while giving birth. Sounds crazy, right?