20 People Share Awkward Stories and We Can’t Help but Cringe

Sometimes when we’re just about to fall asleep, all of a sudden, we recall some of our most embarrassing moments that happened years ago. For some reason, late hours or the need for sleep bring awkward stories back into our minds. In any case, the best way to deal with them is to have a good laugh and then drift off to sleep.

Bright Side found 20 awkward stories that’ll make you happy you weren’t the one who experienced them.

1.

When I was 11-12, if I had a crush on someone, I would go find their parents in the phone book, look up the phone number in the white pages, find their address, and then, in an attempt to impress them, I would repeat back to them their parents’ names, home phone number, and address. ****est / Reddit

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3.

I went to a dealership and test drove a few cars, then went in to do the paperwork for the purchase, reached into my pocket, and my hand went through the pocket to my skin, ending up with a 6″ rip in my favorite jeans. I thought nobody had noticed it and I felt relieved. Then I returned to the dealership for an oil change 3 months later and the salesman says to me, “I see you got new pants!” daleene / Reddit

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5.

I was terribly afraid of public speaking in high school. We had to give oral book reports to the whole class. So, I’m sitting in my chair, legs crossed, and sweating with anticipation, when the teacher calls my name. I let out a deep breath and stand up. I forget to uncross my legs, so I trip.
But I don’t just trip, I stumble. I try to regain my balance. I tumble for about 10 feet before I finally fall. I get up as the whole class stares at me.

I slowly walk up to the front of the class and say, “Well, the speech can’t get any worse now.” That moment helped me overcome my fear of public speaking though. Since then, I’ve given multiple speeches in front of large crowds with no problem. fantacyfan / Reddit

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7.

When I was in 2nd grade, my brother and I would always be picked up after school by my dad. We had a green van with a red stripe on the side. So my brother grabs my hand and storms us up to the car. He rips open the door, sits us down, buckles me in, and then says, “Can we get McDonald’s on the way home?”

We both look up and there are 2 middle-aged adults sitting in the front seat that are OBVIOUSLY not our family. They stare at us, we stare at them. In my little brain we’d been staring at each other for at least 10 minutes at this point.

My brother unbuckles me, unbuckles himself, we get out, and walk away. No words were exchanged. We then checked who was in the car before getting in from that point forward. nessabessa34 / Reddit

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9.

This poor girl walked into my lecture by mistake about halfway through. This particular professor really enjoys talking to all of his students and was super engaging, even with 400+ students in his class.

When the girl walked in, my professor stopped teaching, looked at the girl, and asked if she was in the class. She said she was and began walking toward the front where the open seats were. This is a fairly large lecture hall and all 200 students (approx how many actually show up to class) were now forced to watch this poor girl walk toward a seat because the professor didn’t continue talking and just stared at her.

She got close to the front and I think the pressure of the whole room got to her and she said, “Actually, no I’m not,” and turned around and we all had to watch this poor girl climb back up the stairs and out of the hall. PatodePlata / Reddit

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11.

I saw my friend’s silhouette entering a restaurant. So, I excitedly stood up and rushed toward them. I was halfway through the dining area when I realized it wasn’t my friend. Instead of quietly returning to my seat, I sputtered out the most horrific laugh I have ever heard.

I tried to funnily twirl around to return to my seat and ran into a waiter and in a goofy voice said, “Sorry ’bout that!” Almost everyone was staring. I left soon after (of course my purse fell off my shoulder and knocked several things out of my hands on the way out), haven’t been back since. AmondaPls / Reddit

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13.

Was signing for a package on one of those electronic things delivery drivers use, and I wasn’t paying any attention and ended up staring at it for a minute and then just drawing a straight line on the screen and handing it back. He was confused. b14nn / Reddit

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15.

I guess I listen to too many podcasts, because I keep trying to pause work conference calls. I’ve also caught myself trying to increase my husband’s volume by pushing buttons on my phone while we’re in a room together having a conversation. Janigiraffey / Reddit

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17.

I just finished getting my hair cut and walked out to get into my car. I got into the back seat and sat there for a minute before realizing that I drove myself there. The worst part was the salon had a glass storefront and I was parked front and center. jkotwa93 / Reddit

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19.

I’m 39 and I still think about my first almost kiss, it was so awkward and embarrassing. I was 11 or 12 and at camp, we were playing spin the bottle. I was a really naive little girl and didn’t quite understand what I was getting myself into.

The bottle landed on me and I stood up to kiss the older and far more experienced boy in front of me. I essentially unhinged my jaw and opened up my mouth really wide to kiss him. He stepped back and took one look and me and said, “No.” buffywho / Reddit

20.

What’s your most embarrassing story? How did you get out of it?