Robbie Williams once confessed that he pooped in his pants on stage. By mistake. No one is immune. We've all had at least one awkward or embarrassing moment in life. Some of us are just more willing to admit it than others.
Maybe it was a small 'oops' that left you red-faced, or perhaps a much bigger incident that's followed you all the way to adulthood, and blessed you with a nickname.
Chances are high that it happened at school. Let's be honest, there's something about that type of setting, full of puberty-fuelled teenagers, that breeds peak embarrassment. It's like cringe could have been built into the curriculum.
People have been brave enough to share their most painfully awkward school moments. And many might leave you feeling a bit better about your own. From stories of explosive diarrhea, to peeing on the floor in class, or calling the teacher 'mom' by mistake, Bored Panda has dug up a list of the best.
Prepare to laugh, cry, cringe, or maybe even relive your own high school horrors, as you scroll through them. These tales are proof that growing up isn't easy, and often involves getting a few scars on our dignity.
#1
My sophomore year I was performing in a Shakespearian Monologue competition that was being held at a college near my high school. We got to the theater and we had a bit of time outside to rehearse, mingle, etc. and I snuck off on my own to get a little rehearsal time in without the other competitors seeing what I was doing.
I went behind a building and began practicing my monologue (Iago's "What's he then that says I play the villain?" speech from Othello). While i was practicing, I saw a window with a reflective surface. It was a sunday and the campus was pretty barren, so i decided to use it so I could see what I looked like while performing. For those of you that don't know, this speech is a particularly heinous speech in which Iago reveals his plot to turn Othello against his wife (which ultimately leads to her murder). I made sure to find my most villainous voice and my the most wretched faces I could to be believable. Once I had finished and was satisfied with my work, I turned to walk away.
I heard a large applause coming from inside the window as I left.
TL;DR I accidentally performed Shakespeare for a random college class
And yes I did win.
CONTEXT OF SPEECH: Othello is a commanding officer, Iago is also another officer and Othello's right hand man, and Desdemona is Othello's wife. Cassio is another, lower ranking soldier who is on Othello's s**t list right now because he got super drunk and started a fight at an important dinner the other night. So, wanting to repair his reputation, Cassio comes to "honest Iago", Othello's most trusted friend, and asks for help. Iago tells him to explain the situation to Desdemona because the only person Othello will listen to is his wife (which is true). In this speech, Iago reveals that he's not actually "honest" like everyone says he is, and what he actually plans to do is tell Othello that he think Cassio and Desdemona are having an affair so that when Desdemona approaches Othello about forgiving Cassio, he will get super suspicious and angry (and Othello has a terrible f*****g temper, perhaps his biggest weakness).
Image credits: Davethelion
Your cheeks turn red, your palms start sweating. You just want to crawl into a hold and be gone. Embarrassment. It happens to all of us at one point or the other. And for some, it happens a lot.
Embarrassment is an emotion characterized by feelings of self-consciousness, shame, or discomfort, explains online mental healthcare site Charlie Health. "It typically arises when a person thinks they have made a mistake or violated social norms in a way that may negatively impact how others perceive them," reads the site.
So how should you handle your most horrifyingly cringe moments? Scroll on to find out...
#2
Calling the teacher mom by accident was easily the most awkward. All the other kids look at you like you just s**t yourself, meanwhile the teacher is at a loss of words.
Image credits: cosuheat
#3
Math teacher didn't allowed me to go to the toilet, couldn't hold it anymore, pissed on the floor trough my pants. At least she'll always allow students to go to the toilet now.
Image credits: anon
One of the best ways to deal with embarrassment is to just move on. Don't let it bother you. It's easier said than done and don't we know it! But according to parenting blog iMom.com, grown-ups can teach their kids to handle awkward moments better by the way they react to their own cringeworthy blunders.
"Avoid making any self-deprecating statements when something embarrassing happens to you like 'I’m so careless!' or 'Wow, I can’t believe I did that.' Acknowledge it if you want—'That was embarrassing!'—and don’t dwell," advises the site.
Keep calm and carry on, say the experts over at Charlie Health. "When faced with a moment of embarrassment, it’s essential to stay calm and composed. Taking a deep breath can help regulate your emotions and prevent them from spiraling out of control," they explain. "By pausing and focusing on your breath, you create a moment of mindfulness that allows you to step back from the situation and gain perspective."
#4
At a swim meet, my friend had just won his race and he broke his personal record. 15-20 minutes after his race, I saw him from the back and walked over. I then hugged him from behind and squealed about how well he did. I remember wondering why he was talking to people from the other school. I let go and he turned around.
It wasn't him.
I stammered something about how I thought he was someone else and walked away in shame.
Image credits: ProfessorVoldemort
#5
When I was 6 in Senior Infants, my teacher asked me and a classmate to take a message to 3rd class, which was my older brother's class. I was so excited to be doing this (A) because bringing messages to other classes was fun and (B) because I'd be going to my brother's class.
So we set off for the classroom. Just as we knock, we realise neither of us remember what the message is. Panic kicks in as the teacher (a very sarcastic, Roald Dahl/John Cleese kind of man) lets us in. I stand there at the top of the class silently. The teacher impatiently asks me what it is I had to say and all I can say is "I forgot." in a lisp with my hand covering my face (doubly embarrassing because this was an Irish-language primary school and I should've been speaking as Gaeilge).
For years after that, all of my brother's classmates would say "Ah hogohhh" (what my shy "I forgot" apparently sounded like) whenever they saw me. Also, it turned out the message was that my brother was absent that day.
Image credits: CorkytheCat
#6
Sophomore year of high school. Asking a girl out and while I was talking to her my tongue must have moved just the right way and drops of saliva shot out and hit her in the face. (I believe this is called gleeking).
Awkward silence ensued followed by no first date... Yay awkward me!
Image credits: Okstate2039
Another way to help your kids handle embarrassment is to be relatable. Show them that embarrassing sh*t happens to all of us. And it's not the end of the world.
"You might also want to share an embarrassing moment of your own and how you handled it," suggests iMom.com.
Also beware that your criticism of your kids can turn into a fear of embarrassment for them. So the experts advise that you downplay their mistakes.
#7
My physics teacher one day got a call early in the morning. The call only lasted for like 10 seconds, but when it ended, she ran out of the class all crying and never came back. A couple weeks later we were learning Newtons first law. For those who don't know it states: an object will keep moving until a force stops it. As an example our physics teacher used this: "imagine your aunt will be driving a car at 100 km/h. At one point she will hit a tree. Even though the car will immediately stop, your aunt will still go flying into the tree at 100 km/h. Once your aunt will hit the tree, not only her motion will stop, but so will her life...".
Image credits: Stormfrosty
#8
The really shy girl in my class puked so quietly, people didn't notice until the smell filled the room. :(.
Image credits: anon
#9
Had to poop SUPER bad as soon as I left for recess after lunch I try to go back in and the doors are locked I couldn't run around by that time I'd poop my pants, no one else was out by then so I pooped in the garbage can and ran to where we usually hang out.
Image credits: titymonster
“Helping your child gain perspective without minimizing his feelings will make it easier for him to move past negative experiences—and give him an important tool for building self-awareness in the future,” adds the Child Mind Institute.
Perhaps one of the best tips lies in an old saying... This too shall pass. If we can remember, and believe that, even in the most awkward and embarrassing moments, we'll all be just fine. Maybe we'll even be laughing about it in days, or years to come.
#10
In first grade I had to sit down to take a spelling test and I was kind of thirsty. I went to the water fountain and, with first grade logic, filled my cheeks with water thinking that I could savor it for the whole test. I figured that I could swallow little sips of water throughout the test and be nice and hydrated throughout.
This plan backfired when about five minutes passed and my cheeks gave way, leading me to spit all of the water straight onto my desk and test. So now theres water everywhere and my test is ruined and my teacher walks over and says "why is your desk all wet?"
My only response was "I don't know." No one asked me any more questions after that.
Image credits: teexnuhh
#11
In college. I am a little forgetful and don't remember people in a large classroom unless I engage with them. So one day I am late to class and frazzled and I walk in and don't recognize anyone and say I think I'm in the wrong classroom. My class laughs and says no you're not just sit down.
I was quite embarrassed.
Image credits: KnashDavis
#12
It was my sophomore year picture day and I always, without fail, would mix up the auditorium and gymnasium.
Because of how many students attended our school we were called down to the auditorium to get our pictures taken in alphabetic order of our last names. Since no one in my class had a last name near mine, I walked down to get my picture alone and of course, headed to the gymnasium.
I don't know why I didn't get the hint that it wasn't in the gym by the total of ZERO people waiting outside but as I walked in, a whole bleacher full of boys swiveled their head to look at me and shouted, "What are you doing here, you don't have a d**k!"
I got so flustered and awkward that I turned to leave and ran face first into the door, giving myself a nosebleed and prompting me to do a shame walk to the nearest bathroom.
TL;DR walked into an all boys gym class, got flustered because I was lost and ran into the door giving myself a nosebleed.
Image credits: anon
#13
When I was in middle school I ran for student body Vice President. I wasn't ambitious enough to run for President, I figured the Vice President would be easy and they wouldn't have to do much, and I was probably right. Anyway, right before people voted all the candidates had to make a speech in front of the student body. In my mind, I had a great angle for my speech: all the people running for President were girls, my opponent was a girl, and I felt that the student body should be represented by members of both sexes in the interest of equality.
Of course, more than twenty years later I can phrase it like that, but my eleven or twelve year old self stood up and concluded that "when boys and girls get together, good things happen."
That s**t followed me into *college* halfway across the country. I bumped into a freshman who had gone to my middle school and she remembered my speech.
Image credits: ReallyHender
#14
Kindergarten. There was a play area that was set up like a kitchen. Plastic refrigerator, stove, etc. I was afraid of raising my hand to ask for permission to use the restroom.
But, man, I really had to p**s, and I couldn't risk the embarrassment of doing it in my pants again.
I decided to whip it out and p**s into the plastic refrigerator. Four-year old logic. This s****y little girl just started screaming, "EWWW! HE'S PEEING!" and my plan was foiled.
I cried with my genitals exposed and p**s on the front of my pants. Then, I grabbed a little toy mop and tried to clean it, but this just bummed everyone out even more.
Edit : Since this is getting a bit of attention, I'll continue the story.
After getting bitched at by pretty much everyone in the room (the teacher and the other children), I was taken to the office for a fresh change of clothes. For some strange reason, there was an unclaimed pair of overalls and panties. I must've gotten p**s all over myself because none of my own clothes could be salvaged. I also do not understand why I wasn't allowed to just go commando the rest of the day. I returned to class wearing some other kid's panties (I am a male) and overalls with no shirt under them. No one knew about the panties except for the lady in the office and my grandmother who was the school librarian. I felt f*****g silly.
Image credits: PointMeAtTheSky_
#15
I'll start. when I was sitting in class, I randomly started coughing. It. Never. Stopped. Everyone was giving me the evil eye. The teacher asked me to be quiet. I asked if I could use the restroom and she sent me to the principals office....... Edit: (Since a few people asked) My principal said that she'd talk to my teacher about it. The next day, I didn't see my him (The teacher). The day after, my teacher was still not at school. We had a sub for the rest of the year. What happened to the teacher..?
#16
I wrote an opinion article in the newspaper that my English teacher vehemently disagreed with. She told me in class that she hoped I never had children, because I would be a terrible mother. My best guy friend was in the room, and stood up for me. He went a little far, though, and told her he hoped she had a miscarriage (she was several months pregnant).
She had a miscarriage.
#17
In freshman year biology, I did a partner project on Down Syndrome. We were presenting, and my project partner was talking about how people with Down Syndrome can still live relatively normal productive lives, "and often have jobs at grocery stores, as janitors, ..." so I decided to chime in "even as cafeteria workers!" No quite so bad, except for the fact that one of our cafeteria workers had Downs. There was a palpable feeling of "oh god, did he just say that," and my partner was too busy staring at me to help me out. I squeaked out a pathetic "well, you ^know ^^it's ^^^true " and stammered through the rest of the presentation.
#18
6th grade, it was pi day, so we all had to say pi as far as we could go. I was extremely nervous because I felt I was going to mess up near the start. The girl who wen before me only made it to 3.141, and I though to myself "even I can do better then that" in an attempt to calm myself down. Turns out I said it out loud, the whole class heard me, and I made the girl cry. Worst feeling I've ever had in all my years of school :(.
Image credits: anon
#19
I may or may not have shat my pants at band camp.
Image credits: boxrthehorse
#20
We were in a computer lab, and the teacher was too focused on her computer to see my hand raised and asking her to use the restroom. So I pissed all over the seat. No regrets, I just let it all go. I was proud when I stood up and I saw the puddle that I had left.
Later that day in line going to recess, a girl behind me said "do you smell something weird? It smells like my dog." I denied it all, but I knew what she was smelling.
Image credits: TheB33F
#21
I was sitting in the dining hall one day, having more or less finished my lunch. As you do when you're that age, I was amusing myself by crossing my eyes and staring at the lights, making them move about and such. Look, this was the days before Nintendo, okay?
Anyway I returned my vision to normal only to realise I was sitting directly opposite an older kid with a serious lazy-eye problem. As far as he was concerned I'd been taking the p**s out of him for the past couple of minutes. Before I could say anything he tried to get one of my own classmates to agree to beat me up with him after school. Said classmate refused, and the bloke slunk off, rightly disgruntled.
May not be all that awkward in the grand scheme of things but I felt like a total d**k for the rest of the day.
Image credits: mister-world
#22
My professor used to wear a clip-on wireless microphone as we were in an auditorium sized classroom. One day he randomly gave us a break which he never does, and stormed out of the classroom. Turns out he had some explosive diarrhea. How do I know this? Because he forgot to turn his mic off, when he dropped his load....
Image credits: andybent25
#23
I have Zombie Cafe on my iPod, and I happened to have my iPod in class with me. In the middle of a lecture my iPod decided to notify me that my "Handburgers & Flies" had finished cooking. Now, the notification is really loud, whether you have your ipod totally silent or not. So, basically the entire class heard ...
Teacher: blah blah blah history.. blah blah... *moment of silence* ...
My iPod: BBBBRRRAAAAIIINNNNSSSSSSSS...
The whole class burst into laughter and I will never forget the look my teacher gave me. I just wanted to sink into the ground I was SO embarrassed!
Image credits: anon
#24
Back in junior high biology class we had finished dissecting a frog and the teacher told us that next week we would be dissecting a beef heart. A girl in the front row of the class who was normally very quiet suddenly started laughing quiet loudly and then asked the teacher "How did they catch it?". The teacher, kind of confused replied "It's removed from a dead cow", to which the girl asked "but how does it get in there to start with?". At this point we were all confused. Finally after a few more questions we figured out she thought the teacher said "Bee Fart".
#25
While sitting in psychology one day, I watched a cockroach crawl out of a girl's pants onto the floor. The roach proceeded to crawl around for what seemed like a minute, probably much less, before crawling back up the leg of the girl's pants. I looked up in wide-eyed terror, only to lock eyes with the teacher, who shared my expression.
To those asking, I had no idea how to even begin a conversation about what I had seen. That's what made it awkward. I couldn't just walk up to the girl, and say, "I saw your roach, if you know what I mean." I couldn't even approach the subject with anybody else without ruining this girl's life. All I could do was always keep my feet off the floor in that class.
Image credits: anon
#26
Year 11, morning class. The teacher got a call and left the classroom. She came back hysterical. The problem was I couldn't discern if she was laughing hysterically or sobbing hysterically.
"Jeez, don't die!" I quipped.
It then became apparent that she had been indeed sobbing. Turns out her mother had died during an operation. This was quite possibly the worst day of school in the entire twelve years.
I don't think the teacher heard what I said, or maybe she knew better than to call me out.
Image credits: esemesas
#27
Before I begin I just want to state that I have shared this on reddit before and it was the most awkward situation I was ever a part of during high school.
I was heading to my locker during my spare block after lunch to grab a Pop-Tart out of my locker when I see this girl from another high school in the hallway. She used to go to our school but she got expelled for showing up to class drunk. Anyways I see her in the hall way and I walk up to her to say hey. Before I can even utter a word she runs right at me and jumps on me giving me a massive bear hug. As she's hugging me I can smell the Whiskey on her breath. She let's go of me and I ask her what she's doing here and she said she was here to see a substitute teacher. Let's call him Mr. Williams. She had heard he was going to be teaching here today and she _needed_ to speak with him. I'm bored during my spare so I decide I'll help her find Mr. Williams. I didn't ask why she needed to see him, I wish I had though or else I wouldn't have helped her find him. Anyway, we go classroom to classroom looking for him and we must have searched seven or eight before we found him.
When she walked into that classroom he looked like he had seen a ghost. I have never seen a man look as scared as he did in my entire life. She get's right into the middle of the classroom and in her inebriated state she blurts out that she's pregnant and that Mr. Williams is the father. She goes off on this huge rant yelling at the guy out about how he hasn't returned her phone calls or texts since the last time they had s*x at his place. She asks him why he hasn't returned his phone calls. He is just standing there in a state of shock unable to put a coherent sentence together. Then she begins to cry and asks him if it's because she isn't attractive enough for him and before he can even reply she lifts up her shirt and takes it off and throws it at him, then she takes off her bra and throws it at him and yells "HOW CAN YOU NOT WANT THIS BODY? I'M THE SEXIEST WOMAN YOU'LL EVER F**K." Once she yelled that I just got the hell out of there, I didn't want to be around when the Principal or any other teachers showed up.
Image credits: anon
#28
At the holiday dance my junior year, I was dancing with my group of friends. The song "Get Low" by Lil Jon and the Eastside Boyz started to play. I got really into the song and the part where they go, "back back back it up", I backed it up (I wasn't twerking, I was just pushing my tush backwards). But I backed it up so much that my a*s hit the c****h of one of the male teachers that was chaperoning. One of my friends gave me a warning, but it was too late. I looked back at him, apologized and walked away. It was so awkward.
#29
When I was in 5th grade I randomly tossed an old penny I found on the playground at school over my shoulder.
Penny went over a handball backstop and into the mouth of the cutest girl in school. Said penny then contacted cutest girls two front teeth and split then both in twain. She then looked like a cajun air boat tour guide in a Louisiana bayou.
...I swear to Christ...I could throw handfuls of pennys at that chicks face from now until Ford Windstars became collectible and never have the same effect of ruining her looks that I did that day by pure chance.
Elementary school was a difficult time after that.
#30
Sixth grade. I had a crush on this girl. It was my first crush. She was a cheerleader, cute, smart, funny. I was in love. Sadly it was not reciprocated. I used to write her love letters and slip them into her locker.
One day this kid (Who was pretty much my nemesis since elementary school,) saw me put the note in and after i walked away, he fished it out with a paper clip. Later he proceeded to read it to most of the sixth grade class before an assembly. I was absolutely humiliated. For about two days, till everyone forgot about it.
That's also the story of how I got into my first fight.
EDIT: For everyone interested, I did win the fight.
#31
I'm the teacher in this case. One of my grade 8 boys meant to say "Can you teach me?" but instead he said, "Can you touch me?"
Cue awkward silence as the whole class stares at me, waiting for my response.
Edit: For those asking how I responded, I just said "Nope!" and continued talking about math.
#32
I remember in fifth grade I was at the crosswalk doing "patrol" before school with my friend. I turned around and said "check this out" cuz I thought I had a big fart coming. Turns out it wasn't a fart, it was a shart.
The worst part? I was doing a presentation on Cal Ripken Jr. that day so I had on white sliding shorts and white baseball pants. FML.
Luckily I had a change of clothes...but quite a few people saw it.
#33
So this was junior year of high school and it was prom time. I didn't have anyone to ask so I asked the school s**t. Perfect. So everything went fine and then we find ourselves at the after party. I am... drunk. We are talking outside and all of a sudden she just grabs my shirt collar and were going at it. We suddenly find ourselves in the pool house disrobing. I'm in for roughly two minutes when suddenly everything goes limp on me. Mother f****r. He aint coming back. Now while she swore she wasnt going to tell anyone, and that it was totally fine, I knew that was a complete lie. This girl can be a huge c**t. So yeah we go back inside, I pass out and I can already here her telling all of her friends what just happened.
So skip to end of the year party. Theres probably 200 kids there. And this party was at a large house where everyone partied in one giant room. I was outside smoking a cigarette when someone came outside to tell me to take my time coming back inside. I was like okay... I will do that...? weird. So i kind of forgot about that warning and walked back inside and all of a sudden everyone stopped, lookied at me, and started yelling "limp d**k, limp d**k, limp d**k." I froze, I had no idea what to do. So i just owned it and started jumping up and down while yelling it myself. It wasn't that bad. It was all in good fun, but those first few seconds were haunting.
#34
I fell asleep at my desk during a really serious lecture. I had one of those really severe sleep twitches and woke up spazzing so hard I flung everything on my desk off and *screamed* at the top of my voice. Awkwardness ensued.
#35
All of the following happened in the same locker room. In High School.
* Multiple kids got pissed on when a mentally challenged child pulled his d**k out and did the helicopter while pissing.
* Another time, some a*****e stole the same kids clothes and hid them, so the poor kid ran out of the locker room completely naked.
* Another kid got multiple lacerations in his head from having his head slammed into a locker. Why, you ask, did he have his head slammed into the locker? He took another mans Pokemon card.
#36
I've got two. In elementary school there was this really obese girl, she was always made fun of and talked about because she was big and children are jerks. One day mid lecture her cheap wooden desk decides to give out and completely collapses under her. I'd like to say I didn't laugh, but I was in tears.
The other time was something that happened to my friend during english class, same school but in 6th grade. The teacher was collecting homework and he hadn't done his, so when asked "Where is your homework?" he replied, "I didn't did it." which got a few giggles out of people, and when she asked again he repeated, "I didn't did it." and people began to laugh even harder. The teacher thought he was joking around but the guy was absolutely serious and didn't realize he was making a mistake. After the 5th time the teacher corrected him and made everyone stay in for recess because they kept laughing and my friend got to go out and play. The entire ordeal felt horribly awkward and embarrassing for him he told me, and I just cringe thinking back on it.
#37
This story didn't happen in a classroom but this happened during a school overnight camping trip. When I woke up and got ready for the day, the other girls were talking about what happened the night. Apparently one of the other was moaning the during the night. So I was curious on who it was and made it my duty to find out this girl. When lights were off I spent the first hour waiting for everyone to go to sleep. Waited for awhile then gave up until the next morning. One of the girls told me the next morning during breakfast that it was me.
#38
I'm really short, and our chalkboards were hung by giants. I was tasked with writing a list of article suggestions for our newspaper class, so I used a chair to start at the top of the board. About 4 items in, I lost my balance and completely ate it face first. Most of the class was pretty mature about it with only a few titters, and a few people rushed over to make sure I was ok. Completely humiliating.
#39
I went up to the front of the room to answer a question on the blackboard. While I was waiting to get chalk, I tried to be funny by doing stretches without the teacher looking. I ripped my trousers for the whole class to see :(.
#40
In 3rd grade we were required to have those trapper keeper type things to hold our pencils. For some reason I wanted to be able to have that inside my binder, but the binder holes were filled in with plastic.
Having the best idea ever, I decided to use my scissors to try to push the plastic filling out of the trapper keeper. I start by just holding the scissors and pushing really hard through, but this didn't work. So then I decided to use one of the two scissor blades because it was sharper and push as hard as I can with my other hand holding the trapper keeper.
In an instant, the scissors slid through the trapper keeper, and right on the my finger with as hard of a force as I could possibly push. I must have hit an important vein or something because it started fountaining everywhere and got blood on to everyone in my circle. A few people started screaming because there was so much blood, to which I ran out of the class and to the office. Once in the office, they got a call saying there was a profuse trail of blood all around the school.
#41
Not me (I swear) but during a class in high school and classmate sneezed and covered the front of his shirt in a massive amount of snot. Even the teacher laughed after he left to go clean his shirt.
#42
Farted at the SAT's. Only I and the guy next to me laughed.. and did so for a while. The instructor/monitor in the room actually told me that if I continue laughing I'd be kicked out.
#43
A kid diarrhea'd on his seat and was too terrified to move until the teacher called him. Same thing happened to another kid except he pissed himself. This was his second time.
