"Excuse Me, But..."

Embarrassing moments. We’ve all had them.
I remember an incident at Saint Monica High School.
I was participating in an awards ceremony, and I
was waiting off stage with some other girls.
My name was called eventually to receive a religious honor.

I was petrified.
My legs were glued to the ground beneath me and
my feet wouldn’t move forward. I very gawkily forced
my white buck uniform shoes to move across the stage.
I think I blushed every shade of red during those moments.

Another time was on a flight to New Zealand.
There had been a long, dancing line to use the bathroom.
When I eventually went in and came out, I was
walking to my seat--unspooling almost the entire
roll of sub grade toilet paper which had somehow stuck
to the edge on my clothing…

A handsome male passenger alerted me.
I looked back to see that I’d left a runner of at least
20 feet along the length of the aisle.
What could I do but laugh at myself!
I’m sure that most of the passengers were too
embarrassed to initially bring it to my attention.

There have been times while on a dinner date before
I was married, that I had something wedged between
my front teeth. I tried for what seemed like endless minutes
to force it out--all the while holding my one hand coyly
in front of my mouth. I finally tugged it out, and felt safe
enough to withdraw my hand and smile across the table
at my date. He sweetly told me,
“You have something stuck in your teeth…”

Why is it that one never forgets those Kodak moments,
but birthdays and other important things float out of one’s brain?