EFO. Embarrassment in Front of Others. It’s one of the most painful phenomenons known to man (and woman). We’ve all been there at some point in our lives. Maybe you tripped in front of a group of people. Maybe you threw up all over the girl or boy you had a crush on. Maybe you tripped and then threw up. Maybe you watched Meet the Parents with your actual parents when you were in seventh grade. It’s all humiliating and it keeps us up at night.
Take a look at these embarrassing stories from AskReddit and try not to sympathy cringe for these poor souls.
1. Damn Cashier
Here’s one thing I hate about grocery store lines: they’re all separate. I would much prefer that everyone wait in a single line and move to the next available cashier, like in customs.
Because we all know how much we hate waiting in line and seeing everyone around us go much, much quicker.
Well, I was having a particularly bad day, and I chose a particularly slow line in the grocery store. Ridiculously slow. Lines twice as long were sailing through, and I wasn’t moving at all.
And then I realized the problem. The cashier was taking his sweet time, swiping groceries through one at a time, using only one hand. He didn’t care. Some teenager with a scowl on his face, probably forced to work there by his parents.
Finally I’d had enough. I snapped. “This line is huge! Things would go a lot quicker if you used two hands.”
The two people in front of me turned and stared with looks of horror and disgust, and finally, the cashier, with a totally blank look on his face, turned toward me as well.
His left arm had been amputated at the shoulder.
2. Wrong Campsite
I went camping with some friends once and we ate some shrooms. At one point I had to go to the bathroom so I went to find the bathroom on the camp ground, did my business, and went back to our campsite.
I grabbed a beer from the cooler and it was Bud Light and I thought that was weird because I don’t drink Bud Light and neither do any of my friends, but I just wanted something cold in my mouth so I didn’t care.
I sat down at the fire and started drinking my beer and I realized everybody had gone quiet and was staring at me. First I was like “Why aren’t you guys talking? Did I fart?” then “Why are you staring at me like that??”
Then it clicked…”OH MY GOD YOU’RE NOT MY FRIENDS WHERE AM I??” I went to the wrong camp site and just plopped my tripping self down at the fire with a family of 4 (a husband and wife and two kids).
They just looked horrified. I’ll never forget the look on their faces. This was years ago., I’m sorry for ruining their camping trip.
3. Wrong room, bro
I had gotten hooked on Rubik’s cubes during college, so I carried that thing everywhere, playing with it as I walked to and from class.
So I walk into my dorm building, up the stairs and to my room, mostly focused on the Rubik’s cube. I open the door, walk through the kitchen (they were suite style dorms), and I notice a girl doing something in the fridge. No biggie, she’s probably with one of my roommates. I open the door to my room, and immediately start noticing something strange with the decor, and then I noticed two girls in the room sitting on either bed. Then it hit me.
I started backing out blurting explanations. To this day I still remembered the horrified look on the girl at the refrigerators face as I backed past her. They followed me to the door and slammed it in my face, partially pushing me out with it.
Then the screaming started. To this day I don’t know why they started screaming, but they did. I got out of there. Later heard from a friend on that floor that the girls apparently had the RA looking for me.
4. OH NOOOOOO
My cousin said I looked good and was losing weight, without thinking I said ‘thanks, you too’. Then I realized she just had a miscarriage. Still cringe thinking about it.
5. Oh, mother
When I was 10 my dad had his co-workers over to our house with their families for a Christmas party. My mom was doing the whole hostess thing and had been stressed out. I went to use the bathroom in the middle of the party and it stunk something fierce.
Being 10 and a social idiot I then walked out into the big room with the party going on and yelled while waving my hands in a smelly motion “WHEWW, WHO MADE THE BATHROOM STINK SO BAD?!”
My poor horrified and embarrassed mom’s face when admitting it was her.
6. Lol
Middle school: we were asked to use single words on paper to describe ourselves. I looked up synonyms for ‘weird’, and got queer… Didn’t know what that meant, but all of my classmates did. Couldn’t convince anyone I was straight for the rest of my school days. Which wouldn’t be so bad except that I could never get a date.
