What's your most embarrasing moment?

[Piemaster]

I was in Staples and asked the passing assistant if he could get me something down off the very top shelf of one of the shelf stacks.
'Sorry, can't help you.' says he.
'Why not?'
'Because I don't work here.'
Same white shirt / black trousers as the staff but a 'Carpet Right' logo from the shop next door, not a Staples one on the shirt.

 

[Bman]

I was in Staples and asked the passing assistant if he could get me something down off the very top shelf of one of the shelf stacks.
'Sorry, can't help you.' says he.
'Why not?'
'Because I don't work here.'
Same white shirt / black trousers as the staff but a 'Carpet Right' logo from the shop next door, not a Staples one on the shirt.

Yup, I've done that one before!

I have a couple. could have been much more embarrassing if there were witnesses!

1. Leaving for work one summer morning. Only a <2 mile commute back then. Wearing shirt, trousers and trainers (shoes at work). Down the hill I go, freewheeling, turn the corner, then remember it rained over night. Straight through a muddy puddle, mud all up my trousers, shirt and all over my face!

2. Slowing down ready to stop at a red light, (single file traffic over a humped bridge) Im first, at the lights and nothing behind me. While waiting, 3 cars come over the bridge in the opposite direction, and a queue forms behind me..... Still waiting for the lights to change after the oncoming traffic stops... but nothing, my light stays red. I look down, my bike is positioned directly above the sensor, so I continue to wait patiently. The car behind is a little Fiat with a couple of ladies in the front. I give them a smile and continue to wait. I waited for what seemed like 5 minutes when I decided to dismount and walk along the pavement. As soon as I lift the bike off the road, the Fiat edges forward to the line (on the sensor that I was positioned on). The lights change immediately.

 

[grhm]

I was in Staples and asked the passing assistant if he could get me something down off the very top shelf of one of the shelf stacks.
'Sorry, can't help you.' says he.
'Why not?'
'Because I don't work here.'
Same white shirt / black trousers as the staff but a 'Carpet Right' logo from the shop next door, not a Staples one on the shirt.

My wife and I were having trouble finding something in a Boots store once, don't remember what. After wandering around for a while, looking for what ever it was or an assistant to ask for help, my wife spotted a helpful looking assistant.

She walked over and said "Excuse me, can you ..." and then tailed off. She was attempting to ask the cardboard cutout woman that stands behind the stack of baskets for directions.

 

[Globalti]

Aged about 15 I was snogging my GF on my bed, doing my utmost to get "inside downstairs" when suddenly my infected sinuses drained and a gush of pus and blood poured on to her left cheek.

 

[Arch]

I was in Staples and asked the passing assistant if he could get me something down off the very top shelf of one of the shelf stacks.
'Sorry, can't help you.' says he.
'Why not?'
'Because I don't work here.'
Same white shirt / black trousers as the staff but a 'Carpet Right' logo from the shop next door, not a Staples one on the shirt.

Don't worry about that. When I worked for Iceland, I used to pop up to Sainsburys sometimes for a sandwich at lunch, and more than once was accosted by a customer for help - they knew they knew me from one of the shops, but forgot which, despite our uniform being white and grey, and Sainsbury's being orange.

 

[yorkshiregoth]

With my work uniform consisting of navy blue trousers and white shirt I am constantly being mistaken for store staff in almost every store I happen to wander in during my break.

 

[NormanD]

A number of years back in my first Speedway indervidual meeting at mildenhall (remember speedway bikes have no brakes)... came round to the tapes in my first ride and the usual way to stop your bike is to lean it over so the right foot rest drags along the track to act as some sort of brake.

Leaned the bike over. dragged the footrest for a few feet, it dug into a rut and stopped the bike on the spot, except I continued at the speed I was going, slid up the crossbar of the frame, also the frame of a speedway bike is also the oil tank and has a screw cap just before fork down tube.

As much as to say the family jewles got one hell of a rattling, I was still straddling the bike like I was waiting for the tapes to go up,only I was laying on my side on the track at this time, took the track staff about five minutes to praise my fingers off the handlbar grips and I was carried off the track in an undignified manner I.E legs apart and trying to gasp some air into my lungs.

This in front of about 300 spectators all applauding as I was carried off, that ended my evening before it began ... entenox, what a brilliant gas that is

Norm

 

[Speicher]

At my age I can remember lots of embarassing moments. In a hotel, one autumn, it was a bit on the chilly side in my room, so I put the storage heater on, and went for a shower. The shower was along the corridor. While in the shower I heard the fire alarm, so I grabbed my towel, and left the bathroom, intending to get some clothes from my room as I went past. But a member of staff stopped me doing that.

So I ended up in the garden trying to cover embarrassment with the towel. Even worse, they discovered that the fire alarm had gone off because of dust catching fire on the storage heater in my room. And for the rest of the week, comments like "I did not recognise you with clothes on"


The other one was when staying in a timber building. At dinner, somehow a paper serviette caught light on the candle. My dining companion decided to put out the flames with the jug of water, unfortunately his aim was not great, and he tipped over the candle and made the flames worse, so the table caught fire.

 

[chirk2000ad]

In student days long gone I used to ride a brakeless shopper that was entirely theft proof. I used to stop it by jamming a german paratrooper boot onto the tyre behind the fork crown. One day I was flying up to college on said bike but was wearing soft desert boots. As I jammed my foot onto the tyre the boot folded and went right into the fork effectively stopping the wheel dead. I went flying over the handlebars much to the amusement of a crowd waiting for a bus!!

 

[Night Train]

Mine would be my grass verge moment. I was pulling over to stop so that I could take my jacket off, as I was getting too warm. I'm quite short of leg, so mostly I slide forward off the saddle to get a foot down, but there was a nice high grass verge, so I pulled up and just put my left foot down, staying in the saddle.


Except, the grass verge wasn't higher than the tarmac after all. It was just long grass. The actual ground was lower than the tarmac. So I put a foot out, lean, lean, keep leaning, and eventually perform a full somersault sideways, and slither into the ditch under the hedge. Result, I'm upside down, still 'on' (or rather under) my bike, feet on the pedals, hands on the handlebars, with the top of my head in a puddle, and my wheels gently spinning.

Thankfully, although I was towards the back of the group I was with, I wasn't right at the back, because I was completely stuck in this ditch, and had to yell for help to get out.

Once I was out, I thought it was hilarious, and I do wish someone had caught it on video. It all happened in that special slo-mo timescale.

I had a friend who did that in a Land Rover. He was doing a three point turn and thought he'd use the verge to save it being a five point turn. The verge wasn't a verge, it was a ditch with long grass in it. He ended up with the Land Rover standing on its rear door.

I did a similar one with my Land Rover. I was on a club treasure hunt and spotted the clue on a stone monument on the other side of the road. I thought I'd stop on the verge and run over to read it. Again it wasn't a verge but a ditch with long grass. I had that 'Oh poo!' moment as the Land Rover slowly laid down on its side. Fortunately my co-driver managed to pull his arm back in the window as we went over.

 

[simon_brooke]

All you young 'uns with your clipless moments. You can't imagine the fun we had in the days of proper cleats and straps, where, once the strap was tightened, you actually could not get your foot out at all without first bending down to release the strap.... Of course, in theory, you released the strap before you had to stop. But if it was only a traffic light, why bother? One can track-stand... except, of course, for the times when one can't.

Yes, I have had strapped-in moments at more traffic lights than I care to remember.

Also, my best ever cycling accident, many years ago. It is stoting down with rain. I am haring down Comiston Road in Edinburgh, trying to get home as fast as possible to get out of the rain. It's a good gradient so I had a fair old roll on. Getting home meant making a sharp left turn into Greenbank Drive. At the junction a large truck is waiting to turn right. So, I leant the bike over into the turn, both tyres let go on the wet road, and I slid gracefully under the truck. The driver got down from his cab (in the pouring rain, bless him) and peered under. 'are you all right there, laddie? he asked. 'Aye, fine,' quoth I. And the remarkable thing was, I was - the road was so slippy that I hadn't hurt myself at all. Broke a pedal off the bike, though.