Ever just suddenly cringe over something stupid or embarrassing you’ve done in your life?

[4pickupguy]

The first location of the music store I worked at in the 80s was very cramped. Henry the owner paid someone to install mezzanine/shelves along opposite walls high overhead to store cases, drumsets, cymbal stands etc. One day I am on the step ladder retrieving a cymbal stand when ten feet from the one I am trying to extricate, another hihat stand falls. Before I could say look out! it hits the top of one of the glass store counter display cases full of pedals and accessories. It smashes the top glass and two glass shelves below. The deafening sound of shattering glass seems to last for minutes all in slow motion! Sitting in a guitar stand on top of this display counter was an Aria Pro II Herb Ellis signature model jazz box. Stunning guitar. I watched helplessly as that guitar fell through three panes of shattering glass and guitar pedals in a cacophony of razor sharp shimmering violence. I thought to myself

well, I always wanted to own that guitar…and apparently a display counter.

We carefully, removed the rest of the top glass and gingerly lifted the guitar out. Somehow, despite having fallen through all that flying glass it did not have a single minute scratch on it! Nothing! Some of the pedals did, thankfully it was the used pedal case. I still cringe to this day thinking of that moment.

 

[scelestus]

Nope! Sometimes I feel like I get a sudden, brief reprieve from the constant cringe I feel about things I've done, but mostly I'm mistaken.

 

[bromdenlong]

Cringe? Nah, I usually just wince internally. I should probably switch over to cringing. I could use all that exercise.

Are you referring to that house party back in the 60's when I barfed up this green thing with legs and chased it around trying to stomp it to death?

That reminds me: At the age of 13, I wound up working on an in-class project with a girl named CeCe, who was both gorgeous and just exuded sex from her pores. I was painfully shy and awkward with girls, but Cupid, Aphrodite, Ishtar, and Valentino’s ghost must have teamed up to help me that day. I had the hottest girl in school laughing at all my jokes, flipping her hair, and smiling constantly for about half an hour. I was on the roll of my life.

There was a brief lull in the conversation. She stopped laughing and smiling, shifting to an long, smoldering look. I KNEW this goddess would date me.

An ant ran out of my nose in a widening spiral around my face.

 

[4pickupguy]

Cringe? Nah, I usually just wince internally. I should probably switch over to cringing. I could use all that exercise.


That reminds me: At the age of 13, I wound up working on an in-class project with a girl named CeCe, who was both gorgeous and just exuded sex from her pores. I was painfully shy and awkward with girls, but Cupid, Aphrodite, Ishtar, and Valentino’s ghost must have teamed up to help me that day. I had the hottest girl in school laughing at all my jokes, flipping her hair, and smiling constantly for about half an hour. I was on the roll of my life.

There was a brief lull in the conversation. She stopped laughing and smiling, shifting to an long, smoldering look. I KNEW this goddess would date me.

An ant ran out of my nose in a widening spiral around my face.

Ah, the old insect out of an orifice trick to seal the deal!!

 

[KeithDavies 100]

Loads. Part of life. There's one that does keep coming back to me though.

When I was about 21, I worked in a really violent pub. Astonishingly, I never got attacked in my time there, but the whole time I figured it was bound to happen sooner or later. There weren't any other jobs around, though, so I stayed, and kept my fingers crossed.

The other thing to say is that the culture in the area was a really macho one. You never show weakness, you don't smile at people, you don't show any sort of softness. That goes really against the way I am, but it had been hammered into me a bit throughout my teenage years.

I finished work at the pub one night, sat and had a drink with colleagues for a bit, and then set off to walk the three miles home through the city. It's relatively quiet at that point, but anyone that is still around is potentially part of that violent crowd, so whilst I enjoyed the quiet darkness of the city, any possible encounter was a bit scary.

I found myself walking behind another man of about my age, up ahead. Someone had given me a lift to work that evening on a motorcycle, so I was carrying a crash helmet. It's heft gave it a reassuring quality as a possible weapon, which was nice.

I'd followed this guy for a while. I was walking slightly faster than he was, so I was gradually catching up, and that forced me to slow down a little because I didn't want to get close enough for a possible confrontation.

Eventually, though, he stops and waits. I approached warily, and when I got close, he nodded at my crash helmet and smiled and said "I'll let you go in front if that's okay. That helmet makes me nervous."

It was a straightforward, honest statement, of a kind I had just encountered in that area before. I'm ashamed to say I gave no response, other than to shrug my shoulders, walk past him and continue on my way.

The older me wants to go back and say: "I know, it's a bit scary out here at night. Want to walk together?" Who knows, maybe he was a guitar player and potentially a friend for life. Perhaps a wasted opportunity.

Anyway - there are loads, but that seems to be the one that sticks with me particularly.

 

[beep.click]

i don't cringe; I never make misteaks.

 

[StratDal]

The best ones are in the middle of the night!

 

[Tone Quest]

Yes. But that's all I am going to say.

 

[Toto'sDad]

I once asked a woman how her husband was doing...At her husband's funeral. Not to be outdone by myself, about a year later, I asked her how her husband was doing at a high school luncheon get together. She thought it was a lot funnier the second time around. Well, not too funny, but she didn't shoot me.

 

[TheCheapGuitarist]

Yes.

 

[4pickupguy]

I once asked a woman how her husband was doing...At her husband's funeral. Not to be outdone by myself, about a year later, I asked her how her husband was doing at a high school luncheon get together. She thought it was a lot funnier the second time around. Well, not too funny, but she didn't shoot me.

I since a kinship here. We are DOH!-mates. I think a secret society is in order. Needs a clever name.

 

[Toto'sDad]

I since a kinship here. We are DOH!-mates. I think a secret society is in order. Needs a clever name.

I'm not sure how many would want to join up with us!

 

[NHFlyCaster]

I worked at a place that was 5 companies and this one lady wore the CFO hat for 3 of them. We kind of butted heads because of her style. One day in her office during a talk she decided to pull a sweater off over her head. My head automatically snapped right to attention and she saw it. I didn't say anything. What could I say anyway? Gosh, those things were large!

 

[Toto'sDad]

I'm not sure how many would want to join up with us!

I think it would be kind of fun though, you know like at AA when the guy comes out and says, my name is SoandSo, and I have an alcohol problem. Our gang could come out and say things like, I bumped into my boss, and he fell overboard on a Carnival cruise. Or I was dancing with my sister-in-law at one of those rooftop Holiday Inn affairs and I got her a little too close to the pool, well you COULD reach her with a twenty-foot pool dipper.

 

[Skydog1010]

Yep, not divulging any particulars.

 

[danielreid27]

I used to be a "Leafs" fan here in Toronto..

 

[Knows3Chords]

I used to be a Lions fan here in Detroit.

 

[redhouse_ca]

early in my work career... a work buddy approached me with a new guy worker in tow, my friend say "hey do you remember Linda from the business office" well Linda was uber attractive and I said "do I know Linda? of course who doesn't and then go about making every immature tongue outa my mouth hubahuba pant like a dog gesture going....the 2 of them watched my performance for a bit , then my buddy says "well this is Mike, Linda's husband" .......I says well damn..maybe you coulda opened with that.
Mike and I became great friends and he took every opportunity to remind me of our first meet

Thanks my default mode.

 

[Blackmore Fan]

This is going to be a little deeper than simply responding to what the OP posted--that incident was likely just an accident that many of us might have done. But for any of the rest of us that may struggle with guilt, I have something I'd like to offer.

I do a little bit of teaching at my company. One of the discussions I lead recently was regarding how we free ourselves to live the bigger life we should all be living. The very first rule is this:

"Forgive yourself and others for everything that gives you grief."

Its only by removing guilt (for the wrongs we've done) and anger (for the wrongs others have done to us) that we can clear our minds and move forward to build better lives. Guilt can be a crushing state that can linger for as long as we allow it. It can cause us to subtly but significantly get in the way of our actions...we can sometimes sabotage our own efforts to improve by limiting our preparation, our efforts, the belief that what we are doing now is important and worthwhile.

If any of us are living with things that bring us feelings of guilt, we must realize that the person that was part of those things isn't the same person that we are today. We have a stronger understanding of right and wrong now, and we need to let the past be the past.

The same thing applies to our feelings about the wrongs others have done to us. If we continue to dwell on them, we live in the role of a victim, rather than that of a great person building a great life.

 

[4pickupguy]

This is going to be a little deeper than simply responding to what the OP posted--that incident was likely just an accident that many of us might have done. But for any of the rest of us that may struggle with guilt, I have something I'd like to offer.

I do a little bit of teaching at my company. One of the discussions I lead recently was regarding how we free ourselves to live the bigger life we should all be living. The very first rule is this:

"Forgive yourself and others for everything that gives you grief."

Its only by removing guilt (for the wrongs we've done) and anger (for the wrongs others have done to us) that we can clear our minds and move forward to build better lives. Guilt can be a crushing state that can linger for as long as we allow it. It can cause us to subtly but significantly get in the way of our actions...we can sometimes sabotage our own efforts to improve by limiting our preparation, our efforts, the belief that what we are doing now is important and worthwhile.

If any of us are living with things that bring us feelings of guilt, we must realize that the person that was part of those things isn't the same person that we are today. We have a stronger understanding of right and wrong now, and we need to let the past be the past.

The same thing applies to our feelings about the wrongs others have done to us. If we continue to dwell on them, we live in the role of a victim, rather than that of a great person building a great life.