"Oh No She Didn't!"

So have you ever had one of those moments when you are watching someones most embarrassing moment of their lives and you think "Wow, I'm really glad I'm not him/her!"? Have you ever been the him/her that people are referring to in their thoughts as they are mentally cringing as they are watching the worst possible moment play out before them?

That was me once...long ago while I was young and oh so naive. Yes, naive...because I had never been subject to the "Wow, I'm really glad I'm not her". Ahh, I remember those days....to be naive again...sigh.

OK, sorry...I digress.

Well, I never intended to make this public but last night as I was remembering this moment (and cringing the whole while), I decided I was going to blog about it. Next I will tell you about my friend and her unnatural fear of frogs; but tonight I will take you along with me while I re-live my horror.

Back in 2001 I up and decided to move to NC to work at Duke. The weekend before I left, I went to Huntsville, TX (which is about 2 hours from where I live- give or take) to go party with my best friend Tiff. There was a club there called Shenanigans that had a 2 clubs within. There was a Country side and then there was the "club" club side, that had all of the dance music.

Tiff and I were on the Country side that woeful night that I had my moment...We were dancing and having a blast, without a care in the world. Oh yes, those were the days. Now, the neat thing about this club was that it had a shadow box that people could dance in. It was lit from inside; and while you were dancing, the people on the outside only saw your shadow. What a neat little concept, right? I thought so too.

Kid Rock has a song called "Cowboy" that the DJ decided to play at just the right time. My 20 something self decided that I needed to dance the song away in the shadow box. Tiff didn't see it that way at all, and decided to stay on the dance floor. All by my lonesome I went. Right into the shadow box. Never would my life be the same. So, there I was- dancing to "Cowboy" and thinking I was all that. I did some neat little things in with my arms that I was sure was making me look so cool to the people outside of the shadow box. Out of the blue- the song stopped. There was no warning, it just quit cold turkey. I stopped dancing too, curious as to why the music would stop mid-song. Something must be wrong with the CD, yes, that was it! All of a sudden, the DJ comes over the mic and I hear "What the F is that in the shadow box!?" It took a moment for it to register that he was actually talking about me... I was still by then and he continued "It looks like a blob or the abominable snowman!" Now right here I need to interject to say that even though Huntsville is a college town, it's out in the country. Because of that, there are not many clubs around so this place was packed. Packed I say! People start laughing. Rolling actually. I was totally mortified, and could feel my cheeks burning. See, the DJ didn't just start the music up again, he went on and on and on. Tempting me to step outside of the shadow box so that everyone could see the form that was inside. What went on for a few minutes felt like a lifetime.

Apparently, the closer you get to the front of the wall of the shadow box, the more it distorts your form. I must have been really close! Now, the DJ finally had mercy on my soul and started the music back. At this point, there was no way that I was leaving that shadow box, so I just stayed...praying that Tiff would come get me. She didn't. Finally a group of about 5 people climbed in and I remember a girl saying to me "OH MY GOD! I bet you are so embarrassed!" Little did she know, I was beyond embarrassed. But, about 5 minutes later I got my chance to leave that prison. I left in the middle of their group as they were getting out. See, that way no one knew who it was that was the blob during "Cowboy". I was able to save face. Until I saw my friend Tiff, sitting in the corner...laughing until tears were coming out of her eyes. She informed me that there was no way she was going in there after that, I was on my own...that's why she didn't come save me.

That has been about 7 years and I must say--I still blush when I remember.