Embarrassment is

Embarrassment is . . .

“What did you do today?”  My friend Elaine asked me.
“You don’t really want to know, or better said, I’d really rather you didn’t know.” I replied in a disgruntled voice.  “This was one of the most embarrassing days of my life.  But I have a small child, a girl, to thank for ending the ordeal.”

“It sounds pretty uncomfortable.  Wanna talk about it?”

“I spent the morning at the mall shopping in my favorite haunts and window shopping in the expensive ones!  Once in a while, I enjoy that solitary kind of thing especially when I find an extra $25 left in my checking account at the end of the month.  (Yes, I really do run that close to the wire).”

Elaine looked surprised.  “I had no idea you ever did that.”

“There are probably lots of things about me you don’t know.  So, after all that walking about and stopping, of course, for a latte at Starbucks, you know where I needed to head before starting home?”

“The ladies room, naturally.”

“My dear Elaine, you are a mind reader.”  I smiled indicating I was feeling better.

“So there I was in the ladies room doing my thing, minding my own business, and feeling proud of myself for NOT buying the sandals that were calling out to me.  I did the usual toileting routine, exited the stall, washed my hands, and left the ladies room.”

“That was embarrassing?”

“No, Elaine,” I said impatiently, “as far as I’m concerned there’s nothing embarrassing about taking Nature’s call and dealing with it.  The embarrassing part came later.”

“Sorry to second guess you.”  Elaine looked chagrined.

“So I started down the mall toward the parking garage.  Ordinarily I pay little attention to other shoppers or what they are doing.  However, this time it felt different somehow.”

“And that would be because…”

“Because I felt like everyone was looking at me and some were even snuffling, laughing aloud, or giggling.  I tried subtly to look myself over but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary so I kept walking.”

“A reasonable response,” Elaine muttered.

“I was almost to the elevator for the parking garage when a little girl, probably about 3 or 4 years old dashed away from the adult with her, her mother I presumed, and came rushing over to me. 
She grabbed my hand and smiled. Then she said kindly:”

“Lady, do you know you’re dragging toilet paper on your shoe and that your skirt is caught up in the back?”

“Of course I didn’t know that!!  But that, obviously, was what the snickering and staring was about.  Meanwhile the child’s mother came dashing over and begin stammering an apology for the behavior of her little girl.”

“I told the woman there was no need to apologize.  On the contrary, I found her child to be quite polite and amazingly brave to confront an adult she did not know to relay that important information.  I leaned down to the child who continued to hold my hand and thanked her for telling me.  I told her I was embarrassed and sorry she had seen the problem but indicated that it was good of her to tell me so nicely rather than to look away or giggle.”

Her eyes grew big.  “My mommy tells me it’s always best to tell the truth and I knew you would want to know about your skirt and the toilet paper because, if that happened to me, I would want to know.”

“You are right about that, Little One.  The child is wise beyond her years,” I told the girl’s mother.

“So what did you do next?”  Elaine was alert now.

“I stepped in front of the elevator with my back to the door.  I pulled my skirt down and then scuffed off the toilet paper I’d been dragging.  I felt weird just leaving it in a heap on the floor so I took out a tissue from my purse, scooped it up, and put the whole bunch in the garbage container nearby.  Problem solved.”

“Wow, from the mouth of a child!  Pretty amazing!”

“I thought so too,” I replied.  “And I even managed to exit the mall with some semblance of dignity.  I hope that child goes far!!”

“She will, I’m sure,” Elaine said.  “Kids who are that observant and kind at such an early age are bound for great things.”

“I hope so.  After all, an embarrassment is. . .well, an embarrassment but she was able to soften if for me.  God Bless!!’


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