….but sometimes we don´t know any better….I am more precisely talking about height.
This month (well until my honeymoon :D), I will be participating in Blogme MAYbe. This wonderful idea is the brainchild of SaraMcClung and is a weekly blog format with an easy schedule to follow. For more information and join the fun (you can at any time!), simply click on the banner created by the super-duper-talented Tracey. On Tuesdays, I am happy to tell you a bit about me…
Sweet memory from Junior High
There was this guy in Junior High who was very popular within our grade. He was funny and nice and cute. Â We were very good friends and laughed a lot. He pretty much “dated” two of my best friends before “rediscovering” me. Nobody said the guy was a total winner. Plus, like a lot of teenagers/people (maybe even dogs?), self-esteem issues are part of the deal with me. My best friend broke up with him because he tried on a new hairdo (remember Zach from Saved By the Bell?). So anyways…
He did the cutest thing when he tried to woo me over: he rode his bike all the way from where he lived to where I lived just to say “hi” and chat for a few minutes. He lived about 5 kilometers away (about 3 miles).
Well it didn´t happen.
Because I got super scared. Because see, he was short and I was tall. I had a nightmare where my giant hand was 5 times as big as his and that everybody would look at us and laugh. Self-conscious a little? He wasn´t but I was terrified.
So nope, nothing happened. I think I had one of my friends tell him…He moved on quite fast.
No matter what the end of that story was though, this memory always makes me smile because even if there were hardships in the romantic department afterwards (and it wasn´t an easy ride), I still had a guy coming all the way on his bike just to see me 😀
So tell me, have you ever let the fear of embarrassment prevent you from doing things?
Elodie Nowodazkij 
Aww, see, that’s really sweet. I have always been tall and I had a thing for a short guy in middle school–but instead of riding his bike to my house, he got embarrassed by my attention and spent all of 8th grade calling me really terrible things every day in math class. D’oh.
That was really adorable and while I felt very self-conscious of my height afterwards, this moment always makes me smile. Sorry that this short guy of yours ended being jerky around you!
Yep. I really liked my best friend’s brother. We spent a summer working together but at the end of it, when he and she showed up for our last paycheck, I choked up. I couldn’t look or talk to him with her around and I regret that moment still today. I think we could’ve been good together, but I was afraid of what her reaction would be. Instead I lost not only him, but my best friend as well.
Awww! Have you ever seen them again? Sorry to hear that you lost your best friend that way!
No. That was the last time I saw both of them. Another so-called friend of mine called me a couple months afterwards (she had moved to their school) and told me that she and the brother spent many afternoons laughing about me. She thought I liked her ex-boyfriend. It was a mess all-around. But, yeah, definitely not some of my finer moments.
So sweet that he biked all the way to see you!
Fear of embarrassment is sort of a constant for me. I guess the older I get, the more I can decide that I don’t care, though.
It was really a high for me at that time and I should have savored it because afterwards it wasn´t all rosy 😀 And good for you to decide not to care about embarrassment, I am getting there as well 😀
That’s really nice, Elodie! Even though it didn’t work out, what a lovely confidence boost that he would take such pains just to see you. 🙂
It was really adorable and it did give me a confidence boost which unfortunately didn´t last that long 😀 I was really not sure of myself at that time… But I always think about this moment and smile 😀
Awww, so cute! Poor guy, and he didn’t even get the girl lol
I did feel very bad about that for weeks! Even now, looking back 😀 but it was quite adorable!
Love this story! Although, how sad that the poor boy got rejected like that. But, I understand that you never meant any harm to him. I’m sure he got over it just fine. You have a remarkably positive way of looking back on the incident. A boy really did come from so far on a bike just to see you in person. How sweet!
And, yes, I’ve avoided too many things in my life due to the fear of embarrassment. I still do that all the time, but I hope I won’t always when it’s something that matters to me very much. I need to stop doing that when it’s something that I could grow and learn from.
Wonderful post!
I felt awful about it for weeks (even now= and he did get over it super fast…(I think he moved on to another of my friends :D)… It is difficult to get over fears and I still have to force myself to do things which I end up loving but that little step to take sometimes look huge!
Aww, that is a sweet story! I was super self-conscious of my height growing up too, especially in middle school. All the boys were shorter than me! Now, though I like being tall. 🙂
Thanks Katy 😀 I felt quite awful about not pulling through at the time (still do in a way). it seems a tad like a missed opportunity, especially as afterwards it wasn´t all rosy at all in that department. But I guess this all made me who I am today 😀 I felt conscious about my height also until high school, basically until guys started to catch up 😀
Such a sweet story. It reminds me of my girlfriend who wore flat shoes at her wedding so she wouldn’t be taller than her future hubby at the altar.
I was painfully shy as a teen. There were so many instances where I choked up and couldn’t talk to that secret crush, both in junior high and high school, and kicked myself for not having the courage to speak up. It wasn’t until I went away to college that I finally realized I had to talk to strangers and cute guys or I would be alone for the next 3 years of my life! Age helps diminish one’s embarrassment somewhat, I suppose. 🙂
I used humor as a way to hide my shyness but it didn’t help to talk to guys 😀 I think you’re right that getting older helps to deal with these feelings but sometimes it’s still hard (luckily, I found a wonderful hubby who helps me with this little anxiety of mine :D)