“Little Purple Backpack and Big Shorts of Laughter”

           

            A little six year old girl has her backpack rip at the end of the school day.  She goes home to tell her mom that she needs a new one.  The next day her mom brings her home a backpack that she bought for her.  The girl looks at the backpack and feels bad telling her mom that “Barney” is not cool anymore in the world of six year olds.  So she goes to school wearing her new purple Barney backpack only to find that she has just committed social suicide.  She sits in her chair holding her new little purple backpack as the students crowd around her desk poking at her and shouting what a baby she is that she still not only watches Barney but wears Barney fashion items as well.

            Embarrassment is having your face turn red, everyone point and laugh at you, and feeling humiliated. Embarrassment is not simply feeling uncomfortable, it is a feeling you get inside your stomach, and it is the sweat that drips down your forehead and it the tightening of your knuckles.  Embarrassment in not just a mental loss of composure but it is also the physical outcome that results. 

            Embarrassment ranges from being humiliated to simply have your cheeks blush and turn rosy.   Whatever the degree of embarrassment you may be caught in, there is not a single person in the universe who embraces this feeling.  Embarrassment is physically uncomfortable and mentally volatile. 

                        Embarrassment is inevitable.  At one point or another, everyone gets embarrassed.  Some people get embarrassed when people make fun of them while others get embarrassed when they are caught red handed, hand in the cookie jar, doing something they should not have been doing.  Embarrassment is unavoidable because it is constantly around us.  It lingers behind us everywhere we go, just waiting for the right moment to pop out at us.

            For someone to be embarrassed they must be caught off guard so they could commit a foolish act.  Once they have done something imprudent, they will then try to cover it up.  That is precisely when it is best to embarrass someone for then they will know that there is now way out for them.      

            People often do not know how to deal with embarrassment.  Some react very contentiously to embarrassment while others have learned to brush it off their shoulders and not let it bother them.  The way one deals in an embarrassing situation is truly a judge of character because that is when their true self is revealed.    

            There are those who take pride in embarrassing others because they feel as if they then in return will be less criticized because people will fear them.  This of course, does not always work in such a coherent pattern.  Whether or not you try to embarrass and put others down has a slim effect of how others embarrass you because people often embarrass others without any spiteful intentions. 

             People who are constantly very tense do not often get embarrassed because they never let their guard down.  People who are constantly at ease and feel comfortable are more likely to do something embarrassing to make the room burst out in laughter. 

            Embarrassment is awkwardness, mortification and shame.  No matter who embarrasses you, where it is, or what caused the embarrassment it is a feeling of wanting to crawl back into your shell and not come out until everyone is done poking and laughing at you.  Embarrassment is a natural occurrence that one must learn to deal with because there is no escaping it.