EMBARASSING MOMENTS...

...yes, we've all had embarassing moments, and i've had my fair share as well. the other day i was thinking about carpooling with my friend Lindsay who teaches ESL at our school, then i started thinking about all the language barriers they must deal with, and then my mind wandered back to a terrible miscommunication with a woman from south africa and how it ended in a majorly embarassing moment.

i was in college and working at formative years day care. i got to know many of the families well, and even babysat for a few. there was one family in particular that i babysat for frequently, they hooked me up with friends of theirs and i also babysat their daughter. all of the parents were ISU employees, and the one mother was in charge of this "friends of foreign families" (something like that) committee. they were having a big celebration/meeting type thing and were offering free childcare. (this is the part where i enter) the first family knew that i performed spartan cheerleaders at comedy clubs, etc. and must have shared that with the foreign family. (who apparently didn't really get what i did) the foreign mother asked if i could come and do the childcare and they would pay me. (um, $$ in college-- yes, please) i agreed to do it.

we (foreign mom) and i continued to talk, and before i knew it there was talk of a rainbow fro wig, a painted face, and balloons. WHAT!?! apparently, i agreed to be a clown. now, there is no shame in being a clown, but honestly... it's not what i'm about. it's one thing to look like an idiot when there is someone else sharing your fun, but when it's just you- well, it's just you. i went to goodwill and got some freakin ugly striped pants, and a pair of suspenders. i put on some crazy shoes i had, and wore a wig. (it wasn't clown/freak wig, but a cute red bob that i bought in new zealand-- that's another story) i just couldn't paint my face, that white always makes your teeth look yellow anyway.

i got to the memorial union (at ISU) with my bunch of balloons, and my ridiculous outfit. i wanted to crawl in a hole, i wasn't getting paid enough to be put through this. oh, and it just so happens that there is a business fair going on that day at the union, too. so there are hords of people there. i found the room where i was supposed to be, and realized that i was going to be at the back of the room where this awards ceremony was going on. i don't know what they were thinking because it's really hard to entertain 15 children under the age of 6 in a silent room. to make matters worse, the newspaper was there and i panicked and prayed they didn't see any cute kids that they wanted to snap a pic for a local paper.

well, things got a little better. they ended up relocating us into an adjoining room, so that i could actually do some games with the kids. the quiet game lost its luster in about 30 seconds. i did get paid. and i can say that i unknowingly agreed to be a clown in college.

THIS IS NOT A PICTURE OF ME, I REPEAT... THIS IS NOT A PICTURE OF ME!! : )