Have you ever had to stand up and do a presentation and have things go awry, say something you shouldn’t have or fall over in front of a large group of people? We all have embarrassing moments; some can merely make us slightly self conscious whereas others can be mortifying.

Personally I can reel off a whole list of embarrassing moments, from public humiliation to clumsy mishaps! A particular highlight is being hit in the head with a conker and promptly falling on the floor – with a whole field of people to watch and another being tripping over a hole in the ground and dropping all of my bags everywhere. Falling over and other minor accidents can, for many people, perhaps the friends of said person, be hilarious and most people will be able to laugh off these types of calamities and they can then be forgotten.

However it tends to be the ‘public humiliation’ that sticks in your mind and have more of a lasting effect. Schools a minefield of embarrassing events to be dodged! From teachers picking on you to simply talking to a guy you like, you always have to be looking out for the next potentially awkward event! In my five years of high school, I certainly racked up many!

As a young, awkward and painfully shy thirteen year old I can remember my teachers constantly picking on me as I would never contribute during lessons. But this would instantly make me blush a bright red and once I could feel my cheeks getting hot and became aware of it, this would make me even more embarrassed and thus become even redder and this was all before I had even asked the question! I remember one teacher who took particular joy in ‘nuking me’ as he so delightfully put it.

These days the blushing has become less frequent but the embarrassing moments haven’t and like most people if there is some sort of social catastrophe I dwell on it for hours, maybe days, even though everyone else will have forgotten that it even happened. Replaying the event is a particularly painful way to remember what an idiot or clumsy buffoon you were!

So what are some of your embarrassing memories? From walking in on someone in the bathroom to wetting yourself in the first grade, we all have them, so spill . . .