Flashback Friday: Mistakes I've Made
We all have regrets, things we wish we could do over, if only we could just turn back time. I know Cher, for one, agrees with me on that. I know I can think of at least a few things I wish I could take back.
I remember one night, the whole family was driving in the ol' station wagon. It was dark and we were cruising down I-271. As I gazed out the window, I saw the bright lights of an Embassy Suites hotel. I was young, and I felt compelled to read a lot of signs aloud for no reason. I said, to no one in particular, "embassy suites." Only I pronounced it like "suits." I was corrected. "No, no. It sounds like sweets." What a fool, I was! Of course if there's an 'e' at the end of the word, the 'u' becomes a 'w' and the 'i' turns into a long e! Idiot! But at least I learned a valuable lesson that night. Well, I guess it wasn't that valuable. But every time I see an Embassy Suites, I feel a distinct pang of embarassment. Why couldn't I just keep my mouth shut? If only.
A couple years later, I was still suffering from the annoying disease that causes a person to read things out loud for no apparent reason. My brothers were participating in Science Olympiad, a competition which, as I understand it, only lets really cool kids in. I was sitting on the couch, reading the list of events and their descriptions, when I came to the word "organisms." Ignoring a few letters, I said "orgasms." There was a collective giggle from the room. I can only assume that this is why I hate science.
In 4th grade, I made my greatest mistake of all. It was the class spelling bee and it was down to the final few contestants. I was feeling pretty cocky, spelling-wise. And then I got the word "Florida." Simple, right? I thought so. Yes, I remembered the capital F. But for some reason, I thought that Florida had another trick to it. In retrospect, I'm pretty sure I was confusing it with California. I think I got confused because I associated them both with touristy t-shirts bearing smiling neon-colored suns. So I spelled it "F-l-o-r-i-d-i-a." I still really hate myself for this one.
I try not to live in the past, dwelling on mispronounced words and lost spelling bees. Every day is a struggle. But until time travel is perfected, I just have to take comfort in the fact that I won the 5th grade spelling bee. Booya!
I remember one night, the whole family was driving in the ol' station wagon. It was dark and we were cruising down I-271. As I gazed out the window, I saw the bright lights of an Embassy Suites hotel. I was young, and I felt compelled to read a lot of signs aloud for no reason. I said, to no one in particular, "embassy suites." Only I pronounced it like "suits." I was corrected. "No, no. It sounds like sweets." What a fool, I was! Of course if there's an 'e' at the end of the word, the 'u' becomes a 'w' and the 'i' turns into a long e! Idiot! But at least I learned a valuable lesson that night. Well, I guess it wasn't that valuable. But every time I see an Embassy Suites, I feel a distinct pang of embarassment. Why couldn't I just keep my mouth shut? If only.
A couple years later, I was still suffering from the annoying disease that causes a person to read things out loud for no apparent reason. My brothers were participating in Science Olympiad, a competition which, as I understand it, only lets really cool kids in. I was sitting on the couch, reading the list of events and their descriptions, when I came to the word "organisms." Ignoring a few letters, I said "orgasms." There was a collective giggle from the room. I can only assume that this is why I hate science.
In 4th grade, I made my greatest mistake of all. It was the class spelling bee and it was down to the final few contestants. I was feeling pretty cocky, spelling-wise. And then I got the word "Florida." Simple, right? I thought so. Yes, I remembered the capital F. But for some reason, I thought that Florida had another trick to it. In retrospect, I'm pretty sure I was confusing it with California. I think I got confused because I associated them both with touristy t-shirts bearing smiling neon-colored suns. So I spelled it "F-l-o-r-i-d-i-a." I still really hate myself for this one.
I try not to live in the past, dwelling on mispronounced words and lost spelling bees. Every day is a struggle. But until time travel is perfected, I just have to take comfort in the fact that I won the 5th grade spelling bee. Booya!
Labels: pain, regret, self loathing
posted by lady at 3:56 PM
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