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Embarrassed?




I was on Twitter earlier this week and someone commented on being embarrassed.




Looking at my life, I started thinking-embarrassed? Maybe it’s my life’s experiences, but I don’t think I’ve been caught red-faced or shamed.




Angry, yes. Disgusted, definitely. Frustrated? Hey, I’m a parent. But not embarrassed.




I know what you’re all thinking; I can “see” it. You’re thinking, “Her memory’s gone, I’m sure she was embarrassed when ‘child’ (fill in the blank with one of the names you’ve heard over the years) decided to break free and get lost in the mall.




Nope. I was frustrated and scared-not embarrassed.




One of you out there is probably thinking back to one of my anecdotes about a certain older person who we’ve been asked not to bring back into any given establishment.




Nope. I was disgusted and angry, not embarrassed. Let’s face it-I didn’t behave poorly and I’m sure, as is the norm, we apologized before, during and after as well as over tipped for the situation.




But embarrassed? Nope. Not a lick.




I did come close once-and now looking back, I’m thinking it was mighty darned close and I’m so glad the place was a tad on the dark side.




It was a very long time ago; I think our kids were maybe 6 and 8. We had family passes that year for Universal Studios, so we’d sometimes go to just see one of the shows. This was one of those times.




As we got into the park, one of the local game shows (The Match Game, with Gene Rayburn) was giving away passes to a taping later that afternoon. We decided that would be fun, if they’d allow the kids in. The crew giving out the tickets called and got the okay and we were off!



We got there; the kids were excited to see how a TV show was actually done. We took our seats. The stage had a few spots on the audience, but we were put in the back so it was pretty dark.



That’s when it happened. Sigh.




The warm-up comedian started asking everyone questions and people were shouting out what they must have thought of as being funny answers and people were giggling.



For whatever reason, the guy suddenly blurts out, “So was anyone here conceived in the back of a cab?”



You know what’s coming, don’t you? Yes, our younger dividend raised his hand and shouted, “I was-do I get a prize?”



The entire room busted up. Steve and I looked over at him and we both grabbed his arm and pulled it down.



Too late, everyone (at least it felt like everyone) turned around and looked. The comedian deadpanned it and said, “Sorry kid, this is a cheap set and I can’t even pay you for the great comeback.”



We hissed through our breath-“What on earth made you say that? What were you thinking?”



Being 6, he was thinking he wanted to win a prize. And NO, he was not created in a cab or any other public place. Let me make sure that part is perfectly clear.



And now, I leave you all to ponder as to whether or not any of you will ever take any of your living genetic material to a taping of a TV show ever, or at least until I get back from visiting our daughter and grandkids.