Let's Talk about Embarrassing Situations
Most people can count on 1 hand the embarrassing things that have happened to them. I count weekly; sometimes daily.
Situation #1
I'm at work at the daycare. It's naptime - for the kids, not for me. I'm trying to get a little girl down by rubbing her back. She is not interested in a nap. All of a sudden I feel my nose running but I don't want to get up because it will disturb the kids. Then I realized I was having a nosebleed. I am not talking any nosebleed, when I get one it's like a horror movie.
Well, she's not sleeping yet, so I get up and go running for a paper towel. I am trying not to panic. I am scared because like I said, my nose bleeds very badly, usually without warning. This has to do with my disorder. I have had to go to the emergency room in the past because we couldn't stop it at home. So I had visions of me shooting blood everywhere and being taken by ambulance to the hospital. Luckily that didn't happen. My co-workers didn't freak out as badly as I did. Probably because they work with kids and nosebleeds happen. They help me get it under control but I am freaked out that it will start again. I call home and my dad comes to get me. I was mortified that some of the people at work saw me like that and I was upset that I left. I didn't want anyone to think I was trying to get out of work. When I got home I spoke to one of my co-workers and thanked her for helping me. She said "you don't have to thank me or be embarrassed; we have all had embarrassing things happen to us at work, and believe me your nosebleed was nothing." Then she told me not to feel bad about leaving early, they know I am a hard worker. A lot of people try to get out of work just because and I had a real reason. Whooosh.....do I feel better.
Well, that's how my week started....
Situation #2
It was so beautiful out on Friday that I decided to take some "Amy Time" during my free period before work. The last few weeks I have been feeling confident enough to venture into town to get a sandwich or drink or chips. Freshman, Sophomore and Junior year I didn't really go up town because I was so nervous. This being my Senior year I have decided to just go for it! What I have realized is that I should have been doing this a long time ago. It's not such a big deal. I guess we all do things when we are ready.
On this beautiful Friday I was going to switch it up. No more playing it safe with my BLT for $5.85 at the deli. I wanted Chinese food. If you know me, you know how I feel about General Tsao Chicken. I love it!!! So me and my craving leave the high school and head up the street alone. Let me explain that there are only like 3 places to grab something to eat. We are not talking a huge city street, we are on a small town street. There is a pizzeria, a deli - where I usually go and a Chinese restaurant called "something garden". They are all within 20 feet of each other. While I was walking and daydreaming, I somehow wound up outside of the pizza place. That's when it hit me - I didn't know where the Chinese restaurant was. Uh-oh. That's when I called my mom.
I told my mom I was getting Chinese food for lunch. She thought that was great. She wanted to know who I was with. When I told her no one, she seemed a little surprised but she told me she was impressed. Until I asked her where the Chinese restaurant was located. The other end of the phone was quiet for a second, I thought we got disconnected. What do you mean? How do you not know where you are going? Does anyone even know you left?
Wow! So many questions. I just wanted my mom to point me in the right direction. After a few minutes of me describing where I was standing and reading the signs of the local shops around me, she was able to get me to the restaurant. Thank goodness. She was freaking out because she was home alone, babysitting and thought she was going to have to come and rescue me 20 feet from my high school!!
My mom stayed on the phone with me all the way inside "something garden". I thanked her and said good-bye only she said she was not hanging up until I place my order. You see, one time I went for take-out with my friend and instead of ordering the dinner special, I wound up with enough chicken and rice to feed mywhole family. I didn't know you could order a smaller portioned meal. Not to mention the cost. It was way too much money. This is a good example of why I need to expose myself to new situations. I need to learn that when I order food it shouldn't be such a huge amount if it is only for me and that it shouldn't cost a lot. I don't always get the clues in every day living but I am working hard to understand them. That may be mind blowing to some people that something as simple as ordering lunch by myself could require so much thinking on my part. These things come natural to most people but for me it is an example of how my brain works differently.
So with my mom in one ear I place my lunch order. I am going to use my debit card, for obvious reasons, so I double check with the woman behind the counter to make sure they take credit cards. She tells me what I hear as "fi mo". Is that food? Does she want to know if I want something else? Or is she telling me that they only take a special card? My mom hears my confusion and asks what the woman said. I tell her I don't know and that I think she wants me to put it on new kind of card. The woman is laughing now and so am I . Then it clicked with my mom - $5.00 minimum. I ask if that's right and she laughs, "yes." I start laughing out of embarrassment and apologize to her and say "I am new here." My mom is still on the phone and cracking up because she said it was like listening to a really bad reality show. "Really Amy, you're new here? New to what? The planet?" We both laughed. Now that the hard part was over I would definitely be enjoying my lunch. As I am waiting for my food the timer that a teaching assistant set for me on my phone went off. Crap! The bus for the work program will be leaving soon. I need to take my food to go. I can only hope I find my way back to the school. Remember when I said that I realized I should have been doing this for a long time? Well now I realize something else- maybe they should keep a closer eye on special ed. kids leaving the high school - it's a crazy world out there.
SPECIAL ALERT -WE INTERRUPT THIS STORY TO BRING YOU THIS BREAKING NEWS.......
Another average day at the Maiorano household:
I had just finished reading this last story. Satisfied, I think it is ready to be typed. I am happy.
Feeling a little hungry, I say that I may want lunch soon. Because I had just had eggs and a bagel an hour earlier my mom says "no way - you need to wait." She's trying to keep me from having an eating day - you know the days that you just want to keep eating even though you aren't very hungry? Or is that just me?
Since she was busy in the basement and everyone else was doing their own thing, I decided I could make a sneaky Mac n' Cheese. It only takes 3 minutes in the microwave. I can make it and eat it before anyone walks in. Mac n' Cheese and mini pizzas are my "go to" meals because they are quick and easy to make. So here I am quickly creeping around the kitchen. I am in a good mood because I wrote this morning and that is my favorite thing to do.
Uh - oh, my mom is up from the basement folding clothes in the dining room, my sister came into the living room to watch t.v. I hope no one decides to go into the kitchen. I go into the dining room to talk to my mom. She asks what I am cooking in the kitchen. I confess. I gotta have that Mac n' Cheese! My mom just shakes her head. I go skipping into the kitchen to check on the progress of my delicious masterpiece.
AAAHHHHH!!!!!!!! Orange and blue flames were swirling around the inside of the microwave and huge clouds of smoke were pouring out the sides of it!
SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!
I never yelled fire. I just cursed and yelled, " is that from me???!!" At this point, smoke is making it's way all over the house and my mom wants to make sure I don't open the microwave door. She knocks over the chairs in the dining room and yells to me, "don't open that door!!" Too late. I already did. She found me barely visible in the clouds of smoke in the kitchen. I don't know how a fireball did not explode when I opened it. We were lucky. Now my dad comes running in, he unplugs the appliance and removes the clump of coal that was supposed to be my sneaky treat and threw it in the snow. We had to open every window and set up fans to get rid of the disgusting smell. After everyone calmed down and I stopped shaking, we were discussing a possible lawsuit against the Kraft Food Company (not really), then I remembered. In my hurry, I forgot one very important step in the preparation of my meal - water. I never put the water in. Oops, my bad.
I always thought blah, blah, blah when my mom or dad or grandma told me to be careful, or how important it is to follow directions. I really thought they were over exaggerating, whoa, did I learn something today......I'm going to eat more sandwiches, ha ha ha.
