What is the most embarrassing moment that ever happened to you?

Well, there was this one time in my youth, when I was an Alter-Boy at a Catholic Church.

As we were slowly accompanying the priest up the main isle, towards the Alter, at the opening of mass (while carrying candles), I accidentally stepped on the back lip of the shoe, of the Alter Boy that was walking in front of me.

To my surprise, his shoe actually came completely off of his foot as a result, and was just left sitting in the middle of the isle, as we continued walking.


When it happened, he had turned around to give me a semi-puzzled, semi-WTF?! kind of look, and clearly hesitated, wondering, if he should pause in this solemn/holy moment of sacred Mass, to pick up his shoe and put it back on his foot.

Not knowing what to do, he just kept walking along... sort of limping now, to the alter, in his one lone remaining shoe.


As I was a young teenager at that time, I of course thought this was outstandingly, ABSOLUTELY, knee-slappingly hilarious, and funny.

So almost immediately after it happened, I began visibly chuckling and striving to control my chuckles, and increasingly loud gasps of laughter.


It certainly did NOT help that the church was REALLY packed to the maximum that day with a few hundred people, who were there to mourn the death of a loved one, in a special memorial mass ceremony.


Anyways...

We continued our way to the Alter with the priest, with my fellow Alter Boy limping along with one shoe. We sat down on our respective seats at the Alter, and the more I tried to stifle my chuckles, the more they turned into louder, painful, stomach tightening, bouts of laughter, to the point in which I could hardly breath anymore.

These bouts of laughter were really enhanced when I looked down the middle isle and saw his shoe still sitting there!

I also had a vivid image in my head of the startled "WTF?!" look on his face when it first happened.


I should mention that the priest was a really great and amazing man, who did a lot to help the homeless and needy, and would often take large food baskets to single-Mothers in the neighborhood. So he was a very good priest, and seemed very spiritual and gentle.


But... my laughter was so intense, that even he lost his patience with me at that point... until that moment I had NEVER seen him become angry or irritated with anyone. But as I laughed uncontrollably, he snapped his fingers at me in annoyance, walked over, and told me to settle down, as it was an important Mass for the people gathered that day, who lost a friend/family member.


Of course, I only started laughing harder... and then it is when he kicked me off the alter, by simply asking me to leave.

And so there I went down the isle, practically bent over in hysterics of laughter, as hundreds of people watched me.


To the priest's credit, I heard him announce to the congregation that I was a "good person", and that this was very uncharacteristic of me.

He also then actually called my home afterwards and told my parents he wanted to speak with me, to see what happened... at which point I explained the whole situation, and he then understood.

/r/AskReddit Thread