Awkward moments are rare, but I definitely have one to share. It's an event that occurred this past weekend on campus involving one of my classmates. It was indeed an awkward moment. Enough of the introduction, let me fill you guys in. *wink*
This young man found himself in one of those impromptu interviews where they just pick people randomly and ask them random questions.
An interview that was supposed to be normal turned out to be a really embarrassing one. This particular guy was asked to pronounce the word that is spelt, 'i-s-l-e', and he flopped badly. To everyone's utter amazement, he pronounced it as 'ishé' (a Yoruba word!).
Funny enough, this young man had practically hyped himself as being a Language student of the prestigious department of English, so all expectations were high for him to deliver perfectly.
In minutes, the video had gone viral and as expected, several reactions trailed the epic flop. Viewers' insults and taunts started pouring in. Classmates and fellow course mates saw his flop as an insult, not only to himself, but to the class, department and even the entirety of Great Ife Students. He received the stick from almost every viewer of the video. Infact, he was advised, or rather, warned not to show up in class for his own good. It was probably this guy's most embarrassing situation so far in his life.
When I saw the video, I bent over, laughing hard. It was not only embarrassing, it was also hilarious. The insults must have been unbearable. But surprisingly, this guy came to class the following day, and admist the catcalls, he just grinned at all his mockers.
Away from the jest and fun, I learnt a few things about awkward situations from this guy's scenario, some of which I'd like to share.
First, we have all been there. Okay, it might not have been this bad, but we have all been caught in one embarrassing situation or the other. So, there is nothing new about it. If we would all admit it, we have done some really awkward things that made us look silly, even to ourselves. Personally, I have. I know I have. We should therefore not be so quick to criticise others when they make what appears to be a silly mistake.
Second, we should learn to laugh at our own mistakes, just as my classmate did. We shouldn't take offence when we are facing criticisms. Rather, we should learn from them and avoid such mistakes in the future. When we see humour in our follies, and also face a jeering crowd with smiles, it shows that we are matured emotionally.
Again, we must try to know a bit of everything. This is because at every stage in our lives, the society demands certain knowledge from us. There is no excuse for ignorance. So, we must learn from others, and from our experiences, good or bad.
All said, I still wouldn't want to have such an awkward moment myself. But it gave us a good laugh though. That guy is the most recent celebrity in my class now. It was a blessing in the disguise of an awkward moment.
Akinfenwa Olaitan is a student of the Faculty of Arts and a member of the OAU Peeps News Agency Team.
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