Skip to main content

TIFU by accidentally congratulating an NBA player on the loss of their child.

(This happened many years ago, but I've never shared the story, and of course I won't share personal details nor are they important to the story).

I was excited one morning to see that a fellow parent (and NBA player) of our preschool was at morning drop off. It was a rare occasion to see them or have a chat as their wife was almost always present instead. They were always a very friendly family and we had a healthy casual acquaintance that often brought short conversations in passing.

As I greeted him I suddenly remembered that I hadn't seen him since hearing the big news of their newest child being born.

ME: Hey ____! Congratulations!

THEM: (Nods with that obligatory pulled back smile we all know)

ME: (thinking: something seems off. Maybe I wasn't specific enough) So happy for you guys. Do...

TEACHER: (Interrupting me and whispers into my ear) Hey, they lost.

My eyes go wide. That crazy sinking feeling hits me and I freeze. They check into attendance as I turn to the teacher with a look of terror and embarrassment and the teacher, with a look of you-sad-stupid-donkey whispers to me,

TEACHER: They lost it last night.

A physical reaction takes over, my eyes fill up, and I fight to keep my voice as stable as possible. I turn back to them,

ME: I'm so sorry. I'm. I'm so so sorry.

THEM: Thanks. (Nods with that small obligatory smile again, and begins walking away.)

I turn back to the teacher grasping my forehead.

TEACHER: Are you ok? (with a confused look, insinuating that I may be overreacting).

ME: ...I can't believe I just congratulated him.

TEACHER: Haha. That's ok. I think he's just pretty sad.

ME: Well, I would THINK so!

TEACHER: Well, they did get pretty far, but that game last night was the end of the playoffs for them.

...

At this moment I experience a sensation that could be best described as a mental explosion. And I am currently sitting in a tangled mess of misunderstanding. I have completely neglected the NBA playoffs, had no idea about the game, am completely off the hook for my blunder... and most importantly realized that their new baby is perfectly fine.

ME: (with tears on my cheeks) So, they didn't lose their baby?

TEACHER: What?! ... No!

ME: ...

TEACHER: Oh my god...

ME: (crashing back to reality. Sobbing while laughing somehow, I squeezed out the words) I'M NEVER TALKING AGAIN!

TL:DR I congratulated someone for their new baby, was told that the baby was lost the night before, completely mortified and apologized, then realized the baby was fine and it was actually the basketball playoff that was lost. Emotional whiplash.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

TIFU - Don’t do what I did

On Sunday morning Aug. 24th, I awoke to discover a large blind spot in my right eye, which turned out to be what is called wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD). It has resulted in a very significant, permanent loss of vision in that eye. Although I maintain good peripheral vision, whatever I focus on at best is very blurry, and mostly disappears. I can barely make out the large E at the top of the eye chart. If this happens to my left eye I’ll be unable to read or drive. It turns out that I missed the opportunity that I had to prevent this from becoming a serious problem because I failed to report what appeared to be minor changes in my vision. In the weeks prior to August I had noticed that what I knew to be straight lines appeared to my right eye to have a little waviness. I also noticed that the color of my front lawn, which I could see through the window from my recliner,  was subdued, looked almost gray, in my right eye. So I scheduled an eye exam, which revealed the p...
Post a Comment
Read more

TIFU by getting suspended for 2 days by my front office in school.

I (13M) am an African American student at Jeannette junior high who had got suspended for 2 days here. I was in math class minding my business until my teacher had told me to go to the main office, which posed no problem to me. As i went down there, the people of the front office had stopped me and made me get a new ID (yes, we have id's.) so i had asked them if i could maybe do a different alternative and call my mother to let her bring the Id here, even then, the Id isn't that important. So, although i was talking to them in a calm manner and not showing any signs of rebellion, they had threatened to call the police on me without thinking twice before calling my parents. This is where i started getting angry, and even then now the black peers agree that could have been a racially motivated action. They then told me to sit in the office conference room because of that, leading into more anger. They had then called my mother who had came over to the school didn't even let ...
Post a Comment
Read more

TIFU by putting my already skinny jeans in the dryer on high heat.

TL;DR: Was stupid and didn't realize I put my clothes on extra high heat in the dryer. Had to rock skintight skinny jeans all day with tighty whities (only clean pair I had since I procrastinate doing laundry like crazy). I guess the constant wedgies and squishing are punishment for my stupidity. Honestly don’t know who else to blame but myself for this. I’m a scatterbrained guy so I literally put the highest setting on a load with most of my clothes, and my skinny jeans that I was planning to wear today. You can probably already see where this is going, but somehow I didn’t. For context, these jeans were already pushing the limits of what could reasonably be called wearable. They fit, technically, but only in the sense that I could get them on with enough determination and a bit of strategic breathing. Sitting down in them was more of a commitment than a casual action. Still, they looked good, and I had convinced myself that discomfort was just part of the aesthetic. So this m...
Post a Comment
Read more