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TIFU by failing to speak Spanish

This happened about an hour ago, I'm coming back from my lunch break.

I hate being disturbed during my walks. I walk for at minimum 30 minutes during a work day while I go find food for lunch. My job is on a college campus, so there are a lot of events, people advocating for a cause, advertising fraternities, etc. But a general notion I think we all understand is that when we have headphones or are looking away from one's direction, do not interact with them.

While walking, I was staring at my phone while listening to music as I was passing one of the buildings for art and music when someone came up to me and asked if I could sign a petition. Now, I don't know what possessed me to do this but instead of trying to be honest, I told the man holding out a flyer "No habla español". That is "I don't speak Spanish." But I realized too late what I said and tried to correct by saying "ingles" for English.

I stuttered and went "I mean ingles". Which only made the problem worse, and I then went "fuck!"

The guy could obviously tell I was lying, and I was just so defeated within a second of me opening my stupid mouth. So I told him I would sign his petition.

He handed me a flyer, and my heart dropped. This was for a cause I actually care about, which is to make owning a domestic possum legal in our state. So not only did I make a fool of myself but I was actively trying to avoid talking to someone. I signed the petition, and went off to get myself food, which now sits beside me as I type.

TL;DR: I pretended to speak Spanish and failed so miserably and realized I should have been more engaged.

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