Flashback Fridays: Oh to be invisible...or at least not so socially awkward

When I was 16, my family moved to Germany for a semester while my dad taught in a study abroad program for his school. At the time I did not appreciate the experience fully. Mostly I just moaned and groaned about how much I missed my friends and made it a point to remind my parents of my sacrifices daily. After a while I started really enjoying myself but I had to keep up my grumpy facade when my parents inquired. While we were there, my brothers and I took classes with the Loyola students and spent a fair amount of time touring the local sites with them. They were all nice to us but I could not help but feel foolish since I was so much younger. One guy in particular, Brad, always made it a point to try to make us feel included. He was an especially funny guy who was liked by everyone. However, I stayed awkwardly aloof, as I did not want him to think I needed a handout.

One evening, we joined the students to see a production of "The Magic Flute" that was going to start soon after our afternoon classes. As soon as our classes were done, all of the students (including my brothers and I) pulled out a change of clothes and took turns getting ready for the big show. This took a fair amount of time because there were so many of us and only two small bathrooms.

After the guys had all finished getting ready, a couple of the sophisticated ladies decided to take over the guys bathroom so that we could make the show in time. I thought this was a great idea and followed after them. However, I felt a little uncomfortable changing with them so I opted to use the lone stall for privacy. While we changed, they chattered away and seemed to have forgotten about me being there at all. So much so, that when they finished changing, they opened the door and told Brad that he could use the men's room to go to the bathroom and in he came. I was horrified!!!

I was hidden in the stall changing so he had no idea that I was there and since I was so shy, I could not think of how to tell him! I was trapped by my own stupidity!!! My anxiety increased when I heard him walk over to a urinal and begin peeing. All rational thinking left and I did the only thing I could think of. I silently collected my things and ran out the door, possibly hoping that my speedy getaway would blur his image of me completely. No such luck. As I struggled getting out of the door, I heard Brad say, "Well, hello there!" in a very surprised and amused voice. In hindsight, I suppose I could have handled that situation a bit differently.