At the ripe old age of sixteen I purchased a fantastic (if second-hand) DT50 Yamaha Trials motorbike from my older sister and thought I was the Bees Knees in my leather jacket and glistening new blue bike helmet.
A few days after said purchase I was revving noisily through our town when I spotted a gorgeous young biker from the neighbouring village. I braked expertly to a standstill to show off my new pair of wheels and to talk with some considerable experience about changing oil filters etc.
Smiling at me with the deepest green eyes, he asked how it was going and was that a new helmet?
I admitted that it was, but that I was thinking of returning it to the shop as it was very blurry and was obscuring my vision somewhat.
“Well, that could have something to do with this….” he replied with obvious amusement, as he slowly peeled back the protective plastic from the visor (that I should have removed before wearing said helmet and cavorting about on the public highway causing a danger to myself and unsuspecting pedestrians.)
Sheepishly, but with all the panache I could muster, I remounted my wheels,muttered my thanks, turned a deep shade of crimson and headed off home in a cloud of embarrassment and burning rubber (my vision though amazingly clear!).
Needless to say, since that there have been many an embarrassing incident in my life, some too cringing to document. But when we share our disasters with others we are reminded of how funny life can be, of our capacity for foolishness and the joy of looking back on our foibles, knowing they are safely in the past and that is where they are destined to stay.
Revealing past mistakes and embarrassing events is the cause of many a chuckle or even outbursts of hysterical laughter amongst friends and family.
My college friends and I still recall cringingly embarrassing memories of life away from home in our twenties, where we really did push the boat out in our idiocity, our childishness and our cavalier behaviour. We discovered no end to our crazy stunts, all remembered with joy, laughter and huge merriment when we all get together to reminisce.
No matter how old we get, we are still capable of madcap schemes, spectacular failures and horrendous mishaps that could cause shock and disbelief amongst calm and sensible folk.
Is it that the more risks we take, the more fun life becomes, or by merely sticking our necks out and exposing ourselves to losing some dignity that we open up our lives to the unexpected and the possibility of even more joy and laughter?
