This memory came up today when I watched my son take second place in his fifth grade spelling bee... My Most Embarrassing Moment from grammar school: It happened at MY spelling bee in fifth grade. I was a great speller. Always was. I studied hundreds of words on the lists... all the hard ones. The day before the Bee they took us in the auditorium and we did a rehearsal. Where to stand. How to wear out number cards. What to do if we got it wrong, etc. They told us they were using practice words that werent on the real Bee--not to worry. I was the very first kid on the left. My turn came and I got the first word. Stood up. Said the word... Nickel... spelled the word... N_I_C_K_L_E, I said. Incorrect. The teacher said it was fine, because this would show us right away what to do if we get the word wrong. SO... take off the number card hanging around my neck. Place the card under my chair. Sit down. Sit until the end of the Bee. It was embarrassing to get such a simple word wrong in the practice session, no less. Anyway, I brushed it off and that night I studied hundreds of the hardest words on our study list. I knew all of them. I took out my dictionary and studied even harder words. I had this. I went to sleep with visions of glory. Next day... the big day... There we all were. In our large, newly built auditorium. It held about 1500 people. I word a new shirt and jacket. The place was packed. I was first. I stood up... Nickel I froze. I panicked. I thought they said they were just test words!?... what the...? el or le... el or le.... le or el?? I stuttered, ... N _ I _ C _ K _ ... er... L ... uh... E? Incorrect. I heard the collective sigh of the audience. My heart throb Ginny was sitting right next to me. My big sisters were in the audience. My neighbors. My best friends. My favorite teacher. God above. I took off my number card, placed it under my chair and sat there for the next hour or three or four--it seemed like a hellish eternity. My skin crawled. My head tried to shrink into my useless body cavity. My stomach turned sour. I was hot. I got dizzy--a few times. My ego was deflated and no where to be found. Nickel. Even today I have to think about it... el or le? Thank God for spell check. And thank God for evolution. My son took second place! (What was YOUR most embarrassing moment in school?)
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 03:47:30 +0000
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