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First of all, I am hard to embarrass. But, this has not always been so, especially as a youth-when we all carry (carried) our feelings on our sleeves.

It was in a school dance, as a seventh grader, that my most embarrassing moment came. And, I am still not sure if anyone knew what had happened at the time except for me. I would later, as a senior in high school, tell the story and even the girl involved said she was not aware of it at the time. But, I was inwardly devastated.

She was one of the most sought-after girls in our junior high school, and she liked me! She even got the word to me through the grapevine. I knew she was going to the school sock hop and I was going to meet her there.

Any country boy, or small town boy, of the 1950s could tell you that Juicy Fruit was an essential when girls were around. It gave your breath that wonderful smell that no girl could resist-so we thought.

Anyway, I loaded a couple of sticks in my mouth and went to ask Patricia to dance-a slow dance. I was still not totally confident of my jitterbugging skills at that time. She accepted and we went cheek to cheek to one of Elvis' great hits. I was in a swoon.

I was so excited that I began really chomping on the gum, right next to her ear. Suddenly, the gum began to grow hair! Thoughts were coming hard and fast, but one thing I figured out for sure-I had chewed my gum right into her hair. What was I going to do?

I couldn't remember how long Elvis had been singing, but I knew that time for decision-making was getting short. I weighed my options. I could leave the gum in her hair and wait for someone else to mention it while I crawled into a hole. I could simply tell her that I was sorry but I had chewed my gum into her hair-fat chance of that. Or, I could try to bite it out.

I chose the latter alternative and began biting hair. I wondered what she must have thought of me, but the song was near and end and I had made my move. Before the song had ended, I had bitten through the hair holding the gum and had it back in my mouth-a big, hairy wad of Juicy Fruit.

After asking to be excused for a moment, I went and spit out the offending wad. I had no idea what awaited me back in the gym. Even though it was not mentioned, I was so sure she, and everyone to whom she talked, knew about the incident that I was mortified for the rest of the night.

I kept this to myself for many years, until I had become a young man who was no longer easily embarrassed. Then, in a talk I gave in English class as a senior, with Patricia in the class, I came clean on the whole story.

She said she didn't even remember the incident. I would surely liked to have known that at the time. But, as I didn't know it, it truly was the most embarrassing few minutes of my life.

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