Goofs, and Flubs!

Have you ever made a spectacular spectacle of yourself? Ever had a moment of total embarrassment? I have, and I’ve lived to tell the tale. The other night, I was thinking about a doozy of such an embarrassing moment, which I feel brave enough to share:

Many years ago, when I had just started my business, I wasn’t only the CEO of the company—I was also a consultant. One night, I was demonstrating a brand new and exciting product, embossing powder! Because we didn’t have craft heat tools back then I usually showed how to set embossing powder on the hostess’s stove—but this particular night the stove was not the usual electric stove that I was used to working on; the stove was a gas one! I had never practiced embossing powder on a gas stove! Yup, you can guess what happened next: as the embossing powder began to melt and glaze, suddenly, the paper and powder burst into flames right there in my hand. I shrieked and burst into laughter at the craziness of it all.

The entire roomful of customers was stunned and silent, giving each other uncertain glances as I patted out the fire and tried to wave away the smoke. What can I say—I didn’t sell a whole lot of embossing powder that night. They told me they were scared of the stuff. But what might have been a mortifying moment then has become a fond and funny remembrance of the beginning of my business journey. Grateful I am that I was and am able to laugh at myself.

Something similar happened just two years ago, when my shoe slipped away from my foot as I walked onstage at our 2008 Convention—and I fell COMPLETELY ON THE FLOOR on all fours in front of hundreds, and hundreds, and hundreds of people! I tell you, after the shock, I had never jumped up so fast in my entire life. I could even hear on a stagehand’s earpiece, our show producer hollering unmentionables. In the wings, the entire CTMH staff had leapt to their feet, and everyone in the audience gasped. I just wiggled my shoe back onto my foot, went out on stage and made a joke, and on went the show.

These stand-out goofs have reminded me that we are ALL human. We all flub up sometimes. When we laugh about it and go forward we become better people and those who know and love us rally in support … and provide a little gentle teasing, too!
So… what’s your “wonderful whoops,” you’ll always remember? Dare to share your story (and what you learned from it!) before Tuesday, April 20, when I’ll be drawing 10 confessors—er, commenters—at random to receive the brand new Zippidee Workshop on the Go kit from our Summer Idea Book collection. It includes the Zippidee level 2 paper pack, an exclusive new coordinating stamp set, dimensional elements, and new patterns for scrapbook pages and cards. You’ll get this kit even before you can buy it, and with a name like “Zippidee” you know using the kit will be as fun as sharing your fabulous flub!