Dash #254 My Most Embarrassing Moment

          I  may have had other embarrassing moments, but the one that comes to mind involves a two-piece swimsuit when I was 12 to 14 – I think. I can’t remember if Kayla was around yet or not.  If so, I would have been older.

          I had worn the swimsuit only one time and knew it had gone through the wash.  My family was on our way to Lagoon Amusement Park and I went to the laundry room to retrieve my suit.  I was saddened  to see the bottoms had discolored as there had been a bleach spill.  My top, fortunately, had not been bleached.  The bottoms had become an ugly brown resembling soiled diapers.  The top, fortunately, hid the bottoms.  I figured it would be okay to wear them.

this is not the exact suit but does resemble the style

          Until that day, I was unaware how harmful too much bleach can be and how bleach combined with water can make fabric disintegrate – which is what happened in the pool.   I don’t know how soon after I started playing in the water that they disappeared.  I had been in the pool for a while (I think) before I realized that my bottom was bare.

          I remember making my way to the edge of the pool and asking my mom to hand me a towel.

          “They are just right there,” she said pointing to the towels on the nearby ground.

          “I know,” I said, holding the bottom of my suit top so that it wouldn’t float up and expose me more than I already was. “Could you hand me one?”

          Of course mom did not realize until after I had gotten out why I just didn’t lean down to get it myself.  There may have been pieces of fabric floating around in the pool – but not enough to identify as my bottoms.  It certainly could have been a more embarrassing situation.  I remember that I was mortified at the time.  I didn’t find the humor in it until many years later.