Dear strangers, sorry for entertaining you

I've probably written already about how I appreciate the fact that adulthood strips you of every ounce of pride and dignity, allowing you to quickly forget about humiliating moments and giving you license to laugh raucously (but just inside) at yourself. Maybe I didn't say it exactly like that, because it's overdramatic and pretentious (like me). What I was just trying to say was .. *inhale* ... I'm a big girl now who doesn't mind the occasional embarrassing moment like this or this *exhale*.

As though life decided that it's been a while since my last humbling episode, I tripped in public again yesterday. Except this time, I made sure people would stop and look at me. I had a big lunch and needed some caffeine to survive the rest of the day. I trudged sleepily up the stairs to an adjacent Starbucks (the one right beside the Chili's in Greenhills) and tripped on the last step. For most of the population, this non-event would've gone simply unnoticed BUT:

1. I was wearing noisy plastic slippers (which was probably why I tripped in the first place). 

2. I made a small sound immediately after realizing I was in danger of falling down the stairs ('Eee!') 

3. I kept my balance by holding on to the walls, thus striking a very look-at-me pose, which I held for a few seconds.

So imagine you were one of the unsuspecting Starbucks patrons peacefully enjoying an overpriced drink and a hypercaloric pastry. You hear the loud slap of a plastic slipper hitting the floor and a simultaneous 'Eee!' You turn to look for the source of the sound and see an awkward girl holding the walls with both arms outstretched to the side looking very much like a modern-day female Samson pushing imaginary pillars.

For that minor interruption, I blurted out a loud "Sorry!" and proceeded to the counter. And that was that.

(I realized much later on that I didn't really need the coffee after my little spill. I woke myself, as well as a small unwilling audience, with sheer clumsiness. At least the barista had a wider smile on her face that day. How rude. I said I was sorry!)