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Having a PhD or being a well-known expert in your field doesn’t make you immune to embarrassment. Even the best of us get into awkward situations that make us blush, no matter if we’re rocket scientists by day or brain surgeons by night—we’re all human, after all.

That’s what Twitter user Herne_TheHunter, aka Dean, wanted to show the world by sharing their facepalm-worthy story. Their embarrassing situation inspired other intelligent people to share their own awkward and cringy situations that you’re bound to relate to just like us, dear Pandas. Scroll down, upvote your fave tweets, and share your most embarrassing experiences in the comments.

Bored Panda spoke to Dean about their embarrassing sock incident and went into detail about how best to react to awkward situations. "Did I mention it was a Boba Fett sock? It was a Boba Fett sock…” Read on for the full interview!

Image credits: Herne_TheHunter

Dean is a 39-year-old doctor with two degrees, is a member of a Royal College, and had a sock up their shirt sleeve all morning. This is so relatable that the thread went viral on Twitter, getting over 113k likes and 7.3k retweets and comments.

“I certainly didn’t expect such a big reaction. Most of my tweets get a handful of likes and I’m frankly grateful for that much of a response. I’m not really sure why this one seemed to resonate with people. I’d guess it was because it gave everyone an opportunity to share their own silly oversights/mistakes,” Dean told us.

“Social media can often involve trying to look cool, or woke, or knowledgeable so maybe it was refreshing to be able to present the other side of things for a change?” they wondered about why the thread became so popular.

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“I’m mainly working from home at the moment as most of my job is as a psychotherapist and we’ve been able to switch to remote working during the COVID-19 situation. As such, it was a little unusual for me to have to actually put full work clothes on and pop into the hospital for a bit,” Dean said.

“Clearly, I was out of practice at getting dressed as when I reached for my coffee later on that morning, I felt a strange, furry sensation around my elbow. I had to undo a couple of shirt buttons to retrieve what turned out to be a stray sock (having double-checked all Teams calls had ended). I didn’t actually mention it to anybody at work directly: we’re socially distanced at the moment so I would have had to actively seek them out, which might have felt a bit weird."

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Samantha Lomb
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have lost my phone while it has been in my hand. Looked all over for it. Realized I was holding it

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Dean and everyone else’s stories illustrate that even the mightiest and most accomplished adults who have 200+ IQ and play 5D chess can make blunders. Making mistakes is a part of life, however, it’s also important to know how to react to embarrassing situations.

According to Dean, embarrassment can be tricky to handle. “I immediately thought of a couple of situations that still make me squirm from my past. If it’s something inconsequential, like a sock up your sleeve, then it might be a useful opportunity to remember you’re human and to puncture any pomposity that might have snuck up on you. For more serious or significant situations, I think the best advice I can give would be to talk about it when you feel safe and ready to do so.”

Dean added that he wants to use the opportunity while he has the internet’s attention to do some good in the world and point people towards his friend’s social enterprise that employs survivors of domestic abuse to make flowers out of recycled paper.

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Dave P
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

very patriotic, red and blue sandals and white spots on the pants

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Ristina Nielsen
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Hey, that's "Captain's sandals". Red for portside, green (ok: blue) for starboard ;)

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DforDorothy
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I just wonder..besides the fact they are totally different colours, don't people put aside their shoes/sandals, etc. in pairs in the shoe rack or wherever they keep them???

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Raine Soo
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've done that purposely before. Mind you, I was a teenager at the time.

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Mia Shinbrot
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Were they comfortable? That's what really counts. Saying you like it that way is also a good idea. I know someone who deliberately wears mismatched socks.

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Tricia Flynn
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Wore to dk blue shoes differnt ones 1 heal was marginally higher didnt realize till 3pm

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Celtic Pirate Queen
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I used to do that intentionally with my Converse High Tops in high school. I probably had 20 pairs in all different colors/patterns.

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Imperfekt
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oh, Own it! My granddaughter would happily go her merry way wearing this combo.

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Sharon Attwood
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Funny, I’d bet you have another pair like it (with the colors reversed) at home!

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nancy pearson
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

just being patriotic ~ red, white & blue (& black for black lives matter) day!!!

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Tuesdays Child
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If the shoe fits, buy it in every color. Or if the heel is the same height, it's easy to do this. I know from experience.

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Tuesdays Child
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm known for this. If the shoe fits, buy it in every color. It's easy to do.

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Soo Bogusi
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Are you talking about wearing ugly shoes in error or about 2 different ugly shoes at the same time?

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Shelley Kapach
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The kids are wearing socks that don’t match-these shoes with those socks, would be perfection! High fashion! Lol.

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Ingrid Collender
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That looks so comfy though...say your one foot is bigger than the other.

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Kathryn Jetter
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I would just call it anew style and Ya have another pair at home just the same only opposite

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Mustafa Khan
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Once my younger sister had accidentally wore her brightly colored slides to school while wearing mismatched socks in middle school on gym day.

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Patti
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This may be serious. A coworkers husband actually wore different shoes to work one day, it turned out he had early onset Alzheimer's and eventually had to live away from home

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Edgar Rops
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My late great-grandfather, a heroic wartime submarine commander, once went to a victory day parade in his full dress uniform, fuzzy slippers and an old hat.

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Hara Harding
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How many people actually noticed!! Say you were looking for purple, couldn't find it so mixed red and blue trying to get to purple.

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Jen Sha
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In the morning, waiting for the bus to go to work... A colleague laughed a lot when I send her the photo as the reason why I would be a little late shoes-5f16...122b58.jpg shoes-5f16b54122b58.jpg

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crazy_cat_notAlady
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

it actually looks great. and if i remember correctly, it was the fashion back in 2010 in India.

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Biljana Malesevic
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This usully happens to me with socks, this is another level. You can present it as new fashion, it's how you wear it.

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Suzanne Clark
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

When my daughter was in preschool she made me a necklace out of old thread spools painted in primary colors. She insisted I wear it and i forgot to remove it when I arrived at work. I told everyone it was a custom necklace made by an artist friend...they wanted to place orders for one.

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Ellen Daniels
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I did that just the other day, & didn't notice until evening. Also the same exact shoe, but a different color. People wear different earrings to be "edgy," right? ;-)

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mph seti
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's wise to invest in a daylight balanced LED lightbulb for your bedroom/closet (wherever you keep your clothes and get dressed). Then, you'll be unlikely to mix up dark blues and blacks.

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Dee Hunter
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Aaah, the famous gift mouse. My cat once brought me half a mouse. She kindly left it out on the (dark) balcony. Came home after work, kicked shoes/socks off, went to the balcony for a smoke ...

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El Dee
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have done something similar. I was having a breast lump removed as an outpatient and I arrived in plenty of time, got to the right department and 'checked in' at reception. The receptionist said they had no record of an appointment for me. I knew I was there on the right date/time etc and luckily had the original letter with me to prove it. I showed her the letter, she read it and pointed out I was at the WRONG HOSPITAL. They were very good though, they phoned through and asked them to give me a later appointment so I could travel the 20 miles and be seen that day. What an idiot I am lol!

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El Dee
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Both as stupid as each other, why wouldn't you notice a complete stranger coming in and working for you??

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Kate Yeti
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Coworker of mine once did that with every changing room mirror in our store. 409 instead of Windex. It was a nightmare.

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GirlFriday
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How do you spend 90 minutes on make up? I am a fully formed adult female and when not in quarantine I wear make up daily. I don't know how to make a make-up routine last 90 minutes. Even if I move at a sloth's pace, it would still only 15 minutes.

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