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

My Aunt thought she had her car stolen from a shopping centre park. Reported to police, made an insurance claim, got a new car. Three months later she woke up in the middle of the night realising that she had parked on the other side of the centre from where she usually does. Next day heads to centre and sure enough her car is still sitting there.

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

Took my car to the store, came out and couldn't find my truck. Just about to call the cops when I noticed the slight difference in key fobs.

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

Had a similar problem with my last vehicle, not such a unique color as I thought... Small town, not small enough, and some guy couldn't figure out how to open the lift gate of my car... He had parked right next to me but didn't notice. At least we had a good laugh together.

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Raine Soo
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3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Years ago, I went to a party with a few friends. The driver parked her car in the multi-level garage complex. When the evening was over, and it was time for us to pile back in the car and go home, we couldn't find it. We combed the whole level, and came up with nothing. By now, the driver was in full panic mode, and called security. The guard asked us a few questions, and then suggested that she parked on another level. Sure enough, we found the car on a lower level. I'll assume that the guard sees this quite often.

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

My dad did this exact same thing the day before we were going on a family holiday! Got to the phone and remembered just in time that he'd driven into town and taken the bus home. I will NEVER let him forget it! Pure comic gold.

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

when I was a baby my mum walked with me in the pram down to town, she parked the pram outside the bakers while she shopped, after getting the bus home and my gran asked where I was, she had to rush backto fetch me, people had been feeding me bakery goods when they couldn't find mum (1955)

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

Haha I went to a nightclub and the parking lot was full. I finally found a parking spot. When I went to leave, I couldn't find my car. I seriously thought it had been stolen. I finally located it in the parking lot of the apartments next door. I'm lucky it wasn't towed, as the lot was posted.

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

I've done this, thought my car is missing when I didn't take my all..🙈

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

My sister in law did this. Reported to the police, they blocked all town exits for a few hours... only to realise later that she left it in the supermarket parking lot. Of course she was fined for calling the police unnecessarily.

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Michael Koontz
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3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Im an accountant, grad student, and studying for the cpa exam and ive done that too

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

In big, multi-level car parks (especially in longer-term parking at the airport), I finally learned to use my phone to take pictures for the route back from the terminal.

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

I had a friend who managed to do the same thing. She parked her care in a multi level car park, did her shopping and on returning found her car gone. She reported it and 2 weeks later, whilst again returning from her shopping, discovered her car, exactly where she had left it on the previous occaision. Then she had to remember where she left the new car.....

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

Worst part: his wife and kids were still waiting for him in the car.

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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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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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#30

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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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Note: this post originally had 59 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.

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