The Dream That Fooled Me Every Night // LOH 295

Getting embarrassed isn't a situation anyone wants to find themselves in, and that's because embarrassing situations can be annoying, and depending on what the situation is all about, it could ruin it and tarnish one's reputation. However, despite how annoying embarrassing situations can be, we can't disregard the fact that some embarrassing situations can be simple and something that could even cause everyone to laugh, including yourself, who's the victim of the embarrassment. Take, for instance, someone slipping and falling into mud during the rainy season and their clothes getting soaked and dirty in front of their friends; this can be seen as a funny thing even though it's embarrassing. Below I'll share one of the most embarrassing situations that still gets me laughing, especially now that the situation happened more than 30 years ago.

Like I said, I've been in a few embarrassing situations before, some I believe are even far worse than the one I'll be sharing today. Some of the embarrassing situations I find myself in that I'd be sharing happen during my primary school days, basically elementary school days. Through that period I was obviously very young and playful. And probably due to that playfulness, I had a very bad habit that happened to me every night for almost all of my primary school days, and that habit is bedwetting. Even though I was in my primary school till I was 11, I still wet the bed every single day. It's not like it's something I love doing, but then no matter how hard I try, I just wake up to see my clothes soaked with my urine.

As if bedwetting isn't embarrassing enough, to prevent me from bedwetting, my parents will try everything they can to prevent me from bedwetting. One of the things they regularly do is constantly wake me up in the middle of the night to urinate, but the funny thing is that no matter how many times they tell me to urinate, I'll just keep replying with "hmmm." When they call my name, Victor, I'd respond, but when they tell me to urinate, I won't. What makes it more funny and embarrassing is how I'm told to urinate in our language and how the entire neighborhood, including my age mate, turns it into a rhyme to mock me. Since my name is Victor, they'll say, "Victor to" (meaning "Victor urinate"), but I won't no matter what they do because I'm carried away by sleeping, but immediately they lift their hands up or a cane to beat me; I'll immediately shield myself with my hand, making it seem like I was intentionally not responding to their words asking me to urinate.

What makes it embarrassing is how the neighbors, especially my age mate, turn it to a mockery song/rhythm to mock me. All of these back them makes me embarrassed and ashamed to walk on the street, and so I made up my mind to make sure I never bed wet again. But that didn't end well because when I'm sleeping and feeling like urinating, I'll see myself stand up and go to the toilet to urinate, but when I wake up in the morning, I'll realize I never stood up to go and urinate but had been dreaming that I did. All of these were embarrassing yet funny experiences.

Although it was something that happened years ago, I was made to remember it recently when my wife gave birth to our precious daughter and I was complaining to my mom, who came to help us out, that our daughter urinates a lot; she instantly reminded me of how I was notorious for bedwetting as a child myself and even earned a name for myself by the neighbors, who simply called me "Victor to" (meaning "Victor urinates") anytime they saw me, because that's the sound they heard every day each time my parents were trying to make sure I didn't bed wet.

It was an embarrassing situation, but looking back I can't help but laugh at myself for being a bedwetter who doesn't hear when he's being told to urinate, but someone miraculously sees when a cane is being lifted to make me urinate in the appropriate place.

Here's my entry for the Ladies of Hive's 295 weeks' writing contest.

If you'd like to participate, click here.

All photos are mine.