How do you react when you do something truly idiotic?

Smile, laugh, and try to shrug it off. There’s not much else I can do.

look around curiously to see if anyone noticed…then casually stroll off looking up at the ceiling as if to be inspecting the air ducts or something of the sort. If someone noticed to begin with…I’d make eye contact and say something like “I was just curious to see whether this fridge was bolted down to the ground or not…it isn’t”

I went out to dinner with my family during the summer; we had to go by boat since our summer house doesn’t have a road. All dressed up, talking too much and not paying attention, I backed off the restaurant’s dock into 4 feet of warm water. I laughed; everyone else laughed. Why panic or get embarrassed? To err is human.

Laugh my butt off, if it was just minor. Turn beet red and say “Well that was stupid!” out loud to myself if it was something really idiotic.

Not that I do that often, I’m perfect of course ;)

Your announcement made it quite endearing.

I usually just laugh.
That kind of stuff always happens to me.

Kill everyone who witnessed the mishap.

@ Gail: Yes, but to ARR is pirate. I hope that boat was commandeered.

The other day it was a friend’s birthday. I had texted her earlier to tell her happy birthday, but when I was on my way to class, I saw her and called out “Happy birthday Brie!” She turned around and, lo and behold, it was not Brie! I kind of paused then called out “Never mind, you’re not Brie!” and kept walking to my class. I later met the girl and she is very nice and was very amused by my response. :)

Laugh, yell something ridiculous… run along.

I love your exclamation, I would have laughed. Hard.

hahaha, yeah, she and her group of friends thought it was pretty funny too. :P

Emphasize how stupid whatever I did was, and laugh :P. It’s actually quite amusing to do idiotic things (as long as it doesn’t happen too often) – almost as amusing as watching other people do idiotic things ;-)

I normally say “o.k. I’m an idiot”

I ll jsut laugh off. TOday i did something silly as well. I called the wrong person when i was expediting the valves for the project. Apparently there are 2 John Taylor tho the spelling slightly different ( other one Jon Tayler ). And instead of expediting the valve from the supplier, I expedite from my customer !!.. gosh the office jsut laugh.. I was embarassed. project manager came to me telling me off in a funny way. Haha. I just laughed off. And it become a joke for all ppl in the office. Nah… ill just remmeber it and not to do it again !...

I do a lot of clumsy things, usually when my mind is on something else. They typically involve either collisions, sometimes spectacular, or spills. (Not in cars, though: I know my weakness and really focus when I drive.) I guess I usually exclaim “Oh, crap,” unless there’s blood or flames, which might involve a little more language. Those aren’t the things I consider idiotic; those are accidents. The truly idiotic things are the ones I had to work hard at to be that dumb.

Once my husband and I attended a conference held at a lovely, rustic place that had a big fireplace. He went out and bought some Presto logs because we didn’t have much of a supply of wood, and that evening while he was at a meeting I decided to make a fire for us to enjoy together later.

It took a lot of effort, but I managed to get a cozy fire going to welcome him back to the room. “You wouldn’t believe how hard it was to peel the wrapper off that log,” I told him. “I really struggled with it.”

He gave me a long, appraising look, and then asked, “And what did you do with the wrapper after you got it off?”

“Put it in the fire,” I said, like, “of course!” And then stopped.

Whirr. Clunk. Thud.

I laughed hard enough to hurt myself. I still laugh when I think of it.

I do these things frequently. I used to get horribly embarrassed, but as I’ve matured I’ve learned that nothing in life is so serious. Now, I just laugh (though I still blush like crazy)!

I like to think that giving others a chance to feel superior and laugh at my expense is just my small service to humanity.

I’m a VERY clumsy person. I recenty broke my toe because I stubbed it very hard on the bottom of my door. That wasn’t funny. But if it’s something that’s not painful I laugh my arse off. That’s funny you do that poof- that’s something I would do, too. Did scamp see you do it??

lol no we’re in the back corner and this was right in the middle of the office

Clumsy, silly things can turn into some of your fondest memories. My wedding day is a perfect example. It was very small and simple. My little brother, age 5, was the ring bearer and someone forgot to attach the rings to his pillow. well right when he got to the end of the aisle they rolled off the pillow. I was being walked down the aisle by the brother I am the closest too. Well we had to stop and look for the rings. We all were smiling and laughing- when they were found my husband and I looked at each other and said well i guess we can go ahead now. It was only shortly before we married that i learned his legal first name was george. I completely blanked and married anthony george instead of george anthony. he winked at me. Those are some of my favorite memories of that day. Learning to laugh at yourself is a key to a happier life- at least to me. lol

nOrMaLy

When I do something truly stupid, I usually get jittery and my mind goes blank.

Not a good feeling :)

Try to fruitlessly explain myself :D Then I apologize.