BuzzFeed Brazil asked their audience on Facebook for the funniest, weirdest, and most awkward situations they got themselves into because of their own shyness. These are some of the best responses:
1. "I took an AC shower."
"On my first day of high school, I sat underneath the AC unit in class. Once it turned on, water started dripping from it but I was too shy and embarrassed to get up and switch seats. Guess I ended up taking an extra shower that day!" –Evelyn Saint-Clair
2. "I fainted, but I got an A and the whole class cheered."
"When I was in the fifth grade, I had to stand up in front of my whole class and give a geography presentation. I was so nervous that I started to cry and then I fainted. In the end, the teacher gave me and A and the whole class cheered." —Isabela Azenha
3. "I was so awkward that I ended up buying an iPhone I couldn't afford."
"I needed to get a new phone and was shopping around at a few stores in the mall. I went into the Apple store and started checking out the iPhones. I looked at the prices for the phones and thought, "God, that's ludicrous!" I couldn't imagine spending that much on a phone, but then the sales person came over and very politely started pitching me. I kept insisting that I was just browsing, but they wouldn't let up. So, out of nowhere, I said, "I'll take this one." and bought an iPhone that I still use to this day." —Thalisson Vinícius
4. "My boyfriend's friends thought I was mute."
"My first boyfriend used to tell his friends that I was mute. They actually believed I had some kind of disorder because I was so shy that I almost never talked." —Giselle Domingues
5. "I got on the wrong bus, was too embarrassed to get off, and didn't arrived home until four hours later."
"I once boarded the wrong bus and ended up in the wrong part of town. I was so embarrassed and too shy to admit my mistake. I made it all the way to the bus terminal, found the bus back to my side of town, and didn't get home until four hours later. Also, I had just popped out quickly to get my braces adjusted." —Patricia Veras
6. "I made up a story that a boy had peed on me."
"I once peed my pants when I was a kid and was too embarrassed to tell anyone. I went to the principal and told them that a boy had peed on me. The principal was horrified and brought me back to class to find the boy (who didn't actually exist).
When I got home, I told my mom the same story and she also made a big fuss and came to school with me to confront this fictional boy.
Then the school psychologist suggested to my mother that I may have peed my own pants, and was too embarrassed to admit it. From that point on, whenever I asked to use the bathroom, I was allowed to go without question and was the only kid in class who got that kind of VIP status. Lol." —Patricia Veras
7. "She made up a name for me after she couldn't find my file."
"I once went to the dentist and her assistant addressed me as Larissa (not my name, to be clear) several times during a rather long treatment I was having done. I was too mortified to correct her, obv. She only realized my name was actually Lygia when I went to pay and she couldn't find my file, hahaha." —Lygia Figueiredo
8. "I crawled through the legs of a guy who tried to kiss me at a party."
"I was at a party and a guy tried to kiss me, so I crawled through his legs to get away. It's probably worth noting that I am really tall, which made the whole move that much more awkward." —Marina Miron Panciarelli
9. "I looked like the girl from The Exorcist asking for a cough drop."
"I was once catching a ride from the city where I went to college to where my mom's house is (about a five hour drive). The car was full and I was sitting in the middle seat in the back, which is like the worst possible place for a shy person to sit. To make matters worse, I had one of those dry coughs that just makes you cough more once you get going. After coughing a few times, I started to feel embarrassed and decided to hold them in.
I was working so hard to keep them in that I actually started to tear up. Eventually I absolutely had to cough, so it all came out like, 'pfffffffffff, awwwwwwwww!'
The girl sitting next to me offered me some water, but I was too shy to accept it, even though my face was red and I had tears in my eyes. Eventually, I couldn't bear it any longer and had to ask for both the water and a cough drop. I must have looked like that girl from The Exorcist." —Mariana Barbosa
10. "He asked for my phone and I handed him my mobile device."
"An absolutely gorgeous boy that I was crushing on walked me to the subway station one day. As we walked there, all I could do was laugh and nod my head awkwardly. When we reached the station and said goodbye, he asked if he could "get my cell" and I handed him my phone. He laughed and explained that he just wanted my number, but I was so nervous I gave him my mom's number instead. Needless to say, he never called." —Gabriella Marques
11. "I was so nervous that the only thing I could think of was to punch him in the face three times."
"When I was six years old, a boy asked if he could kiss me. I was really shy. I only had a couple friends and that was it. I was so nervous that the only thing I could think to do was punch him in the face three times." —Mariana Rosa
12. "He laughed at me as he drove away and took my 20 bucks with him."
"I liked a guy who was much older than me, but was too shy to say anything. One day I was hanging out with some friends and he pulled up in his car and started chatting with us. My friends all started to leave, and eventually, it was just me, him, and a friend of his.
He was in his car getting ready to leave, and I leaned in to say goodbye. I intentionally dropped a $20 in his car thinking it would give me an excuse to keep talking to him and maybe get into his car with him.
But he just laughed at me as he drove away and took my 20 bucks with him. 😡" —Yoshiyuki Hama
13. "I shit myself so badly that I ended up looking taller in the chair I was sitting in."
"Once as a kid I was sitting on the porch getting some fresh air at a family party. My uncle, who is known for his long-ass stories, showed up and started talking to me. I was too shy to interrupt him, even though I really had to use the bathroom. I held it for as long as I could, but ended up shitting myself so badly that I looked taller in the chair I was sitting in." — Marianna Lobosco
14. "My face was red, I was crying and I yelled at my dad, 'I can't even take a dump in peace!'"
"When I was 13 or 14, I was walking around a mall and needed to take a dump. I left my father mid-sentence and ran straight for the bathroom. But my dad is really dramatic and worries about everything.
I was in the bathroom and heard someone calling my name. When I opened the stall door, I heard my dad ask very desperately if I was sick and if I needed someone to alert security and call an ambulance. I was too shy to respond, so my dad assumed the worst, that I had fainted or something, and started shouting my name. Then EVERYONE IN THE BATHROOM started shouting for me too.
So, with a red face and tears streaming down my face, I yelled, 'I CAN'T EVEN TAKE A DUMP IN PEACE!' I lowered my head and bolted out of the bathroom with everyone staring at me as I went.
It was awful at the time, but I eventually learned to laugh at the whole ordeal. I'm nowhere near that shy these days. 😂" —Daniela Cristina de Farias
15. "I drove 12 miles to the next town over just so I could shower at my mom's house."
"I was traveling with my boyfriend (who at that point I'd only been dating for about a month, so we weren't all that intimate yet) and we staying at a mutual friend's house. I was too embarrassed to use their shower, so I drove my boyfriend's car twelve miles to the next town over where my mom lived just to take a shower." —Fernanda Hecktheuer
This post was translated from Portuguese.