I would like to apologize in advance if this post offends anyone. It is never my intention to do so.
I’ve had plenty of embarrassing moments but this one tops it off for me. It happened a few years ago and although it is very funny now, I felt so bad then. It occurred at my place of employment. I was at another building speaking with a new hire class about a few of the expectations of their new position. This building housed the companies cable technicians, sales, training rooms, and a few corporate executives. During a break, I headed for the restroom. Everything went smooth 🙂 As I left the stall I saw a very tall individual with short spiked hair. They had on oversized blue jeans and a polo style shirt neatly tucked in. It appeared to be a gentleman washing his hands at the sink. I panicked and darted straight for the door with intentions on washing my hands in the women’s restroom. As I opened the door, I could see the men’s bathroom across the way. I paused and thought, had a guy come into the wrong restroom?!? It wasn’t uncommon, as I had gone into the men’s restroom by mistake before. I turned around and headed back in to wash my hands. I realized at that moment it was a very masculine looking woman. She was a cable technician dressed in their normal attire. I felt terrible. Even worse than that, I had to stand next to her at the sink and wash my hands. I whispered very low…”Sorry,” knowing very well she knew what just happened. I’m sure she saw the shocked look on my face when I came out the stall. She watched me dart towards the door. She knew I thought I was in the wrong restroom. That means she also knew I thought she was a man. I felt so bad and embarrassed that I could have possibly made this woman feel bad. I would never want to do that. After repeating this story to a few people and watching how hard they laughed at me, I figured it may not have been that bad after all. I was able to see a little humor in it after the fact. To this day….I triple check the sign as I go into the restroom. If this ever happens again at least I will know for sure I’m in the correct place.
Johnson Family Workshop 