Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Add Upworthy to your Google News feed.
Google News Button

We all have those memories—the ones that make us shudder with embarrassment even decades later. When we asked our Facebook audience, “What’s a childhood memory that makes you cringe?” the responses poured in. Over 2,400 people shared their most awkward, embarrassing and downright cringeworthy stories. Here are 17 of the best (or worst?) that will remind you just how mortifying childhood could be.

1. The pancake mix incident

Richard W. remembers a simple mistake that turned into a bloody disaster:


"I tried to open a pancake mix box but since I couldn't read, I cut along a dotted line and mix spilled all over. Mom came to spank me, so I put my hands behind my back. She didn't realize I still had the knife in my hand and she spanked IT not me. Blood all over, I screamed for my Dad and he took her to the hospital for stitches."

2. Alan Weeny

Sometimes, names can be tricky. Judy A. shares a grade school gaffe:

"I was in a group of students when I called Alan Sweeney 'Alan Weeny' — I really thought that was his name! The kids all laughed, Alan turned 50 shades of red and the teacher had it in for me the rest of the school year."



3. The pink outfit disaster

Cindy O. still cringes at this high school memory:

"A teacher in high school pointed out the bright pink outfit I was wearing. I already hated it, but I felt like I had to wear it because my parents gave it to me for Christmas. His comment was embarrassing and made it so much worse. I never wore it again."

4. The accidental tattletale

Pearl T. thought she was doing the right thing:

"I ratted on my brother when he stole something on a family outing. I would still do it again because, for me at the time, he was breaking a commandment. He was 5, I was 7 and a devout Catholic little girl. At 76 years old, he still brings it up!"



5. Halloween humiliation

Linda L. recalls a first-grade horror story:

"I didn’t feel good in the morning but went to school for the afternoon Halloween party. My teacher embarrassed me in front of the whole class by pointing out that I missed the morning and asked if I was 'faking it.' I wanted to disappear."

6. The "sprained" ankle

Tracey M. learned that faking it doesn’t always work out:

"Pretending to have sprained my ankle. Had it bandaged, crutches, the whole shebang. Some smart kid asked me all about it and then hit me with, 'I've been watching you all day and you're limping on the wrong leg.'"

7. Terrible tuna substitute

Judy D. doesn’t mince words:

"My mother was going to make tuna salad for lunch one summer day. She was out of tuna so she substituted sardines. All these decades later, my siblings and I still cringe-laugh over it."


8. Accidental exposure

Gabby M. recalls a particularly stressful morning walk to school:

"I was crossing the street holding my book bag, lunch box and so many other things and well my pants fell down the middle of traffic."

9. Choir teacher's critique

Nancy K. let one comment stop her dream:

"My choir teacher in middle school said I could never be a singer and sadly, I believed her. She said I was an alto. As an adult, I took voice lessons and my teacher said I’m a soprano!"

10. The joke that backfired

Teresa T. recalls a moment of childhood innocence gone horribly wrong:

"I heard a joke at school and I repeated it at the dinner table. 'What did Jackie Onassis give Aristotle for Christmas? An erector set.' Obviously, I didn't understand the joke. My father simply said, 'Don't tell that joke anywhere else.' I'm still embarrassed to this day."



11. Bubblegum misunderstanding

Emily B. shares a case of mistaken theft:

"Mom dragged me back to the dime store to return the bubblegum I had 'stolen.' Some lady was handing it out as part of a promo, but Mom didn’t believe me. The clerk was saying, 'Ma’am, we don’t even sell that brand.'"



12. Swimming class shame

Karita D. recounts a gym class nightmare:

"Swimming in high school girls' gym class while the boys were in the gymnasium next to the pool. There was floor-to-ceiling glass, and the boys' gym teacher let them gawk and laugh at us. They made fun of the overweight girls all year."

13. The great bathroom heist

Sarah M. shares a memory that makes all of us cringe:

"Slithering under the bathroom divider at school to get TP from the other stall, then slithering back to my own stall with a wad in my hand. WHAT!?"



14. Ratty hair and middle school woes

Leigh T. shares the pain of early adolescence:

"My entire 5th grade year. I was an early developer and an outcast because of my ratty hair and ugly looks. My former 'friends' decided to talk about me (in front of me) like I wasn’t there."



15. The unforgettable snail incident

JoAnn C. recalls a gooey childhood horror that stayed with her for decades:

"On a steamy hot summer evening with BARE feet...as kids did back then...jumped off my neighbor's front porch to the sidewalk below right on top of a slithering snail. It was gooey between my toes. Ran home in horror where my Mom put my foot in the tub to scrape it off. 75 years later vivid in my mind."

16. Swiss steak sorrow

Joyce Y. remembers a dish that haunts her to this day:

"My mom’s Swiss steak. She was a great cook, but always made this dish when we had company. I hated it but had to eat it."


Whether it was an embarrassing moment, an awkward misunderstanding, or a culinary trauma, these childhood memories prove we all have a cringe story or two tucked away. What’s yours?

More For You

Toddler perfectly mimics angry customer’s meltdown at Walmart and leaves everyone laughing
Representative Cover Image Source: Pexels | Gustavo Fring, Reddit | u/thats-the-tea_sis

Toddler perfectly mimics angry customer’s meltdown at Walmart and leaves everyone laughing

Public meltdowns are nothing new, but when a loud and frustrated customer started yelling in a Walmart, he had no idea that his most unexpected critic was about to mock him to perfection.

Reddit user u/thats-the-tea_sis shared the hilarious story of how her 2-year-old daughter overheard a man throwing a dramatic tantrum in the store—and responded in a way that had everyone struggling to keep a straight face.

Keep ReadingShow less
They asked her what she'd do with no rules. Her answer won Miss Universe.
Generative photo by Canva

They asked her what she'd do with no rules. Her answer won Miss Universe.

Winning Miss Universe requires more than just beauty—poise, intelligence, and the ability to think on your feet all play a role. That was especially true during the 1997 Miss Universe Pageant, when the final round came down to a single question. Miss USA, Brooke Lee, didn’t just answer it—she delivered a response so unexpected and funny that it won her the crown on the spot.'

Keep ReadingShow less
French family mocks woman in an elevator. She shut them down in their own language.
Representative photo by Canva

French family mocks woman in an elevator. She shut them down in their own language.

Speaking multiple languages has its advantages, but for one Vancouver woman, it became the ultimate weapon in a moment of unexpected linguistic revenge.

Reddit user u/Pixel__Detox, a 28-year-old woman living in a high-rise, shared how she overheard a French family openly judging her looks in an elevator—thinking she wouldn’t understand. Instead of reacting immediately, she waited for the perfect mic-drop moment.

Keep ReadingShow less
A rock concert has nothing on this class.

One professor has cracked the code on keeping students engaged. Emo anthems.

Photo by Sebastian Ervi

Chaotic professor screams the same breakup song every time a student falls asleep in class

Once, in my sophomore year, I dozed off in Algebra 2 and caught a hurled eraser to the top of my head for it. It was the last time I fell asleep in class. Or, at least, in that teacher's class. If I'd had a teacher like TikTok superstar Matthew Pittman for that class I wouldn't have dared fall asleep. Not for fear of consequences but because I wouldn't have wanted to miss the show.

When students in Professor Matthew Pittman’s social media and advertising classes at the University of Tennessee nod off or lose focus, he doesn’t get mad—he gets emo. Instead of disrupting his lecture, Pittman sneaks up on the dozing student and bursts into a full-throated emo anthem. With renditions of songs like Blink-182’s I Miss You and Fall Out Boy’s Sugar, We’re Goin Down, Pittman has turned mundane classroom moments into viral gold.

Keep ReadingShow less
Entitled woman steals a man’s seat on a plane so he tricks her in the best way
Representative image via Canva

Entitled woman steals a man’s seat on a plane so he tricks her in the best way

Air travel is stressful enough without entitled passengers making it worse. Whether it's armrest hoggers or seat recliners, there's always someone who makes the journey unpleasant. But one airline passenger took things to another level—flat-out refusing to move from a seat she didn't pay for.

Reddit user u/compile_commit shared the wild story, which involved his cousin flying from Ahmedabad to Kolkata on Indigo Airlines. He had specifically booked an exit row aisle seat and even paid extra for it. However, when he boarded, he found a woman already sitting there, completely unwilling to move.

Keep ReadingShow less