D'oh!

(Note: I looked this word (d'oh) up online. I had no idea it was from the Simpsons-- I'm not a Simpsons watcher. Interesting etymology.)

By a series of events recently, I have come to reflect on a few of my biggest "d'oh" moments in the last few years. Now, to be perfectly honest, I have these daily, several times a day. Some junk or stupid gossip or idiot comment just slips out of my mouth (or sometimes out of my keyboard when I'm writing) like vomit. I like that image because 1.) I feel like it's that disgusting sometimes, and 2.) it feels like I can't control myself: I feel the thought fly through my brain and out my mouth and into the air and it sits there taunting me, making me think I probably shouldn't be seen or heard from in public. Ever. But the truth is that I realize the imagery is not fair because I really should control myself and really can control myself, so it's kind of a cop-out.

But, as those are probably the more horrible and embarrassing and wretched of my d'oh moments, I'll just keep those to myself. Here are a few that have been on my mind.

1.) Oh, And You're an Expert on That, Are you?

(this started this whole chain of thought)

So my husband and his friend are MBA students. For a project for their classes, they started this brilliant blog on living frugally as a student family. They then asked that their friends (and demanded that their wives) contribute. I wrote a little piece on shopping thrift because we had an awesome Goodwill experience some months ago. We spent very little for a great deal, and most of it was great quality. My favorite item was not high-class, though; it was simply a pair of jeans. They fit beautifully and they flattered me and they were the style that I like. They were a little worn, but it just added to the comfortable feel of them. I raved about finding my favorite pair of jeans at Goodwill. And then on Monday, I came home from being out and was standing in my bedroom, and noticed that there was a big hole on the inside of the thigh. I fumed to my husband, "Stupid Goodwill pants!" And he just burst out laughing like, How high a standard can you have for Goodwill anyway? kind of laugh. It doesn't really negate all our awesome finds or my post, but, um, it seems to take away a certain credibility.

2.) That Might Need Some Edditting

In college, I studied English language for my major, and editing as my minor. I also determined that I was going to graduate with honors, as in, through the honors program. This required a number of things: reading certain books, watching certain movies, writing certain reviews, taking certain classes, and--the thing I was most concerned about--writing an honors thesis. In the end, my thesis idea was to interview members of the Linguistics and English Language Department on the history and scope of the department, and then I would edit the interviews and compile it together for my thesis. I secured a thesis adviser and got to work with my interviews. This was months of work, mind you. When it was all over and I looked at that beautiful honors book in my hand, I started to read. On the first page, the very first page, of the introduction, there is an error: "will" is misspelled as "with." Now, I'm not really a perfectionist, but in an honors thesis that is supposed to be by an editing student, I was horrified. Not that it's the sort of thing that one would read with enthralling regularity anyway, but I have never read the whole thing through (since receiving the bound copy, that is) because I'm afraid I might find more blaring errors.

(Note: To confirm my memory, I had to go find the error. I realized that four years later, it doesn't bother me as much as it used to, so that's helpful.)

3. Maybe People With Little Knowledge and No Experience Shouldn't Be Too Pig-Headed

In our first church congregation at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after we were married, I was asked to be the "Primary President." This usually involves overseeing all the children ages 18 months to 12 years. So it can be a pretty intense calling. In this ward, when I was first called, all the children were babies except for one, single 2-year-old girl. So my calling was really "Nursery Leader" (the class for 18-month-old to 3-year-old children) for one child. Because so many of the wards had only a few children old enough to be in nursery, the classes were combined so that more children could be together. I can't even remember why, now, but I got it into my head that we shouldn't get together with the other wards. I decided that our one little girl should have her own little class. Our bishop was supportive of me in my calling and he told me to go ahead. Later, he told me that the girl's parents were concerned. They thought that the social interaction with other kids her age would be good for her. In the end, the bishop supported her parents and asked us to return to the way we'd been doing it.

(Note: This isn't the only thing that I felt stubborn about in nursery which were probably wrong; there were quite a few.) And even after we went back, I thought I was in the right and the parents didn't have my vision (whatever that was). Now, several years later, with children of my own, I wish I could apologize for being so stupid and self-righteous and down-right wrong. I am sure they don't remember it or if they do, they probably just roll their eyes about it and smile, but I remember it as a humbling moment when at some point, I realized how silly I'd been about the whole inconsequential episode.

In short...

It's probably best if I never consider myself an expert on anything.

Do you have any d'oh moments worth sharing?