Falling in love (or, more often, in “like”) is rarely a gracefully-executed endeavor. More often than not, we end up falling all over ourselves in an attempt to look desirable, cool and available (but not too available), and end up crashing and burning spectacularly — some more than others.
Slate’s Nicole Cliffe recently asked her followers to share the most embarrassing stories of the things they’ve done in the name of love. And, spoiler alert: they’re pretty cringe-worthy.
I am very open to hearing the most embarrassing thing you have done for love. https://t.co/kFTLcRvTDT
— Nicole Cliffe (@Nicole_Cliffe) March 19, 2018
While you can’t help but feel embarrassed for these poor folks and their former selves, you also have to admit that it’s somewhat reassuring to hear that everyone is pretty much in the same awkward boat when it comes to matters of the heart.
I do not know why it’s so cathartic to see OTHER people admit their humiliations for the sake of love, but by golly it sure is.
— Nicole Cliffe (@Nicole_Cliffe) March 19, 2018
Let’s take a gander at some of the more entertaining and priceless responses, shall we?
21.
The one that haunts me is the time in high school I invited my crush over for a “movie night” and totally let him believe that there would be other people there when I hadn’t invited anyone. It was very transparent and we didn’t even make out
— Andie Biagini (@andieinitaly) March 19, 2018
20.
i officiated his playground wedding to my best friend
— Caroline Framke (@carolineframke) March 19, 2018
19.
God SO MANY but maybe number one is just my teen crush who would regularly ask me to babysit his little brother for him so he could go on dates with other girls and I always did it because I thought… being reliable??… was a thing a 16 year old boy would grow to love???????
— Summer Anne Burton (@summeranne) March 19, 2018
18.
Brought a boom box to school and played a Debbie Gibson song for a boy years before Say Anything came out.
— Maris Kreizman (@mariskreizman) March 19, 2018
17.
I burned a CD for a guy I liked in high school with all his favourite songs and he gave it to another girl as a gift. ??♀️
— Nicole Barbosa (@NicoleBarbosaPR) March 19, 2018
16.
I went to a department store, got full make up done by one of the makeup artists and went to my then girlfriend’s house to show her because she always nagged me about making more of an effort and I wanted to surprise her and she critiqued my make up while I stood on her porch.
— roxane gay (@rgay) March 20, 2018
15.
in 6th grade i had a crush on a boy so i tried to Woo Him by dressing Exactly Like Him (??? god i was so trans) & then, when that didn’t work, I sent him a locker note “do u ❤ me? check yes or no” Y’all his friends found it first & the entire lunch room laughed at me
— Mickey (@beevhumbug) March 19, 2018
14.
Ummmmm I was broken up with in his mom’s kitchen after he BROUGHT ME HOME TO MEET HIS FAMILY for the first time ? and then I kept…doing the dishes … because i thought it would make him see I was useful … ??????
— Caro (@socarolinesays) March 19, 2018
13.
*reads thread*
Wait, so I’m the only one who ran down an icy, snowy street late at night – barefoot and in my underwear – and jumped on the hood of his car to keep him from leaving after a fight?
Clearly you people don’t know from truly embarrassing love ?
— Leah McElrath ? (@leahmcelrath) March 19, 2018
12.
Wanted to deliver a cup of hot tea to friend/crush’s dorm because I heard they were sick. Found them asleep, so decided to army crawl across the floor so I wouldn’t be in line of sight if they woke. Spilled tea on myself. Shouted, woke them up & was caught. Now together 11 years.
— Tara Dolan (@TaraEDolan) March 19, 2018
11.
After watching Titanic with my 17-year old boyfriend, I wrote him a letter describing how our love was also eternal like Jack and Rose’s, and I looked forward to being with him in the afterlife.
— El Bee (@lucydances) March 19, 2018
10.
To this day the only song I can play on guitar is “Hero” by Enrique Iglesias, and that’s because in college I taught myself so that I could “surprise” my girlfriend by sneaking into her dorm room and WAKING HER UP with it. She had three roommates.
— Burton Phillips (@burtonphillips) March 19, 2018