The Accident

This post will be quite an embarrassing one for me, but it must be done to restore your memory of the event (can't believe you've forgotten this one...). As you mentioned in your earlier post, I was quite the goggle-eyed, short, bowl-haired, and timid first-grader back in our days at HR. It was afternoon on that fateful day. We had just finished lunch and were in the middle of religion class with Ms. Gladsky, and I had to use the ladies' room really badly. (I guess you can figure out where this is going.) I shyly went up to the front of the classroom to ask her amidst a flourish of group activities if I could please use the bathroom. She firmly responded no, saying something to the effect that I should've gone during lunch time. So I dejectedly went back to my seat and sat down squirming. I held it in for the rest of the class.

Then, it was time for Chinese class with Ms. Leung...dun dun dun. As she came into the room, the hustle and bustle of the class died down, and we stood up in silence to greet her and say our afternoon prayers (yes, these were the Catholic school days). And there I was, doing the pee dance in the middle of the prayer while everyone else was reciting Our Father or Hail Mary in drone monotonous first-grade voices. And then...as I was struggling with all my might and saying my own personal prayers so that the universal forces would help me hold it in, pee started to trickle from under my plaid skirt, onto the tiled floor, between my new leather loafers. My face scorched and turned red, and the more I tried to stop the flow, the more it came. I even tried making the puddle less noticeable with my shoes by inconspicuously stomping on it. Not so inconspicuous, as it turned out. At the very end of the prayer, Ms. Leung finally noticed the large puddle underneath where I was standing and was a bit confused at first ("What's that?!"). Then finally emergency action was taken. There were shouts of "Get Maggie here!" throughout the hallways, so I guess someone had to storm into the 8th grade classroom to deliver the awful message: "Your sister just peed her pants." My checkered school jumper, to be more precise. Then the flourish of paper towels and wet napkins and mops. I seem to remember just staring goggle-eyed and quiet at everything, and you accompanying me to the bathroom. (What are older sisters for but to help alleviate such situations?) I don't even remember if you laughed at me...I'm sure there was raucous laughter somewhere. If you remember this event at all, can you please tell me how I managed to live that down?