The Face-Palm Reaction

Face-Palm: An action where one places one's hand over one's face so that the face rests in the palm. Usually accompanied by a head shake and/or a groan. This action is generally a result of someone doing something foolish.

Being a Jr/Sr high teacher, I have had my fair share of Face-Palm-worthy moments, most of which involved my male students. One student in particular has caused more face-palms than anybody else. I've been teaching Sean for a little over a year now, and in that time I have face-palmed so many times, I'm surprised I haven't knocked something loose.

Last spring, I lead a trip to Europe, and Sean and one other student - Rachel - were on it. It was a nine day trip, and in that time, I face-palmed approximately 400 times (and I'm pretty sure I'm UNDERestimating that number). Most of the incidents are blurring together, but there are a few memorable ones that will always stand out.

One of Sean's biggest issues was not paying attention while we were walking around. It was bad enough the first couple of days in London, but by the time we made it to Paris, Sean was so distracted, I was threatening to put a child leash on him. If no one stopped him when we got to a red light, he would walk right out into traffic. If there wasn't someone behind him to keep him moving, he would stop in the middle of the street while we were crossing. Now, I understand that he was tired - we all were - but I face-palmed big time when he started sitting down everywhere. On every bench we passed, on the ground when we were waiting in line, and even on the curb when we stopped at a red light. That was a big face-palm moment. For the entire trip, Sean had his backpack with him, and that backpack had a handy little strap on it that I could grab. This came in handy to stop him at red lights, drag him across streets, and hoist him up whenever he sat down.

The mother of all face-palm moments came when we were in the Musee D'Orsay. There was a large sculpture exhibit that we stopped by, and while Rachel and I were looking around, Sean decided to sit down. On a sculpture. Next to the English sign that said "Do Not Sit on the Sculpture". (Double Face-Palm!)

The irony of it is, Sean had his very own face-palm moment when we visited the Eiffel Tower. We took the elevator all the way up and were on the top viewing platform when Rachel (a ballet dancer) decided she wanted an arabesque picture (we had been taking those for her all over London and Paris). We found the least crowded spot and Rachel assumed her pose for the picture. Now, ever since we landed in Europe, men had been checking her out. That evening was no exception. Rachel was wearing a cute little dress (with shorts underneath) and when she went into an arabesque, one guy tried to get a look up her dress. The guy then looked at Sean, smiled and gave him a thumbs-up, as if to say "Way to go Buddy!" This was the first time I saw Sean face-palm.

We all made it back from the trip unharmed, and, thanks to Sean, we have some hilarious stories to share with everyone.

Life Lesson: People are capable of incredibly foolish things, and you can't do anything to stop them. Face-palm in the moment, but you're guaranteed to get a good story out of it.