Scarred for Life!
I've written a bit over the last couple of days about how much I hate fancy dress. I have, with the help of the V-man, worked out why.

Summer, 1986. I had been in a terrible mood for the whole season, as my Mother had been slack and not been able to get me in to Cubs. My cousin, spoiled little git that he was, was already in the pack, which only exacerbated my woes.

We lived in the middle of nowhere and, bizarrely, my cousin was also my next door neighbour (albeit his house was half a mile away). He was my only regular playmate during those long summer months, and he'd buggered off to Cub Camp leaving me on my lonesome.

And then the fateful day came. My Mum knew the Cub Leader, and he rang up to say they were having a party on the last night, and it would be fancy dress. Did I want to go?

OF COURSE I DID! I bounced around the house for days, dreaming up bigger and bigger ideas for my costume. My costume would be so awesome, so brilliant that they would have to let me in Cubs. I would be Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots. Mum promised she'd make the costume, and all was well in the world.

Except for one fatal flaw. Mum has no artistic talent whatever (if I'd have known this in 1986, we wouldn't be where we are today). On the day of leaving, I excitedly asked her where my Prime costume was.

"Ah. Er..." was her reply.

Five minutes later, I was in my costume, if I dare call it that. She had put me in an upside down bin bag, with holes for my head and arms, and sent me to the party as 'Darth Vader'.

I looked like what I was. A small blonde child in a bin bag. I can still hear the laughter of the other children, and now understand why I wasn't allowed in Cubs.

So there it is. What embarrassments have you had to grow up with that have ultimately shaped your adult opinions?
( Devil_In_Tights the *real* DiT!, Fri 31 Oct 2008, 10:48, 6 replies, latest was 16 years ago)

I flashed a pre-pubescent nipple once when I was about 8.
This is why I never wear low-cut tops.
( girlinthehole, Fri 31 Oct 2008, 10:52, Reply)

@ DiT
That made me giggle!

Scarred for life you say?

My folks took me in a chamber of horrors on Llandudno pier in 1987. I got scared, shut my eyes tight, and told my dad to tell me when we had got out.

He promptly led me up tot he scariest model he could find and said, "Right, you're ok now."

I opened my eyes and screamed.

To this day, I can't even deal with dummies in department stores:(
( Boss Keloid Got your mother's maiden name tattooed on my arm, Fri 31 Oct 2008, 10:53, Reply)

glad I could help you come to this realisation!
I'm certain there are some things that my parents have done that have scarred me, but I'm buggered if I can think of any at the moment
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Fri 31 Oct 2008, 11:07, Reply)

My parents kept me in a cupboard under the stairs
(to be fair there was an Amiga 500+ in there), and then J K Rowling wrote about that boy wizard, so it's just one of the many reasons why I think he's a cunt.
( Bert Monkeysex is waiting for the mods to delete him, Fri 31 Oct 2008, 11:09, Reply)

Pumpkin!
You poor soul!

@ Beekers - does this mean I'll have to remove the full-scale wax model of Stephen Hawking from the sex cave?
(happylittletulip helpless and delicious, Fri 31 Oct 2008, 13:18, Reply)

@HLT
I thought that what happened to pumpkin above was fairly commonplace? I remember being dressed in a bin bag when I were a lad, and just last year I put my little girl in a bin bag and pointy hat. She was a witch.
( Bert Monkeysex is waiting for the mods to delete him, Fri 31 Oct 2008, 15:46, Reply)