Were you embarrassed about your period? Did you try to hide it? Got any stories about it?

-- Anonymous, May 03, 2000

Answers

Hell, yeah. :)

I guess none of mine are *too* embarassing, since (as far as I know!) no one else really noticed. Or at least no one else ever said anything. But let's see.

When I first got my period (I think it was late 7th grade), for whatever reason, I never told my mom. And then it sort of got ridiculous, to the point where if I said something, she'd be like, "well, why the hell didn't you mention this like 6 months ago??" I remember being in school and not having any "feminine hygeiene products," and so I'd just wrap a whole bunch of toilet paper around my underwear and just pray that it stayed. This went on for about a year until my mom nonchalantly asked me, "I'm going to the drugstore for a minute, do you need anything? Razors or tampons or anything?" I tried to be all suave and said like, "yeah, sure, whatever." Or something. Don't even ask me why I couldn't haul my ass to the local Walgreens myself during the previous year. I don't know.

Now, I just have the "female engineer" problem, which, I swear to god, my male co-workers/friends will never ever understand. See, I know that it's all in-style to sit in meetings or at your desk and be working solid for 8 hours. Ok. But there are SOME DAYS in the month that it's really quite a problem for me to be in formal and informal meetings for 6 hours straight. I've finally had to just excuse myself in the middle of talking to a coworker (usually while at my desk, too! "oh, just a minute, lemme just dig this tampon out of my jacket pocket while you're trying to talk to me about the wireless screen mock-ups..."). Nice, huh? Oh, and my personal favorite: the times when I really *am* completely into what I'm programming, and suddenly, 5 hours go by before I notice it, and by the time I take a breather and look up from my code, It's Too Late. Dammit. I just wear black jeans every day during my period now (luckily, I wear black jeans pretty frequently anyways). I'm so gross. Sorry.

-- Anonymous, May 03, 2000

i got my period when i was 10, in 4th grade. what a thrill that was! i didn't even know what was happening to me when i got it. i mean, i knew that women got periods and stuff, but i didn't really understand the mechanics of it, and when it happened i had NO idea what was going on, because you know....i was just a kid! it wasn't something that even crossed my mind. i sneaked into the bathroom to wash out my underwear, but my mom caught me and said OH YOU GOT YOUR PERIOD!

i remember one time VERY soon after i first got it...sitting in math class on a really hot late-spring day, sweating miserably and wearing a big, bulky, nasty, SCENTED pad. i was utterly horrified that someone could SMELL me.

-- Anonymous, May 04, 2000

Still embarrased by it..... My absolute worst story was misjudging the flow, of course. You know how you'll think its almost over, then *wham* there it is aghain... well one day in grade 5 I thought it was light enough to handle a pantyliner. Yeah, it was that light whne I left the house... by lunchtime it was worse. Did I have any extra pads on me? Nope. Did I mention our cafeteria was downstairs? On the way up the stairs to the bathroom, the Cutest Boy in the Whole School (tm) said maybe I should head to the bathroom... oh what a leak.... a friend and I walked to her house to get a pad and a change of pants. We got back to school in time for the end of the day. Would have walked to my house, but no one was home and the door was locked until 3pm.

The grossest one was when it started right after hubby & I had sex... with the lights on. He has no sisters, but all kinds of questions... he was so cool about it. ANd at that point he had seen me thru childbirth, so what was my problem?

-- Anonymous, May 04, 2000

Ok, yeah.. mine was pretty embarrasing. I just turned 13. My mom, sister and I were on a trip over the summer to the Smithsonian/Washington DC area. ( My mom took us on tons of trips to places of interest when I was growing up) We had just come from having lunmch with our Congressman (My dad knew him personally) and we were all excited about it etc. We decided to go to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Mind you, we're dressed up.. Im in a white and pink striped sundress. I feel a little stiff and cranky as the day is wearing on and hit the ladies room as we were finishing the museum. I of course notice I'm bleeding. My underwear is a mess. I panick. I mean one side of my brain says: Calm down dumb ass this is your period. The other half says: YOU'RE GONNA DIE YOU'RE BLEEDING!!!! So, trying to not cry I call out for my mom. I tell her through the door I think I got my period. My sister says: oh gross, that will NEVER happen to me. ( I now laugh hysterically at that comment)

My mom had to search 5 ladies rooms to find something for me until we could get back to the hotel. How embarassing. It's not like the ladies room wasn't packed either. GAWD. But that wasn't the worst of it.

We get back to the hotel. Im in cramp hell. My sister is making fun of me and comforting me alternately. I remember a flash of strangling her going through my head. Then came the worst moment. My mom called my dad and I heard her say: Our daughter has joined the ranks of the women today. I wailed at her to shut up and she laughed at me. I didn't want my DAD TO KNOW!!!! GOD!

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2000

I haven't had mine yet... is something wrong with me?

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2000

For the record, I just had to leave a comment to prove I was strong enough to bear up to this forum discussion. Yes, I arrived, I read, and now I'm butchly flexing my pectorals at having faced the Red Menance in this intimate setting and lived.

Additionally, let me just add this: You women are really freakin' scary sometimes. And you complain when we openly discuss the quality and quantity of our bowel movements with the clinical detachment of a mortitian and the subdued appreciation of someone that just had his car waxed.

Clarion, I consider you a traitor to our gender, by the way. Please turn in your membership badge and testicles at the nearest "Burly Man" field office.

Indefatiguably,

Babel

-- Anonymous, May 11, 2000