Pride before the crawl

R and I have an unwritten code. It is not a code per se, but more like a thing. Whenever one of us boasts about something, our gloating is sure to come back and bite us in the bohonkous. We cannot boast to each other about anything. And we learned that early in the relationship.


The first instance I remember was when I was visiting him in his new apartment downtown after he moved out of our old neighborhood. There was a rather sharp curve to get to his lane and it was hidden by a clump of trees and bushes. When we were at the signal just before our turn I mentioned that the driveway was slightly hidden. Hubs replied that he *NEVER misses* it in spite of that and that he maneuvers the sharp turn gracefully. And then in the course of his elaborate discourse, he missed the turn, took a one way, then a U turn in front of ongoing traffic to get back. Of course, I made fun of him for days (years) afterward. These are the tender moments in our marriage when we point at each other and laugh.

Another time was when my sister, her husband and kids were visiting me and R was trying to impress his fair lady's family. He told me how he would make them fall in love with him by making his specialty side dish, Raita, and how it *never fails*. Well, the curse of the PBTC was wrathful indeed and it ended up so spicy no one would eat it. So he made an impression alright, just not the one he was hoping for...

And I've had my valleys of humiliation as well. The latest example of PBTC being just last week: I was telling hubby how fast I was getting at typing and now I can type *without even looking at the keyboard*. (Yes, yes, we still haven't learnt...)

Anyway, yesterday I made a power point presentation at work for an agency meeting. A line was supposed to read:

"ABC will be an add on package to the system"

I sent in the presentation with a record turnaround time and 5 minutes later my Project Manager calls me.

PM (the ever diplomatic): Annie, seems like there is an error on slide 8

(I look for the squiggly line to tell me where I went wrong and there is nothing)

PM: Um, if you look in line 3, there is A-S-S (he doesn't say the word) on package instead of ADD on

I think for the first time in my life I know the meaning of blushing hotly.

I don't think I can ever live this down. My pride is in the dust. My only consolation is it did not go directly to the client.