Have you ever had an embarrassing experience? Last week we asked readers to tell us about embarrassing experiences. We received thousands of letters! Here is a selection.

Tony: My most embarrassing experience happened when I had just left university. I had just started teaching in a Liverpool middle school. One morning my alarm clock didn’t ring. I woke up at half past eight and school began at nine. I quickly washed, dressed, jumped into my car and rushed to school. When I arrived, the students had already gone into class. I didn’t go to the office, but went straight into class. After two or three minutes the students began laughing, and I couldn’t understand why! Suddenly I looked down and understood. I had put on one black shoe and one brown shoe!

Henry: The most embarrassing experience I’ve ever had happened two years ago. After seeing a film, my wife and I had lunch in our favorite restaurant in town. Then we decided to take a walk along the street. The street was very busy and we started holding hands. Suddenly my wife saw a dress that she liked in a shop window, and stopped. I started looking at some watches in the next window. After a minute or two I reached for my wife’s hand. There was a loud scream, and a woman slapped my face. I hadn’t taken my wife’s hand. I’d taken the hand of a complete stranger (陌生人)!

When my family moved to America in 2010 from a small village in Guang Dong, China, we brought not only our luggage, but also our village rules, customs and culture. One of the rules is that young people should always respect elders. Unluckily, this rule led to my very first embarrassment in the United States.

I had a part-time job as a waiter in a Chinese restaurant. One time, when I was serving food to a middle-aged couple, the wife asked me how the food could be served so quickly. I told her that I had made sure they got their food quickly because I always respect the elderly. As soon as I said that, her face showed great displeasure. My manager, who happened to hear what I said, took me aside and gave me a long lecture about how sensitive (敏感) Americans are and how they dislike the description (描述) “old”. I then walked back to the table and apologized to the wife. After the couple heard my reason, they understood that the problem was caused by cultural differences, so they laughed and were no longer angry.

In my village in China, people are proud of being old. Not so many people live to be seventy or eighty, and people who reach such an age have the most knowledge and experience. Young people always respect older people because they know they can learn from their rich experience.

However, in the United States, people think “growing old” is a problem since “old” shows that a person is going to retire or that the body is not working well. Here many people try to keep themselves away from growing old by doing exercises or jogging, and women put on makeup, hoping to look young. When I told the couple in the restaurant that I respect the elderly, they got angry because this caused them to feel they had failed to stay young. I had told them something they didn’t want to hear.

After that, I changed the way I had been with older people. It is not that I don’t respect them any more; I still respect them, but now I don’t show my feelings through words.

By Jack

I was in Houston a few weeks ago，and needed to be back home in Austin by midmorning the next day. Though I usually left in the evening，for some reason last time I had to choose to set off after midnight.

I was on my way back to Austin when I realized I left an important file（文件），and knew I had to return to get it. I took the first exit I could，but when I rounded the corner，an 18-wheeler was stopped dead in the exit lane（车道）. I swerved（急转弯） to avoid it，and then I realized that there was something wrong with my car. So I pulled into a small parking lot and unsurprisingly found the area deserted at 3：15am. I've lived in urban areas most of my life. I'm fairly street-wise and don't become frightened easily，but I knew I was in a pretty tough neighborhood.

There was no one in Houston to pick me up. I immediately locked the doors and picked up my phone to call a tow truck. Soon a young man knocked on my driver's side window and asked if he could help me. Judging from his appearance，he was far from a mad man，but I knew he was far more likely to rob than help me. So I lied to him. After a while，he asked again，but this time I politely refused and told him the tow truck was due any minute. He finally said，"Madam，you need help. A tow truck in Houston will arrive anywhere between 45minutes and approximately never （which I knew was true），and you aren't going anywhere until you change your flat tire. "

After considering thoroughly，I got out. He looked surprised，but got right to work. He changed the tire，returned the seat to its place and said，"Thank you for letting me help you. You gave me a chance when most people would never open the door to someone like me. Would it be okay if I gave you a hug？"When I recovered，I gave him a giant hug. I left with a new tire and a renewed faith in human nature.