My Awkward Business Trip Stories

Hey girl hey. And boy.

After a couple serious advice posts in the last few weeks, we seriously need to tone it down and just laugh at our unprofessional side. If you’ve read one post from me before (if you’re new, trust me you WILL have a sense after this post), you’ll know that I embarrass myself in every situation I’m put in. Two months ago, I went on a business trip to another province and because it was the first time traveling without my parents, you can count on at least a handful of awkward stories. Today, I’ll be sharing those with you. So sit back, grab some popcorn and enjoy the show.

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1. Settling In

The mere event of even settling IN my room was a disaster in itself. For one, I stayed a couple of hours at my aunt’s house and we almost took the wrong path despite google maps. I was already late to a few welcome activities right off the bat and skipped them all together. Once we arrived, my aunt stayed a little longer to make sure I made my way inside safely and when I tried to give her a thumbs up to say ‘I’ll figure it out’, 3 things simultaneously happened:

a). my map flew away

b) my hijab flew off

c). my suitcase fell down

I mean, if anything, it only told my aunt to stay concerned for the next 20 minutes.

Eventually, I found my way but when I opened my suitcase, my product broke. Thank goodness my partner won this award too so she had two other products. I don’t know why I didn’t think packing through but the disaster turned out alright in the end.

me hugging my aunt goodbye

 

2. Random Dude In My Living Room

Let me share a bit of context before we start. So basically, this guy in our group was the most serious and bossy out of everyone. I found him the hardest to collaborate with because he was so focused on stressing out everyone else that he forgot we’re here to enjoy the process of working together.

the vibes I tried to spread

But when it got to working after 9 pm, his attitude shifts completely. We were all working in a common area at first but they had to push us into dorms at 11 pm so we worked at this one guy’s (don’t worry I had 4 girls with me). Then this dude starts dancing and starts strangely wanting to put popcorn in the oven. I told my roomie I felt a bit uncomfortable and just wanted to go sleep so we can have enough energy to present tomorrow. We decided to call it a day at midnight and went down to our dorms. So the guys in our group sleep on the 10th floor but when we got there, this dude doesn’t budge. I asked him where he was going and he legitimately says:

‘Oh I might just crash at you guys’ place so we can all work together on editing the presentation’.

me

Honey, I’m about to SLEEP. Mind you, girls and boys had to be separate for this conference and I really did not want to wake up to some dude making breakfast in the girls living room. I told my roommate because I felt there was already some blood boiling between me and the guy (we didn’t get along that well), double locked my door and the room door, and wore a turban to bed. Like y’all I stayed awake until I heard him leave for good. I know you think I’m irrational or something but you just never know. Plus, my other roommate who sleeps in the room right beside mine was Muslim and I don’t think she’d be comfortable with a guy in our space. I told my brothers when I came back to reflect on the awkward situation and they literally went crazy. So warning to Muslim women, do NOT tell your over-protective brothers about men being in a 2 million m radius from you lol. Anyways, it’s funny to look back at it now but I was on full on lockdown mode at the time.

 

3. Lost In Banff

So if you didn’t know this, Banff is a HUGE national park in Canada with mountains and beautiful scenery. We went on a walk and then the supervisors gave us freedom to go shop and enjoy downtown. Because my friend and I insisted on trying Beaver Tails, we ended up losing sight of everyone else and had no idea where the bus was. The map was so vague and we were walking in circles looking for the bus for FORTY MINUTES. Like we delayed the bus 40 minutes.

The funny thing was I stayed calm the whole time until we entered the bus and it hit me that I wasted everyone’s time, I was almost going to be lost in a random city and it was all going to be because of beaver tails!! Like yes, I love food but this was just insane. So yeah, I had a mini breakdown for like a solid 10 minutes. I tried to play it off as sweat but lowkey everyone knew. It turned out okay in the end though!! I said that twice but see, everything will be okay kids.

4. PJ’S At The Airport

Yes, you read that title right. I ALMOST missed my flight! You see, I set up my alarm the day before and I set more than one to make SURE I woke up an hour before we left campus (8:00 was leaving time) but guess when my hears decided to operate? 8:10!! I woke up to my friend calling and she was like “GURL where are you?!” I looked at the time and I kid you not, I dashedddd.

Good thing I spent the previous night packing or else it would’ve been a disaster. I grabbed my initial outfit, my toothpaste and my suitcase and I ran to the elevator. When I came downstairs, everyone was ready to go and guess what I forget? My phone. Ughdggyshuydhegbsu I had to get the keys again and the dash continued. I called shotgun because I literally couldn’t face the awkwardness. I brushed my teeth IN the car like y’all, I love being prepared. The thing is I wasn’t even expecting this to happen because all the past days I easily woke up to my alarm but I think it’s because I stayed up until 1 or 2 talking to my roomie…oops. Thankfully, I made it to the airport….in my PJ’s.

 

5. “Ma’am..what are you doing here?”

This is super quick but after changing my clothes in the washroom, I made my way to security and literally all employees start attacking me at once like “MA’AM GO SEE THE MAN OVER THERE” and “MA’AM WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”. Like woahhh what kind of Illuminati is happening back here? Turns out there was a clear sign on the door that said ‘confidential area no passengers allowed’ And I oop-.

 

6. Security Fail

So on my way here, I had no problem with security but on the way back was a different story. I walked through the scanner and it beeps!! The girl goes ‘hmm we’re going to have to check you’ and she basically just had to get this mini scanner and scan over my clothes. It turned red below my chest area and y’all….it was just the wire in my ‘undergarment’. When the security guy found out, he was like smh and invited the next person for security. Ladies, make sure you wear non-wired bras to security.

 

7. “Ohhh of course I remember you”

Don’t pretend you haven’t been in this situation before. On my way out of the airplane, my friend that I met at this female politics conference was like ‘omg hey!! remember me?’ She looked so familiar but I met so many people on the trip and my mind got so foggy. She was like ‘….the conference?’ and I was like ‘omggg yeah of course you work here?’ I gave her a hug and said have a great day. It took 20 seconds for me to remember who she was ughhh!

NOW I REMEMBER

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Ah well. Despite the awkward encounters and experiences, the trip was still the highlight of the summer and all that happened just gave it the memorable component that I could look back on. Hope you guys had a great time laughing at me but before you go, I need to know embarrassing stories about you!

When’s the last time you embarrassed yourself?

Last time you were late?

Last time you got lost?

I’ll see you in my next post.

Bayyy. 💕