Well here goes, i know everyone has that one embarrassing story they wish they could erase from history. Mine? Well, I've accepted that it's simply too funny to be forgotten. In fact, it's one of those stories that gets funnier every time I tell it, cos for me it was more funny than embarrassing. Years ad years back, like over 10 years ago, my older brother was studying medicine in Belarus and whenever he came home for the holidays, he'd bring back all sorts of interesting things chocolates, snacks, souvenirs, and random household items that looked different to what we had here.

One holiday, he came back with a plastic bottle that looked exactly like a bottle of liquid bath soap or rather shower gel. The packaging was attractive, the bottle was neatly designed, and it even had what looked like bubbles on the label. I noticed this later, even though it very obvious from the start, that the language on the bottle was in belarusian but it just looked like any other shower gel so i just assumed it was a shower gel.

Now, instead of asking my brother what it was, I assumed I already knew, i didnt even ask him before i took it. I happily used it whenever I wanted to take a shower. I even remember thinking to myself, "Wow, these people in Belarus really know how to make quality soap." It had a different smell from the soaps I was used to, but I convinced myself it was just a European fragrance. It was something new. Then came the day my brother walked into the room while I was carrying the bottle.

He looked at me, looked at the bottle, then back at me.

"What are you doing with that?" he asked, trying not to laugh, but i could tell he was struggling to control his laughter, and right then and their i knew something was off. "Bathing," I said to him. "This soap is actually really good." He froze for a second before bursting into uncontrollable laughter.

When he finally managed to speak, he said, "That's not body wash. "It's dog shampoo." I was speechless. For a few seconds, I genuinely thought he was joking, cos why would a dog shampoo, not have a dog picture label or something like that on it, for identification. Surely no one would package dog shampoo to look that elegant. At that moment, I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole. The worst part wasn't that I had used it once. I had been bathing with it for weeks, I had unknowingly recommended it to myself every single day. Thought i was out there looking fresh.

Needless to say, my family found out. My brother made sure of that, every visitor who came to the house somehow ended up hearing the story. I couldn't even defend myself because, honestly, the evidence was against me. The label was in a language I couldn't read. Obviously looking back now, I can't help but laugh.