By: Emily Owens

I was on Instagram the other day. I was casually scrolling through when I saw a post that was titled: TMW. Under the title it said, “Your teacher says, ‘I have your tests graded and they aren’t very good.’” After I read that, I instantly went back to the exact moment I experienced this. I remember thinking, “That’s me. Goodbye lovely phone, goodbye friends. Hello confinement and punishment! It might take me awhile to get used to you.” The connection I didn’t make was what TMW meant. Curiosity took over and I soon found myself on Urban Dictionary. Come to find TMW is the acronym for “That Moment When”. There are moments in our lives that stand out with significance. The moment when you fall in love, the moment when you face your greatest fear, or even the moment of complete fulfillment and joy. Then there are those moments in your life where they don’t really matter, but almost everyone can identify with them. Here are the first eight that popped in my head:

TMW…

1. You think there’s another step… spoiler, there isn’t.

Picture this: You are walking and suddenly up ahead there is a staircase. After many years and experience with staircases and going up and down them you are completely confident in your ability to make a successful trip down the staircase in front of you. You’re almost to the bottom. You make your move for the last step… then your insides suddenly feel like you’re falling off the Empire State Building. You can’t even lie. You’ve been there and done that. I have. More times than I’d like to admit actually…

2.  It’s the end of the weekend and you have school the next day.

That lovely moment when you are on your phone or you are eating, and it just happens to be Sunday afternoon. It’s a great moment until somehow your brain drifts to school. Now you are thinking about all the homework you didn’t do, or about how you have to wake up at six the next morning and leave your warm bed. If you are reading this and it is Sunday afternoon, then I am terribly sorry.

3. Your food comes out of the kitchen.

The waitress put your order of food in about 30 minutes ago. For half an hour you have been sipping on your beverage waiting patiently when all of the sudden from a distance you see that waitress with a tray in her hand just above her shoulder. Mentally you are so excited. Physically your stomach is smiling. As she approaches your table your food comes into full view. It’s almost sparkling. Then she grabs your plate and sets it in front of you. At this point, her statement about how hot the plate is becomes completely irrelevant.

4. You wake up before your alarm clock goes off.

There you are: sleeping and having a great dream. Unfortunately your body is trying to “help” you and wake up. You look at your clock and it reads: 6:27AM. Three beautiful minutes of sleep and your dream dissipates before you. The opportunity for a great morning is slowed by your inability to be woken by alarm. Heartbroken, you get up and get ready for school.

5. The light flickers on and off at school and everyone is generally confused.

Almost every day you’re at school. The chances for you to witness the facilities’ dysfunctions are likely to happen. Do you ever walk in the hallway and the lights flicker? If you have then you would know everyone’s reaction. Unplanned events throw people off. Not being able to see would definitely do that.

6. You wake up from a nap not knowing where you are, what time it is, or the day of the week.

After a long day at school or work you get home and have the rare opportunity to actually take a nap. As sleep begins to fill your hours you become unaware of the hours passing. Nap is over and it’s time to wake up. Sometimes you’re normal and wake up without having any complications. However, sometimes your body is just unprepared. You wake up completely confused and hungry.

7. You have déjà vu…

Everyone will experience déjà vu at least once in his or her lifetime. This phenomenon has puzzled scientists for a long time. Déjà vu in French literally means, “already seen”. It almost feels like you’re being time-warped. The feeling that you’ve already done something or seen something is really weird, but extremely cool.

8. You think about your kindergarten best friend.

Your normal day doesn’t include thinking about an old friend. When it does it brings back memories. Memories of the friend you played with everyday as a little kid. How inseparable you were, or maybe the petty fight you guys had, or even how different you guys are today. Unless you’re extremely blessed, and are still BFFs with your kindergarten best friend.

After this, I’m sure your mind will venture to plenty more humorous moments of your life that usually go unnoticed.