Suspended humiliation

I just want to quickly articulate the concept of suspended humiliation.

Like suspended terror, where one is not presently terrified but well aware of the likelihood of a terrifying experience occurring at any moment, suspended humiliation is the sense that one might be called out and humiliated at any second.

It’s the feeling you might get, say, if you’ve split the seat of your pants, yet still have to spend the rest of the day in the company of others, and can only conceal it by, perhaps, using a stapler.

It’s the feeling you get when you’re sitting in a class, not having done your homework, hoping you don’t get called on.

It’s the feeling you get going to a halloween party before you realize everyone else looks just as silly as you.