Spotlight Effect

Monday, 9:26 a.m. Lobby of your office building. In thirty minutes you have to deliver a proposal you spent five years preparing, in front of an external client. White shirt, sharp suit, printed materials in hand. Waiting for the elevator, you raise your americano to take a sip — someone bumps into you. Coffee spills across the center of your shirt. A dark brown stain — right over your chest. Coin-sized at first, but within a minute it's spread to twice that. In the bathroom mirror, you try to blot it; it only spreads more. No spare clothes. The nearest store is 10 minutes away. Twenty-four minutes till the meeting. Be late and the client might walk to a competitor. A coworker passing pauses — 'Uh… your shirt…' and awkwardly disappears. You look at yourself in the mirror. The stain is unmissable. But — would other people really care this much?