I’m an American living in the UK… a VERY big mistake I made in a coffee shop left me mortified

An American woman living in Britain has revealed the ‘humiliating’ mistake she made while visiting a coffee shop.

Kristen Howell posted on her TikTok account about the embarrassing mistake she made while attending a study group meeting during her college years when someone asked her if she could “borrow a condom.”

While it may not seem so strange for Brits to ask for a condom during a study session at university, this is not the case for Americans, who use the word as a slang term for condoms.

Kristen said, “This girl came up to me and asked if she could borrow a condom. At first I was like, ‘You know what, get it, girl. 10 in the morning in a coffee shop, not really my thing, but here you go.’ And I gave her one.

‘It wasn’t until a few weeks later, when I was talking to someone completely different, that I found out that in the UK, a rubber means a rubber. Not a condom.

“I gave this girl what I thought was a condom, but this girl just asked for an eraser.”

There was another dramatic turn when the girl who gave Kirsten the condom didn’t even ask why she had done it. She took it and walked away with an explanation.

Other users responded in the comments to the story and were very moved by Kristen’s unfortunate incident. They wrote: ‘I held my breath and waited to laugh’.

Another said: ‘Now that’s typical English politeness!’

Someone wrote: ‘As a Brit who has worked in both countries, the subtle differences can be very entertaining.’

Another said, ‘Oh, how much better she was than me!’

One person said, “That’s great, but I appreciate that you’re honest about it and not judging her!”

One follower wrote: ‘The real question is: why are you still taking condoms to a coffee shop at 10am?’

Another said: ‘That’s so funny. I bet she’s still eating that story up.’