Screen Shot 2014-07-30 at 11.48.54 AM

Irritable ogre that I am, I’m always among those who look around and sigh audibly when someone lets their phone ring in the movie theatre. That said, even the best of us commit this terrible faux pas at some point–the act of switching our phones off before a film starts now so ingrained in our consciousness that we automatically assume that we must have already done it. It’s embarrassing as hell, made all the worse by the fact that the room is so dark and seats so cramped that it can be difficult to find the noisy little beast and silence it.

But imagine how much more embarrassing it would be if, instead of a movie theatre where everyone is focused on the screen, you’re on live TV with millions of people staring at you when your phone starts ringing. What would you do?

Hopefully your response wouldn’t be anything like this man’s…

During a live broadcast on July 25, while speaking about flooding in Vietnam’s northern city of Lang Son, this guest correspondent was caught off-guard when his phone started ringing in his pocket. The female anchor just about managed to keep her cool, looking on in silence as the man fumbled to retrieve his phone… then sling it across the studio floor.

Awkward momentYouTube

▼ Um, as I was saying, floods…

Screen Shot 2014-07-30 at 11.49.46 AMYouTube

It’s the almighty clatter the phone makes as the man launches it out of shot, however, that solidifies the moment as one of the most awkward we’ve seen in a long time. Check out the clip below to see for yourselves. Be sure to turn your speakers up for this one.

Yikes. The only way that could have possibly been any more awkward is if, instead of taking out his phone, the man had produced an enormous vibrating sex toy from his pocket.

As much as this amused us, though, try as we might we can’t really think of a better way to handle this situation had it had been us. What else was this poor guy going to do? Let his phone ring the entire time he spoke? Sit on it and try to muffle the sound with his buttocks? If any of our wily readers out there have any better solutions for avoiding televised embarrassment such as this, be sure to let us know in the comment section below!

Source: YouTube via Toychan.net
Screenshots via YouTube