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" &amp;quot;I Can&amp;#039;t Believe I Just Said That!&amp;quot; Oops! You introduce yourself to someone at work or at a party, and he tersely responds that you&amp;#039;ve met twice before. Open Mouth, Remove Foot &amp;quot;Of course I remember you -- I&amp;#039;m just so bad at names!&amp;quot; If you can, prove that you really do recall by adding something specific: &amp;quot;We talked about that new Thai restaurant.&amp;quot; Next time: If there&amp;#039;s any chance you&amp;#039;ve already been introduced to someone, say, &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s nice to see you&amp;quot; instead of &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s nice to meet you.&amp;quot; Oops! On the bus, your little boy points at a nearby passenger and loudly asks, &amp;quot;Mommy, why does that man have only one arm?&amp;quot; Open Mouth, Remove Foot Ah, the spontaneity of children! First, apologize to the person: &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m so sorry. My son is very curious and outspoken.&amp;quot; Then, if you can do so without the man hearing you, quietly offer your child a brief explanation: &amp;quot;He may have had an accident and hurt his arm very badly.&amp;quot; Later, tell your son that certain observations and comments can be hurtful to other people, and while it&amp;#039;s good to ask questions about things he doesn&amp;#039;t understand, he should either speak quietly or wait until you&amp;#039;re alone. Next time: Kids being kids, you&amp;#039;ll never be able to avoid all awkward situations. But as you begin to convey that people come in all shapes, sizes and colors, you can also explain that some are more able-bodied than others. If you teach your children to be respectful of people&amp;#039;s differences, they will become less likely to speak out. Oops! A friend announces she&amp;#039;s getting divorced, and you bad-mouth her ex-to-be -- only to hear a week later that they&amp;#039;re reconciling. Open Mouth, Remove Foot If the couple stays together, your comments will always hang in the air between you and your friend. So come clean: &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m sorry I said those things about Tom. I was worried for you and reacted by making him the bad guy. I&amp;#039;m really happy that you two have committed to working things out.&amp;quot; Next time: Offer support without slandering the spouse: &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m so sorry to hear that. Thanks for telling me, and let me know what I can do to help.&amp;quot; If she wants to criticize the guy, let her go to town -- just listen.  &amp;quot;I Can&amp;#039;t Believe I Just Said That!&amp;quot; cont. Oops! A coworker looks under the weather, and you ask if she&amp;#039;s getting sick. Her answer: &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m fine. Why do you ask?&amp;quot; Open Mouth, Remove Foot It&amp;#039;s best to move on quickly: &amp;quot;There&amp;#039;s so much flu going around, I&amp;#039;m afraid that one of us is sure to come down with it -- and you just didn&amp;#039;t seem as peppy as usual today. I&amp;#039;m glad you&amp;#039;re okay.&amp;quot; Next time: If you think a colleague might be ill, ask &amp;quot;How are you?&amp;quot; She can tell you if she&amp;#039;s feeling poorly, and you won&amp;#039;t risk insulting her. Oops! You run into a friend, who&amp;#039;s with an older woman. Seeing a resemblance, you say warmly, &amp;quot;And this must be your mother.&amp;quot; Uh, no, it&amp;#039;s her sister. Open Mouth, Remove Foot It&amp;#039;s the older sibling you have to let off the hook here...so say anything, and your friend will go along. Try: &amp;quot;Oh, you mentioned you were going shopping with your mother today -- and I thought this lady looked way too young to be her! Next time: Don&amp;#039;t make assumptions; if you don&amp;#039;t know someone, wait to be introduced. Or start the ball rolling yourself: &amp;quot;Hi, I&amp;#039;m Joan. I went to college with Leslie.&amp;quot; Most likely, the other person will follow your example and explain her own connection.  Oops! You ask an acquaintance what gift she&amp;#039;s buying for Mother&amp;#039;s Day, and she says her mom recently passed away. Open Mouth, Remove Foot Cut yourself some slack -- if you don&amp;#039;t know this woman very well, you wouldn&amp;#039;t have heard about her loss. What&amp;#039;s important is what you say next. Try: &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m so sorry, I had no idea. This must be a tough holiday for you.&amp;quot; That response shows you care and allows her to open up if she feels like it. Next time: Unless you never say anything personal to anyone, there&amp;#039;s no way to avoid this kind of stumble. But if it happens, try not to just look stricken and slink off. Stay calm and recover the situation with an apology and a sympathetic word.   GH Staffers Recall Mortifying Moments &amp;quot;Last winter, I ran into my sister. Her pants were all puffy, so I assumed she was wearing long johns, and I told her I wished I&amp;#039;d been smart enough to wear them myself. The problem was, she wasn&amp;#039;t wearing another layer! She had gained weight since I&amp;#039;d seen her.&amp;quot; -- Joseph Cavalieri &amp;quot;In college, a professor promised to help me land an internship but never followed through. Annoyed, I wrote a scathing email to my boyfriend, but as soon as I hit Send, I realized I&amp;#039;d actually addressed the letter to my professor! I called him and explained that I&amp;#039;d accidentally sent him a personal message to my boyfriend and asked him not to read it. He promised not to, and a few weeks later, he even came through with the internship. Whew.&amp;quot; -- Bonnie Gibbs &amp;quot;At a family dinner in honor of my birthday, someone started talking about how she loved nice-smelling bath products. I said I never used them because they irritate my sensitive skin -- completely forgetting that I&amp;#039;d just opened a gift from my cousin: a basket full of Body Shop gels and lotions!&amp;quot; -- Stacy Genovese &amp;quot;I ran into an old high school classmate and said, &amp;#039;Wow, you look great, like you&amp;#039;ve lost a lot of weight.&amp;#039; I thought she&amp;#039;d be pleased by the compliment, but instead she said, &amp;#039;What are you implying -- that I was fat in high school?&amp;#039; I humphed and stumbled, trying to backtrack, but she knew the truth and was furious. I still cringe when I think about it.&amp;quot; -- Sarah Felix &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;d just signed a lease on a new townhouse when a friend from work told me that her boyfriend, whom I&amp;#039;d never met, would be my new neighbor. After my boxes were unpacked, I saw a man standing outside the house next door. I ran out and introduced myself, saying, &amp;#039;You must be Jennifer&amp;#039;s boyfriend! I&amp;#039;m Alice.&amp;#039; He responded that he was Jennifer&amp;#039;s ex-boyfriend and that she&amp;#039;d just dumped him to date someone new. I wanted to crawl away.&amp;quot; -- Alice Oglethorpe "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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