Bigmouth (almost) strikes again

I very nearly made another terrible faux-pas the other day - possibly the worst in my 5 months here.

I was talking to Wilma, one of the administators in the Office Services department, thanking her profusely for helping me with a massive photocopying job that I really couldn't have handled by myself. She said that it was no problem at all, it was her job to help with photocopying. But I just have to turn on the drama of a few notches even when it's not stricly necessary. 'Oh but you don't understand', I carried on, 'Without your help I would have probably jumped out of that window by now' - and as I was saying that, I was pointing at the window behind her, which is only a short height from a paved patio area at the back of the canteen. 'But with my luck - ' I went on and then froze; I was going to add that jumping from the window wouldn't have killed me but rather I would have ended up in a wheelchair. I only stopped just in time, just a tiny nanosecond before blurting out my 'hilarious' comment, as I realised, to my horror, that sitting opposite Wilma was Barbara, who was working at the computer from the comfort of her WHEELCHAIR.

I mumbled something about 'not hurting myself very much' if jumping from that height, and then made a hasty retreat.

Phew.

Comments

[Hywel.]

This reminds me of one evening at the Union bar in Cardiff, when a couple of girls walked rather clumsily past me and a friend. I, drunkly, said, "Arrgh! Legless again girls ?". They ignored me and carried on. At that point my friend pointed out that one of them was an amputee.

It was and remains, twenty years later, the most embarrassed I've ever been.