Open Eye, Insert Foot

I’m helping out for the day at a convention. I know the organiser but we have only ever met once, very briefly. All of our other previous interactions have been online.

I’m busy organising the events in my area of the convention when the organiser pops by to see how everything is going. This is when my brain and common sense utterly abandon me. We are chatting for a moment about how the event is going when I realise her eye is severely swollen. Unthinking, I blurt out a question.

Me: “Oh, goodness, are you okay?! What happened?”

Organiser: “I’m sorry?”

Me: “Your eye! Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

Organiser: “Uh, no, I was born like this.”

There is an awkward pause.

Me: “Well, doesn’t my foot taste nice today! I was really worried you were hurt. I’m not usually this socially inept or unobservant, I promise.”

Ultimately, she was very nice about the whole thing, especially since my questions came from a place of honest concern, but I think it is probably still the most cringe-inducing thing I’ve ever done.