FAUX PAS DEUX

This one goes back a long time but it still makes me chuckle.  It can happen to any one of us, so you should not be shaking your head and tsking while you read this.

Suzy Q was a counselor at the high school.  She was responsible for the guidance of students whose last names were in a certain half of the alphabet. There was a family in that half of the alphabet who had suffered a terrible loss while one of its students, Jasper, was in the high school, and because of that, the parent often took advantage of the services of the counselor.  

Jasper, the polar opposite of his parent, was nondescript and uncommunicative. Thick, smudgy glasses and long, shaggy hair in his face protected him from having to engage in a conversation with anyone else.  Some visits by Jasper's parent were probably valid concerns regarding Jasper's performance in school, or Jasper's attitude toward life, or Jasper's potential, while others were more for the benefit of the parent.  Perhaps the parent was lamenting about the ambitions (or lack thereof) of the spouse, or the parent's inability to cope with the loss, or the general frustrations of life.  Suzy Q always had an open door, a kind heart and a smile, and would not have turned away Jasper's parent, no matter what the topic was. 

One day Jasper's parent showed up, and as always, had one of the brood in tow.  They went into Suzy Q's office and closed the door.  The parent proceeded to spout forth dismays and disappointments regarding Jasper's scholastic progress.  The conversation was very one sided, but finally Suzy Q was able to get in a word.  She turned to the student in the chair next to the parent and said, "Well, now you've heard it - what do you think, Jasper?"  The student stared at Suzy Q through the thick glasses and the mop of hair that hung in front of them.  "That's Jasmine!", the parent said curtly, "Jasper's sister!"

Reader, you are thinking that things could not have gone much worse for Suzy Q. It's hard to know for whom to feel more embarrassed, Suzy Q or Jasper.  Be thankful that he doesn't know that his guidance counselor confused him with his developmentally disabled younger sister that morning.  Be relieved that Suzy Q could charm her way out of the most awkward situations.  Beware that this could happen to you when you least expect it.