When my wife and I were still single and “weren’t dating” I went with her parents to go see some plays down at the Shakespeare festival in Cedar City. While there we took a day trip to St. George to meet up with my wife’s uncle and cousin.
My wife’s family was picking up her cousin so that he could come to visit for a few weeks.
Before arriving, my wife warned me that her uncle was a bit rough, and would probably have some “blue language.” Thankfully I can usually handle that kind of language.
Unfortunately, no one was prepared for my language. In the process of meeting this uncle and cousin in a diner, we discussed a wide range of topics. At one point, the uncle mentioned that he and my father-in-law needed to go get out on the water and ski sometime. They needed to put on some “man-thongs” and go play on lake Tahoe. I piped up and said “You mean banana hammocks?”
Everyone paused.
And then the uncle got a huge grin on his face and emphatically said, “Yes!” I had apparently hit his soft spot, and he instantly fell in love with his potential future nephew-in-law. He proceeded to razz me and dropped the level of the conversation a little: restating “banana hammock” a few times in the conversation.
I, of course, was embarrassed at what came out of my mouth and didn’t say much else for the remainder of the meeting. My wife and her mom were both shocked. Who would have thought that I would be the one to initiate the blue language.
I do tend to find just the right thing at the right time to form bonds with people. Sometimes I wish I could think a little further ahead and prevent myself from saying such embarrassing things.
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