Open mouth, insert foot. Repeat.

My boss mentioned something about Andover today. It's his, as well as George W. Bush's, alma mater. And because I was in my post-debate-mocking-Bush mode, I started making rude comments about Bush being a cheerleader at Andover. And just to let my boss know I think he (my boss....well, W., too) is a spoiled rich kid (still) at heart, I started saying things like: "What sport did he cheer for?" "Well, football, of course." "Andover had a football team? I thought boarding school boys were too wussy to play football." He laughed and said he wouldn't dignify that with a response. He reminded me that Bush had been a cheerleader before the school became coed, and that all the cheerleaders were male in those days. I began pleading with him to bring in his Andover yearbooks so I could have a few good yuks at Bush's expense.

Then he said, "Well, actually, when I started at Harvard it wasn't really coed yet. So all the rowing guys (of which he was one) were cheerleaders. So I was a cheerleader at Harvard." What??

In the spirit of full disclosure, I was a cheerleader. But I'm a GIRL. I know that's an incredibly sexist thing to say, and I adored the boy cheerleaders we cheered with. But you'd have to know my boss--it's just not easy to picture him as a cheerleader...in the, what, 60's?? He's sure he has photos (and I don't doubt it--he saves everything), so hopefully he'll produce them as evidence and I can mock him some more. I'm sorry, but a HARVARD cheerleader?? (I've seen photos of my boss as a young man. "Give me an N! Give me an E! Give me an R!...)

That was my first faux pas of the day. I couldn't wait to share this cheerleader news with the boyfriend. When I walked into the house, the stereo was blasting some music that didn't sound familiar. I walked back to the bedroom, where boyfriend was dressing for a gig, and asked, "WHAT are you listening to?" He said, "One of the OffShore CD's." I sheepishly replied, "Oh. That's the Gypsies? Gee, I don't remember that song." When we first lived here, boyfriend managed the music at his friend's club and performed there (with lots of different musicans) five or six nights a week. The first band he put together recorded two live CD's. They called themselves the OffShore Gypsies. Faux pas #2--I mocked his taste in music, only to learn I was listening to HIM play. Oops. :)