I totally sympathise with Stephen Fry over his ‘bag lady’ comment at the BAFTA’s. Jenny Beavan is his friend and it was banter between them. The fact that it was shared with millions of viewers on tv and media, just meant that he didn’t quite get away with it. Over the past year, this has happened to me more than once. I’ve made, what I totally saw as a jokey comment with a like minded person and it has spectacularly back fired.
Sometimes I open my mouth and say something and as I do so I am watching the person’s reaction with bated breath, crossing everything on my body that I know them well enough to be confident that they will take it the right way. Such as the other day. Danish friend’s daughter got hit by a car outside their house, as she was crossing the road to catch the early school bus. Is she ok? I enquired when I saw my friend. How awful for you to run outside and find her lying in the road and then, in the same breath, I uttered the words: were you still in your pyjamas?
As the words left my lips, I could see partner’s horrified face out of the corner of my eye. Oh shit, I thought, there I go again.
The moral of all this, of course, is: know your audience and on this occasion, I did. Unfortunately for Stephen Fry, he didn’t.
Post script
Danish friend’s daughter shattered a car windscreen. After 10 X ray’s they could only discover two small marks on her entire body. A very lucky girl. She has, however, lost a shoe. If found, please send it to pyjama lady.