Last week my office had a happy hour at a local pizza joint after work. These happy hours have historically been very lame and this one would not have been blog-worthy had it not been for one conversation.
I was engaged in some mundane conversation with a superior probably about sports or the weather when I overheard this gem of a conversation unfolding:
Coworker 1: “What, you don’t know what the hymen is?”
Coworker 2: “No, should I?”
I immediately turned away from my co-worker to observe where this was headed. Coworker 1 is a male under 30 who, in my opinion should have avoided this conversation like the plague. Coworker 2 is a female in her mid to upper 30’s who has an MBA from a very good school. In her defense, she is not originally from the United States and English is her second language. There were also a few other male coworkers involved in this conversation who echoed her question.
Coworker 1 looked to me for guidance as to whether he should proceed with an explanation. Naturally I gave the “go-for-it” look and he did.
Coworker 1: “Well, uh, it is the thin layer of skin that is broken the first time a woman has sex.”
Coworker 2 (with a horrified look): “So how do you win the trophy?”
It was at this moment I realized her mistake and fell out of my chair laughing.
If you have not yet figured out why I was laughing, I will explain. The word “hymen” and the word “Heisman” sound similar, especially to a foreigner. So, in an attempt to learn about college football, she got an interesting lesson in female anatomy.
After I picked myself off the floor and wiped the tears from my eyes, I saw that Coworker 2 had relocated to the other end of the table. I could see how red her face was, even from across the room.
I was engaged in some mundane conversation with a superior probably about sports or the weather when I overheard this gem of a conversation unfolding:
Coworker 1: “What, you don’t know what the hymen is?”
Coworker 2: “No, should I?”
I immediately turned away from my co-worker to observe where this was headed. Coworker 1 is a male under 30 who, in my opinion should have avoided this conversation like the plague. Coworker 2 is a female in her mid to upper 30’s who has an MBA from a very good school. In her defense, she is not originally from the United States and English is her second language. There were also a few other male coworkers involved in this conversation who echoed her question.
Coworker 1 looked to me for guidance as to whether he should proceed with an explanation. Naturally I gave the “go-for-it” look and he did.
Coworker 1: “Well, uh, it is the thin layer of skin that is broken the first time a woman has sex.”
Coworker 2 (with a horrified look): “So how do you win the trophy?”
It was at this moment I realized her mistake and fell out of my chair laughing.
If you have not yet figured out why I was laughing, I will explain. The word “hymen” and the word “Heisman” sound similar, especially to a foreigner. So, in an attempt to learn about college football, she got an interesting lesson in female anatomy.
After I picked myself off the floor and wiped the tears from my eyes, I saw that Coworker 2 had relocated to the other end of the table. I could see how red her face was, even from across the room.
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