Keep your foot out of your mouth, sweetie

The chairman looked at the only woman in the meeting room. She was the expert in these types of questions.

“This assignment will fit like a glove for you, sweetie. Can you start tomorrow?”

Manda looked straight at him but didn’t respond.He tried again.

“Sweetie? Manda?”

“Oh, you mean me? I thought you were referring to Victor.”

The chairman frowned.

“Victor? This is not his area of expertise.”

Manda cocked her head to the side.

“No, no it isn’t. But since he is such a sweetie, I thought you were referring to him.”

Victor tried to keep quiet, but his chuckling grew steadily louder.

The chairman looked confused and Manda was not offering any more explanation. Victor intervened.

“I think what Manda is saying, is that if you call me Victor, she wants to be called Manda. But I guess if you call me sweetie, you can call her sweetie too.”

Be aware of how you use language. Or rather, be aware of your thoughts.

As long as you truly see the individual behind every face, be it a woman or a man, a person with light skin or dark skin, a young person or an old person, you will be truly inclusive and you will automatically keep your foot out of your mouth.