Open Mouth Insert Foot

Who of you will willingly admit you have done did this? Now who will apologize for what you did?

Why do I bring this up? There are a lot of people making a huge hissy fit about President Obama's gaffe on Leno.

Appearing on "The Tonight Show" Thursday, the president told host Jay Leno he'd been practicing at the White House's bowling alley but wasn't happy with his score of 129. Then he remarked: "It was like the Special Olympics or something."

Today's headlines:
President Barack Obama has apologized to the chairman of the Special Olympics for his late-night talk show quip equating his bowling skills to those of athletes with disabilities.

On his way back to Washington on Air Force One, Obama called the chairman of the Special Olympics, Tim Shriver, to say he was sorry — even before the taped program aired late Thursday night.

"He expressed his disappointment and he apologized in a way that was very moving. He expressed that he did not intend to humiliate this population," Shriver said Friday on ABC's "Good Morning America." Obama, Shriver said, wants to have some Special Olympic athletes visit the White House to bowl or play basketball.

Still, Shriver said, "I think it's important to see that words hurt and words do matter. And these words that in some respect can be seem as humiliating or a put down to people with special needs do cause pain and they do result in stereotypes."

So that brings me back to our own "open mouth, insert foot" disease. I do it a lot. Of course, the best way to avoid this disease is to prepare before you make your comments. Doesn't always happen, especially in my case. Everyone makes mistakes and we all realize that. There are many times I don't even realize the implication of what I said because like many others, I say things without thinking. I never mean harm. IMHO, it's just human nature.

If you recognize your OMIF (acronym for Open Mouth Insert Foot for you texters), don't ignore what you said which makes it worse. Don't try to cover it up by blaming someone or something else and don't make excuses. Apologize and make it sincere or don't bother.

Thanks President Obama for making your apology sincere and for recognizing the gaffe. I actually watched the show and never even noticed the OMIF until this morning when every media source was going bonkers. Since I rarely recognize my own OMIF times, I wish I was more like you and I mean that sincerely.

So have you ever OMIF?