It was one of those moments when you realise "ah crap, now I've gone and done it...."
A few weeks back a friendly, but difficult to get hold of, press sec came through for me and tee-ed up a chat with his guy. He's a fairly busy fellow and I don't tend to want much on his major portfolio, so I'm down the pecking order - I can deal with that.
Anyway, here's how the exchange should have gone:
Me: Hello minister, how're you going?
Minister: I'm pretty well -
how're you finding Brent?
Me: You must be working him like a dog,
'cos he's always tough to get a
hold of...
Minister: Ahahahahaha....
Chat proceeds as it should.
Here's how it actually went.....
Me: Hello Minister, how're you going?
Minister: I'm well - how're you finding Brent?
Me: Uhhh, well, he's a bit slippery?
Minister (incredulously): Slippery?!?
Me: Uhh, yeah, I mean, he always returns my calls.... (inward groan)
Chat proceeds - call comes straight away:
Brent: Slippery?!?!?
Me: Uhhhh, I was, it just, I didn't mean....
This is when it pays to remember the second definition of slippery:
2 (of a person) evasive and unpredictable.
Not to mention the amount use it got last year..... jeeeeez being a baby reporter can leave you with a lot of red faces.....
When I'm back on speaking terms I'll let y'all know....
PB.
Posts
