“Hi, I’m calling you back regarding your new username.”

“Why thank you,” she trilled.

“I’ve changed it from your old surname to your new one.”

It was then I chose to become extra customer focussed.

“Congratulations! When was the big day?”

Silence. One second. Two seconds. Three seconds. I’m out here.

“It’s already passed,” she finally replied.

”Your honeymoon?” I blundered ever onward.

“No, my divorce.”

That was then I fell through the floor.

“Sorry, I didn’t think, I haven’t had one of these before, I won’t do that again”, My words came out in a rush.

“So, you won’t congratulate me should I remarry?”

“Well, umm, yes. Am I due to change your username again, soon?”

She laughed at that.

“Not that I’d know”, she said.

Time for my quiet and unobtrusive exit.

“Well, sorry about your divorce,” I said. “By the way, I’m trying to recover lost ground due to my ongoing embarrassment here.”

“And how’s that going?”

“Irretrievably. Although I promise to be more tactful in future.”

I heard her smile down the phone. Meanwhile my blush was going straight through to voice mail.

And I thought no more of it. Until next week when she forgot her password. And specifically asked me to help reset it.

Without using her birth date. Which I did. Using my tactfulness again. In real life.

Because now I’m changing my username. With her permission of course. To include her surname.

Sometimes the operating system does work in your favour.