On one of the evenings of my work trip last week, four of us were sharing a taxi back to the hotel after dinner. The taxi was small, so one of my female colleagues ended up sitting on my knee for the (short) trip.

“I’m sorry to crush you with my weight,” she commented.

“That’s OK,” I replied, “I’m pleasantly surprised.”

As Rachel famously put it in Friends, that remark sounded soooo much better in my head before I said it.