During last night’s surprise appearance by Barack Obama at the third night of the Democratic National Convention, we totally did a double-take when we saw the dashing Senator from Illinois plant a big one on Jill Biden, the wife of his running mate, Joe Biden. Was it on purpose and platonic mouth kisses are suddenly the new show of affection in Washington, or was it an accident? Who knows, but certainly the accidental mouth kiss is something we’ve all endured…

You’re at a party greeting a million people and instead of grazing someone’s cheek with your lips, you accidentally go mouth-to-mouth.  This can make for a very awkward situation, unless you luck out with a totally close friend who would immediately laugh it off.  There’s a few ways this can go. 

1. Your Crush: This is a pretty perfect opening to say, “Oops, I’ve always wanted to do this” or “This is what it feels like to be this close to me.” Thus this may help advance things to another level or get him or her thinking of you as more than just a friend.  Come to think of it, I once had an “accidental” goodnight peck with a crush before things heated up between us. And one of my friends recalls an accidental kiss with a crush that confused her so much, she thought maybe he really was trying to kiss her but drunkenly messed it up.

2. The Family Friend: Laugh this incident off. “I kissed my best friend’s mom on the mouth by accident once. I initially felt very awkward , but when I said, ‘Oops’, we immediately both started laughing.” If you both acknowledge that it was a complete accident, crack a joke about being hot for them for years, you can have a giggle and move on.

3. Your Boss, Your Boyfriend’s Father, A Family Member: If you accidentally smooch someone really inappropriate, you can either apologize firmly once or deny, deny, deny. But having had my fair share of accidental mouth kisses with truly mortifying people, you will most likely be too shocked and embarrassed to handle this with grace.  Bite the bullet, smile politely, and move on.