You know that sinking feeling you get when you realize that you’ll never be able to convincingly explain to someone that something you just said or did was in no way related to them? I’m seriously tempted to just apologize anyway in some of these situations.
When I was in high school I remember waiting every day for our teacher to unlock the door to our first period class. One day he was sick, and a different, widely-hated teacher came to unlock the door. I didn’t realize the regular teacher wasn’t coming in, and even if I had I wouldn’t have reacted to the presence of this substitute, but I was looking at something my friend was doing and said “Oh, no!“ The teacher turned and stepped right up in my face, glaring up at me angrily. If I could have remained completely unaware of what she thought, I probably could’ve conveyed what was actually going on, but it instantly dawned on me, as it always does, and I realized that I would have to exaggerate an obviously-fake “What? OH, you thought I meant about you? No, no, no, of course not!“ That, of course, is the point when the dumb smile starts to creep over your face. It’s all downhill from there.
Long story short, I usually just resign myself to having made an enemy for life. It’s simpler that way.