Hello, Again.

One of the areas where I really struggle is the ability to remember names. You could have introduced yourself to me 20 seconds ago and by the time you walk away there is an above-average chance I will have already forgotten your name. (If it makes you feel any better, it's nothing personal. I do it all the time and to pretty much everyone.) Fortunately, I'm slightly better with faces. I may not know where I know a person from, but at least my brain will alert me to the fact that I should not be surprised when they approach me to strike up a conversation. The only thing is that sometimes it takes a few seconds before the recognition sets in. So this afternoon when I was in my car at a red light and a man started to walk through the crosswalk it was no surprise that I initially didn't pay much attention to him. Actually, the first thing I noticed was his shirt (it was sort of an understated Hawaiian look). It was only after that I started to look over the rest of him. He was about 29, pale, tall (5'10") and scrawny (140 lbs), with shoulder-length brown hair and what appeared to be a rash on half his face. It was at this point my brain started churning and reminded me that description sounded awfully familiar. Oh, right... we had met before.

No wonder I didn't recognize him at first - he was wearing clothes. We made eye contact for a brief second and I wasn't quite sure what the etiquette was. Normally I give a nod to people, just in case. But, then again, normally I don't have unwanted knowledge of what strangers on the street look like when they aren't wearing pants. It was a little like running into a one-night stand, only much worse. At least then you have something to talk about, whereas here I wasn't sure what was off-limits. Should I have leaned out my window to asked him how he was feeling or just ignore him? I kind of felt like if there was to be an interaction I should be the one to make the initial move, since he did last time (I'm nothing if not accommodating.) Fortunately, it never came to that. He didn't appear to recognize me, which actually shouldn't be much of a surprise. Last time we ran into one another he was clearly on/off some kind of medication and I guess I should have just have been happy that he remembered his dosage this afternoon. Asking if the assassins who put poison inside his body were still after him would have felt like I was provoking him. So, as soon as the light turned I headed off on my own way, hopefully not to see him for at least another three years.

My only regret about the interaction was that I didn't have a copy of the Letter of Disinvite in my car to hand to him since we never bothered to mail him an actual one. (I assume there is no statute of limitations on them. And since we were in charge of writing it, I can pretty much guarantee the one I drafted did not come with an expiration date. He may be fine today, but that doesn't mean I want to risk a repeat of what happened last time in the future.) Either way, this just goes to show you that while it may be a big planet, it is still small enough that you occasionally run into people you would rather avoid, despite your best efforts. I guess it is my own fault for remaining in the area. Admittedly if I had moved a few thousand miles it would have decreased the chances of ever crossing paths with this guy again. There is a reason Witness Protection sticks people in the middle of Arizona. (Or I could have at least made it to the North Shore. The problem is that I was raised as a South Shore kid, so anything beyond Burlington may as well be Siberia.) Still, even they would admit one run-in over three years is a pretty good ratio.

All that being said, these type of bizarre life moments are kind of fun and exactly why I am not on Facebook. I often tell people obsessed with that website that I feel sorry for them because they are so plugged in that they rarely get to just run into people by accident and if they do they already know every thing that has happened since the last time they talked. When you know what every person you have ever met in your entire life is doing at that exact moment, you can never really be surprised at life's little quirks. And, honestly, where is the adventure in that? There is something to be said for not constantly reading status updates or asking Siri where your friends are located and just letting things happen. We used to leave whether or not you randomly saw an old classmate while you were waiting in line at Star Market up to karma. I know it can be a little bit less predictable, but at least it keeps things interesting. Now if you see people more than three times in a week they think you are stalking them. The only good news there is if you do think someone is stalking you, you can always send a Letter of Disinvite. Even if you forget to mail it, it still appears to work. For a while, anyway.