Part 1: "I thought I recognized you! "

My husband always teases me about my "gift" in recognizing people in public and putting myself in awkward situations. Unfortunately, it is not always, actually, it has never come to my advantage. What I intend to be a friendly encounter with a "familiar face" has consistently resulted in an embarrassing situation that at times could be considered public harrassment. So I share with you, from the depths of my ego, two true tales of "mistaken identity" followed by a story that resulted in the redemption of my ego.

Anybody else out there that shares this terrifying gift?

Story 1: I was at the bank located conveniently in my local grocery store. I was standing in line patiently waiting my turn. Knowing I was next to be seen, I glanced up to see who was in front of me. At the bank counter was a tall woman dressed in gym clothes wearing a Louis Vuitton backpack (hey, I'm a woman!). I immediately "recognized" her and smiled. As she finished up, she turned to me and smiled. BINGO! She recognized me too! I quickly finished up my business at the bank counter and walked confidently towards her. In the tomato section of the grocery store, I mustered up the strength to say hello to her and attempt to extract out the fact that we knew each other.

I excitedly said: "I thought I recognized you! You look familiar to me. "
Tall woman with Louis bag reluctantly said: "Hello? "
Disappointed that she did not share my enthusiasm: "I'm a nurse at Maryland. Wasn't your child there recently? " (health professionals cringe)
She said: "No, I don't think so. "
I insisted: "At Maryland...UMMS in downtown?"
She reiterated: "No, I don't think so. "
Desperately reaching: "5th floor, D-wing?"
The diva in her said: "Mmm...mmm"
I persisted: "You just look SO familiar to me. " (intently thinking)
She said: "Yeah, you too. " (frowning)

I awkwardly walked away from this "stranger" whom I thought I knew. Was she lying to me? Did she not want others to know that her child was in the hospital? I myself was bewildered and embarrassed. Not only had I publicly harrassed this woman that smiled at me, but I had violated HIPPA policy!

I quickly retrieved my grocery items and successfully dodged another awkward encounter with this woman. As I was driving home and pulling in front of our house, it dawned on me that I DID know this woman. She was in fact MY NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR 3 HOUSES DOWN.

My husband found this story so entertaining and humorous...another one down for the books! And not to mention a neighbor that thinks I'm crazy.