tommy

do you ever run into a certain someone all. the. time? maybe it's someone you know, maybe it's a stranger.



well i keep running into this guy and it's starting to drive me crazy. i don't know him, but i'm fairly certain we went to college together.



the first time i ran into him was several years ago. i was in a gym class in my office building and we were running in the stairwell. he was coming down as i was going up and i said, "isn't your name tommy?" he just said no, looked at me weird and continued on his way. well what i should've said was "didn't you go to truman?" because that's where i know him from - i think.



the awkwardness continued since several times after that when i'd run into him in the building. awkward because he'll just stare at me. i'll give a friendly smile, but nothing in return. no smile, no hello, just a stare.



then it progressed to day care. apparently we have the same work schedule because he would drop off his kid at day care the same time i drop off e, i would follow him to work, into the same parking garage and into adjacent office buildings. some evenings we would drive back together. this is ridiculous.



i got used to walking past him about once a week over the lunch hour.



then i take a vacation day to see top chef on tour when it came the kc and there he was again!



then i saw him on the trail by my house. i said hello this time with nothing in return. maybe he has social anxiety?



then about two weeks ago i saw him at the grocery store. that day i was not in the mood. i had no makeup on and hadn't washed my hair in two days. we go to grab our carts at the same time and intersect about five times down the produce aisle. i say screw it and head straight for dairy. didn't work. i see him about six more times before i can check out and get the hell out of there.



saw him yesterday at lunch. saw him this morning in the parking garage. not a smile, not a hello.



one of these days i swear i'm just going to say "dude, really, we see each other everywhere."



guess it could be worse. could be someone you drunkenly made out with at a party. or an old boss. or both. guess i'm glad i have my tommy.