He Didn't Even LOOK Familiar.....

Mentioning the old Omni in yesterday's post reminded me of yet another story from years ago.

Have any of you ever had the experience of seeing someone you know, but NOT where you usually see that person, therefore you don't recognize him/her? It's embarrassing, particularly if the person in question is well aware of who you are.

Katydid and I were at the Omni, attending a [who else?] Billy Joel concert. We got there early, so we were milling around, buying over-priced souvenirs and beer. The beer, however, was worth it at whatever the price.

[Yes I, a teacher in _______ County, Georgia, occasionally drink a beer. So fire me.]

We were standing in line at the t-shirt counter, and Katydid was drinking a beer. This guy sidled up to us, and he sort of nudged Katydid with his elbow and gave her a look that we couldn't decipher. Then he took Katydid's beer out of her hand and TOOK A SWALLOW OF IT!!!!!

We were speechless.

Then he said, "Does y'all's mama know you're out this late?"

I don't think we said anything to him. We just sort of stared, open-mouthed. He looked at us strangely for another few seconds, then he wandered off.

I looked at Katydid. "How does he even know we HAVE the same mama?"

"I. Don't. Know."

We were completed weirded out. We bought our t-shirts and milled around some more.

At some point I had an epiphany, or my brain kicked into gear, or maybe the beer kicked in.

I turned to Katydid and said, "Ohmigod. That was BRIAN."

Brian is our first cousin's son.

That makes him our first cousin once removed, NOT our second cousin as a lot of people think. You're welcome for the genealogy lesson.

Luckily, we found Brian again before the concert started. We had a good laugh, we acknowledged our embarrassment/stupidity, and for several years his mother continued to introduce him to us at the family reunion.

Isn't it strange how we connect people to certain locations/events/people, and we don't recognize them outside those environments?

Hasn't this happened to some of you before?

Anyone?

**crickets**

**crickets**

Is anyone out there?