People You Don't Know

It's funny when you see someone that you don't really know, but you know that you should know. It's worse when they see you too, and they also know that they should know you, but they don't know you either. Your eyes lock, and chaos ensues. It happens to me all the time, especially with people that I have had classes with, or have worked with in the past, or people I went to high school with. This is what happens when you stay in the same town for twenty two years. I had a high school graduating class of 400+ people, some of whom I know and know me, a lot that I didn't even know existed, and most of whom I can at least recognize their face and sometimes make a reasonable guess at their name--the last group of people is the most awkward to encounter.

You can be in the store, working, or walking along the sidewalk, and you momentarily make eye contact. In the store isn't alway so bad because you can simply go to another section and avoid them if you need to, but when you are working in customer service and are constantly encountering situations like this--I'm not even going to discuss it, it can be so awkward. Anyways, when you are walking towards each other on a narrow sidewalk, it can be really bad too. They keep walking towards you and you can see their pace noticeably slow as they decide what the best thing to do is. One time I actually saw the person cross to the other side of the street as I passed, and when I turned around again a minute or so later, they had crossed back over to my side of the street and were walking along still--I didn't know that I was so unpopular. The following are the most common reactions though.

Most people pretend not to notice me. It's really funny though because they are trying so hard to act non-conspicuous that it is overly conspicuous. They are walking in a straight line, but their head is conveniently turned away at a 90 degree angle to the side, looking at a wall with plants on it, or at the street, or anywhere except where they are walking and where I am. It is really convenient for them if they are wearing sunglasses and listening to an iPod though, because this way they can be less conspicuous in their horrible acting. They just walk by you without so much as a glance, and that's that. It's really horrible when you are walking across campus though, on a set schedule, and they are on a similar schedule, so you are constantly walking by them at around the same time, always around the same locations--it's really hard for them to pretend then.

Then there are the people who nod and then just keep walking. I think that this is possibly the least awkward of all the reactions. It shows that they at least know who you are, and know that it is courteous to acknowledge people that you somewhat know, but they aren't pretending like you don't exist, and they aren't pretending that you have been best friends in the past; this is the next group of people.

These are the people who try to act like you were BFF's. They overcompensate for their awkwardness by talking up a storm and asking about people that they know both of you know, but you haven't seen since graduation day, and then they try to ask about your family, who they have never met, and ask what you are doing in regards to your life such as occupation, education and relationships. I think it's great that all of the sudden, these people who wouldn't have been caught dead being so friendly in high school, are such friendly people now. Unfortunately, most of the time you can tell that they are more concerned with their cell phone during the entire conversation, and if you were to quiz them on all the answers to the questions they just asked, they would certainly get less than I do on my math tests.

It's really bad if you know their name, but you are 100% sure that they have no clue who you are. It's difficult to know if you should pretend like you recognize them but don't really know who they are, or if you should go up to them and say their name and see their awkward reaction when they tell you that they have never seen you before in their life, or they kind of recognize you, but never really cared about you because you weren't in the same clique that they were and they have no clue what your name is.

Ok, I have a new "most awkward". These are the people that you went to elementary school with, and were actually pretty good friends and you hung out a lot and were great and then you hit Jr. High and High School and you went along your different paths, and sometimes you learned to hate each other, and sometimes you just were never placed in the same classes and then you lost contact with them--it wasn't anything personal. Then you see them, and you don't know if they are still friendly like they were in elementary school, or if the real world has jaded them and now they hate everyone, and if you try to talk to them about the great times that you had when you were little if they will give you the kind of look that my dog gives me when he is trying to take a nap and I keep waking him up by petting him.

Anyway, this girl that I had a class with a couple semesters ago just sat down next to me in the library, and she is pretending like I don't exist, so I'm just going to end the awkwardness now and go somewhere else.