Boy, Did I Feel Stupid

I had one of those experiences today that made me feel like a complete idiot.

Several days ago I was in the gym getting dressed after showering. I wasn’t having a very good day to begin with, and I was getting my clothes out of my locker when I heard this voice behind me saying something like, “Hey, how’s it going today?” The only person I ever run into who I know at the gym is this acquaintance, Dean, who I know well enough to exchange small talk but not much beyond that. It looked like Dean out of the corner of my eye, and so I started to say “Hi Dean”, when I realized it wasn’t him.

I had never seen this person before in my life, but he proceeded to talk to me like I knew him. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but the way he talked to me was a bit too familiar for being a complete stranger and he was kind of giving me a strange look — I thought maybe he knew me from somewhere or knew my wife or something. I quickly forced myself through the conversation and got the heck out of there.

Anyway, today after showering I’m getting dressed and again the same guy is sitting next to a locker and starts talking to me like he knows me, only now I realize what’s going on and feel like a complete idiot. He was blind. He had a folded up cane sitting next to him today; probably still had that in his locker or gym bag the previous day because I certainly didn’t see it and it never even occurred to me from the previous conversation that he might be blind.

Oy.

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