F.A.M.E.

A couple of weeks ago I was at the Arco around the corner from my house pumping gas into my truck when I heard my name being called out. I turned around, befuddled, expecting to see someone that I knew or even recognized, but instead saw myself facing an old black woman. "Hey, Katie!" she said, "What are you doing over here?" I stared at her for a moment before I answered. "Do I know her?" I thought. 

"You don't recognize me do you? I shop at your store all the time. My sister owns that Wingstop in the parking lot."

"Oh, uh...right. Hi." 

To this day, I still don't know who that woman is. It freaked me out a little that she knew my first name because I wasn't wearing my nametag or in uniform. I was in jeans and a t-shirt, getting gas 20 minutes from my work. I admit that I was a little weirded out.

Last week, I was at school walking to my truck after class, listening to my iPod, when a girl walked up beside me and started babbling on about her math professor. I only heard about half of it because my music was up pretty loud and I had assumed that she was talking to someone else. When she wouldn't stop, I took out one earphone and said "I'm sorry, but were you talking to me?" 

"Yes. You're in my math class right? What do you think of the professor?" 

"Um...I'm not in any math classes this semester...sorry"

"You're not? Well I know you from somewhere! Do you work nearby?"

"Yeah not too far I guess."

"Oh! You work at [enter grocery store name here]! You are so funny!"

"Um..thanks?"

It's things like this that weird me out. Lately I've noticed more and more that people remember me because of things I say or do, and 99% of the time I have no idea who they are. Another example that has nothing to do with where I work. 

A few months ago, me and a friend went bar hopping on a whim. We ended up at a bar in downtown Long Beach and he got a text from a girl he was interested in. It turned out that she was at the bar next door celebrating someone's birthday. We went over to say hi to her before calling it a night and when my friend introduced us, she took one look at me and said "OH MY GOD! I KNOW YOU!" 

I looked at the girl, I looked at my friend, and back at the girl and said "Ummm...ok?" Admittedly she looked a little on the drunk side so I thought she was just mistaking me for someone else. Until she said, "You were in my Environmental Science class a couple of semesters ago," 

"...The class with the Asian guy no one could understand? The guy who just kind of made up everything as he went along and had no clue what he was doing?"

"YES! I sat behind you! You made the funniest comments!"

And a good chunk of the remainder of our conversation was directed towards me. I felt kind of bad for stealing my friends thunder but at the same time I didn't know what to do. I've noticed recently that everywhere I go, I seem to know at least one person in some way or another. I've observed that these kind of awkward coincidences freak me out. When I was in class with that girl, she legitimately just heard the comments that I made under my breath. It wasn't even anything major or one comment in particular, it was all of them. Same thing when people recognize me from work. Let's be real here: in regards to the company and the whole store itself: I am no one. I'm at the bottom of the chain. i know this. I accept this. i don't want to stay there any longer than I have to. But the fact that i get recognized when I'm out and about...it's weird. I've been in bars and someone will come up to me and ask me if I work at the store. It's weird. I don't recognize people from their jobs out in the world. I don't know. 

I have to get ready for a barbecue. Happy Labor Day!