The case of the mistaken identity

I’m at local coffee shop waiting for my wife. After about five minutes, I break out into a smile and throw my right hand up in the air. I see my old boss Craig. I haven’t seen Craig in at least eight years.

When I first entered Corporate America, Craig was a VP and was a great writer and resource. He had worked at the Philadelphia Inquirer and knew how to tell a story that entertained and educated the reader. He would often have me sit next to him as he edited whatever I had written for that month’s employee newsletter. It was a tremendous learning experience. I got to see what worked with the reader and what didn’t.

As he approaches from across the shop, it hits me that the place is out of his way. He lives over an hour in the opposite direction, but I shake the thought. I see that he still has the same white hair and goatee.

The closer he gets, though, I see that Craig isn’t Craig. I’ve made a huge mistake. He’s the spitting image of Craig — a doppelganger, a look-alike — but it’s not Craig. Now that he’s a few feet away, I see that this Craig walks with a limp and looks shorter.

I put my hand back down and slink down in my chair.

I try to act like my wave and smile never happened. Fortunately he does the same. He passes by me and walks out the door.

As I’ve gotten older, I feel like this happens to me all the time. What’s going through my head? I think I see someone I know. I even go out of my way to say hello or wave. In the end though, it turns out that it’s not who I think it is.

Does this happen to you?

A modern-day whodunit?

Mistaken identity is a frequent theme in stories, from comedies to thrillers, often involving look-alikes or confusing situations that lead to various outcomes. In my own life, though, I can’t blame the mistaken identities on reading glasses. I wear my glasses all the time.

I can’t even blame it on the sun getting in my eyes or a bad memory. I’m just mistaking people.

It gets better. Several weeks ago, we were traveling and had to stop at a rest stop to use the rest room and grab a soda. When I stopped to hold the door open for another couple, my wife and I got separated. I saw her a few yards ahead of me. I thought she was heading into the convenience store. It turned out I was following someone else.

The other woman had a similar red shirt, but she most certainly was not my wife!

I’m just glad I didn’t run up to the other woman and try to grab her hand or put my arm around her waist. Now that would’ve been a challenging thing to explain. “Oops! Excuse me!”

Double checking!

Doing nothing though has gotten my in trouble too. This summer I didn’t wave when I saw a friend at a local minor league baseball game. When we got up at one point from our seats, I thought I saw my friend in another section. I thought it looked like him, but decided I couldn’t be right. The next day I got a text from the guy questioning why I didn’t come say hello.

He joked that I was giving him “The Diva Treatment.” Oh brother, I can’t win for trying.

Who else has this problem? Am I the only one?

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