he said. she said. a married couple's blog.

So I'm walking down the street to the office from the Metro this morning, and I hear a guy come up on my right and say "Hi!" like he knows me. I say "Hello," thinking that it's Doug or someone else I actually know. It's not. "We've been playing commute tag the past few weeks, he says." No reaction from me. Never seen him before in my life. "I used to have hair." Still nothing. Sorry guy. "I'm Tom*. You work at Urban, too, right?" "Yes. That is right." So at least maybe he wasn't lying. There are 400 people here; I hardly know a fraction of them. I think he thought I was one of the newer research assistants or something, because he was quite taken aback when I told him I had been working here for just about 4 years. He asked a lot of questions in like half a block. I threw a couple "my husband"-s in there for good measure and I'm safely in my office now. All this before coffee!

I don't know if he was hitting on me, or just trying to make friends, or what, but man was it awkward. I forgot how much talking to strangers stresses me out. Learners in the Learning Lab is one thing. I'm not expected to make small talk if I don't want to. I get to know them, and then we chat. Plus, I'm not there to make friends. The two minute conversation with "Tom" was so nerve wracking. I hope I never have to do it again, honestly.

______________
*Not his real name.