Small World

The running into of people is so funny. I live in the place that I grew up in, and I have been involved in many, many things over the course of my lifetime. So I cannot go a day without running into someone I know. And there are certain places that I go where I always run into someone I know. In the last 3 weeks I have been to the mall 4 times. Just quick trips, in and out under an hour with Jacob in the stroller, walking, or hanging off of me in some respect.

I know I'm making it sound like I go to the mall a lot. This is not true really, I'm just trying to squeeze it all in before the friggin Christmas season really starts up. It has already, by the way. it's just not in full force yet. Although, the lady waiting in her SUV for a parking spot today gave me good reason to think it's just around the corner. People are so lazy. There was a guy standing outside his car, talking on his cell phone (don't get me started on the cell phones...). He was eventually going to get in, but he was taking his sweet time. And this lady was just sitting there in her car, with the blinker on, waiting for his spot. There were spots all over the place, but this one was ten steps closer to the door - oooh. If she'd just taken a different spot further away she could have been done with her shopping trip by the time the guy got in his car.

I entered that row from a different end so I could see the empty spot (blocked from her vision by a jumbo SUV - don't even get me started on those) even closer to the door than the one she was waiting for. Haha..I grabbed it up and the look on her face was to die for. "Don't even pretend you were waiting for this spot," I said from the safety of my car. I wasn't even looking for a close spot. I don't mind parking far away. And unless you are handicapped, have a baby with you and it's raining, or have a multiple number of small of kids, then really, what is the reason that you cannot use your own two feet to walk the extra steps to the entrance. Seriously, you're going to the mall, once you get in, it's all walking anyway.

Trips #1 and #2 to the the mall happened in the same week. Both times I saw my sister there. Both times I was just leaving and she was just getting there. And it's not like we know where the other is going to be on any given day. We only talk if we see each other at my mom's or if she calls because she wants something from me. Trip #1 we also saw one of my friends from the moms club. The next trip was at the end of last week. Jacob and I had such a fun time that night (Daddy was painting and we didn't want to be alone). So we saw another one of my moms club friends, with her husband and their daughter. We talked for a couple minutes and then as I was rounding the corner away from them, I spotted my brother walking toward us. Today, I saw another moms club friend and I high school teacher of mine in the bathroom. That reminds me that last month I saw my 6th grade teacher there too. I always run in to former teachers and that's kind of weird because they don't always remember you so you can just go up to the and say hi. You don't want to make them feel bad for not remembering you. What must that be like, to be a teacher for 20+ years and be out in public. Are you constantly looking around, wondering if the mom over there was in your class, or if the teenager that past you was in your kindergarten class? No? I would.

So after seeing my sister in the mall twice, I ran into her in Starbucks last week. Not the kind of person you want to be seen in a coffee shop with. And on Sunday at another coffee shop I saw a college senior who I used to baby-sit for! I don't even want to be old enough to be a college senior myself, much less the former baby-sitter of one. The other day in Target I ran into someone I used to work with and got to she her daughter for the first time. Actually it was someone from Day Camp (capitalized because I worked there for so many summers that it was became an integral part of my development to adulthood). I had the same kids for like 7 summers and now I see them out in the world, working in the grocery store, driving cars (!), dating....and they don't always remember me. So I just take a good look and smile to myself and hope they don't see me staring.

Maybe this kind of thing is the reason why I walk around feeling like I'm being watched. Think Jim Carrey in The Truman Show.

I also can't meet someone without realizing a connection that we already have with each other. Working at place where moms (and dads) come in all day long with their small kids gives me plenty of opportunities to have the same conversation over and over again: "You look familiar," - "What's you maiden name?" - "Did you grow up here?" - "Wait, is so-and-so your sister?" Yada, yada, yada...

I like to think of these little instances as constant reminders that the universe is connected.

My mom always told me to be careful when you're driving to not commit some offense against another driver because you never know if it's going to turn out to be someone you know. And I can generalize this to pretty much any other situation as well, since I'm always running into people everywhere I go. I can't go out in public without looking decent, and if I don't, when I do see that inevitable person I know, I have to try like hell to avoid them. Writing this blog is a lot like that. I hold myself to a higher standard because I know I have an audience (however small it may be - while I'm on it, maybe sometime one of you could leave me some feedback?). Sure, I could lie, or just omit the part where I scream at Jacob, or am a lazy mom sometimes, or whatever. But it's nice to know that when I say I am going to be better in some regard, it's in writing and that alone helps me to follow through on stuff. Like today at the mall, we had a leisurely time and I actually played with Jacob, and haven't really at any point today been doing more than 2 things at once. I've already been clearing my schedule (like I said I would) and slowing down, yelling less, getting to bed earlier. I wonder if that will work on Zach too? I'll give it a try: The bathroom will be done by the end of the week!