Mistaken Identity

You know those super awkward moments that we humans just love to have?

Like when someone you don't know is waving at you, and you know they aren't waving at you, but it looks so much like they are waving at you that after several excruciating seconds of pretending not to see them you do the "who me?" thing and they nod so you do it again, just in case, and they nod again so you wave back with the smile that you only reserve for friends and teachers but then you see the person they are waving at walk out from behind you and you feel like an idiot so you have to write a run on sentance about it.

You know what I'm talking about.

Well that has most certainly happened to me. More than once. And it was an incident kinda like that which I would love to share with you today.

Many many years ago my family went to this place called impression 5. We loved going there because it was basically a hands on science center for kids and had all these fun things for us to do. Well I was cruisin' around the place in some sweet 90's get-up I'm sure. I'm picturing an MC Hammer sweater, stonewashed jeans with zippers at the ankle (to make them extra tight of course) and two pairs of socks, one pair pulled up and one pair rolled halfway down so you could see two colors at once. Plus a scrunchi in my ponytailed hair. Of course.

Anyway, I was cruisin' around like I already said when I spotted my brother Adam sitting at a computer playing with the paint program. I stood behind him with my hands on his shoulders for a second watching him color in a picture. He was using the pencil tool to do it and I could tell that it was going to take him forever. So I, being the paint expert that I am, sat down next to him, put my arm around him, and asked if he wanted to know a way to make the coloring go faster. I was thinking that he could use the spray can, or the paint brush, anything but the pencil really.

He didn't respond to me so I said again, "do you want help with that?"

He looked up at me and said (in a strange voice I might add) "I don't want your help."

Finally, for the first time I actually focused on his face.

...

And my world stopped. (cue sound effect: needle sliding off a record)

It wasn't Adam. It was some other blond 5-year-old kid who looked just like him. He was even wearing the same shirt for heaven's sake! And then I slowly turned my head to the right. The kid's dad was sitting directly on the other side of me (how did I miss that?) and was giving me a who do you think you are/get your hands off my kid look.

Well I jumped up and mumbled "uhsorryithoughtitwasmybrotherguessnottheylookthesamesorrysorrysorry..." and then I took off breaking the sound barrier on my way.

The rest of the day I cowered behind my mom praying that I would not see that man and his kid again. I did but I pretended not to. My hands still sweat when I think about it.

Has that ever happened to you? Anything like that? Please say yes. And please share.