Awkward Run-Ins

There is one thing in life that I absolutely abhor, makes my stomach flip, and gives me the most anxiety. It's running into people, or simply being in the same vicinity of an individual who you don't really want to see or talk to. I know it sounds insane, but I can't stand it! There's that awkward,

"Did they see me?"

"Can I get out of here without them seeing me?"

"Shit, now I have to say hi."

"I look like crap and of course I run into you now!"

"Now I'm gonna be stuck in an awkward 15 minute conversation with the girl I hated in grade school, smile as you act like we were best friends when you made my life a living hell, and all I wanted was a small fry from McDonald's! Fuck!"

"Oh hi! I used to bang your girl."

Yeah.....happens to me a lot.

Now I'm not being a snob and I am a pretty friendly person. I do like the surprise of seeing friends somewhere unexpected. Key word there was FRIENDS. If I don't like you (or know you too well), I don't like seeing you anywhere, especially somewhere I have to be for a while and have no means of escaping you. I don't like being approached and forced into an awkward, forced conversation. Some people thrive on those situations--obviously if you are coming up to me and I am giving you major stink-eye than you have a big set of balls--but I am definitely not one of those people. And never will be.

Because the world knows how much I can't stand these run-ins, I swear it happens to me twice as often as normal people.

Take this morning!

I'm driving to work at 7:30am. I am barely awake, fighting a really bad head cold (who the hell gets sick in summer?) and attempting to listen to my favorite radio morning show. My ears are also pretty clogged so I had the volume pretty high. As I'm listening to the DJs discuss the fact that organ donors donate organs, not actual body parts (like legs or arms)--yes this was an actual debate--I kept hearing a low beeping noise and a voice. I figured it was the radio so I ignored it. Then something to my right caught my eye. It was a red truck, with someone climbing back inside the window--yes it looked like their upper body had been hanging out the window trying to catch my attention--and then an arm sticking out waving at me. At first I thought it was just some crazy person being stupid on their morning commute. And then I realized I was half right; I saw a huge Philadelphia Flyers decal on their back windshield and recognized the truck.

It was a crazy person alright. THE crazy person I dated for 3 months.

If you need a bit of a refresher please see my post discussing the topic.

For those of you who are a bit lazy, here's the foot-notes: I dated this guy for 3 months, only to find out he had quite a rap sheet (including 2 DUI's, a warrant out for his arrest, and driving on a suspended license) and a raging case of ADD that he refused to take medication for. I ended things with him back in February after he revealed the majority of this in front of my friends (who were just meeting him for the first time) and because he thought the whole thing was a joke. He's texted me a few times since the split--very random and weird texts--but I never responded, hoping I'd never see him again.

And I thought I was scot-free when I found out he moved to Jersey.

Nope!

Needless to say, I was freaking out a bit. My hand immediately went to my face and stayed there for the rest of my ride. I slowed my car down, hoping to stay away from him, and luckily he pulled into a 7-11 immediately after seeing me.  Then I started second guessing myself; "Maybe it wasn't him. How many red truck with a Flyers decal in Philadelphia could there be? Like a million!"

Then I get the following text:

Three things:

1. Bad grammar is not a recent development. This was a common phrase of his. Should've dumped him the minute he verbally raped my ears.
2. Why does he still have my number?!
3. What the heck was he doing in my area at 7:30am, when I know he moved to Pennsauken, New Jersey 4 months ago?

So naturally the rest of my ride was just as paranoid and freaky. I was looking in my rear view mirror every 5 minutes, waiting for him to come out of nowhere and flag me down. But I got to work without any further run-ins. Thank God he didn't pull up next to me again, where I'd be forced to have an extremely awkward conversation with him, and that my ears were clogged and I didn't notice him the first time until he was pulling away. Can you imagine? Oh my God!

Naturally, I'm not responding to his text--because awkward text conversations are a pretty close second to awkward face-to-face conversations, where at least you can delete/ignore the offending awkwardness. I don't want to give this kid an inch, when I know he'll try and take a mile. Definitely NOT how I wanted to start my day!

And I'm not kidding you, this happens to me at least once a week. Friday, my ex-hairdresser and her friend (who happens to be the mother of one of my good friends from grade school, but she's also a major bitch) plopped down next to me at my local bar. Had to avoid turning a certain direction all night! The day before that, 3 former co-workers were at the same restaurant as me and my boyfriend--no bad blood there, but I don't really want to catch up with old friends while I'm trying to enjoy my french fries and burger.

Maybe I'm just being a bitch and should lighten up. I know a lot of people and there will always be a chance I will run-in to people I know, especially if I'm out in Philly. I should just roll with the punches and start being a little friendlier in surprise situations. Really it could make my day, or brighten up the day of someone else.

Or maybe I should just get a tattoo on my forehead that reads:

NO I DON'T WANT TO TALK TO YOU!

LEAVE ME ALONE!

 

But I don't think my forehead is big enough :/