I’ve never been out in public, seen another person, and felt like I was looking in the mirror. However, I can’t count the number of times people have said things to me like, “You look so familiar,” “You look just like someone I went to high school with,” “You look like someone I used to work with,” “Are you a professor? You look like a professor I’ve seen” [I’ve never been a professor], “You’re Amber’s older sister, right?” [I don’t have a sister], “Did you used to work out at Gold’s Gym?” [I didn’t used to work out at any gym], and even “How’s the pregnancy going?” [I wasn’t pregnant, and I don’t think I looked pregnant!]
A man staying in the same hostel told me with a heavy accent that there’s a woman in Germany who looks like me. “Her name is Anna.” It’s gone global!
When a cashier guessed, “Jennifer?” then told me, “Oh, you look like this lady that works at Dollar General,” I was tempted to drive to Dollar General and ask for Jennifer, just to see what she looked like.
I’ve had the same mind-boggling conversation with a few business owners. It goes something like this:
“Weren’t you in here last week?”
“No, I’ve never been here before.”
“Are you sure? You look familiar.”
“This is my first trip to _______ [name of town or state]. I just got in last night.”
After a moment of reflection, they’ll decide, “I’m sure it was you. I recognize you.”
How can I prove that I wasn’t there?
The strangest occurrence happened when I was working in the Registration office of my community college. A woman came to my station and told me right away, “Oh my God! You look just like my sister-in-law, Linda, who died!” What do you say to that? During the transaction, she kept making comments about it. “Oh my god- you look so much like Linda.” Near the end, she whipped out her phone and took a picture of me, then texted it to her daughter with the message, “Who does this look like?” A minute later, she showed me the screen with her daughter’s reply: “Aunt Linda.”
I got to thinking about my doppelgangers today. They must be decent people. I’ve never had anyone turn angry when they thought they recognized me. In fact, I seem to get asked a lot in public, “Excuse me- will you take our picture?” The other replicas of me out there must not be camera thieves, either. To all the people running around who look just like me: Before you do anything crazy, keep in mind that it isn’t only your reputation on the line- it’s mine, too! And I’ll think of you.