Sometimes My Stupidity Still Surprises Me

When a woman indicates that she may be greeting a fellow out of a sense of social obligation (presumably due to some prior history), it is probably better to take her at her word, instead of essentially repeating her words verbatim to the fellow, thereby throwing her under the bus for the sake of a stupid, disposable joke.

Obviously, this was not a hypothetical situation, but something that happened on Friday at Friday Night Live in Herndon.

I wasn't drunk. I just had no idea that there was any history there.

Boy, did I feel like an asshole. I couldn't stop apologizing.

At least there was a form of instant karmic payback, as some new friends I'd just been introduced to introduced me to a woman they knew who looked oddly familiar.

It was slightly hard to hear because of the band, but she had something of an accent.

I asked what she did -- she said she was in the mortgage business.

I asked where she lived -- she said she lived in Reston, near the Town Center.

The pieces started coming together -- after a series of questions (considerably less than 20, fortunately), I figured out that it was my ex-girlfriend's landlord/roommate.

She also confirmed that I wasn't paranoid, and that it was indeed my ex that I'd seen in town a few weeks ago.

I was appropriately self-flagellating, but it was still a little awkward.

It's not that it's a small world -- it's just that Reston is a small, unincorporated portion of Fairfax County.

Went to Jimmy's afterwards. Had to wait in line for about 10 minutes, too. The worst part, though, was that I had specifically skimped on lunch so that I would be set to have the Friday Fish Fry, which is fish and chips with a side of pierogi, which is really good and which I haven't had in probably a year.

And yet I wasn't hungry in the least bit.

Tags: dumb things, friday night live, jimmy's, friday fish fry, instant karma