Return of The Clone Ranger

Just leaving the Pilot truck stop in Pioneer, Tennessee. I stopped to scan in my last trip, and wandered around looking for the stamp machine that used to be there.

I mention this because while I was there, I walked by one of the Subway restaurant tables. A lady sitting at one looked at me and said “You still here?”

Um ...

I assumed she was talking to someone on the phone and had just looked up at me. So I kept walking.

She said, directly to me, “Hey, I'm talking to you.”

So I stopped. “Pardon?”

She said “Weren't you just in here a few hours ago?”

I scratched my head. “What are you talking about?” She frowned and gave me a bemused look. So I told her, “I haven't been here in months.”

She shrugged as if to say “whatever” and told me “You have a twin, then.”

“Well,” I told her, “my ex-wife always said I was a clone.”

She said doubtfully, “Must be.”

I went on about my business. Got my trip scanned. Looked for the stamp machine (which I never found).

When I started out, the woman waved at me and said “See you when I see you.”

I waved back and told her “Just make sure it's really me.”

She rolled her eyes. Still not convinced, I assume, that we had never met.

This always surprises me. It happens often enough that it shouldn't. Not weekly, but every couple of months, at least. I suppose what surprises me is how determined these people usually are that they've met me. Or that they outright know me. I still wonder if the woman in Lake Station, Indiana a few years ago who came up to me and threw her arms around my neck and asked me “Where have you been?” ... I wonder if she tells that story?

I also wonder if there are other clones who look like me, who wander around having these same bizarre experiences?