Tuesday, 31 March 2009

• Currently Blackout! By Method Man & Redman see related

  Starbucks Story Tuesday: Starblogs Coffee Company

  There is a phenomenon that is occasionally experienced by virtually everyone who has contact with human beings on a regular basis.  It occurs when you see a random stranger who looks exactly like someone you know.  When this happens, it always triggers some kind of emotive reaction.  If this stranger looks like someone you know by simple acquaintance, like your mailman or butcher, seeing him/her might evoke a smile or a small chuckle.  However, sometimes this person looks like someone significant, like your best friend, husband, ex-girlfriend, or mistress.  In this case, seeing this person will put your emotions into frenzy.  The amazing thing about this is that while your neural circuits are firing and overloading with activity, the other person will have no idea what’s going on.  This phenomenon is completely unilateral, which makes it kind of annoying.  You’re hormonally and/or emotionally charged but you can’t do anything about it.  To you, this stranger is someone you want them to be, but to them, you’re just another creeper with a staring problem.

  This happened to me recently at Starbucks.  The “stranger” was a new employee named Michelle, but the unique thing about this incident was that Michelle didn’t look like someone I knew in real life.  Michelle looked exactly like Xanga blogger CallMeQuell (who I’ve never met), and to see arguably the two biggest worlds in my life (Xanga and Starbucks) manifest in a 5’1” barista was somewhat unnerving.  It was like CERN had collided two atoms in the particle accelerator and created matter out of nothing.  I felt as if the universe had come full circle.  My existence was immediately put in a different perspective, which probably says a lot about my pathetic life.

  My first encounter with her was a few weeks ago.  She had just finished making me a black iced tea (which I would later add half-and-half milk to and convince myself that it was a Thai iced tea) and said, “Here you go.”

  I resisted the urge to ask her about Zeke, but just barely.  “Thank you.”

  “I always see you here but I don’t know your name,” she said.

  This felt like a blog entry in the making, but I had a feeling that she wouldn’t believe my name was “Manila Jones.” “Shane Varnet!” I proclaimed, “And I can call you…?”

  “Michelle."
  

  “Thank you Michelle.  This black tea looks fantastic,” said Manila Jones.  “I’m going enjoy this beverage while I work on my computer over there.”

  “What are you working on?”  CallMeChelle asked.
  

  “Oh, it’s nothing you’d be interested in, I’m sure,” Manila Jones said as he walked away.  He lied.  He was going to blog about this immediately.

  “Don’t forget your straw!” CallMeChelle said.

  “Oops!  How can I drink this without a straw?  What am I?  An animal?  LOL!!  I have no redeeming qualities.”

  “You’re funny.”

  “Only sometimes.”

  Only when I think my life is a blog entry.

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