Filed Away

Today, while I was at work, I saw someone I knew.  When I first saw him, my brain didn't register who it was but I thought "He looks familiar."  Another regular customer perhaps.  Then I did a double take.  It was a classmate of mine from Grand Marais.  "What are YOU doing HERE?" I exclaimed.

It's strange how we don't instantly recognize someone we know, when we see them in different-than-usual surroundings.  In my mind, different aspects of my life are filed away in different places.  There's the Petoskey file:  this is where my kids' friends, teachers and my coworkers are.  There's the Grand Marais file: this is where my best friend, my dad and sister, and my high school classmates live.  And there's a Downstate file: my mom and former Grosse Pointe classmates go in there.  Most of the time these files stay separate.  I see Grand Marais people only in Grand Marais, Petoskey people only in Petoskey, etc.  But every now and then, there's a crossover.  Like when someone from Petoskey goes and vacations in Grand Marais.  Or when a classmate from Grand Marais shows up in Petoskey (like today!!).  There ARE a few permanent crossovers.  There are a few former Grand Marais residents living in Petoskey or the surrounding small towns.

When these crossovers happen it's weird.  It almost feels like an invasion.  I'm almost eager to get the experience over so I can get back to whatever "life" I was in the middle of. But I don't understand why I feel that way.