A follow-up to my earlier post about this town being too small for internet dating:

That same guy approached me again the other day. At the same coffee shop - go figure. It was similarly awkward: he packed up his books to leave, then walked over with a sorta shy smile and said hi. But in a rather more familiar way than one would expect from the random dude at the next chaise over. I smiled and returned the greeting, but obviously not in a warm enough fashion.

His smile faltered a little, and he said, "You don't remember me, do you?"

Beat. Uh-oh. Buddy, I'm up to my ears in the Internal Revenue Code, and I'm not even sure I'd recognize my own mother if she approached me here (actually, combine my complete lack of facial memory and inability to place people out of context with my inexplicable refusal to respond to e-dating emails...no wonder I'm chronically single).

"Um, no. Sorry."

"Yeah, I talked to you once before, about recognizing you from..."

(Me, frantically interrupting): "Right, oh yeah, sorry."

Followed by about three minutes of uncomfortable chatter.

I think I hear my exit music. This town is too effing small for me to keep on with this online dating business. And let us be honest: I haven't really been an active participant in a while anyway.

So, I'm studying at a coffee shop today. Haven't really done that this semester, but I just needed to not be in the library today. I noticed this guy kinda smiling and looking at me a couple of times. Finally, he sort of gestured toward me and said, "are you a law student?"

Me: "I am."

Him: "I bet you'll never guess how I know you."

Me: "ummm...nope. I have no idea."

Him: "xckvjnkjhfk"

Me: "Sorry – I didn't quite catch that."

Him: "Did you used to do online dating?"

Me: "I did."

Him: "Yeah, I've seen you. I winked at you. Or maybe even wrote to you. You never responded."

Me: "That's kinda my MO. I never end up writing back to anyone."

...then a bunch of awkward chit chat about small Ann Arbor. Gah. That's the second time this has happened to me. And that's just the times that the guys have said something. Now I have to wonder how frequently people recognize me and don't say anything. This is in pretty serious conflict with my everbloomin' desire to be invisible (except when I don't want to be...you know how it is.) As drama goes, this is small time. But it did give me the mild willies.