Doppelganger

I first became aware of the presence of my clone years ago. My friend Bradley called me one day to find out where I was. I replied that I was squarely on my couch watching television. Bradley wanted proof of this fact, so I held the phone up to the TV set. He said that he could swear he had just seen me at a bus stop in Mesa miles away from my house. The only thing that gave him pause was the fact that 'I' was sitting with my arm around a girl, and he knew at the time I had no girlfriend.

The next one I can remember was a few years later. I pulled into a Del Taco drive through one night, and the kid at the window said, 'Is this some joke?' As expected, I was confused. He asked if I'd gone home and switched cars. Nope, I only have the camaro, I told him. He said I'd been through the drive through 10 minutes earlier in a different car. I don't think he was entirely convinced that I wasn't just messing with him.

The third instance was around the same time, when my friend Jeff said he saw 'me' at his work. Since I stopped in from time to time on Fridays to go see movies with him, he assumed it was me and was going to walk up behind me and say something stupid until he realized I shouldn't have gotten past the front desk, and I was in a conference room talking to people I would have no reason to be talking with. Turns out it was a client of his, and he said up until he got really close to the guy he would have sworn it was me. This is a guy I've known for over twenty years and I even roomed with for a few years.

Just last week, I popped into the bagel shop where I frequently grab a bagel and cappucino on my way to work. The guy, who I've never had any conversation with other than basic comments on his Packers football team, starts right in on the middle of a conversation. He said 'Yeah, it is getting really expensive eating out. Just last week I went to yadda yadda etc etc' and told a story about going out for dinner as if I'd started the conversation. I wondered if perhaps, my clone had been in there recently discussing the economics of dining out with him. It's really the only explanation I can think of because nothing I ever said or did with this guy implied that i felt that way. However, it would be a little weird if I asked him, 'Are you confusing me with another guy who looks like me?'

Someday I hope to bump into this mother fucker. I have no idea what I'd say but it would probably shake the earth to its foundation.