You Look Familiar

I get that a lot

At the hamish book-signing party for my friends on Sunday, pre-reading, a nice woman said this to me: "You look so familiar." I hear this line a lot. I've got one of those punims, apparently, a punim that reminds people of their aunts, cousins, college roommates. And yet, I'm never any of those alleged people. I hate to disappoint, but I'm only me, not alas, the cousin you once visited that time you went to the place and then got back on the plane and came home. One time, someone came up to me and said, with absolute certainty, "I met your sister!" The shocking reveal that I don't have a sister didn't go over too well. "Of course you do." "Nah-huh." "You have to. She looked just like you." "Sorry." When in doubt, apologize, even though I'm not sorry I don't have a sister. Sometimes, being the only girl in the family comes with extra perks. Sometimes.

So yesterday, at the cozy book-signing for "Expecting," by Ann Lewis Hamilton (what, you didn't think I'd mention you in my blog?) and "Hollywood Digs," by Ken LaZebnik, when the nice lady told me I looked so familiar, I didn't have the energy to pursue it for fear of disappointing her. And I didn't want to say, "Listen, I've never met you in my life." That would've been rude. So instead, I rolled out my standard response: "You've probably seen me at Gelson's." I didn't specify which one. There are Gelson's everywhere. I figured Gelson's was a safe bet. Before she could ponder this possibility, the reading began.

Ken read from "Hollywood Digs." Ann read from "Expecting." And somewhere in the middle of this literary nirvana, it hit me. I remembered that indeed, the nice lady and I did know each other. The connection popped into the SJG Brain like a lost kernel of Orville Redenbacher (Butter Flavor). I wanted to leap across the room and tell her, but I thought this might not go over well with Ken and Ann. So I waited till they were done (I wasn't raised in a barn in Westwood), and then leaped across the room.

"Guess what? I know where we met."
"You do?"
"I'm 100 percent positive."
"Where did we meet? Gelson's?"
"No."
"Ralphs?"
"No."
"Whole Foods?"
"No."
"Trader Joe's?"
"No, we didn't meet at a market. We met in Physical Therapy."
"At --"  insert mumbled name of place I didn't go to for P.T.
"No, at -- " insert mumbled name of place I did go to for P.T., about 12 years ago.
"Oh my God, that's right."
"We were next to each other, kvetching about our backs."
"You'd had the accident."
"Right, and you had the sciatica."
"Right."
"Everything good now?"
"More or less. You?"
"Fine, for the most part."
"Happy New Year."
"You too."
"You too."

Case solved.  Next?