Mistaken Identity.

Unbeknownst to me, there have been quite a few people that have mistaken me for someone else. At the gym I swim at there is a physical therapy office adjacent. There is a girl there that specializes in water therapy. And some of her patients have come up to her and asked her how she changed so quickly. Responding, she asks what they mean. They tell her that they had just seen her swimming a minute ago. She corrects them and tells them that it was not she in the pool. Well, today was the first time in the two-and-a-half years that I have been swimming there on a weekly basis that we have both been in the pool together.

I was having a conversation with another swimmer in the pool, and as this other girl was turning around to do another lap she smiled a me as if in acknowledgement of a common understanding. However, I had no idea what she was smiling in reference to. In fact, I had never spoken to her before. I had only seen her in the pool area giving instructions to other swimmers.

In the locker room, as I was doing my hair, she came up to me and said, "I bet we confused a lot of people today." I still had no idea what she was talking about. She had read my expression of confusion and proceeded to tell me that many of her patients think that I am she. From what I gathered from her, there aren't too many swimmers at the gym that can swim for a long period of time without stopping. She said, "Endurance impresses them." Who would have thought? I can impress people? So, all these people think that I am this other girl based on the fact that we can both swim for more than two laps without stopping. That's a compliment to me because the person I am mistaken for swam competitively in college. She is certainly a lot better than I am.

Well, I have made a new acquaintance as a result of all this. I enjoy meeting new people and hearing their stories. She is from Louisiana and came to Utah for her current job as a physical therapist. She isn't too sold on Utah and is frustrated with the lack of initiative the guys have in regard to dating. (Join the club.) I didn't think she was a member, but she seems to be suffering from the single syndrome as much as the rest of us. Missionary opportunity?!