Semi-Invisible

I may not be as invisible as I once thought.

There are certain times in a person's life when the person realizes something in a flash of a moment. It usually involves a new idea or a thought that the person hasn't entertained in his or her mind yet. Whatever the case, some sort of wisdom is sure to follow. I've had my fair share of these "enlightening" moments, and one of them happened today.

I used to think that I was invisible. I really did. Figuratively of course, not literally. It may have stemmed from a lack of self confidence or something, I don't know. I can only guess. But I always thought that I had to prove myself to others just so they could accept me as a person. To make a long story short (I'll talk about this some other time), I didn't think I was memorable enough to anyone except for those I've known and spoken to for a year or so. In short, everytime a far acquaintance or someone I used to know remembers who I am, I get surprised. The longer I haven't spoken to the person or the shorter time I've known the person before, the more surprised I get. Strange.

Anyway, I was walking in school and an old acquaintance of mine from a few years back said, "Hi Mike." Mind you this person didn't know me very much, we didn't even talk much before. Maybe just a couple of simple conversations; nothing beyond 3 minutes each. I've seen the person around last year, passed by each other along hallways, and everytime, there wasn't a hint that the person remembered me. No "Hi," not even a wave or a gesture of acknowledgement. Then today, "Hi Mike." That caught me off-guard. All I could do was mutter a "Hi" in response. And then we continued on our separate ways.

Talk about a weird-point-of-view-changing-moment. I guess I'm not as invisible as I once thought.

note: this happens every now and then, but what struck me today was that this person was the last person I'd expect to do something like that. Well maybe not the last person I expected, but pretty much an infinitesimal probability.

I guess I'm not as invisible as I once thought I was. And that's a comforting thought.. Yeah, I can live with that.