Story Time, Vol.1
When I was in my fourth year of college, I found myself in a typical conversation.
Throughout my life, there has been one thing that has been re-occurring: Lots of people know me, but I don't know lots of people. Rather, I know them, but not their names.
Or in some cases, I am completely clueless as to who they are. Today a woman greeted me and I just smiled and said hi, trying to escape before I was forced to engage is a serious, prolonged and potentially embarrassing conversation.
In this case, I was sitting with two guys in my hall. I knew one of the men's names,but not the other. Frantically, I started a conversation about the predicament I had been in many times:
"You know what always happens to me?" I asked, "People are always coming up to me and calling me by name like they know me, and I don't know their names.
We went back and fourth for a while, and the mystery man told me some stories about his past where that had happened.
"It's hard," I continued, "Because I'm so gratified that they know me, but I can't say their name because I don't know it."
Now, I have no idea if the man was onto me now, but he finally said, "Well, if this is some elaborate plan of yours, my name is Jared."
We both laughed. He laughed because it was a funny thought. I laughed because it was completely true.
The moral here is that creativity can get you out of some tough situations. It can also save you from being red-faced time and time again.