I used to work for a company with over 600 people in one building. This is the thing I miss about smoking. Smokers go outside, stand in circles, and get to know each other. Depending on where the smokers go at the building you see a lot of shit.
Even a few non-smokers would come over to talk to someone they knew now and again. Some of those people, you'd get to know.
So this dude who is not a smoker comes over to talk to a fellow smoker. He is wearing a hat for a minor league team several states away that my uncle actually worked for, doing field maintenance. So we got to talking.
The next day, we both realized we pass each other every day in the lunch room and so we struck up a friendship.
Almost a full year later, we'd spent hours BSing about the Bulls, Bears, Cubs/Sox... (Bill Wirtz was still alive and the Hawks were rubbish) I knew his wife's name was Sylvia. He knew my dog was Doogie. That kind of thing.
"Hey, man how was your big trip to Los Angeles?" or "Did you ever finish building that bar in your basement?"
Fucking Jacquelyn, who he had come to talk to the first day, had no idea who I was taking about when a couple days later I asked what that dude's name was again.
So anyway, I never knew his name and it was clear he didn't know mine. He comes up one day and immediately goes "I'm going to (X) to watch a [Home Team] game!"
Yeah. I arranged for the dude to meet my uncle, who took him out on to the field and let him hang around all day. So finally! My uncle can tell me this dude's name!
Call uncle the day after he's meeting up with my buddy. "You know what, shit. I don't remember his name either! We didn't talk much he just mostly walked around with his girlfriend and took some pictures."
Dude gets back from the trip and is impressed with my uncle, who was a classic character with a very distinctive voice. He's telling me how great of a guy he was, and recalling things my uncle had said - using the voice. They'd had dinner together and spent like 4 hours hanging out.
Which was the first sign that something was afoot. They had opposing stories about their interactions.
So my buddy's continuing, "And he goes 'Hey, Darren, you want to help me chalk the foul lines?' and i was like ABSOLUTELY!"
Darren! Holy shit. What a relief! That seemed familiar, like the right name. It felt right.
So the next day I'm like "What's up, Darren?"
Unsatisfying ending to the story - he made this big deal, acting like a woman "Who's Darren?! Do you have a breakfast buddy I don't know about?"
Clearly, this was something my uncle had devised to have some fun with me.
Guy reaches out to shake my hand and goes "It's Nick, man. And if I'm honest, I didn't know your name until your uncle asked me how you are doing!"
Lol - so it happens in the adult world sometimes too.