Linda showed me a story posted on Facebook that reminded me of an incident that took place some ten years ago while she was still teaching. You will soon know why this particular experience has burned itself so deeply into my psyche.
This particular winter morning, I had to make a trip to Buffalo. I pulled out of the driveway ahead of her and watched in my rearview mirror as she made the turn at the light, pulling up behind me. About halfway to Fredonia, I remembered that the EZ Pass device was in her car instead of my truck, so when I got to the turnoff to the school parking lot, I pulled over to the side of the road, got out of my truck and flagged her down. She stopped, and as the passenger window opened, without even looking I reached in to grab the EZ Pass. It wasn't on the windshield. I looked over to look into the startled eyes of a woman I'd never seen before in my life. "You're not Linda!" I exclaimed, just about as surprised as she. I barely got my arm out the before she closed the window.
Linda drove up in our identical tan Dodge Intrepid just as this woman drove away, leaving me to explain what had happened. Unbeknownst to me, Linda had gotten stopped at the light, while at that very moment, this woman came down the hill and turned right behind me. I reached in, grabbed the EZ Pass and went on to Buffalo, while Linda continued on to work. At lunch that day, she overheard one of the teachers telling another of this crazy man who flagged her down and reached into her car just before she got to work. She quietly kept eating her lunch, not saying a word. I was grateful then, and remain grateful today that this woman wasn't carrying a can of mace. Linda would have found me flat out in a snowbank and might not have laughed quite as heartily as she did while I was explaining my case of mistaken identity to her.
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