So, I’ve been corresponding with goonhead off and on for a few months now. We’re not exactly the best of friends, but he seems like a really nice guy whom I’d like to get to know better.
A couple of weeks ago, goon emailed me saying that he was going on a road trip, and he would be coming through my area, and would I like to meet him for lunch or dinner? I emailed him back with a tentative “yes,” noting that I would be going to a family reunion that weekend, and might have to cancel the dinner date because of that.
Over the next week, there were a number of schedule changes, miscommunications, I was out of email contact for a while, etc. etc… the upshot of which was that goonhead arrived in my hometown Friday evening, not knowing that I was already up at my grandmother’s house with LeeshaDad and LeeshaMom. He called my house several times, trying to figure out where I was; LeeshaBrother, who had gotten to the house late with his girlfriend, passed the messages on to me, but I wasn’t able to talk to goon directly and tell him where I’d gone. Needless to say, I felt kind of lousy that evening, but managed to enjoy myself for the rest of the weekend.
When we got home on Sunday evening, I sent a long, apologetic email to goon, explaining the whole thing. We made contact on #straightdope that evening, and the conversation went something like this (I’m paraphrasing):
Me: Sorry about standing you up. Hope I didn’t ruin your evening.
goonhead: No problem. I figured it was just a miscommunication. I had a good dinner anyway, and drove up to Weippe yesterday. Nice town.
Me: Heh, that’s a funny coincidence, Weippe is just a stone’s throw from my grandmother’s house. Did you happen to pass by a place called Frasier Park? 'Cuz we were having a potluck there on Saturday.
goonhead: Actually, I had lunch there. Was that what all those people were there for?
:eek:
He was there. The. Whole. Freaking. Time.
:smack: :smack: :smack:
Realistically, there was no way we could have really met up there… he didn’t know what I look like or where I was going, and I had no idea he was going to be coming that direction. Furthermore, the family reunion was freaking HUGE–there were upwards of a hundred people there, most of whom I had met no more than once in my life. I could easily have been sitting right next to goonhead and neither one of us would have known it.
Still, I must repeat: Irony Sucks.