Mistaken Identity

January 2, 2012 by The Minnesota Farm Woman

If you have ever wondered if you are losing your mind, just try moving back to your home town 30 years after you graduated from high school. Some people look the same, others look nothing like they once did and others have somehow morphed into their parents. Some call it the circle of life but sometimes I call it the circle of confusion. More than once I have had to play the game “I’ll bet you can’t guess who I am!” in the local grocery store by someone who knew me back in the day. Sometimes I’m right and sometimes I’m wrong. Mistaken identity can be pretty embarrassing. They say I look exactly the same and are too kind to mention the grey hair, laugh lines and (let’s just say “a few”) extra pounds. No mistaken identity here. While I was away living my life my old friends were both here and away living theirs. I love catching up and hearing their stories. A dear friend told me of one the other day: She was a busy young working mother and farm wife with two toddlers and a dog who was known to escape his kennel and liked to explore. One rainy stormy day she got a call from someone a few miles down the road who told her they had found the dog….again. She had better come get him, and NOW would be a good time. Muttering to herself and buckling the squirming kids into their car seats, she drove through the pouring rain, grabbed the dog by the collar, and giving him a good swat on the backside tossed the wet creature into the back seat with the kids and drove home. When she got there, she brushed the dripping hair out of her eyes, grabbed the dog (muddy paws and all) and dragged him toward the kennel, where she belatedly noted that HER dog was right there where he was supposed to be. Oops. Mistaken identity. She did manage to get his twin to the right home, and luckily he was no worse for wear, although probably a little more than confused. I always try to learn life’s lessons from my own experiences as well as the experiences of others, and this is no exception. 1) Always introduce yourself to old friends and acquaintances you haven’t seen in a while so someone doesn’t think you are your mother. 2) Just because someone tells you so doesn’t make it true. 3) There’s no embarrassment in telling stories to old friends unless one of them happens to be a writer. 4) Don’t ever swat someone on the backside unless you are really, really sure you know who they are.

Posted in Uncategorized | 12 Comments

12 Responses

on January 2, 2012 at 12:37 pm | Reply pixilated2

I do love this post, and thank you for some humor to refresh my day! BTW, There is a similar story to be told about my baby brother at Christmastime… although the circumstances are were less disgruntled and angry. Again, thank you! ~ Lynda

(Thinking, now that you have helped me recall the tale, that I will write that story, save it and post it for next Christmas.) 😉

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- on January 2, 2012 at 1:16 pm | Reply The Minnesota Farm Woman
  
  I can’t wait to read that one!
  Chris
  
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on January 2, 2012 at 12:48 pm | Reply Ronda Morhaime

How great…I have the same problems, people walk up to me and start talking and I do my best to act all nonchalant, as soon as they walk away I ask my Sister who was that…she laughs and says that was so-in-so…my comment…they were only 5 when I moved away how am I suppose to recognize all these children. I have mistaken many a person for their uncle or father…totally embarrassing.

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- on January 2, 2012 at 1:15 pm | Reply The Minnesota Farm Woman
  
  I know…I have asked my best-friend-since-the-first-grade to always give me a hint if someone stops to talk to us so I don’t looik like a complete idiot. Thanks for reading, and for commenting!
  chris
  
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on January 2, 2012 at 12:50 pm | Reply Emma Ann Weatherly

Oh, dear MFW, How I can relate! We left our hometown in our late teens, and – after living in mostly large suburbs in multiple states – returned to live here in our early forties. It seemed everyone I saw knew me, and said “You haven’t changed a bit!” Right. More than once I called a twenty-something by his father’s first name… He really did look just like his Dad — twenty-some years earlier. I wanted everyone in town to wear name tags, every day, everywhere they were.

If you love small towns & hometowns, I hope you’ll check out my three posts on the topic: Small Towns: Keeping in Touch, A Shady Neighborhood Parts 1 and 2, at http://www.winebeforefive.com.

Love your blog – keep writing! : )

Emma Ann

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- on January 2, 2012 at 1:13 pm | Reply The Minnesota Farm Woman
  
  Of course I ran right over and read about your small town…..much more exciting than mine, I think! ;o)
  Thanks for reading!
  Chris
  
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on January 2, 2012 at 5:31 pm | Reply Sue Cellini aka The Pocket Farmer

Too funny! I remember when we were kids, waiting at the bus stop to go to school, we were horrified to spot “our” black cat Spooky lying dead in the road. We abandoned our plans to go to school, ran home to get a bucket and shovel, ran back to the bus stop and scooped up the cat. We somberly proceeded back home to dig the grave and buried our good friend. Only after we woke Mom up to get a ride to school and were waiting out front for her to get dressed, did we happen to notice the “real” Spooky cat lounging under a tree. We never did figure out what cat we buried.

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- on January 2, 2012 at 5:59 pm | Reply The Minnesota Farm Woman
  
  Awwww…. or maybe Spooky was only on his 8th life!
  Chris
  
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on July 30, 2012 at 8:27 am | Reply Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award! | winebeforefive

[…] The Minnesota Farmwoman – who writes, obviously, from her farm in Minnesota, to share her stories of chickens, and more, and my favorite: dogs with mistaken identities, which prompted my own small town dog story. […]

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- on July 30, 2012 at 4:19 pm | Reply The Minnesota Farm Woman
  
  Awwww…..thank you! I am honored!
  
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on July 20, 2013 at 1:41 pm | Reply Gwen Schock Cowherd

Great piece of writing. Love it.

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- on July 21, 2013 at 2:01 pm | Reply The Minnesota Farm Woman
  
  Thank you!
  
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