We got some new interns at work the other day. I was introduced to one of them, Yosef Jones. I asked if he was related to Zain Jones. I’ve worked with Zain over the years and often saw him at the gym. Yosef told me that he was Zain’s son.

Later that day, I ran into Zain at the gym after I’d been working out. I told Zain that I’d just been introduced to Yosef Jones. Zain seemed pretty disinterested so I let it drop and grabbed a shower.

About halfway thru the shower, I realized that it wasn’t Zain who I’d spoken with but someone else entirely, Andy Jones.

Beep!

Beep!beep!beep! I felt like an idiot. Zain and Andy have similar builds but otherwise look nothing like each other. I started to wonder whether I was starting to lose my mind. Was I going to keep talking to folks without any idea who they really were? My fear of losing my mind was competing with the embarrassment of totally confusing poor old Andy.

By the following day, my fears and embarrassment were still there but were fading a bit to the background of my regular day-to-day anxiety.

In the afternoon, I ran into Andy. I said “I’m sorry but I completely thought that you were Zain Jones when I spoke with you yesterday.”

Andy said “Oh. I’d no idea. I was so worn out from my workout that I’d no idea what was going on.”

That hadn’t occurred to me. Are everyone’s brains kind of mushy after a workout? As excuses go, it sounds pretty good. Or maybe my senior moment was cancelled out by Andy’s senior moment.

Better happy than right?