The Importance of Paying Close Attention to Conversation

My wife was telling me how some woman came up to her and said, “You look familiar. Have we met before?”

This has happened before and, no, they had never met. My wife wondered what was it about her that made others seem to think that they had met her before.

“Maybe she had gone to India before and she thought that all India woman looked alike.”

“Maybe,” I said.

“Or maybe I just have a common-looking face.”

“Yeah.”

“You’re supposed to say, ‘No, dear, you have a extraordinary face.’”

I stepped into this one. Now I needed to find my way out. “You have a very beautiful face dear.”

“Too late, you missed your chance. You can’t sweet-talk your way out of this.”

“Your face is common in the sense that it represents the ideal of beauty that every woman aspires to and every man would hope for.”

“That boat has set sail, dear.”