The Gal Who Knew Me

Nobody does it better
Makes me feel scared, I don't jest
Nobody does it half as good as you
Baby, you're a pest

You had to be lookin', 'cause somehow you found me
You know that really ain't quite right
Not-Heaven, you threw me
The gal who knew me
I tried to refute with all my might

Nobody does it better
Though that doesn't mean they should
Nobody does it quite the way you did
Stalking outside my neighborhood

The way that you told me
You shouldn't have told me
There's no kind of logic to you
It just keeps me runnin'
But you keep on comin'
How'd you learn to do the things you do

Nobody does it better
Makes me feel scared, I don't jest
Nobody does it half as good as you
Baby, you're a pest

There I was Friday afternoon, minding my own business at a river town casino 90 miles from home, when a lady walked up to my right shoulder. I kept playing my Wonder 4 Tower full of Miss Kitty. Ignoring her, you know. Since I'm used to attracting weirdos, and make it a habit not to engage. Surely she was just going to watch a minute. I'd been hitting little bonuses, the kind where you get a kitty in the last four columns, and the game respins until you miss a kitty. Yeah. She must have heard that bonus music, and came to watch. So she could jump on that machine when I left.

So there I was, playing, with a blond/gray haired lady standing at my right shoulder. Facing me. Seeming to watch VAL more than the game. It made me a bit uncomfortable. But I soldiered on. Slots ain't gonna play themselves.

"Hi! How are you doing?"

Well. That was a bit nosy of Gray Lady! Another gambler's fortune is not something that polite people concern themselves with. Maybe she was a new gambler and didn't know the ropes. I ignored her, but she rambled on. Kept small talking. Enough is enough! I turned to face her.

"Um. Maybe you have mistake me for someone else?"

"Don't you remember me?"

"Um. No..."

"From Backroads?"

"Uhh..."

"From The Gas Station Chicken Store," said the man next to her.

"Oh! I go there every day!"

"I used to work there," said Gray Lady.

That's quite possible. But I guarantee you she hasn't worked there in the past 5 years! I'd remember! I've gone there virtually every day since I retired in May 2016. And a couple times a week before that, for another 5 years, when I most often had The Pony with me, waiting in T-Hoe for a corn dog. That store has a very high turnover, because the Lady Owner is quite demanding. Pardon me for not remembering her.

Seriously! How am I supposed to remember a long-ago convenience store clerk from Backroads, when I'm 90 miles away in a casino? I'm lucky if I can remember 1/10 of the 2800 students I've had for 174 school days a year, over my career. Much less a lady I might have encountered for five minutes a couple times a week for less than a year. Still, I exchanged a few pleasantries with her.

"I saw you go in Casey's yesterday!"

"Yes, I was in there. I buy lottery tickets."

How does this woman remember ME? What's going on here? It's not like she said she knew me from teaching. Or that her kid had me in school. Does she remember all her former customers from The Gas Station Chicken Store? Make notes about where she sees them?

Val is a small-town celebrity. She can't go anywhere incognito.