seeing double

A couple of years ago, How I Met Your Mother had a reoccurring sub-plot about doppelgangers. I don’t remember the exact details, but I do remember that, throughout the season, Marshall, Lily, Barney, Ted and Robin were on the lookout for strangers who resembled their friends.

I see doppelgangers all the time. I first noticed it when Yoni and I arrived on island almost a year and a half ago; I would be driving on base or strolling in American Village and all of a sudden, across the parking lot, I’d think I recognized someone. And not someone I knew from Okinawa – not even someone I was particularly close with at home. Just someone I would recognize walking down the street in Forest Hills or on the Upper West Side.

In the beginning, I’d have to consciously remind myself, “no, that’s probably NOT so-and-so walking down the street. You live in Okinawa now.” After a while, though, I started to enjoy these doppelganger sightings. They make me smile, and bring a (slightly strange) sense of home to my daily life here. Today I saw the same doppelganger twice, and was (almost) fooled both times. Talk about the power of suggestion.

I don’t really have anything profound to say about this, except that obviously my brain works in mysterious and oftentimes amusing ways. Maybe my subconscious is trying to help me re-adjust to being in Okinawa after three weeks in the States? Regardless, I hope these sightings continue. They really do make me laugh every time. And who doesn’t need an unexpected laugh every once in a while?