L Squared

When I was in college and hanging around with North and Erica, they kept saying how much I reminded them of Leslie. "You two are just alike!" And everyone else from that group, as they got to know me, agreed.

Not physically, mind you. Outside of being 5'7, big boned, white, and female, Leslie and I look nothing alike. She has big brown eyes, tawny blonde hair, and cheekbones like you wouldn't believe.

So anyway. The crowd decided to introduce us because wouldn't that be fun? The idea was put to us individually and we had what was one of our last completely disparate reactions. I loved the idea. She hated it. I wanted to see what they thought I was "like" and she felt that her self was her own and she had no interest in meeting some kind of clone. So at the event (a Balticon, I think, in early April), I pursued and she eluded. Oh well. So much for that.

But Erica's birthday was coming up (in Mid-May). And I wanted to give a party for her and I wanted it to be a surprise. So the cover I devised was that I would lend North a vacuum cleaner. He and Erica would be moving out of the dorms and into temp housing for the summer a few days before or after Erica's actual birthday, so they'd clean and vacuum, etc, and then North would suggest getting cleaned up, returning the vacuum, and heading out somewhere nice for dinner. (Important note: Never, ever, e-v-e-r set up a surprise party for a woman without a cover story that allows her to be clean, non-sweaty, and decently dressed. I've been to several where the guests were in party dresses and the "honoree" was in grubby sweats and kept saying "But you all look so nice." Not good.)

So far, so good. I called the Baltimore folks - including Leslie - to invite them. (I'm very old, you see, and this was before e-mail was common.) By the time we got off the phone - probably an hour later - we were fast friends. And we discovered that we did have a lot in common.

The party went off without a hitch. Erica was surprised, pleased, clean, and festively dressed. Everyone had fun. And at one point, Leslie and I were chatting and the folks who thought it was a good idea to introduce us were gathered around. None of us remembered what got said that Les and I both found interesting, but everyone remembers what came next. At exactly the same time, in the same pitch, with the same smile and eyes lighting up, and, well, pretty much the same everything we both said "Really? Neat!" And you could see the horror in the backs of everyone's eyes: Oh, God. There are two of them. And we put them together.

They have only themselves to blame.