Remember the day you got accepted into college? It was a magical moment. It was an opportunity to change yourself, to grow and to awkwardly run into your old high school classmates after graduating. There’s nothing like walking out of your home and seeing someone you used to see every day. What do you do? You don’t even know them, you just recognize them from the four years you passed each other in the school hallway. No matter how far away you are, whether you are at college, visiting home or road-tripping through the United States, you’re bound to find yourself in this situation. Here are the top 10 places where it happens the most.
1. At your minimum wage job. There’s no shame in slipping into a uniform complete with no-slip shoes. But there’s a little bit of shame when the person whose order you’re taking turns out to be someone you rejected for three years from your high school.
2. At the Movies. There’s nothing like kicking back and resting your feet on the seat in front of you. Sometimes people sitting there get mad. It’s okay if it’s a stranger, but what happens when that person turns out to be someone you were friends with in high school? Nothing too drastic, except you melt into a puddle of shame. Don’t worry though, the theater gets cleaned after each showing.
3. At the Mall. Raise your hand if just once you would like to feed your shopaholic tendencies without seeing and making awkward eye contact with that guy who used to be in your third period AP Psych class.
4. In your twenty-person biology lab. Out of all the possible lab sections, you both ended up in this one. Your choices are to pretend you don’t know each other, become friends, or switch out immediately.
5. Shopping with your mom at Target. Imagine this: You’re dressed in your Sunday worst, getting milk with your mom, and you happen to walk by a girl you used to pass in the hallway every day on your way to class. It would have been okay, except she looked totally glamorous and you totally didn’t.
6. In the middle of nowhere because that’s just your luck. Such as a random stop on the Turnpike, hundreds of miles away from your old high school.
7. Stopped at a red light. It doesn’t just happen in the movies. It is entirely possible to casually drive around and end up next to someone you used to know, especially when you’re home for the holidays driving around the town where all of your ex-classmates live.
8. In the bathroom of your dorm. Nothing is more surprising than walking out of a stall to see that girl from your debate class washing her hands at a sink.
9. Visiting a friend at a different college. Like the good friend you are, you keep your close friendships by visiting those who went to different colleges. It just sucks that you ran into your ex’s current significant other while touring the campus.
10. The gym. Just kidding, you don't go to the gym.
As you can see, no place is safe. I wish I could provide advice to avoid running into people, but sadly, they’re going to show up wherever you go. It’s best to put on a polite smile and make up an excuse about being late for something.
