Last weekend, I was perched along side the Disney marathon route waiting for Andy to run by, when I happened to glance at one of the other runners. “That’s weird,” I thought to myself, “That looks like Pepper.” Pepper (which is not her real name, but the real one is equally unique) was, years ago, a regular poster on a messageboard that I have lurked on since I found out I was pregnant with Kate.
It struck me as odd, but I didn’t give it another thought until we were at the “Family Reunion Area” after the race, when I saw her again. This time I was able to catch a glance at her runner’s bib, and sure enough, “Pepper” was printed across it.
It was so weird – she was a perfect stranger, yet I knew her name, the names of her kids, where she was from, when she started running, and various other bits of information about her. However, she would never, ever look at me and realize I had that knowledge, because all I do is lurk on that board.
I was so shocked, and quite freaked out, by this incident… but I couldn’t tell my friends without seeming like some sort of scary internet stalker, so I kept my surprise to myself (that is, until I could find the time to text Jenny!).
It was a big reminder to me that whatever we put on the Internetz is totally out there, and who knows how many people are reading it. I don’t mean for this to sound like a warning of impending doom or anything like that, it is just so odd to think that any of us could be minding our own business running a half marathon and be recognized by some random person from Ohio.
Totally weird.
Sing it with me now – “It’s a small world after all, it’s a small world after all…”
It’s a small freaky world after all.
