Stalked in Waitrose:
I was in Waitrose yesterday and heard a voice behind me:
“Are you Vicki?”
“Ermmm…yes!” (“Who wants to know?”) I replied curiously, spinning around to see a guy I didn’t recognise smiling at me.
“I’ve seen your videos on LinkedIn. I thought it was you! Hope you don’t mind me saying hello!”
“Not at all!” I laughed, grateful to know I hadn’t stood him up on a date in 1987 or anything…
He told me how he really liked my videos, and also that he’d seen me out on a walk the day before with Kev but didn’t want to disturb me. He said seeing me again made him want to pluck up the courage to say hello.
Pluck up the courage!
Wow! I’d never thought of myself as the sort of person anyone would need to psych themselves up to talk to, but I guess that’s the power of seeing someone on social media before you meet them in real life.
You feel as if you know them, but because they don’t know you, you don’t know if you’re going to get a warm reception or a frosty one.
I’d like to think I wasn’t frosty.
In fact, I was delighted he felt the urge to say hello, and I asked him what he did for a living.
Then, I suggested he sign up to my daily emails and offered to send him a copy of Kev’s book because I thought he’d find it useful (I love getting new people in our gang!).
When I walked away from him, I suddenly found myself feeling rather pleased that he’d found me browsing the alcohol-free booze shelves rather than ramming my trolley full of cheap gin.
I quickly realised that was a twatty thought to have, but I found it interesting that I suddenly felt a sense of being watched and judged - my head was running through how I must have appeared to him.
I quickly reminded myself he probably didn’t notice whether I was putting spring water or Special Brew in my trolley.
Other people spend far less time thinking about you than you think they do, and that includes your nearest and dearest!
Most of the time people are so busy thinking about themselves that they don’t give you more than a passing thought when it suits them.
So, next time you worry if you’ve made a good impression or not, just relax and let it go.
It’s a waste of mental energy that’s better spent on other things!