Saturday, June 23, 2007

Sad doppelgänger

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While living in rural Arkansas, my wife and I occasionally attended a nearby Episcopal church. The interim rector was a seemingly happy middle-aged woman who valued personal appearance enough to spend a bit of time primping and came across as very well put together, especially in formal Sunday worship robes.

Every so often we would run across a woman in the grocery store who we thought must be her - but in civilian clothes. Faded jeans and a sweatshirt, hunched over her shopping cart, hair frazzled and with a look of grim resignation on her face. We would dart about, not wanting to disturb the sullen woman in her off-duty activities.

Only later did we realize this was an entirely different person - the local dry cleaner. So, here they were, two completely unrelated individuals that could be twins. One confident and assured, the other dejected and world-weary.

Are there others out there? If so, which of the two does that make you? Could these false twins be creatures of chaos?