Small City

This never would've happened to me in London, nor would it in New York, or San Francisco, or D.C. Even in Escanaba or Ontonogan. Or how about Ishpeming? Nope.

You see, there's a unique combination of factors at work here:

1. I'm from Illinois
2. I went to the University of Illinois
1. Everyone who went to the U of I is from Illinois
2. They are also mostly from the suburbs
   
3. Everyone who graduates from the U of I and/or grew up in the suburbs moves to Chicago

That is partially why I keep running into people I know. Take this week, for example:

It's a Wednesday night, and I'm in a bar for a debate on foreign policy put on by the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations. Two of my friends meet for the first time, and my friend Molly realizes her high school boyfriend is my other friend's med school classmate at the University of Chicago. So far, so good. Almost to be expected, right?

Then I notice someone familiar across the room. She's holding the timer for the debate, a scowl on her face, and must be someone who works at the Council. How do I know her? Have I seen her at another event? At last I think I have it, so I approach.

"Hey, are you from Rockford?"
"Yeah, how did you know?"
"And did you go to Keith Country Day for grade school?"
"Yes!"
"I'm Theresa--you were a grade above me!"

Yes, folks, it was a girl I last saw when I was 11 years old. Hadn't seen her in years, but still remembered her face, and that she had a weird name starting with 'a'. (For the record, it's Alya. And her personality hasn't changed since grade school.)

A scant half hour later, I'm on the bus and recognize the guy next to me.

"Hey, do you ever go to ImprovOlympic?"
"Uh, yeah."
"Were you ever picked out of the audience during one of the sketches?"
"Oh my god, I can't believe you remember that! It was four months ago!"
"What can I say? You were really funny."

So. Guess I'm a visual person, eh? Names flit in and out of my head, but faces--faces stay.

One of the other reasons I keep running into people is because there is a finite amount of places people in my socioeconomic demographic tend to hang out. Everything is concentrated in a small five-mile area of Wicker Park, River North, Lincoln Park, Lakeview. Oh, and the West Loop. And the Gold Coast. Bucktown, too. Well, you get the point. There are whole swathes of Chicago, entire neighborhoods, that I will probably never go to. Why? Because they suck. There's nothing to do there. This is why, when people my age go out, that we tend to run into the same people all the time.

On Thursday, I go to a new nightclub with two girlfriends. This after hitting up a pub, and before that, a huge fashion event--it was a loooong day. Who do I run into, but my friend's 'hetero life partner' Michelle (read: co-worker, neighbor, and good friend) and Michelle's boyfriend. No sooner do I make introductions than I turn around and see a guy I had met at another, different bar, on Tuesday.

See what I mean? This city is crazy small. It's comforting in a way, but I wonder if it will ever grow stifling.

That said, I normally go weeks without running into someone I know. That I happened to have half a dozen coincidences in three days may just be an aberration. Or it may turn out to be like my senior year of college, when not only did I keep running into the same people everywhere, but everyone I knew knew someone else I knew.

Time will tell...