I work in a gas station. Many times when our delivery truck arrives, it requires at least three people to unload it, check it, and sort it all out, all during business hours. This day is no different, but it is the first of the month, on a Friday, which means EVERYONE is at our store making purchases. It is an absolute nightmare. In the end, one of my supervisors and two of my coworkers have to go into the back to run the truck, leaving me alone to deal with a line of customers at the counter and a line of customers at the window.
This is a normal arrangement for us, as I am the quickest and most accurate worker. So, I’m running a line of cars wrapped around the building and a line of people out the door, and the phone rings. Caller ID says it’s the other half of the store, so I figure my other supervisor is either calling to check on me, to see if I need anything, to ask for the supervisor running the truck for something, or to see if we have something in stock now that has been sold out.
Me: “Hey, [Supervisor], I’ve got two lines. What do you need?”
Coworker: *Sounding extremely confused* “[My Name]?”
Me: “Yes, [Coworker], do you need something? Make it fast, please.”
Coworker: “Where are you right now?”
Me: “Well, I thought I was in the store, but now I’m not sure. Is this important?”
Coworker: “Did you just come out of the little casino?”
This seems unimportant and I’m very busy, so I just hang up on her and go back to waiting on my lines. Almost immediately after, my supervisor appears in the door from the back, and she looks as confused as my coworker sounded when she sees me.
Supervisor: “[My Name], did you just come in from the little casino?”
Me: *To the customers in line* “Hey, guys, I’ve been in here by myself for the past fifteen minutes at least, haven’t I?”
They all agree that I’ve not left the store for anything but to get items from the back and haven’t been gone long enough for anything else. My supervisor calls in my coworkers to come and take over and takes me into the back. She doesn’t look angry; she looks bewildered.
Supervisor: “[My Name], [Coworker] and I both saw you come out of the front restrooms, not in uniform, and go into the little casino. [Coworker] peeked in and confirmed you were in there, and we called to see where you were.”
For a couple of years now, I’ve had people periodically come up to me and talk to me as if they know me. As my mom is heavily into genealogy, I’ve always just assumed these are people she’s made connections with and played along because it kind of annoys people when I tell them I don’t know them. In fact, I had one at the start of my shift today, which is why I remember it now. I’m finally able to put two and two together.
Me: “I think I have a doppelganger wandering around.”
We go to the door to the cage of the little casino and ask the cashier if she’s seen a woman who looks like me.
Cashier: “Her? Yeah, she comes in a couple of times a month and plays the slots, is rude, and never tips. She looks just like you.”
From then on, when someone would start to speak as if they knew me, my first answer was to always tell them, “I’m [My Name]. You’re thinking of the other one.” And, for the record, I do not have a twin sister at all.
