do i know you?

I work for a motion picture company here in Southern California and during my lunch breaks I like to walk around the backlot. I try to look inside the soundstages, at the sets being built and the occasional pack of extras crouching and smoking cigarettes. As long as you look like you know what you're doing and you act like you belong, everyone pretty much leaves you alone to do and go as you please.

So the other day I was taking my stroll and had just finished watching some sign painters put the finishing touches on what would soon be a Chinese restaurant marquee and was heading back to my office. As I rounded the corner of stage 3, I noticed a young kid, maybe 20ish, looking a little lost - something that got my attention immediately. So I must have looked at him a moment too long because he glanced up, saw me and walked right up to me.

"Do you know where the commissary is?"

And this kid looked pretty normal. He was wearing the standard issue hipster-dufus uniform of large, black glasses, dress shirt with the collar splayed out over a neat sweater and on his feet, dark, thick soled shoes. Nothing about him seemed strange - in fact, I was essentially wearing the same outfit. And while I thought I heard just a trace of a lisp or a slur or something in his speech and while maybe his left eye was a little droopy, nothing really set off my freak-alert. Just the same, something seemed maybe, barely, just the slightest off about him. But the sun was shining, I was in no rush to get back to the office, somebody had obviously let him on the lot for some reason, I knew where the commissary was so I figured I'd not only help this kid out, I'd do him one better - I'd take him there.

Without missing a beat, I smiled and said - "The commissary's right over here. Come with me."

And the two of us walked off.

I kind of glanced over at him and thought that maybe he might have a slight limp but couldn't be sure.

We walked a few steps in silence. He seemed nervous.

"Got a lunch meeting?" I asked him.
"Uh huh."

We walked a few more steps, past a couple of wardrobe racks and bicycle messengers. Then the kid turned to me and said -

"Do you know if anyone other than Jim is going to be there?"

Huh.

And so it was decision time - tell this kid that I have no idea who he is let alone who is going to be at his meeting (things that should have been obvious to him since we just met for the first time moments ago); or pretend like I had the intimate details of his meeting.

I chose the latter. And made something up.

"I know Jim is going to be there and I know Steve is going to be there but I'm not sure who else can make it. Elliott has that thing but he said he was going to try to push it to three so he might duck in late."

This kid nodded like this all made perfect sense.

"Yeah, I just saw Jim last week at the theater in Pasadena and that was cool and all but I'm really hoping Michael will be here today," the kid said.

"I know he's going to try to make it," I said.

The kid kept nodding. He was lost in thought and I assumed that he was processing the misinformation I was feeding him. We were now only a few steps from the commissary and I was starting to feel a little bad about the whole thing. So I just pointed him in the right direction from there.

"Alright, just go past this building here, turn right and you'll see it," I said
"Okay, thanks."
"Have a good lunch man," I said.

The kid just kind of nodded and grunted and walked off toward the comm. I watched him walk away and wondered why he didn't think I was going to lunch with him - and I wondered why I didn't invite myself along just to see what would happen.

When he disappeared around the corner, I again headed back to my office. I thought about this kid and he reminded me of that book "Breakfast Of Champions" where Dwayne Hoover is convinced that he is the only human on earth and everyone he encounters are merely robots put in his path to perform certain duties to serve him. Is that what this kid thought? Did he think that maybe I was a robot placed in his life for these few moments just to direct him to his meeting and fill him in on the attendees? Maybe I am a robot and don't even really know it and maybe what I told him was accurate. Could that be true? I mean, those words did come out of my mouth for some reason..

I was starting to scare myself and wanted to stop thinking about it. Maybe I just looked like I knew what I was doing, which is what I was doing all lunch anyway; pretending that I belonged.

Although I do wonder how is meeting went.