Cruising - Part I

In Reno - when I was younger, people in their teens and early 20's partook in something called "cruising". They drive their cars up and down the main strip, and supposedly "introduce" themselves to one another. Basically, it is an opportunity for young men and young women to meet.
If my memory serves, the first time I went cruising I was 18. I went with a friend - in his pick-up truck.

I have never used pick-up lines. My forms of introduction have always been things like:

"Hello"
"How are you?"
"How's it going?"
"What's up?"

You get the idea.

I said such things to the young women in other cars - and received a volley of rudeness in return. It was very confusing. I knew that if a man was being "obnoxious", he might get such insults hurled back at him - but I had no idea that simply saying "hello" was now considered "obnoxious".

One young woman in particular stands out in my memory - because I met her again later in life.

I said, "How are you tonight?".
She replied, "Don't look at me, I'm too good for you", in a real snotty tone.
My friend laughed a little.
I said, "What's so funny? Did I do something to deserve that? Was I being a 'jerk' or something?"
These questions puzzled me for the rest of the night.
Each time we drove by this woman, I looked at her carefully; she had a smirk on her face. If I did not know any better, I'd swear the only reason she was there was to practice rudeness for no apparent reason.

Her car had a custom license plate. I will not mention what it was.

Now, let me tell you about the time I "re-met" her in 2003 - 15 years later.

I caught a nasty bug called the Norovirus. I went to the hospital for treatment.

The doctor walked in - a woman.

She said, "Hi. It looks like you have that nasty stomach bug that is going around".

"It would seem so", I replied.

"You look familiar, have we met?"

"No, I do not think so".

She continued doing her 'doctor' things (which included 'monitoring' an IV since I was severely dehydrated).

She re-iterated, "You really do look familiar - I'd swear that we have met somewhere before - like a long time ago - maybe we went to high school together?".

I said, "I get that a lot - I guess I have that kind of a face."

She left. When it comes to license plates and faces, I have an excellent memory. The doctor was the woman who said, "Don't look at me, I'm too good for you".

She came back in a while later.

I said, "(phrase omitted)" - I uttered what her custom license plate said back then.

Her face went blank, "what" she said, laughing nervously.

"You used to drive a car with a custom license plate that said (phrase omitted). It was a metallic sky blue Nissan Sentra. I went cruising with a friend in 1988 in his pick-up truck. I said 'How are you tonight' and you said back to me 'Don't look at me, I'm too good for you'..."

Her face was going from white to red.

I paused for a moment then continued, "I thought that was rude".

I said all of this in a very cold and emotionless tone. I stared at her intensely - I wanted an apology, but I was preparing for a barrage of rudeness.

Her face was red with a shocked expression. Without saying anything, she left the room.

A few minutes later, an Asian man walked in, "How are you feeling?" He smiled.
I said, "Aside from the obvious, I'm OK".

He was definitely in good cheer - perhaps it was professionalism, but he seemed a little too "happy". He started talking about what I had, and how to deal with it, and some medicines they were going to prescribe. He told me I was free to check out, and proceeded to the door.

Just before he got to the door, he slowed down, turned around and said, "I just gotta ask - what did you say to her?"

"Say to who?"

"Say to Doctor (I cannot remember her name)?"

"Oh - well - uhm... We met before - a while ago, and she was being a less than pleasant person".

He looked puzzled, "Oh... Well - whatever it was - she is requesting to take the rest of the night off." He shook his head as if confused, and smiled.

I wondered - was he smiling because he no longer had to "deal" with her...
He did seem excessively pleased that she was leaving for the rest of the night.
Or was he just smiling - as well rehearsed professionalism....

"Revenge is a dish best served cold"
"What goes around comes around"

I did not expect the reaction I got from her. I expected her to be rude and arrogant, just as she was back then - but instead, she seemed embarrassed by her actions as a young woman.