The Proudest Moment

Last night, J and I had a ton of errands to run after work. One important one was stopping to see my wedding band. Oh sweet shamrocks, it's gorgeous. I want it now...it's not done quite yet, but soon. But I also got my precious back and only had a few moments of Gollam's, "It's mine, my precious." One ring to rule them all.

After that, we stopped by Trader Joe's. No big deal. I didn't notice anything odd. When we got in the car, J spilled the beans that we'd been basically shopping with his prom date from junior year of high school. Wow, he'd been so cool, he didn't even seem nervous while we were shopping. Perhaps he seemed a little too into the quality of the brie, but that's normal for him.

It's not like this was one of his "Past Loves" or anything like that. But they had the split second where they made eye contact, the moment that determines if you'll acknowledge someone's existence...and they both ignored it. Looked away. The classic purpose avoid; a phrase that was a daily conversation topic in college. And I taught it to J, because I've employed it several times and filled him in afterwards. But the TJ's run-in was awkward enough for him that we chatted about it for a little bit, and then I realized the solution.

S: "Ok, so you know how we have a code phrase for when there's a shady person lurking nearby? Like Stranger Danger?"

J: "Yes, you mean _______?" [I'm not going to tell you our danger code on the internet!]

S: "Exactly. We need one for when we run into someone in public...like someone one of us used to date, that we're quietly avoiding, etc. It needs to sound normal enough to strangers, but we'll know it's not something that we ever just accidentally say."

J: "What about mentioning Pennsylvania? You, know, 'PA.' As in Purpose Avoid?"

And oh my goodness, friends, there may only be 3 or 4 of you who get the sense of pride that flushed through me at that moment. This man, y'all, he gets me.