A funny thing happened at our New Year’s party. I ran into our friend Randy in the hall, the first time I’d seen him that evening, and completely blanked on who he was. My rather panicked thought was “This face looks familiar, but I can’t possibly know anyone this handsome.” It’s astonishing what a tuxedo does to a man.
On the other hand it may not have been just the tuxedo, because this seems to be my new reaction to large gatherings of friends. I haven’t written much about our wedding, and I won’t now, but one thing that happened was that I forgot who most of you were. Just for a second, when you first came up to me, you may have noticed me gazing at you blankly like an especially dim sheep. Or, since a lot of you were on your way to the food and drink tables at that point, you may not have noticed. Anyway, after a few seconds I remembered you, and meanwhile I filled in the time with generic comments like “It’s so nice to see you! Thank you so much for coming,” which works for just about everyone, so it didn’t matter much. Still, it was weird, and I hope does not signify a future trend for me.