Do I know you from somewhere?

When one stranger asks you “Do I know you from somewhere?” it is okay, but what if multiple people ask you the same question in one week. I know I am not a celebrity, nor am I a socialite/page3 figure in the city. But have I met these people somewhere or sometime? Or do I have something in common with these people? It is him or his penis that made me ask the question? Hmm….interesting thought…

The first time the line got hurled at me when I was walking out of a movie hall. The guy was tall, handsome and was starring at my while I was in the queue to exit the movie hall. I was waiting outside the movie hall for my friends and this guy charges towards me, ignored my friends and instantly puts his handout and stuns me with the line. My friends were around and I couldn’t do much other than say “I don’t think so”. But then he didn’t seem convinced with my answer, and then came the next one “You seem familiar”. Now I was kind of embarrassed and didn’t know how to handle this situation. Does it mean that he doesn’t know and he wants my number and wants to know me better? He he he…. My friends were helplessly looking at the volley of questions and replies flying between us. I didn’t know he was a male model who posed for the recently released male bikini calendar. I could hear some of them go “he is the November guy” and I had no clue that this guy was trying the clichéd pick line on me. After so many questions I wanted to atleast introduce myself before I left. But then he wanted to know how I spent my weekends. Wow….that was too early to go to my weekends and my free time. With just a smile and handshake I left the venue.

The same week I am on the last train to Bangalore. I reached 20 mins before the departure and before boarding the coach I checked out my co-passengers in the list outside the boggie. It was all youngsters and I didn’t have to worry about obliging and swapping my middle berths with elders. The air conditioned I found place for my baggage, pulled out “Love, Eat, Pray” and settled myself comfortably in my seat. I lent my book the guy besides me who was trying all possible angles to catch a glimpse of my book cover. Every now and then I peeped at the door at the end of the doorway impatiently waiting for the ticket examiner. There were two guys to my left occupying the side lower and upper berths and one of them was lost in the music playing in his ipod while I settled for the book. I walked out to get a bottle of water and when I boarded the boggie I saw the ipod guy near the doorway and he asked me the same question again. I was shy and didn’t know how to respond, I didn’t introduce myself or shake my hands, but still gave my canned reply. I could have stopped there and extended the conversations with a few more questions like where do you live, where do you work? But these questions have just one underlying intent – I like you. But looking at my physique he didn’t pursue any further. He went back and settled in his berth and that was the end of it. May be he genuinely meant it and he was not trying a pick-up line.

“Do I know you from somewhere” is one of the most common, cheesiest and direct pick-up line. Some feel it is an innocuous question, agreed, and it is better than asking someone for time or starring incessantly. It doesn't say if you want to know a person or you want to enjoy the person. I would rather appreciate when people directly ask me out of coffee or tell me they want to know about me than try these deviant pick-up lines. But someone can be genuinely can be mistaken to belong to the pride. I agree sometimes you can’t judge a person’s sexuality and you need to use such questions to hint the other person about your orientation and subtly let him know you like him or like to know more about him. But still can’t we try something better? Or next time when someone tries that line on me should I tell them I am taken?