Meet Brian

On December 16th, 2006 (or thereabout) I was almost through a particularly beastly semester of engineering. I had been singing with a show choir that semester that was starting to run me ragged with an average of four shows a week that month for Christmas. In a rare two hour space of personal time that Saturday I caved in and prepared to do one of my least favorite things--grocery store. Finals week was starting and there was no way I was going to make it without a few essentials.

1. Coke
2. Mac and Cheese
3. Chocolate
4. More Coke

I was in between performances and so, refusing to apply stage makeup more than once a day, I headed out in warmups and enough makeup that I could have been working on a corner downtown. It was ok though, I had a plan. All of the U students typically go to a specific Smith's in SLC. In order to minimize the number of witnesses I decided that I'd go to Dan's. Grocery store of the old ladies. MUCH safer, though unusual for me. (And every other human under 70).

So off I went, entirely confident that I would get away with avoiding college-age humanity. I think I was in the store for about 32 seconds before there was this guy smiling at me. My first thought was "Oh no, not today. I cannot do this today." and I just smiled back and kept walking past his aisle. And then I made a choice that somehow convinced Brian to do something so completely against his shy personality I still can't believe it. I looked back, and he walked up to a total stranger in a grocery store.

Evidently this double-take was all Brian needed. 20 minutes later he tracked me down and opened with the line "Do I know you?" which he swears to this day he actually believed to be a legitimate question. We eventually concluded that while he did not know me I was in classes with two guys he had been best friends with in high school. After getting my number from the engineering boys (he didn't ask that day in the store) the engineers wanted to say two things about Brian. First, would I date him. And second, doesn't he look like Matt Damon?

And you know what? He does! I knew there was a reason I looked back in that store!