Last Saturday night, Betsy O’Mally went out to grab some drinks with friends. The process should have been simple enough: Grab a taxi, get to the bar, grab a drink, go home.
Unfortunately for O’Mally, she is a self-described “Creeper Magnet.” This title means that at any given time, she may be approached by a stranger who immediately strikes up a conversation and shares the innermost depths of their life struggles with her and/or acts like they’re old friends. Luckily, these are mostly harmless interactions and none of them are long-lasting nor are the strangers aggressive in any way.
This particular Saturday night, O’Mally’s friends got to see her magnetism in action on two occasions. First, when they piled into the taxi cab and headed to their bar, which was luckily a short distance.
In trying to make some small talk with the taxi driver, it quickly became apparent that the driver was not only a chatty fellow who loved sharing specific details, but he would also not be one for small talk. He immediately began talking about how residents of the city were not appreciate of taxi drivers and how he was moving to the east coast-as if somehow they have a record of being polite and welcoming to all professions.
The conversation, which O’Mally is happy to share details of if you ask her, lasted the entire duration of the taxi ride. As they were all exiting the taxi and the driver continued to talk, O’Mally turned to a new friend and began explaining how she more often than not has long conversations with her taxi driver. She explains that this is part of her status as a “Creeper Magnet”, and what that entails.
As she explains this to her friend once they’re inside at the bar, a man approaches her. His eyes light up as he embraces her and screams, “Hey shortstalk! Long time no see!” She stands uncomfortably as she is hugged by this stranger. As he lets go of the hug, he says, “Did I just see you a couple hours ago?” When she assures him they’ve never met, the man laughs and shakes his head saying, “Oh shortstalk. You’re just a jokester.” He continues to laugh as he exits the bar.
For O’Mally, this is a first. She had never been in the process of describing how much strangers tend to love to come up and talk to her and been approached by a stranger who began to talk to her. It took some convincing to her friend that she had never met the man before because of the awkward interaction.
O’Mally simply sits and waits for the next interaction. When and where it will happen is up to fate, though fate seems to be making these interactions more frequent every day.
I found him.
Briana Hansen 