January 24, 2013
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A Revealing Day
There’s this Xangan who lives in my neighbourhood. But I have never seen him around. When he told me he goes to the same supermarkets I go to, I’ve always been on alert. Every Asian guy gets extra scrutiny. I’ve even mistaken a couple of non Asians for him because I’m so jumpy. I always joke with him that he’ll never find me and I’ll always spot him. He actually thought he spotted me once but it wasn’t me. But he told me that if I see him, I should introduce myself. I said of course I will. But I figured I have better odds of bumping into Jay Chou.
Today I was meeting my brother and my dad for another one of dad’s appointments. As I was heading to the exit at a subway station, I saw him walking towards me. I took a closer look and it was him! By then he had almost walked past me. Should I say hi or should I just keep walking? I decided to call out his name. He stopped and looked at me. I walked over introduced myself. He looked surprised. I’m sure my big Charlie Brown head must have startled him. But I think I may have surprised myself as well. I just went with my gut feeling and it felt right. Besides, he’s been one of my longest subscriber and vice versa. Our conversation was short because we were both in a hurry. But he is as nice in person as he is in his blog.
I just wished I had my elevator speech prepared as I probably sounded like a babbling mime. But another brick has fallen from my wall. I’ll have to find some more disguises.
Sheldon aka @Brooklyn2028, it was great bumping into you today!
Comments (36)
Oh how nice to meet a Xangan! It’s about time not to be elusive!
that’s super cool!
btw I think we live in the same city but probably at opposite ends
stop being so elusive
lol nice. I don’t even know what you look like so there’s no way I’d know who you are when I bump into you!
Xangan meetup ^__^
@CurryPuffy - oh Gary, I must remain elusive. Maybe I should get plastic surgery to change my appearance.
But seriously, I never planned on meeting anyone here when I started. But a lot of folks like you have been very good to me.
@JoeytheGenie - yes it was! I live in downtown TO.
@wutuwaitn4 - hee hee… I will always be elusive.
Haha, the moment you started writing about having bumped into a Xangan I knew it was Sheldon. You had mentioned it some time ago.
@ElusiveWords - moi aussi, northside of Bloor, just on the cusp of downtown and midtown
There must be a new Xangaterm for this…maybe Xangandipity? What did you tell the group you were with? “Oh…that was just some guy I’ve never met before, but I know what he looks like from his online presence.”
Sometimes I bump into Xangans or recognise them on the street. XD
A lot of my closest friends now are from xanga. Heck, the guy I am going to marry is from xanga! But once I did see this xangan on the street and I felt so weird I preteneded I did not know him and avoided him even though we met at a xanga meet one. Hahha
Maybe you need a little more self-esteem, my friend. Just thinking out loud.
Matt, everyone who knows you virtually knows you are an amazing guy. Deep, thoughtful and decent in every way. I am sure you are at least that good in person. Believe in yourself. Give it a try. You’ll like the results.
Regards,
Fred
I could always send you a Burqa if you want to stay anonymous!! When I come to Toronto, I am going to hunt you down and take pictures with you and post them all over xanga. Wow, wouldn’t that be simply great?
Haha. That’s a really big step! It takes a bit of guts to just call out someone’s name like that.
Call out “tomato” if you ever see me, I’d look back for sure!
ha, that’s really great that you finally revealed yourself to a fellow xangan! no more hiding behind masks for you!
Very revealing indeed. Baby steps elusive Matt, baby steps
I envy that Xangan but you bumping into me is kind of a looooong shot. haha
i woudlnt actually know what to do if i have to be honest
but hey well done lol
Wow… how cool… ^..^
@beowulf222 - hee hee… you have a good memory Nick!
@TutelageOfTheMundane - I was by myself at that time and on my way to meet them. I guess the sentence wasn’t that clear. I’m not sure what I would have done if I was with others.
@Got_Claws - do you say hi?
@youngvan - oh, you have a pretty big Xanga network of friends!
@Fatcat723 - it hasn’t been easy lately Rob. I could use a double shot of self esteem.
@ElusiveWords - Yeah, dinosaur memory for fuzzy stuff.
@Toro69 - those are very kind and generous compliments and I appreciate them very much. Thank you Fred.
@ZSA_MD - omg, you’re making me very nervous! I’m like a mouse in a room full of hungry cats.
@stepaside_loser - well, we’ve subscribed to each other blogs since my onetonman days. In a way it is a big step but I guess it was time for me to step out of my shell a bit. I don’t know how others will handle it. I mean, if I suddenly surprised you like that (assuming I knew what you looked like), you might go into shock.
@tomatoboi - I hope you won’t run away when I yell out Tomato or Franco.
@oxyGENE_08 - lol – yeah Gene, I don’t think I’ll run into you soon but you never know.
@Rubenmimo - @SheTigerCat - thank you, I think I surprised both myself and him.
Well, I am honoured at being the only Xangan to have met you. After our brief conversation I felt kind of bad because I was rushing off to an appointment and felt that I was being rude but glad to hear that you didn’t think so.
Anyways, it was great that you shouted out my name and introduced yourself. It was quite the pleasant surprise that you did because honestly I never thought in a million years that you would. It’s just too bad that we were both rushing off in opposite directions because it would have been great to stop even for ten minutes to chat a big longer but oh well. But you’re not so elusive to me anymore so now I know what you look like and if I ever see you again I’ll be sure to say ‘hi’.
@brooklyn2028 - actually I met a handful of other Xangans before. I never thought I would just call out your name too – it just happened. Because right after that, I didn’t really know what to say. I think I just babbled on a quite a bit.
I’m gonna move to Toronto and start hanging out at all the Chinese malls until I find you.
@secade - ahem… I tend to “blend in with the crowd” at Chinese malls. You’ll never find me.
I’ve lived in Asia for three years now, I’m generally pretty good at picking people out of a crowd regardless of potential for blending in.
@ElusiveWords - @brooklyn2028 - ok, that’s it. i’m coming over to canada so i could meet you BOTH!
@rudyhou - hahaha … sure, you can join the other Xangans hunting me down.
@kunhuo42 - oops… I missed your comment. If I’m ever down your way, don’t be surprised if I yell out your name. Actually there’s about 4 or 5 Xangans who have seen me. I’m running out of disguises…
I’ve been lucky enough to meet one xangan in person.
Have talked to another on the phone and even exchanged snail mail and small gifts with two others. (those I’ve never met in person)More then one has passed away…. there’s no reason not to be opento those who care enough to want to meet us. Life is to short.. be well friend,
*~matthew~*
That sounds pretty cool! Im on the same boat with you, I dont think I’ll ever meet any xangans (other than my friends who had xanga, they dont count) :3
Just wondering, it seems that you made your xanga not much later than I did, how do you manage to generate so much traffic?
Help?
Notsoelusivewords! I love it!
One step closer to discovering your identity. One day!
@bleuzeus - thank you, I’m slowly coming to the same realization too.
@EDRIANPENGUINO - actually I had another blog before. A lot of my subscribers from my original blog are still subscribers. So I had a bit of a head start so to speak.
@CareyGLY - A visit to Hotel Careyfornia would be the ultimate test.
@Roadlesstaken - well – some days I just want to bust out but most days, I am more contented to just stay in the background.