Another Snapshot

It was my Sophomore year of high school and I was walking to the front doors with my best friend so we could go home. I ran into my friend Nick. He had another guy with him. Apparently they were friends.

I introduced myself to Nick's friend and, after a conversation, decided that I wanted to know what his name was. He told me it was Steven.

I sometimes have a difficult time remembering people's names unless I'm able to make some sort of connection to it. I have an uncle named Steven so the thought process went something like this: I have an uncle Steven. This guy has the same color of hair as my uncle. Steven. I can remember that.

I committed to remembering his name and walked away. The next time I saw him I said, "Oh hey Steven!" I didn't really catch that it took him a moment to register that I was talking to him. I probably assumed that he didn't remember who I was. He did answer to the name, though, and we parted ways.

A few months later I was talking to Brittney about Steve. She finally broke down and told me that she had been in on a secret but felt bad about keeping it from me. Steve's name was not really Steven. It was Logan. He and Nick thought it was so funny that I was calling him the wrong name that they had decided to keep the charade up for the entire year. I was annoyed, but I decided that, even though I knew the truth, Steven (Logan) would always be Steve to me. And, if it bothered him, he would just have to tell me.

I call him Steve to this day and I still have a difficult time remembering which is his real name. I usually just refer to him as Steve-Logan if he ever comes up in conversation. Seeing as how I'm not in high school anymore and my friend group is largely different, that doesn't happen very often. So his names are buried somewhere in the recesses of my mind right next the equations used in geometry. Unused, maybe a little dusty. . . Old.

This happened years ago and I only thought about it tonight because I met a man named Steven. At least, I think his name was Steven. I don't know for certain, though. After all, I learned in high school that you never can tell with Steves.