I was sitting at Starbucks, writing some notes, sipping my non-latte, non-espresso, non-cappuccino, plain old regular, but perfectly serviceable coffee, when I noticed an attractive lady sitting in the comfortable chair across from me.

She seemed to be reading something, somewhat detached from the environment as I was.

Turning back to my work, I heard a voice coming from her direction.

Eli? she asked, aiming her query my way.

Eli? I responded, in the typical dazed tone when we're mistaken for someone else.

Yes, are you Eli?

No, sorry, I reflexively shot back.

Then it hit me. This could have played a different way.

So, for fun, I looked at her and said, Lets try that, again. Go ahead.

Smiling at me, and up for the game, she asked, Eli?

Yes, Im Eli! I replied with a big grin, just to see what Eli had lined up for himself by way of this beauty.

Unfortunately, after hearing his name crop up a zillion times, THE REAL ELI announced from a far corner of the joint, Yes, thats me! and our little charade was over nearly as quickly as it had started.

Anyway, it was fun, and it just goes to show that you should be ready for anything out there.

A mistaken identity can be a lot of fun, if you play it the right way!