justplainbil

Just Plain Bill

Do we all have an identical “twin”

in the universe?

Many years ago, while strolling through Children’s Fairyland in Oakland, California, I was shocked to see a man across the way that looked exactly like me. He was the same size as me, had the same hairstyle, the same hair color, and even the same gait as me. We were both moving through a large crowd, and before I could get closer to confirm my observation, he seemed to simply disappear. In spite of searching through the crowd for an hour or so, I reluctantly had to give up my search. Or maybe, just maybe, I didn’t want to find him and confirm that I had a “twin”.

Getting a glimpse of someone who could pass for me sent a cold chill down my spine and I broke into a cold sweat…

I am reminded of a story by Daphne du Maurier, The Scapegoat, in which two men meet at a pub – one man quite well-to-do and the other down on his luck - and they imbibe and chat about their lives a bit. When one leaves to visit the restroom, he is knocked out. When he comes to, he discovers that he is now wearing the other man’s clothes, and has no identification of his former self.

The story is focused on how the chap who was down on his luck, finds himself inhabiting the life of the well-to-do yet not so happy chap…and the story proceeds from there with an ending that leaves one wondering what they’ll do when they meet again a few years hence. 

Not that my brief glimpse of a possible “twin” was something as dramatic and life changing as in The Scapegoat, but I often wonder what it would be like to inhabit the life of another.

I’m not talking about some contrived “reality show” setting here…I mean really assuming my doppelganger’s life, even if only for a short time.

Have you ever allowed yourself to at least mentally escape into the life of your look-alike?