Am I Really Over It?

We've all heard it before, Ottawa is a small city. Sure, we've hit the 1 million mark in population, but everyone seems to know someone who knows someone they know.

The first few years after having been doored, I agonized about the potential of running into the Guy That Doored Me or his wife. I knew where they lived: we had exchanged our personal information and also had a police report taken. I knew where he worked: he had provided me his business card in case I needed to get in touch. Turned out that both his home and his workplace were minutes away from my own home.

When I'd take the bus past their street, I'd check who was getting on or off to see if it was them. His place of work was a place where I'd used to visit on a semi-regular basis. But it became a place to avoid . After a while though, I moved on and I was over it. I wasn't afraid to run into the Guy That Doored Me or his wife.

Was I really over it?

The big test came this past Spring when I discovered that our similarly aged kids were in the same daycare class together. I had known for a while that it was a possibility, since the sign-out register is accessible to all parents and there had been a kid there with the same family name as theirs.

Confirmation came one day when I was getting my kid dressed and in came the Guy That Doored Me to pick up his kid. Instinctively, I turned my back and froze. Was this really happening? I replayed the minutes after I came to after the dooring in my head (what I recall anyway). Yep, same guy. But he hadn't seen me. I picked up my kid and we got out of there.

Usually I ask my kid how his day went, who he played with, what he ate. But it was a quiet ride home as I played out a million scenarios in my head. Did the Guy That Doored Me see me? If he saw me, did he recognize me? Since our kids are in the same daycare class, what if they become best friends? It's been almost 5 years, do I really care anymore?

I should mention that I had forgiven him a long time ago. Although the dooring had been a careless act, it had not been intentional and he has shown genuine remorse. We've both carried on with our lives and have kids that go to the same daycare.

I'm ok with our kids being friends. I even say hello to his kid when getting mine. But how do I say hello to the Guy That Doored Me?  I haven't figured out how to do that yet. Does he know who I really am? Has he figured it out? Do I tell him? I'd like to be civil. I'd like to just say hi. I'd like to just do it and get it over with. One day.

So yes, I am over it (mostly).