About 6 months after I started working at HQ, I ran into Larry in the elevator. I knew who he was, of course, but we had never been introduced or spoken beyond the polite “hi” in passing. Naturally, as a starry-eyed young acolyte, I seized the opportunity and introduced myself. “Hi! I don’t think we’ve ever been introduced. I’m Anselm, I work in the tech department.” And he gave me that toothy grin, and said “Hi, I’m Larry.” How do you respond to that? What do you say? In my head I screaming “I KNOW WHO YOU ARE! EVERYONE KNOWS WHO YOU ARE! I WASN’T ASKING WHO YOU ARE! I WAS TELLING YOU WHO I AM!” but all my mouth could find to say was “Pleased to meet you.” Then the elevator dinged and spat me into the third floor, and I wasn’t going to talk to Larry anymore. Except I did. Months later, I literally bumped into him coming out of a workshop at Esalen. It was a celebratory kind of night, so I silently handed him a whiskey bottle and when he handed it back I tried again. “I’m Anselm.” “I know.” I gave up on names with Larry after that, and just launched into whatever 1,000 foot level theory was rattling around my skull. It works much better.
Hi, I’m Larry