Doppelganger

Being a relatively new blogger, I am fascinated by the vast network of writers out there, brought together by their desire to express their views and share glimpses into their personal lives. They devour and comment on one another’s blogs—sometimes lending a sympathetic ear, other times, poking fun at the author.

So, you can imagine my amusement when K and I became fodder for one of the bloggers I follow. His name is Neil, and I’ve been reading his blog for a few months, enjoying his wit and self-deprecating sense of humor. A few weeks ago, I was reading one of his postings and noticed that he had included a close-up shot of himself. His resemblance to K made my jaw drop; it was so uncanny that I made K pose next to his picture.

This prompted me to reach out to Neil. I'm generally not very forward, but it’s not everyday that you find someone that looks like your hubby. So, I wrote Neil and told him exactly that. He wrote me back, asking me if he can post it in his blog. I said sure, why not. So he did.

Here’s an excerpt from his blog:
 

*****

I received an email from a complete stranger this morning. I was wary of opening it, thinking it might be spam, but something drew me into clicking on the link.

It was from a woman named Twirly:

Hi Neil:
I stumbled upon your blog a few months back, and have been immensely enjoying it. I generally don’t reach out to bloggers out of the blue, but I saw your blog posting and I had to email you to let you know that my hubby is your doppelganger. See a picture of him, next to your photo. Crazy, no? He dressed up as you for Halloween.


And, the similarity does not stop here. He used to live in NYC (the last place of residence was in Queens), and he was a copywriter. Anyway, hope you’re not freaked out by my email; it’s not every day that you find someone that looks like you. Keep up your writing, and happy holidays.


Twirly




At first, I wasn’t even sure if this was from a real person. Or whether I should be freaked out. But it was a real person. And she seemed normal enough. So, I responded back to my new friend.



Dear Twirly,


Thank you for you lovely note. No one has ever dressed up as me for Halloween, so please thank your husband. This is a great honor. And I must admit, that your husband is a very attractive fellow.


Thanks!
Neil

***
 
Such a nice note! Alas, his readers, equally witty and caustic, smelled blood. They circled the prey, and attacked with their comments:
 
"Wow, I think he looks a LOT like you! Just a little older, I’m guessing, and the wrong color eyes. You should definitely meet and pose for pix together."


"At least now you know that if you gain 10 or 15 pounds you’ll still be a charmer."

 
"That dude looks NOTHING like you. He looks more like the dude in Citizen X." (In case you're wondering what Citizen X is, it's a movie about some Russian serial-killer. I know because I looked it up.)

So in the course of just a few posts, they managed to call my beloved K fat, old, and a dead-ringer for some homicidal Russian maniac.


And here is my all-time favorite comment:
 
Just the fact that her husband dressed up as you for Halloween (Where did they go? Did anyone there even know who you are? Was it a sex thing?) is enough to make my creep-o-meter go to 11.


Suffice to say, the commenter quoted above was off. Way off. 'Nuff said.

K, I'm sure it's nice to know that you are famous for being an old, semi-fat Russian serial-killer with a dress-up fetish.