Yesterday, November 1st, day after Halloween, got off of work early. Changed out of the corporate black suite and tie and into pads, jeans, tennis shoes, bra and a gray pull-over button down half-sleeve gray shirt. Applied a little blush, gloss, dropped the bosom buddies into place and donned the wig.
Grabbed my jacket and started walking down to the local CO-OP food store for some navy bean soup ingredients. I cut through a hotel parking lot and approached a painter on his hands and knees painting a flower box, he looked up. I smiled at him and said hello. He just smiled back.
I walked about a block and a-half when I hear this hey. I look around and there is no one around. I turned around and the painter is walking towards me. So I turned around and stared walking back thinking that I had dropped something. We both arrived at the 4-way intersection at the same time. He asks me if I am Oko Yono? I said, “Ahhhhh no.“ He said, "OK" and started walking back to the hotel.
As far as I can tell Oko and I are Asian and have similar glasses, that's about it. For some reason when I told my wife about this encounter she thought it was funny. Another case of all you Asians look alike stereo type.
Yesterday evening, the local VFW post, which is right across from the CO-OP had a Halloween Costume Party. Dressed as a vampire with a red and black cape, white blouse, short red skirt, black tights, and four inch black heels, light make-up with bright red lips. The place was packed. Made the rounds looking for an empty seat, before asking a couple if I could join them at their table which had an extra seat. Wasn't long before a farmer with a big toothless grin and short stogy hanging out of the corner of his mouth struck up a conversation with the couple at the table.
Turned out he is a regular at the VFW. One of the barmaids came by and said that the other staff did not know who he was with that mask, but she knew because she recognized the boots he was wearing. We talked and danced the night away. His mask got so hot, he finally had to take it off. During one of our conversations, he said that looked I looked Asian and in another that I looked like Cher. I told him that someone earlier in the day thought I was Oko Yono. His comment struck me as funny, because I look less like Cher, who is part Native American, on her mother's side, than Oko.
It rarely happens that someone will tell me I look like someone else. Someone else has also told me that I look like Oko. Yesterday was a first where someone actually thought I was someone else or not a very effective pick-up line.
How many of you out there have been told you look like someone else or that you think you look like someone else?
