Some time ago I was taking a class. It was fairly full, which generates a lot of heat, and I tend to sweat a lot by default. So I walked over to the water fountain to take a sip of water. There was a woman there whom I’ve seen many times before, and she’s seen me. We are not friendly or talk, but I think she knows who I am. Anyway, when I walked back there, she completely stopped participating in the class, then gave me a hard look. I could feel the weight of her stare, so I looked over. Then she adjusted herself as if she were uncomfortable with someone looking at her and went back to glaring.

I couldn’t help but notice that this seemed like a situation where my presence was being misread entirely. I went back there to drink water because I was thirsty, plain and simple. When I noticed she seemed uneasy, I simply raised my eyebrows, finished my water, and left without any further interaction.

The part that stood out to me was that she looked in my direction first, which naturally caused me to look back. It felt like she called attention to the situation herself, then reacted as though I had done something wrong. I wasn’t there for any reason other than to hydrate, and I moved on without giving it much more thought. Sometimes a coincidence is just that.