When I finished talking to my Ex and his partner yesterday morning I walked away thinking two things.

Firstly, ‘she suits him so much more than I ever did’ and secondly, ‘thank God I did my hair this morning’.

It was a surprisingly ‘together’ and mature response for me.

Unfortunately, I can’t say my response to another man last week was quite as mature.

The second man (let’s call him Garry) and I had a confused ‘something’ more than a year ago.

I had a crush on him and he clearly had a thing for me (this was witnessed by other, more sane people than I).

But then I discovered he had a girlfriend and I threw a bit of a tantrum. Okay yes, there were probably more intelligent ways to deal with the news but maybe I’m just not the most emotionally evolved person in the world, yet.

Garry sought me out, apologised profusely for any confusion and said he needed to reflect on what had happened. I subsequently stopped wanting to push him down the nearest flight of stairs.

But even now I’m still not sure exactly what it was all about.

The looks I got from his girlfriend in the weeks after the apology showed that she didn’t know what was going on either.

It was weird.

Anyway, I’ve moved on.

But when I saw Garry and his girlfriend last week I immediately lost track of what my friend was saying and fought an ridiculously juvenile urge to scurry like a frightened mouse into the nearest hole in the wall.

It was a completely irrational response to seeing someone I had never dated.

Sure, if we’d made eye contact it might have been a little awkward but we probably would’ve smiled and moved on.

And okay, his girlfriend would probably still want to scratch my eyes out but that’s unlikely to happen in a public place.

So couldn’t I have been mature?

I guess not. Apparently maturity is not my strong suit and instead of acting like a grown up my brain just screamed AVOID and EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY.

It was not my finest moment.

What I don’t understand is how bumping into my Ex, who I spent 15 years of my life with, is not awkward but bumping into some guy I only had a crush on throws me into a complete spin?

I mean, not actively seeking a conversation with Garry was smart. But wanting to flee the scene like a criminal was a little over the top.

Hmmm.

And then there’s the likelihood factor. The likelihood of me bumping into my Ex is pretty high as he only lives a few blocks away. And yet, since 2007 we have only bumped into each other once – yesterday.

(The fact it was dawn and his partner admitted to almost running me down with her bike an hour earlier only added colour to the event.)

On the other hand, Garry, who I no longer share any common activities with and who I believe lives on the other side of town, showed up randomly in the same location as me. Yep, in a city of more than one million people, there he is.

Hmmm.

Many of my friends would say, ‘Lucy, this kind of stuff just happens to you’.

And they’d be right.

I’ve got a history of weird coincidences, strange confidences and bizarre happenings. That’s just how I roll.

So why am I still surprised when these things happen?

Who knows.

And who knows why I (or anyone) reacts in a certain way. Sometimes our emotions create strange reactions. Sometimes we all just act a little crazy.

Perhaps I just act a little crazier than most.

So what did I learn from all this?

Well, I think there are a couple of morals to this story:

1. Watch out for crazy cyclists at dawn
2. Always make sure you do your hair before you leave the house
3. Try a little harder to act maturely when confronted with awkward situations (or start wearing sunglasses and a cloak at night so you can travel incognito).