FAIRHOPE, AL — A longtime Fairhope resident completed an entire trip through downtown Wednesday morning without seeing a single person she knew, alarming friends and prompting an informal review of the route.
The nine-minute journey began normally. The resident drove past the flower clock, reduced speed near a promising cluster of pedestrians and prepared the small steering-wheel wave used for acquaintances whose full names cannot be immediately recalled.
No one waved back.
“At first I assumed the sun was in their eyes,” said the fictional resident. “Then I passed another group and didn’t recognize any of them either. That’s when I knew something was wrong.”
Route examined
Investigators reconstructed the trip block by block. The resident passed two outdoor dining areas, one crosswalk conversation and a person standing beside an SUV with the rear hatch open. Each location would ordinarily produce at least one former neighbor, distant cousin, dental hygienist or person whose children attended school with someone’s children.
Expected downtown encounters
- 1 person you definitely know
- 2 people you may know but cannot place
- 1 person who knows you while you pretend to check traffic
- 3 vehicles identified by driver before driver is visible
- 1 conversation beginning “How is your mama?”
Experts considered whether the resident had traveled too quickly, but vehicle data confirmed an average speed of 8 miles per hour due to pedestrians, parallel parking and a delivery truck that had temporarily become part of the road.
The possibility that she had simply missed someone was also rejected. The resident reported scanning every sidewalk with the practiced vigilance of a person who knows a quick errand can become a forty-minute update on three families.
“I made it all the way home with the same information I had when I left.”
A changing downtown
Residents offered several explanations, including population growth, tourism and the possibility that everyone she knew was inside discussing how they had not seen her lately.
Normal conditions returned that afternoon when she entered a grocery store for one item and encountered four acquaintances before reaching produce.
Officials said the incident appears isolated, though residents are encouraged to remain alert and allow additional time for all downtown trips in case they are recognized.
Know someone who knows someone?
You probably passed them on Section Street.