By 
Did you ever meet a complete stranger and feel like you’ve known them your entire life? I met a guy in the sauna the other day, and whatever way he went on or whatever he said and acted, he reminded me EXACTLY of Paddy McGrath.
It must have been something he said or something he laughed at, but from ten seconds into the conversation, all I could see was McGrath.
So I started talking to him the way I’d talk to McGrath, using the same jokes I knew Paddy would like, talked about the same things (Elvis), and generally acted like this stranger was an old friend.
To my surprise he responded exactly as McGrath would, laughed at all the same jokes, and even liked Elvis.
They looked completely different but acted the exact same; right down to their mannerisms and movements. That voice was even identical.
It was getting very surreal in there with all that heat; it was feeling like I was trapped inside a dream.
It makes me ponder, is there another me out there floating around in saunas? Does everyone have a doppelgänger?
I lived with McGrath once. In Liverpool. Down the road lived another bunch of friends, and their house was nominated as the party house.
Their landlord back then was called Dee Lively. He had a twin brother, Darren Lively. The Lively twins.
They used to call round and berate all of us about the fist-sized holes in the walls, the burnt carpets, the ant infestation… the stench.
They’d usually land round early Saturday, sometimes while the previous nights party was still in full swing, just in time to witness the second wind kicking in.
Sometimes none of the tenants were even in the house, just a load of liquored up strangers…
I remember when it finally came time to move out, they had the cheek on their last day to ask the Livelys for their deposit back.
Those Livelys hated all of us, although Darren always had a sweet spot for McGrath, being an avid supporter of Elvis.
