Living in small community!!

[Serendipitydo]

So far, since returning to this, I have seen the son of my mom's neighbour and also someone who I applied to work for 18 months ago.

Walking around Sainsbury's is quickly developing into a worrying experience!

I'm going to start having to get deliveries!

It happened to me, only once, in Banbury. Was in a restaurant, enjoying a nice Italian meal and my first client walked past the window and of course, there was that surprise of recognition.

I put my head down and sucked up my spaghetti... but she clocked it!

I live on a little teeny tiny island!!

They all want to be friends.

It isn't like the big city where you can fuck someone off if they get on your nerves.

I am having to get my head around a new way of working.

I would tour but I now have a labrador and an elderly cat, things have become more domesticated!

I did read a lovely girl's profile, she lived in a country cottage, with dogs and all of that.

How do you all find it, working inside your "normal life" as it were?

[storm]

In 15 odd years of working, I have only spotted 1 client outside of work...and it was in a totally random airport hotel, miles from where we originally met.
I have also only ever encountered 1 client I actually knew from anywhere in real life and it was a weird one because it was the dad of a childhood friend i'd long lost touch with.  so when they knew me I was 10 years old. They absolutely were in my opinion wondering, as if they could sense I 'knew' them from somewhere but obviously I looked a lot different - They booked a few times actually in the end  I never let on.
The reason for me is that I have never worked in the same town i live in, for the exact reasons you describe, I just don't want to be recognised or see anyone I know/friend of a friend etc, for me it is just too stressful and I don't want to be outed but everyone is different.
You could consider wearing a wig / disguise to work just in case and always, always check the peephole on the door before you answer

[em k]

I work elsewhere to where I live.

Have only had a couple of accidental crossings in all the years.

One was a supermarket, one was a coffee shop. The manager was one of my regulars, and I had totally blanked that I knew where he worked...

Also, years ago when I had only been working for eighteen months or so, I lived outside Oxford, worked in Oxford.
Had a regular, once a month, older (early 40s) guy.
Always wore a suit, was polite, chatted about the office etc, had a pleasant and fairly vanilla hour.
Little too much cologne, but that was the only niggle.

Saw him half a dozen times, then one day I was in a friends car, in a different town nearby.
She got stuck in a street behind a bin lorry.
One of the guys in hi-vis pulling bins across was the regular.
I couldn't hide anywhere, he saw me on the second pass.

Never saw him again...

Annoying, as he was a good client!

[Mirror]

I have worked in small communities, I have had indiscrete punters - one who hadn't seen me in the town I moved to spotted me shouting my working name across the road in a very sensitive place. When I ignored him he shouted again saying "I am sure it's you". This is a man who on the couple of times he booked me was terrified of being found, told me privacy and discretion were for him paramount. I had to go hide around the corner before heading to my destination because combined with his behaviour (after becoming unreliable, then a gap of a year or two had been contacting me for a while trying to get around some of my new booking requirements), and not understanding why this was all undesireable.

Someone not too far away who I was stupid enough to offer a small discount for minimal travel ran up to me in the street calling me by my working name, and despite being given a name to call me when next saw me decided to play a game of 'what name shall I call you'.

HOWEVER many clients travel into the area either for work or leisure reasons or paths simply do not cross. Infact I have bumped into clients a 90 minute drive away in completely random situation - also 90 minutes away from the place I know they live. Many live several hours drive away, others the other end of the country. For discretion and privacy reasons I actually prefer outcalls to homes rather than incalls or hotels. Historically I have had so many be indiscrete at incalls, and to some extent some hotels. I also have a discretion speech when accepting their booking, if they are localish I explain what to do if we do bump into each other.

[RedH]

I live in quite a small town so I’m always careful to work away from where I live. I would die if someone local recognised me.
I’ve only ran into a client once and fortunately it was on the train. I don’t think he saw me but I didn’t want to risk it. I jumped off at the next stop just to be safe.