Funny story: I had a colleague who was a cineaste like me. He agreed that it is horrible running into people you know in cinemas, especially if it is on the way out (one story about another former colleague leaps to mind - she was in a tearful, traumatised state after United 93 and just wanted to lie down in a darkened room to process it, when she ran into interminably cheerful acquaintances in the lobby on the way out).

Anyway, one day I spotted him at one of our local independent cinemas at a screening before the film started (he was a few rows behind me). He spotted me too. We both ignored each other. The next day at work, we shared a moment of mutual respect over the fact that we'd both made that decision.

I told my best friend about this, and she laughed and said: "So let me get this straight: You and your colleague bonded over the fact that you both saw each other in a public place and ignored each other?" Hahahahaha!