I really dislike it when people come up to you thinking you’re someone else. It has a weird dynamic now.
It never really happened to me much before I used a wheelchair, and over the past 4 years it has happened not infrequently.
The first thing I dislike is that they can’t really know the person they’ve mistook you for that well. You might have the exact same wheelchair (unlikely) but it feels very much like they just see a chair and that’s it. That must be the Wheelchair Person™ that I “know”.
The next thing I dislike is that more often than not, rather than just going “oops” and walking away, the person will then try and start a conversation with you. It always gives off a vibe that the whole thing has been a way to start a conversation with “I know other people like you!”. They rarely react the way a person making a genuine mistake would (apologise and leave). Whether that’s because it’s not genuine or because they’re just genuinely awkward around wheelchair users is anyone’s guess.
When I wasn’t disabled this did happen to me once or twice but they were such non-events that I don’t really remember them. They almost always couldn’t see my face, maybe they tapped me on the shoulder in a crowd or their friend ducked away and I was standing where their friend had been. “Carrie! Can yo- oh sorry I thought you were my friend!”
Now that I use a chair, this happens to me on empty streets. Sometimes people even argue with me when I tell them I’m not their “friend”. One day I will tell you all the Bermondsey story.