What do you say when…

…you unintentionally trigger a heightened startle response from a stranger in public?

A woman was staring into a glass-doors freezer case at a grocery store yesterday afternoon. I gave her a minute and then decided I could open a door and reach what I wanted without requiring her to move.

“Excuse me,” I said in a calm, friendly tone.

She yelped. Loud.

I smiled and said, “You remind me of my wife.”

I don’t think she heard that. She was still coming down from being startled.

“Obviously I was deep in thought,” she said in a way that absolved me of blame.