Some say I look like Mike Tomlin

I cannot believe how many times I was mistaken for the Steelers Head Football Coach, Mike Tomlin. My sister Connie would beg to differ, but I tell you that when I use to dye my beard and have on my classic Pittsburgh Steelers hat, people use to stop me at least five times a week. I once made a bet with an old friend that I at least five people will stop me during a weekend in Pittsburgh for a game we planned to attend and every time some one stopped me, she would have to pay me two dollars for each person. Well, we never made it to Pittsburgh and I wanted to test my looks to see if I could actually pull it off. In my early years, I was often mistaken for Omar Epps, to when I walked in a store at the Phipps Plaza Mall back in my Atlanta days, a woman start screaming when she saw me (no cap). I will tell you the few times that it happened, and I had fun each time it occurred.

These events normally happen when I least expect it. The one expected time, I was doing some ridesharing and making some extra bucks and this lady and her son got in the car. I didn't know at the time that they were visiting from Pittsburgh and they were very quite when they first got into my car. So picking them up from a hotel in Downtown Dallas, my first questions was, "Where are you all visiting from? Welcome to Dallas!" There still was silence in the car and the little boy grinning like there is no tomorrow. The lady finally ask, "Excuse me, Sir. What is your name?" I replied and told her my name and thought nothing of it. So her son says, "Are you sure your name is Jermaine, Sir?" I said, "Yeah, are you guys in the right rideshare, what is the name of your driver?" So the lady busts out laughing and says, "You are Mike Tomlin and we are being pranked by a celebrity. Where is the camera?" I started laughing and told them I am not Mike Tomlin and I get this all the time. Then they told me they were from Pittsburgh and the lady was like, "Wait until I tell my husband! He will get a laugh out of this!" She kept asking me to turn around because she wasn't sure and I had to pull out my driver's license to show her that I was not Mike Tomlin. We laughed for about two minutes and that made her and the son's day. I told her about the next story before the ride was over and she couldn't stop laughing.

The other time it happened, this was epic and I will always remember this one. After a long day of work, I made a pitstop to my favorite Kona Grill in Plano, TX. Came in and grabbed my usual stop at the bar, and ordered my favorite salad with a beer to put the day behind me. I had just dyed my beard and it was very full at the time. Yes, I had on my classic Steelers hat, and didn't pay attention to my surroundings. The bartender comes up to me and says, "Excuse me, the woman over there wants to take a picture with you!" With a clueless look on my face, "I said why me?" The bartender asked, "Aren't you the coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers?". I said, "Yeah, tell her to come over!". This woman came over and was very shy and timid. She didn't say much and she repeated that she didn't mean to take up my personal time. I of course said it was not a problem and it was good to talk to her. So we took this photo together and she thank me. We continued on with our conversation and I lift my hand up, and she noticed that I didn't have on a ring (Mike Tomlin is married). She said, "Excuse me, Sir. Where is your ring?" I told her that I was not married and she gave me a look of anger and said, "You not Mike Tomlin?" I gave a look of confusion and said, "No, who told you that?" This lady temperature started to rise so fast! I laughed and told her that the next round was on me and laughed, which she didn't think my joke was funny.

Since then, I have not dyed my beard, and cut it low. I guess that its time to grow it out again and dye in again just to see people's reaction.