Imagine you're with your SO in a public place and (whoops!) your provider happens to be there as well (maybe with her SO).  
What to do (?)

1,  Play it safe and ignore the provider  (is this rude?)
2.  Say hello and introduce everyone
3.  Use the secret TER hand signal (yet undetermined) to let the provider know you see & acknowledge her presence.  

There are other potential issues here: if you happen to be alone, your provider will assume you-are-a-stalker.  

I was once shopping with my wife at an Asian market, and (dear God in heaven) my ATF was there. I stupidly, involuntarily almost waved at my ATF till my brain kicked in and I stopped myself.  My wife, (no dummy)  soon noticed something was wrong.   ("Are you o.k.?, you're being very quiet" ,etc.)

When we finally made it home, I poured myself a stiff drink.  --z

for most of us seeing a lady we've been with in public while with friends or spouse or SO would certainly get the heart beating a little faster.

The best thing is to play it safe and not acknowledge her... you can always email later and tell her you saw her but respected her privacy. Remember, the ladies have 'regular' lives and deserve the same privacy and respect we like.

Any professional lady in the business is going to respect your privacy as well, especially if you are with other people.

I never thought about the 'stalker' issue... I guess some might think that if you are alone... but I think that would go to your personality and how the two of you clicked outside of actual play time.

Once, when I was travelling, one of my favorite ladies was visiting the same city. We made arrangements to meet, and not only wound up in the same hotel, but in adjacent rooms. (puts a whole new light on the girl next door) The following morning, we ran across each other in the hotel restaurant. She was sitting with another couple, but when she got up to go to the ladies' room, made a point of walking past my table, and just gave me a nice little smile and a nod. I appreciated the acknowledgement, and sent her a nice email later that day.

Just a nice smile would work fine.  That's what I do when I see any pretty lady.

The only thing that gives men away in this situation is when they act weird, stiffen up,  and panic.  IT is your own guilty conscious that is causing the problem. ha ha


Often, with you being out of context, we don't recognize or notice you.

Plus people act nervous and/or try to speak to me all the time, even when they have no clue what I do for a living.
I'm an attractive woman.  so not something that necessarily triggers the idea that someone 'knows' me.  Just another day in the life.

If I did recognize a client...  I'd ignore that person and I'd expect them to ignore me.  Unless we both knew it was OK to greet each other (ie. know each other well) otherwise, It would be a non-event in my life.
If you don't know what to do, consider the person a stranger and act accordingly, that is the best course of action.

hugs,  xx

 

Alea, of course you're right, the proper response is to be discreet & respect the privacy of your provider.  But there's something else at work here besides a guilty conscience.  In my case:

1) There was the split-second visual recognition of someone I knew, someone important to me (so I nearly waved without thinking).  

2) Processing that information and then recalling that our relationship was not socially acceptable took quite a bit longer.  
It is dangerous to assume that you will act rationally 100% of the time.  

Consider this scenario:  you're with your SO at a party, and then out of the blue your Alltime-Favorite-Client bumps into you.  If you're human, your first instinct will be to blurt out a 'Hello'., and then you may have to backpedal and say...

"I'm sorry, you look a lot like an old friend."  --z