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30 “One-In-A-Million Coincidences” People Experienced And Were Left Astonished By
Interview With Expert
Whether or not you believe in fate, you can’t deny that luck is certainly a factor in our lives. There are moments when the universe seems to line up perfectly, to serve up some extremely rare coincidences that you’ll likely be talking about even years later. These coincidences can be both good, bad, or (most likely) a mix of both. But it's how we react to these events that truly matters.
The online community on Quora had a lot of fun recounting their “one-in-a-million” coincidences that completely shocked them at the time. We’ve collected some of their most interesting stories to share with you, Pandas. Scroll down to check them out.
Bored Panda wanted to find out how people can come to terms with how many things are outside of their control and based on luck, so we reached out to Max Alberhasky, Ph.D. He is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at California State University Long Beach and the host of the ‘Psychology, Money, and Happiness’ blog on Psychology Today. Alberhasky was kind enough to answer our questions. You'll find our interview with him as you read on.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
This is a picture of an almost 2 year old me and an almost 5 year old little boy who grabbed my hand in line waiting to see Santa, because I was scared (as my mom explained).
I was flipping through photo albums about 20 years later, and thought: gee he looks familar. I was in a relationship with a young man named Chris who looked like he could be that boy, we grew up in the same town. I showed the pic to him and his mom, and sure enough, it was him! 17 more years, and 2 kids later, still going strong!
"It's true, there are some circumstances in life that feel out of our control. Even when we put our best foot forward, sometimes we don't get into our dream college, get the job we interviewed for, or have our lottery ticket number hit. While of course, this can be upsetting in the short term, there is also some good news," Professor Alberhasky told Bored Panda via email.
"Happiness expert Sonja Lyubomirsky, a psychologist at UC Riverside, found that when it comes to happiness, around 50% is genetic, 10% is based on life circumstances (i.e., things that happen to us), and 40% comes from how we interpret our thoughts and circumstances," the host of the ‘Psychology, Money, and Happiness’ blog shared.
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#2
Not me, my mother. She is Cuban and when she was on her first year of teaching, she was teaching first grade and had a kid that was held back. The teachers called him a bad kid. He found it hard to sit down and pay attention, so he still could not read. My mother made him her “helper” and whenever there was free time she would sit alone with him to go over lessons. He passed first grade and actually did great!
Later on, after the Castro regime took control, my mother left Cuba. She met my father, had children, and moved on with her life.
Years later we were traveling in Florida and a man and his wife came up to her. It was the student! He said he recognized her right away because he never forgot her. He introduced her to his wife as the teacher that did not give up on him.
She is my inspiration!
#3
I’m a stand-up comedian. A few years into my career (back when I still had a day job) I did a fifteen minute performance at an arts festival. I’d never done as long as fifteen minutes before. It was crowded backstage- singers, dance troupes, etc.- and they just got us when it was our time to go on stage. In front of maybe 30 people, no reaction. I knew my jokes weren’t terrible, but it was like performing for people who didn’t speak English. After maybe 8 or 9 minutes at least a couple of smiles. By the end I’d gotten a few laughs. Went home very unhappy- this was the worst set of my life. You expect to bomb when you’re new but I was a few years in. The next day, during my lunch break, I was in a store. A guy came over and said “You were very funny last night.” I said I was a comedian but clearly I was not funny. He said “Did you know what you followed?” I explained that I had no idea because we were secluded backstage. He said the person before me told the true story about how she was forced into an arranged marriage as a child and was beaten and r*ped every day for years until she managed to escape. He explained that the audience was crying. That it took some time but I cheered them up. There are 8 million people in NYC. There were maybe 30 at the show, and one of them was in the same place as I was, and recognized me, and decided to talk to me.
Premislaus de Colo 1 year ago
I know it has a happy ending, but I can't get over that poor woman's story...
"This finding reminds me of an ancient Roman concept called stoicism, which says we do best to work hard on outcomes we have control over and to ignore outcomes which are outside of our control. Of course, this is easier said than done! While it's a fact certain things that impact our lives are simply out of our control and can make us elated or disappointed in the short term, humans are remarkably good at adapting to circumstances and synthesizing happiness."
Alberhasky gave us an example. For instance, we might be upset in the moment when we don't get the job that we wanted. However, a couple of years later, we might hold the opinion that the particular job we once craved might not have been a good fit for us, and that everything happens for a reason.
In the meantime, Bored Panda asked the marketing professor about the main things to focus on in order to lead a happy life, no matter how (un)lucky they might be.
"Time and time again, researchers find that the silver bullet to happiness comes from our social relationships. Our families, romantic partners, children, and friends are the sources that make our lives rich and meaningful," Alberhasky said.
#4
My husband and his first wife went from Chicago to New York for a long weekend. As they waited to cross a busy street, they heard two businessmen behind them discuss how they were going to get the better of someone they were doing a deal with—in St. Louis. Their ears pricked up because his first wife was from St. Louis originally. As they walked along the next street, they were able to hear and identify enough details to realize that these two men were going to trick her uncle by not disclosing certain information. When they got to the hotel, his wife called her uncle—who verified that indeed he was in the middle of doing a deal with these two guys in New York! So no deal happened then! What are the chances?
Daniela Lavanza 1 year ago
That's what you'd call fate. Or Karma, or God, but whatever the name, this was meant to happen.
#5
When my wife to be and I started going out together many many years ago, there was a popular song that became our song, and over the years we would close dance to it whenever we heard it. and we always played it on our special occasions.
She recently became seriously ill and was on that path of no return. When she did pass away in hospital in the small hours of the morning, our song played on the radio which we had playing softly in the corner of her room. Incredibly moving.
Incredible coincidence?
NapQueen 1 year ago
I LOVE THIS! When my Mum was passing away, I asked her to let us know when she got to heaven safely. She passed away quite quickly after that and we left the room so the nurses could clean her up and make her look a bit more presentable. When we went back in, the light above her bed started flickering. The nurses said there's never been anything wrong with that light. She got there safely :) :)
#6
I was driving to California from Washington state and I got into an accident in Shaniko, Oregon, which is a tiny ghost town. At that time the population was 17. When I “crash landed” a woman came out to greet me (she hugged the daylights out of me because I was alive). Four guys immediately appeared with tools and instantly removed my tires, taking them to their shop to repair. The car had to be pulled out of the ditch it was in. There was a man they called George who was building a house. He conveniently had a crane! Problem solved. The car was towed to the house of a 15-year-old boy who was currently enrolled in auto-mechanic school. He found the only major issue with my car. A hole in the radiator. That very week in school he had learned to fix those! Problem solved….*almost*. He said that he knew how to fix it, but that he needed a special kind of metal solder to do it. Something he didn't have, but was common with plumbers. But….wait for it….there was a plumber who lived in town. His neighbor, in fact. Problem solved!!
That afternoon I was given a full tour of the town. The kid—that mechanic—wanted me to see the inside of the storage shed filled with vintage cars. He also took me inside the giant barn where the sheep had been sheared for their wool. I got to see the inside of the tiny original jail with two cells and then he took me over to the hotel with the wooden Indian out front. He was quite proud of growing up there and it was an amazing discovery for me. This town fed me, put me up for the night, fixed my car, and never accepted a dime from me. The next day, when I left, was Easter Sunday.
Jeremy James 1 year ago
I used to drive an old '71 VW bus with a '71 Toyota truck engine rigged in the back. The only time she ever broke down on me was right in front of an old mechanic's shop who happened to specialize in VW and Toyota. They had never seen anything like my Froggy, but they got her fixed up.
"One exercise I love, recommended in the book 'Happier Hour' by Cassie Mogilner Holmes, asks readers to think of an event such as Christmas with your parents. Although it's easy to take for granted, we may only have 30 Christmases with our parents left in our lifetimes. All of a sudden, we realize our time is limited," the host of the ‘Psychology, Money, and Happiness’ blog shared.
"This exercise helps put special moments with others into perspective, making us more grateful for them. Gratitude is a special ingredient when it comes to being happy and appreciating the special moments and relationships we have. Even if the wind doesn't blow your way with a one-in-a-million opportunity, consider being grateful for the one-in-a-million special relationships in your life."
#7
My wife and I were living in our first house in Oklahoma City. One day while we were both at work, the city sewer department tore down all the fences in the rear of the houses on our block to replace the sewer main. When we got home from work we were heartbroken because we had had our young dog in the backyard and now he was nowhere to be found. We searched the area for days and put up notices but to no avail.
We were starting to believe that we would never see our dog again. My wife was so upset she decided to call the city to “give them a piece of her mind” about the lack of notification on the sewer work causing us to lose our dog.
So she gets a person on the phone from the city's Ombudsman Department. My wife explains the situation and tells the person that we loved that dog and had paid good money for him because he was a registered Irish setter. The person asks where we live and my wife gives our address. The person says “Well that's amazing. I live about a half mile from you and there's been an Irish setter hanging around lately.” My wife tells me the address and when I got to the person's house, there's our dog.
Oklahoma City is a big metropolitan area. Of all the people in the metro area my wife might have got on the phone, our dog happened to be at that person's house.
#8
My wife, then 7 year old son and myself were on vacation in Hilton Head, and decided to go out to dinner one night. The dinner table was covered in white paper and the waitress brought out a set of crayons for my son, telling him he could use the whole table as “his canvas”. My son had brought some toy cars and proceeded to draw out an elaborate set of roads and played happily around the table. An elderly gentleman approached our table and asked if it was OK to give our son a little car. He pulled a Hot Wheels from his inside pocket. We said it was OK and he offered our son the car, which he happily accepted and added to the table/race-track. I asked him why he randomly had toy cars in his pocket and he told me he was retired but now worked with a Hilton Head classic car organization as a hobby, and in that function always carried a few cars with him. The gentleman then asked if we were Dutch, to which I replied that I am. He had overheard me speak Dutch with our son, and he said he recognized the language as he had worked for KLM Cargo in their US division for many years. I told him that was a huge coincidence as my grandfather for years was President of KLM’s cargo division. He asked for my family name, and then with great surprise told me that my grandfather had been his boss throughout his career at KLM! He was now retired (and my grandfather had died many decades ago) but he remembered my grandfather, and his trips to the Dutch KLM headquarters fondly. The chances for this encounter to happen… infinitely small. But it did happen and I think of it often when we visit Hilton Head, SC.
Fiery Llama 1 year ago
He sounds delightful- I love the idea of carrying a little toy car to give to a child randomly
#9
Not me but a fellow I knew was born in Vietnam just as the war was ending.
I don’t know what happened to his family but he ended up in an orphanage as a baby and was brought to the United States as the war came to an end. He was adopted by a family in California and spent most childhood near LA.
He was in his early 20s, shopping at Ralph’s when he noticed a young Vietnamese guy staring at him. He also noticed the guy looked just like him, like spitting image. Turns out it was his brother, his twin brother, that he never knew existed. They had come over together but adopted by different families. The organization that arranged the adoptions hadn’t put any effort into telling the families about the brothers, so they never knew of each other until that fateful day at Ralph’s.
The paradox is that even though some events are super rare, they actually tend to happen all the time. As Bloomberg points out, a lot depends on how strictly or loosely you define the terms of the coincidence. The more you “relax the definition” of something, the more you increase the odds of it happening once, twice, or more.
For example, someone winning the grand prize in a lottery is a huge deal, and it’s a rare occurrence for one lucky person. However, someone still needs to win the prize (eventually). Statistically speaking, for the group of people who decide to buy lottery tickets, it’s an inevitability. Even if nobody wins the top prize this week or month, it’ll happen sooner or later.
#10
Dr. Phung Van Hanh of Montreal, Canada, and formerly of Danang, Vietnam, was visiting my mother in Wichita KS. We went out to a Vietnamese restaurant in town for a dinner with us, him, and some of her friends.
Dr. Hanh had got in trouble with the Communists after they won the war, and was sent to their Gulag. Somehow or other he survived and wound up in Canada. His connection to my family was that my Dad had worked with him for a month during the Tet offensive, in a hospital in Danang. We’d kept in touch off and on after that.
So here we are at the restaurant. It’s a nice, family-owned place. After the party had ordered and the food had arrived, the proprietor came out to greet the party. He looks at Dr. Hanh, their glances lock, Dr. Hanh, with some difficulty because of his age, gets to his feet, and they embrace.
They had been inmates and friends in the same death camp in Vietnam.
#11
In a seaside French town, mid-August, height of the tourist season, I lost the key to a bike lock. It was my father-in-law’s bike, and I had borrowed his bike to shop at the other side of town from our vacation cottage. I must have left it in the lock and it fell out on the way home. Uh-oh! He was a RATHER difficult old man, and would be distraught at the loss.
So I said nothing, and the next morning, went in search of it.
Walking along the path I had taken, I entered a busy street close to the beach, where hundreds of people strolled or hurried here and there. Suddenly, I spotted a bill on the sidewalk, a ten-euro note. Wow, cool! I leaned down to grab it and it fluttered away, so I went after it, and again it fluttered away. Hmmn, very odd. Then I heard giggling. I looked up, and lo and behold, two boys on a balcony with a fishing pole, and the lure was the ten-euro bill. I wagged my finger at them, and as an afterthought, asked if they’d found a key by any chance.
“Yeah, we found a key last night right on the sidewalk.” HUH? I took the stairs to their apartment, and voilà, it was the very key to Papa-in-law’s bike lock!
In a big town with fifty thousand tourists, I happened on the two who had found my key. If that ain’t a coincidence, Idk what is!
Fiery Llama 1 year ago
The idea of kids doing the 'old-money-on-a-fishing-line' trick like they're in Looney Tunes cracks me up
#12
At the age of 12 I met a new girl at school who had the same birthday as me. No big deal. Then…
Born in the same state,
same city,
same hospital,
same floor,
two doors down and
15 minutes apart from me.
We were born in Hawaii
And we met in a tiny unincorporated town in Louisiana.
Stuart 1 year ago
Argh...you just had to point it out, eh? Lol! Now I'm distracted.
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Phil Green 1 year ago
Back in 2006, a guy came into the pub we were running at the time. He said it was his birthday, it's mine too. Where were you born? Tonbridge Wells, Kent. Which hospital? Pembury. Oh, what year? Same year as me! What time? Half an hour after me! Our mums must have known each other! I met him in the Falkland Islands. Sadly, he died three weeks ago. Awesome guy, too.
xczechr 1 year ago
Knowing what time and in which hospital you're born is normal, but knowing the floor and even the room? Weird.
VonBlade 1 year ago (edited)
I only know the time and hospital my daughter was born in, not the room, and I was there.
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Crissy Newbury 1 year ago
I have a similar story. My father was USAF. I was born in England but moved around a lot from the age of 6months. Came back to England at age 11 and was sent to the village school. I was befriended by a sweet girl and we became best friends. We were born in the same hospital one day apart. We are now 70 and still best friends.
Javelina Poppers 1 year ago
I was born in the food stamp department..............well, it used to be a small hospital's maternity ward, but now it's the food stamp department since DES took over the building.
catastrophegirl 1 year ago
i don't know it down to the room but in high school in florida i became friends with someone with the same birthday and it turned out we were born about 2 hours apart (10am and noon) in the same small town hospital in north carolina. i was only born there because i was early and my mom's doctor was on vacation, that was the closest hospital with an attending OB on staff when she went into labor. i was supposed to be born in the hospital in the town where my parents lived.
On top of that, let’s consider the idea of winning multiple lotteries. Winning the top prize twice or even more is an even rarer coincidence. But if we change our parameters a bit, we can greatly increase the chances of this happening.
For instance, let’s say that the person doesn’t have to win the top prize twice; they only need to win something (anything) twice. Suddenly, the coincidence becomes much more grounded. The odds are that many of you reading this have won some sort of minor prize if you’ve ever bought lottery tickets before.
#13
My daughter moved into a flat which needed a lot of work. On the first day there her best friend and her sister came over and together we ripped up the carpets. Underneath the carpets and underlay the floor had been lined with old newspapers and in the hallway was an old local newspaper and facing us was a photo of the two sisters in a dance competition when they were children!
#14
This was probably 15 years ago - A newly married young couple had just moved in across the street from me. Shortly after that he was deployed overseas. Not long after he was deployed an older couple moved into the house behind them, and his wife got to know them quite well. After her husband returned the four of them got together and after some talking, they came to realize that he was their son! They had given him up for adoption when he was born in California and had just decided to move to Utah, some 25 years later. One in a million coincidence, moved to be neighbors with their son!
SuperChicken 1 year ago
Oh, my gosh! What are the chances of finding your biological parents, without even trying.
#15
I was in a big steakhouse in California about 30 years ago. The waitress, like many Americans, liked our Brit accent and happened to say their head chef was from England. Thought nothing of it because England is quite a big place with a lot of people . About an hour later as we were finishing up our desserts , the chef came out.
Conversation went something like this.
CHEF: I heard your accents and had to come out because you sound like you are from Essex.
ME: Yes all four of us are. We are from Southend on Sea. ( A very famous large Essex town recognised around the UK).
CHEF: Really. That's where I'm from. Actually Shoeburyness just outside Southend.
ME: Really! I lived there for 12 years,after I was born.
CHEF: Do you know West Road. I ran the Chippy ( fish and chip shop) there for 10 years between ’71 and ‘81.
ME: You’ve got to be joking. I used to come in your shop the last Friday of every month with my brother and my parents to get fish and chips.
What are the chances of that???
That’s not to say that we can’t be in awe when we get lucky or some fortunate coincidence pops up in our lives. Quite the contrary: it’s essential that we embrace these events and feel grateful that they happened.
On the flip side, if something bad has happened to us, we shouldn't shy away from the negative feelings that spring up. We have to embrace them, even though it's uncomfortable. Otherwise, our negative feelings can enroot themselves and turn to deep-seated shame, fear, and guilt. And working through those may require months or even years of therapy.
#16
When my kids were little in Vancouver Canada, one of my oldest boy’s best friends was a kid called Sepand. They did a lot together in daycare and then kindergarten. When he was seven, we took a family trip to Montreal on summer where one of the big events is the Jazz Festival. Hundreds of shows and a few dozen free shows every night with literally tens of thousands on the streets for those shows. In the middle of that crowd, my boy pipes up with “Hey Sepand!” and sure enough there is Sepand and his family, very randomly in exactly the same spot three thousand miles from home. Big laugh, hugs and handshakes and we go on our way.
Two years later, another summer vacation, this time in California. We visit old friends in the Bay Area and decide to drive down to the Monterey peninsula for the day. Of course we have to go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, one of the great aquariums of the world. We go to the stingray tank where kids can actually reach in and play with the stingrays and we hear “Hey Sepand!” Once again, a thousand miles from home, Sepand and his family are in exactly the same place at the same time.
#17
Back in 1998 I got my mother-in-law a copy of Pete Hamill’s “Snow in August” for a Mother’s Day gift. I wrote a little note to her on the fly leaf. Years later her daughter, my wife died and my MIL had to leave her home out of state to go into a long term care facility. She herself died almost ten years after my wife.
in 2016 I was making dump run to my little towns transfer station. I stopped into the Put and Take shed to see what treasures my neighbors had decided to part with. There’s a separate shed just for books and that’s where I headed. After a few minutes I spotted a copy of “Snow in August”. It was a bit beat up but I grabbed it and found my little note to my MIL on the fly leaf.
I wonder how many hands it went through to find it’s way back to me.
#18
It was summer of 2011. My husband and I were at the beach on the Jersey shore. My eldest son was on his honeymoon in Hawaii. His shiny new Audi was in New York with my youngest son who with permission took the carto take out his then GIRLFRIEND (now wife). Being the gentleman who l raised , he proceeded to walk her to her door. Being the dumb**s that his Father raised, he left the car open with the keys in the ignition. Well, guess what happened next. Two guys jumped in and stole the shiny new Audi. We get the phone call while at the beach, not a little pissed, because like what’s gonna happen now? Can’t call the honeymooners , because how would that help ? Can’t call the insurance company because he left the keys in the ignition. So embarrassing to make the police report, but we did it. Dejected, we decide to come home early to Brooklyn and be miserable. We pack up and make our way back home. It’s like an hour ride. A very long hour with two very long faces, pick up the police report. OK. So you made it this far in the story. You deserve to hear the CRAZY part. We on Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn, both at the same, we see the shiny Audi. Yup, my sons car. (We knew the plate no.) We’re kind of freaking out at this point. We start following the car. We call the cops. The cops box in the stolen car, and the officer has the audacity to tell me there’s no report!! As l am feeling like knocking her out (l didn’t ), l pull out the police report and wave it in the officers face. At the exact moment. The bluetooth connects to the car. The perps get BUSTED.
Gratitude improves our lives and has been associated with our emotional, social, and psychological well-being. Not only that, but gratitude has a knock-on effect: people who feel grateful strive to extend their help to other people. Kindness, generosity, and altruism have a tendency to spread.
Which of these stories impressed you the most, Pandas? What "one-in-a-million" coincidences (whether good, bad, or nuanced) have you personally witnessed? Let us know in the comments.
#19
This is more than 40 years ago now but I still tell it: So there i was at university with my girlfriend. She shared a room with a girl called Siobhan. Got chatting. Where are you from, where are your parents from?
Manchester. Oh, so are mine.
Where in Manchester. Prestwich. Gosh my father was from Prestwich too.
Where exactly? Canterbury drive. Wow, Your father must have known mine. He lived on Canterbury drive too.
So I ring my mum. (my father died when I was very young). Did you know xxxx? Oh yes he was our best man!
And you know what? Siobhan was our chief bridesmaid. And she and my wife are still in touch 40 years on.
#20
Years ago I was in between jobs, so I decided to make the most of it.
I started riding a bike just to get in shape and lose some weight.
There was a long hill I had to go up and at first I had to walk the bike after going half way up.
In a couple of weeks I was able to make it all the way up. Then I proceed to make about a 15 mile round trip.
On one of those trips I was about 3 miles from my home and a pedal came off. I thought I could make it home using just one pedal…….well that didn’t work.
I tried screwing the pedal by hand……that didn’t work.
So I decided to start walking the bike home. I didn’t walk very far when I saw a wrench all mangled in the dirt. (Probably run over by the trucks using the road.)
I picked it up and the business end was a perfect fit for the pedal nut.
I tightened the pedal with the wrench and rode off into the sunset.
Bob Brooce 1 year ago
Here's my perfect fit story. I own a Coleman backpacking stove that has two levers, with red and black rubber tips, respectively, and I had lost the red tip. While skiing at Killington I made the short hike to the actual summit, and while standing right at the top I glance down and see a small red doohickey in the snow. Sure enough, it's a red tip for the Coleman stove. Probably much less than 1 in a million, because it's probably not an uncommon spot for hikers to stop and make a meal/tea/cocoa, but good that I found it instead of somebody simply picking it up as garbage.
#21
Jimi Hendrix moment. Take the time to read this, it’s pretty cool.
It was the late 60’s and I was at a Hollywood party at the home of Micky Dolanz . In case you don’t remember him or know who he is, he was one of the Monkee’s. A popular recording and television artist. While I was there I was feeling pretty uncomfortable…..feeling like I was out of my element so I went down to the basement area of the house which was just as nice as the rest of the house. Micky had a pair of kaleidoscope glasses lying around down there that I was messing around with which was kind of fun. Now, at the same time there was a black man down there with me so we talked to one another for about 15 minutes. It was just the two of us. He was pretty solemn and asked me a few questions about life and the way people think. I remember that clearly.
Now fast forward to around the mid 80’s…I was out to dinner with my ex-husband who, by the way, took me to that party. He was a part of the stage crew for the television show the Monkey’s were doing. For some reason I mentioned having this odd memory about the kaleidoscope glasses and a brief conversation with the black man that was down there with me noting that he was wearing a turban. My ex said “do you really not know who that was?” I said, “no I don’t” and he said “that was Jimi Hendrix the only black man at the party”. I was floored, stunned and practically speechless and now, at 76, its one of the most treasured memories of my life. When I look back on it now, if I had known who he was the conversation wouldn’t have happened. So glad I didn’t know it was him.
So kaleidoscope glasses and a turban became a recipe for an unforgettable and memorable 15 minute coincidence.
Cyber Returns 1 year ago
He probably enjoyed having a normal moment of just chatting to someone not gushing over him
#22
About 25 years ago, I decided to buy some art for my house. I ended up finding a gallery in Toronto which did a fair business in resale contemporary art, which can often be picked up at a bargain.
One of the pieces I found was a spectacular large painting of a cup, about 60 inches x 60 inches (1.5 m x 1.5 m), done by an artist named Christopher Kier. He did a series of large-format paintings of cup-like figures. What’s cool is that it’s done with encaustic, which is basically painting with liquid wax. My picture looks a lot like this one here, and it’s very interesting to touch, the surface has a very tactile feel.
Anyhow, this painting hangs on the wall of my breakfast nook, and since the pandemic, that’s where my wife sits when she works from home. The painting is in the background when she is on a video call.
About a year ago, she had a call with someone she does not normally talk to, a senior VP in the organization. They had the call, and at the end he asked her to stay on after the other people left. He said that he noticed the painting in the background. He asked her if was a Christopher Kier. She was pretty surprised, but said yes, it was.
Then he said that he was good friends with the artist, and then said “Look at this”.
He pivoted the camera, and there, hanging on his wall… was a Christopher Kier encaustic cup!
Pretty amazing.
#23
I’m English but was working as an architect in Qatar for about 12 years, back in the nineties. My firm was approached by the Qatari Ministry of Defence to undertake some work on their air base. They had also appointed a firm of mechanical/electrical engineers to work with us.
One day, I paid a site visit along with an engineer representing the M&E firm. He also was English, but his accent placed him as coming from a different part of the UK from me. So, he asked me where my home in the UK was. At the time, my home was in a tiny hamlet in Yorkshire. The place consists of about half a dozen houses and nothing else. The conversation went something like this:
“So, where do you live in the UK?”
“I live in a small village in Yorkshire – you won’t have heard of it. It’s in the Huddersfield area.”
“Ah, whereabouts near Huddersfield?”
“Not far from Shepley (a larger village).”
“I know Shepley. Where exactly do you live?”
“Well, it’s in a place called Tall Moors (note that I’ve changed the name as my ex-wife still lives there).”
“Which house in Tall Moors?”
“It’s called Four Springs.”
“I used to live in that house.”
Apparently, this guy had moved to the area as a child when his father had been transferred to work there by his company, and they had rented the house I was now living in, from the family who had actually sold it on to me. He even knew one of my neighbours who, he said, used to be his nanny.
Given that the population of the UK is around 60 million, and Qatar is over 4,000 miles from the UK, what are the chances of meeting someone who actually used to LIVE IN YOUR HOUSE????
The Original Bruno 1 year ago
"what are the chances of meeting someone who actually used to LIVE IN YOUR HOUSE????" Do Ouija boards count?
#24
Many years ago, I was riding my motorcycle in the right lane of a 4-lane highway divided by a guardrail. The car in front of me braked suddenly—no problem, I stopped easily and saw that a family of ducks had entered the highway from the right side of the road.
Seeing the ducks and the traffic in the left-hand lane approaching quickly, I turned and waved at the left-lane traffic which did come to an abrupt halt as the mother and four baby ducks continued walking. They ducked under the guardrail and proceeded, crossing in front of two oncoming lanes of fast-moving traffic. The cars in the oncoming lanes came to a literal screeching halt as the mother and four chicks, undaunted, disappeared into the weeds on the opposite side of the highway.
Whew! I was relieved that the ducks were ok, and I began to pull out from the right shoulder back onto the highway. As I was about to pull out, I had to wait for a car that had stopped behind me and was already moving down the road. As that car passed me, I looked at the license plate which read “5 DUCKS”!
#25
My parents told me this story. When I was 8 years old living in the UK, my dad took a job opportunity in the USA and we emigrated. My parents decided to rent out our home in the UK so before we left we were showing the house to perspective tenants. One was an American guy. Turns out he was from the same city in the US that we were about to move to in a few weeks time. They laughed over the coincidence and the American guy said that his adult daughter is still in the US and we should look her up when we get there. He gave us her name and that she works in a particular restaurant in the city.
Fast forward a few weeks and fly to the US. we arrive at the airport, tired after flying halfway across the world! We are met at the airport by a representative of my dad’s new company and he drives us to a hotel. On the way we stop for some food. It’s late and there’s not a lot of places still open. The rep says he knows a place that’s open late. Yep, the same place the American tenant’s daughter works at. We end up getting served by her! So we rent out our UK home to a random American guy and move to America and end up meeting the guy’s daughter working half an hour of leaving the airport!
Lady Gypsy Rain 1 year ago
Not sure why, but I was just certain they were going to end up renting the residence of the random American while he rented from them
#26
Some years ago, I spent a summer working for a law firm. My job involved calling and interviewing plaintiffs in a class action suit that they were working on. I had a list of names and telephone numbers, and a list of questions to ask. I would call, as for “Joe Anderson” or whomever, then spend half an hour or so interviewing Mr. Anderson about his claim.
One of the phone numbers on the list was for a woman in Georgia (I am not from Georgia). I called the number. But I accidentally transposed two digits when I dialed - instead of dialing 555–1234 I dialed 555 -1324 or something like that.
A voice answered the phone.
I said “May I please speak to Sylvia Podunk?” (or whatever the name was)
There was a pause on the other end of the line.
The person on the other end said “would you please repeat that?”
I said “Of course - may I please speak to Sylvia Podunk?”
The voice said “ Is this Mark McCain?”
I had accidentally dialed a girl that I had dated in high school about 10 years before. I had lost touch with her after graduation. She was now living in Georgia. When I accidentally dialed her number, she recognized my voice over the phone and realized it was me!
#27
I was in NY 1979 with my brother. There was a guy about same age as me with a BMW motorcycle same limited edition 1000cc model that I had in London UK.I spoke to him about bike and told him about my one. Got impression did not fully believe me about owning one same model.
A few months later whilst riding my one in London UK, I saw him on holiday with friends about to cross the street. Said Hi remember me NY we talked about your bike same as this one. Nice to see you again. He looked double shocked one about bike, and two seeing me again riding it 6000 miles away! Had a few words then off I rode, never saw him again as no reason to exchange numbers. Odds against that must have been on par with winning lottery!
#28
My brother had this happen. He and his family were on a road trip and their car broke down. They were close enough to a gas station to push it there. There was a man there asking for gas money. My brother gave it to him and the man turned out to be a mechanic and fixed my brother’s car at no charge.
#29
We'd got a new rescue dog. Got her as a pup. Approximately 6 months later, we'd gone on a day trip to the coast. Stopped at lunchtime at a little village pub that had outside tables. I got us a couple of drinks, snacks etc and we sat at one of the tables. Got talking to a couple at the next table with a young dog who seemed about the same age as ours. It only turned out that they had got their dog from the same rescue centre and both dogs were actually brother and sister from the same litter. Not only that, they actually lived close to us.
Savannah greenleaf 1 year ago
My first winter in Maine I stayed in a room above a garage with only a space heater. It was so cold the homeowners let their large American Bulldog sleep with me. Really it was to keep warm. A few years later at work I met another nurse who was a dob breeder . Even though it was an hour away she was the breeder of the dog. The couple never paid for the dog, but the woman was quite happy that her pup at least went to a good home where she was love and appreciated. Loki was a wonderful pup!
#30
I joined the Army at 19, my first assignment was Frankfurt/Main, Germany. First time there. About a month after being barracks bound. I decided to go down town. A beautiful sunny day. This was 1965. The young woman in summer dresses. I saw this beautiful brunette and I winked at her and she winked back. Long story short we dated and married, We were married for 54 years. About 10 years ago I took an interest in Ancestry DNA. I researched my family. My mother’s mother was German and her name was Reese. I only had the tip of the iceberg on their information. At one point I decided to look into my wife’s ancestry. Her grandfather’s family name was Weingarth and he was from Kusel, a small village in Germany with a population less than 1,000. Later I obtained additional information on great grandmother Reese. In the middle of the 1700’s, information showed that the family came from the village of Kusel also, in fact the name Weingarth was part of the family. So, in a country of 80 million, what is the chance I would meet and marry someone from my family tree.
What do you think ?
The Original Bruno 1 year ago (edited)
First day on campus, I was dismayed to realize I had ended up on the wrong side of a long, long hedge. Being very skinny and outdoorsy, I decided to cut through it, but it was slightly more difficult than I first estimated. Reaching the other side, feeling like I had climbed through a jungle, I was now disheveled and came to a very well-dressed man on the other side. Deflecting my awkardness I joked, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" (From a legendary story of David Livingstone meeting Dr Henry Stanley in the depth of the African jungle.) The man was arriving on campus to be announced as the new university president. And his name just happened to be Dr Livingston. (No, we didn't get married; that would've been weird.)
ADHORTATOR 1 year ago
Over 20 years ago, I rode my small V50 Moto Guzzi in southern Germany when all of a sudden my speedometer drive broke... the drive was part of the hub of the front wheel, not the best solution.... I was just in front of a car dealership and I asked them for a tool to remove the wire.... the owner told me "Oh in the past, my father used to sell this brand of motorcycles, I wonder...." and yes, he found the spare part for a almost 20 year old italian motorbike which was only for 2 years in production. He sold it to me for the price on the price tag...
Little Wonder 1 year ago
A workmate of mine visits Malta regularly to see family there. On one trip she and her family decided to try a little cafe for lunch, and the owner came out to chat and discovered my workmate lived in Melbourne. "Oh you'll know my cousin" he said. "Probably not, Melbourne is a big place" says my workmate. The cafe owner told her his cousins name and my workmate had to say "Ah. Yes. he's my hairdresser" haha. Melbourne not that big after all.
Alan Williams 1 year ago
In 2017 I was on a small boat taking a ride from Marahau, a small settlement near Nelson in New Zealand to a trail head. I was to run back the 20 miles or so through the Abel Tasman National Park. On the boat I got talking to a fellow Brit. Anyway fast forward about a year and I was on an underground train on the Bakerloo Line in London and a guy opposite me was staring at me. Finally he came over and it was the very same guy I had been talking to that day in New Zealand.
Rocco MZ 1 year ago
I was in NYC in 1999. Was sitting on the steps of one of the art museums waiting on a friend who was two hours late. A guy ended up sitting next to me and we chatted about how both of our friends were hours late. It was my first trip to NYC so he was telling me places to see and stuff like that. Then he said, "Manhattan is an island and it's not as big as you think. I run into the same people all the time." That was a Thursday, Sunday night, we were backstage after a Broadway show and when we left, I pushed open the door and almost hit the person walking by. It was the same guy from the art museum. We both looked surprised to see each other and then he said, "I told you, it's just an island!" and walked away.
Tanya Loewen-Watson 1 year ago
Working in a call centre as a sales rep… literally phoning every in a town pulling pages from a phone book… called a radio station expecting to get their receptionist and hear, “congratulations, you’re caller number 3. You’ve won tickets to David Bowie’s concert tonight!” Literally going down a list and called at the exact right moment!
brittany 1 year ago (edited)
back in high school i had a boyfriend. when it came time for his birthday i really wanted to give him a gift. i asked what he wanted and since he knew i didnt have much money, he asked for me to paint a picture of myself and gift him that. i was a decent artist and had supplies at home so i painted my portrait gifted it to him. life went on and eventually we amicably split ways. i moved states away, got an education, got married, had kids etc. one day i went looking for some cheap clothes for work at a thift store and decided to check out their knick knacks. as i was about to leave i saw a small canvas sitting on the bottom shelf and went to get a closer look. it was my painting, with my signature and inscription on the back. i of course bought it and took it home. how strange that states away, years afterwards, it would come find me again. as far as i know he still lives in our hometown, though we havent spoken in years. just odd how small the world is really.
Karina 1 year ago
I'm from Germany and went on a round trip through Sweden and Norway by car. On one norwegian camping site we've met a lovely retired couple and made some small talk. They were from a German town where we went on a camping trip just 3 month prior. Turns out the couple lived 300 metres away from the camping grounds we stayed on that last vacation. but even better: we talked more and I mentioned that I grew up in a region called Spreewald. Turns out the husband worked in the same city where I went to school, and worked in the same company as my former boyfriends mother. even knew her name. so he said I should say hello for him, as I did. She still had his phone number, so she called him and they had a lovely chat. I guess that little encounter made 3 people quite happy 😊
Gavin Johnson 1 year ago
Travelled from a small place near Manchester, England to Switzerland to walk a glacier and do some crevasse research whilst we were up there. The road to the base of the glacier walk was one way for an hour, bit of a break then one way for the next hour, it was a very quiet and remote area. Decided to have a pre-expedition schnapps as a lucky toast, there’s a tiny bar / café at the parking area, we wander in and one of our group, Phil, heads to the bar, and casually says ‘don’t I know you from somewhere?’ to the woman behind the bar, we all throw a bit of abuse his way for the corny chat up line but are stopped in our tracks, she responds by telling us all that she used to work behind the bar in one of our local pubs, The Kenilworth, in Cheadle Hulme, and she recognised us. Fair play to Phil, he did know her from somewhere!
Peppy 1 year ago
Was in NYC for my brothers wedding, at the time I was living in a small town in the Welsh valleys, Abertillery, end up meeting this artist who painted pictures that just looked like a mass of colours, turns out they were pictures of Abertillery, taken from a moving car. Never understood why he’d had to go all that way to get blurry photos!
V Martinez 1 year ago
I love these stories! Mine was when my dad passed. I called the company that he had burial insurance through. The lady who answered recognized my name after I told her my dad's name. Turns out I knew her when I was little and she went to high school with my dad. She totally took care of everything from across the country and she's such an awesome lady! Thx you Cathy!
Spudg 1 year ago
Husband is from South Africa and now lives in the UK- when his son went to nursery he became friends with twin boys- didn't do the nursery runs as was divorced from his first wife by this point- had to pick his son up from the twins birthday party and turns out the dad was his classmate was in the same secondary class as him back in South Africa
Ronnie Beaton 12 months ago
Back in the 70s, when I was a kid, my family and I would spend our summer holiday in a little seaside town in Scotland called North Berwick. We stayed in holiday cottages that had been farm workers homes in pre-mechanisation days. The extended family in the next house were a brother, sister, their respective spouses, and three kids of more or less my age. Naturally we palled around together, getting up to mischief, and I was always sad when the holiday ended, and we all went our separate ways until next year. So imagine my shock and surprise, when one year, a couple of months after the holidays, I spotted my three playmates on *my* street in *my* town. It turned out they and their parents were visiting their grandmother - who lived next door to my family.
Ralph Watkins 1 year ago
There is something in a our family. Whenever any of us travel, we always run into people we know despite the miles & the years. The funniest is I went to a charity event in Hawaii featuring the NFL Pro-Bowl players. I was in the Army & in uniform. A buddy of mine I knew from back home in NEPA recognized me first. We was one of the NFL players. It was about 15 years after I last saw him. He used to brag about meeting me there more than I bragged about running into him.
Kyra Heiker 1 year ago
I was living in Alaska and planning to visit my uncle in New York City; a friend told me I should look up her ex-boyfriend who was a musician in Greenwich village. My uncle picked me up at the airport and before going home stopped at his favorite pub where he introduced me to the bartender, who asked what I had planned while I was there. I mentioned I needed to look up this musician in Greenwich village, and he says oh yeah he's a friend of mine I'll take you to go see him. I had been in New York for less than half an hour and the first person I was introduced to knew this guy I was supposed to look up whose ex-girlfriend I knew in Alaska.
Chris Landrum 1 year ago
I live in Tampa Florida and sitting in a restaurant at the bar and began talking to this guy. He was a marketing rep for a duck processing company. I asked where it was and he said in Indiana (State in USA) and I asked if the owner was so and so? He said he was, he was his boss. Told him he was my college roommate for the only semester I attended Purdue University, 40 years ago. Fast forward 3 years later and I am a cashier and someone bought a frozen duck. I look down and it is from my roommates company!
Andy Frobig 1 year ago (edited)
I have a few, but here are the main ones: my parents both grew up in Brooklyn, but in different neighborhoods. Both were baptized in South Congregational Church, Dad's mother and uncle knew Mom's father, but Mom and Dad never met...until they were both going to a seminary in Bangor, ME, hundreds of miles away. When I was a kid, we moved around a lot, but always in Maine and upstate New York. In my 30s I went off to a technical school in Minnesota. I met a nice girl from Florida who was also taking my course, and we started dating. A few months after graduation, we got engaged. Our birthdays were exactly six months apart, but that's not a big coincidence. The fact that, before her family moved to Florida, my then fiancee had been born in the same hospital as my father--Methodist, in Park Slope--was interesting. Then our families got together before our wedding, and my mother and my fiancee's aunt realized that the aunt's cousins had lived on the same block in Brooklyn as my mother in the 1940s-50s
Midwest Panda 11 months ago (edited)
9 years ago this summer, I was looking to get a different car because I was having alot of problems with the car I had. I learned that the only way to get a different car would be to get a brand new one because I still owed on the car I had. So that's what I did. My 1st and so far, only brand new car. 2 years later, I moved away to CA. Some friends helped make the 2 day drive there in my car. I ended up losing the car to a repo a couple of months after moving there cause I had just caught up on payments after falling behind before moving away and I had fallen behind on payments again because it was hard to find a job in the area I moved to. I was so bummed cause now, I had to share a vehicle w/a housemate. I ended up driving us to the town We worked in and they took the car while I just hung out at a coffee shop until I had to go to work.Well, fast-forward to 2020 and the pandemic happens. I get furloughed from my job and decide to move back home that summer. I really liked that particular car I had
Midwest Panda 11 months ago
Apparently, there's a character limit on comments. Anyways, I really liked the car that I had when I moved to CA. So I was looking for another one like it. A little over a year after moving back home, I was looking at cars online and I saw a twin of that car at a dealership 30-40 minutes away. Without hesitation, I made an appt to at least look at it. It had some rear quarter panel damage, but other than that, it was solid w/a clean title. It worked out for me to get that car and I still have it now!! As a bonus, the previous owner of this car had a remote start system installed. First car I've ever had with remote start
Load More Replies... Momica98 11 months ago
This one's a little awkward. My Dad was a very friendly guy who could strike up a conversation with anyone. He worked at the local hospital for more than 30 years. He was delivering medication from the pharmacy to some patients and got to talking to a lady working as a traveling nurse. She mentioned she previously lived in the town next to the hospital. My Dad said "oh, my daughter and her husband just bought a house there on Street X." A few more questions and they realized that we had purchased the home that she shared with her family before they were foreclosed upon. They had added on a first floor laundry room and second floor; so the housing market crisis of 2009 meant that we got quite the bargain! Still there nearly 15 years later. Last thing I heard about the family was seeing their son's name in the paper for allegedly molesting a child.
Huddo's sister 11 months ago
My family had three small coincidences happen when we moved not long ago. First one- my mum had dated a guy who went to her church while in high school but lost touch after the broke up and each moved away and had their own families. We had heard about him a bit, because he became an AFL player and thought it was funny they used to date. Anyway, last we had heard he was living in Queensland, while we still lived in Victoria. My mum moved from Melbourne to a small town and hour and a half away three years ago. I visited her not long after she moved, and we went for dinner in a pub in another nearby town. While we were there, she see's her ex boyfriend and the get talking about how random it was to meet there. Turns out he lives in another nearby town and was guest DJ at one of the pubs there! Second one- My stepdad joined a blues and roots band when they moved and one of the guys in this band is married to a woman he used to work with, who also used to work with him at a special...
Huddo's sister 11 months ago
...school where they used to live. (Also where my brothers used to attend, which is how he met my mum). Thirdly- about 12 months after my mum moved house, I also moved, about 15 minutes away from her. I didn't know anyone in town (except my dad, who lives with me) but I reached out to a friend on Facebook, because last I had heard, she was living in a town nearby. This is a friend who I used to live a few streets away from when I started school and she was my best friend for about a decade, before we lost touch. She said she actually had moved to the town I was in and we decided to catch up. I put her address in my gps, and it turns out we were once again living only a few streets away!
Load More Replies...
ConstantlyJon 1 year ago
Craziest thing I've had happen to me was a random patient who was checking out at the front desk I work at. I have a Michigan flag on the wall behind me (my favorite sports team). They asked me if I was from there, and I said "yup, born and raised in Flint!" So they asked, "hey did you go to (name of my high school)?" I was like.... do I know you? How did you pull that out of your a*s? Turns out their siblings went to my high school about 20 years before I did. We have no other connections. They just know that school. No one knows that school, it's not particularly big or notable for any reason. I think about that lady all the time. Totally threw me off!
Racheal Carter 1 year ago
Top Secret To Win The Lottery With The Help Of A Magic Lottery spell caster called Dr Emmanuel.......I saw testimonies online on how Dr Emmanuel helped a lot of people in winning huge amounts in the lottery, so I decided to contact him for winning numbers. I contacted this man and he did a spell and he gave me the winning lottery numbers to play. Believe me when the draws were out I was among the winners. I won $70 million jackpot. I have confirmed Dr Emmanuel and he is real and guaranteed. Now I am a living testimony of the good works of Dr Emmanuel, a gifted man with great powers, it is my secret but I decided to make the world known too. It might be a help to anyone who is interested. My comment might look funny to you but it is the truth and I promise you that it will not be funny when you win and share a testimony with others. This is a secret to win the lottery so I advise you to do the same. It’s not everybody that is naturally lucky, if you have problems in winning the lotter
The Original Bruno 1 year ago (edited)
First day on campus, I was dismayed to realize I had ended up on the wrong side of a long, long hedge. Being very skinny and outdoorsy, I decided to cut through it, but it was slightly more difficult than I first estimated. Reaching the other side, feeling like I had climbed through a jungle, I was now disheveled and came to a very well-dressed man on the other side. Deflecting my awkardness I joked, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" (From a legendary story of David Livingstone meeting Dr Henry Stanley in the depth of the African jungle.) The man was arriving on campus to be announced as the new university president. And his name just happened to be Dr Livingston. (No, we didn't get married; that would've been weird.)
ADHORTATOR 1 year ago
Over 20 years ago, I rode my small V50 Moto Guzzi in southern Germany when all of a sudden my speedometer drive broke... the drive was part of the hub of the front wheel, not the best solution.... I was just in front of a car dealership and I asked them for a tool to remove the wire.... the owner told me "Oh in the past, my father used to sell this brand of motorcycles, I wonder...." and yes, he found the spare part for a almost 20 year old italian motorbike which was only for 2 years in production. He sold it to me for the price on the price tag...
Little Wonder 1 year ago
A workmate of mine visits Malta regularly to see family there. On one trip she and her family decided to try a little cafe for lunch, and the owner came out to chat and discovered my workmate lived in Melbourne. "Oh you'll know my cousin" he said. "Probably not, Melbourne is a big place" says my workmate. The cafe owner told her his cousins name and my workmate had to say "Ah. Yes. he's my hairdresser" haha. Melbourne not that big after all.
Alan Williams 1 year ago
In 2017 I was on a small boat taking a ride from Marahau, a small settlement near Nelson in New Zealand to a trail head. I was to run back the 20 miles or so through the Abel Tasman National Park. On the boat I got talking to a fellow Brit. Anyway fast forward about a year and I was on an underground train on the Bakerloo Line in London and a guy opposite me was staring at me. Finally he came over and it was the very same guy I had been talking to that day in New Zealand.
Rocco MZ 1 year ago
I was in NYC in 1999. Was sitting on the steps of one of the art museums waiting on a friend who was two hours late. A guy ended up sitting next to me and we chatted about how both of our friends were hours late. It was my first trip to NYC so he was telling me places to see and stuff like that. Then he said, "Manhattan is an island and it's not as big as you think. I run into the same people all the time." That was a Thursday, Sunday night, we were backstage after a Broadway show and when we left, I pushed open the door and almost hit the person walking by. It was the same guy from the art museum. We both looked surprised to see each other and then he said, "I told you, it's just an island!" and walked away.
Tanya Loewen-Watson 1 year ago
Working in a call centre as a sales rep… literally phoning every in a town pulling pages from a phone book… called a radio station expecting to get their receptionist and hear, “congratulations, you’re caller number 3. You’ve won tickets to David Bowie’s concert tonight!” Literally going down a list and called at the exact right moment!
brittany 1 year ago (edited)
back in high school i had a boyfriend. when it came time for his birthday i really wanted to give him a gift. i asked what he wanted and since he knew i didnt have much money, he asked for me to paint a picture of myself and gift him that. i was a decent artist and had supplies at home so i painted my portrait gifted it to him. life went on and eventually we amicably split ways. i moved states away, got an education, got married, had kids etc. one day i went looking for some cheap clothes for work at a thift store and decided to check out their knick knacks. as i was about to leave i saw a small canvas sitting on the bottom shelf and went to get a closer look. it was my painting, with my signature and inscription on the back. i of course bought it and took it home. how strange that states away, years afterwards, it would come find me again. as far as i know he still lives in our hometown, though we havent spoken in years. just odd how small the world is really.
Karina 1 year ago
I'm from Germany and went on a round trip through Sweden and Norway by car. On one norwegian camping site we've met a lovely retired couple and made some small talk. They were from a German town where we went on a camping trip just 3 month prior. Turns out the couple lived 300 metres away from the camping grounds we stayed on that last vacation. but even better: we talked more and I mentioned that I grew up in a region called Spreewald. Turns out the husband worked in the same city where I went to school, and worked in the same company as my former boyfriends mother. even knew her name. so he said I should say hello for him, as I did. She still had his phone number, so she called him and they had a lovely chat. I guess that little encounter made 3 people quite happy 😊
Gavin Johnson 1 year ago
Travelled from a small place near Manchester, England to Switzerland to walk a glacier and do some crevasse research whilst we were up there. The road to the base of the glacier walk was one way for an hour, bit of a break then one way for the next hour, it was a very quiet and remote area. Decided to have a pre-expedition schnapps as a lucky toast, there’s a tiny bar / café at the parking area, we wander in and one of our group, Phil, heads to the bar, and casually says ‘don’t I know you from somewhere?’ to the woman behind the bar, we all throw a bit of abuse his way for the corny chat up line but are stopped in our tracks, she responds by telling us all that she used to work behind the bar in one of our local pubs, The Kenilworth, in Cheadle Hulme, and she recognised us. Fair play to Phil, he did know her from somewhere!
Peppy 1 year ago
Was in NYC for my brothers wedding, at the time I was living in a small town in the Welsh valleys, Abertillery, end up meeting this artist who painted pictures that just looked like a mass of colours, turns out they were pictures of Abertillery, taken from a moving car. Never understood why he’d had to go all that way to get blurry photos!
V Martinez 1 year ago
I love these stories! Mine was when my dad passed. I called the company that he had burial insurance through. The lady who answered recognized my name after I told her my dad's name. Turns out I knew her when I was little and she went to high school with my dad. She totally took care of everything from across the country and she's such an awesome lady! Thx you Cathy!
Spudg 1 year ago
Husband is from South Africa and now lives in the UK- when his son went to nursery he became friends with twin boys- didn't do the nursery runs as was divorced from his first wife by this point- had to pick his son up from the twins birthday party and turns out the dad was his classmate was in the same secondary class as him back in South Africa
Ronnie Beaton 12 months ago
Back in the 70s, when I was a kid, my family and I would spend our summer holiday in a little seaside town in Scotland called North Berwick. We stayed in holiday cottages that had been farm workers homes in pre-mechanisation days. The extended family in the next house were a brother, sister, their respective spouses, and three kids of more or less my age. Naturally we palled around together, getting up to mischief, and I was always sad when the holiday ended, and we all went our separate ways until next year. So imagine my shock and surprise, when one year, a couple of months after the holidays, I spotted my three playmates on *my* street in *my* town. It turned out they and their parents were visiting their grandmother - who lived next door to my family.
Ralph Watkins 1 year ago
There is something in a our family. Whenever any of us travel, we always run into people we know despite the miles & the years. The funniest is I went to a charity event in Hawaii featuring the NFL Pro-Bowl players. I was in the Army & in uniform. A buddy of mine I knew from back home in NEPA recognized me first. We was one of the NFL players. It was about 15 years after I last saw him. He used to brag about meeting me there more than I bragged about running into him.
Kyra Heiker 1 year ago
I was living in Alaska and planning to visit my uncle in New York City; a friend told me I should look up her ex-boyfriend who was a musician in Greenwich village. My uncle picked me up at the airport and before going home stopped at his favorite pub where he introduced me to the bartender, who asked what I had planned while I was there. I mentioned I needed to look up this musician in Greenwich village, and he says oh yeah he's a friend of mine I'll take you to go see him. I had been in New York for less than half an hour and the first person I was introduced to knew this guy I was supposed to look up whose ex-girlfriend I knew in Alaska.
Chris Landrum 1 year ago
I live in Tampa Florida and sitting in a restaurant at the bar and began talking to this guy. He was a marketing rep for a duck processing company. I asked where it was and he said in Indiana (State in USA) and I asked if the owner was so and so? He said he was, he was his boss. Told him he was my college roommate for the only semester I attended Purdue University, 40 years ago. Fast forward 3 years later and I am a cashier and someone bought a frozen duck. I look down and it is from my roommates company!
Andy Frobig 1 year ago (edited)
I have a few, but here are the main ones: my parents both grew up in Brooklyn, but in different neighborhoods. Both were baptized in South Congregational Church, Dad's mother and uncle knew Mom's father, but Mom and Dad never met...until they were both going to a seminary in Bangor, ME, hundreds of miles away. When I was a kid, we moved around a lot, but always in Maine and upstate New York. In my 30s I went off to a technical school in Minnesota. I met a nice girl from Florida who was also taking my course, and we started dating. A few months after graduation, we got engaged. Our birthdays were exactly six months apart, but that's not a big coincidence. The fact that, before her family moved to Florida, my then fiancee had been born in the same hospital as my father--Methodist, in Park Slope--was interesting. Then our families got together before our wedding, and my mother and my fiancee's aunt realized that the aunt's cousins had lived on the same block in Brooklyn as my mother in the 1940s-50s
Midwest Panda 11 months ago (edited)
9 years ago this summer, I was looking to get a different car because I was having alot of problems with the car I had. I learned that the only way to get a different car would be to get a brand new one because I still owed on the car I had. So that's what I did. My 1st and so far, only brand new car. 2 years later, I moved away to CA. Some friends helped make the 2 day drive there in my car. I ended up losing the car to a repo a couple of months after moving there cause I had just caught up on payments after falling behind before moving away and I had fallen behind on payments again because it was hard to find a job in the area I moved to. I was so bummed cause now, I had to share a vehicle w/a housemate. I ended up driving us to the town We worked in and they took the car while I just hung out at a coffee shop until I had to go to work.Well, fast-forward to 2020 and the pandemic happens. I get furloughed from my job and decide to move back home that summer. I really liked that particular car I had
Midwest Panda 11 months ago
Apparently, there's a character limit on comments. Anyways, I really liked the car that I had when I moved to CA. So I was looking for another one like it. A little over a year after moving back home, I was looking at cars online and I saw a twin of that car at a dealership 30-40 minutes away. Without hesitation, I made an appt to at least look at it. It had some rear quarter panel damage, but other than that, it was solid w/a clean title. It worked out for me to get that car and I still have it now!! As a bonus, the previous owner of this car had a remote start system installed. First car I've ever had with remote start
Load More Replies... Momica98 11 months ago
This one's a little awkward. My Dad was a very friendly guy who could strike up a conversation with anyone. He worked at the local hospital for more than 30 years. He was delivering medication from the pharmacy to some patients and got to talking to a lady working as a traveling nurse. She mentioned she previously lived in the town next to the hospital. My Dad said "oh, my daughter and her husband just bought a house there on Street X." A few more questions and they realized that we had purchased the home that she shared with her family before they were foreclosed upon. They had added on a first floor laundry room and second floor; so the housing market crisis of 2009 meant that we got quite the bargain! Still there nearly 15 years later. Last thing I heard about the family was seeing their son's name in the paper for allegedly molesting a child.
Huddo's sister 11 months ago
My family had three small coincidences happen when we moved not long ago. First one- my mum had dated a guy who went to her church while in high school but lost touch after the broke up and each moved away and had their own families. We had heard about him a bit, because he became an AFL player and thought it was funny they used to date. Anyway, last we had heard he was living in Queensland, while we still lived in Victoria. My mum moved from Melbourne to a small town and hour and a half away three years ago. I visited her not long after she moved, and we went for dinner in a pub in another nearby town. While we were there, she see's her ex boyfriend and the get talking about how random it was to meet there. Turns out he lives in another nearby town and was guest DJ at one of the pubs there! Second one- My stepdad joined a blues and roots band when they moved and one of the guys in this band is married to a woman he used to work with, who also used to work with him at a special...
Huddo's sister 11 months ago
...school where they used to live. (Also where my brothers used to attend, which is how he met my mum). Thirdly- about 12 months after my mum moved house, I also moved, about 15 minutes away from her. I didn't know anyone in town (except my dad, who lives with me) but I reached out to a friend on Facebook, because last I had heard, she was living in a town nearby. This is a friend who I used to live a few streets away from when I started school and she was my best friend for about a decade, before we lost touch. She said she actually had moved to the town I was in and we decided to catch up. I put her address in my gps, and it turns out we were once again living only a few streets away!
Load More Replies... ConstantlyJon 1 year ago
Craziest thing I've had happen to me was a random patient who was checking out at the front desk I work at. I have a Michigan flag on the wall behind me (my favorite sports team). They asked me if I was from there, and I said "yup, born and raised in Flint!" So they asked, "hey did you go to (name of my high school)?" I was like.... do I know you? How did you pull that out of your a*s? Turns out their siblings went to my high school about 20 years before I did. We have no other connections. They just know that school. No one knows that school, it's not particularly big or notable for any reason. I think about that lady all the time. Totally threw me off!
Racheal Carter 1 year ago
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