Have you ever run into a friend on a busy street in the middle of the day on a random Wednesday? If you have, chances are you thought that was quite a coincidence. But as unexpected as they are, such coincidences fall short of the situations these netizens have found themselves in.
On the list below, you will find stories of some of the most incredible coincidences members of the Quora community have found themselves in, from long-lost siblings reuniting in the most random of circumstances to people traveling to the end of the world only to meet someone from their town, among others. Make yourself comfortable and maybe even grab some popcorn, as these stories read like something straight out of a movie.
#1
Back in the 1980’s, a friend of mine was working on a paper about some of the action in WWII. One of the incidents he was working on involved an American unit with a British officer seconded to it. He needed more information about the officer, and had no idea how to do that. Someone suggested contacting the Imperial War Museum in London to see if they could provide a lead or source on how to find him. So, he got on the phone and called the Imperial War Museum. He asked the person who answered the phone how he could locate an officer from WWII, and was asked if he knew the man's name and unit. He gave them, and the response was: “Speaking.” In one of the most incredible phone calls in history, he had actually reached the officer who had left the service and gone to work for the Museum, and happened to be walking by a desk when the phone rang. The secretary was away from her desk for a few moments when he happened to walk by and answered the phone.
Image credits: Frank Duncan
#2
I once stopped to help a guy change a tire. He had an arm in a sling and two very young kids in his car. He thanked me saying he didn't want to hurt his arm any more and wanted to get back to work. Fast forward three months and I'm in a very ugly motorcycle wreck. One of the EMTs noticed my back was broken. Had they continued I'd have been paralyzed. His quick thinking prevented that. After I recovered I got to meet the EMT crew that saved my life. The guy that noticed my back was broken? The guy whose tire I had changed.
Image credits: Ryan Fernandez
#3
When my brother died, it took 2 years before I could afford to spread his ashes at the family plot at a remote cemetery in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia because I couldn’t afford to fly there. Until I could get there, his ashes sat in their box in my family room in Delaware.
When we finally traveled north, my husband and two cousins accompanied me to the cemetery. We planned to spread some of his ashes by my father and grandparents’ headstone and then place the rest in the brook that runs through the graveyard out to the sea. It was an overcast, misty day on the Cape Breton coast.
We got out of the car and began walking to my father’s gravestone when we suddenly heard music. We all stopped, wondering from where it came. Lo and behold, it was my cell phone. Somehow, the google play app had activated.
Now, just so you know, I rarely use google play on my phone, I had not activated it, and I always keep my phone on priority only silence. However, it was playing music. When I pulled it from my jacket pocket, I realized it was playing The Rankin Family - a Canadian band who my brother not only loved but who he had introduced to me well before they became known in the US. The band’s music had always been a common bond for us.
Then, the song was one I had never heard before, and it was about someone going away forever. Needless to say, my husband, cousins, and I were just a little freaked out. But, in the end, I knew it was my brother’s way of saying goodbye. I will never forget it.
Image credits: Anne Weeks
#4
I was headed in for a job interview several years back. As I'm walking in, two other men are approaching the door from different angles. One of them speeds up to cut off the other and get in the door first, and the other walks in, shaking his head in disbelief. As I walk in behind them, the first guy runs to the elevator and presses the button, not holding the elevator for the other guy and me. Again, the second guy just shakes his head and we wait for the next elevator. I say "Can you believe some people?" And we both chuckle a little bit.
As it turns out, we are headed to the same floor, so we get off the elevator together. As we walk into an office, there is guy #1 Mr Impatient, standing at the desk tapping his foot as the receptionist is finishing up a phone call. The receptionist asks him "can I help you?" And he says "I'm here to see Mr Smith for an interview at 3:30." (it's currently 2:50).
I think to myself "Great, this guy is interviewing for the same position I am and he will act like the sweetest guy during the interview." I lean over and tell the receptionist "I am Mr Smith’s 3 o'clock interview." Mr Impatient GLARES at me.
The other guy I walked in with (the one Mr Impatient cut off) then says "Hey gentlemen, I'm Mr Smith." And turns to Mr Impatient and says "you don't need to wait around. I've already determined you are not a good fit for our company. "
I got the job.
Image credits: Brian Rayl
#5
I met my wife during college, it was the first time we had ever seen each other, and we got to know each other very well and started dating. We had dated 8 years before we got married and one fine evening we decided to look at our childhood photo albums that our parents had so carefully preserved. I skip like 50 photos and see a small boy dressed as a Monkey and I go “ Why have you stolen my picture?” My wife goes “ That is not your picture, that butterfly beside the monkey is me .” We both argue for a solid 30 mins not realizing that we might have been in the same play school. We then asked our parents for the year we attended and other stuff about our playschool. It turns out we went to the same play school for two years, sat on the same desk, and pulled each others hair until one of us cried. This was in the year 1995 and fast forward 22 years and the hair pulling is still on. 8 years of dating and we both could have never guessed that we might have met before. This was the most insane coincidence in my life. This was us back in 1995. This is us in 2017. Edit 1: Added two photographs.
Image credits: Anurag Bagalkot
#6
The night my daughter died in a double hit-and-run in Colorado, a stranger stopped to help her and was witness to the second car that hit her, ending her life. He had been trying to help her though; he called for an ambulance and although it was ultimately unsuccessful, every effort was made to save her life. That stranger is a hero as far as I’m concerned.
The man who tried to help was very traumatized by what he had witnessed and had to change jobs so that he no longer had to daily pass by the place where my daughter died as he went to and from work. Unrelated to the accident, he and his wife got rid of their landline when they moved. I wanted very much to thank him but although I had tried every way I knew, his job had changed, he no longer had a telephone I could call 411 for and he no longer lived in the same place. I finally decided that simply being grateful would have to be enough, even if I couldn’t tell him myself.
Two years later, I’m sitting at the dinner table in a hostel in London and strike up a conversation with a guy also having dinner there. He was from the same area as me. He remembered my daughter’s death not just from it being in the news, but because the husband of one of his co-workers had stopped and tried to help the young lady.
OMG.
To make a long story short, he put me in touch with his co-worker and I was able to email her and express my thanks and gratitude for her husband’s efforts that night. She emailed me back and said that although her husband was desperately sorry he couldn’t save her, he was grateful that she didn’t have to die alone. He is a hero in my eyes and I’m so glad I got to let him know how grateful our family is. May he and his loved ones be abundantly blessed.
Image credits: Judy Lujan
#7
I bought a fairly rare car with a very rare configuration and it ended up having a defect. The manufacturer ended up replacing the car (impressive move without a lot of hassle and they certainly didn’t need to at the stage that they did so). The dealership that I replaced the car at was about 40 miles from my home, in a metropolitan area of about 2.2 million people.
A few months before exchanging the car, we had moved homes, but only a couple of miles away. About three months after exchanging the car, I ordered a pair of shoes and they were delivered to the old house (we had moved several months earlier at this point). I decided to drive to the old house on the off chance that the residents had received the package.
When I arrived and was walking up the driveway, I noticed a car identical to the one that had been replaced sitting in the driveway, again because this was a very rare configuration this stood out. The car had one small scrape on the front fender when I turned it on and I checked this one and it had the same mark. So, in the driveway of my old home sat my old car. This was weird.
At the door, I found my shoes and asked the gentleman “whose car is that in the driveway” and the guy (who I had never met before) just started laughing. He told me that he already knew it was my former car because when the dealership did the registration paperwork it already had the right address in the system and they were blown away.
So, the guy who moved into my previous home, bought my previous car (presumably repaired), from a dealership 40 miles away, in a city of over two million people. I don’t know what the odds are of this happening, but they are astronomical.
Image credits: Aaron Bludworth
#8
I was visiting Aberdeen on a business trip from London. Checking out of the hotel I was sitting in the lobby and waiting for the taxi. A gentleman next to me asks where I am from. When I reply I am visiting from London but originally from Pakistan, he told me he was originally from India but based in Birmingham for more than 40 years and had a very good friend from Pakistan that he lost touch with 20 years ago when they were together in London. With our taxis in sight, we get up and I just ask his friend’s name. The lost friend is my parent’s next door neighbour. Before getting into our taxis, we exchange numbers and 30 mins later these friends were in touch on the phone.
Image credits: Zeeshan Tayyeb
#9
38 years ago I had to go into London for an interview. The job was for 3 times existing salary and I was nervous so set off early, driving down the M4 and planning to park at Hammersmith and get the tube to their offices near Leicester Square (now a MacDonalds).
I didn’t usually drive into London so stopped my MG Midget at the petrol station at Hammersmith to fill up and ask where there was a car park. As I went to pay a man entered in an obvious hurry so I stepped aside and said “You go first. I’m in no hurry.”. He paid, thanked me and left. I paid, parked and caught the tube to my interview.
Yes, you guessed it. The man in a hurry was my interviewer and he recognized me, hired me and I spent an interesting time in the USA working in Georgia, Ohio and Manhattan, New York.
Sometimes Karma can take a while to arrive, but in this case my politeness to a man in a hurry gave me almost immediate payback.
Image credits: Steve Dadds
#10
This did not happen to me, but it happened beacuse of me. Years ago a woman got on a bus. She was an elementary school teacher in a small town in Iowa. One of those towns that’s so small there aren’t even any traffic lights. You can drive from one side to the other in one minute flat. I’ve done it. It was summer vacation and the bus she boarded was in Fairbanks, Alaska. She was on a tour of the “interior” as we locals call it. Meaning she wasn’t just skirting the edge of the state on one of the “horrible cruise ships”. The bus driver starts doing his tour guide routine and after a while he puts out the call for questions. The woman raises her hand. This is a little odd but.. I teach 4th grade in Oxford, Iowa. This past year I had a student who moved there from this same city. I notice you have the same last name. Any relation? The driver grins and pulls out his wallet, displaying 5 tiny school pictures. All his neices and nephews. He holds up the bottom picture, the youngest child. You mean her? My teacher gasps! You know Katie! My uncle grins. She’s my niece. And you must be Mrs. Lewis. She told me all about you. Mrs. Lewis is hit with a sudden thought. Are you Michael? Katie says you’re her favorite uncle. Michael the family comedian can’t help himself. I hope so I’m the only one she’s got. My competition is limited. How is it that two random strangers 3 thousand miles apart can find themselves talking about me 10 minutes after they met? How??
Image credits: Kate Devlin
#11
My husband & I met working in the same restaurant at age 20 while in college. Got married, had 2 kids. One day while looking through old photos of his I find a photo of him dancing at a formal dance with the girl he dated before me. In the photo we are back to back, almost touching. I was dancing with the guy I dated before him. We didn't meet that night, it was months later! Crazy that we were so close to each other & even have a photo together before we even knew each other! We’ve been together over 15 years now :)
Image credits: Lisa Watkins
#12
I was in a casino and a mother and son sat down at slot machines on either side of me. They were having a loud conversation and the sons phone kept ringing over and over but he kept declining the calls.
Turns out he was leaving his wife that day and he spent 30 minutes talking about how horrible she was and his mom throwing in her 2 cents.
Finally as a joke I said “let me answer the phone”, so he laughed and gave it to me. When she called back I said who is this, turns out it was my sister and the man was my brother in law.
My sister started screaming at me to get away from her husband. I have 7 sisters and this one I had not talked to in 5 years due to some stupid argument we had.
She divorced him and her and I are now best friends, Funny how life works. We laugh about this a lot.
Image credits: Maggie Maldonado
#13
I was awoken from my hazy sleep one morning with a frantic call from a good friend of mine. He informed me about how his car was stolen that morning and filled me in on all the details. How they broke in, how he’s called the cops, etc. All the boring stuff. He ends with jokingly “Keep your eye out for it”. Yeah right I thought, it is most likely already trashed. We hang up and I begin my day as usual.
Lunchtime arrived and I decided to go home to eat, about 5 mins drive. On the way home in the car, I received a call from my friend. Just a catch up call, nothing to do with the stolen car.
As we are speaking, I pass a car heading the opposite direction that looked familiar. I asked my friend the licence of his stolen car, did a u-turn and proceeded to catch up to the car I saw, all the while still on the phone with my friend. I caught up with it and yep, it was definitely his car.
Long story short, I chased the car down while my friend was in another car on the phone to me and the cops at the same time, directing the cops to my location. It ended with a heap of police cars converging on the stolen car, pulling the thieving scum from it and locking them up.
So basically, his car was stolen in the morning and I found it at the same time as talking with him later that day. Not much of an amazing coincidence I suppose, but still a cool one in my opinion.
Image credits: Matt Smith
#14
Strange encounter in Thailand I was traveling to Thailand alone, for the first time. When I arrived, I stopped by Khao San Road (one of the more popular streets in Bangkok) for a bite. I’m waiting in line for some food, and say hi to a cute girl who was in line behind me.
HER: “Where are you from?”
ME: “New York, you?”
HER: “Israel. Where in New York?”
ME: “A place called Riverdale, in the Bronx.”
HER: “Oh cool… is your mom Daphne?”
ME: “ :: looks of disbelief:: YES… how in the heck… “
Turns out she was my babysitter when I was a baby. Her family left New York when she was young to move back to Israel. 25 years later, we bump into each other in Thailand…
Image credits: Annalise Cameron
#15
I was driving my car with fuel levels on “E”, trying to stretch my gas as long as possible before refueling (something I did very often when I was younger due to little money).
It was a hot summer day, so that may have had an impact, but while waiting at a red light at a busy intersection (in the very front, important later) my car began making noise and stuttering as I ran out of gas.
It’s worth noting that I drove this street very rarely, maybe once a week. I was shocked and embarrassed, as I’ve stretched my fuel levels before and never had this happen to me. I set my hazard lights and began pushing my car ACROSS the intersection to the gas station on the corner.
A couple of cars honked as I was in the very front of the light, it was a lesson learned. I fueled up and went on with my day.
Exactly a week later is when the strange coincidence occurs. I was driving down the same street, this time with at least half a tank of gas. I pulled up to the same red light, in the same lane, at the very front of the light/crosswalk (the same spot as when I broke down a week earlier).
While waiting at the red light I chuckled at the last time I was there, thinking how embarrassing the situation was hoping it would never happen again. That’s when it happened. The light turned green, I pressed the gas, and the car stalled and wouldn’t start again.
This time I didn’t run out of gas, but my fuel pump broke and my car wouldn’t start because it couldn’t get fuel into the engine.
Luckily a kind person helped me push the car out of the intersection to the same gas station I pushed it to a week earlier. Sometimes it feels like life is playing a joke on you!
Image credits: Alex Brackett
#16
This happened to me yesterday. I was at a bar in Oceanside California and noticed one of the barbacks was wearing a shirt with a silhouette of Ohio on it. I grew up in Ohio, so I asked where he was from: “I’m from Cleveland.” “Me too. A little south of it.” “We actually know each other. You trained me at a restaurant and gave me my first AFI album” I’m 33 years old. When I was 19 or 20 I trained this 16 year old kid named Pete how to bus tables at an Italian restaurant — and apparently gave him an AFI album (which probably explains why I can’t find it). That he recognized me after over a decade and that we both happened to be in the same place in a random bar in Southern California is pretty incredible to me.
Image credits: Michael Scur
#17
I was backpacking around Europe in the summer of ’92 with a buddy from high school in NJ. We struck up a conversation with a couple of Australian guys on the ferry from Italy to Greece. We chatted for a few hours and then said goodbye when we got to Athens. We didn't tell them our travel plans.
A few days later we were on the island of Santorini and ran into them walking down the beach. Kind of weird, but it's a popular island and Greece is only so big. A couple days later we saw them in restaurant there too. We laughed about it. What a coincidence. But again, only so many restaurants on Santorini.
More than a week later we had made our way back to the mainland and up to Rome. We were walking around in the Vatican (with our long pants on) and ran into them. What the heck?! That is so weird. We laughed again.
But lots of people go to the Vatican, so not the weirdest thing ever. More than a week after that we had made our way to Bern Switzerland and were waking along the market and who the heck was that up ahead of us?!? No way!!! Are you serious?!? Were these guys following us? Because we weren't following them! We laughed a bit more nervously and were somewhat incredulous.
This was getting really weird. We said goodbye shaking our heads and chuckling. We then continued over to Austria, Chech Republic, Hungary, up to Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark and finally made our way to England.
It was like 5 weeks later when we were waking down some random not-famous street in London with sore throats from the terrible smog of the ‘90s. And we run straight into these two Aussies, again!!
I kid you not. We were all totally dumbfounded and more than a little weirded out. In the course of about 7 weeks we ran into them 5 times in 4 countries. That is the weirdest coincidence I've ever been a part of. Thanks for reading!
Image credits: Paul Van Metre
#18
Once when a class of tenth graders and I were discussing Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Raven,” an actual raven landed on the tree outside of my classroom and started cawing loudly … no kidding! The students and I lost it! I’ve taught in that room for almost twenty years, and I can’t remember another time when a raven has landed in that tree, let alone under such specific circumstances.
Image credits: George Ramos
#19
I was on holiday with my husband and three kids in New Zealand (visiting from Australia where we live). We drove into a petrol station to fill up with fuel. Right in front of the bowser we pulled up at was a massive poster advertising Queenstown NZ which featured my husband and I on bikes with our kids (smaller then) being doubled on our bikes. Our third baby just growing in my tummy. It was an image that was randomly photographed (our consent was given) 4 years prior when we had last visited this place, and was subsequently used in an ad campaign - which we had no idea about! Very spooky and kinda cool.
Image credits: Franki Starkey
#20
In high school in the early 70’s I had a crush on a guy named Michael McCabe. A magazine article suggested casting a love spell, burning pink candles, chanting, etc… to gain your crush’s attention. So I cast this spell, planning to get his attention at the next school dance in 2 weeks. The night of the dance comes, and I'm sitting in the back of the gym on the bleachers listening to music, very disappointed because Michael McCabe wasn't at the dance. While sitting there, another guy sat down next to me and said hello. I said hello back, and being the obsessed nerd I was, my idea of small talk was to say “"Do you know Michael McCabe?” He smiled and nodded. Then he scooted closer and said “"What?” The music was really loud, so I repeated my question. “"Do you know Michael McCabe?” He frowned at me, then pulled out his wallet and showed me his drivers license. He was new at this high school and his name was Michael McCabe. We ended up hanging out together the rest of the evening and had a good time, so my spell actually worked, just not how I'd planned. That was 1973 and I haven't met another Michael McCabe since.
Image credits: Joanie Gail Boyle
#21
Well if you've ever heard about the fabled s*x clubs in New Jersey, I don't know about now, but they sure did have them in the past. I had a guy I was dating drag me to 1. Thought it might be interesting. I wouldn't go to another, But it definitely WAS interesting. People were very friendly. We got in as a group of newbies and a very nice young lady was showing us around the different rooms where different things happen. Large room for group dex, smaller rooms for couples, places for dancing etc.Then telling us rules, like places guys could only go with gneir ladies, and then there was a lovely buffet and drinks were included, and she was just trying to make us feel welcome.. and later another one or two people joined us to tag along at the very end for about 8 minutes or so. We got back to where we started and she asked if anyone had any questions, and all the sudden she got a strange look on her face and stared past the group and said “DAD?” Now THAT is a coincidence!!!!
Image credits: Annalise Cameron
#22
So one day I lost my dog, Marko. He's the most adorable and adventurous corgi ever and he got out of the house and ran away. However, I wasn't heartbroken for long because I eventually got a voicemail from a neighbor further down the street, (let's call her Sarah Hall) saying she found my dog and her kids were bringing him over. Thank God his dog tag had my name, phone number, and address. Anyway, half a year later I was walking Marko in my neighborhood and he came across a black dog running around the front of the houses, just sniffing around the bushes. The dog sees Marko and they do their dog thing, sniffing each other's butts and getting along right off the bat. This dog had no collar and seemed lost. As I walked Marko back home, it followed us home since I guess it had nowhere to go. I took him in and called him Kaiba while Marko was just so happy to have a friend spend the night. The next day I set out to post up lost dog posters when I see a family I never met before already posting up posters looking for this dog. It was perfect timing and they were so relieved I had him. It turns out his name was Bruiser and the story goes, they were just friends of the family that owned Bruiser. Apparently the original family moved away to the other side of town, Bruiser escaped, but rather than finding his way back to the new house, he was able to trek all the way back to the neighborhood they used to live, where I found him. I bid Bruiser/Kaiba a fond farewell and kept one of the posters as a memento. I thought that was a great end to the story, but then later I'm clearing out my voicemail history while waiting in line at Disney when I remember Sarah Hall’s voicemail. Something clicked. After a fun day at the theme park, I went home, grabbed the poster and saw the name at the bottom, “If found, please call Sarah Hall…” The number was the same and I was just in awe. She finds my dog and then half a year later, I find her dog and it all comes full circle. Pic of my lovable rascal.
Image credits: Kevin Favis
#23
I was working in an Emergency Room in Atlanta, Georgia. We had a new doctor who had just finished her residency in Boston. She was working her second shift with us when an ambulance came in. She looked at the patient on the stretcher and said, “Hey. I know him.”
She followed the stretcher to his room and said, “Randy, why are you in Georgia?” He looked up at her shocked and said, “Ah s**t. I can't get away from you can I?”
Apparently he had been a "Frequent Flyers" at her previous hospital and she had just taken care of him several days before leaving Boston the previous week.
it must have been shocking for him to take a bus to Atlanta and have the same Doctor take care of him. There are a lot of hospitals in America, the odds of the frequent flyer picking the same hospital in the same state, in the same city, on the same day, on the same shift that the same doctor was working was insane to comprehend.
Image credits: Keith Albert
#24
I befriended a Colombian guy at my university. One day I was showing him pictures of my trip to Santa Marta, Colombia and he suddenly exclaimed: “Man, that sunset looks really familiar” “What, dude? There’s no way” “Hold up, I think I have a photo ” “WHAAAAT —- Holy ****, this can’t be real” And there it was, a picture of the same exact sunset taken within 3 minutes of mine. We couldn’t stop laughing. We just realized that we were in the same city at the same time, weeks before we actually met thousands of miles away.
Image credits: Fadi Francis
#25
Met Stranger girl at 5 different places in two days :
Incident 1: I was going to Dharamshala (Himachal, India) with my friend for some official work. We both boarded the bus. When the hills started I felt like vomiting. A girl behind our seat offered me a water bottle. I accepted & said Thanks.
Incident 2: We completed our work & got off to Mcleodganj at around 4 pm. To our surprise, we saw that girl along with her friend getting out of the bus. We saw each other & exchanged a smile.
Incident 3: During the night, we went to eat some momos there. Oo again…!!! That girl came there as well along with her friend. Finally, I formally greeted her & asked her to join. She showed hesitation & went away saying No.
Incident 4: Next morning, I was hoping to see that girl at least once again. We went for breakfast at McLeo, the famous restaurant at MacLeodganj. This time again seeing each other we both burst into laughter. They were entering the same place for breakfast. But we didn't talk that time.
Incident 5: That same evening we went for an evening walk at Mall Road, & it started raining heavily. We ran to our hotel, suddenly I saw that girl again standing under a tree. The moment we had eye contact I took my tongue out showed her in teasing manner. She responded the same way.
And It all ended there only. Coming back to home I kept on searching her on our bus but 6th co-incidence never happened.
Image credits: Amar Minhas
#26
1986. Seattle. I went to a very small high school. 56 people in my graduating class. I was a nerd. Accepted, but not, if you understand. I was in Seattle, waiting to take a flight to Seoul Korea. I was 26 and it was my first flight to Asia and I was by myself. I was fortunate that my company paid for business class, which on this 747 was the small upstairs. I’m in the departure lounge and I see a woman that seems familiar. I realize it is a classmate of mine (we went to school far away in the Midwest). You know the type. Blond, pretty, cheerleader, cool. The anti-thesis of me. I said hi and we chatted for a bit, but ran out of things to say. Once we are on board, I am in the aisle seat in the second row. She is in the opposite aisle in the first row. Only about four rows total upstairs. The person sitting next to me realizes we know each other and leans over and says to her. “Would you like to change seats”. A thoughtful guesture. Her response? “No thanks”. Pretty much summed up my entire high school career.
Image credits: Tom S
#27
Spring break. Our whole family is driving to Washington DC. Eventually, when we're driving through Pennsylvania, we decide to stop at a rest stop. We pull up and walk in. We get in line to get food when I look up and say “hey, isn't that K from our school?” My sister looks up and says “Yeah…” and waves to her. Seconds later, I glance at the door, and one of my friends walks in with his family, them having stopped on their way to Baltimore. We sat and ate lunch together. Then, while talking, I notice a girl from the grade above us that goes to our school at another table. Not short after, I see a girl from my world history class walk out of the bathroom. Finally, as we're about to leave, a man comes up to my sister, who is wearing a sweatshirt with our town name on it and says, “Hey nice sweatshirt, I'm from there too.” And it's not like we're from some big city where hundreds of thousands of people live either. TL;DR At a rest stop out of state, I saw 5 people from my hometown.
Image credits: Jasper Powers
#28
I was living in Los Angeles at the time and I had made a few friends and I was laying out at one of my friends swimming pool and was talking with her mother. Her mother had given her last name in conversation and I said I knew some people back in Minnesota with the same last name, she said “no way”. I replied “back in Minnsota we are very good friends, have known them for 20 some years, I have their number right here on my cell”. With a surprized look on her face I dialed my Minnesota’s friends number, I ask two questions and handed the phone over to my friends mother and they were in tears, on my phone for an hour too, I didn’t mind, really I was happy for them. They were cousins and because of a death in the family and a lost cell phone with their contacts lost as well, they lost track of their cousins. LA has 16 million people, so the odds were 1 in 16,000,000. I wish it were the lotto, just playin, I am happy happy happy for them.
Image credits: Gianni Fragali
#29
Years ago I was driving down the expressway when there was a loud BANG from under the hood and the car decelerated quickly. I pulled to a stop in the emergence lane and began considering my options. It was raining, so the prospect of even looking under the hood didn't seem appealing, and I didn't have any tools with me in any event, and certainly didn't have the parts to fix whatever had obviously broken. This was before cell phones, so while I knew my father was home and could come to my assistance calling him meant I would have to find my way off the expressway, which had a chain-link fence down both sides. I looked around and noticed that a car had run off the road and knocked down the chain link fence just a few yards away. Better yet, there appeared to be a residential street just beyond the fence, so I got out of the car, hopped the remains of the fence, and found myself in a small cul de sac with a choice of three or four houses nearby. Choosing one at random, I walked up to the door and knocked. "Dave, what are you doing here?" The person who answered was Troy, a co-worker from several years earlier. I explained, and of course he loaned me his phone so that I could call my father. I then went back to the car to wait for my father and the tow truck he said he would call. While I was waiting, an electric utility truck pulled in behind me and the driver turned his emergency lights on. I got out of the car and ran back to the truck to tell the driver someone was already on the way, and it was our next-door neighbor from about 15 years earlier!
Image credits: Dave Baldwin
#30
A few months ago, I went to Chicago to see my wildly-talented singer/songwriter nephew [shameless plug: Luke Metzler ] play in a small music club as he passed through from Rochester, NY on his way to L.A. After his sound check we went out for a bite to eat and then back to the club where I ran into my neighbor from back home. “What are you doing here?” I asked. She replied that she was there to see her nephew play. That’s right… her nephew, from Austin, TX, was playing on the same bill as my nephew from NY. Same city… same club… same night… same little stage. Either the world of traveling minstrels is much smaller than I thought or there are strange forces at work in the universe that I don’t understand.
Image credits: Kurt Metzler
#31
I was in a bar with a group of friends on Mykonos in Greece one summer back in the day. Mykonos being what it is, the group were from all over the place. One of the women, an Australian, was leaving the next day, we’d spent a lot of that summer together (great times!). So we were all exchanging home contact details. She gave her phone number in Sydney, my other friend gave hers in London. They were identical except for the international code (of course). Thing is, these two women, although born some 25 years or so apart, were both born on the same date in September. Haven’t seen either of them in years but they were both fabulous.
Image credits: Gina Ware
#32
This is an actual conversation I had with my wife, maybe a while after marriage Note: I’m from India and my wife is from Sri Lanka - 2 different countries. Close by, but still different countries
Me: Hey where were you born?
Wife: In Trichy, India
Me: D**n, me too… Which hospital? Wife: xyz maternity hospital
Me: No way, me too…
Me: With enough hesitation, any chance you would know the doctor who brought you into the world?
Wife: Why not? Mrs.Sheela
Me: No f*****g way; She was the one that brought me into the world
Here we were, married, born in the same city and hospital, delivered by the same doctor.
PS: A few of the commenters can’t fathom the fact I haven’t asked these questions. I don’t think I would have been interested in knowing the hospital my wife was born in, though I know the country she was born.
Image credits: Manoj Ganapathy
#33
This happened while my wife and I were engaged, waaaay back in 2002. So, quick back story: My fiancee and I were engaged just before she got her dream job in Livorno, Italy (just outside of Pisa). It was a great opportunity for her career, and she had to go. I couldn’t go with her, as I was in the military at the time and assigned to Washington D.C. Her position was a contract position of sorts, and was for 18 months. So, we said our goodbyes, and planned a wedding while we were a world apart (and yes, it was a happy ending. We’re still married to this day)
That’s the first thing that is important to know about this story.
The second thing is that my wife’s first name is “Blythe”. Albeit a very pretty name, you have admit it’s an unusual one. Okay… so the story… I managed to scrape some money together and fly over to visit her on three occasions. On one of the trips we had gone on a road trip to Venice (we didn’t even know until we got there that it was Carnivale! Woo hoo!) Anyway, we spent the whole day there, had a great time, and headed back. It was late… Like 11 pm. We were in the middle of nowhere and I remember we somehow found a lovely restaurant that was open.
Anyway, we sat down and were the only people there. As we were ordering, three young women came in and started talking with the hostess. We quickly surmised that they were Americans. So we called them over and chatted with them. They explained that they were sightseeing and heading up to France. They just stopped to get dinner.
Then the introductions came. “I’m Blythe” my wife said. “Really?” one of the girls said, “So am I… and so is she.” and she pointed at one of her friends. So grasp this if you can: Prior to this, the only “Blythe” I have ever personally known in any way was my wife. The only other person I have ever heard of with this name is Blythe Danner, the actress…. And the “This is Blythe” the doll series…. Creepy if you ask me…. This is the Blythe Doll…. and she was made in Hell. So, you get what I’m saying. I happened to speak with Americans…. in Italy…. in the middle of the night….. in a restaurant… in the middle of nowhere…. and TWO of them were named “Blythe”, the name of my fiancee who was there. Well I thought it was weird.
Image credits: Jason Wells
#34
My family and I were in the car, driving back to San Francisco from LA. Morale was low, as having four people crammed into a small space for six hours is bound to cause conflict, and I was browsing on my laptop for entertainment that didn't need WiFi. I discovered I actually owned all of the Star Wars movies, so I started playing Episode V (Emperor Strikes Back) for my brother and me. We kicked back and started watching Luke Skywalker trek through the frigid mountains. As the movie rolled along, we were absolutely disgusted by the scene where Han Solo cut open the Tauntaun, warning Luke of the inevitable stench. Something started to smell bad, but it took us a while to realize that it wasn't a Tauntaun. It was literally BS! We were cruising by a colossal farm, populated by a seemingly endless supply of cows! The timing was immaculate - Han and Luke weren't the only ones smelling something terrible at that time! Maybe this wasn't the most insane coincidence, but it was extremely satisfying, albeit revolting!
Image credits: Matthew Hsu
#35
I was leaving Spain by train, and as you may know the gauge of the tracks between Spain and France is different, so you have to get off one train and onto another as you cross the border. The trains are timed so that you literally get off one, walk across about 20 feet of platform, and onto the other. When I reached border station where you switch, I exited the train and as I was walking across the platform I saw a childhood friend I had not seen in many years walking towards me. Had he been on one train car in either direction, we would not have seen each other. And of course, had he not been entering Spain as I was exiting, at precisely the same time, we would not have crossed paths. We had enough time for about 30 seconds of “Hello, how’ve you been?” and then had to board our respective trains heading in opposite directions. I have not seen him since. That was over 50 years ago.
Image credits: Gerry Langeler
#36
There was a WhatsApp group for those who got admit in Stuttgart University. After a while, I was curious to see how many people are there from my city. I started looking at the surnames (Since I am a Bengali, it is not that difficult to identify). I found out there is only one person who is a Bengali, so I wrote him personally. The conversation goes as follows
Me: Hey, I am Raja, I saw you are in that WhatsApp group. Are you from Kolkata?
He: Yes, I am from Kolkata. Are you also from Kolkata?
Me: Yes. So are you going to Stuttgart?
He: Yes. Same Course. You are from which college?
Me: Great!!! I am from…
He: I am also from that college. Which year pass-out?
***I am actually 2 years junior from him and after a while***
Me: In which company you are working?
He: Cognizant. You?
Me: Me too. Which building? (There are 5 campuses of Cognizant in my city)
He: Bantala.
Me: Me too. Which building? (There are 2 huge buildings within Bantala area)
He: Second one.
Me: WTH!!! me too.
He: Which floor???
***This time it was different. Like the year difference, we were also 2 floors apart***
Wouldn’t have been great that he was the guy sitting next to me?
Edit 1: Just to add few more points - we share some unique similarities. We like the same food, most of the cases we order the same in restaurants. Our mentality matches every time (99.99% cases). When we have to select the country for our next trip, in every case, we end up with the same destinations. And the worst thing, we always end up liking the same girl anywhere we go. ;)
Image credits: Raja Sen
#37
About 20 years ago I was working at an architectural firm in Boston. I was chatting with one of the secretaries (yes, we still had them then), who was pregnant. I asked her when she was due and she said late July. I said, “It would be funny if your baby was born on July 24th, because that’s my birthday.” She said, “That’s my husband’s birthday.” I said, “What a coincidence! How about your birthday?” Her: “November 23rd.” I said, “That’s my wife’s birthday! What’s your anniversary?” “June 19th.” I said, “That’s our anniversary! OK, beat this one: my older brother and my younger brother were born six years apart on August 26th.” She said, “My father and my uncle were born four years apart on August 24th.” What are the odds?
Image credits: Marc Clamage
#38
I’m a high school teacher in upstate NY, but moved here knowing no one — I’m originally from rural southern Louisiana. About five years ago, I had a student come up to me and say, “You mentioned you’re from Louisiana. So’s my dad.” So we started chatting. Long story/short: The kid turns out to be my third cousin.
Image credits: Gordon Bonnet
#39
Was waiting for this question :D. Every guy I have / had crush on has the same father’s name ‘RAVI’. My childhood crush’s father’s name is RAVI . My current crush’s father’s name is RAVI. All my short lived crushes also had their father’s name not exactly RAVI but PRAKASH, ADITYA, BHASKAR, SURYA (All meaning SUN in Hindi or Sanskrit and therefore equivalent to the Sanskrit word RAVI meaning SUN) And to add this, Till now I had only two marriage proposals, who came at our home, both the groom’s father’s name was RAVI. Don't know what relationship I have with RAVI :D.
Image credits: Swanandi
#40
This happened a long time back so some of the details may be hazy. In 2007 I got a not so good rank in IITJEE. Now before the counseling process(where you are allocated a college and a branch based on your rank) you have to get a demand draft of a certain amount made. I was returning from the bank with the IIT invitation letter envelope in my hand. I was traveling on the front seat of an auto rickshaw, much like the guy in the photo below. On seeing the envelope the driver, a middle aged man asked me about my rank (6280), and proceeded to tell me that his son had also got selected with a 5600ish rank. I smiled cynically thinking he was just making things up. Later I remember telling my mother of the incident and remarking how everyone claims to know someone who clears IIT. Fast forward 2–3 months I didn’t get any seat in IIT counseling and got into NIT Surat with a AIEEE(another engineering exam). There I met a boy(who later became and is a good friend) who was from Patna, and whose father worked as a auto rickshaw driver in the area of Patna from which I belong and who had got a 5600ish rank in IITJEE without any coaching and sufficient books or guidance. I later came to know that his father was a physics graduate but had failed to secure a job owing to the job crunch in the state. I felt petty that day but I learnt something that day. I can’t say that I haven’t judged people since then. But it is a good reminder whenever I do so.
Image credits: Avinash Sandilya
