Forgot to mention that:
-It was extremely cool that Andygirl showed up on this board, because I’ve known her online for eons, since before I lost my virginity, if you can imagine that.
Mr. Ujest and I were on our honeymoon in Cancun in 1993.
At the breakfast at our hotel one morning, he says to me,
“Hey, that looks like Hector.”
Hector, the only caucasian hector I’ve ever met, has one good eye. The other one is slightly funky looking because of a childhood trauma. I say, " Hector with the eye thing? The guy you stood up with at one of your best friends weddings a few years ago? THAT Hector?"
“yep.”
Turns around, calls this guys name, it is indeed Hector. Who was having an office romance (forbidden at his place of work) with a female coworker. They decided to take a vacation together for the first time, keeping things hush, hush from the office. They both nearly shit their pants at being recognized on vacation. (They are now married.)
Another one, when I was a teenager, I use to spend my summers in Florida with my Uncle’s family. He would fly up to MIchigan, spend time with the relatives and I would fly home with him.
We are at the Orlando airport, heading towards the exit. It is crowded, as always. When out of the blue my Uncle sees a guy walking towards him.
“I’ll be damned. Bob (whatever) How are you doing?”
“Hey, Frank. Been a long time.”
They never really stop walking their direction. The conversation lasted about thirty seconds.
I asked him who it was and he replied, " That was my best friend when I was stationed in Alaska during the war. Haven’t seen him since we shipped out in 44 (or whenever.) "
When I was in 2nd grade, I used to walk to school. Almost every day I met a sister (3rd grade) and brother (1st grade) at an intersection on the way and we’d go the rest of the way together. We got along well, but never got together to play or anything. On the last day of school my Dad decided to walk with me, and when we ran into the kids Dad told us that they and I had the same grandfather (actually my step-grandfather, but the only one I ever knew on Dad’s side).
I moved from a small town in Michigan to Alabama after high school. I’m on vacation 4 years later, at Mammoth Cave, Kentucky. The park ranger has a “game” he likes to play, getting folks to say where they’re from, and he’ll tell them something about the place. I decided to use the town in Michigan to try to stump him, and it does. A few rooms later, a girl on the tour asks me “Hey, Michigan dude - Do you know Cheryl D.?” Turns out that her roommate at college in Illinois (I think that’s right) graduated high school with me (a class of about 130 people).
For a school project in electronics I build a roullette wheel - basically gives a random number 0-36. Someone says “Go on, try it”, and I say “Well, OK, 17” set it going, and it comes up 17.
I still don’t believe it. I never tried that again 
[size=1]The number may not have been 17, but I otherwise I guessed correctly as described above[/szie]
A few years I was in Washington DC for Thanksgiving with my family. We were eating in the hotel restaurant, and our waiter was a nice Asian man named Dang. My uncle recognized him, then remembered they had met in a bar 20-25 years before and Dang was an immigrant from Vietnam or something. Dang didn’t remember him at all.
For another weird story, a few years ago a couple friends and I were kind of stalking one of our teachers (I’m really ashamed of it now, but at the time it was funny), and we found out where her house was and rode our bikes there. On the way, I said casually, “She’ll probably be outside, mowing the lawn.” When we got there… she was mowing the lawn while her fiance lay in the hammock. She wasn’t too pleased to see us and yelled at us for stalking her, even though we brought her chocolate…
When I was three or so, we lived on a sail boat in the Puget Sound of Washington State. We had good friends of the family that lived on another boat there. We moved to California, and fell out of touch with them. During my senior year of HS we were living in Oregon, and my parents decided to take a cross-country roadtrip to visit my dad’s parents in Florida. My mom had never been to the Grand Canyon, so they stopped and spent part of the day going to several of the lookouts there. They were in the car and about to go to a campground for the night, but decided to go to one more lookout first. It was nearing dusk, and the park rangers were starting to clean up. The ranger picking up trash at that last lookout was none other than the boating friend they’d lost touch with about 14 years earlier!
Sorry to bump my own thread, but I had a really freaky coincidence tonight. I was home on my “lunch” break (I work nights), and on the way back to work I was going to go by the video store and drop off some overdue videos. So I’m driving the mile or so to the store, and for no reason at all I started thinking about this guy named Steve I haven’t seen in probably two years. Wondering what he’s doing and so on. In fact I was even talking out loud (I do this a lot) about him.
THEN I started thinking, “Hey! Wouldn’t it be funny if Steve were there at the store when I got there? I could go up to him and say, ‘Steve! I was just thinking about you!’” Of course, this wouldn’t happen; the last time I saw him, he was working at another video store about five miles away.
(You can see this coming…)
I get to the store, park, and as I’m walking up to the door, out comes Steve. He didn’t see me, which was fine because frankly I was a bit freaked out by the whole thing. I didn’t make eye contact (though I did get a good enough look to make sure it was him), turned in my videos, and left.
Now I wish I’d said something to him, but at the time I was in one of those Twilight-Zone moments and didn’t really think I could handle it.
I have a couple.
I have a cousin that goes to Bard College, in New York. She’s now in her sophomore year, I think.
I was at my school’s graduation ceremony, just squeezing through the massive throng choking the halls when someone called my name. It was Mo, who had graduated the year before. He goes to the same school as my cousin. He was talking to her, and she mentioned her cousins that went to this crazy school in Massachusetts. He quickly realized that she was talking about his old school, and my siblings and I. Interesting.
In eighth grade, I went to the birthday party of my best friend. He had also invited a friend from his old school, so when we got there, we were introduced to Ben. My jaw dropped, because I knew him! Back in third grade or so, we had gone to the same Cub Scout camp, and spent a lot of time together, swimming and so forth. A few years later, in fifth or sixth grade, I had played against his soccer team, but he didn’t recognize me. And now here he was at this party! That isn’t all, though - in 9th grade, he switched to our school, and now he’s one of my good friends there. He’s even in my advisory (which is kinda like homeroom). He’s a nice, funny guy, too.
Finally, for my last couple years at a camp in Maine, there were these two brothers, John and Steve, that also went. John is about a year or two older than I am. Steve is about 2 and a half years younger. I hadn’t seen him for about a year, but as I entered my school on registration day, I had a bit of a shock: there was Steve! His name had been picked in the lottery, and he was entering the 9th grade at my school. Weird. But kinda cool.
Oh I have the ULTIMATE coincidence happen to me this year when I was at one of my (many) church camps that I went to. I was sitting at the campfire next to my new friend, and she was sitting next to somebody I haddnt met yet. My new friend (Allison) was friends with this new girl, and thats how I met the new girl. Being the nice guy that I am, I introduced myself to her. The conversation went kind of like this.
Me: “Hey, dont think I’ve met you before! My name is Josh and you are?”
Girl: “No no…I dont think we have met before. My name is Rachael.”
Me: “Oh thats funny. My older sister’s name is Rachel”
Rachael: “Whoa…thats weird. My younger brothers name is Josh”
Me: “Wow that is weird”
Rachael: “Do you have a sister named Kelly?”
Me: “No, but I bet you dont have a dog named Toby!”
SHREIK from both girls
Me: "What?! “What is it?!”
Allison: “That is FREAKY! Rachael and I just found out today that we both have dogs named Toby!!!”
Me: “JEEZ! What kind are they?”
Allison: “Mines a boxer.”
Rachael: “Mines a weiner dog.”
SHREIK this time from me
Me: “NO WAY! Mine dog is a weiner dog too! How old is your dog?”
Rachael: “He just turned two”
Me: “Holy crap…my dog just turned two…”
So I’m offically freaked out at this point…campfire devotions started then so I diddnt get to talk to her until after it was over. So we are heading back to the cabins and find out she’s from VA (I’m from Ohio…one difference) and…yet another one…she’s a preachers kid just like me…Both our dad’s are preachers for the Church of Christ. Oh, and considering we both have last names begining with B, we were VERY close to having eachothers siblings initials.
How freaky is that?!
“Mine dog”…Can you see the flaws in the English classes in schools today? Can you see it?! Curse you English teachers! Curse you all!
Well hell, I just done gradumacated from Bard. I swear to god if she lived in Bluecher last year, I’m gonna drop dead of shock (my GF was the PC of Bluecher last year, so that’s the only group of sophomores I know).
:::bump:::
I’ve been meaning to put this one here because it is my favorite coincidence story.
The Background:
In 1991 my FIL had an accident that left him paralyzed from the chest down. Part of the settlement was he was to get a handicapped equipped vehicle for life. He got a Ford Econoline 250. Outstandingly built vehicles.
1994 - Driving with his Uncle in Law Irving ( pay attention to that name) who was visiting from Germany with his wife, at an intersection ( Southfeild and 696 interchange for DTW dopers) stopped at a red light, he was rear ended by woman in a two door car that wasn’t paying attention. Her car was totaled. His van suffered very minor damange. He was ok.
1998 - *At the exact same intersection. Same van. * Driving with Irving, who is a different Irving who is now living with the same woman that was the other Irving’s wife before ( Irving the I, we call him, died of cancer. Irving the Duece was his best friend.) Y’follow? :
They are at a stand still and rear ended *again * by a teenager who wasn’t paying attention. Again, the hitter car was totalled. Teenager shaken, but not stirred. FIL had to go to hospital that time.
Rule of the Family: do not drive with FIL if you are named Irving.
In 1995 my family (me, my brother, my sister, and my mother) went to see a Browns game in old Cleveland Municipal Stadium on Christmas Eve. They beat the Seahawks, 35-9.
The man my mother would meet and marry three years later was sitting in the Dawg Pound at the same game, about 150 yards from us.
He and I just figured this out last week. It’s not as strange as some of the stuff on here, but it got me thinking. I wonder if I’ve walked past the future Mrs. Lizard in an airport or something, not to meet her for another 10 years?
I went to a brand-new school in the 7th grade. I was very nervous and shy, and thankfully, one of the girls took pity on me and hung out with me throughout the day.
The next day, we were eating lunch together, and she started telling me all these things about me she couldn’t possibly know - my mom’s name, my birthday, where I was born.
She had gone home the day before and told her mom all about her new friend at school. Turns out our moms had been roommates in the hospital when we were born, one day apart.
My husband lived in different parts of the country as a child, and even spent 10 years in England when his dad was sent there for his job.
But somehow we recently discovered that we were born in the same hospital, three years apart.
I built a roullette wheel simulator in electronics. My friends said: go on, think of a number, and spin it. I chose 19 and span it. It came up 19. I never did that again.
… to mention a tragic coincidence that I witnessed.
My wife and I never watched a reality program or game show, preferring our TV hours be spent on Buffy and Law and Order reruns. At least not until the spring before last when we decided to take a chance on Fox’s Murder in a Small Town X, which was a summer series that aired every Tuesday at 9:00pm.
I’m not going into the mechanics, just the eerie part. The last episode of the show was scheduled for 9:00 pm, September 11th, 2001. Because it tanked so hard in the ratings, Fox moved the final show up a week as so to get it off the air soonest. The coincidence is, the man who won it died a week later in the terrorist attacks. His name was Angel Juarbe, he won $250,000, a car, and a bunch of other stuff, and he died 1 week after finally having the winnings released to him.
When I was about nineteen I worked for a week at McDonalds. My manager, Susan, was a horrible, terrifying harpy who had me scared silly. So scared I never went back to pick up my paycheck. Among other things, she assured me I’d never amount to anything if I couldn’t handle working at McDonalds…
About three years after that I was dating a gorgeous man I was totally in love with. To my dismay, he revealed that he was married, but his wife lived in NYC, and they were married in name only, etc., etc. Turns out his wife was Susan, who had been my evil boss at McDonalds. I slept with her husband. (Before I found out he was married.)(Served her right, nasty @#$%.)
When I was in college I dated men from exotic foreign countries. One guy, from Jordan, told me a story about how he and his brother backpacked into the mountains (in Jordan) to visit a little blind girl who was a famous fortuneteller, and that the blind girl told him that he would marry a blonde (as I was at the time) artist (I was an art major at the time.) Two years later…
I dated an exotic man from Colombia who told me the same story!! I don’t know what magazine they pullled that out of, but he told me he backpacked into the mountains (in Colombia) with his brother to visit a famous blind female fortuneteller, who told him he would marry a woman who fit my description.
Don’t fall for that story!
My sister was the world’s hugest Neil Diamond fan growing up. The hugest. The first album she ever bought was Neil Diamond’s “Hot August Night.” She played it until my ears bled.
Ten years to the day that she bought that album, Mom’s boyfriend shows up with tickets to see Neil Diamond, playing at the Greek Amphitheatre in L.A. They all go to the concert.
Turns out, the concert is being recorded for an album. “Hot August Night III.”
Inside jacket of the album (remember those?) features a photo shot of the crowd. My sister is in the photo.
Who-ha!
I had been trying to get a script to Adam Sandler for a couple of years.
So, I am bartending a party at Adam Sandler’s manager’s house when I meet a Tarot Card reader named Madison. We become and item and go to Sundance Film Festival together. She is bent on seeing a movie called “Hey Happy.” I start to call her “Happy”–it fits her general disposition as well.
So, my girlfriend’s name is Happy Madison, the same as Sandler’s production company.
We met at that party on Sept. 9. Adam Sandler’s birthday is Sept. 9.
No happy ending, though. Their development finally read the script, rejected it–and insulted me for bothering him.
Previous to that…
So, I’m trying to get this script sold (same script, not mine; I just want a finder’s fee on it) and I get fired from my day job. A temp agency sends me a page me for some temp work. The page doesn’t go through. I miss the job. They page me again, send me to work at a literary agency with only a support staff of four and it happens to represent the writer of the script.
One day at lunch while working at said agency, I’m reading an article written in Premiere Magazine written by John Horn, who was the editor of my junior college newspaper in Pasadena, CA. That afternoon, a representative from Premiere not the agency calls our office.
On the drive home, I get the idea to write Horn a letter. Maybe he can assist me with this script. I immediately think it’s a stupid idea. That very moment I look up. I’m driving on Horn Street.
I wrote John a letter. No response. Silly coincidence.
The following week, I quit Premiere. Temp agency sends me to work in an office in West L.A. It’s in the same building as the Premiere Magazine’s offices, exactly one floor up. I call John. We agree to meet when opportunity permits.
The next week the temp job ends, I reconnect with a friend who puts me to work painting a house in Pasadena. John lives in Pasadena. We met. He told me about this producer I must contact.
To be continued…
You guys have some amazing stories!
Both my parents and my husband’s parents never get tired of telling this story:
My mother and father met in California where my father was on leave from the Air Force. My mother lived in CA. They met, fell in love and were married 2 months after my father proposed to her. They lived in CA for awhile near my mother’s family, then moved back her to SC near my father’s family.
My husband’s parents met here in SC where his father was on leave from the Army. His father was from CA. They met, fell in love and were married 2 DAYS after he proposed. They moved to CA for awhile to live near his family, then eventually moved back here to SC to be near her family.
Once, on a family vacation, we were stopped along an interstate in Colorado because of snow. As we sat there in 4 lanes of traffic, my dad noticed the car in front of us had a SC license tag. He got out and walked up to the car (I guess he was bored–we sat there for a couple of hours). Turns out that not only was the driver from SC but was also an old high school buddy of my dad’s!
Small world!!
When I was about ten years old, one of our dogs disappeared. She was gone for about six weeks. While visiting my grandmother one Sunday, I went outside to play in the yard. As soon as I stepped out the door, I saw a dog running across the field in front of my grandmother’s house. I just had a feeling about the dog and whistled to it. The dog came running over to me and lo and behold, it was our long-lost dog!
My grandmother lived about 5 miles from our house and while it isn’t too unbelivable that our dog would turn up around there, it was very strange to think that if I hadn’t walked out the door at that very instant I probably wouldn’t have seen the dog.