# Curious coincidences of the most mundane and pointless kind **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 3, 2026, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curious-coincidences-of-the-most-mundane-and-pointless-kind/1034385 "2026-11-03T23:58:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2026, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curious-coincidences-of-the-most-mundane-and-pointless-kind/1034385/1 "2026-11-03T23:58:29Z")
So I wrote a shopping list today, just a handful of things really, but EVERY SINGLE ONE started with the letter ‘P’. Pillow (for my neighbour who has broken ribs), potato gratins, Polident (for dentures) Panko breadcrumbs, pancake batter and plastic sandwich bags. There ya go. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2026, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curious-coincidences-of-the-most-mundane-and-pointless-kind/1034385/2 "2026-11-04T00:02:39Z")
But you could have also made that list with “denture cleaner”, “breadcrumbs”, “batter”, and “sandwich bags”. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2026, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curious-coincidences-of-the-most-mundane-and-pointless-kind/1034385/3 "2026-11-04T00:12:17Z")
I think it means something! Did you have to pee? ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2026, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curious-coincidences-of-the-most-mundane-and-pointless-kind/1034385/4 "2026-11-04T00:19:28Z")
I suppose I could have, but I always use the trademark Polident, and Panko (as opposed to regular breadcrumbs, which I also use but didn’t need to replenish), the pancake mix is a powder, not a batter. But yes, sandwich bags probably would have sufficed. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2026, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curious-coincidences-of-the-most-mundane-and-pointless-kind/1034385/5 "2026-11-04T00:56:26Z")
Baggies FTW! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2026, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curious-coincidences-of-the-most-mundane-and-pointless-kind/1034385/6 "2026-11-04T18:15:12Z")
Here’s the most extraordinary coincidence I ever personally experienced. About twenty years ago, I was driving across country. I was at a point where I was driving through New Jersey. I listen to cd’s as I drive and I was listening to a David Cross comedy cd. When I’m traveling across country, I like to stop occasionally to break up the drive. When I start getting bored, I’ll look for a place to stop. One place I often stopped was video stores, which were still common back then, to see if they had any dvd’s on their sale rack. I felt like stopping. I saw a video store. I pulled in to the parking lost, turned off my car, and walked into the store. And when I did so, they were playing a cd on the store’s pa system. It was the same David Cross cd I was listening to in my car. It was even the same track. To appreciate the enormity of this coincidence, you have to realize that David Cross comedy cd’s were not a hugely popular thing, even back then. There were probably literally only two place in the entire world where that cd happened to be playing at that time; my car and that video store. ---
**Author:** ![Karen\_Lingel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karen_lingel/32/18649_2.png) [@Karen\_Lingel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karen_Lingel)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2026, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curious-coincidences-of-the-most-mundane-and-pointless-kind/1034385/7 "2026-11-04T18:43:07Z")
I once ran out of aluminum foil and plastic wrap on the SAME DAY! ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2026, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curious-coincidences-of-the-most-mundane-and-pointless-kind/1034385/8 "2026-11-04T20:45:42Z")
I had a weird experience when I was 12. I belonged to a Pentecostal church. I’m trying not to get into the drama of the whole night, but I had a very troubled young friend with a crazy mother. She was very religious, but like, you know, in a mentally ill kind of way. And she was convinced her daughter was full of demons. One night my friend was getting upset and not feeling well, I don’t recall the details of how this all got started, but her Mom starts some religious spiel and she’s quoting this Bible verse over and over. I don’t remember the verse but it wasn’t one of the greatest hits. I think my friend was saying she felt inferior to me because I was like the perfect Christian and she was really messed up. And her mother wasn’t exactly refuting this. Anyway she turns on the radio to one of those preaching shows and this guy starts… Well, basically, he starts describing the exact dynamic that was playing out in that moment. “Someone out there is XYZ” only XYX was actually happening to the three of us, at that moment. He went on at length, and it was all accurate. Then he _says the Bible verse._ The same one my friend’s Mom was chanting. The night only got weirder from there. My friend started convulsing and her mother made me lay hands on her and exorcise the demon. I didn’t know what the hell was going on, but decades later I had a seizure and immediately understood that part. I think what happened is my friend was having an aura which happens sometimes before seizures (I never had any warning myself.) This understandably freaked her out. I’m an atheist now but that remains one of the biggest WTF moments of my life. It’s also fucking sad for reasons I shouldn’t have to explain. I still think about that girl and hope she got away from her mother. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2026, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curious-coincidences-of-the-most-mundane-and-pointless-kind/1034385/9 "2026-11-05T14:21:16Z")
Mind blown. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2026, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curious-coincidences-of-the-most-mundane-and-pointless-kind/1034385/10 "2026-11-05T15:58:46Z")
> [@Karen\_Lingel](#): > > I once ran out of aluminum foil and plastic wrap on the SAME DAY! The moment I run out of TP, kitchen roll AND tissues, that’s the day when everything will fall apart… ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2026, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curious-coincidences-of-the-most-mundane-and-pointless-kind/1034385/11 "2026-11-05T16:17:40Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > > [@Karen\_Lingel](#): > > > > I once ran out of aluminum foil and plastic wrap on the SAME DAY! > > The moment I run out of TP, kitchen roll AND tissues, that’s the day when everything will fall apart… - Yeah, a total wipeout. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2026, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curious-coincidences-of-the-most-mundane-and-pointless-kind/1034385/12 "2026-11-05T16:26:35Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > > [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > > > The moment I run out of TP, kitchen roll AND tissues, that’s the day when everything will fall apart… - > > Yeah, a total wipeout. Remember Covid! We were _that_ close…