# Examples of improbable real-life events **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 31, 2017, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-improbable-real-life-events/792479 "2017-07-31T04:24:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2017, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-improbable-real-life-events/792479/101 "2017-08-05T14:58:02Z")
I remember a news story that involved a police officer being injured during a traffic stop, The car he stopped sped off abruptly, throwing the man into traffic where he bounced around and was struck by multiple vehicles. He fortunately survived. The man’s name was Officer Piñata. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2017, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-improbable-real-life-events/792479/102 "2017-08-05T18:36:33Z")
Dr. Bright, Optometrist Dr. Snipp, Optometrist specializing in cataracts. Dr. Nguyen (Pronounced Nwhen when spoken sounds more like When) are you Dr. Who’s cousin? Knew a guy who’s last name was Marvel. He was planing on joining the police. I always wondered if he ever made captain. ---
**Author:** ![PoppaSan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/poppasan/32/189_2.png) [@PoppaSan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoppaSan)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2017, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-improbable-real-life-events/792479/103 "2017-08-05T21:40:43Z")
I live in the upper Midwest. One sister lives in Florida. I’m looking at the General Sherman tree when she starts yelling to me from the other side of the tree. Neither of us knew the other would be in California for our brother’s wedding. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-improbable-real-life-events/792479/104 "2017-08-06T04:26:55Z")
Well, for a staaart, at the office where I worrrrk, I can be sitting at my desk _all day_ and the others _totally ignore me_… Cool former White House Press Secretary surname Carney and the inaptronym Larry Playfair. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-improbable-real-life-events/792479/105 "2017-08-06T05:03:20Z")
Things that you would roll your eyes at if put in a movie: Sport: Australia played England in the very first cricket test match in 1877. The end result was that Australia won by 45 runs. In 1977 Australia played England in the “Centenary Test” and after five days of playing, Australia won by 45 runs, the exact result of the first test. Family: My father lived 800 miles north of Sydney. My brother lives 200 miles south of Sydney. One day they ran into each other in Sydney, a city of four million people - neither knew that the other would be there. Me: This one was planned, but it’s a miracle it worked out so well. I was attending an event in Sydney and decided to drive (it’s a three hour drive). A colleague decided to fly, so I said I would pick her up from the airport. As I neared the airport she called me and said that they had just landed. I drove to the pick-up area to see her walking to the place we had arranged to meet. She got to the car at the exact moment I stopped, and we were on our way. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-improbable-real-life-events/792479/106 "2017-08-06T23:41:13Z")
The acronym for Kris “thank Ra the middle name doesn’t start with a ‘K’” Kobach’s Federation for American Immigration Reform is F.A.I.R. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2017, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-improbable-real-life-events/792479/107 "2017-08-07T12:27:08Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > Honestly, half of these are stuff that happens all the time- I mean, I’ve bumped into people I know from England in: Christchurch New Zealand (that was pretty funny, I bumped into 2 of my old classmates, who were walking down the street talking about our old class and wondering how everyone was getting on); Ubud, Bali; Melbourne, Australia… and bumped into several people I originally met in Australia in Bristol, England. > > In fact, last year I bumped into an Aussie guy I’d previously met in Brisbane, on my street in Bristol. His Mum, who I also met in Brisbane, used to live just a few miles from my parents’ house in Northern England, and used to go to the health food shop next door to our old house. > > The world just isn’t quite as big as you’d think, really. About 15 years ago I took my kids to the Bronx Zoo. It never occurred to me that a place like that might not take credit cards, but when I got there that’s what they told me. I have a big family and needed well over $100 for admission - I didn’t have anything close to that amount of cash on me. And we had travelled over an hour to get there. So I looked over the line to see if maybe there was someone who I could borrow the money from, and sure enough there was a guy I knew from school (he was a few years older than me, but we knew each other). And as luck turned out he had that amount of excess cash on him, and all worked out for the best. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2017, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-improbable-real-life-events/792479/108 "2017-08-07T13:40:16Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Ah, but **manson1972** , were you passing through [Newton Falls, OH](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton_Falls,_Ohio) at the time? If only! Funny, I grew up not too far from there, and the zip code was always a source of amusement. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-improbable-real-life-events/792479.md?page=5)