A few years ago my husband and I were at a wedding, when we found out that a friend was working for a big international company.
The friend complained that working at such a huge company that everyone’s heard of means that everyone always asks if you know someone they know who works there, and you never do.
“Do you know Alan?” my husband asked.
“Yeah, okay, actually I do,” the friend said.
What were the odds?
Well recently, actor Michael Redmond of Father Ted fame had a similar encounter that sparked a wild Twitter thread on the subject.
Taxi Driver : Is that a Dublin accent?
Me: Yes it is.
Taxi Driver :Oh, do know a guy named Sean Corcoran?Such a stupid question when you consider there are over one million people in Dublin…. the annoying thing was I fucking do know Sean Corcoran.
— Michael Redmond (@redmondmichael1) June 22, 2021
The responses, which delighted Michael, were fascinating!
There were so many stories like this one, that prove the song “It’s a Small World” wasn’t just blowing smoke.
Thirty years ago we were on holiday in Tunisia and another holidaymaker said to my husband: “Excuse me. Were you Manager of ***** at Stanley 20yrs ago?” When my husband said “yes” she continued “you sold me my first 3-piece suite 20 yrs ago”. As you say, small world!
— June Turnbull ?? (@socialist1959) June 22, 2021
It’s amazing how often people assume you know the one person they know in your state, country, or region.
We all roll our eyes, but then my gosh, they number of times they do!
When I moved to California from Texas in 02 I drinking with friends one night. Someone asked where I was from:
Me: Texas
Stranger: I know someone from Texas.
Me: There are 20m people in Texas.
Stranger: Alex Blanton?
Me: Oh, did he go to TCU?
Stranger: Yes
Me: Yeah, I know him.— Brian Abbey (@brianabbey) June 23, 2021
Or like those pictures where someone was in the background of someone else’s photograph years before they got married, people realize that they have a connection with strangers.
When my late brother was in his teens he had a girlfriend who often came round to our house and knew our parents well. They’d been dating for about a year when my father realised that he and her father had been childhood friends when they lived in Cyprus.
— Rock “Fully vaccinated” Lobster (@HakusanLad) June 23, 2021
Or they actually met in the weirdest circumstances decades ago and remember each other!
On a bus in Fuengaroli said to couple I think I know you havevwe met ? No then the bloke said ah yes 1981 Bruce Springsteen Wembley stadium . You sat in front of us and changed into shorts from jeans ?
— Mrs Cool (@BevCool) June 22, 2021
Or they knew you before you could even possibly have known them!
In my early 20s I went on a skiing holiday to Switzerland. I got talking to a retired lady in my group who was also from England. Turned out she was my midwife. When I say ‘my midwife’, I don’t mean the woman who delivered my children but the woman who delivered me! #coincidence
— Rachel (@cheltenhammum) June 22, 2021
The number of people who met family they didn’t even know was pretty astounding.
Another time some people knocked on our door to ask for help because they got their vehicle stuck on the beach (our house was the closest to the beach).
They were tourists from about a thousand miles away. We got to chatting and found out we were second cousins.— Adrian Parsons (@Age_of_Greed) June 23, 2021
It’s always a bit unsettling when you run into someone far from home and completely unexpectedly and out of context.
But like, how does that even happen?
I am a Finn. Was backpacking in Australia and while walking around in Sydney ran twice within an hour into people I knew, one from school and one from university. Other side of the globe. Was a little spooked really, thought I will run into a relative next.
— Jarkko Hietaniemi (@jhietaniemi) June 23, 2021
Not too many ended with the people ignoring each other though.
Was walking up a street in Washington DC years ago, and suddenly coming the other way was an old classmate. The sneery little git and I still blanked each other out 3000 miles from home. It felt good.
— David Harrison. BLM ???????? (@davidlharrison) June 22, 2021
In this case, you have to wonder if the other person even recognized him at all.
If it were me, I’d be second-guessing that I had ID’d him wrong, but David seems pretty sure.
I totally get these kinds of things happening when you’re in or from a small town where everyone knows everyone:
My dad’s Irish and we were over there on holiday once when he wanted to find an Irish friend he knew in England who was also back visiting his family. So we just went to the town where he came from, asked in a pub and they took us to his house
— Carol Grant (@carolanngrant) June 22, 2021
Or, I guess, when you’re Welsh:
One year, I was watching the Christmas Doctor Who with friends in Oxford. Turned out I was in school with one of the guest stars. And then it turned out I was also in school with another of the main guest actors. I like being Welsh 🙂
— Dr. Bethan Tovey-Walsh (@LinguaCelta) June 22, 2021
But when you’re in a big city or somewhere exotic and far from home, it’s really kind of mind blowing.
My brother was in Macchu Picchu with his partner on a tour. Got to talking with an English (well, English and Manx) couple, and it turns out they were both coworkers of mine from my first job in England.
— ondaiwai ? ( fully vaxed: ??) (@ondaiwai) June 23, 2021
Especially a city as big as Toronto, with nothing but another big city accent to go on!
Years ago when I was young & Dublin had A & B button public phones, I got an operator (all of these terms are age related lol) who spotted my Canadian accent & asked me about an Irishman in Toronto. Yes, I knew him. ?♀️
— O.R. Melling (@ormelling1) June 23, 2021
You have to wonder how many WRONG people they asked before they got one right.
I’m a fan of coincidence, but if some of these were in movies, people would say they weren’t realistic.
Visiting a distant relative in Brooklyn, NY for the first time & told him I knew a guy from Brooklyn but I lost track of him when he & I were in the Marine Corps. The relative asks my friend’s name, picks up the phone, dials his # and tells me my friend is married to his niece.
— Frank Franz (@cpnthrz) June 22, 2021
They sure are a lot of fun though. What’s your favorite story like this? Tell us in the comments!
