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Original poster

To ask about this utterly random coincidental meeting?

89 replies

TeeGypt · 14/05/2025 19:58

In 1999, I went on an 18-30 type holiday to Magaluf. The hotel reception was mainly manned by an old English guy called Mick. He was quite a character, most notable for telling everyone that checked in that he had a cosh under the counter, so not to give him any trouble.

Over the 2 weeks we got to know him a little bit but ultimately we were just another group of “revellers”, and at the end of the holiday we went home. Mick was occasionally mentioned when reminiscing but that’s about it.

Earlier today I was coming through the train station and popped into a branch of Co-op for something. Never been in before. While browsing, I heard a voice that I recognised talking to member of staff - I turned to look round and it was Mick from the hotel!

After getting over the shock that he was still alive (he seemed ancient back in 1999), I asked whether he used to work in hotel in Magaluf. He said he had but was retired.

I told him I remembered him from 26 years ago and he was impressed by my memory. He said he still lived in Mallorca but was over visiting his sister. He was only in the station because he was changing trains and the onward service was cancelled.

Anyway, we went our separate ways but it seemed like an amazing coincidence.

Anyone had anything similar?

OP posts:
dizzydizzydizzy · 14/05/2025 23:23

Oh and there is another one:

  • about 2001, I was waiting for my luggage at Dhaka in Bangladesh and a waiter from my local Indian tapped me on the shoulder
marriednotdead · 14/05/2025 23:22

Back in the 80s, I lived in a HMO with my ex for a while. This week, I was out with a friend and some other friends of hers I’d never met before.
Travelled back with one of them as we needed to catch the same train. I asked whereabouts he lived. He named the road I used to live on so I asked for more specifics. He’s living in the same HMO in the same room!

dizzydizzydizzy · 14/05/2025 23:20

This has happened to me so often:

  • 1980s, as school in London area, bumped into my French teacher in Edinburgh
  • also 1980s, bumped into my Latin teacher in rural France
  • 1990s, I stayed in a youth hostel in Californian and the other women in my dorm knew my brother
  • also 1990s, I was in a bar in rural Belize and got chatting to a German guy who was good friends with a colleague
  • 2000s - on a plane from Lisbon to London and we bumped into 2 couples on the flight who lives on the same village as us
  • about 10 years ago, went to Florida and bumped into a family who we knew from DC1's hobby
AlteredStater · 14/05/2025 23:15

I once met someone from the same small town as me on the other side of the world in a student hostel! We lived just a few streets apart!

Crikeyalmighty · 14/05/2025 23:12

Guy on checkout in a shop in Dubai mall asked me if I still lived in Canterbury ( I haven’t since 2010) he then said he recognised me from when he worked at M&S in Canterbury - not 10 minutes later I bumped into an old Canterbury neighbour in the same mall - totally weird!!

tellmesomethingtrue · 14/05/2025 23:09

In my Nan’s last months of life, she’d made contact with some relatives that she’d previously lost touch with, to say goodbye I suppose. They happened to be visiting when I also visited. I hadn’t met them before - we chatted and they seemed nice. The weird coincidence is that around 8 years ago, it turned out that they were living just a few minutes walk away from where I was living. I went out walking with my young children almost everyday in the village, passing their road and sometimes going down it. Nan hadn’t realised they were living there as they’d lost touch. How strange it is that my neighbours on the next road were actually related to me (my dad’s cousin) and we never knew.

queenrollo · 14/05/2025 22:41

We were in London for the day for a hospital appointment, we came through the barriers at the tube station. It was absolutely heaving and as I came through this guy walked straight into me. We both looked up to apologise and it was my cousin!
We hadn’t seen each other in person for about 20 years as we live hundreds of miles apart. He was in London with his family for a long weekend trip.

newrubylane · 14/05/2025 22:31

My dad can bump into someone he knows anywhere in the world. It's like a weird talent he's got (or he just knows a lot of people).

OneFineDay13 · 14/05/2025 22:30

mygrandchildrenrock · 14/05/2025 20:10

About 20 years ago, I lived in the Caribbean with my youngest children. I had adult children who lived in England. I had to return to England to arrange some interviews and flew into Heathrow. It was early morning when I was checking into a hotel next to Heathrow and my oldest son, who lived up North, was just checking out of the same hotel as he was flying off somewhere for work. Neither of us knew we were going to be there, he actually heard my voice and approached me and we were both delighted, but gobsmacked, to have 5 minutes with each other before he flew off and I went to bed!

This is so cool!

OneFineDay13 · 14/05/2025 22:30

pinkyredrose · 14/05/2025 20:00

I went to Goa and bumped into some people who lived on the next Rd from me in England.

No way

Barneysmomma · 14/05/2025 22:20

I lived in Guernsey in the early 90's and visit every couple of years. I was walking along the beach there one morning when I heard my name being called. It was a colleague from where I now live in N Wales who'd just arrived on the ferry that morning with her dad. She didn't know I'd lived there.

BunnyLake · 14/05/2025 22:08

Mine was also an 18-30’s holiday back in the early 80s. I had a one night stand (well twice) with the rep. Roll on a few year’s and I saw him in Woolies on my lunch break. I didn’t approach him and hid till I could sneak out. Gave me quite a shock!

Namechangean · 14/05/2025 22:04

I went to Akumal, Mexico to a beautiful but fairly small hotel to get married. My wedding only had 4 guests, and the day before our wedding someone who was there the day me and my wife met walked passed us in the lobby and turned out they were staying in our hotel

Cismyfatarse · 14/05/2025 21:53

We met the people we had sold our boat to on the other side of the world. We had sold them a Thames river cruiser and we met them in a virtually empty hotel in Papua New Guinea. This is years ago (I was a child) when we lived there for a summer because of my Dad’s business.

Ohwhatfuckeryitistoride · 14/05/2025 21:50

Told this before, but in the 90s my mum had to go to Edinburgh hospital for a (at the time) unusual operation, she lived in England.My dad went with her and popped out for a fag, a bloke asked him for a light and it was a guy he’d been in North Africa with in the war and hadn’t seen since being demobbed.

lollylo · 14/05/2025 21:36

MounjaroMounjaro · 14/05/2025 20:18

How would you know that, though? You don't usually know the identity of the buyer.

Show quote history

I think the name is even on the locker qr codes as well.

ZiggyPlaysGuitarrr · 14/05/2025 21:30

Our house was previously owned by an old lady, and her granddaughter lived with her. The granddaughter's bedroom was fairly modern whereas the rest of the house was very dated. My sister lodged with us for the first year that we lived here; she had the modern room.

During that time my sister met a new girlfriend, she lived around 50 miles away. It turned out that the granddaughter who used to occupy my sister's room was my sister's girlfriend's best friend!

Moonflower12 · 14/05/2025 21:26

Oh and when we moved from that house, my mum had left my school reports in the loft.
( Obviously the house made people forget things!)
Many years later, I was at work at the nursery where I worked, and said my unusual maiden name to a parent. Her mum was living in our old house and had found my reports. She brought them into me.

Moonflower12 · 14/05/2025 21:21

A few years ago I'd gone to an auction with my mum,a couple of hours from our home town. I did the registration form to be able to bid: as I was writing out the address ( weirdly it was backwards-as in Town, street, number) the chap overseeing me, announced my house number before I'd written it. He'd been born and grew up in our house. We'd found documents etc relating to him in the house. We met up with him and gave them to him.

BlotAnExpert · 14/05/2025 21:21

When I had a graduation lunch with friends from uni, my Dad was chatting away to one of the other dads. Turned out he had worked with him in Hong Kong when he worked overseas over 15 years before when I was about 4. We had visited the family's flat which I remember vividly. I had been studying with the son for three years without having any idea!

Outingname · 14/05/2025 21:21

I was in Chennai airport (India) for work in January,and had to go to the desk to discuss a charging pack in my checked luggage and another lady had the same. She used to work in a building on the same road as my office.

Aposterhasnoname · 14/05/2025 21:14

Arrived home from a holiday in the canaries, went to the local supermarket for petrol and the people from the next sunbed were filling up beside us.

Arrived in Santorini and collecting our cases at the carousel found myself standing next to the MD from work, and the company nurse. Both married, and not to each other.

Husband moved 60 miles to be with me, some 20 years later he’s in the local supermarket when someone calls his name. Turns out to be a woman he worked with in his home town 30 plus years ago. She’d moved to the same small town to be with her partner. Arranged to all meet up, and her partner is someone I used to work with.

Picklepower · 14/05/2025 21:03

My first love, who I lost my virginity to, now lives down the road from my dad. Completely different city, nearly 20 years later. Haven't bumped in to him yet but constantly mentally prepared to whenever I'm there

ItGhoul · 14/05/2025 20:50

I was at an outdoor event with some old schoolmates - 150 miles away from where we’re all from. We were all in our mid thirties. I mentioned someone two of us remembered from primary school, who neither of us had seen for 25 years. Then - literally within one minute of me mentioning her - she walked right past us.

Ahwig · 14/05/2025 20:45

A close school friend and I lost touch after her parents went abroad for work and she went to a boarding school at the other end of the country . Fifty years later I was visiting my mum in her care home as she had advanced dementia when I heard a familiar voice . My friend was visiting the care home as she had patients there who she was helping with swallowing and talking. I said “I recognise that voice “. She turned round and recognised me immediately. We’ve been in touch ever since and regularly have girly lunches and dinners.