What examples do you have of "it's a small world"?

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I worked in city finance in London for two decades, I came across lots of people in my dozen or so different roles in that time.

I now work in a completely different sector in a different city.

Today I sent an email to a company in a third unrelated industry in Newcastle and the reply came from someone I worked with in London 20 years ago.

It blew my mind but are these coincidences more common than we think, degrees of separation etc?

When I was little I befriended a boy who was American (we were living the UK), and soon we became really good friends. He came over to play one day when my Grandad was there, and when my Grandad heard his name (which was super unusual), he said he'd once known and been close friends with a man with the same name. Turns out the man my Grandad knew was my friend's Grandad - my Grandad had been working as a detective in the UK, and had worked a case with my friend's American grandfather, who'd been in England for a short while. It seemed the most amazing and unlikely coincidence! I'll never forget it.

First boyfriend at university in the north east, 3 hours from home. He lived up in Scotland, 5 hours from university and even further from my hometown near London. His grandparents lived over my fence and he visited many many times and played on my street as a child. I even remember a little boy with a red scooter and twin little sisters. Freaky!

My neighbour is in a relationship with my cousin's ex husband. Has been for the past 5 years and I still have not said anything (to be fair I have not seen the ex husband in over 20 years.

Also I went to creche with this girl (who I vaguely remember as we were friends), we move 200 miles when I was about 5 and fast foward 7 years she goes to the same secondary school as me as a boarder.

We are from Australia and were honeymooning in Orkenys. We stayed in a B&B and the couple were telling me about his cousin who lived in a small country town beginning with "G" just out of Perth. Turns out it was the same town where o was raised and I knew his cousin 😯

On a cafe patio in Austria, my family were sitting with two other tables, and all got chatting on hearing the English language. On one table There was a honeymooning couple from the next small town up from us, and they sang in a choir which included some of my schoolfriends. On the other table were an elderly couple from Australia- it turned out that they'd emigrated there years ago, but the husband used to be a caretaker at the same school my father was then teaching at.

It's my friends story but she watched a documentary about a man who stopped another man from jumping off of Westminster Bridge and was very moved by it. The next day, he was in front of her in Waitrose and she got to tell him to his face how amazing she thought he was!

One was from my childhood - every year on our way to our summer holiday in Cornwall my parents would choose a different cathedral to visit. They would never discuss in advance with us (or anyone else) which cathedral they had chosen that year. Every year, without fail, we would bump into the same teacher from our primary school who used to choose her holidays so she could go to a specific cathedral!!

Much more recently - sat in priority embarkation lunch on a cruise recently and got chatting to the couple on the next table to us. The wife and I were chatting about work and school etc and I mentioned going to my friend’s house before school to meet her most mornings (this was over 35 years ago) and said what road she lived on and how her mum was a childminder. The lady I was chatting to suddenly went quiet - turned out she was my best friend from senior school’s aunt having been married to her dad’s brother (now long divorced). Of all the people we could get chatting to!!

We were on a —pretentious middle class— holiday in Vietnam. DH was inside a small store buying ice creams for our four children. I was standing outside listening to a public school type backpacker trying to chat up a fellow backpacker, complete with swearing and obligatory drug references. I think his credibility was probably a bit shot when DH came out, trailing children... ‘Er... hello, Dr Matildahusband... um, er...’. DH was his lecturer.

I made an emergency appt at a random dentist as a wisdom tooth was growing outwards, giving me an infection in my cheek as it had cut right through. I was in so much pain I couldn't even open my mouth wide enough to brush my teeth before going. They very kindly squeezed me in so I hotfooted it down there. My name was called and the nurse was peering at me. With my fat face and exhausted expression I really wasn't in the mood, then she said 'sparkl? Is that you? It's X from school!?' Yep. A classmate from a primary school that I was at for just 6 weeks. Whilst it was nice to catch up, she kept asking me questions while my head was inthe x Ray machine and telling me off when I moved my mouth to answer.

We went on holiday and was seated at the restaurant next to a couple who lived in the same street as my husband when they were young and went to the same schools.
I worked in the debt department of my company, I answered the phone and the caller said "I've received a letter from you" I said is you name Valerie G she said yes but I've re married is that Minty. We used to live in a shared house in London, and hadn't seen/heard from each other in about 15 yrs.
but the best ever one -- my SIL fosters. In a London borough ( this is about 30 yrs ago ) and fostered a baby - the mother had had the baby while visiting her home country and had died. The great grandparents of the baby lived next door to my MiL!! So they got to see the baby by default. I know the baby went to another family but went back to SiL for respite so was always seen by great grandparents

Not me but I read that on honeymoon walking had in hand naked along a deserted beach they saw someone clothed wailing towards them it was her boss and his wife

A couple of years ago I was visiting a friend in a town about an hours drive from where I grew up. As I drove off a cat ran in front of the car and I hit it . It was very obviously dead so I wrapped it up in a jumper and walked over to knock on a door to see if anyone knew whose cat it was. The first door I knocked on told me it belonged to the couple next door. So, I knocked next door, in tears at this point. The woman who opens the door is the woman who my ex left me for about 5 years previously. Very messy break up. I don’t think she recognised me as I was crying and she was obviously just bothered about the cat. I gave her my number, apologised again and legged it.

I still wonder if she twigged who I was later on and thinks I killed her cat on purpose 😬

I went on holiday to Australia with an ex and his parents. Met 2 friends from uni in a cafe.

Went to an enormous guide Jamboree as a leader, DH's cousin from Canada walks in and sits down at our table (I had no idea she was going) Lady sat down next to me is friends with my friend and the leader I do Brownies with. She'd also just come back from the summer camp my Godson's dad was leading.

Godson's dad and family move to Liverpool, his manager and I went to a youth group together 25 years previously

Many moons ago I met a very elderly lady in a cafe. I was in there with my very small DS and got chatting when she recognised my accent as the same as hers. I'd moved away years (600 miles) earlier and she was down at this town for a funeral. The more we chatted the more we realised that she had lived in the same town as my dad when he was little. Then it transpired that she had lived next door to my gran and had babysat for my dad when he was tiny. Small world indeed.

When I was little, I had a copy of a particular children’s book that belonged to my grandma. It had her name written in the front and she’d coloured in the pictures. She died when I was 9, and I treasured that book. When my dad died a few years ago, my mum ruthlessly cleared out their house in France, at the same time as my DH & I were moving to our new house, and she accidentally got rid all my books that were boxed up waiting to move to our new home.

I was really upset, and told my best friend about it. Last year, she went to the Southbank in London and was browsing the bookstalls outside the National, and she came across a copy of my grandmother’s book, which she bought for me. Yup. It was her actual book. I cried A LOT.

@FenellaMaxwell that's amazing! And so lovely for you.

I met someone on a caravan holiday in England when I was about 10. I then met him again a year later on a beach in Zakinthos!

Went traveling through Europe,on a train to Prague and spotted a girl from my street who I went to brownies with. Would not have normally chatted but we were so shocked to see a familiar face we stopped to talk.

Working in telephone banking in the uk. One of my team was shocked after a call. Asked her what was wrong. She said she went to school with the caller. Not particularly exceptional, but they went to school in New Zealand!

Oh and that time we bumped into my mums bosses boss up a mountain in Austria

In my early seventies and living in a small village in Spain. For background, in the 1950's I was living and at primary school in Uganda. Anyway, I joined a book club and on my first visit was introduced to a smart and lively lady in her 90's. We chatted and it turned out she had been in Uganda at the same time. Chatted further and she seemed somehow familiar. I asked her maiden name and found she had been my class teacher when I was 7. I could remember her very clearly.

Amazing that over 60 years later in rural Spain I should meet someone who had taught me in Uganda all those years ago.

Years ago I went on a holiday to China. I went to McDonald's (as you do! ) and another white person was in the queue in front of us, heard us speak and recognised my accent. Asked where I was from and turns out he is from 100 yards away from my family home! There was about 6 years between us so I wouldn't have known him growing up but def a small world!

I have loads!

My ex from uni is married to a lovely lady.

Her life long best friend and my high school best friend are married.

(Locations changed to protect the guilty ) Ex is from Hartlepool we’re from Yorkshire and they’re from Scotland. We were at uni in Durham.

I grew up in a smallish village and my mum still lives there. There's a business park on the outskirts.

I went on holiday to visit a friend in Canada and we went to an ice hockey match to watch her team play an American team. I ended up sitting next to an American fan who had travelled to the game. Got chatting and he asked where in England are you from. Usually, no one has heard of the smallish village and as I was talking to a foreigner, I said name of nearest large city because I thought the chances of them knowing the smaller place names would be slim. Conversation went roughly like thjs:

American fan: Whereabouts in England are you from?
Me: Near
American: I worked near for a while. Whereabouts exactly?
Me: It's really just outside
American: Oh yeah, I lived right near there for about 5 years until a couple of years ago!
Me: Oh, then you'll probably know !
American: Oh yeah, I worked on the business park and lived on

When I was 18 I took my boyfriend to meet my grandmother, who lived in a seaside town about 5 hours drive away. While there I met my best friend from primary school who I hadn't seen since going to separate secondaries despite still living in the same town. Her grandmother also lived there and she was also introducing a new boyfriend