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Original poster

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

117 replies

Bestseller · 01/02/2019 23:04

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?

OP posts:

Myhousetoday · 02/02/2019 15:19

I was born/my parents come from in small city in European country A, but
I grew up in big capital European country B, my parents had emigrated there 10 years previously. Went to an international school in capital B and my primary school teacher turned out to come from same small city A and even went to school with my aunt!

Maelstrop · 02/02/2019 15:22

Queuing up in Disney, Orlando and there’s one of my Year 8s two behind. From London.

MakeItAmazing · 02/02/2019 16:24

@C0rdelia - was everything okay with your friend??

Mine isn't as impressive. I was on a trip with venture scouts and sitting three seats in front of me was the girl whose house I used to play in quite a lot as a small girl.

itchychin · 02/02/2019 16:28

Walked past my ex boyfriend (I was travelling with a new boyfriend) in the street in Australia (both of us from the uk with no oz connections and this was in a town not a city). Also in a very remote part of Sri Lanka, in an empty restaurant hours away from anywhere in the jungle, someone I used to work with strolled on in.

flumpybear · 02/02/2019 17:34

I worked in London and somebody phoned in from and external
Company, calling actually a different department, but assume they weren't in so bounced and it happened to be answered by me,l so wasn't quite as helpful as it wasn't my field, but took lots of information about what he/his company needed, we were talking work and strangely got on quite well in our 5 minute conversation ... he said his name which was a common first name and not so common second name and i'd had a boyfriend around 5-6 years previously at school with the same name ... he said what's your name ... I told him (very uncommon name) ... and yup, you got it ... he was my ex lol 😆

8misskitty8 · 03/02/2019 16:23

Me and DH are from different towns and when my parents went to his house to meet mil/fil for the first time the neighbour across the road saw my mum and shouted her name.
Turns out they were at school together and my papa used to take him to football practice .

When my dad met my mums parents for the first time her mum joking said on hearing his surname ‘god I hope your not related to X’. Yes my dad was.

Doodlebug5 · 03/02/2019 16:38

We booked a very last minute holiday to a hot destination... think the weekend before. We got there all dandy. My OH was very into a sport at the time, we had season tickets and used to wear the t shirt everywhere. Well we were sittinf by the pool on day 4 and heard someone singing the sports song. It was another one of the "usual" season ticket holders that sit behind us at the sport. He wasn't aware we were going we weren't aware they were going. And they flew back the same flight as us. Very spooky.

Reasontobelieve · 03/02/2019 16:44

We were invited to dinner by a friend. Another friend of hers was present. My DP mentioned that he had been to Birmingham University -,so had my friend's friend. My DP mentioned that he had lived in a particular street - so had friend's friend. It transpired that they had lived in the same flat but at different times!

CookPassBabtridge · 03/02/2019 16:46

My neighbours who are in the house attached to us (semi detached), lived opposite us in a town 30 minutes down the motorway. There are like a gazillion houses between the two destinations but they were opposite us. We didn't know they lived there then as it was a main road and no-one knew neighbours.

Fanciedachange1 · 03/02/2019 17:16

About 25 years ago a guy i know had to fire a useless colleague. He and his wife later moved to another part of the country. Fast forward to now and his wife meets a new employee at her place of work who just happens to be the fired employee!

The xmas party was a bit tense!

IthinkIsawahairbrushbackthere · 03/02/2019 19:22

Many years ago we briefly knew a couple where the wife came from Sri Lanka. We had lost touch with them but remembered the names of course.

Many years later we met another couple from Sri Lanka and went out for a meal with them when they had an elderly relative staying. It was one of those things you say without thinking about then realise how stupid it sounds "I knew someone from Sri Lanka. She came from X"

It turned out that she was distantly related to elderly relative and the couple had lived in the same apartment block as the wife of the couple before she was married.

TheEmojiFormerlyKnownAsPrince · 03/02/2019 19:27

Totally deserted beach in Norfolk. Miles and miles of endless beach. 200mes away from where l live.

2 other people on totally empty beach hove into view. And one of them is from my Y9 class😬 Just how?!

BeekyChitch · 03/02/2019 19:40

Was chatting to a girl on my course (we're really friendly) and she was telling me about this guy she was seeing. She showed me a picture of him and it turns out I went on a course with him about 8 years ago! Me and him actually got on really well and fell out of touch but I did ask her to say hello to him from me!

Ffsnosexallowed · 03/02/2019 19:44

I live in a different country to where I was born. Dp's first PhD student was my mum's neighbour. She lives in middle of nowhere with about 4 houses.

RnB · 03/02/2019 19:52

I grew up in Kent and my parents and I travelled all the way to Wales for a holiday. We climbed Snowdon and in the cafe at the top was my classmate and his parents (he was also our next door but one neighbour). Even weirder we just politely waved to each other as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

cheesenpickles · 03/02/2019 22:22

I was working in sales for a b2b company and had to call the marketing manager of a very large national retailer who had left their card at our stall at a trade show.

Name looked vaguely familiar and they listened to my spiel, I could tell they were going through the motions (and tbh the product wasn't suitable for them). They started cutting me off and giving me the shake and so started ending the call and at the last moment I said... "sorry, this going to sound really weird but are you married to X?"

They went really quiet and then said "yeeees?"

Turns out it was my (oh this is complicated...) mum and dad's best friends' (but they are family tbh in our eyes), youngest son's wife. I had no idea she worked there and it was pure fluke. Conversation immediately shifted and although she didn't buy the product I ended up with an invite to go and stay that weekend.

My boss did call listening later and got SO confused but couldn't castigate me because "technically" it wasn't a personal call.

cheesenpickles · 03/02/2019 22:29

Also, made friends with loads of people from an online band message board at 14. One girl in particular I got quite close with and we talked on MSN a lot but lost touch/didn't chat much anymore. Fast forward 6 years and I'm looking for a new flat mate on gumtree in London and received a message from someone with their (at the time) unusual first name. Replied and said come take a look blah blah. Sent. Then went on MSN and messaged them saying "so weird. Just has someone who has the same name as you ask about our spare room". It was her and she had no idea it was me.

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