Strange coincidences

[SkepticalCat]

I've just been reading the holidays with SEN children thread and was looking up the nearest train station to The Thomas Centre, which is one of the places mentioned.

Nearest train station seems to be Market Rasen.

Was just looking up the journey to Market Rasen on my phone when DH (sitting across the room from me, can't see what I'm looking at on my phone) asks "where's Market Rasen?"

Freaked me out for a split second, until I realised the horse racing is on TV and it was showing a race from Market Rasen.

How weird that literally at the same moment those things happened. I know it's a pure coincidence, but a strange one as I don't think either of us has ever talked about or Googled Market Rasen before in our lives!

Ooohh that's weird.
Hope people come along with lots of stories.

Went in to Dunelm a few years ago to buy one of those bags you store home baked bread in. Couldn't find one. Went to ask an assistant who was in the kitchen stuff area and she turned around with the bread bag in her hand. She was picking it as an order for another customer who also shared my first name and took some convincing that it wasn't me who'd ordered it, it was just coincidence.

I remembered one of these that happened to me this morning. Can't for the life of me remember it now! sorry for boring post.

I was on holiday in York with my Mother. A complete stranger heard our accents and asked if we were from Glasgow. We confirmed that we were. He then asked if we knew "Name of person" We certainly did as said name is my Father/My Mother's husband.

If there were no such thing as coincidence then there wouldn't be a word for it

On Saturday 26 June, I went to collect my DS at the end of the university term. We got in the car at 2pm and headed home. We weren't listening to the news.

During the journey, DS wondered if people ever got hurt flying in hot air balloons. I believe he's seen a balloon a few days earlier so this had obviously prompted what for him was an idle question. I suggested that they might occasionally crash, and the biggest risk might be hitting power lines.

The next day I read this tragic story of a balloon accident. It had happened at 2pm UK time on 26 June. The balloon had hit power lines and 5 people died.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-57624698

By the way, I don't really read anything spooky into this. Millions of people have random conversations everyday, but obviously they don't remember them if no strange coincidence happens. Inevitably, the laws of chance say that coincidences happen - and when they do we remember them and they get shared, biasing our perception of how often coincidences occur.

@missmopple

If there were no such thing as coincidence then there wouldn't be a word for it

I get that, but the odds of me looking up a place name which I've never, ever had reason to look up before, at precisely the same moment my husband asks "where's X" because of the horse racing must be pretty slim.

I know it is coincidence and there's nothing 'woo' about it, but I'm vaguely musing on the scientific odds

Similar has happened loads of times before where I'm reading a book and a word I'm currently reading is mentioned on TV or the radio or in conversation going on in the same room, but I guess that is pretty common.

@SkepticalCat

I was just being light-hearted - coincidences can be spooky.

We had a similar thing last night. Having a little quiz about bars and nightclubs from the past and OH mentioned an unusual sounding pub name. We put the TV on a few minutes later and there was a music programme on with footage from the exact same pub.

I was answering some pre-op questions a few weeks ago. The nurse asked me my date of birth. I told her and then thought to myself “the next thing she’s going to say is that her birthday is on the same date”.

And she did and it was :)

Another one which is not so much coincidence as, well, I don’t know as what really, happened a couple of years ago when my Dd was away on holiday.

I was home alone and upstairs when I heard her hiccough downstairs. I was wondering why she was home from holiday early and hoping she was ok when she rang me. I said “oh that’s strange, I was just thinking about you, I could’ve sworn you were downstairs hiccoughing”. And she said “Well I’m still in Spain so you can’t have heard me - but I AM hiccoughing!”

Some years ago I was taking my DC to go on the pedalos in a park near us. Half of the pedalos were red dragons; the other white swans (you can probably guess where it is from that!) anyway, in the car we were talking about which one to go on and couldn't decide. When we were almost there I randomly switched on the radio. The song playing was "Ride a White Swan" by T Rex... so we did!

I was sat in a cafe once writing a birthday card to an aunt. I was just addressing the envelope, the house name is 'Wildwood'. Literally as I wrote the word the DJ announced the next song was Wildwood by Paul Weller. Freaked me Out!

I used to have someone phone my house years back and ask to speak to Ruby happened numerous times so just put it down to the fact we had similar phone numbers , when I was in hospital giving birth to my daughter and the midwife was asking for my phone number she then said that's very similar to my mums number who was called Ruby🤨

[quote missmopple]@SkepticalCat

I was just being light-hearted - coincidences can be spooky.

We had a similar thing last night. Having a little quiz about bars and nightclubs from the past and OH mentioned an unusual sounding pub name. We put the TV on a few minutes later and there was a music programme on with footage from the exact same pub.[/quote]
Ah sorry

That's a weird coincidence too.

My DH and I both have a parent with the same birthday, they were born exactly 10 years apart, always thought that was a weird coincidence!

I was once waiting for my then boyfriend in the pub. When he arrived he jokingly went "is anyone sitting here", and I said "I'm just waiting for someone but you can sit there". Then keeping the game going he asked "what's your name and where are you from?" To which I replied "my name is (different name) and I live in (different place)."

His face when I said this was because I had just described his ex girlfriend!

And I had just plucked the name and place out of thin air and had no idea about the ex girlfriend

When my brother was at university, they had shared rooms. Luckily he got on with his room mate! But half way through the term they discovered by accident that our Grandmother lived in the same town room mate had as a child. In fact, they had been next door neighbours... and they had played together as children.

Oooh love a good coincidence!

My dh used to travel abroad quite frequently and if time, money and work allowed, I would go with him. One morning, while he was at work, I was being a tourist and wandering around the lovely French town we were staying in when a lady passed by me. She was in full formal work suit - pencil skirt, blouse, tailored jacket - and was riding a scooter with a briefcase hanging off the handle. Not an electric scooter or anything, but an actual scooter you propel yourself with one foot, and she was going at quite a speed, which I found very impressive considering the skirt! I thought it was pretty unusual. Anyway, late that evening, dh and I were eating a meal outside a little cafe, chatting about our day. I said, 'oh, guess what I saw this morning' and proceeded to describe the lady and her mode of transport, and LITERALLY as I finished the description and before he'd had chance to respond, around the corner comes a lady in a business suit, riding a scooter with a briefcase hanging off the handle. If I had planned it, I couldn't have timed it any better. No idea if it was the same lady or if scooters were a regular form of transport in that particular town but it was very coincidental and dh and I couldn't believe it!

I regularly ring my Mum just after she has announced to my Dad that she is going to ring me... Freaks my Dad out.. 🤣

I was in dunelm... Spotted tablecloth I fancied.. As lady cut it she commented that she had just sold same tablecloth to another pregnant woman (I was 25 weeks gone).... Got home as neighbour I hadn't seen for weeks also arrives home... She turns around.. Pregnant... And then pulls the same tablecloth out of her car! 🤰🤔😜

Cut to size so we both had to have matching for a while...

A couple of years ago DS went to World Book Day as James Bond
When we joined the main road from our street to drive to school we found ourselves behind an Aston Martin DB7, which we followed until we turned off into the school carpark
Never seen one before or since

When I was little, a girl used to visit her aunt across the road regularly.

Being a similar age we used to play together in her aunts house and mine.

She even had her birthday parties at her aunts house that I went to.

Her aunt and uncle split up and I stopped seeing her.

Jump forward 20 years and I'm with now DH, whose brother was coming to get us from my parents house.
On giving directions, street name etc. his brother knows exactly where it is, as his ex-gf sister used to live on that street, yep the aunt!

Turns out I must have met DH and his brother several times in my childhood, as BIL was with the girls mum for quite a few years.

Really bizarre.

Over 20 years ago I had a fling in London with an Australian guy (let's call him B). We chatted about Australia and he gave me the idea to visit someday. We lost touch but about 18 mths later I got a working holiday visa and went to live in Sydney.

A few months later I had a day off work during the week and took myself to Bondi beach. I lay back listening to music for a while but it was hot. I sat up to drink some water and walking in front of me about 10 meters away was B. I jumped up and called his name and we chatted for 30 mins or so. He had moved back to Australia.

Three years after that I was back in London and drinking coffee with my boyfriend in a Starbucks in a different part of London to where B or I lived when we had had our fling. As I chatted to my boyfriend I glanced around the Starbucks and there standing in the queue was B! As I was with my boyfriend I didn't call out to him that time.

He was tall dark and handsome so pretty eye catching but the chance of randomly crossing paths on both sides of the world over 3 years is quite a coincidence. I sometimes wonder if I have missed seeing him another time...

Having a conversation about some (sometimes unusual) item.
The next day advertisements for said item appear on my phone.

I don't believe these are coincidences.

Do you ?

@shrugshrug

Having a conversation about some (sometimes unusual) item. The next day advertisements for said item appear on my phone.

I don't believe these are coincidences.

Do you ?

No, that’s an electronic device listening and then targeting specific ads at you.

I know.
Despite those electronic device manufacturers denying they are listening devices.