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Original poster

What are your, "What a small world!" moments?

113 replies

Chanel05 · 17/08/2023 10:58

I moved a 130 miles away from my home town 10 years ago. I walked into my new teaching job on 1st September. I was introduced to all the staff and one of the staff members said I had an unusual surname but one he had heard before. It turns out, my new colleague had been in my brother's year at our secondary school all those miles away! We chatted about teachers we'd had ourselves and what a coincidence it was.

What are your moments?

OP posts:
Iclyn · 17/08/2023 19:02

Not me but as a kid away with my parents on holiday , my dad would always bump into someone he knew.

pimplebum · 17/08/2023 19:06

I spent a summer working in a seaside cafe and then bumped into a colleague on a beach in Thailand a few month later and thousand of miles away

SpaceRaiders · 17/08/2023 19:07

@LadyPenelope68 🤣 OMG I need to hear more. Did he remember you? What did his wife say?

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Original poster
Chanel05 · 17/08/2023 19:18

These are so fascinating!

Another one I've just thought of actually. I went to a UK theme park with friends whilst I was at uni and we decided to bunk off our lessons for the day to go as it'd be quieter in the working week. Randomly bumped into another group of 3 people of my course who'd also decided to bunk off that day too 😆.

OP posts:
Tilllly · 17/08/2023 19:31

LadyPenelope68 · 17/08/2023 11:51

My “what a small world” moment is also one of my most embarrassing moments 🤣

Passionate, steamy 2 night stand in my early 20’s on holiday in Zante. Fast forward 25 years and I’m a teacher in a Primary School and it’s Parent’s Evening. Dad sits down at the table for the next child in my class, it’s Mr Zante 🤣. Not sure who was most embarrassed, me or him! 🤣

🤣🤣🤣
That's hilarious

LadyPenelope68 · 17/08/2023 19:46

SpaceRaiders · 17/08/2023 19:07

@LadyPenelope68 🤣 OMG I need to hear more. Did he remember you? What did his wife say?

I immediately recognised him, he straight away said “oh, I’m sure we’ve met somewhere before but I can’t quite think where”. It was about half way through the meeting (with me trying to gain my composure) when he definitely had the lightbulb moment 🤣🤣. As they were leaving and I shook hands, he just said Zante? I blushed, nodded and off they went. It wasn’t mentioned again, but I struggled to make eye contact with him if he collected from school and my colleagues thought it was hilarious as they said it was the only time they ever saw me blush! No idea whether he ever told his wife!

BIossomtoes · 17/08/2023 19:47

Two of my friends who I met completely separately under entirely different circumstances recognised one another on my Facebook page. It turned out they used to live in adjoining flats.

Chickenkeev · 17/08/2023 19:53

Meeting neighbours in NY, on the ferry out to Ellis Island, we were from the same estate in Ireland. And my cousin living in the same estate as my husband grew up in. Right around the corner. It was v random!

SpaceRaiders · 17/08/2023 19:55

@LadyPenelope68 I have second hand embarrassment just reading about it, I can’t imagine how you managed to keep a straight face! Although I somehow think you got off lightly, imagine if you were a secondary school teacher?! 🤣

23hol · 17/08/2023 19:57

2 more airport ones:

  1. went on a long haul flight from the UK with a transfer in Abu Dhabi. Bumped into old school friend in Heathrow, had a drink and catch up while waiting for our gates to open, both travelling to different destinations for different reasons (one for work, one for leisure). Turns out both getting the same flight and transitting in Abu Dhabi. Planned to ask to be seated together.. didnt need to as already assigned to sit together (what?!) Good job it was a school friend I liked as there would be many I would hate for this to have happened with. A great journey and got even more hours in abu dhabi together.

  2. Bumper into an old colleague in Heathrow, one that I'd spent a lot of time with at the start of the pandemic when the world was terrified and the death rates were soaring. Spoke a lot about eachothers spouses/families. Had a beer in Heathrow - spouses met. One half of each couple has family abroad and coincidentally both couples were taking their spouse to meet the family (post covid when normality started resuming).

Small world! Both lovely experiences.

Toooldtoworry · 17/08/2023 20:05

My DS has just got engaged. Turns out that her parents knew my parents due to competing in a sport my Mum used to administrate. Not only that but his fiancé's ex went to school with his half brother 50 miles away (My son didn't go to the same school).

itsgettingweird · 17/08/2023 20:09

Went on holiday in south Europe camping for 3 weeks as children.

I had just finished school.

3 days a family turn up who my dad and birther know because she swims with my brother.

2 days later someone from my school turns up and turns out her sibling also swims at the same club as my brother.

4 days after that someone my dad knows turns up with his wife and the man is through swimming.

So everyone in these 4 groups all knew someone from the other group in some way and we all were in the same place for a few days.

We had great fun Grin

WhiteFire · 17/08/2023 20:21

I was in the loos at Meadowhall shopping centre on the way to meet my family for a family occasion (my Dad is from Sheffield and his family are still there) I now live in the NE and my parents in the West Midlands. Next to me was a woman who used to go to my childhood church who had moved quite a few years earlier to Derbyshire. So not only were we both randomly at Meadowhall, we were both in the loo at the same time.

Next one, a few years back we went on holiday, UK seaside about 90mins from home. Sat on the beach, ds's class teacher sat next to us. I think it was worse for her than us and we did pop into them a couple more times in other nearby locations.

Chickenkeev · 17/08/2023 20:28

Chickenkeev · 17/08/2023 19:53

Meeting neighbours in NY, on the ferry out to Ellis Island, we were from the same estate in Ireland. And my cousin living in the same estate as my husband grew up in. Right around the corner. It was v random!

And another, ireland being so small etc, but our neighbours that my kid is good friends with etc, we've known them for ages, but i worked with his sister elsewhere in the country.

Aposterhasnoname · 17/08/2023 20:30

I’ve got two.

First one, I met DH on holiday, he lived in a big city about 100 miles from where I live. He ended up moving to my little town that no one’s ever heard of. A couple of years later he was in our local supermarket when he bumped into someone he’d worked with long before he met me. Turns out she had met a bloke for our little town on holiday and moved over here to marry him. They live just two streets over from us.

Second one, we were on holiday in the canaries and sat on the same sunloungers everyday. The couple next to us did the same, so we were on nodding terms, but didn’t really speak to them. The day after we got home we were filling the car in the local garage and the couple were at the next pump. Turns out that they too live just a couple of streets away.

Jellybean23 · 17/08/2023 20:43

We were in Florida (not at a theme park), having a coffee in the sunshine and our neighbours two doors down walked by.

Niftyswiftie · 17/08/2023 20:46

I went on holiday 300 miles away and bumped into a previous work colleague. What are the chances of that!

bellsandwhistles333 · 17/08/2023 20:47

Holidaying in turkey got chatting to a group of English girls also and found we are from neighbouring cities so lots in common. I explained I was there getting away from a bad break up with a complete narcissist cheater and was told a girl in the other group was going through the same thing.... we got talking....... you guessed it same guy seeing us both at the same time.

We got very drunk and sent him photos of us together with lots of emojis and we are still friends to this day!

Oioicaptain · 17/08/2023 20:47

I bumped into Louis Theroux in a food van queue at a festival. A few weeks later he was sat next to me in a hotel in Portugal. Both occasions were equally awkward!

ResponsibleWalrus · 17/08/2023 20:52

I worked at a law firm with 4 offices. I bumped into a girl from one of the other offices in a cafe in Budapest. We and our partners were the only people in the cafe.

My grandparents were forever bumping into people they knew abroad. The most memorable was a couple who had lived in the same square in Ireland as newlyweds in the 1950s. They hadn't seen them in 30 years and were on the same safari in Tanzania. The other was the time my dad (lived in England) bumped into my grandad (lived in Ireland) in a pub in Swansea. They were both there to watch a Munster rugby match and happened to choose the same pub.

Roosmarjin · 17/08/2023 20:59

Helped moderate a forum years ago and added someone on the team as a Facebook friend.

Needed a guide runner and put out a request via a Facebook page and got talking to a woman. She told me that one of my friends (person mentioned above) is her cousin.

Got lost in London and asked a guy for directions. (I was there for an open day / exploring the area) I bumped into him months later as he was studying at the uni.

Festivfrenzy · 17/08/2023 21:11

LadyPenelope68 · 17/08/2023 11:51

My “what a small world” moment is also one of my most embarrassing moments 🤣

Passionate, steamy 2 night stand in my early 20’s on holiday in Zante. Fast forward 25 years and I’m a teacher in a Primary School and it’s Parent’s Evening. Dad sits down at the table for the next child in my class, it’s Mr Zante 🤣. Not sure who was most embarrassed, me or him! 🤣

Hahahaaaaaa brilliant!

MissHoollie · 17/08/2023 21:17

As a child we lived in the country at the end of a track.
A man used to walk his dog..various dogs over the years to the end of the track twice a day .we knew him very well to say hello to but little else.
We went on holiday to a village on the Highlands 300 miles away and on our first evening went a walk .. who was walking towards us... Dog guy

3luckystars · 17/08/2023 21:22

I’m Irish so this happens a lot!

I walked into a bar in New York and the barwoman says ‘how are ya’ I went to school with her.

PlumpAndGrump · 17/08/2023 21:29

We travelled 200 miles for a concert. Joined the queue early to get near the front. We were second in the queue.
It turned out the group of boys in front of us were also from our town.