He's not called Steve, is he?

[MasterBeth]

Do some people on Mumsnet not realise how big the internet is?

There's a post on here today about a rowdy family on a UK beach and someone's reply is "It's not Polzeath, is it?"

What are the chances, eh?

It's like when someone posts about a grumpy shop assistant and someone answers "Do they work in Tesco Express in Hull?"

Or someone mentions their terrible boss and the reply comes in "Are their initials P.H?"

AIBU in thinking the people who post these things have the most restricted and delusional worldview?

on a couple of occasions though I’ve seen a post and did recognise it, it can happen. Someone was moaning about teens on the beach and I happened upon them myself, she’s put a couple of outing things that’s are fairly unique to the geography, I asked a question that the reply meant I was right. Another post I recognised who it was again unusual circumstances

My mum was in Las Vegas & had someone ask her if she knew X, she did.

I agree. People who won’t say what their husband’s “hobby” is because it’s outing-when it is either cycling, football or D&D….

However here is a tale that may surprise you. Many years ago my new boss went on a retreat in India, he got talking to and made friends with a guy who he found out was my sister's boyfriend. They realised the connection when my boss named the city he was from. Sister's boyfriend said "my girlfriend's sister lives there, her name is LifeoMars, don't suppose you know her" to which my new boss replied that he had just inteviewed and appointed me . I live in a medium sized city and sister and bf live in London and the conversation happened in India!

The world is a small place but it drives me mad on here sometimes.

Someone will say their ex has 2 DCs, is 35 and been married once - probably well over 1 thousand men in the uk could fit this description and someone will say “I think this is my DP/ex”, “are his initials WS” - like how would you ever possibly think it’s connected to you with such little information.

I do think many posters assume they know a lot of posters though.
I’ve read a few times of posters believing they know someone in RL.
Obviously some threads are very outing but most posters change enough that it can no way be linked to their RL.

Is that you, Samantha?

Me. I know her.

I’m from Canada and I volunteer in an NT second hand bookshop. At least once every shift someone will ask:
A: what part of America are you from? (Grrrrr!)
B Canada! I have a cousin/aunt etc in Winnipeg/Vancouver/Moose Jaw. Do you know them? (Winnipeg is 2,200 kilometres from my hometown)
I don’t really mind about the cousins but I do mind being called American.

My dads boss walked into the post office, as he new my dads wife’s dad lived in the town and said “ he has 4 daughters”

they told him were he lived

this was 1960s so before gdpr

he just wanted to call in as they were passing through on their way to Cornwall

the town was only 8000 residents

my mum had moved to Lewisham to be with my dad

You say that but I met the best friend of my nephews dad while on a boat off a distant Cambodian island. And one of my step mums cousins while scuba diving off Colombia.

There’s a reason for the saying ‘small world’.

I find this fascinating in all honesty. I identified my poor cousin on a Mumsnet thread once a few years ago. Not long after that she died from an alcohol related illness, which was so tragic and upsetting. I sometimes, but not recently read back at her posts looking for some insight into what she was going through or what more could I do to support her. She never did find out that I’d “ outed “ her..

It was definitely her. The user name was similar to her real life very unusual nickname.

I wonder how often it happens.

Are you eating cheese too late at night?

I’m sorry this really made me laugh.

Years ago a friend who was into this medium/clairvoyant nonsense asked me to go to a session with her. She was determined to break my scepticism about it all. I sat in a draughty community hall filled with mainly middle aged women and the Medium started saying she could see an elderly woman…has anyone here lost their mother. Unsurprisingly, given the average age of the audience, a number of people put their hand up and my friend gave me a triumphant look.

The Medium then delivered some amazingly insightful comments like “your mother is saying don’t worry about the money” or “I’m getting the sense someone here is worried about their child”. Not generic guesswork at all then🙄

My friend has easily spent over £10k on this chicanery over the years.

Reminds me of a reading my Mum had from a medium years ago when I was about 16. This lady confidently informed my Mum I’d soon get into a long term, serious relationship with an older man who had a good job/was quite well off and I would very quickly choose to move away down South to live with him. And the biggest bombshell…..my Dad would apparently take a visceral dislike and exception to this fella, purely because he was black, resulting in me becoming estranged from my Dad….!

Firstly, my Dad is the furthest thing from a racist you’ll meet. Secondly, whilst I did shortly get a boyfriend (for 2 years during college for my A levels), he was only 2 years older, white and ended up getting me in debt through constantly borrowing money from me and never repaying it! Thirdly, and almost 3 decades later, I’ve actually never been in any serious relationship with a black man, with the most notable dalliance happening about 20 years ago on a works night out with a colleague from a different department, that didn’t go beyond a couple of drunken snogs and a brief over the clothes fondle.

Suffice to say I have very little faith in mediums / psychics / fortune tellers etc.

You're not my old dinner lady from primary school, are you?

What’s worse is when people on here assume that all other posters live in London.

OP - “I have a problem”
reply - “I know this great trainer in Croydon you could pop and see”

OP - “AIBU to wish I could find somewhere to jog”
reply “what about Hampstead heath? That’s where I jog”

I remember a thread once where a woman was dealing with an aggressive dog and one reply said “you are being unreasonable to walk an aggressive dog, especially in London!” …. The op never mentioned bloody London! Turns out she lived in Northumberland 🤦‍♀️

The UK is a big place people and most of us don’t live in bloody London (thankfully)

This is nothing like the circumstances I started the thread with.

I’ve seen two people I know IRL on here. One a close friend and we were pregnant at the same time. Another was my (not very nice) SIL who had posted about her boob job and some gynae issues 🥴

Both of them had given some outing details but I also work with writers, so I’m quite attuned to ‘voice’ I guess…

I agree OP, it’s like people starting threads with, ‘has anyone else got this horrible bug going round’??

I mean I don’t know Sue, it’s might be ‘going round’ near you but the vast majority of posters will be nowhere near you, even if you did happen to be in the UK 🤣

This has reminded me of years ago when my sister used to work on directory enquiries and loads of people used to ring in and ask for the number of the people who live at number xxx, or the number of the takeaway on the corner, or the people who live next door to the Smiths at number xx or whatever. And they’d often argue when told sorry I can only find someone by name and by the way I’m in a completely different town, no idea where your takeaway is etc.

Random things hsppen everywhere
About 30 year ago my parents went to my cousins wedding in Adelaide they had decided to make a proper trip and travel around Australia
They bumped into the Best man and his gitlfriend when they were visiting Sydney
And one night when they were on a Bar in Cairns they were talking to a couple
And the women was telling them she was a property manager
And was describing this house she had just rented out to a group of student Nurses in Sslford
My mum thought the house sounded quite familiar and on further questioning
Established it was the same house i had moved out of a few months previously when i quslified as a nurse!

Yes. I know loads of Irish people who know lots of Irish people. I used to be able to walk into any pub anywhere in Ireland with my cousin, no kidding, the landlord always knew my cousin by name.
It is not unusual for several hundred people to turn up at an Irish funeral.

I get this way too often.

Twice, I’ve actually known the person 😂
Once was in Cape Verde, where we got speaking to a couple from Lincolnshire who had friends on Anglesey. I knew them.
The second, I work in the North West of England and visited a site, the site was next to a place called Bryn, I remarked that it meant ‘hill’ in Welsh and everyone was dumbfounded that I was from Wales as my accent has disappeared. A woman then asked if I knew her son without even asking where I was from, I laughed and said Wales is a big place… But yes, I did.

Its really weird eh, i just remembered I was in oban about 25 years ago and walking down the street and I bumped into a friend from the same town as me, i thought I was seeing things and shouted out his name with a is this real look. Turned out he had been seeing a girl from there 🤣.

Back to Ireland again. In a tiny shop, in a tiny village in the middle of nowhere; I happened to mention Broadstairs. Broadstairs of all places. A voice piped up 'Do you know Broadstairs?' I spent the next 10 minutes talking to a random man about Broadstairs. He was Irish, he had worked in Broadstairs. I used to go there on holiday as a child. It was like meeting a long lost friend and discussing Broadstairs.