"Small World" stories

Just reading the thread on being related to famous people where 2 wols realised they're both related to the same person. Has anyone else any "small world" stories? It always baffles me how people can meet out of nowhere but there's a major connection. Here are a few that always stick with me: When I started going out with hubby and my dad heard his surname, he just said to hubby oh I knew a man, bla bla. They realised there was a huge connection. My dad used to work with this man who he became really good friends with. This man died a good few years ago, but it turned out that he was actually hubby's dad's uncle. My dad was even at my hubby's grandfather's funeral as he was this man's brother. He probably even sympathised with my now FIL. Plus my dad worked with my FIL's cousin in another job for years and he would have been a good family friend. It's very weird because these people were in our lives for so long, and I always think little did I know when I was 5 or 6 going into my dad's work with him on days during summer hols that the man sitting in the corner was my future FIL's cousin! Another one is, one time I was in San Diego on holiday with friends. We were queuing to get into this bar and there was a gang of people outside smoking. Myself and my friends were chatting and laughing and this guy turns around and says "that's a Cork accent anyway". We were chatting away and I asked him where he was from. He told me (it's a small village in West Cork), and I said oh I know one person living there, he said who, and when I told him he nearly collapsed. The guy I knew was his brother! Anyone else have any sceils??

I was in a bar in Tokyo a couple of years back. In a city of 32 million people there are hundreds and thousands of pubs and restaurants dotted about the place. We were in North Tokyo in a part of the city that westerners don't go to that often. I was with a work group so was the only none Japanese person in the place. The place was packed (about the size of copperface Jacks!) and the bar man thought it would be great for me to meet the only other non-Japanese person in the bar that night.. They bring him over and for as long as I live I will never forget that moment for there, staring back at me was my very first love. This guy was my dream man, I adored him and he had left me to tour the world. I had no idea he was in Asia, let alone Tokyo. In fairness he was pretty blown away too, the Japanese thought it was kismet . We left very quickly after that for a very steamy night (those Japanese hot springs ya know!!)

I was in a pub in San Francisco, having a drink with a friend, we were there for a while when we noticed some pictures on the wall, old photos, there right beside us was a picture of my friend's dad when he was a young fella.... it was just so weird, she just looked at it and said o my god that's my father and my uncle in that photo. In fairness it was an Irish American bar, but it was a photo from the 50's of some local hurling team. It was really nice, we were telling everyone that would listen to us.

[quote="summer daisy":32398ukc]I was in a bar in Tokyo a couple of years back. In a city of 32 million people there are hundreds and thousands of pubs and restaurants dotted about the place. We were in North Tokyo in a part of the city that westerners don't go to that often. I was with a work group so was the only none Japanese person in the place. The place was packed (about the size of copperface Jacks!) and the bar man thought it would be great for me to meet the only other non-Japanese person in the bar that night.. They bring him over and for as long as I live I will never forget that moment for there, staring back at me was my very first love. This guy was my dream man, I adored him and he had left me to tour the world. I had no idea he was in Asia, let alone Tokyo. In fairness he was pretty blown away too, the Japanese thought it was kismet . We left very quickly after that for a very steamy night (those Japanese hot springs ya know!!)[/quote:32398ukc] Did you marry him?

I was in NY a few years ago and met a work colleague on top of the empire state building - we didnt know the other was going to be there. also when i was small and we did the "family Sunday Drive" around the countryside my h2b's house was my landmark that i was nearly home. it was very strange the first time i went to his house - when we got there and i saw the house i couldnt believe it.

[color=indigo:36hwhv7r]I had a french exchange when I was 14. When she came to Ireland she forgot her book. My Mum said she had one french book that she could read while she was here. Turned out it was the exact same book she was reading back in France!!![/color:36hwhv7r]

i've another one a few years ago someone sent in an old postcard to the local newspaper. they'd bought the postcard in a junk shop in sydney. anyway there was a picture of a few shops in our town and standing in the front door of one of the shops was my dad when he was about 14. it was really strange because he never knew his picture was even taken.

Oh the photos story just reminded me of another one. I was the states for a summer and we went to Ocean City in NJ for a weekend. The first night we were there we went to this nightclub that had photos all over the wall as you walk in the door. I walked straight up to one photo on the wall and it was one of my friend who had been there for the summer but was gone home. There were hundreds of photos on the wall, but it was this one that I picked out. Oh this happened to a girl I know. Her and her boyfriend had split up and he was in the states for a summer and there were houses in the same area full of Irish people....I was in one of them, this is how we became friends. We all hung out together. He went home and they got back together. Anyway about 2 years later my friend was visiting her own buddy in the states and they went to this house party. My friend was in the kitchen and she nearly collapsed. There all the wall were photos of her boyfriend, his friends, ME and my friends that I had gone over with. She had never met the girl whose house it was so she was totally freaked out. Anyway it turned out she had been staying in one of the houses near us but had never stayed in contact with anyone. We all found it a bit weird that 2 years later she had photos of us all over her walls in a house she was renting in the states for 2 months.

sis was on holiday abroad where she lives and she found an Irish passport. She rings me as the girl is from cork and i ask the guy i work with and he says I know her she used to babysit my kids! the girl was doing a work exchange for a year in that country.

[quote="Madgie":30uljogk] We all found it a bit weird that 2 years later she had photos of us all over her walls in a house she was renting in the states for 2 months. [/quote:30uljogk] bit of a bunny boiler there i think