It's a small world...thread.

[DrSwade]

Seems I have seen this thread before but here goes:

I started working a job in here in Texas a few weeks ago. During a staff meeting I mentioned that I had been living in Mexico. One of my people asked where, what was I doing, etc. Seems his brother lives in Cabo. I thought "small town but..."
I asked his brother's name and before he could answer I immediately recognized the similarities and mannerisms. Not only do I know his brother but we worked at the same resort, on the same table, selling a specific client some real estate.
I know his brother very well!
Worth a chuckle.

Still, the best small world story I have is:

My buddy Smitty and I were in Malgrat de Mar, Spain in 1985 for two weeks. We were both statined in Scotland at the time. One night we met and harpooned these Danish whales back at our rented condo. They were visiting from Copenhagen that first week we were in Spain.

Nearly two years later, Smitty is stationed in Long Beach, Ca. on the USS New Jersey BB-62. His at a seriously hole-in-the-wall C&W bar called "The Hollywood".
From across the dance floor he hears "SCOTT, is dat yoooooooo?"
His hot hunka 90 kilo Danish love is right there. Onboard some Merchant Marine vessel.
REAL small world!

What do you lot have?

 

[Bay Arean]

On a five week trip to England and Scotland back in 1985, my ex-wife and I were sitting in Yorkminster (York Cathedral in York England) listening to an Evensong service because we wanted to hear some live singing. Dude comes up and sits in pew in front of us. It was a guy we had sang choral music with a local Berkeley chorus, and who was also a librarian at the Bancroft, where I had been doing some research. Both of us were on our own self-styled tourist trip and just happened to be there at the same moment in the close proximity. I thought that was pretty weird.

 

[NorCalAthlete]

First duty station was in Korea. Found out a guy I knew from middle school and high school was in the same battalion, different company.

Got to Texas next. Found out another mutual friend (of both me and the guy from Korea, who ended up at the same base too after Korea) from middle and high school was also there. Then ran into one of my sister's friends at the base BK. Then ran into a high school friend's ex-gf at O'Reilly's auto.

Deployed to Iraq. While passing through Kuwait, waiting in line at the DFAC saw the guy's CA DL in front of me when he pulled out his ID card for head count, home address was HMB. Tapped him on the shoulder, turned out I knew him too.

Aunt remarried, moved from Colorado to Utah. New uncle came out to HMB to visit, loved it, bought an HMB t shirt. Wearing it at a store in Utah, girl at some store he's shopping at goes "hey, I grew up in HMB." He explains he just married my aunt, who has family in HMB (us) etc (completely different last names and everything). She goes "oh hey, I wonder if she knows the [insert my family here]s". He's like "uh....yeah. That's her family." Turned out to be a girl I went to pre-school with and grew up with.

 

[Bay Arean]

Geez, Pete! That's pretty unintentionally impressive!

 

[sckego]

In the summer of '98, my family took a vacation to Europe: Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, France... we ended up arriving in Paris a day after the giant parade down Champs Elysee for Les Blues' victory in the World Cup.

Some years later, wifey (then-gf) and I are trading stories about places we've been, vacations we've been on, and it turns out she was on vacation with her family at that same time, and ended up in Paris at the same time as us. And before that, Switzerland. And before that, Italy. And before that... etc. A full multi-week vacation around Europe, and we were in the same places at the same dates the whole way. Who knows, we might have bumped into each other on the Spanish Steps or somewhere, having no idea that we'd end up married one day. I guess it doesn't *quite* fit in with this thread since we didn't actually meet, but still a funny coincidence...

 

[DrSwade]

Similar to this ^^^
A person who I met in Navy A School at T.I. and has been my best friend since 1984 turned out to be living in Ft Worth during the same period (81-83), going to same bars, seeing same bands and going to same concerts at exactly the same time. We both quit our jobs and moved back to California and then joined the Navy.

Boot Camp, school and first duty station together.

As for NorCal's post, I have never ever met another person anywhere with my surname, except of course direct family, reunions, etc.
I did deploy with a guy who's family was the other side of a feud with my family in Tennessee which is considered the most famous just behind the Hatfield-McCoy.

 

[injun]

Indeed it is and if your lucky and get old like some of us ( hey Ernie ) it happens more and more.

So back in the early 70's small town in the Sierras my wife was the town librarian and I was the town hippy, she started a program for the kids giving them money for cans and bottles as it was a poor town, so many moves to different states over decades we end up in SF.

And just down the street is a bike shop and after a few years they invite me in for a after hours get together and some beers, well I like to know where every one is from and this one guy that lives on site says you never heard of this one and I say try me he names the town, so I tell him of our adventures there and who she was he looks at me:wtf and he described her to a t, he was one of those kids a few weeks later I brought her in and he had the biggest smile on still close 8-9 years later.

 

[Eldritch]

My pop was from the Bronx and stationed in Germany during Vietnam. His best pal Frank was another grunt from Pennsylvania no where near the Bronx. Parties, good times, Kaiserslautern in the early '70's baby. Frank got transferred, war got over, tours got wound down. Pop went back to NY, moved to SF. Met an SF native and got married. Moved back to NY be be close to family and I was born. SF girls don't NY very well, too aggressive so we moved back to the Bay when I was a kid. Pop hasn't heard from Frank since the war.

Many years later, I told my pop I had this real girlfriend I was really into when I was a teenager. He asked me her name, then with a rasied eyebrow he asked me her dad's name. Long story short, turns out that Frank moved to CA, got married and settled in Sonoma County and the first chick I ever laid was Frank's daughter.

How is that for a mindfuck in the small world?

 

[clutchslip]

Thai Hotel in Bangkok. I was a semi-permanent resident. No one spoke more than 6 words of English, except me. Coming back from a business trip, I head to the pool for some relaxing sun and there is a long haired European man lying there. I say, "Hello", in American, and he says "Hi", back in American. Turns out we were in fifth grade together in So Cal. It don't get much smaller than that. :laughing

 

[asdfghwy]

When I was taking a physics course last semester I wore a 'free palestine' shirt and some guy commented on it after class just simply told me "nice shirt". We started talking, turns out he was born and raised in the same village as all my family in Jerusalem and is best friends with all of my 1st cousins. When he started naming my entire family my jaw pretty much dropped.

Small fucking world

 

[Ogier le Danois]

One of my employees here in Denver spent her summers on the farm next door to the one my great grandmother grew up on. Albert Lea, MN. Her grandad used to milk their cows.

 

[sanjuro]

Well, riding up Estudillo right now, I saw a guy on a yellow K1200R.

Think it was Cincinnatus?

http://bayarearidersforum.com/forums/member.php?u=2131

 

[V4]

i was at a wine bar book store...

bumped into a woman who looked very familiar...ask if she grew up in brooklyn and she said she's never been to new york but asked if i was ever in boise since i also looked familiar to her...told her never been there so we both agreed it must of been 2 other people who recognized each other from someplace else...

 

[Mike95060]

When I was taking a physics course last semester I wore a 'free palestine' shirt and some guy commented on it after class just simply told me "nice shirt". We started talking, turns out he was born and raised in the same village as all my family in Jerusalem and is best friends with all of my 1st cousins. When he started naming my entire family my jaw pretty much dropped.

Small fucking world

That guy was actually a Mossad agent.

 

[Eldritch]

That guy was actually a Mossad agent.

One could hope.

 

[bergmen]

I attended Canadian Academy in Kobe, Japan from 1958-1960 (4th and 5th grade). One of my classmates (Tim) was a member of a Christian Missionary family, I stayed at his house a few times.

Fast forward to 1997 and a coworker and I were having dinner at the Union Oyster House in Boston and he overhears the gentleman (Tom) at the table behind us speaking fluent Japanese to his wife (he is Caucasian). We were on a business trip from California at the time.

Conversation went something like this as we all got up to leave:

Coworker: "You speak Japanese very well, did you live in Japan?"
Tom: "Yes, I lived in Kobe as part of a Christian Missionary family."
Me: "You went to Canadian Academy, didn't you?"

He did, turns out he was the youngest brother of my buddy in the 5th grade. I was able to describe the house he was born in. We were both stunned speechless.

Dan

 

[corndog67]

In 02, i tripped around the country for a couple years in a truck with 2 motorcycles in the back. I was in the upper peninsula of Michigan, rented a motel room, the lady saw my CA drivers license with a Marina address, and said she grew up in Fort Ord, where I was born. She knew many of the same people I knew. Both of us knew all about the Monterey Peninsula. Here it was, 2200 miles away, and we run into each other. I wish I had a story about her coming to my room and screwing my brians out, but it didn't happen, just couldn't get her to come to my room.

A while back, maybe 5 years, I went to a bike night in San Luis, a Triumph celebration of some sort, and I meet a guy that says he owns the Ace Cafe in London. I figure, yeah right. So, here it is, last month, there is a special on the Ace Cafe. And there he is. Sorry I doubted you, brother.