Perhaps the craziest coincidence I ever heard of was this: Many years ago, long before cell phones… there was a guy… let’s call him Bob, who worked somewhere downtown, and parked his car in the same reserved spot, in the same multi-story parkade — for years. His spot was near the booth at the entrance, where the booth guy worked many years as well… so the two got to know each other quite well. Always a good morning and good night on the way in and out, and sometimes Bob would stop to chat.
One particular evening, the two were chatting when the phone in the booth rang… which was unusual; there were never many incoming calls. The booth guy said excuse me to Bob and took the call… which was a wrong number, someone looking for “Bob”. As a joke, the booth guy handed the phone to Bob and said “It’s for you.”
Bob laughed and answered the phone…. “Hello…” — and was met by the voice of his wife, asking him to stop at Safeway to pick up a few things because they were having some friends over for dinner. An astonished Bob said sure honey, whatever… but wait… how did you reach me at this number? Turns out the wife had mis-dialled… turns out Bob’s office number and the booth number were very similar, and she’d simply dialled the wrong number… and found who she was looking for anyway. A crazy coincidence.
My crazy coincidence story is not quite so crazy — but it’s pretty good. About 10 years ago, I was in a meeting — one of these big board room meetings, lots of people, lots of lawyers. I was a little early, so I walked in, picked a spot and sat down. I looked around and with a few minutes to spare, doodled a bit and, for fun, started doing some mental math on how much this meeting was costing someone…. that guy is $300/h, that guy is probably $600/h… and that’s one of the partners… I wonder what he bills out at…
Anyway, as I sat there idling my brain, some lawyer sat down next to me an we introduced each other, and get to chatting… he was older… maybe 15 to 20 years older than me; idle chat, turns out he’s from Vancouver, turns out we grew up in the same neighbourhood… and, turns out we grew up on the same street. I ask him where, he says between X and Y streets…. Hey, me too! Which actual house? He gives me the address and… yeah. Wow. The house I grew up in. The house my parents bought in 1974 from a guy… I remember the name… something like let’s say Dr. Smythe… yes, same last name as this lawyer. My parents bought the house from this guy’s dad, so now we’re talking about the house itself and, of course, his bedroom… became my bedroom. How’s that for a crazy coincidence.
Want to know something that isn’t a crazy coincidence? The 4,000 new cases in Florida yesterday. The overcrowded Florida ICUs. The Apple stores, recently re-opened, now shutting down again in a number of states (including Florida), because of alarmingly high rising numbers. Also not a coincidence will be the fallout from tomorrow’s campaign rally in Tulsa.
Whereas in the past, we’ve been able to figure out by careful analysis what “super-spreader” events occurred, leading to massive breakouts… this is the first time we’ll be able to proactively predict one. The volatile, crowded mix of Trump supporters in a closed environment? No masks and lots of yelling? This is COVID-19’s dream scenario. It’s so scary, even if you’re watching from away on a screen… wear a mask.
Oklahoma has a population of 4 million. B.C. has a population of 5 million. No B.C. numbers today, but yesterday… Oklahoma had 450 new cases. B.C. had 8. Let’s re-visit these numbers in a couple of weeks… curious what we’ll see. Oh, big spike in Oklahoma… that’s kind of surprising, right? Hey, remember that rally… think it’s related? Nah. Just a coincidence.
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I was thinking this same thing today … not as entertainingly as you Horatio ;} … but I was thinking it. I was also thinking that if tracking gets put in place some direct links will become obvious right down to individuals … maybe.
i can hardly wait to see if they wear masks while attending the TRUMP rally . they did have to sign wavers , one man who spent 60 days in hospital but lived recently got his bill as he left it was over one million dollars , good thing he has the money to save his life .Hope TRUMP supports all have very good medical insurance which will over ride the waiver they all signed .
Trump rally June 20th, 14 days later . . . July 4th. Let’s see how the celebration goes!
I hope one day you add Professional Writer to your endless list of accolades. ????
And I’d like a copy of whatever it is you write, please. ????????
1. I’ve never had the corona virus.
2. I’ve never been to a Trump rally.
But if I get #1 I’m definitely going to #2
????
Our friends to the south have provided the world’s epidemiologists with hundreds of Petri dishes, each with a different set of experimental parameters, and populated by hundreds of millions of unwitting experimental subjects. Many of them will die, and many will survive and be reduced to penury. We will learn a lot. But what a price!
That house story was a new one. Amazing coincidence.
But as we are about data, this tonight:
https://apple.news/Anqso3m-cQPWiHoCn-KvTwA
If you you ever needed more proof that Trump supporters are delusional (that’s the kindest word I could think of) then this rally is it
the big question is…. will you be watching that rally??
Yes, the spikes and surges are not surprising. Nor is the lack of correlation between knowledge and intelligence – and the denial of reality. What is a bit surprising is that fear has not shaken more folks into conscious grasping of the scientific evidence. I think what we’re seeing is that fear of being ostracized by one’s social silo, and the perception that an open economy is the safest bet, are more powerful than fear of this untamed virus. I think it’s fear of financial devastation that is winning over fear of physical health impact.
Love your small world stories. Someday I’ll share mine. I often think of these episodes in terms of human archaeology – our remarkable layers of overlap.