Weirdest Coincidence Ever?

Today was the weirdest day I've had in awhile. I went FamousGhost this morning with my boss to present a final project to a client. I have never been to FamousGhost, or if I have, it was just passing through.

The project involved a photo shoot and bringing in lots of different elements into an interactive online screening video. There were about 8-10 people at the presentation.

I was very involved in all aspects of the project, reviewing photos, meeting the clients, programming the background logic, etc. One of the client's wives was in the photo shoot as we needed a few extra people (I wasn't actually on scene for the photo shoot).

So, we're watching the final piece and they're talking about the video and someone mentions that his wife (we'll call her "Sabe") did a great job, calling her by name. I was thinking "Sabe?" could it be the same one I know? So I said: you're wife's name is Sabe, as in Sabe MaidenName? He looked at me funny and said yeah. I said: whoa! I've known your wife for a long time! My wife and her were pen pals when they were little girls.

So, it was very coincidental that I happened to be in a meeting, in a town I've never been, with a guy who married someone I knew pretty well, and didn't even recognize her in the photos I was working with. In my defense, the photos all feature people in hard hats, safety glasses and other working equipment. I guess you see what you expect to see and I was mostly checking photo quality, color, etc. I looked directly at her in photos but didn't make the connection because it was just completely out of context.

But it gets better!

There were a few females at the meeting. One of them looked kinda familiar. I was thinking that she really looked like one of my more distant cousins. I quickly dismissed this as ridiculous since I had gotten up really early to drive up and had consumed a lot of coffee. Plus, I haven't seen that cousin since she was about six years old and I was about eight. But I couldn't shake the idea that she really looked like my cousin. This seemed even more ridiculous for the fact that we had just figured out that I knew this guy's wife. What were the chances that I knew someone else at the meeting?

So, towards the end of the presentation one of the guys thanked me, by name. At the mention of my name, said girl turned to her friend and whispered something. Her friend immediately looked at me and then back at her incredulously. Then she turned to look at me. Finally I said: "Are you Distantcousin?" And she says "Yes, you're my cousin!"

It was all very funny and strange. We exchanged info as she said she comes this way from time to time. It was neat to meet a family member that I haven't seen for close to twenty years.



The most ironic part of all of this is that I didn't recognize someone I know fairly well in several photographs, yet I recognized someone I haven't seen for years and years almost instantly. I should probably try to sleep more often. The world would make more sense.