Statistics in a Modern World 800
Coincidences 2001

A coincidence is a surprising concurrence of events, perceived as meaningfully related, but with no apparent causal connection. Should we really be surprised by these coincidences? Remember that when so many "unlikely" events are possible, according to the laws of probability, some of them are bound to happen. Like these...

(A.S.) One time at a restaurant we gave them the name Kay Lopez, assuming that no one else would have that name. We wited outside for about an hour for our table. The wait was only supposed to be twenty minutes. Apparently another Kay Lopez came to the same restaurant and stole our table. Once the manager realized the mix up we were seated promptly and all got free desserts.

(M.S.) I used to live in Plum borough and my friend lived directly across the street from me. One year his family moved to Moon Township. Three years later we also moved to Moon Township and we happened to live across the street from each other again. This is odd because the reasons we moved to Moon were completely different and our parents weren't good friends so it wasn't like they planned on it.

(R.Z.) I have a fraternity brother named John Joyce. We hang out pretty frequently. One of my other brothers, Clint, wanted to go to WVU for the weekend. I said I would go, and I told him to get some other people. When Friday came, I asked who was going. He said me, him, and John Joyce. So I went to John Joyce's at 4:00 p.m. and waited, but no one was there. When I went to find Clint, people said he left with John Joyce. Later that night in Pittsburgh I saw John Joyce at Peter's Pub and I asked Where is Clint? He said he didn't know. Apparently Clint had a friend from home named John Joyce and this is who he was talking about the whole time.

(C.B.) Six years ago, my dad bought me a new Toyota Tercel as a going away present when I moved to Pittsburgh. It was the only brand new car that I have ever owned. I had it for only six months when something quite bizarre and coincidental happened. I was in a rush to get ready for work one afternoon but I still needed to go to the bank so that I could deposit a check. Since I didn't have time, I asked my friend Nikki to take my car t the bank and deposit my check while I got dressed. Half an hour after I was supposed to leave for work, I started to get impatient. The phone finally rang. It was Nikki, telling me that she had just rear-ended somebody with my car and the front end was completely ruined. My insurance company agreed to pay for the repairs. The cost was just under the total cost of the car. It took one month for the car to be repaired (she paid the deductible). One week after I got my car back, I was driving, with Nikki in the car, when I rear-ended somebody. I did the exact same damage that she did five weeks before my accident. Unfortunately, this time, the insurance company rendered the car totaled since it had just been repaired. It was a wasted month of labor and money because the car was doomed anyway. Perhaps it just wasn't meant to be mine.

(J.K.) The summer before my senior year of high school, I went to France with about 35 other students from my high school. In France, our tour group was paired up with another French club from Indiana. In that group there were about 40 people in the group. My birthday happened to be one of the days while we were in Paris, and out of 75 people in our traveling group, 3 people all shared my birthday. Myself, a boy from Indiana, and one of his chaperones. It was a great birthday that year! : )

(B.P.) I am a freshman, and when school started in September, I met a girl, Jessica, who lives in my dorm. Jessica and I quickly became friends, and began spending a lot of time together. One night, I was talking on the phone with one of my best friends from high school, who now goes to Clarion University. She was telling me about a kid who she had become good friends with at college. The kid just happened to go to the same high school that Jessica went to. That same night, Jessica talked on the phone to one of her best friends from high school, who also goes to Clarion University. Her friend told her about a girl who he had become good friends with since school started this year. His new friend just happened to go to the same high school that I went to. Later, I called Jessica, and we told each other about our previous phone conversations that night. One of her best friends from high school, and one of my best friends from high school became good friends at college, just as Jessica and I did.

(L.O.) My coincidence is rather interesting because it was so spur of the moment and unexpected. It happened on my very first day of high school (9th grade). I met this really nice girl named Melissa in my homeroom class and we started having small talk. The small talk was about our families, so to make conversation I was telling her how I moved to Pittsburgh a few months ago from Maryland. Melissa then told me how she had family in Maryland. Next I began telling her how I missed my friend in Maryland named Elizabeth Rudolph. All of the sudden Melissa was shocked, she yelled, "Oh my God, that's my first cousin!" I personally was very surprised because I didn't expect that to happen and neither did she. Therefore, this can be defined as a coincidence. We both thought it was interesting how we were discussing family and all along I knew her first cousin. This just goes to show you that you never know who you are going to meet and who you may already know by knowing another person. I think everyone is linked in some way or another.

(S.S.) One year when I was young my family and I went to Ocean City, Maryland. We were taking a stroll on the beach when we ran into my dad's cousin walkiing the other way. He had not seen his cousin in 10 years and was amazed that we happened to be in Ocean City at the same time.

(K.S.) My freshman year I went to the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. On the first day of classes I didn't have time to go to the Cafeteria so I stopped in the Tux Shop, which is a campus-run fast-food place. While I was standing in line I noticed a girl standing across from me who looked familiar. I walked up to her and asked her name. I told her I thought she looked familiar. She told me that she was from New Jersey and that there was absolutely no way I knew her. So all year I left it alone. The last day of classes she approached me and told me that she was looking through her kindergarten pictures. In the first row she spotted me sitting there right next to her. So twenty years later we had moved all over the United States with our military families and then ended up at the same college.

(M.K.) My friend and I joined our respective high school football teams late in the season on the same day, and chose the same number to wear, #32!!

(E.P.) My best friend and I were born on the same day, month, and year in the same hospital. She and her brother were born on the same day (Tuesday), date (7), month, and time (5:43 p.m.) but seven years apart (date of their birth).

(A.M.) I had just moved to Pennsylvania when I was four after living in Houston, Texas since my childhood. Since moving back I had not met someone from the city itself until my first year of high school, 14 years later. Me and this kid were assigned seats next to each other. We started talking about where we were from and coincidentally, we were from the same city of Houston. Amazingly, we were also born on the same day and year. Then to make the story even more bizarre, we found that we were born in the same exact hospital. An unbelievable string of coincidences!

(L.S.) Last weekend, my mom, grandma ("Ammy") (maternal), aunt, uncle, and baby cousin were on our way to Boardman Mall (Ohio) and we got on the subject of my paternal grandma ("Grandma Jo"). Grandma Jo barely has anything to do in my life, and I only see her on Christmas, if even that. We were talking about how "Ammy" always sends me emails and cards and letters at school, while Grandma Jo NEVER sends me anything, and doesn't even send my dad birthday cards. On Monday, it was really weird that Grandma Jo had sent me a letter. No one could have said anything to her because we didn't get back home until late Saturday evening, and the letter would have had to be in the mail by at LEAST Saturday morning to arrive Monday morning. That is my story of coincidence.

(A.S.) It was freshman year of high school. My best friend, Sarah, and I got invited to a party with a bunch of seniors. Besides being so incredibly nervous and excited, we were both worried about what to wear. On our own, we each went out and bought new outfits for the party. I can remember telling Sarah about mine and she told me about hers, and they did not seem alike at all. Considering we were freshmen and did not drive, we had to be dropped off by our parents, but we decided to get dropped off at a different house and walk in together. So, we each had our parents drop us off a few blocks from the party. I arrived first and when Sarah got out of the car, we had the same exact outfit on. Our parents were not there, so we could not get a ride home to change, so we were stuck with nothing else to do but go into the party. It was just about the most embarrassing thing in the world; well, THEN it was!

(C.G.) First day of my computer lab class we had to sit next to our partner for the rest of the semester. After completing the assignment we found out that our last name only differs by the first letter. Her last name was Hillock and mine is Gillock. Then yesterday in class we had to enter our birthdays into the computer and hers is only 3 days earlier. Hers is January 15 and mine is January 18. From this coincidence we have grown to be close friends.

(Kristy P.) I am a volunteer dance instructor for Lisa DiGiorio School of Dance. I teach a little girl whose name is spelled the same as mine, Kristen, then shortened Kristy (which NEVER happens) then we found out that we are distantly related through our grandparents!!

(N.W.) I can't remember anything too fantastic, so I'll just mention the most recent occurrence. I was put in a situation where I needed to find on-campus housing immediately. There was only one slot left in Forbes-Craig. I got in and my one roommate is also an environmental studies major and in my GIS class this semester.

(M.B.) My Dad works for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in downtown Washington, D.C. His office works in conjunction with an office at the Pentagon. He woke up on the morning of September 11th and, for no apparent reason, decided to stay home from work. As he watched the morning news he discovered the terrible events that happened at the Pentagon. He was lucky to be safe in the security of our home. He later found out that two of the women he worked with were "unaccounted for".

When I was ten, my family and I wanted to sell our house and buy a larger one. Our family of five had grown too large for our cozy town-house. We found a house that we wanted to buy, but it was sold to another family because we couldn't find a buyer for our town-house. Needless to say, we were all very disappointed. A few months later another house came on the market because the old woman who lived there passed away. This house was big enough for everyone to have their own room, had a huge yard, and was six houses away from my grandparents! At the same time that house went up for sale, a man placed flyers in people's mailboxes saying that he was interested in buying a town-house in Greenbelt. The timing couldn't be more perfect. He loved our house and could buy immediately. As young children, my sisters and I also felt he was a great person to "take care of our house". The transactions went quickly and smoothly. My family still lives in that house today, and it is a wonderful place to call home. We also became good friends with the man who bought our old house. My Mom still says she can't believe our luck. My sister said it was fate. My Dad says the whole thing was an incredible coincidence. Whatever it was, I'm glad that it happened because there is no better place to call home.

(C.E.) When asked to write a short story of a coincidence that I have personally experienced, the first thing that came to my mind is a dream which both my husband and I shared as a child. I'm not sure if you would consider coincidences in dream life as a legit coincidence, but here is my story. When my husband and I were first dating we would stay up all night just talking about anything present or past. One night we were sharing our stories of dreams we've had. My husband mentioned that he had a dream as a child in which five tall and very strong-looking men wearing army clothes and handling guns came barging into his house. I was immediately surprised because his dream sounded exactly like one I had as a child. But, there's even more to the story. I asked what he did as the men were coming into the house, and he said he hid in the closet. I too hid in the closet.

But wait, there are even more coincidences. He or I were not alone in the closet. I was with a little boy with blonde hair and blue eyes, no one I had ever seen before. He said he was with a little girl with dirty blonde very curly hair and blue eyes, someone he had never seen before. I had always wondered who that little boy was. And, one day after seeing a picture of my husband as a child it all came together. My husband looked just like that little boy I was hiding in the closet with in my dream. I had to quickly find a picture of me as a little girl to show him. And yes, I looked exactly like the little girl in his dream. Approximately 10 years after our dreams occurred we both met. Coincidence? I don't know; I'm still not sure what to make of this.

(C.F.) I have had numerous instances of coincidence in my life however I will just describe the most recent. I am an English literature and Religious studies major and although I have fulfilled the requirements necessary for my English degree I am currently finishing my independent study for my religious studies degree. This requires a student to work one on one with a professor with the topic of the student's choosing. My topic is religious themes in American literature and the professor I decided to work with was Dr. Paula Kane, she specializes in this area. Everything went just as expected on our first meeting, we went over what I would be covering in my proposal and picked a date for our next meeting. At our next meeting however I arrived a little early and while she was busy watering her plants I had a chance to absorb her office decor. I noticed that she had a poster up of a folk singer that had her last name as well. After discovering this woman was her sister I began to inquire about her background. She told me that she lived near Washington, D.C., and I asked where because I live near D.C. as well. She replied in Fairfax and I said I lived in Vienna, just near by. Vienna is a small town and no one really knows where it is unless they have been in that area. She asked if I knew where St. Mark's Church was and I said that that was my church. She laughed and said that church had been her childhood church as well! Just think two people who live in the same city but happen to have grown up a few miles from each other. I would've probably never met her in Virginia but was able to meet her in Pittsburgh, PA!

(S.T.) I went to the University of Delaware my freshman year of college. My first day of classes turned out to be a series of strange coincidences one after the other, two of which I will tell you about. My first class was English I, an 8 a.m. class which I was barely present for. I walked into the classroom and plopped myself down in the nearest seat. The room quickly filled with freshmen students, nervous about beginning their first class, on the first day of the rest of their lives. I saw, in the corner of my eye, a girl sit in the seat next to me but was too tired to look up. The teacher began roll call, and it wasn't until she called out her name that I realized who the girl next to me was---my best friend from childhood who moved to Arizona when we were 12! Needless to say, there was a surprisingly energetic reunion for an 8 a.m. class. We made plans to meet the following night at the dining hall across campus to catch up on old times. While I sat waiting for the bus, I struck a conversation with the guy sitting beside me. As it turns out, Dave moved from Arizona a year before, attended Temple University, and was in town that night to visit a friend. We rode the bus together, got off at the same stop, and walked to the cafeteria. As we were walking and conversing with each other, we realized that he had been living in Bethlehem, Pa. (my home town) for the past year since his move from Arizona! Not only that, but he lived two doors down from my mom and went to my rival high school! He knew many of my friends from that school. And if that wasn't weird enough, when we approached my friend Marcy to introduce them, it turned out that Dave was actually there to visit her! They had known each other in Arizona!

(E.B.) I was at a track meet in N.C. and happened to run into a person I hadn't seen in over 2 years who I used to compete against in high school. We went to different high schools, we never hung out or really ever talked to each other, we just knew of each other. Anyway, I call out his name, and we small talk for about a minute or two. He had no idea who I was, in that I mean he knew who I was, but didn't know my name. So later that day he called his high school coach, who at the same time was my coach too (at my high school) and asked if he remembered my name and gave a description. No response. So he called or rather IM'd a girl he knew, asking about me... gave my description, etc. She happened to be my best friend, my next door neighbor, and we went to the same high school. So she told him my name and gave my IM and we have been together ever since.

(M.B.) It was my friend Sarah's birthday and my friend Liz and I decided to join forces to buy her a present. We waited to find the aboslute PERFECT gift for her, but were hopelessly stumped. We couldn't come up with anything or even a general area in which to begin looking. Then one day, I was out to lunch with my mom and we decided to stop in 3 Sisters, a jewelry store that specializes in unique pieces. That's when I saw something I knew Sarah would love---a beautiful pendant made of her favorite stone, jasper. I decided that I would buy it without consulting Liz because it was the only one there. After lunch, I had my mom drop me off at Liz's, and I excitedly proceeded to tell her about my find. When I was finished, she quietly pulled out a bag from 3 Sisters and pulled out the exact same pendant! I guess they just put a new one out after Liz had bought it and that it is not such a unique store after all!

(M.D.) My coincidence occurred when I went to this party on North Dithridge. While I was at this party, I was dancing with this girl, and I eventually found out later on that night that she was my neighbor last year in the dorms. I never even knew she lived on my floor, it was very awkward.

(R.G.) My mother, D.L.G., has worked for Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield for 20 years. Last year she began to receive phone calls from credit card companies demanding payment for debts. Even though she denied having an account with these companies they continued to call and the charges became more severe. After two weeks of calls my mother learned that there are two other women with the same name working in her building and that the credit card company had failed to check their social security numbers. My mother was off the hook and the real debtor was finally found.

(T.H.) One day, last summer, I went to develop a roll of film I had lying around i my house for a month or so. So, I walked down to the local film developer and gave my roll of film to the One-Hour Photo Lady. I walked across the street and had a delicious Chinese meal, since I had an hour to kill, I ate my meal and thought with excitement and anticipation about the photos that I would get back. (I had completely forgotten what the pictures were of, since it had been over a month or two since I had finished off that particular roll of film.) After an hour was up (I'm a slow eater), I tipped the waitress and walked back across the street to get my film. The One-Hour Photo Lady asked me for my name, and I said, "Troy Heagy." So she went over to their files and pulled out an envelope that was marked "Troy Heagy." I thanked her, paid for my pictures, and left. I walked down the street for some ways before I actually opened up the pictures to look at them. I looked at the first picture, and it was of a guy in a forest on a horse. "That picture is kind-a out of focus," was what I thought to myself. Then I thought about it and said to myself, "I don't really remember taking a picture of a guy on a horse." So I flip through the pictures some more, and they are all filled with strange people, and most of them were out of focus. Totally baffled at that point, I said to myself (and I often talk to myself regardless of the situation), "I don't know any of these people, and my pictures are never out of focus!" So, in humid, 80-degree heat, I marched back to the CVS to ask the One-Hour Photo Lady what she did with my photos, and why I got the wrong ones. "What was your name again?" she asked me with a confused tone in her voice. "Troy Heagy," I said. So, she went back to her files to see where she could have gone wrong. There was a man behind me in ine to pick up his photos, and I remember hoping that I wasn't going to hold up the line for him. The lady came back with another envelope of photos and said, "Let me see your envelope, honey." She looked at both with a most bizarre and baffled look on her face. Finally, she gave me the other envelope and said, "Look and see if these are yours." I looked, and the envelope, also marked "Troy Heagy" on the front, actually did have my pictures in it. I then asked, "Why are these other photos marked "Troy Heagy", then, if they are not mine?" Then, the guy behind me said, "Hey! Those are MY photos!" It turns out that his name was Troy Heagy, too, and this other Troy Heagy had dropped off his film at the same time that I did. (He had the same spelling and everything!) Until now, I had only met one other Troy in the 19 years of my existence on Earth, and it was crazy that I would meet a person with the same exact name as mine in such a manner. The One-Hour Photo Lady, the other Troy Heagy, and I were all a little freaked out by the coincidence, and so I just laughed and said, "Nice to meet you," and then made my way back home. I often tell people this strange tale, and to this day nobody ever believes me, but the One-Hour Photo Lady and I know what really happened on that muggy July day in the year 2001. THE END

(M.M.) My father and brother have the worst luck when it comes to ordering food in restaurants. There is an Italian restaurant in my hometown that my family likes to go to. My dad always orders French fries when we go there, but he never gets them. He always has to order them twice. At first he would get a little upset because it kept happening. After it happened about ten times, he started to think it was funny. Another time my family went to the Dutch Pantry. What my dad ordered was supposed to come with green beans and mashed potatoes and gravy. Well when they brought my dad his plate, there were no mashed potatoes and gravy. My brother was at McDonalds one time. He ordered a big mac and fries. He got his order, went and sat down, and took a bite of his sandwich. He thought that it tasted funny, but he couldn't figure out what was wrong with it. He opened it up to look at it, and there was no meat on the sandwich. It had the special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, and the sesame seed buns, but the two all beef patties were missing. When my father and brother go to eat together, they are lucky to get any food. One time my brother was visiting, so my dad and he went to get some pizza. They ordered and after about 40 minutes, their waitress came back and asked them how everything was. They hadn't even gotten their pizza yet. She went back and checked on it, and it turned out that their order slip fell down behind the counter, so their pizza had never been made. The strangest thing that has happened to my father was one time when he took our car to get fixed. On his way he drove past a Denny's restaurant. He thought to himself, "I think I will stop there and get breakfast on my way back." He never got his breakfast that morning, because when he drove past it on his way home, the whole restaurant had burnt down.

(A.M) My parents and I casually entered the small art gallery, in search of a painting to adorn our kitchen wall. We browsed among many different styles and types of art in this homey setting (Cape May, New Jersey, a picturesque coastal town featuring rows of Victorian houses, is one of my family's favorite vacation spots.) The three of us had often experienced this quest for the perfect painting in the same little art store in years past. Over time, its warm, white walls, brightened by colorful artwork and light, and its friendly owners became familiar. We finally chose an appropriate painting for our kitchen. My mom carried it over to the register while my dad and I continued browsing. She began talking to the nice lady at the counter, who owns the store jointly with her husband. It turned out that they were also residents of Pittsburgh---they only lived a few streets away! We found this interesting because we had been going to their store for years and had never known!

(T.N) A few weeks ago my friends from high school came to visit me. We were at my apartment for a while and then collectively decided to go downtown and hit some shops (shopping). Being that most of my friends that came down that day were guys, they weren't that impressed with the department stores downtown, so the other stores that we decided to go to were music stores. The best music store that's close to downtown and also good for good deals is Ides which is in the Strip District. When we went to Ides, it just so happened that the Donnas were signing autographs in the store, because they were in town. We were able to get autographs and meet the Donnas. It was awesome that for once a coincidence worked out in my favor.

(K.P.) I attended CCAC South for 3 years. During these years I was mistaken for the same person 3 times. The first incident was when a guy who liked me congratulated me on making the Dean's List. I was confused by this because I didn't think that I was on it so I looked in the school newspaper to find out if he was right. I couldn't believe it. The name on the list was almost identical to mine. The woman had the same first name and middle name as me and the only difference in our last names was the last 2 letters. (This occurred in my second year of college.) In my third year of college when I picked up my diploma the woman in the office almost gave me two when I had only applied for one. When I looked at the diploma I saw the other woman's name. As I was leaving the office I opened my diploma to see what it looked like and noticed a high honors sticker. I knew that I had honors, but I didn't think that I had high honors. When I got home I looked at my QPA and added up my grades. No matter how many times and how many different ways I added my grades they didn't add up to a high honor score. The next day I went to the dean's office and spoke with his secretary. She looked at my diploma and then looked my name up in the computer. When she saw my QPA she said that I was right and that I shouldn't have received the high honors sticker. It turns out that again I had been mistaken for this other woman.

(K.P) It was very late in the summer just a few months ago, and I still had not found an apartment to live in for this school year. My roommate and I were very frightened that we would not have a place to live, and we desperately wanted to find another roommate to cut the costs of living in the city because some of our friends had just backed out on us and told us they didn't want to live in the city. We just were not finding any luck. Coincidently, one day my father had bumped into an old friend at the store. His friend said, "Sorry, but I can't talk long because my daughter is in the car. We are headed to Pittsburgh for the day." My father had asked what was in Pittsburgh, and he explained to my father that his daughter had two friends that she was supposed to live with, but they just told her that they didn't want to live in Pittsburgh, so now she didn't have any roommates or a place to live and that she was transferring to Pitt main for the fall semester. They were headed to Pittsburgh to find an apartment for his daughter to live by herself because her friends backed out at the last minute. Then, my dad had explained to his friend that I should meet his daughter because, being in the same exact situation, my roommate and I were looking for an apartment and another roommate to split the costs, and we were both transfer students too. Not being too excited about living with a stranger, we met and hoped for the best. The story turned out that by coincidence our dads had been reunited at some random store at perfect timing, and now my dad's friend's daughter, Carrie, is our new roommate. Everything is working out great with another coincidence involved---Carrie, me and our other roommate are all transfer students from Pitt-Johnstown to Pitt main, but we had never met, which is unusual for such a small campus like Pitt-Johnstown. We share a lot of the same friends, and our new roomie, by coincidence, is working out great.

(G.P.) On October 6, 2001 my friends Venera and Paolo dropped off a film to a photo center in Monroeville; the film contained mainly photos taken during their Labor Day weekend trip to New York City. When they went to pick up their pictures, they were told that the pictures were not ready yet, and that they should wait. A few days later, however, they were told that the pictures were nowhere to be found, and that they should inquire directly with the lab which develops the films. Since they still have problems with the English language, my friends asked me to call the lab; I made the call and here is what happened. The lab had some pictures that a photo center in Monroeville had returned for nobody had claimed them; these pictures were of New York City, and according to the date printed by the camera, they had been taken on Labor Day weekend. In addition, the film had been dropped off at the photo center (the same my friends go to) on October 6. When I heard these details, I became very excited, thinking that my friends' pictures had been found, but when I asked for a description of those pictures my excitement immediately faded: none of the people in the pictures resembled my friends, so they were someone else's pictures. And coincidence in the coincidence, the day I called the lab is the very same day our lecture talked about coincidences.

(M.R.) Last year I decided to study abroad in Greece. After looking through dozens of pamphlets from various programs in different cities throughout Greece, I finally decided on the University of Indianapolis in Athens. When I got to the school's apartment that I was staying in, I found out that a good friend whom I hadn't seen in over a year was my roommate. We didn't even know that the other was planning to study abroad, let alone in the same place, so it was a very pleasant coincidence.

(B.S.) My boyfriend made a dumb joke one day a few years ago, and ever since I have been nicknamed "Bacon". My boyfriend's last name is Finnerty, so everyone calls him "Finn". The story is that one day a few weeks ago, I was looking for Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women" in the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. The library is huge, and Alcott's book was not in the A's, so I started to scan down through the B's, when a book caught my eye. The book's edge said Finn, written similarly to how my boyfriend writes his name. Then, I looked down the edge more, and it said Bacon! The book was named Finn and written by a woman with the last name Bacon. It was truly bizarre for me, and I actually ended up taking it out of the library just to show my boyfriend.

(M.T.) My coincidence story happened very recently. My aunt called my apartment and left me a message saying that she needed some help translating an English sentence into Italian. Well, once I got home, I called her to help her out. The coincidence was that as soon as I called her, her son answered the question! It was a coincidence that that happened. She told me that and we laughed. Ciao.

(A.K.) Last fall when I arrived to college, the first person I met had so much in common with me. First, both of our names began with A's. Second, we had almost the same email addresses given by Pitt. (Just one pair of letters switched.) She worked in a pharmacy all her life as a tech and so did I. We were both from N.J. Her mom was a nurse and so was mine. Her parents were divorced and so were mine. She had a boyfriend and so did I. Needless to say we became good friends, but we didn't stay friends. I guess all these common things made us think we could be friends but it turned out... we weren't meant to be friends just because we shared some common life things.

(S.C.) During my freshman year in college, I attended a college in Erie. My friends and I generally sat with the same group of people, some of whom we didn't know well. One girl was an archaeology major who I never really got to know beyond her name. A year later, I came into contact with a relative I'd never met before, from Pittsburgh. When my aunt found out the college I went to, she mentioned she knew somebody there; she was the godmother of a student around my age. I eventually turned out that the person in question was the same girl I'd used to sit with in the cafeteria a few years earlier.

(D.F.) My story happened about three years ago. When I was a freshman in high school, I played soccer in Italy with my cup team the Pittsburgh Blue-Stars. We made it to the quarter finals in the tournament in Como, Italy as I made a lot of friends from that team. After the tournament I tried out for another cup team that was closer to home and made it. So I went and played for that team, the STM Tigers. So I never got to see some of my old team-mates from the Blue-Stars again. Now to my story...My family and I went to Ocean City for vacation a couple summers after I played for the Blue-Stars. We went to Ocean City for a week. When on our third day there we were on the beach relaxing when I spotted two people that I knew. I quickly recognized that they were B.W. and J.S. from my old team. I quickly went over and said hi to them and was surprised that I even saw them at all---especially in another state. It turns out that they were in Ocean City for none other than a soccer tournament. And to make things even better they were still playing for the Blue Stars. My eyes just lit up even more as I was excited that my old team was down here playing. So the next day they told us where their game in the tournament was being played and my family and I went and watched it. Unfortunately they lost the game, which ended their hopes of making it to the playoffs in the tournament. But I did get to see and talk to some of my old teammates that I haven't seen in a while. And it was even better that I got to see them in another state, where you think that you will never see anybody you know, especially at a vacation spot like Ocean City. Cause there are so many people there already. ---This was my story, hope you liked it.

(T.N.) My coincidence story is a coincidence of having the same birthday. My birthday is April 22, 1981. I not only share my birthday with the infamous Jack Nicholson, but I also share my birthday with my mother.

(M.W.) A coincidence that I experienced was: When I went to Kennywood one summer, I was waiting in line for the Steel Phantom. Coincidentally the person in line in front of me was D.F. He was my best friend and neighbor when I was a little kid. He moved away when I was twelve, and I had not talked to him since. That is, I had not talked to him until that day at Kennywood when I was 21, 9 years later. That is my example of a coincidence, because it is not likely that I would have ever been able to calculate the probability of the event occurring.

(B.G.) Last May I went to Israel on a trip called "Birthright". The trip was ten days long and took us throughout Israel. The first weekend I was there, me and a bunch of my friends decided to go out to a bar Saturday night. As I was sitting down at a table, I heard a familiar voice. I turned around to see my friend Rachel who I hadn't seen in over a year. She had gone to camp with me a few years ago and happened to be in Israel at the same time as me. What a coincidence!

(D.M.) When I was nine years old, my family went to a funeral for my uncle on my birthday. At the funeral home, we met a lot of relatives we had never seen before. After talking with a great aunt of mine, my parents found out we both shared the same birthday (October 21). I never met this great aunt again, but she always sent me a birthday card from that day on! It just goes to show that the "coincidence" of similar birthdays is actually fairly frequent.

(N.S.) During the course of this past summer, I had made plans to go mini-golfing with a friend. However, I had to go to work first, and I told my friend I'd call him afterwards, telling him which course to go to and when. After work, I tried to call his cell phone, but it was busy. So, I decided to go to the mini-golf course located about 5 minutes away, and then I'd call him from there. So, I got there, and tried to call him again. His line was still busy! So, I got out of the car, and sitting in a car a few cars down from me was my friend, who just seemed to be getting off his cell phone in disgust, too. It turns out we tried to call each other at the same times, hence why we both got busy signals. Ironic that we both somehow chose the same place and time.

(N.P.) This past weekend I went to the Casino in Niagara Falls, Canada. Ordinarily the dealer doesn't get black jack, however this dealer got it three times while I was at the table. What a coincidence, I think I'll give up gambling for a while.

(C.R.) I always found it odd that one of my best friends was born on the exact day and year as I was. We were both born on October 23, 1981. After taking this class I realized the coincidence is not as big as I thought it was, because things like this happen all the time.

(A.M.) A Fateful Friendship: I've always thought that it is kind of strange that my mom and her friend, Mrs. C., worked at the same hospital (Allegheny General) at the same time and never met each other. Also, Mrs. C.'s daughter and I were in the same graduating class in highschool, because their family live in the same general area that we live in. My mom and her friend also both love Fleetwood Mac. They only met (and learned that they had these things in common) about a year ago. Additionally, Mrs. C. owns an antique silver hand-mirror in the style that I collect. These mirrors seem to be relatively rare. I once searched for them on the Internet and found only two for sale.

(C.V.) There are 2.598,960 different possible poker hands and only 4 possible royal flushes. So the odds of being dealt a royal flush are (2,598,960-4) to 4, or 649,739 to 1. There are only 624 possible four-of-a- kinds. The odds against that are 3,913 to 1. Last night I got a royal flush for the first time ever. I folded out my sloppy 2 pair when the betting got nasty. The royal flush won about $75 when it smashed Jimmi's 4 snowmen (8,8,8,8,3). Jimmi thought he had it locked---I would have, too. Jim and Carl reraised Carl's and others for a long time, finally Carl took mercy and just called. Jimmi laid down his 4 eights with authority, only to nearly faint when he saw Carl's hand of 10,J,Q,K,A all of hearts.

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