What's the farthest you've been from home yet bumped into somebody you knew?
Mine was on the deck of the USS Intrepid in 1999, a man accosted me having recognised me from our hometown. He was the friend of a friend. We had a short awkward chat and he disappeared into that great city once more. So how far have you been from home and had something similar happen?
Notable other example. Bumped into the same guy in Barcelona, Berlin, and Belfast, unplanned.
In Disney World we bumped into my son's friend from school. so maybe 1200 miles.
AG, you sure the guy is not stalking you?
Pretty sure he isn't since the last of those 3 was 10 years apart from the others. Still odd though. Bumped into him on a street a few weeks back in Belfast. Met him on random side street in East Berlin and on main tourist thoroughfare in Barcelona.
Mine, like TOAG, was also in New York City. I grew up in NE Ohio. While visiting a college friend, I was walking near Grand Central Station and bumped into a childhood friend of mine I hadn't seen in close to 20 years. We said hello, chatted briefly, and went our separate ways. Haven't seen him since.
In Halifax, I once bumped into some people I knew from Yellowknife. It's a fair distance, but somehow it didn't seem that dramatic. Maybe because it was a touristy kind of place to be.
Strangely enough, I don't think I have bumped into anyone from my home town outside of my home town.
Probably avoiding me
Having said that, it'll probably happen now.
In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.
I think the furthest was when I went to want ended up being my uni's open day. Large campus, very crowded, but I was there for maybe a minute before bumping into my closest mate from high school - neither of us knew the other was going to be there.
But the most interesting time this happened to me was a few years ago. There was a month at work which was just mental. Every major project decided to be due then, and every minor issue decided to flare up. My birthday was during this time but I didn't even celebrate it... couldn't spare the energy.
As soon as I was able, I took a couple of weeks off, jumped on a bus and headed straight for the coast, alone. And there I spent a week sitting by the beach, swimming, going to restaurants, reading, and just being completely removed from everyone who knew my name. Except for one day where, disappointed that my favourite ice cream place in the area had closed since last I'd visited, I went to another ice creamery. In the queue, I hear from behind, "oh hey AllWalker". It was a friend of mine and her family, most of whom I knew from having mutual hobbies. We exchanged pleasantries, I met her younger daughter, she told me how disappointed that the other, better ice creamery was shut.
I consider myself to be socially awkward. But never before had I seen someone I genuinely like, had a very friendly conversation with them, hear them express opinions I completely agreed with, and yet be wanting nothing more than to be very far away from them.
Something tells me we haven't seen the last of foreshadowing.
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