Synchronicity and Coincidence
It Boggles the Mind
What a coincidence that you are reading this now!

Are Your ... Too ...?
  Back in the 1980's I was sitting in a restaurant with a friend and ordered breakfast. We got into a discussion about art and I wanted to make a point about art and tried to recall a very familiar artist’s name. I struggled with my memory for a minute or so. The artist’s name was at the tip of my tongue when the waitress approached me with my two eggs over easy and slightly tipping the plate which she never done before and asks "are your eggs" at the same instant I said Toulouse! (Lautrec) and she said "too loose?" Dumb story I know but some times it gets a laugh. More humor?

July 7
Back in the 70's I was with a small crowd where four were born on July 7. Why was I amazed? You guessed it! (if you didn't, my birthday falls on 7-7).

Double or Nothing
When I was twelve I lent a friend a quarter. When the time came to pay instead of paying me he challenged me to a double or nothing head or tails coin toss. I agreed. I was calling the toss accurately and pot grew substantially. Every time I wanted to stop and collect he would egg me on continue to play double or nothing. I recall as the money he owed me increased he became more worried about how he was going to pay me. His parents will be furious. I called 20 consecutive coins tosses accurately. Yea, sure I was going to collect $262,144. The very worried but very smart kid knew that eventually I would make a wrong call. Well, on the 22nd flip I called the wrong side and lost $262,144. He was extremely relieved that he did not have to pay me $524,288. As a consequence I lost the quarter I was owed but gained the story telling rights. Wasn't this story worth a quarter? More stories?

Three Trees and Three ...
A few years ago while I was driving to St. Petersburg (Florida) to attend an art reception I notice three trees in a silhouette against the sky. I thought what a beautiful photo they would make if three clouds were above them. A instant later three little clouds perfectly aligned above the trees appeared very briefly in the background as I sped by. Too bad I did not have a camera with me!

Sunday Drive
Back in the sixties, that is nineteen sixties, during a Sunday family drive we ended up in a remote area outside Chicago on a hardly traveled farm road. Lost, we made a u-turn to retrace our route. The u-turn landed (unfortunately it was soft land) the car on a muddy side bank. For about a minute or so we tried to move but instead got deeper into the mud. Looking around on this very cold overcast afternoon we could not see any cars, houses or buildings. We were all alone. We were in deep trouble or should I say in deep mud. From the horizon we saw a car approaching and hoped that it would not turn prior to reaching us. Luckily it proceeded to come our way and before we could even wave it down it made a u-turn and backed up so his rear bumper was on our front bumper. The driver got out and tied a chain to our car and proceeded to pull us out of our predicament. We offered to pay but he would have none of it. He got in the car and went to the direction where he came from disappearing in the horizon. How do you explain this? 

I Am a Line Slower. Oh Yes I Am!
When I stand in line something very often goes wrong so that the line moves really slow or stops completely. When I get in line the person in front decides to use a credit card or worst pay by check. The items are missing the price tag so I have to wait for the manager to price the item. The cashier goes on break or the cashier register breaks. Anything that can slow my forward progress somehow creeps in from the realm of improbabilities and becomes reality. Is this just a coincidence or are there evil forces trying to slow down my forward progress? Does this happen to you or am I the only victim of mischievous phenomenon? I often tell people that line up behind me that to go to another line for faster service. The one that follow my advice get thru before I do.

There are two types of line happenings that really drive me insane. In the first scenario I wait in line in back of ten people for ten minutes. When my turn is up I look behind and do not see anyone waiting in line. So this means I had 10 minutes I could have been productive or doing more shopping instead of waiting in line. The second scenario is when I wait in line behind ten people for ten minutes and just when my turn comes up four lanes open up to relieve the congestion. This drives me crazy. I must have some kind of mental hang-up perhaps line induced mania anxiety.  

On a Humorous Note:
24 hours in a day... 24 beers in a case... Coincidence..? by Groucho Marx

 

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Copyright 2007 V. Gardiakos