As the women introduced themselves, I was relieved my wife was there as a witness. Because if she weren't, I suspect few readers would ever believe what happened to me yesterday.
There were twelve of us on the hike. The leader's name was Merry. Four of the other women were named Hildred, Kathy, Mary, and Suzanne. The other five first names? The same as my two sisters, my daughter, my youngest niece, and my sister-in-law. Because my oldest niece shares a name with my older sister, this means that on this hike with ten strangers only two names of my closest living female relatives were missing. Ten women - five sharing a name with six of the most significant women in my life.
Any probability nerds out there? Please weigh in.
Hello, Pat. I'm not a probability nerd but would like to offer a comment, or two, about this post. Initially your post brought immediately to my mind a scene from the film 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' when the patriarch of the family - Gus Portokalos - was introducing his family to his daughters fiancé's parents ... and everyone was named Nick, Nick, Nick, Nickie, Nick ... Very funny scene that I'm sure you've seen.
ReplyDeleteGetting back to your post, something recently happened that is somewhat similar to your experience, although on a smaller scale. We have neighbors/friends that live across the street from us named Tom and Lori. Not unusual names at all. However, the house to our right recently sold and we were introduced to our new neighbors - Tom and Lori. A few months after that another home on our street sold and the new neighbors are .. well Eric and Melanie, but her parents are named - you guessed it - Tom and Lori.
Still not sure what the probability of these things happening would be, but definitely worth sending a comment.
Be well,
Bob
Bob; Thanks for the comment. I too recall that funny scene from "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" but I recollect it differently. I thought the two names the father of the bride kept saying were "Stephen" & "Michael". But .. maybe it was "Nicky". Now I'll have to watch the film again! Also, love your "Tom & Lori" (X3) anecdote. These coincidences always stop me cold. I mean, come on, what are the chances? I'm still waiting for a probability nerd to weigh in here although I'm not holding my breath.
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