Statistics in a Modern World 800
Coincidence Stories

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...

(C.B.) On September 15th of last year, I was a student at Temple University and dying to get out of the city for a night. I took a bus to see my high school friend at West Chester University that night. That same night, a student from Pitt was visiting his friend, which happened to be my friend's roommate from the year before. The Pitt friend wanted to surprise my friend's roommate, so he called my friend to meet up and all of us hang out together. The real coincidence was that my boyfriend at the time was also a Pitt student. They are both engineering majors and had 3 out of 5 classes together last year, and a recitation at the same time. This year, they have 2 together, but I'm not dating either one. A better coincidence didn't happen to me, but rather my friend. He was with his mom in Times Square. There was no event going on, just visiting. All of a sudden he heard his named called. It was coming from his cousin who lives in Paris, France. He was just visiting as well. I found it strange that the cousin did not try contacting them about meeting up since he was in the States just visiting

(M.L.) My coincidence occurred when my family decided to order a pizza from a pizzeria that specialized in square slices. While we waited in the car, my father went in to get our pizza. When he came out with the box labeled "Laird", we opened the box and discovered that it was not the right pizza. My father went back into the pizzeria and found out that another order of a large pizza had come in with the name "Laird" and another family had picked it up. We placed another order and finally got our pizza. It was surprising to discover that a family with the same name had ordered the same quantity of pizza from the same pizzeria on the same night and time in the same city.

(E.P.) When I was younger, I went to camp and met a girl who had a lot more in common with me than I expected her to have. Her birthday was one day before mine and we both had two little sisters, one of which shared a name. Our initials were the same and our parents were both uncommonly short. We both had brown hair and green eyes and got in trouble for laughing too much. We considered it an amazing coincidence that we had so much in common.

(A.O.) A few years ago, my family drove from Buffalo, NY, where we live, to Salt Lake City, Utah. One of the places we visited on our way there was Grand Teaton National Park in Wyoming. We stayed in a cabin in the park for two days. My parents were getting something from the car parked outside the cabin on the first day, and they noticed people getting out of a van nearby that had a New York state license plate and the name of a Buffalo car dealership on the license plate holder. From inside, I heard my parents ask them where they were from, and then what street they lived on. Out of curiosity, I went outside, and was shocked to see that the person who had been my stand partner in orchestra the previous year and his family were staying in the cabin across from ours. It was so surprising because we were so far from home, almost 2,000 miles, we happened to be at the same park at the same time, and we happened to be staying in the same part of the park, which is huge.

(R.H.) A coincidence occurred in one of my class in high school. There were two girls who were both named Keira but with two different spellings; one Keira the other spelled it Kira. Anyway, anytime someone would say that name, both of them would answer and it was always confusing who was being called on. We tried calling each girl by their last name but that didn't stick. One day, I finally asked Keira and Kira what their middle names were to distinguish the two when talking. Keira's middle name was Elizabeth while Kira's middle name was Rose. The coincidence was my nieces' name is Elizabeth Rose and, because of my sisters marriage, her last initial is "K" the same as the first initial to both Keira and Kira. Clearly a coincidence, no significant relationship but still one of those things that surprise you when you find out. And using the girl's middle names didn't stick either.

(E.C.) My first week of freshman year, I befriended three students in my major, one of whom I became particularly close to. When I friend requested him on Facebook, I discovered that we share the same birthday. As the years have gone on, we've celebrated our birthday together. It was such a delightful coincidence that, out of only forty-two declared majors in our department, we share the same birthday!

(S.Z.) Last week I decided I would not cook myself dinner and instead I would buy it from one of the many options in Oakland. My laziness then grew and I decided I would order food from somewhere with a delivery service so that I wouldn't even have to leave the comfort of my own home. I decided on Jimmy Johns. Twenty minutes later the doorbell rang and I heard the familiar shout "Jimmy Johns." When I went to answer the door I realized the delivery boy was my first kiss. We had known each other in elementary and middle school and I can't say I have been in touch with him since. I had no idea he went to school here (we are from over 5 hours away), let alone I did not expect him to deliver my hoagie. It was a coincidence that I chose to have Jimmy Johns delivered and he did the delivering.

(J.C.) I was looking to surprise my high school prom date with something other than just your average, everyday corsage. Therefore, I traveled a bit out of my way to a high-end florist to pick out one that was just right. As I walked in, I saw her there too. How could she have possibly picked this florist, of all places? We ended up picking out flowers that we would want and bought them for each other.

(C.F.) I had a coincidence a couple months ago with a friend of mine. I woke up one morning after having a strange dream, and when I went to tell her about it, she said she had had almost the exact same dream. In my dream, I entered a dark room, turned on a single light, and saw my friend sitting in a chair looking at me. In my friend's dream, she was sitting in a dark room on a chair and saw me come into the room and turn on the light. My friend and I had almost the same exact dream but from our individual perspectives. That was the oddest coincidence I've ever experienced.

(K.B.) This is my coincidence story. For a past class, I had to write a paper that was worth 30% of my grade. For the paper, I needed to get an extra book. Naturally, I bought it off of Amazon well in advance for as cheap as possible (being as student (: ). Now, when it still hadn't arrived three weeks before I needed it, I started to freak out. I called the shipper, who assured me it would be there the next day. It wasn't. I called again, same thing. Next day, same thing. So I told them to give me my money back because they were a terrible company and would never use them again or something like that, which they did, and I went out and bought the book at Barnes and Noble. The same day, the book came in the mail. I returned the Barnes and Noble one, and got a free book.

(C.K.) When I was abroad in Fall 2012 (in Copenhagen, Denmark), I was talking with one of the women who worked for the program. We realized that her grandma was from Pittsburgh and that we went to the same elementary, middle, and high school. We also realized that she and I went to the same country club. What a coincidence!

(C.J.) One of the most interesting coincidences I've encountered happened about 2 years ago. I was preparing to swim the 100 yard butterfly at a high school swim meet and I was behind the block talking to the girl next to me from the other team. The announcer began to call our names out, and it turned out that her name was also Carey Johnson! Upon further investigation, we found out that our middle names were both Ann and we were both captains of our team. Same name, same sport, same stroke, and both team captains!

(C.M.) My best friend and I go to Pitt (we are both freshmen), and on move in day, I saw her almost immediately walking from my car . It surprised me because out of the thousands of students moving in on the day I moved in, I just happened to see her. Now, looking back, it does not surprise me as much because she lives in the building across the street, and we most likely parked in the same lot to unpack. P.S- I have also had different unplanned run ins with her on campus: One day, I was on my way to have lunch with a different friend, and I saw her and her aunt crossing the street. The next week, for family weekend, while crossing the street, I ran into her father and brother unexpectedly.

(E.M.) I have a common last name spelled an uncommon way. Never had I met anyone with the same spelling until my senior year of high school. I was playing tennis at a local indoor tennis club and one of the other people there was a sophomore that went to the same high school as me (this is the same year as one of my brothers.) He also resembles my youngest brother and had the same last name spelled the same way as my family. Not only does he look like one of my brothers, is the same age as one of my brothers, plays tennis, and goes the same high school that I did, he is the only person I have ever heard of that spells my last name the same way.

(E.C.) live in a small town, a short distance away from Pitt. I also play volleyball for a club team in Pittsburgh. My team had a tournament in Indianapolis which is quite a distance away from where I live. My family checked into the hotel and as we are getting into the elevator, we see the middle school basketball team from my town at the same hotel as us! We thought it was a huge coincidence that both of us could be having a tournament that same weekend, in the same place, staying in the same hotel.

(E.G.) A strange coincidence that I have encountered was one day, my friend from my floor and I left for class wearing the same shirt and a very similar outfit. Neither of us had known that we owned the same shirt but soon found out when we both returned from class and saw what the other was wearing. We thought it was strange that both of us chose to wear the same outfit on the same day, but it is not against the laws of probability that this event occurred.

(S.B.) One coincidence that I have noticed in my life is that many people I know have the same birthday as me. I was born on November 19 and so were my step-dad, my brother's best friend, this best friend's twin sister, some people I knew from school, and some of my parents' coworkers. Sometimes it seems like a larger number of people were born on November 19 than should have been, statistically speaking.

(M.G.) My best friend from back home is McKenzie and we've been best friends since we were five. Not until recently, we found out that both of our moms went to the same high school and were actually in the same class. Also, both our dads grew up in the exact same area.

(B.L.) Throughout middle school and high school on the first day of classes when the professor would read out the names of the students in my class. Whenever the professor would come across my name they would always ask if i was related to the "Levitttown" or "levitts furniture." On long island, where im from, there is a town called Levitttown and it was known for housing people during the great depression. So its a coincidence that my last name is the same as the town and as the famous furniture place.

(M.T.) I haven't met many other people named Madeline before, until my Sophomore year at Pitt. In my Portuguese 3 class, a class of about 14 students from Pitt, CMU and other nearby schools there were three of us! We all had the same first name spelled the same way too. I thought it was very coincidental that in a class that small there would be 2 other people with the same name as me.

(H.D.) Here is my story of coincidence for class. One summer, my family had decided to go to vacation for the first time in quite a few years. We decided to go to Virginia Beach because I had never seen the ocean before. After arriving there and spending some time on the beach, we noticed some familiar faces on the boardwalk. One of my friends from school and her parents just happened to be on vacation in Virginia Beach at the same time as us. And if that was't enough, they were even staying at the same hotel as us. We all thought this was a coincidence because none of us had even realized that we were going to be on vacation at the same time, let alone in the same place!

(A.M.) My personal example of a coincidence happened the night before the first day of classes this semester. I live in Nordenberg Hall and I had a late move-in date, so I didn't know many people. I went to the water fountain to fill up my water bottle and there was a guy filling up his water bottle too. He was wearing a California shirt, so I asked if he was from California. He said no, but he had visited with his family this past summer. I was shocked because I too visited with my family over the summer. Then I found our vacations were essentially over the same weeks in July and we had visited the same places. I think this is a coincidence that someone on my floor in my dorm would have vacationed in the same place, visited the same cities, beaches, tourist spots, etc as myself in the same time frame.

(K.G.) 1. Growing up the kid next door who was a year older than me had the same birthday as me. 2. My current neighbor and I named our dog the same thing before we ever met.

(L.T.) A crazy coincidence my family experienced was when my parents and I went to Maui for my high school graduation. We had signed up for an excursion to watch the sunrise on top of a volcano. As we met our group to get on the buses, someone came out of the nearby building and called out my dad's name "Darrell Triulzi" and asked us to follow him inside. When we got inside the building, the man introduced us to his friend who also happened to have the same last name "Triulzi". My parents, including myself were completely stunned because they said in their lifetime they have never met anyone else with the same last name, and the man with the same last name was just as amazed to meet us! It was a cool experience; we tried to trace back our ancestors and found that both of our great grandparents came from Sicily, Italy. What a coincidence! We found a long lost cousin in Hawaii and continue to keep in touch!

(A.F.) This semester my room mate and I got assigned a random suite mate because our third friend ended up not coming back to Pitt this year. He transferred here from another school this year. When he got to our building for move in, he was assigned our room number. He knew that his best friend from home went here and lived in the same building, but not what room. When he got to the room, he saw that his friend from home actually lived in the room across the hall!

(K.T.) My coincidence. One weekend I wanted to visit my friend from IUP because I had never been there and I had not seen her for awhile. When I went to IUP, we attended the softball game with her friends and as soon as I got there the sports announcer of the game said "my name" was up to bat and I was so confused! I had finally found someone with the same name as me.

(K.Z.) I have two cousins on my father's side. We are not close. We never were. Our parents are not close. I haven't seen them since I was in middle school. But here is the thing, we are all girls and we were all born on the same day in the same year. February 14, 1969.

(J.S.) My roommate and I have both a white iPhone 5 with matching navy, leather cases. One night, my roommate absentmindedly picked up my phone and swiped though to the numbered password display. Inadvertently typing in her own code digitshe unlocked my phone. Despite millions combinations, we coincidentally set the same four-digit password.

(M.G.) When I was first moving to PA from Michigan and was obtaining my healthcare license from the State Department, I discovered that there was another healthcare provider with the same first, middle and last name as me. Then once I moved to Pittsburgh, I discovered that this other woman also worked for the same hospital as I did.

(S.R.) My coincidence occurred the last time I was heading to Australia in 2009. My mom and I had boarded our flight for Sydney in Los Angeles, after having flown from Philadelphia, and were seated next to one other woman. It turned out that this woman, who was also Australian, had moved to the US with the Australian military just as our family had. When we got to talking to her more, we learned that she and my mom grew up in the same town in Brisbane, her sister attending the same school in the same year as my mom and uncles. Additionally, we learned that she lived just 20 minutes from us on the east coast when we had in fact boarded our flight in LA. We're still in touch and attend their Australia day parties every year!

(A.Z.) One coincidence that occurred to me happened this summer with a family relative. I have a few cousins and family members living in Italy and I usually face-time, on the computer, a close cousin of mine about once a year for a very long catch up conversation. My mother has been telling to to face-time my cousin for a few weeks now and I have not had the time. So I planned out that I would face-time call him in a few days. The way face-time works is that if you are logged into your computer, anyone that is also logged in can face-time call you. I am always on my computer as well as my cousin but we do not talk that often. So the day where I planned out about an hour or two out of my day was finally here. I was excited to see his face and catch up. As I was sitting down and turning on my computer and getting ready to call my cousin, I end up getting a message on my computer saying, "Call from: Joe L." My cousin called me right before I was going to call him after over a year of talking to each other. My first words were "I was just about to call you," and he said, "I've been meaning to call you for a couple of weeks now!" That was a surprising coincidence that stuck out in my mind.

(E.P.) This year I am in the Women's Choral Ensemble and in our Fall Showcase we performed a Gospel song in which I had one of the solos. The entire choir was able to audition for these solos yet for the other solo a girl also named Emily, also in the same choir, and also in the same voice part got the other solo. I thought that this was quite coincidental seeing as there were 60ish other people who could have auditioned for the solo yet the one who was picked had so many similarities to me.

(N.B.) One time I was in the car listening to music with headphones in. When I took them out the same song was on the radio and at the same time in the song. This happened when I was younger so I thought it was really cool.

(N.G.) For many years there was speculation about the Mayan Calendar and the idea of the world ending on December 21st 2012. Last year, on Dec 21st, there was a bit of a rain/snow storm in my hometown which sparked the imaginations of many people in school claiming "maybe this is it!" but it happened to just be a coincidence. The other happened t me just this past weekend. I was wandering through Barnes and Noble and ran into an employee. A conversation sparked up between us that ended in us discovering that, not only do we both go to Pitt, but we're both from the same hometown. Apparently we'd grown up about ten minutes away from one another. What a coincidence!

(A.F.) 10 years ago I went to a pool hall with my friend Chuck and his two friends, Joe and Paul. I had never met Paul before this night. While we were at the pool hall I met two more of Chuck's friends, Chris and Steve. After this night Paul and I started to date, we dated for 3 years and were engaged. Eventually, I called off the wedding and a year later I relocated to the Philadelphia area of PA for work. I lived out there for 3 years. While I lived out of the area I would come back to Pittsburgh for events, a few of those were at Chuck's house and Steve, from the pool hall was there. We would exchange pleasantries and move on. 3 years ago this month, my friend Forrest got married and I came home for the wedding. When I parked Steve pulled into the space next to me. We both almost didn't go to the wedding because we did not want to go without a +1. We walked into the wedding together, sat together and decided to sit together at the reception, since we didn't have +1's. We had a great time that night. Another couple at the table predicted that we would get married. 1 year and 11 months later, we were married.

(S.M.)A week after my dad bought his new car, a Chevy traverse, we went on a trip and flew to Chicago. After we landed we had to rent a car. The only one they had left to rent was the same exact Chevy traverse.

[ Home | Calendar | Assignments | Handouts ]