With the size of the world, & the amount of peoples in it, I would think bumping into someone you know 600 to 1000 miles from home, & not in a relatives town on a visit, would be darn near impossible. However I have run across people over a thousand miles from home that I knew, or new, my relatives on at least 4 occasions. has this ever happened to you?

yep...i was stationed in korea...sittin on my porch one evening bbqing..and a buddy i had gone to highschool w/ walked right past me...so of course i hollared.... and we drank beer.  i also now..work w/ a guy on diego garcia..that i went through AIT with many moons ago.  

Yep. Was a on a road trip one time, out in the boonies of Colorado. Pulled into a place to camp for the night and there was another family there. Turned out they just lived a couple blocks from us.

Another time the son and I were in Sequoia NP in CA. We had hiked to the top of a peak with no trail to speak of. We're sitting up there enjoying the view and eating lunch when this guy hauls himself up over the edge (he came up the really hard way). Turns out he was from the second wifes home town in Nebraska and knew her family.

My Dad bumps into someone he knew back from the Mon Valley in PA about once a week at the dealership.

Degrees of separation stories aside, these are stories of chancing upon people I know when far far away from where we know each other...

Years ago, at the very top of a Swiss Mountain, I happen upon a classmate also on summer vacation.

A few years ago, waiting for a tour of the FBI building in D.C., my son's classmate also on summer vacation is sitting next to us in the same group.

When I was in MCRD San Diego my platoon was on the grinder and this other platoon was approaching us from the opposite direction. One of the squad leaders was one of the guys my sister dated in high school that I knew pretty well.

Did you marry the cheating ex-husband's girlfriend?

It's a small world, but I wouldn't want to paint it.

I worked at the PD in my home town in Michigan.  In the two years I was there a guy came to work there that was a cop in El Centro, CA.  He and I became pretty good friends.  About a year after I moved to where Im at in Arizona a woman came to work at my current PD that worked with him in El Centro.  That was wierd.

[DI voice mode on] Recruit!... You better quit eyefukkin' the area! [DI voice mode off]

Hey Pthfndr, you still married to wife #2? I'm from Nebr., maybe I know her family too. [:D]

My ex and I were in Denver one time and ran into our Lamaz instructor from Kansas, about 350 miles away.

10 years earlier I checked into a motel in Denver and the desk clerk knew some of the same people I know in my home town.

When I moved to Colo. I met a custom boot maker who used to live in my hometown. I worked in a sporting goods/hardware store and ran into one of the kids that used to be in my scout troop back in the '70s.

I'm currently friends with a gal a couple of years younger than me who grew up 60 miles from my hometown and she has a friend here who's brother owns the shoe store in my hometown.

It almost seems the world revolves around my hometown. Can't ever seem to get away from it. [whacko]

Went to vegas a few years back and my roommate from freshamn year in college was staying in the room right next to me. Made for a great week in vegas, wasn't sober for a whole week, it was like spring break all over again, only he was married, though i did get to meet his wifes sister, smokin' hot, and really good at a lot of stuff too.

Reading the replies, I realized I didn't put my bump ins down.

I was walking out of a store in the Mall of America, & a guy walking past looks back at me, & says I know you. I hadn't a clue who he was, so I said Really? from where? he says you were in the Corps on Pendelton right? I said Yes. He was from a different co than myself, but after talking a few minutes I began to recognize him, & remember him from 6 years previous. He impressed me whit his memory, I ran into this same guy 5 years later in a Dairy Queen in Amery Wisconsin, & I recognized him, but he didn't recognize me till I said hi, & who I was. That was freaking bazaar.

I was in the south west corner of N.D. out in the middle of no where looking for rattle snakes. & stopped & asked a rancher if he knew of any dens in the area. He was showing me a den & we got to talking, found out I was from Saint Croix Falls, Wi. Asked me if I knew so, & so. I said no, but I know a similar name. He says that's his daughter. She was in my graduating class, & she was from right there. in the middle of no where. Amadon was the nearest town.
I was working in Rapid City S.D. & I met a older couple that had moved from Belfouch to Wi & were heading back that day. It was 5 minutes before I was off the clock to go home but we started talking. Turns out they go to church, & are giving counsel to my brother, & sister inlaw, who haven't spoken to us in 2 1/2 years because they are angry at us for some unknown reason. They took my card, & gave it to my inlaws. We still haven't talked to them, & that was over a year ago now, & were in Texas.
I have more but this is getting to long, & maybe after a while I'll put the others down.

Back in the old days, that used to happen to me almost every night at the bar!!  [snoopy]

When I lived in SE Alaska, I was working with this guy, we were driving by my little cousin, and we both waved at her, come to find out, I was related to the guy by marriage. As a matter of fact I am related to 1/2 to 2/3 of the people in SE Alaska, by marriage. My cousins sister-in-law married a native there.

When I went to Australia, I ran into some people there from the town I lived in.

This was only about 30 miles from home but must be included as it was so bizarre.
I was on my way home from my wife, then GF home & my truck died. I was in a rural area of Wi, & went to the farm across the street for help. The farmer said my truck was all done, & gave me a ride back to my GG's house. On they way I introduced myself. He asked if I was related to Jeff H. I said he's my brother, how do you know him? He's my brother inlaw. Talk about weird.

My wife and I went to Cancun on our honeymoon.  We were in the New Orleans airport and these 2 girls sat down right across from us.  One of them then calls out my wife's name.  Come to find out, they all went to high school together and had not seen each other in about 4 years.

Then when we landed in Cancun, we got our luggage and went to the shuttle van that was taking us to the resort.  There were 6 other people on the shuttle van with us.  We all got to talking about where we were from.  They were from a small city (about 45 minutes from Mobile) near the beach.  It turns out that I had rented a condo from one for Spring Break when I was in college.

Then when we got to the resort, we were in the little gift shop store and overheard someone talking about Gulf Shores (local beach hangout).  I looked at them and it was a couple of guys with their girlfriends or wives.  I got to talking to them and we all use to play beach volleyball every weekend together in the early 90's.

That whole trip was wierd, running into people that we knew from around here at home.

That is really bizarre to run into that many people in one trip that you were acquainted with.

We were living in Michigan, & went on a family trip to the field museum in Chicago, & there were people every where. My mom bumped in to a little kid, & when she looked down it was the son of a good friend of her's from another town, & he was there on a school trip.

I ran into a girl that I knew in college after she had gone to a different school. Interesting thing was, she went to Lubbock Christian, I went to Abilene Christian (both in Texas), but we saw each other in downtown Portland, Oregon. However, it might not be that strange since we were both going up there to do missionary-type work.

i ran into a friend of mine in Kansas City in Mcdonalds. we both live in Arkansas

I was sitting in the MAG 12 mess hall at MCAS Iwakuni, Japan and looked over and saw a kid that grew up around the corner from me. He was a couple of years younger than me and I had no idea that he had joined the suck too.

Now here's one for you. On Juty 4th, 1952 my father was manning an M1917 watercooled .30 Cal. machinegun in a Bunker in Korea near "The Punch Bowel". His unit had been on the line for some time and had repelled several assaults. They were being relieved. As his replacement was entering the bunker another mortor barrage began. His replacement got his foot blown off. This was a man my father had never met. They were in proximity to each other only for the amount of time it took to get the man evacuated off the hill.  Dad had to wait for another replacement. My father ran into him again in Akron, Ohio in 1978. He met a man on a job site (Dad's a bricklayer). He noticed that the man had a limp and asked about it. The man began to relate a story about losing his foot during a mortor barrage while he was relieving some G.I's. My dad finished the story giving the date and place it happened and told the guy that he was his relief. They had been living in the same city for nearly 25 years. It is a small, small world.

worked at a kmart when i was a kid.this was in southern NH. joined the navy. had to get a haircut for an inspection the next day. while at the barbershop, i met a guy from that kmart that i knew; we were both out in millington tn.
wild.

I was doing a presentation for a customer a few years ago and when I completed, one of the employees came up and asked if I was in the service.

Found out that we lived in the same dorm at Hickam AFB.

He moved to CT after the USAF to follow a job that didn't work out and stayed for a while.

-934

All the time. I cant be away from people I know unless I am three states away.

[:D] Ummmmmm..... Errrrrr..... ya might want to rephrase that last part.  I know what you meant, but that's just tooooooo funny!  Freudian slip???? [lol]

At an academic conference in San Diego, I ran into a sergeant major that I had served with in the Army in freakin' Denmark when I was a sergeant myself.  I left the army and ended up getting a Ph.D. and going to that very conference, he left the army and got an MBA and went to that conference.  I recognized his voice at a social hour after some research presentations and thought "No way that's Sergeant F.V.'s voice - my mind is screwing with me" - but it was him, with a bunch of MBA students from Denmark.

That two infantry sergeants from a country across the world would run into each other at aan academic research conference in San Diego is just bizarre.  That's the wildest conincidence I've ever experienced in my life.