I grew up in a very small town - I’ll call it Smithtown - about 2 hours from the Canadian border and about three hours from Toronto. This was in the 70s and early 80s.
The town had a single small bowling alley, run by a middle-aged Mr.X who had two daughters, Julia and Annie X, both of whom were pretty good bowlers. Annie was actually a friend of mine.
In 1998, I sat by myself in a small bar in Toronto, Canada nursing a beer and watching the World Series on TV. In walked a pretty young woman of about 20, with some friends. She and her friends were all complete strangers to me.
The pretty young woman was wearing a bowling shirt, which was a fad at that time. I looked at the back of the Shirt, and it read 'Smithtown Lanes'.
Astonished, I walked over to her and told her that I grew up in Smithtown and bowled at Smithtown Lanes often when I was a kid.
She was a little taken back. Then I looked at the name sown into her shirt, and it was Annie X!
I told the pretty young woman that I knew the original owner of the shirt, and she was floored - although I’m not sure she believed me.
Then, to top it all off, I asked her how she got the shirt. I figured she must have travelled to a location near Smithtown at some point, where the shirt was on sale used. But no - she said that she bought the shirt at a thrift shop in British Columbia, all of the way across the continent. She had just moved to Toronto a few weeks ago!
How strange a coincidence is that - Brian
I think it is very strange Brian.
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