Holiday coincidence

As of the 23rd May 2022 this website is archived and will receive no further updates.

understandinguncertainty.org was produced by the Winton programme for the public understanding of risk based in the Statistical Laboratory in the University of Cambridge. The aim was to help improve the way that uncertainty and risk are discussed in society, and show how probability and statistics can be both useful and entertaining.

Many of the animations were produced using Flash and will no longer work.

In 1970 I traveled from England to Central Finland to stay with the Syrija family who were farmers. I had finished my first year at Exeter University and they had a son, Kari who was 19, 10 months younger than myself. After 4 weeks Kari and I drove to Oulu, "North" known for its market. Kari bought a reindeer skin for me. We were then approached by a Dutch couple who were jugglers working their way around Finland. They couldn't speak Finnish and asked Kari to negotiate a similar skin for them..which he did. Two weeks later I traveled by train to Helsinki to catch a flight to Heathrow. I arrived in central Helsinki in the early evening heavily laden. The flight was the next morning and I was lost, no hotel and scared of being mugged. I sat on a low wall and held my head in my hands and said "please god help me". I immediately felt a hand on my shoulder and it was the jugglers!!!!!!!!!!! They were staying at a flat in Helsinki and they gave me their bed. The next morning they drove me to the airport. This accidential meeting reinforced my belief in " a God!" I have another tale to tell!
Total votes: 266
Date submitted:Sun, 15 Jan 2012 18:15:22 +0000Coincidence ID:4800

Comments

Anonymous (not verified)

Sun, 15/01/2012 - 6:42pm

About 1975 I was seated in a restaurant at Heathrow awaiting some business colleagues flying in from Sweden. I felt a hand on my shoulder approaching from my back (ie we couldn't see each other) and a voice said " do you mind if I take this spare chair". I looked around and it was a close friend ...Keith C. Naturally we were astonished at the coincidence, enhanced by the fact that Keith was unaware that he was approaching me and I that it was he.