A long way and a long time 'til now

Last summer a friend I have known for 33 years got married. She now lives near Leeds. My wife and son and I drove the 4 hour journey up there and stayed in a cheap hotel for two nights. We booked in and had a meal, and then went to the bar for a drink. They were tired and went to bed but I stayed for a while longer. I went outside for a smoke. Someone came out behind me to do the same. I often joke with my son that I like to speak to random strangers in queues and in the street or in galleries; anywhere really, so I asked this stranger what he was in Leeds for. 'I'm here for my sister's wedding.' 'Oh; Jill?' Not such a big coincidence really. However the big coincidence was that while discussing our respective work he explained that he filled vending machines. One of the places he did this was at the factory I work at. We got on really well. Recently he changed jobs to be a taxi driver. Recently we had a party for a multi anniversary. One of the guests needed to take a taxi back to the place where they were staying, and funnily enough Steve was the driver. None of this would have been discovered if we hadn't met outside the hotel having a 'fag' and my proclivity for speaking to random stragers.