meeting in a pub after 12 years and 3500 miles away

In 1974 I was living in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada - a General Motors town on the northern shoreline of Lake Ontario. At the time I was going out with a lovely French Canadian girl called S, and we ended up sharing a flat at 885 Oxford Street with an English guy called R. I can't remember his surname, but I seem to recall that he originally came from the Farnham Royal area, in Berkshire. Anyway, the deal was that R would pay the rent (because he had taken the flat) and we would supply the food and keep the place tidy. (I should perhaps point out that R was a complete slob...) One morning we woke to find that R had 'done a runner', because he owed quite a bit of rent. We decided to vacate the premises a bit sharpish, and that was that. Sadly, S and I split up a few years later and I returned to England. Around 1986 I found myself living in a small cottage just outside of Glynde (near Lewes) in Sussex. One Sunday lunchtime I walked my dogs across the fields, and arrived at my local pub (which was The Trevor Arms in Glynde) at opening time. I went into the public bar and ordered a Guinness - and was the only person there. After about twenty minutes of quietly reading the paper, I was aware of a number of customers coming into the lounge bar next door. After a short while, I heard a familiar voice ordering drinks - and it sounded like R from Oshawa. I asked the bar staff to go into the lounge bar and ask if there was someone there of that name, and if there was would they please ask them to come into the public bar because someone there wanted to say 'hello'. A moment later R walked in, his face a picture of confusion - and then surprise. It turned out that R was now working as a carer, and had brought his entourage out for a Sunday lunchtime drink. We had a chat, and he returned to his flock. I have never seen or heard from him since. So: What are the odds of this happening? A short friendship in Canada in 1974, no contact for twelve years - and then our paths briefly crossing in a remote Sussex pub on a quiet Sunday afternoon, about 3,500 miles from where we had originally met - and on different continents?