Previously, On "The Morning Report": After a week covering Zambonis, 30 Rock, and the Super Bowl,
the Report tackled the real world of fake estates, exploring famous
homes of fiction. I asked readers for help naming my home and
identifying famous homes of the American literature scene. One reader
suggested my name did not play strongly enough into "Marshmolie," and
offered "Marshmouslie" instead. Another strongly agreed with the
proposed "Creaking Tree." In terms of literary homes, several minds
leaped to the [Fall of the] House of Usher. One of our most dedicated responders provided several more, including Little Women's Plumfield, Cheaper by the Dozen's "The Shoe," "Sunnybrook Farm" (of Rebecca of fame), and Streetcar Named Desire's famous, though unseen, "Belle Reve."
But: Back to today. This morning I listened to this week's episode of This American Life, "No Coincidence, No Story." At first, the title sounds like a demanding criterion for submission, and this is true: All the pieces featured in this week's episode (and the extras featured online) include moments of coincidence. Coincidences of all sorts. From the mundane (seeing someone twice in the same day) to the morbid (a body under a manhole cover). From the gut churning (a tale of two pukers) to the heart wrenching (reunions with long absent fathers). But the title actually refers to a Chinese saying with wider implications: "No coincidence, no story" -- Without coincidences, we wouldn't have the stories we tell at all.
Moments of apparently fated chance can be found along the branches, if not at the very root, of the stories we tell, read, and watch. Lost built six seasons out of curious connections. The hand of fate guides the characters of Thomas Hardy through crossroads and often lead to their downfalls, as in The Mayor of Casterbridge and Tess of the D'Urbervilles. One of my favorite films, Magnolia, features my favorite film opening, in which a narrator describes three stories of incredible chance and coincidence. (While I cannot find a video online, the stories he tells are the second monologue on this page). While moments of coincidence feature prominently in the fiction we consume, they also tend to take center stage in the factual reflections we produce. And maybe we're just adding structure to the randomness of life... Or maybe these strange things happen all the time.
Consider: Wandering alone through an open bar welcome reception for study abroad students when I was in London, I saw a face that seemed somehow familiar. (Perhaps it was the fact that he was a ginger. Actually, that was definitely it.) Turns out the whole group was from Georgetown. Ryan (the ginger) and I would end up traveling all over Europe together, but only after a conversation in which we realized that I had spent the previous semester living with a good friend of his. And not only that, but that he would be living with that friend and another friend and former roommate in the following year in a house that I had opted not to live in!
Consider: Getting drinks with some co-workers after work, it came up that one of my co-workers, Joe, is a New Hampshire resident. He asked where in New Hampshire I was from, and I gave my standard answer: "A town about fifteen minutes from the coast... The Exeter area." "Where in the Exeter area?" "Stratham..." Anticipating a vague awareness, what I got instead was a surprise: "I'm from Stratham." Turns out Jim was neighbors with one of my closest friends from elementary school. Now I work in Virginia three feet from someone whose property I almost definitely trespassed on as a kid in New Hampshire!
And the list goes on...
But... Rather than ramble on about my own coincidences, I want to hear about yours! I'm putting out another call for reader submissions, which I can tack on a few at a time to the Report for the next couple of days. Send in your stories of run-ins with friends in strange places, odd encounters, numbers that seem to be haunting you, and any other coincidence you've come across in your life.
Looking forward to hearing from you on this one!
"And it is in the humble opinion of this narrator that this is not just 'Something That Happened.' This cannot be 'One of Those Things... ' This, please, cannot be that. And for what I would like to say, I can't. This Was Not Just A Matter Of Chance. Ohh. These strange things happen all the time." --Magnolia
