[Critch]

Taurus9mm's joke about Bubba got me to thinking. Have you ever been somewhere way away from home and run into someone you knew? It's happened to me many times and it still never ceases to amaze me. I was in Qatar last year with Enduring Freedom and one of my former high school students was in the lunch line with me,,,,another night my nephew from Memphis came strolling thorugh the aerial port on his way to Iraq. Many years ago I was walking down the ramp of a C-141 at some airpalne patch in the Pacific and I hear my name, "Hey Critch, what'cha doin' here?" It was a high school classmate...one of the strangest was at the Weapons Systems Evaluation Program in 1990, I was working flares in the munitions holding area and I hear my name followed by a bunch of expletives....I recognized the voice immediately, an old girlfirend from 18 years before when I was in the regular AF,,,"Why didn't you write, you SOB, you *#@!",,,I remembered why I didn't call, and she was a major by this time, and still in the Regular AF, I was a lowly Guard Tech Sgt.

I don't think I've met the Pope yet....

 

[jimbo1096]

Yeah, a couple of times but I can't top your stories. Once on vacaton in Florida I ran into an old buddy and again on a trip several years ago I had a guy I knew in the Navy from twenty years before stop me on the street. Only thing is- as I get older I have this CRS stuff kicking in and while faces are familiar I don't know why or from where. The way it's going, one day I'm gonna wake up and wonder who that is on the other side of the glass window they call a mirror.

 

[Critch]

I have traveled a lot in the last 20 or so years, and I think that statistically it just heightens the odds that I'll run into someone I know. Sort of like, if you stand outside longer, you get hit by more raindrops...

I do remember a study from years ago that showed that even as large as our country is, we are not that separated. I think it was less than six people between us and everyone else. For instance, if you and I started thinking in terms of people we know, we probably know people who know people. Grammatically horrible way of stating it, but I'm tired tonight.