This isn't the smallest town around, geographically speaking. Considering the Western Canadian landscape, it can even be considered a larg-ish town. But some days, it's simply far smaller than any geographical consideration could account for.
We attended a pretty "grown-up" dinner party last night. As K and I transition from living a college life to living one of the working class couples, we seem to be encountering more "grown-up" situtations, which one would expect. We're big fans of the potlucks, nights out with NO plans to get messy drunk (like the days of yore... for me, anyway), and quiet nights just chatting amongst friends. Last night was another of those nights... my coaching buddy J and his wife had us and another couple over for a pretty wonderful dinner with wine and homemade chow mein and games and talk. It was highly enjoyable, and before we knew it, it was going on midnight and this prince was about to turn into pumpkin. Funny things happen when you meet new people, and there just happened to be a few terrifyingly small-town-ish coincidences at the party last night.
So I've known J and his wife for just over a year, since K and I moved to the area. J and I coached a few volleyball teams together, did our teaching practicums at the same schools, and we now play on the same competitive rec-league volleyball team every week. When we received the invite, though, it was the first time we'd planned to get together with both couples, so K and I were really looking forward to it. When he made the call about last night, he definitely mentioned that another couple was going to attend. However, I know about 2 of J's friends and neither of them are married, so I had no clue who the other pair was going to be.
Shortly after arriving and being introduced to said other couple (also a member of the DINK's of which K and I, as well as J and his wife, are a part), A (the lady of said couple) mentions to K that she thought she looked familiar. After discussing work and habitual things we do from time to time, we realized that both ladies work in the same office complex, although they each work for separate bosses and in a separate building. Still, an interestingly strange coincidence nonetheless.
Even more strange was what was about to happen. I mentioned that K and I went to see Martian Child at the movies the previous night. It was pretty cute, really touching in some parts, and being a John Cusack fan, I thought it was pretty well done. A responded by saying that she and her husband also went to see it that same night. "Did you go to the early showing or the late one?" I asked. C responded that they went to the early viewing, the same time as we did. Within another few seconds, we realized that, not only had we attended the same movie theatre with the same movie and same time, but we were actually sitting about 6 feet away from each other in the same row! Now THAT made for a "Holy crap! Small World" commentary and series of laughter that lasted for the next ten minutes. Kinda scary! No wonder A thought K looked familiar!
After being worried about not knowing these people and facing the possibility of having some awkward silences, we had a great night of food and wine and games. Well, I had wine... a lovely bottle of Chilean Sauvignon Blanc all to myself, while some had water and others had some rye. The games were still a blast, and after being severely humiliated at Rummoli, the men vanquished the ladies in an intense game of Cranium.
Still, it makes you wonder how small this world really is, even with it's 6 or 7 billion inhabitants. Maybe that's just Canada... a land of small-towns stretched across a vast geographical landscape, all connected by movie showings and workplaces and pots of chow mein.
T
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