Coincidences and Deja Vus

This is from Brain Pickings (a truly wonderful e-newsletter):

Writer, artist, and designer Douglas Coupland, whose biography of Marshall McLuhan remains indispensable, offers a lyrical meditation on the peculiar odds behind coincidences and déja vus:

I take comfort in the fact that there are two human moments that seem to be doled out equally and democratically within the human condition—and that there is no satisfying ultimate explanation for either. One is coincidence, the other is déja vu. It doesn't matter if you're Queen Elizabeth, one of the thirty-three miners rescued in Chile, a South Korean housewife or a migrant herder in Zimbabwe—in the span of 365 days you will pretty much have two déja vus as well as one coincidence that makes you stop and say, "Wow, that was a coincidence."

I am a real estate agent but I try not to be one of those pop-up agents. That is, an agent that immediately jumps up every time a buyer calls and wants to see a property.

Typically, someone would be parked in front of a listing and they would want to see that right away. Yup... And I would rush out to meet them.

I did that for many years. I had nothing better to do and I was hungry for clients. Okay, so I still do that sometimes.

Richard called me one night - he wanted me to show him a property on Weddell Street the next morning at 8:00 am! I argued that that was too early but he was adamant, so I caved in.

The next morning, a bitterly cold morning, while I waited for him outside the condo, I cursed him and myself - this condo's asking price was $24,500! What was I thinking, I was tired of all these low priced properties that people were calling me on, I must move into higher priced homes, etc, etc.

He turned up, we went into the condo and then he wanted to bring his sister. What! Where was she and why wasn't she here at 8:00? She was brushing her teeth, but she was right next door, he would take a few minutes. So he went and got her.

It turned out that she had just moved down from NJ and he was buying this condo for her. My heart melted. She looked lost and beaten, and this young man, who was at least 15 years younger, wanted to give her her own home, and have her living close to him.

I know... I still haven't talked about either deja vu or coincidences.

Anyway, we wrote out an offer and I went away to submit it.

That afternoon, I was in the Harbison area and went into the mall. Dillard's is a great store and I wandered in looking for a jacket or top. I settled on a pair of corduroy leggings in gray. I took it to the counter. The lady there was very helpful and suggested a few more jackets for me to try on.

I handed her my business card saying: Are you looking for some real estate?

She took my card: No... I have my own home, and I don't think I'll move. I'm happy where I am.

That's good, I said, where do you live? 

Weddell Street, she said.

What! I was completely blown away! I put in an offer this morning, I said, on a condo on Weddell Street!

We laughed. It turned out that she not only lived in one of those condos, she was also the President of the HOA!

So... Have I had my coincidence for the year?