It's a Small World

Current coworkers, former neighbors.

One of the best things about working in an office is getting to know new people. And an even better thing is forming friendships out of these new acquaintances. One of my co-workers has become a particularly good friend, and we have socialized outside of the office on a few occasions. So it came as a surprise to both of us when we found out a pretty amazing fact about the other—we grew up on the same street!

The conversation in the lunchroom one afternoon went like this:

SHANNON: What did you do this weekend?

ME: I saw a play at Moonlight Amphitheatre.

SHANNON: I’ve been to Moonlight before, when I was a kid.

ME: Really? That’s pretty far from where you grew up.

SHANNON: I used to live in Vista.

ME: Really? Where? I grew up in Vista.

SHANNON: Behind the high school.

ME: Off of Goodwin?

SHANNON: Yes, on Gail.

At this point, I seriously almost dropped my lunch as I was taking it out of the microwave.

ME: SERIOUSLY?! I grew up on Gail. What number?

SHANNON: 4XX.

ME: I used to live at 3XX.

Turns out, we grew up across the street from each other, just a few houses apart. We don't remember each other because I moved away when I was 9, and she was pretty young then. She then moved away, too, which is why I thought she had grown up in another city. We have since had many conversations about who we used to play with and how we used to sneak into the high school through the fence of one of our neighbors.

What are the odds? Out of all of the offices downtown, and all of the people in my office, I became friends with a woman who grew up only a few houses from me. So amazing!