Expect the Unexpected

You may or may not have seen the film ‘Serendipity’ — the 90’s rom-com set in New York in which John Cusack & Kate Beckinsale’s characters cross paths while Christmas shopping in the city. They end up leaving their future in the hands of fate and **spoiler alert** surprise surprise; it ends with destiny bringing them back together.

On my first day in New York, I was inspecting some trinkets on the side of a road in street stalls in a new and undiscovered area. It wasn’t a destination, I was merely wandering about the city getting my bearings when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to find the one person I knew in New York standing behind me with open arms. How had she tracked me here? I didn’t have the ‘find my friends’ app. What were the odds! It was a surreal moment, but an oddly comforting one.

These past two weeks, I’ve continually bumped into the people I’ve met here in other parts of city. I could be cynical here and say there’s likely a handful of places people swarm to, both locals and tourists alike, and this congregating makes run-ins of this kind inevitable. But, with the number of occurrences in such a short space of time of me being here, I’ve abandoned this notion.

The best bit about these unintentional interactions — they’ve always led on to something else. So far serendipity has gotten me free Broadway tickets and I’ve been in stitches over comedian Mike Birbiglia’s hilarious play ‘The New One.” It’s gotten me invited to hear ex-Georgetown panellists debate how legacy companies should compete in the changing world of media. It’s taken me to a house party in Brooklyn and even landed me an invite to a birthday soiree of someone one who, a week ago, I didn’t even know.

All of these events were born from strange forces of nature. Call it what you like: fate, chance or just sheer-dumb luck… but there’s something about it that has made me feel right at home, when a place so big can feel so small.