I met someone at Duke who was from the Kansas City area. I asked her what part since I had lived there. It took a while to get her to tell me. When I went home the next time, I pulled out my 2nd grade class picture and could point her out. It really is a small world in many ways.
On the first day of orientation, I ran into a good friend from 8th grade who I hadn’t been in touch with since then. We later met up with a woman who was a year behind us but skipped a grade and ended up in the same class at Duke. All from little old MacDonald Middle School in Fort Knox, KY.
The family joined up with my husband in the Summer of 2015 at the end of a conference he had at the University of Warwick (located in Coventry, it's named for Warkwickshire, the county, and not Warwick, the city). We spent another 10 days traveling around Warwickshire and the Cotswolds. One afternoon, waiting for dinner service to open, we found a pub that served a limited menu of snacks in the afternoon. It's not really a small world story, because we didn't know the young couple already, but, we did manage to sit down next to an American couple and their baby in a pub in Stow on the Wold. Upon hearing the accents, we struck up a conversation. At some point, the young man asked my husband what he did. Physics professor. Where? Harvard. And the young man shook the hubby's hand. I said to my sons, "See, I told you so, your dad IS impressive to other people."
It was later on this same trip that the infamous "Mom had too much wine" incident occurred. I think I told that story before. I had determined that I was going to finish one glass of wine, darn it, and the waiter kept refilling my glass before I could empty it. I didn't do anything embarrassing, unless you are my children and are not used to the Southern accent coming out in full force. I never attempted to lose my accent and I have some friends up here who tell me that I haven't actually lost it, but I have just as many who look at me when I say I'm from NC and wonder where the accent went. I have three responses to the remark, "You don't have a Southern accent." 1) Yes, but I have INsurance. 2) Just give me 3 glasses of wine. 3) Wait until I call my mother.
My roommate second year was from Whiteville, NC. He could speak to his parents on the phone with an accent and then immediately say something to me in nearly the same breath without it. More impressive to me was the 2 year old who tried to speak to me in Mandarin, but noting my lack of comprehension switched to English without prompting.
My parents were visiting one time when I was having a rehearsal for one of my 10 minute plays at the house. I asked the actor if they would let my parents watch a run through since they wouldn't be around for the actual show. The actors said were fine with that, however, as I was talking to them then turning and talking to my parents, one of the actors stopped me. She told me it was surreal, I was speaking to them as what she consider normal Lisa then turning to my parents and speaking as Southern Lisa.
I'm impressed with that 2 year-old too!
Where'd everyone go?
In the 70's I lived in Clear Lake for a year, while working for NASA. My brother and nephew lived there as well (well El Lago) and my great niece later lived there after they moved away. After my nephew graduated from Clear Lake High School he later moved to Hillsborough, NC while his daughter reversed the order, first living in Hillsborough and later graduating from Clear Lake HS. Small world indeed.