How many times have you heard the expression: “It’s a small world?” Honestly, I sometimes shake my head wondering if it’s really true? Some think that (1) people who know (2) people who know (3) people who know (4) people who know (5) people who know (6) people all know the same people. I guess that is a long way to express the concept of six degrees of separation. Perhaps more simply stated: “It is the theory that everyone is six or fewer steps away, by way of introduction, from any other person in the world. Is it really possible that a chain of “a friend of a friend” could potential represent some kind of connection in a maximum of six steps?
Yesterday morning I was very excited to discover that I had located a picture of someone on Facebook that I thought could pass for the identical twin of a friend of mine. Seriously, could it be true that anyone could look that much like someone else? Periodically, someone will say to me: “I saw a guy who could pass for your twin”. The people who’ve shared that with me have no idea that I grew up with a twin. Consequently, it always gives me a funny feeling when someone suggests I have a look alike. My unspoken reaction is both the feeling that I’ve just been punched in the stomach and an uncanny feeling I can’t quite put into words.
At any rate, it wasn’t just the guy’s picture. Remarkably, he also shared the same last name of my friend. Honestly, they had to be related. I’m not talking second- cousin-two-times-removed. Seriously, this guy had to be a brother; maybe even a twin brother. The resemblance was that remarkable.
You’re probably wondering how I made this discovery? Last week I accepted a friend request from the wife of my pastor when I was a student in college. It has been close to fifty years since we’ve had contact. They reside in Maryland. At any rate, I knew from a few exchanged messages that they were still in contact with some of the friends with whom I went to college. I’m not sure why I didn’t think of it earlier, but I took the liberty of scrolling down through their list of friends on Facebook to see if they had contact information for folks I knew in college.
As I was scrolling through the list of their friends, the profile picture of a lady who was pictured with a man caught my attention. I automatically assumed that the man was her husband. The man in the picture looked just like a friend of mine. In fact, from the identification of the wife’s name on the profile she carried the maiden name of my friends in Maryland and her last name was the same as my friend in Texas. I found myself wanting to know more.
I clicked on the profile photograph hoping it would take me to the lady’s home page. I wanted to know where she lived and her husband’s first name. I was eager to share with my friend in Austin that I’d found someone who could pass as his twin. With the exception of her name, all identifiable information was unavailable for anyone to review who wasn’t already a Facebook friend.
I had the thought: “I hope I have my Facebook page limited in this same manner.” You know, you can’t be too careful with private information. Despite my interest in knowing, I didn’t know where she lived and I didn’t know her husband’s first name.
I did have the presence of mind to take a picture of the lady’s profile picture that included her husband. I at least wanted to forward that on to my friend. I think, he too, would think it was an amazing resemblance.
From what I’ve shared, you’re probably thinking I was curious enough that I sent the lady a friend request along with a message: “Your husband looks a lot like a friend of mine in Texas. Could they be related?” Hands down, that would really be a dumb thing to do. For one thing, I’d never be that bold and secondly, it would defy social boundaries associated with the use of social media. It clearly would have been unacceptable.
However, my curiosity did prompt me to send a message to my friend in Maryland. I wrote: “I scrolled through your list of friends on Facebook to see if you had contacts to any of the folks from Hardin-Simmons that I don’t already have as Facebook friends. In the process, I saw the profile picture for (name of her niece) and did a double take. I have a friend named ‘…..’ and he could pass for her husband’s twin brother. They look identical”.
I eagerly awaited my friend’s response. Never ever in a million years would I have expected the response she sent. She said: “Her husband’s name is ‘…” (it was the name I had provided her). Are you sure it is not the same person? He is a lawyer.”
Duh! I didn’t see that coming. It really is true, “I’m not the sharpest Crayola in the box”. I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get to show my friend that he had a real life lookalike. On the other hand, I now know that my friend has amazing extended family. However, that part doesn’t surprise me. Birds of a feather normally travel together.
All My Best!
Don
Carpe Diem 