Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Random bullets of the capital city of a large country shouldn't be this small

I changed doctors recently - partly because the university clinic now charges me money since I'm no longer a student, but also partly because the random doctor they gave me last time turned out to be someone I knew socially (without realising they were a doctor) and that was a little bit odd.

The new doctor I went to (who I picked at random from a list of doctors that bulk bill Medicare) turns out to have one of my students working as his receptionist.

I went to a party hosted by someone in my department recently, and her housemate had invited a friend, who happened to be the twin sister of someone who works with Geekman. At the same party was an American guy who used to read this blog, and has since moved to Australia.

Another party I attended a couple of weeks ago was for a friend who is not and never has been at the university or connected with it. A guy at that party who I had never met before sat in the corner and picked his nose aggressively all night. The next day we went to the house of one of Geekman's colleagues for lunch and the nose-picker was there as well.

At the same lunch was someone who looked kind of familiar, and turned out to have been a colleague of Stellar_Muddle's (who sometimes comments here).

We went to a "games night" run by a colleague of Geekman's a few weeks back, and someone else she had invited was someone I know from the university rock climbing club.

Possible explanations that have occurred to me include the following:

  • Maybe this is just what happens if you live in a city for long enough. (We've been here four years now, which is the longest I've lived anywhere since I was a kid.)
  • The circles we move in are a lot smaller than the actual size of the city. E.g. mostly we hang out with people who have some connection to the university. That doesn't explain Nosepicker, or the doctor thing, though.
  • This city only actually has 30 inhabitants. The government just claims higher figures because otherwise it's too embarrassing. (This explanation has the advantage of also explaining why downtown is always mysteriously empty).

11 Comments:

Anonymous said...

It is the sort of thing you expect in NZ* but find a little startling elsewhere.

The lunch contact someone we lured to BBQs or parties way way back? Physicists and astronomers do occasionally speak to each other...

* Turning up to Weekend Viking's Uncle's 80th birthday party and discovering that one of his cousin's husbands has professional contacts with the people I currently work with... That sort of thing.

Stellar_muddle

Jenny said...

You and Stellar aren't the only one's who think this city is small. Perhaps it's symptomatic of the circles I move in, but I really do think that it's just a big small town. Even after two and a half years it's creepily tiny.

KaosSmurf said...

i'm with miss m and you on this...

over a two week period i once (upon a time) had a packed social calendar, all with different "groups"... or so i thought.

got introduced to one guy at every party... it was the same guy, he just knew all these people too. pretty much every new person i meet knows someone else i already know.
In fact, last weekend was in town playing pool, with members of a new research group who have just moved from 3 hours north of us, and they invited a friend and his flatmate out. the flatmate is in the same group as my girlfriend....!!! you can't escape it!!! i'm amazed i haven't met you yet really...

Anonymous said...

It's like this girl from the department I met at the welcome party of our first quarter here. One year later her boyfriend joined my lab, and it turned out her roommate was working with the same advisor as mine (roommate). Two years later I met her step-father who turned out to have worked with my uncle.

Maybe I should be scared of her.

StyleyGeek said...

Stellar_Muddle, I've forgotten the lunch person's name. She said she had been to the occasional party at your place in the past, so maybe that's how we had met before. Long dark hair, quite good looking.

The odd thing was that it wasn't the physicist she knew, but one of the other housemates.

StyleyGeek said...

Oh, and Scientist, I bet you we HAVE met somewhere; we just don't know it.

Anonymous said...

Stellar_Muddle, I think her name was Emma.

Anonymous said...

Ahah! Can put face and name together now. Probably chocolate tasting then.

If you see her again (which you possibly will given the size of the town...), say Hi... :)

Stellar_muddle

StyleyGeek said...

She tastes like chocolate? I had no idea :)

Jenny said...

Evidentally, Styley, you just haven't met her at the right parties yet. Though, given the size of the town, it appears to be only a matter of time before you, too, shall enjoy chocolate tasting.

Anonymous said...

I am a grad student; I also work in a medical office (although totally unrelated to my studies--a paycheck is what it is). Over a year ago one of my profs came in as a patient and I must say, from this perspective, it is equally, if not more so, mortifying. It's hard to put therapy on a patient, er--prof, while they're half nekked-and then with HIPPA...seeing them in the hallway during 'student hours' was doubly uncomfortable.