The Chronicles of (non)Coincidence #327

I really have no idea what number "non-coincidence" this is, but these are adding up quickly!

This one has to do with a Christmas gift for my daughter's fiancee. I ordered something warm and fuzzy for him a couple of weeks ago, with MONOGRAM, having been assured by customer service that it would, indeed, arrive in time for the unwrapping ceremonies on January 2. As a matter of fact, she assured me, it would arrive by Friday, Dec. 26. When it had not arrived by Monday, December 29th, I went online to check the status of my order. The friendly customer service rep I "chatted" with online assured me that no, my gift had not yet been shipped due to the number of orders and backlog the week before.

I'm not going to name the company because this is not truly about them. They are a good company, a WISCONSIN company, which is generally very prompt and sells high-quality goods. But I did have to wonder how they got so behind on orders, knowing full well that Christmas is a busy, busy, busy season, and lots of people order from them.

Okay, so I asked the CS Rep when I would receive the item. She informed me that the item was in "monogramming," and would be shipped the next day via the Express UPS that I had chosen and paid for. That would place it in my hands on New Year's Eve. That's great, I said. As long as I'd receive it by then.

To be safe, I checked again the next day, Tuesday, December 30, to make sure the item had been shipped. No, a different CS Rep said, "It is in monogramming and would not be ready to ship until Friday." FRIDAY?!! "Yes, she said, but they would ship it via UPS Express and it will arrive Saturday morning." Well, that will have to do, I thought, as long as I can give him the gift before he returns to Colorado on Sunday.
She then reminded me that " you can return the item, even with monogramming, if you need to."

So, we opened gifts on Saturday morning, instead of Friday, thinking that the gift would arrive dramatically, and I would sweep it under the tree in time for gift opening. "Unfortunately," I was told by Saturday's child at the CS desk, "you don't have Saturday delivery in your area, so you'll receive it next week. Remember you CAN return it."

I was terribly disappointed. UNTIL Daughter One's fiancee told us that he was in the process of changing his last name. Regardless of the reasoning for that change, he said the paperwork was done and I couln't help but perk up at the news for a different reason. Here was another non-coincidence, I thought! He was never meant to get THAT piece of clothing with THAT monogram. If I had received the item in time, as promised, I would not have had the option to return it, and he would have been stuck with a fine quality item with the wrong monogram. As it turns out, I will be able to return this item and re-order it with the correct monogram, making this the fiancee's first gift with the new initials on it.

While this is not an earth-shattering or life-changing coincidence, it is yet another small one in the ongoing chronicle of those I encounter~~~!

As before, I invite you to send me your own non-coincidences!!

The latest coincidences...

Well, anyone who knows me (haven't I started my rantings with that line before?!) knows how I feel about coincidences. More specifically, that the older I get the less I believe in them. I've experienced so many that have had profound impacts that I no longer believe that they are just chance encounters. Okay, you may have guessed that I have read "The Celestine Prophecy," which is, in fact, about fate vs. chance encounters. But that didn't influence my beliefs, just my awareness.

Here's a recent case in point.
I was shopping at a Linens & Things store the other day. I was there by chance in the first place. My sister had given me a gift card for my birthday (I am terrible about ever getting around to using them!). It was tucked away deeply in my billfold, where I had pretty much forgotten about it. Stay with me...

Earlier that week I went to tell our office manager that I was going to be gone to a doctor's appointment this day, and to please mark that on the dept. calendar. I told her it was in Eau Claire, to which she responded, "Well, if you have a few extra minutes, you should stop at Linens & Things...they're going out of business and selling out everything." (First coincidence... why would she mention that to me?) I remembered the gift card and thanked her; I would most likely not have remembered nor used it before the store was kaput.

So now, after meeting with the doctor, I made a bee-line for Linens & Things, out of my way, but hey! It's a sale and I have a card. So I'm in there wandering around trying to find something I need. Finally, I decide to make one more pass down the kitchen gadget aisle. Half-way down the aisle, I glance to my left and see a pie-sized ring hanging on a hook. Without explanation or real interest, I stopped to see what it was. I picked it up, examined it, and discovered it was a silicone piecrust-protector; something you lay over the top of the piecrust edge, to keep it from burning. Funny, I thought. I never bake pies -- okay, once every two years I make a pumpkin pie. Cool item, I thought, though I really have no need for it. Don't leave yet -- it gets better...

I look up, and coming toward me is a small elderly woman (80-85, I'm guessing) pushing her cart. We begin to pass when she says, looking towards the gadgets (I am NOT making this up) "I wonder if they have something that will keep my pie crust edges from burning."

(I know you think I'm making this up, or that I've lost my mind and imagined the little old woman. Not. I called my husband immediately as I was leaving the store to make sure I had at least some kind of witness.)

I took a stap back and to my left, picked up the silicone ring I'd looked at, and said, "Here's what you're looking for," handing her the object. She looked at me in such a funny way, then looked at it, said "My goodness, this is it, isn't it?!", looked at me again, and placed it in her cart. She thanked me for finding it, and I said, "Well, sometimes we're in just the right place at the right time."

Now you might think this is lame, inconsequential, or even ridiculous. But there are just a lot of little things at work here. The Celestine Prophecy insists that you are where you are, when you are, for a reason. Never just coincidence. Even though the book's examples may seem far-fetched, that theory answers a lot of questions for me, not the least of which are "Why did our office manager think to mention Linens & Things to me," "Why did I look at that obscure little object which I really had no interest in," and "Why did that woman audibly ask for an object?" She didn't direct the question at me -- it was more like thinking out loud.

So, do we all go around experiencing these things without ever giving them a second thought, or can you think of some things that have happened in your life that seem common yet have an ethereal quality that you can't explain?

And how far back should we look into some of these occurences? In other words, who should I blame for this chance encounter with the pie ring/baker lady? Should I put the oneness on the lady for being there at that moment in time? Myself, for having looked at the ring in the first place? My doctor, for scheduling me there that day? My office manager for sending me to that store? My sister, for giving me the gift card? Linens and Things for having a closeout sale and publishing it for my office manager to see?

See how these things can get out of hand?! No, I'm not losing my mind. I suggest to you that you take a moment to analyze your next coincidence and write it down. It may make you appreciate why you're where you are.

And send me your stories...