...Years later, in a completely unexpected place? One time my dad and I were coming back home after visiting my mom's grave site, which was about 200 miles from where we lived. About halfway, we stopped in a small town we'd been through several times, and went into a drugstore to get some things. Remarkably, my first grade teacher was there also shopping, whom I hadn't seen in about 10 years. I know it was some sort of strange coincidence, but it was really odd.
I've met someone years later but it wasn't an unexpected place, it was in my hometown. About a year ago visiting my mother, she wanted to stock up on things while I was available to lend a hand. We went to a local grocery store where I ran into my fifth grade science teacher. Though TNG helped, he truly got me into science and it's been one my favorite subjects ever since. I let him know that and shook his hand. It felt odd for me but because it put put me out of place. I was much smaller the last time I saw him.
I ran into one of my 80's college tutors after years and years at Capodichino Airport, Naples. I was returning to the UK, he was just arriving. An unexpected meeting to say the least!
Had a similar experience in that regard, Melakon. Ran into one of my High School teachers at a grocery store in the parking lot.
That's happened to me. I ran into my preschool teacher in a weird place like 20 years after she was my teacher.
After I moved to Huntsville, I ran into one of my former St. Louis based coworkers in a hotel outside Seattle.
Yes, early in my career, I served with a fellow who eventually left the Army to become a civilian fire fighter. I ran into him 20 years later in a market in St Jacobs, Ontario. I was utterly gobsmacked.
When I was kid, twice my family went to Disney World on summer vacation. Both times I ran into the same classmate and her family in the park. Years later, I recognized her when I was stuffing dollar bills into her g-string.
One of my old high school classmates popped up in my bar last year, which is about 3 hours away from where we grew up. That was pretty random. Turns out he was in town for a wedding.
Happens to me more than I can imagine. But one time, it was with a childhood friend, the kind that you'd always hang out with. As luck would have it, we were both visiting the same city at the same time, and chose to visit the same museum. It was kind of a shock to meet up with him in the cafeteria, as none of us knew we were away. Along similar lines is coming across someone who knew the area I lived in, despite the fact that I was far away from home. This happened in Utah in a small convenience store that I had stopped at and was the last place I expected someone to know what I was talking about. But apparently she had grew up in the area. This was approximately 1300 miles from home, give or take.
On a flight from Rome to NYC, when I was fifteen, my mother and I were walking down the aisle to the bathroom, and a woman squealed, "OMG, you live in [name of small suburban town]." We didn't recognize her, but she lived near us and knew my mother by sight.
When I was a kid my parents and I were on holiday in Greece. We were having lunch in a taverna and my parents were reminiscing about the holiday the year before, also in Greece, and wondering what the folks they had met on that holiday, fellow holiday makers from the UK, were up to this summer a year later. At that moment, one of the people my parents were talking about walked past the taverna! As a child I didn't appreciate the co-incidence that it was.
I had briefly glimpsed an article over the past day or so, and it said we are having these kind of chance encounters more frequently simply because more people use air travel now. Most of these events do happen within airports and their surrounding businesses like hotels and restaurants. I'm not sure if that subconsciously inspired this question or not, but it's good to know I wasn't the victim of some Twilight Zone event when I was 17.
I ran into the little sister of a friend of mine at an airport in Germany who I hadn't seen in about 10 years.
When I was 19 I ran into my cousin in a gay bar. He wasn't exactly out at the time, but didn't really care to keep it hidden either. He was a little disappointed when I told him I was there with friends and not to pick up men. (In a "we have something in common" context, not a "he wanted to fuck me" context.) The encounter was much more awkward for me because I was afraid he'd tell my dad about my fake ID, but he didn't. I've recently started going to casual meet-ups for polyamorous people, and will probably start going to BDSM munches and similar things in the near future. I'll be surprised if I don't start running into people I know.
The thing with crowded places like airports is it's a sea of unknown faces, not even somewhat familiar like in your local supermarket. So a person that your brain recognizes leaps out at you.
One summer I ran into a high school classmate at the restaurant on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. I went to HS in PA. Another time I was at a Flyers game with my brother, and the girl sitting next to me had been my standmate at several PMEA concerts. It was definitely one of those odd 'hey, are you...?' moments.
I saw an ex's roommate with his partner while waiting for a connecting flight. They were in the seating area for the next gate.