Somebody once wrote that 10,000 monkeys typing for 10,000 years would eventually produce Shakespeare. Well sure, with the help of auto-correct and spellcheck.
That little adage refers, of course, to coincidences and likelihoods and whatnot. Tonight, I got to experience a weird sort of coincidence/likelihood.
Wednesdays at BW3's mean trivia, and as I had nothing going on, I was there.
About halfway through the first round, two guys took the two empty bar stools next to me. They looked like they had just gotten off work and their line of work appeared to be auto-repair, as both of them were in grease-covered clothes and they both had greased-smeared hands and such.
Eventually, we got to talking, as I am the gregarious type and well, honestly, I needed some input on a question.
Turns out, both of these guys were indeed mechanics, but that's not the point. The point is their names.
As most people who know me are aware, I am a huge baseball fan, and people who really know me are aware further still that one of my all time favorite players is former Kansas City 3rd baseman and first-ballot Hall of Famer George Brett.
So when I go to introduce myself to these two mechanics, and they introduce themselves back as George and Brett, I naturally recoil a bit and do what anybody would in my situation.
I laughed. Well, to myself. What are the chances of meeting two strangers at the same time who introduce themselves as George and Brett? What are the chances of that being significant to anybody?
Okay, admittedly, in this part of the country, better than average. But what's the average? And still, it's kinda freaky.
It was even freakier when George told me he was born in Kansas City.
Okay, not so freaky. There were probably a lot of sons named George in Kansas City 30 years ago, and a lot of Brett's too.
And that got me thinking. How many brothers are there in New York named Derek and Jeter? Probably quite a few. In ten years in bars all across Manhattan, guys are going to be introducing themselves thus; "Hi, I'm Derek, this is my brother Jeter."
Oh, it's going to happen. You know it is. It used to be Saints we were named after, then it was politicians, maybe war heroes. Then actors, followed by musicians. Now it's sports stars.
Somewhere in this country somebody is expecting a son, and they are seriously considering naming him Obama Leonardo or Justin Lebron. I'd bet money on it.
In twenty years, you damn well know there are going to be a few more Beyonces and Taylors out there than there have ever been before.
It's a good thing that Tiger Woods doesn't go by his given name. Can you imagine the golf courses of America a few years from now crawling with guys named Eldrick?
With the popularity of Family Guy being what it is, There is also the possibility that in a few years, there will be a lot more Megs and Brians running around.
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