The Amazing Coincidence

A co-worker and I were in Serbia for work.

(No, I haven’t told any stories from the Serbia trip before…they’re on the list).

The office in Belgrade we were working from was on the 6th floor, so on the first day we took the old, Soviet-era elevator up. These elevators are very unlike modern American elevators, and combine the delights of intense claustrophobia with the sensation of one’s imminent demise.

The office building itself was part of a medium-sized plaza, which featured a cafe on the ground floor and a couple of restaurants nearby. The plaza had a few speakers, through which the cafe pumped some music.

After finishing our work day we took the elevator back down to the ground floor. As it lurched and clanged its way down the six stories, my co-worker sang “stuck in an elevator,” to the tune of Aerosmith’s song “Love in an Elevator.” We laughed, but were still notably relieved as the elevator safely arrived at the ground floor.

As we exited the building, we were both shocked to hear Aerosmith on the speakers, playing “Love in an Elevator.”

Possibly he had heard, subconsciously, that song playing when we were still both on the sixth floor (although we later confirmed that we couldn’t consciously hear the music from the office). Or possibly it was just an amazing but otherwise un-noteworthy coincidence.

But it was pretty strange nonetheless.

(I’ve written a couple of times before about coincidences I’ve come across, if this sort of post amuses you.)