6 Degrees of Separation

So I have this theory that there are only about 100,000 people in the world. Before you tell me I'm wrong, let me give you some examples . . .

Two weeks ago, I went to see the Indigo Girls at Ravinia with Diana, Shannon, and Shannon's husband, Tom. As Diana and I were driving over, stuck in some of the worst traffic Chicago has to offer on Lake Cook Road, Diana received a phone call from a mutual friend, Andi. It turned out that Andi was on her way to the Indigo Girls concert as well and unbeknownst to all of us, she was 3 cars in front of us! Once we arrived at Ravinia, Diana and I found Shannon and Tom who had picked a spot 15 feet from an Economics professor from Lake Forest College and another 15 feet from my sophmore year roommate! Of course, Shannon & Tom had no idea that they'd done this.

About 2 months ago, I was reading CNN.com and discovered that one of the first friends I had in Washington DC was now the Communications Director and Environmental Advisor to Al Gore. We'd lost touch and I'm thrilled to be back in contact with her.

In 2003, I received an email petition protesting the US invasion of Iraq from a friend of mine from DC (who now lives in Chicago like me) and the name below hers on the petition was the name of my grandmother's neighbor in Crystal Beach, Florida (a town of about 300). When I asked my friend about the name on the petition and how she knew the woman, my friend told me that this woman was her neice! When she asked me why, I explained that I knew her and her kids and her husband and that they were some of my grandmother's favorite neighbors.

In April, I was at a Chamber event and from across a very crowded room, I saw a friend from Watervale I hadn't seen in probably 16 years. It turns out that he was invited to join the Chamber by my life insurance agent.

Today, I was in Starbucks when this very sharp woman got in line behind me. We started chatting and although we'd never met, within 3 minutes, we discovered we knew over half-a-dozen people in common.

Oh, and my best friend, Shannon, is the daughter of my high school history teacher. She and I only met 4 years ago (we didn't go to the same high school) and it turns out that not only do we know a bunch of the same people, but her sister and my brother have been friends since high school.

And then there's Mika Brzezinski, who recently had a fit on MSNBC because she (wisely) did not want to do another story about Paris Hilton. I used to work with her brother Mark when I was at Hogan.

I could go on, but instead I'll simply ask if anyone knows Bradley Whitford, Jon Bon Jovi, or Jimmy Smits. I want to meet them and by meet them, I mean do things with them that I would never post on a blog my mother reads. Oh, wait, I have met Jimmy Smits. But that's a story for another day.