My wife and I were going to a movie Saturday morning.

But before we left home, I had just enough time to send an email to a friend who was waiting for my reply to something he had proposed in his own email a day or so before. He had invited us to a small gathering, and, after consulting with my wife, I accepted.

That accomplished, we were on our way.

We drove out to the Airway Heights multiplex, parked, bought our tickets and headed in to the semi-dark theater.

We have gotten into a pattern of sitting in the very top row. So we started up the stairs. There were not many people in the theater. I guess 10:30 a.m. screenings aren't that popular.

I noticed that there were some people in the top row. But they were sitting in the middle and we planned to sit on the end.

Almost the instant we had sat down, a guy in that group on our row got up and started heading our way.

I assumed he wanted out of the row (which would require us to stand up and let him squeeze past) and I think I grumbled about his timing.

Then, as he approached, he greeted me and said his name.

It was the guy I had emailed just before we left home. I hadn't seen him in person for about a year.

I was flabbergasted. "I just emailed you," I said. (And I had not said anything in that note about our plans to go to the movie.)

He smiled and said he had gotten it.

I introduced him to my wife and told him it was easier, when replying to an email, to just do it via your computer.

He said he preferred the personal touch.

I spent much of the remainder of the weekend saying "What are the odds...?"

---

---