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My Weirdest Tale

A

Armadillidium

Fresh Blood
Joined
Jul 20, 2020
Messages
4
A lot of things don't make sense in my life. I've seen numerous strange things. I really believe there could be a Matrix, Truman show, Lazarus project, Shutter Island, ... thing influencing me/us.This is the strangest story I have:

About 12 years ago I went on a school trip to Italy with the whole last grade.One of these days we visited the ruins of Pompeii. I had a lot of trouble with one of my contact lenses and kept rubbing my eyes for several hours until the moment I couldn't handle it anymore and just threw the damn thing into a garbage can.
So for one hour I was only looking sharp with one eye and it wasn't a really enjoyable experience. Then suddenly I found some litter on the ground that resembled the package of my contact lenses. I took it and yep, it was the same contact lens I wear with only a 0.5 difference in value of my normal one.
Nowhere else in Pompeii was any other litter on the ground.
What would be the chance for someone to lose a contact lens there the same day I have trouble with mine and me encountering it.
 
How very strange. I don't think I've ever seen a packet of contact lenses on the floor (but having said that, I don't wear contact lenses and probably wouldn't recognise them if I did). I suppose you were more likely to spot them than somebody who didn't urgently need a pair! But it's a great coincidence... unless of course the universe conspired to provide them for you in some way, as you sort of hint. Although if that was the case, you'd think it could have got the order 'right' and given you the correct prescription! It's definitely a good anecdote. It makes you wonder doesn't it. Were you drawn to it. Or was it drawn to you. Potentially out of nowhere :)

It reminded me of one of the cases in Mary Rose Barrington's 'JOTT' book, about a spark plug. And the person who experienced it was the 'Spontaneous Cases Liaison Officer' for the SPR (so it couldn't have happened to a more appropriate chap, although despite his role he apparently much preferred when he could explain things logically). He had a moped that ran on a single spark plug, and he was riding to the garage to have it serviced. But on the way there it clogged up. So he swapped it for a spare and carried on. And this happened again (he had a second spare for some reason). And then it broke down again. So he stopped in a little dead end turning. And then what should he see but a shiny little spark plug lying in the road. Apparently (so the book says) there were about 30 types of spark plug that it could have been, but it was exactly the right one. And so he fitted it and made it to the garage.

(Nice username by the way. )
 
Finding exactly what you need at a tricky time is truly weird and very lucky.

We have Coincidence threads where people have posted about 'fortuitous finds'. Some of my own random finds are on there!

I once found a watch-face glass in the street and carried it around in my pocket for some time before a relation mentioned that they'd lost one. I produced mine and it fitted almost exactly - just needed a little grinding round the edge.
So it wasn't the one my relation had lost, which would have been funny, but someone else's which was still of use.
 
Armadillidium said:
A lot of things don't make sense in my life. I've seen numerous strange things. I really believe there could be a Matrix, Truman show, Lazarus project, Shutter Island, ... thing influencing me/us.This is the strangest story I have:

About 12 years ago I went on a school trip to Italy with the whole last grade.One of these days we visited the ruins of Pompeii. I had a lot of trouble with one of my contact lenses and kept rubbing my eyes for several hours until the moment I couldn't handle it anymore and just threw the damn thing into a garbage can.
So for one hour I was only looking sharp with one eye and it wasn't a really enjoyable experience. Then suddenly I found some litter on the ground that resembled the package of my contact lenses. I took it and yep, it was the same contact lens I wear with only a 0.5 difference in value of my normal one.
Nowhere else in Pompeii was any other litter on the ground.
What would be the chance for someone to lose a contact lens there the same day I have trouble with mine and me encountering it.
Click to expand...
Probably a bad idea to use a stranger's abandoned contact lens, because of the possibility of catching an infection.
Interesting tale, nevertheless.
 
Mythopoeika said:
Probably a bad idea to use a stranger's abandoned contact lens, because of the possibility of catching an infection.
Interesting tale, nevertheless.
Click to expand...

It was new and still in the package. Impossible to get an infection from it.

contact.jpg
 
Tempest63 said:
It would have been in a sealed container with the prescription on it, or they wouldn’t know what size and strength the lens inside was.
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The strength of the lens is on the package. It was only a 0.5 difference with mine so I was able to use it without any problems. Nowhere else on the ground was any litter and none of my classmates knew that I had thrown away the bad contact lens.
 
Eponastill said:
How very strange. I don't think I've ever seen a packet of contact lenses on the floor (but having said that, I don't wear contact lenses and probably wouldn't recognise them if I did). I suppose you were more likely to spot them than somebody who didn't urgently need a pair! But it's a great coincidence... unless of course the universe conspired to provide them for you in some way, as you sort of hint. Although if that was the case, you'd think it could have got the order 'right' and given you the correct prescription! It's definitely a good anecdote. It makes you wonder doesn't it. Were you drawn to it. Or was it drawn to you. Potentially out of nowhere :)

It reminded me of one of the cases in Mary Rose Barrington's 'JOTT' book, about a spark plug. And the person who experienced it was the 'Spontaneous Cases Liaison Officer' for the SPR (so it couldn't have happened to a more appropriate chap, although despite his role he apparently much preferred when he could explain things logically). He had a moped that ran on a single spark plug, and he was riding to the garage to have it serviced. But on the way there it clogged up. So he swapped it for a spare and carried on. And this happened again (he had a second spare for some reason). And then it broke down again. So he stopped in a little dead end turning. And then what should he see but a shiny little spark plug lying in the road. Apparently (so the book says) there were about 30 types of spark plug that it could have been, but it was exactly the right one. And so he fitted it and made it to the garage.

(Nice username by the way. )
Click to expand...

Crazy story :p Exactly the same thing happened to me but only once. We used the have a lot of potato bugs around the house. Gentle creatures minding their own business.

Another story of mine is probably farfetched. But it's recent and happened twice. I was listening a lot to Linkin Park for one week then all of a sudden Chester Bennington commited suicide. It's one of my favourite bands/musicians. This was 1-2 years ago.
Then recently I was listening to Ennio Morricone his music for one week straight. Soundtracks from the 60's/70's westerns and "The Thing". My favourite movies. Next week he died at age 91. I just found this a strange coincidence. Binge listening to a musician for one week and the artist dying very soon afterwards.

Also sorry for my bad English. It's my second language.
 
I wonder what music you're listening to this week, Armadillidium? Whatever it is, just stop it, anyway! :) Or if you're in a more fortean state of mind, you'd better write it down and see what happens...

(And do not apologise for your language skills - I for one would never have guessed you weren't a native speaker. I wish I could speak another language.)
 
Armadillidium said:
Crazy story :p Exactly the same thing happened to me but only once. We used the have a lot of potato bugs around the house. Gentle creatures minding their own business.

Another story of mine is probably farfetched. But it's recent and happened twice. I was listening a lot to Linkin Park for one week then all of a sudden Chester Bennington commited suicide. It's one of my favourite bands/musicians. This was 1-2 years ago.
Then recently I was listening to Ennio Morricone his music for one week straight. Soundtracks from the 60's/70's westerns and "The Thing". My favourite movies. Next week he died at age 91. I just found this a strange coincidence. Binge listening to a musician for one week and the artist dying very soon afterwards.

Also sorry for my bad English. It's my second language.
Click to expand...
Your english is great. You never once said you were ‘sat sitting.’ Which seems be obligatory on this forum.
 
Can you please listen to some of the auto-tuned trash please? Also, I am preparing the list of the exact bands at the moment so hold your horses :)

just kidding :)
 
I've heard 'I was sat sitting' colloquially, but the one that really warms my urine is the good old plain 'I was sat'. No, you were sitting.

Off to Pedants' Corner with me!
 
In the case of those who've used 'I was sat' in my vicinity - it was written down (in manuscripts I was sent for critique). So just shocking grammar!
 
My favorite is "I was stood". That sounds like the person was picked up and positioned elsewhere like a coat rack or something.

Over here, we have no plural nouns anymore. Even on premium news stations I hear "there's a lot of people . . .".
I am made saddest by the missing past participle: The ship had sank when I had swam over, and then a book was wrote about it.
 
I wouldn't write 'I was sat' in an essay. But I'd definitely say it. Maybe in the context of some gripe, eg the bus didn't come and I was sat here for an hour. Or meaning 'I was situated' eg I was sat opposite the kitchen door when it slammed shut.
Likewise 'I was stood here an hour' or 'We were stood outside the pub when we saw the crash'.
I don't think I'd say 'I was sitting here for an hour' as it doesn't have the same emphasis?
But if you asked me where I was sitting, I'd probably say I was sitting just there. So maybe I'd reserve 'I was sat' for certain situations?? Not sure. Maybe it's a regional colloquial thing. Or a class thing. Hmm, interesting.
 
Eponastill said:
I wouldn't write 'I was sat' in an essay. But I'd definitely say it. Maybe in the context of some gripe, eg the bus didn't come and I was sat here for an hour. Or meaning 'I was situated' eg I was sat opposite the kitchen door when it slammed shut.
Likewise 'I was stood here an hour' or 'We were stood outside the pub when we saw the crash'.
I don't think I'd say 'I was sitting here for an hour' as it doesn't have the same emphasis?
But if you asked me where I was sitting, I'd probably say I was sitting just there. So maybe I'd reserve 'I was sat' for certain situations?? Not sure. Maybe it's a regional colloquial thing. Or a class thing. Hmm, interesting.
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Yes sometimes the "correct" grammar when spoken sounds incredibly pompous.
 
Spoken grammar and written grammar are completely different. But then, when you are speaking, colloquialisms and shortenings are expected and the meaning is normally clear. When writing, it helps to use correct grammar in order to convey meaning in as few words as possible.

And I agree about the past participle disappearing. I don't mourn the passing of 'dove' ('I dove into the river for a swim') but do grit my teeth at perfectly well-educated people using 'I weaved in and out of the traffic'...
 
Is it still correct grammar to write, for example, "my wife and I are both working tomorrow"? It may be correct to write it but I said it to someone up here in the North West of England, I think I may be accused of sounding a little pompous.
 
Spudrick68 said:
Is it still correct grammar to write, for example, "my wife and I are both working tomorrow"? It may be correct to write it but I said it to someone up here in the North West of England, I think I may be accused of sounding a little pompous.
Click to expand...

I'd say it like that, except I don't have a wife and we're both off at the moment.
 
I don't think that I'd get away with that TBH. That has, to be fair, always irked me. The wife sounds like a possession, like the TV, the mobile phone, the dish washer... ;)
 
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