Audrey: Do you know a person with the last name Lum when you were in college?
Me: Yeah, Glenda Lum, Ed Lum…
A: Ed Lum – did he go to Cal State Long Beach?
Me: Yes…
A: Did he go to First Chinese Baptist Church?
Me: Yes…
A: OMG! He’s my friend’s dad! He knows your maiden name and he knows your family owned a restaurant!
I haven’t seen Ed Lum in something like 20 years and he was here at my house! Unfortunately, I was already in bed when he came to drop Audrey off after his son’s birthday party. Oh, I wish I was at the door when he came, wouldn’t it have been so freaky??
Audrey met Ed’s son at UCLA this year and were study partners for chemistry. I remember when Ed and I were in college – we were in the same church and fellowship group. Our group did a lot of crazy things – grunion hunting in the middle of the night, bowling in the middle of the night, playing arcade games after Friday night fellowship (that was before home game systems were invented!) We had cooking parties, went skiing, went on retreats. Ed and I were both there and had many shared experiences. We have not keep in touch since I moved away from the area and gotten married. What are the chances that our children would meet in a school of 30,000 students?
So here is one proof for the Six Degrees of Separation.