What Are the Chances? (Answer: Worse Than Astronomical)

So, I went to this thrift store, randomly, for the first time in a while. It was in my hometown, and I hadn't been there for over a decade. Why not?

Though, there was more: I felt Compelled to go there, in that special, patternistic way that I've elaborated on in prior posts.

What did I expect to find at this thrift store that so urgently demanded my visit? I can't say, beyond the usual hodgepodge found in thrift stores. Regardless, over the course of my browsing, I encountered two items of note: the book Battlefield Earth, and an old, vintage-looking set of tire chains in a distinctive black case. As it were, it was the first I'd seen these particular items, anywhere; but, besides that, I mention them in particular because they stood out to me, as to be Noticed, also in a patternistic fashion I've observed many times in recent years.

So Noticeable were they, in fact, I picked out the book and tire chains as being somehow significant, most likely to be involved in some forthcoming synchronistic incident (also patternistic, for me ...).

I was not disappointed.

The next day, I went to another thrift store, at the other side of town -- also out of a Compelling, instead of any logical, overt need. And there, I came across two items of note. The first was another copy of Battlefield Earth, and though this was only the second time I'd ever encountered the famous novel in my life (and had occurred less than twenty-four hours afterward), I didn't think too much of it -- because coincidences do happen, you know? The second item, however, gave me pause: a set of tire chains, in a scuffed, black, elderly case with faded stickers from a different era of marketing and advertisement.

The chains were exactly like those from the last thrift store -- an obscure, perhaps once-in-a-lifetime item, encountered twice within the course of a day. And, both in thrift stores.

What to make of this, I don't know, even after my last magical-mystery-tour few years of such phenomenon. In any case, I laughed.