Coincidences seem to occur violently in my family. It�s not the kind of coincidence where you hear a word one day and it�s used later on by another person in another situation. We�re not talking �synchronicity� here, we�re talking, straight-up, scary coincidence. I have a perfect example to explain what I�m talking about.

My eldest sister sells drugs. She�s a pharmaceutical rep for a huge company, a well-reputed company, the kind of corporation that uses it�s reputation as much as the quality of their products to promote their good name and increase business. Because she is a sales rep (and a record-breaking one at that), she hosts several functions for local doctors to maintain relations and promote new products. From conception of the idea to the actual event, she has a hand in everything� including the invitations. Last week, she held a dinner for doctors and their families where she was going to explain a new program. She�s planned for a long time to get this together, sent invitations to 100 local doctors. And did not receive ONE RSVP call. Perplexed, she went along as planned, showed up at the restaurant with everything ready, knowing that despite the fact she received no calls, at least a few of the hundred doctors were bound to show.

When she arrived, the management of the restaurant said that they were inundated with phone calls, doctors trying to RSVP, asking if the function was still on. Doctors started showing up. And giving my sister very odd looks. One of them, also an acquaintance of hers, walked right up to my sister and said, �What was with the RSVP number?� At the surprised look on my sister�s face, the doctor said, �You haven�t called it, have you.� My sister rushed to the phone, dialed a number (that she realized as she was dialing was ONE digit off from the number she intended to print), and was horrified.

Before you continue reading, dial this number: 1-800-411-3655. Do it. You MUST dial this now. And listen.

Okay, did you do it? Here�s the clincher. My sister�s name is Jane. Her colleagues were pissing their pants, listening to it over and over, as she rushed about the restaurant, explaining the mistake to all the older, conservative doctors who assumed (because of her usual goofy sales approach) that this was intended. When Jane called me last night to tell me about this, she said, �I had better chances of winning the fucking Lotto than misprinting the one number that uses MY NAME on a phone-sex line.� I couldn�t stop giggling. Thank God she has a good sense of humor about things, she really had no other choice but to laugh (a tad bit hysterically) at the whole situation.

Now, she�s backtracking and contacting all the doctors on the list who received the invitation. Hee hee. Whoops. She�ll be fine.

-Barbarella

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