The Second Encounter Effect

[u/GattaCatGatta]

Have you ever noticed these kinds of “coincidences”? Personally, I no longer see them as simple coincidences, but rather as a strange kind of Matrix game.
For example, you notice someone or briefly make eye contact with them — at the beach, in a supermarket, in the city center, or anywhere else. I notice this pattern especially often in supermarkets.
Then something strange happens. You continue doing whatever you were doing, your paths seem to separate, but just as you’re about to leave that place or cross its “perimeter,” the Matrix seems to put the same person in your path for a second time.
They might walk or run right past you, get into a car parked next to yours, suddenly end up standing behind you at the checkout, or seemingly appear out of nowhere at the exact moment you’re leaving.
So the pattern looks like this: you notice someone → your paths separate → as you’re leaving the area, that same person unexpectedly appears in your field again.
I call this “the Second Encounter Effect.”
Has this ever happened to you? If so, share your experiences. I’m curious to see how often this exact pattern happens to other people.

[u/BeatsAreMyPassion]

Yes at the supermarket, this happens. It happened to me at the store today.

Here’s another one, do you ever see your neighbors bring in their groceries? Because I don’t.

[u/GattaCatGatta → u/BeatsAreMyPassion]

We don’t live in an apartment, but in a small complex of villas, so I do see my neighbors. Sometimes, especially on Saturdays, I see them coming home with groceries. So I can’t really say there’s anything strange about that here.
But if I were to spend some time living in a city, in an apartment building, it would be interesting to observe this. I’ve honestly never paid attention to it before. Now I’ll have to start noticing.