Nothing New Under the Sun

I've always heard the expression that "there's nothing new under the sun." And it makes sense for the most part. I mean, as far as writing goes, everything has been done at some time or another. Just not in the same way. But here lately, I've been wondering if that applies to people too.

For instance, a couple of weeks ago, I was in North Carolina on a training and was eating breakfast at Cracker Barrell. My waitress walked up to the table with this huge smile on her face and said, "You go to _____ Baptist, right? I remember you from choir." Well, no, I don't go to _____ Baptist because I don't live in NC. And I definitately don't sing (trust me, no one wants me to).

Then last week in Orlando, I was sitting at The Cheesecake Factory and my waiter rounded the corner and said, "Sitting in your usual spot, I see." I just nodded and smiled. It takes too much effort to explain.

These are not by far the only times this has happened to me. And I'm not talking about situations where someone says, "You remind me of." I'm talking about situation where people KNOW that they know you and they don't.

So I have to wonder - is this like some sort of Matrix Cloned episode? Are there really that many people running around this country that look that much like each of us?