It's amazing where you find them. A funny thing happened this morning when I checked my email. It turns out that the iPod I listed for sale last night on eBay had indeed sold while I was sleeping. So I logged in to check the details of the transaction and noticed that the buyer's 'handle' was a man's name, but it didn't match the buyer's real name on his shipping info. Curiously the handle, a slight variation of Ben Knox, did match the name of a character from the movie "Local Hero," which happens to be one of my favorites.
So when I emailed the buyer to thank him for the purchase and let him know when to expect his iPod, I asked if his choice of nickname had anything to do with the movie. Here's the response I got:
Hey Jon,
It most certainly does, you must be a fan of Local Hero too! This movie is
really special to me for many reasons and I would place it fairly high up
on my "Top 10 Films Of All Time" list. Interestingly enough, you are the
first person ever to take note of the connection, well done indeed.
So now I am curious...are you just a movie buff or did the film have a
special impact on you as well?
Take care, thanks for the' pod and be sure to give the film and the
soundtrack a good viewing and listen again soon.
The irony here is that the movie itself is all about finding your place in the world and the interpersonal connections you make along the way. A few hours ago "Ben Knox" was just a guy who bought an iPod from me, but now I like him. I don't know a thing about him other than that we like the same movie, but sometimes that's enough. In fact, it's really more than that. We were each individually influenced by the same thing, and even though we were unlikely to ever meet at all, now we're both connected to something, and in some small way we know about each other. I like that.
