It’s in the water

Sometimes there are odd coincidences, thanks to the Internet. This one started with an ad that was on New Zealand television, and followed by a video that was promoted to me on YouTube. That’s not too unusual, but this is one of those (rare?) times when the two really are totally coincidental.

The video above is an ad for a NZ telecommunications (etc.) company, and promotes what’s available using their services. The ad is cute and funny, especially because we adults were all told similar lies when we were children, but we didn’t have the technology to actually check out the lies. Kids these days can easily do that.

I’ll admit that it took me a few viewings before I finally understood what all the kids were saying, but the first kid’s question was one I got right away. Like some of the other vignettes in the ad, that kid is in a shorter version of the ad, too.

And that’s where this story would have ended, except that shortly after the ad started airing, I went to YouTube to look up something or other (quite possibly for a blog post…), and one of the suggested videos was the video below, from Vox. It was totally coincidental.

Whenever we visit a website of any kind, other sites will suggest “related” sites. So, if I’d watched the ad on YouTube, it may have suggested the Vox video. The thing is, the first time I watched the ad on YouTube was today, when I got the embed code to include it in this post. So, it was a truly random suggestion (the Vox video wasn’t new at the time it was suggested), and these days, that’s kind of rare.

In any event the ad is cute, and the Vox video is interesting—and they make me think that maybe swimming in a pool isn’t such a great idea, until you think about all the other things lurking in the water of rivers, lakes, and the sea. Maybe avoiding swimming altogether is the better option. If so, I’m in luck! I haven’t owned a swimsuit in more than 20 years, for which the world is grateful: No one wants to see that.

In all seriousness, coincidences are always interesting, but when they’re on the Internet, I think they’re only interesting when they truly are coincidences. Like this time.

Could’ve been a slightly less “icky” subject, but blogging beggars can’t be choosers.