I come from a small family. I only have five first cousins. My wife has thirty – nine. Our wedding was at my wife’s home town. I was worried that my relatives would not be ready to make the eight – hour drive. They are a resourceful bunch. They booked a tour bus, loaded it up, and had a fine old time.
Marrying into such a large family was definitely a challenge. There never seemed to be an end to the relatives. I got frustrated as we traveled around the province. Every where we went there was some one who was my wife’s relative. We lived in Medicine Hat for some time. This is a good twelve hours, almost a whole province, away from the family farmstead. Yet, I worked beside an in-law. Now, in Vermilion, there are her relatives around.
There is a great game for movie buffs that relies on strange connections between people. It is called “Six degrees of Kevin Bacon”. Simply pick an actor at random. Try to connect that actor to Kevin Bacon through a series of six movies or less. I’ll give an example – Elvis Presley: Elvis Presley was in Change of Habit with Edward Asner. Edward Asner was in JFK with Kevin Bacon. The game is based on the idea that we live in a small world. Many have come to believe that anyone on the planet can be connected to anyone else in the most of six connections.
The idea came from a researcher named Milgram. This fellow carried out a study where volunteers handed out letters. The idea was that the letters would get eventually to some unknown target in a far away city. Lately, some others have looked into Mr. Milgram’s study. Certainly, some of the letters were successful. Unfortunately, most of the letters never made it. About 95% were unaccountable. This would be like playing “Six degrees of Derek Collins”.
I suppose there is a lesson here. My wife certainly is not related to everyone north of Edmonton. My mind ignores the lack of connection that many people I’ve met have with her extended family. It is just too easy to focus on the surprise finds. While it is exciting to think that everyone on Earth is closely tied into a tight social web, I may have to admit I’ll never be connected to Elvis Presley. Until I visit that convenience store he works at in Texas.
