My Brother from another mother
Mark Garland, a 58 year old bus driver who hails from Trowbridge, England had been checking in for his flight when the gate agents perplexingly told him that he’d already checked in. He asked them to recheck their records and the clerk said he had checked about a half hour earlier for a flight to Bangkok. Mark insisted that he had not and asked the woman to rescan his ticket. His number was different from the previous check-in and so the mystery started. The younger Mark explained that the check-in employee apparently didn’t cross reference the booking number and checked in the bloke named Mark Garand, which initially caused him some worry. “I stood at the check-in counter for 40 minutes while they tried to work out the problem. “We then had to go to the boarding gate early to identify the mix up.”
It was only at the gate that the staff realized that there were two Mark Garlands on the same flight. The other Mark was a 62-year-old builder from Warmley, Bristol, who was a dead ringer for his younger counterpart with similar features and a matching bald head. That’s when the doppelgängers met in person — an experience that evoked looking in a mirror. “I was shocked at how strange it was,” said the younger Mark on seeing his inflight, stunt double. “People said we could be brothers.” He added, “I said, ‘Look, I’m Mark Garland,’ showing him my passport, and he started laughing and opened his passport and showed me his name, and it was banter.” They then each proceeded to jokingly blame the other for causing them so many “problems.”
“He’s like me, I’ve got a character and I love winding people up — we’re the same.” The younger and elder Mark had coincidentally decided to travel to Thailand on vacation. When the pair boarded the plane, they discovered that they were sitting right next to each other. The acquaintances subsequently chatted for the duration of the 11½-hour hour flight, during which realized that they had a lot more in common. The two lived just 15 minutes apart and had unknowingly crossed paths before like ships passing in the night. “I’m a bus driver, and Mark said he sometimes uses my bus,” said Mark. In addition, both men also had four children each. They even knew some of the same people. “One of my colleagues knows him and goes for drinks in the pub with him,” said younger Mark. And, of course, the inflight facsimiles both have a passion for Thailand. They have vowed to stay in contact and are due to meet up for a beer in Thailand on holiday. ‘I’ve made a friend for life,’ said older Mark.
Twice the fun
I surprised my twin today.
You should have seen my face.
My doppelganger has just walked in, and sat on the other end of the couch.
Now I’m beside myself with shock.
I told the bartender I wanted a double…
and he brought out a guy that looks just like me.
I have an albino doppelganger.
He’s a pale imitation.
March 8th Birthdays
1963 – Kathy Ireland, 1902 – Louise Beqavers, 1936 – Sue Ane Langdon, 1954 – Cheryl Baker
1974 – Steve Sarkisian, 1992 – Devon Workheiser, 1977 – Heinz Ward, 1988 – James Van Der Beek