Friday, March 21, 2014

Six degrees of separation...NO not the movie!

As I sit here thinking about the different places that I will visit within the next 2-3 months, I realized that i have friends and acquaintances in every city that i visit. And these people usually know someone else in my life.  That made think about the theory of Six Degrees of Separation.

I remember (waayyy) back in college when i use to watch the Real World on MTV religiously.  I can't remember what season it was, but there was an instance where one of the cast members was reading the newspaper and announced that they (the police) had caught the Unibomber.  Then another cast member said that she knew who he was! Her friend went the university where the Unibomber had taught and was actually in his class.  Yeah...hilarious! lol! But then one of them mentioned the theory of Six Degrees of Separation.  Being that I was a Sociology  major at the time, the theory fascinated me. I wanted to learn more about it and explore my connections.

OK so what is Six Degrees of Separation you ask? Wikipedia says that Six degrees of separation is the theory that everyone and everything is six or fewer steps away, by way of introduction, from any other person in the world, so that a chain of "a friend of a friend" statements can be made to connect any two people in a maximum of six steps.  Basically, the theory says that every person in this WORLD can somehow be connected to each other within 6 people are less.  I often joke around and say that there's no such thing as Six Degrees of Separation in the City of Farrell.  It's more 2 or 3 because almost everyone is related in some kinda way.  But I digress...

So last night, I had the opportunity to attend the Duquesne University Unity Banquet in the university Ballroom.  It was a wonderful event that honored students at the university.  I'm glad that I high-tailed it down the turnpike and made it there by 6:30...it started at 5 lol.  I'm a little mad because I missed the cocktail hour...translation: no wine in my hand that night. While I'm thinking about it, I have to give a shout out to Dr. Rahmon Hart.  I had the opportunity to speak with a few students last night and they all talked about how much Dr. Hart and Ms. Amber, his assistant, was an influence on them.  Back to what I was saying... the speaker for the evening was none other than Lamman Rucker.  You all know him better as Sheriff Troy from the "Why Did I get Married" movies.  First of all, I never knew Lamman was from Pittsburgh, went to Duquesne U., and grew up on the Hill District. Small world. So as he's talking...and man can he bump his gums (lol)...I begin to think about that ole Six Degrees of Separation theory again. Here's this guy, who's been on TV and movies countless times and I never knew that we had a connection.  How could I know? I live in a small town in western Pennsylvania and he's a Hollywood actor.  My connection to Lamman is Dr. Hart.  I later found out that evening that I had yet another immediate connection to Lamman through Eddie Benton, my sister's former college basketball coach, with whom I had the opportunity to speak with briefly after the ceremony was over.  So in less than two hours, I found out that I had two connections to Lamman Rucker and they are both within just one person. I should also mention that I was standing in line to speak to Lamman and I started talking with some D.U. students.  And come to find out that one of them is in an R.A. class with my god daughter Bria who attends Duquesne.  ...Six Degrees of Separation ...again!

I told my friend Lisa that my next blog would be about this theory.  She asked me to explain it to her.  So I gave her an example.  I told her that she has a connection to Michael Jordan, through me and my sister.  She kinda looked puzzled (lol) so I explained my statement to her.  Our cousin was married to an NBA player who was drafted to the Chicago Bulls.  He played on a championship team with Michael Jordan.  The degree of separation for her and Michael Jordan is 4. I get that OOOOH! look from her with a smile ;-)

So my reason for writing this blog is not to talk about Michael Jordan or how FINE Lamman Rucker is in person (TV/Movies do him absolutely no justice! AND he's tall! AND smart!)...i see a crush forming here lol! My reason for the blog is to pose a question.  If everyone in this world can be connected by 6 people or less, can you imagine how much different this world would be if we actually reached out to one another? Imagine if we acted and actually connected with people?  The amount of information sharing and knowledge gained would be colossal.  Could it be possible that somewhere on this planet, through a connection, lies a cure for cancer or HIV/AIDS? A solution to poverty or social discrepancies? Or possibly build a society where there's PEACE among everyone?  I pose these questions to hopefully give someone the slight push to begin to explore the connections they have and use those connections for the better good.  If that doesn't interest you, just try it for pure fun and entertainment.  I guarantee you'll uncover something and someone that you would have never imagined.

Until next time,
Kavon

.....me and Lamman

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