There’s a debate raging in my head and it goes something like this: Do certain things happen accidentally or coincidentally?

Let’s start with defining the two words — accidentally means occurring unexpectedly and coincidentally means something that happens by coincidence or fortuitously. Well, that certainly clears the air, doesn’t it?

I was talking with a person one day and she mentioned how her husband had recently been involved in an accident. He was working with an auger and things got a bit out of control and there was a loss of attention that led to his pant leg getting caught in the auger. Fortunately he escaped with a cut leg and all is good.

Almost immediately after that conversation, I was cutting a loaf of Irish soda bread at a cultural food event and got sliced. When it comes to cutting bread, I know how to hold the knife and where to place my fingers but … things got a bit out of control and with a loss of attention, the knife found my thumb. The result was a nice colorful cut.

With the two incidents of the auger and knife happening so close together, does one call the similar situations a coincidental accident or an accidental coincidence?

So, do things happen by accident or are they coincidence? Do things happen unexpectedly or fortuitously?

The answer is probably both, right? It’s nice to think there are things occurring in life that are unexplainable and which lead to pleasant experiences. All of this reminds me of a recent conference I attended in Mankato.

I was there to learn more about the operations of nonprofit organizations and since there was some extra time, I went for a walk.

It just happened to be supper time and, after walking for over a mile, I was hungry! Being unfamiliar with the neighborhood, I relied on my instincts and headed for a nice restful looking bar restaurant complex. The patio looked tempting but I wanted some quiet and went inside to a comfortable eating area.

I was thirsty and, when out and about, I try very hard to taste local brews from local breweries. One never knows what treasures one might find and I found a treasure.

Looking over the beer menu I noticed an IPA called Hopbiscus made by Mankato Brewing. It seemed to be just what the doctor ordered and the waitress graciously brought me a glass of the IPA. It was described as a tea infused drink finished with a dose of hibiscus flowers — should be interesting.

The first taste was quite malty — the hops are well hidden in the beer — and then the tea and hibiscus flower tastes began to assert themselves. With the tastes came the aroma of the flower and it was quite pleasant at the finish. The beer was zesty enough to be refreshing and tasty enough to be interesting.

I was making notes of the tasting experience when the waitress came along and asked me what I was doing. I explained my interest in alcoholic beverages and she asked me if I had tasted Bauhaus’ (a northeast Minneapolis brewery) new seasonal release called Shandlot. The name is a take off of the quintessential early summer beer called a shandy and I answered that I hadn’t experienced Bauhaus’ offering yet.

Before I knew it, she brought me a sample of Shandlot and waited while I did my sniffing and sipping. Shandys should taste lemony and this Bauhaus brew is over the top lemony with a bit of grapefruit in the mix. I gave the waitress my thoughts on the brew and she replied that she didn’t drink much beer but found it interesting to watch me sample the brew and to hear what my thoughts were about it. We had a nice friendly conversation and I began to think about that accidental and coincidental thing again.

What brought me to that specific restaurant when there were at least three others in the neighborhood? Why would I get that specific waitress who was not a beer drinker but who enjoyed talking with me about beer and thought my ramblings to be enjoyable?

Fortunately I didn’t have any accidents at the dining table and when leaving, the waitress thanked me for letting her talk with me. Letting her talk with me? I thought it was the other way around and said so. She coincidentally made my dinner very pleasant and when I return to the area, I’ll go back there because of the atmosphere, the good food and the tasty beers.

Sometimes I wonder why things happen — accident or coincidence?

Next week — research…

As always, eat and drink in moderation but laugh with reckless abandon!

Cheers!