Porsche Friends

The other day, my family went out for sushi at a conveyor-belt restaurant. It was dinnertime and the place was packed, so we were waiting in the lobby when a father who had just arrived with his family came over to my husband.

Mr. ○○! Mr. ○○! Fancy seeing you again!

My husband looked surprised and delighted. “Oh, A! Great to see you again!” Before long, they were deep in conversation about cars, swapping enthusiast-level Porsche talk. A little later, my husband introduced him to me: “This is A—the guy I told you about.” A’s opening line was:

Oh! You’re the wife who drives a manual!

…Wait, that’s what you remember? (LOL)
I’d heard plenty about him, but it turned out that A was the person who inspired my husband to buy a GT3 Touring. In fact, without A, my husband would never have bought one.

The Encounter That Led to a GT3

This happened about a year ago, before my husband had ordered his GT3 Touring. He was filling up his Boxster at a nearby gas station when a man around his age struck up a conversation.

Oh, a manual! Nice! And we go to the same Porsche dealer, too!

That man was A. Since they were both in the middle of filling up, they exchanged a few words and then went their separate ways with a quick “See you!” After coming home, my husband regretted not getting A’s contact details:

He seemed like such a great guy. We go to the same dealer, and I bet we’d have plenty to talk about… I should’ve asked for his contact info.

Not long after that, my husband took a spontaneous drive to Royu Driveway—and, would you believe it, ran into A again! A had arrived in a 991.2-generation GT3, and my husband casually remarked:

That’s a great car, the GT3. I’d love a GT3 Touring, but they don’t bring those to Japan, do they? What a shame.

A told him, “I’m pretty sure you can buy the GT3 Touring in Japan through an authorized dealer. Why not ask them?” So my husband checked with the dealer right away and put in an order. He wasn’t holding his breath, thinking a build slot probably wouldn’t come through—but as luck would have it, he got one and was able to buy the car. He often said:

“I’d always assumed you couldn’t buy a GT3 Touring from a dealer in Japan because the configurator wasn’t available on Porsche Japan’s website. I’d given up before even asking. If I hadn’t met A, I never would’ve bought one. It’s as if fate brought us together so I could get my GT3.”

And since then, my husband and A have kept bumping into each other, even though they’ve never made plans to meet. Their latest chance encounter was, of all places, in the waiting area of a conveyor-belt sushi restaurant. I guess they really are meant to cross paths.

Porsche, and the People We’re Meant to Meet

When I was younger, I used to work hard to make sure every connection led somewhere, thinking, “Even if we’ve only met once, I have to keep in touch!” As I’ve gotten older, though, I’ve come to realize that some connections draw us together, while others don’t.
No matter how hard we try, there are people we never manage to meet again, and others we meet only once. Then there are people we keep running into without even trying, or somehow stay connected with over the years.
Maybe that’s just how fate works.
At this age, people rarely call me out or give me a chance to take a hard look at myself. But as the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. The people around us are a reflection of who we are. Thinking about the people in our lives can be a good way to take stock of ourselves.
Porsche has brought me into the lives of people I would never have met through my everyday work. It’s reminded me that I want to keep growing and cherish the wonderful connections I already have.