Seeing Double

I thought I had entered the Incheon International Airport…it might as well have been the twilight zone. As Dave and I were awaiting the check in counters to open for our flight I began to notice this young couple sitting across from us was dressed in the same shirts. How cute I thought, matching clothes. A few minutes later I noticed another couple walk in and they too were wearing matching clothes. My mind raced for a minute as I tried to calculate the odds of seeing two different couples wearing matching outfits in the same airport within minutes of each other. It had to be large but not impossible.

I new I was witnessing a strange phenomenon, however, when moments later two more couples came walking by, both wearing matching outfits. My mind thought for a moment, ‘ok, maybe it’s a tour group’…but that didn’t make sense because non of the couples actually matched the other couples. The next thought was ‘maybe I missed the memo about today being Wear the same shirt as your friend day.’ No, that couldn’t be it either. Two by two, more of them appeared. At one point I tried to count them all. I lost track when the number of couples got into the 30’s. I made a short trip to the bathroom and passed 14 in a matter of less than a minute. I decided to take some pictures but they were coming at me so fast that some of my shots got a little blurry. (see the nike people bleow) Then I started thinking a bit more about what this could be.

As we were driving into the airport, there were a lot of cars decorated as if having just come from a wedding. Could all these couples be newlyweds? Is it some sort of twisted tradition that requires them to wear the same clothes on their honeymoon? I suppose it makes sense. After all, if you are newly wed maybe you’d still have a hard time remembering who your new spouse was and if you wore matching clothes you could find each other. Ok, maybe not. It could possibly be some new game, where people are randomly given t-shirts and then ordered to find the other person who is wearing the same clothes. When you find them you get married. Or maybe it was some way of saying ‘hey, look at us…were married now.’ Whatever the reason might be, Dave and I came to the conclusion that they newlywed hypothesis must be the answer.

Looking out over the concourse now, sitting high above the walkways with a window view from the airport lounge, I watch as more and more couples pass by with matching clothes. It’s been going on for hours now and it’s making me a little dizzy. It’s a strange world out there and for some reason I’m being privileged to see a large portion of it, two couples at a time.