We Are the World

We all know those conversations where one person meets another person from somewhere else and they run through their respective lists of acquaintances looking for a match.* I was privy to one recently that went something like this:

"You live in Berlin? I've got a friend there." "What's his name?" "[so and so]. He's a musician." "Hmm... where's he play." "Usually at the [such and such]" "Mmm... I don't think I know him. Does he ever play at [another such and such]?" "Hmm... I'm not sure."

They worked on down the line, finally hitting a match:

"Oh, you know [another so and so]? I know him."

"Yeah, I know [another so and so]."

And then:

"...He's kind of an asshole."

"Yeah."

International harmony, it's a beautiful thing.

* Is there a term for such conversations? There should be. Let's make one.