Connect the KIWI

Six degrees of separation is the theory that all people are six, or fewer, social connections away from one other.

It’s also known as the six handshakes rule, but may well be adapted to the six elbow bumps rule if social distancing is to be maintained around the world during these mad and uncertain times.

It’s not to be confused with Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, a game made up by bored university students one day who put the prolific actor at the centre of the entertainment universe. The game is to name another actor and then link them back to Kevin Bacon in six movies or fewer.

For example, the actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus is connected to Kevin Bacon by two degrees. The equation? Kevin worked with Wayne Knight on JFK and Wayne also played Newman on Seinfeld, in which Julia played the character of

Elaine Benes. Simple.

I think part of the birthright of being a New Zealander is that we are all interconnected. There wouldn’t be one town in New Zealand where I couldn’t find somebody who knew one of my family members or friends. Some people might find that a little claustrophobic, but I love that about this country. It really is true that in New Zealand there are no strangers, just friends I haven’t yet met.

I was reminded of this recently when I was travelling on the ferry to the Coromandel with a group of friends. There was about eight of us, and one of the team was taking orders for drinks. I noticed a woman, sitting on her own in the row in front of us, and asked her if she’d like a drink too.

“Absolutely!” she said. “I’ll have a Chardonnay.” We liked her seize-the-moment approach and got talking. I mentioned I had been in Napier the night before, running a panel comprised of Kiwi businesswomen and entrepreneurs. I was appalled, I said, that I hadn’t heard of one of the women who had set up an internationally successful business and who has established and supported some incredible social initiatives.

I asked the assembled group if they’d heard of Katherine Corich and her company Sysdoc. No, said my friends. Yes, said our fellow passenger, and it turned out she works for Sysdoc. How’s that for a coincidence?

And then, when we asked her where she was heading to for the weekend, she told us that

KERRE EXPERIENCES THE SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION THEORY FIRST-HAND

she was going to meet her husband and a couple of friends to go sailing.

In fact, she said to me, you might know their daughter, she works at

Newstalk ZB. And I do know her. I have laughs with her every morning.

Laura’s one of my favourite young colleagues. And with that the six degrees of separation theory was proven again.

One of the more remarkable six degrees examples was when we were in Ireland.

One of the activities I’d put my name down to do was surfing, so when we arrived at our destination for the evening, I popped down to the surf shop to introduce myself and work out the best time for my lesson.

I walked in the door and the tousled blond surfer boy looked up to greet me. “Kerre,” he said. “Paul...?” I answered. And there he was. Paul Buchanan, who I worked with back in the day at Café Paradiso, and who I discovered is the brother of one of my old bosses. He had no idea it was me who would be coming in, and I had no idea he ran the surf shop.

So there you have it. The world is indeed a small place when you’re a Kiwi.