David Sedaris ...

... is one of my favourite authors at the moment. It was quite by accident, or a Freudian slip of the mouse, that I ended up sending a copy of 'Dress Your Family in Cordorouy and Denim' to my father.

With him being a retired Church of England vicar, with strongly held views about sexuality and the conduct of sexual relationships, I was worried that he'd be insulted or embarrassed by the book's arrival.

I complained to Amazon.com but they assured me I had indeed purchased it by way of 'one-click'. It was hard to argue, they seemed certain, and as I'm often rummaging around Amazon for this and that, I couldn't be certain I had not unknowingly made the order.

I rang my father yesterday, and he seemed more disappointed that I had not sent him the book on purpose - and a little put out that I appeared to be asking for it back. He's going to read it. And he informed me that there are 'quite a few programmes on television these days about homosexuality. There were two only this week' and added, 'We think it's important to watch them.'

I didn't ask about the programmes as our history of talking about (homo) sexuality has often led to more than a few heated words.

But, I was reminded about the importance of chance in the ways that relationships develop. Had the book not been ordered, I may have found out later rather than sooner that there's a degree of difference in the way he is thinking about same-sex relationships. Or, at the very least, is more open to thinking or learning something about them even if his conclusions remain the same.

There's a good account of the value of chance in the development of relationships in Howard Becker's 'Tricks of the Trade. How to Think About Your Research While You're Doing It' - from which, here's an excerpt from the University of Chicago Press.