Fate, Faith or Coincidence?

So, I spent last week in San Marcos, Texas coordinating the Mississippian Iconography Conference that I do every year. My eight hour drive home yesterday was fairly uneventful until I got into eastern Oklahoma. As I pulled off the highway to indulge myself in an order of Sonic tater-tots, some interesting events unfolded.

Approx. 7:45PM
My stomach begins to rumble and I see a Sonic sign on Interstate 40 at Sallisaw. I exit and head into town.

Approx. 7:50PM
I finish eating my order of tater-tots covered in cheese, put on my seat belt and turn the key to start my jeep. When turning the key, I am greeted with a cacophonous BANG from under my hood, followed by the instrument dials in the dash moving back and forth in a "not so normal" way. As I wonder, "what was that!", I begin to see smoke billowing out from under the engine hood. My only thought... "shit. why did I stop for tater-tots in Sallisaw, Oklahoma." (BTW, Sallisaw is where the Joad family turned west out of the dusty Oklahoma poverty in attempt to find a better life in "prosperous" California.)

I get out of the car, open the hood to discover that my battery shorted out and the loud bang was the battery acid covers being blasted off the battery into the underside of the engine hood. My thoughts changed.. "I'm screwed."

Thinking I'll need to hitch a ride, call a tow truck or something else to fix this, I looked up in amazement.. Next door to the Sonic was an AutoZone. My thoughts now moved to.. "Wow." I walked over to AutoZone and purchased a battery.

7:54PM
I asked the clerk at the AutoZone what time they close in case the new battery does not fix the issue. "We close at 8PM", he stated. I looked at my phone. It was 7:54. They close in 6 minutes. My thoughts.. "isn't this just the most interesting set of events?" I walked back to Sonic and installed the battery.

8:10PM
Battery installed, I turned the ignition key. My jeep started like nothing even happened. I loaded the old battery into the back of the jeep and drove out of Sonic. The ice in my cherry-lime aid hadn't even had time to dissolve and water down my drink. My thoughts returned to "Wow." I got back to Fayetteville with only a 30 minute delay.

Five minutes later, I would have been in a much worse situation (both in time and money). The last hour of my drive was consumed with wondering whether this set of circumstances were the result of fate, faith or simply coincidence. I'm leaning toward simple coincidence... and a little luck.