Is there a name for the phenomenon of perceived repeated interruption? Is there a documented name for the phenomenon of repeated social interruptions. It's something I've discussed with others who seem to share the observation that often, when one is alone in a public space, others will consistently run into them.

One example is in single stall bathrooms. This is one that I've discussed with others, to much amusement: it seems that whenever I find an unattended public restroom, even in a secluded space away from population, more often than not someone will approach and knock within seconds.

Another would be driving along a typically empty road late at night, and having someone follow every single turn you take up until you get home, where they turn around and go from whence you both came, making seemingly no sense.

Obviously, this is a cognitive bias of some sort and likely not truly indicative of some social behavior. It reminds me of the spotlight effect, but the spotlight effect is defined as heightened self awareness, no? This seems to happen regardless of that, like there are people just waiting around to stumble upon oneself at the most inopportune times.

Paranoia might be one word for it, but talking with others anecdotally, it seems like most people have had this thought before.
I would classify this as a cognitive bias. Specifically, selection bias:


  Selection bias is the bias introduced by the selection of individuals, groups or data for analysis in such a way that proper randomization is not achieved, thereby ensuring that the sample obtained is not representative of the population intended to be analyzed.


These are 'every day' actions you describe. They are not very memorable. In contrast, when encountering such interruptions during these otherwise 'normal' actions they become more memorable and stick with you.

Consequently, this then leads to a selection bias: only the interrupted actions come to mind immediately. If you were to systematically count how many times this occurs it would be less frequent than it seems.