Symbolism in Real Life

As writers, I'm sure we've all done it: notice something and think it's symbolic somehow, and then suddenly realize that this is real life, and not fiction. Silly us. Symbolism doesn't exist, right?

And yet we see it anyway. And who knows, maybe we're crazy, but it's pretty cool when things like that happen.

So...what are your experiences with this? Have you ever seen real-life symbolism?

I haven't really seen it myself so much. I mean, I can make easy parallels to books/games/etc in my real life, but I've never really seen something as a symbol of something else.

When I see someone with a dark tan, I think 'Sun-baked potato chip.'

But that's pretty much it.