People From Around The World Share Their Most Interesting Butterfly Effect Moments
Whether or not you believe in the butterfly effect, little events can be astonishingly life-altering. You've likely already learned that transformative experiences can come in some incredibly small packages! While certain situations may not seem significant at the time, the slightest actions, interactions, and decisions can have a major impact on the course of an individual's future. This is the foundation that the butterfly effect is built on!
If you're looking for proof that this theory lines up with reality, you've come to the right place. Scenarios such as being rescued by a forgotten pot of potato salad or becoming a world-famous band over a bathroom break may sound too fantastical to be true.
However, these are only a glimpse into peoples' very real experiences that prove just how plausible the butterfly effect is! These are 25 of the most insane, mind-boggling instances of the butterfly effect hard at work.
50. Mother Nature's Smallest Action Can Change An Entire Planet
In Chad, on the southern outskirts of the Sahara, there’s valley called the Bodélé Depression. It was once a lakebed, and the dry dust in the valley floor is full of nutrient-rich matter from the microorganisms that lived there. From October to March, winds coming in from the east are pinched between two mountain ranges. When the surface winds climb over 20 mph, they start picking up dust from the valley. This dust is blown westward, all the way across Africa, and out over the Atlantic. That dirt—from one small valley in Chad—supplies over 50% of the nutrient-rich dust that helps fertilize the Amazon rainforest.
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Photo by Pawel Janiak on Unsplash
49. A Life-Saving Snow Day
Let me tell you a little backstory. My mom and dad were married in Mexico but soon after their wedding my father immigrated to the U.S. He was a legal resident so he could come and go as he wished yet my mom was not. He would visit, get my mom pregnant and soon after go back to the U.S. to work.
Well, while living here he would carpool with a friend to go to work. He never missed a day because he was saving up to bring my mom, my two siblings and I to the U.S. so we could all finally be together. One cold winter morning he woke up and decided not to go to work. It was snowing heavily. That never stopped him from going to work yet that day he decided otherwise.
It turned out that the guy that he would carpool with got in a car accident and died. It's scary to think that my dad would have died along with him. We would have never come to live in the U.S. and overall life would be so different for me and my family.
48. The Terrible Fate Of A Crooked Rug
I tripped over a rug at work but caught myself before I fell. I didn't bother to fix it for whatever reason. An hour later my coworker (she's an older lady) walked in and tripped on it too but she ended up falling face first into a door. She dislocated her shoulder pretty badly also and needs surgery, she's been on medical leave for about three months. Last I heard she might also sue the company. Whoops.
47. Failing Buffalo Bills Behind The Kardashians' Fame
The Buffalo Bills stinking in 1968 created the Kardashians.
If they didn't stink they wouldn't have drafted OJ Simpson early. That caused him to move to Buffalo and meet and allegedly end the life of his wife. Kim Kardashian's dad was famous for being one of his lawyers, which made her just relevant enough for her adult tape to get noticed, resulting in the Kardashians we have today.
46. One Poetry Book Spreading The English Language
In 9th century England, a mom got a book of poetry and told her kids that whoever learned to read it and memorized all the poems first could have the book. One of her sons wins the book. He grows up to be Alfred the Great, king of England. Around the year 880, he decided he wanted every young man in England to be able to read books in English, too, but there weren't many books in English.
He had a bunch of books translated into English (and translated a few himself) and had copies sent out to all the monasteries so they could teach people to read. The monks taught people to read in English, the people taught other people to read in English.
45. Fight With Wolverine Sparks A Band
From personal experience, I got my rear end kicked by a guy named Wolverine in Michigan, and 9 years later my band is touring Australia because of it.
When I was 14, I tried wrestling in high school. I was pretty big so I was in the 189 pound weight class and it stunk. I had to wrestle all the seniors and my first and only matchup came against this guy named "Wolverine." I never got his real name.
Anyway, I quit wrestling and next year it was either wrestle again or join the school musical. Since I didn't want to deal with wrestling again, I went with the musical and scored the lead role. Next year I got the lead again and a friend of mine told me how he's doing this 5-week program at this music school in Boston called Berklee.
I checked it out and went there myself that year for 5 weeks and fell in love with Boston. The moment I graduated I moved from Detroit to Boston and started up my band. We started playing for a few years, got bar gigs and built up.
Then this Australian radio program found us through Twitter and started playing us. Things snowballed from there and now come December we will be leaving there to play some venues and even some festivals for a couple of months!
So thank you, Wolverine, for making this all happen! I owe you one!
44. A Majorly Destructive Job Application
I applied for a job on a whim. I didn't really think I was qualified for it, and it was over 200 miles from home so I didn't expect to take the job even if it was offered.
Well, the interview went better than expected and I could not turn down the salary. Through a Facebook post, I reconnected with a high school friend who had a house there with his fiancée.
Cue me moving over... I introduced my new roommates (we'll call them Don and Jamie) to a couple (Dan and Janelle) I knew through another mutual friend.
Long story short, Dan is in the process of divorcing his wife Janelle, Jamie kicked Don out and Dan is now living here with Jamie. All because I applied for a job.
43. John F. Kennedy's Slightly Shorter Leg
The best example is JFK.
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Born with one leg slightly shorter than the other, leading to his famously unstable back.
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Football injury in college exacerbates back problems.
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Injury during PT-109 incident in WW2 further worsens back.
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Fast-forward to Dallas, Texas. November 22nd, 1963. The first shot that hit Kennedy in the back and exited his neck was survivable. He could have easily ducked out of the way after, but his back brace kept him upright, leaving his head completely exposed.
JFK could have been saved had his one dang leg been the same size as the other.
42. Guy Owes His Life To Terrible Weather
On August 28th, 1997, it rained in Oxford, England. On that day, cricket practice was scheduled but canceled at the last minute due to the weather. Two men decided to stop off at a pub next door because they didn't want to walk back in the rain. One went to the bathroom. Two women noticed the other guy and took an interest. The other guy came back and noticed his friend talking to the women and joined in. They're now both married to the respective woman they met that day. I'm the child of one of those couples.
I would never have been born if it didn't rain heavily at that time on that day.
41. A Cheap, Toy Plane Turned Him Into A Pilot
When I was 3 years old, my father gave me a cheap, plastic toy airplane for Christmas. We didn't have much money, and my parents did their best. I fell in love with aviation because of that toy. I mean, I've been obsessed with it my entire life. This drove me to enlist as a helicopter mechanic and spend 10 years in the army.
Last year, my love of aviation drove me to buy a ticket, that I could barely afford, to the annual air show. It was there that I met a representative from a helicopter flight school and learned that I could use my G.I. Bill benefits to pay for flight school.
Now, I'm a private helicopter pilot and I'm working towards additional ratings. All because we were really poor when I was a child. My dad ended up giving me the greatest gifts a parent could give a child when he gave me that toy plane... imagination and passion.
40. Archduke's Domino Of Wars
The biggest example of this in history must be the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. One murder that lead to a World War and that war fueled the fire for what would be the second World War, which then again helped lead to the Cold War.
39. Unnecessary Colonoscopy Over Lactose Intolerance
My mom had uncomfortable digestive symptoms for a year or so that couldn't be explained. Her doctor ordered a colonoscopy and discovered colon cancer. She quickly had surgery and recovered well.
She decided that it was important that my dad be screened just in case. Turns out he also had colon cancer. Six months after my mom's surgery, my dad had a portion of his colon removed as well and recovered quickly.
After recovery, my mom still had the same initial symptoms. It turns out she was lactose intolerant. Since both parents had colon cancer and no telltale symptoms, my mom decided I needed to be screened as well.
So my mom becoming intolerant to lactose later in life lead to me getting an otherwise completely uncalled for colonoscopy at the age of 27.
38. Coin Toss Which Created A Company
I tossed a coin to choose an answer on a test when applying to a university. I got admitted by one point. In my 2nd year, I started a small software house with a friend from one of the courses. Flash forward 10 years, this start-up evolved into quite a successful IT company.
37. An Argument Over The Location Of Rome
Remus and Romulus disputed over where they should found Rome. At a point, they simply stared at the sky to await an omen to determine which was right. No omen to resolve the dispute came, and eventually, Romulus killed Remus and became 'the' founder. If there had been an omen, Remus might have been the founder, changing the course of Rome and consequently the world.
36. Bathroom Bond Formed Boyz 2 Men
Boyz II Men. They formed in a bathroom at school. A couple of them were in the choir and practicing, another one randomly has to use the bathroom and chimes in.
35. Vegetarian Scare Leads To Anxiety Treatment
I had been a vegetarian for 8 years. In the past year or so, I had been feeling weaker physically, getting lightheaded and dizzy easily. Then one day, I stub my toe which hurt like heck. Being physically weak I couldn't handle the pain, passed out, hit my head and as a result had a concussion.
For me that was the last straw. I did some research to find out why I had been feeling so weak (probably should have seen a doctor though). The symptoms I had indicated a vitamin B12 deficiency, which is very common in vegetarians. It can go unnoticed for years without any symptoms, which is why I hadn't noticed anything before.
I decided to start eating meat again. After a few months, I realize my social anxiety is much less than it used to be. I did some more research, turns out vitamin B12 deficiency can worsen anxiety and depression. If I hadn't stubbed my toe I would probably still be a weak, socially anxious vegetarian.
34. Traveling The World Over An Argument
My ex's poor choice of words on a text message enraged me, coincidentally in those 10 minutes of rage I was asked if I wanted to do a student exchange... I said yes, they asked where and I said "the furthest you can send me."
I spent the best 6 months of my life abroad, I came back home (small town) and my insight was different, everything changed completely, and I am thinking of going back someday... just because I got mad.
33. An Insane Connection To Famous Historical Figures
Way back in the 1540s, it seems that one of my ancestors decided it would be a brilliant idea to marry his own sister and have several children. One of those children was my great great great great great (14 greats in total) grandfather. Now here's where it gets interesting; this mans descendants include Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jane Addams and John Howland.
32. A College Dance Challenge Leading To A Daughter
My kid wouldn't be here if it weren't for my RA in college.
At the end of a summer program before my freshman year, they had a dance up in the breezeway of our dorm. I'm a major nerd, and at this point, I'm all "no way I'm going to a dance." My RA across the hall hears this, and comes over and basically orders me to go and says I'll have more fun than sitting in my room. So I think, you know what, I'll do it just to show him.
So I go, I hang out, dance a bit, meet a girl, and one thing leads to another. We got married the summer we graduated on campus, and it was 11 years married/15 years together this August. If I hadn't gone to the dance to show up my RA, I wouldn't have met my wife or had my daughter.
31. Missed Walmart Job Leads To Perfect Family
A number of years back, I put in a job application at Walmart. After not hearing back for a long time, I assumed I wouldn't hear back, so I smoked with some friends. I heard back from them THE NEXT DAY. Of course, I failed the urine test. Because of this, I got a job at UPS. Because of that, I worked with this dude. Because of that, I met this girl. Because of that, we started dating. Now I'm sitting next to my pregnant fiancé and will be a father in less than two weeks.
30. A Lost Wallet Leading To A Future Family
My grandpa went off adventuring as a young man with some of his pals: a buddy who boxed and a buddy who played guitar. My grandpa didn't have any special skill like that, so he washed dishes.
These three guys just ambled across America, boxing, strumming and scrubbing for enough cash to make it to the next town. After a while, the adventures tapered off and the other two fellas made their way back to their corners of the world--but my grandpa couldn't scrounge up the money to get back to Illinois.
So he kept washing dishes for quite some time, hoping for a lucky break. That break came in the form of a wallet he found lying on the sidewalk with enough cash for a bus ticket back home. He wasted no time.
He met my grandmother back in Illinois, settled down, started a family. And as a result, I exist.
Sometimes I think about that man that lost his wallet, and how mad he must have been when he realized. I owe him my life.
29. A Nervous Leap Of Faith For True Love
Online dating back in 2012. A random girl with no picture and a very short bio looked at my OKCupid profile but didn't message me. I never message somebody with no picture (what are the chances you are attracted to them?!) and on top of that, we had a 37% match rating. On a whim, I sent her a one-liner.
We tied the knot in 2014 and we are very happily married. That 10-second message fundamentally altered my life's path including what continent I'd spend the rest of my life on (Europe vs the US).
28. Yellow Is A Very Attractive Color
I wouldn't exist if it wasn't for my grandma wearing a yellow sweater. My grandparents worked in the same building for several years and my grandpa would always walk right past my grandma on his way to his office. One day my grandma decided to wear a yellow sweater to work that day and it caught his eye. He immediately proceeded to ask my grandma out and they've been together ever since. She was planning on quitting her job in the next two weeks, so there is a good chance that he never would have noticed her or met her if she hadn't worn that sweater.
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27. A Car In Need Is A Friend Indeed
I graduated from University a few months ago and I was job searching for a while for some work in my field, to no avail. I eventually got down to my last bit of money because the deposit from my university flat hadn't been returned yet, it was very late. Because I literally had no money left to pay for my car insurance and tax I signed on for benefits, so I would be given enough money to pay for my car while looking for a job. I hated the idea of it and I almost sold my car but I kept it in case I needed to travel for job interviews. Low and behold two weeks after signing on for benefits a recruiter finds my CV on the job centre website and invites me in to chat about a job they're recruiting for, which requires that I have a driving license and car. The job turned out to be something I never would have thought of myself to search for, but pays pretty well and has great potential for greater things (I'll explain if anyone cares). Anyway loads of people had been headhunted prior to me but none of them got an interview because they didn't drive. I aced a phone interview, aced the interview and travelled 170 miles for the the training where I aced the training and my first day is on Monday.
26. Sixers For The Win
I was living at a homeless shelter back in 2012. I'd planned to move to Philadelphia, but that didn't work out, and I was kind of bummed out. The homeless shelter had a television set that played sports games. The Sixers played some other team, and if I recall correctly they whooped ass. I was pretty happy about that. Went walking around chatting with people as a result. Someone mentioned this housing situation that had a few empty rooms and did I want to apply? I was like, sure. So I applied, got my own apartment, and a few days later I met an attractive co-tenant who liked my shoes. We started dating and three years later, we're still together.
25. Luckiest Leg Break Ever
One day I was curious and asked my grandma if my great grandpa fought in WWII. She told me that he was training to be a parachuter with 9 other guys. A week before they were supposed to be deployed, he was practicing parachuting and he landed on a fence, breaking his leg. He was unable to go into combat because of it. So his team goes on without him, while he still is recovering from his broken leg. The plane he was supposed to be parachuting on got shot down and everyone on that plane died. If he didn't break his leg, my grandma wouldn't have been born, which would mean my dad and I wouldn't have been born either
24. A Strange Place To See The Best Side Of Humanity
The best I have heard of is the story of Franz Stigler and Charlie Brown.
Backstory: Charlie Brown (yes that really was his name) was a B-17 pilot in World War Two. His plane was the "Ye Olde Pub." Charlie had several raids under his belt on the fateful day when he met Franz. A chance meeting that would have an effect that spread through out history.
Franz himself was a well decorated fighter pilot. In fact he lacked only three air to air kills before he would earn himself Nazi Germany's highest honor of the Knight's Cross. That's twenty two kills at the time of his flight.
The day started like any other. Charlie's plane took off and headed into Germany for a deep strike mission against a ball bearing plant. Over the target, the flak and fighters made mincemeat of the bomber formation, and tore holes into Charlie's plane. The tail gunner was killed outright, while one of the waist gunners had his leg severely injured. The other waist gunner was shell shocked, and the radio operator was trying his damndest to keep the waist gunner alive. The ball turret gunner was no better off, both his feet were frostbitten, while the navigator had died from a direct hit to the nose of the plane. Charlie himself was trying to fly with shrapnel in his shoulder, and blood loss causing him to nearly lose consciousness. One wing out, the rest smoking, it seemed like Charlie and his crew weren't long for this world.
That's when Franz appeared on the scene. Franz had taken off to intercept the bomber, climbing his BF109 up to deal with the crippled plane. That's when it happened. Franz slid in behind the bomber, counted to three...and then stopped. Long ago a commander had told him "You are fighter pilots. If I see you shooting a man in his parachute, I'll shoot you down myself." Looking at this crippled bomber, Franz decided that they were just as defenseless as a man in a parachute. That's when he made up his mind.
Pulling his plane alongside the bomber, Franz got the attention of the Co-Pilot, and then Charlie. Motioning for them to follow him, he tried to urge them to fly to the neutral Sweden, knowing that though they would be impounded for the duration of the war, the men would get medical attention. The flight to Sweden was only thirty minutes, as opposed to England which was two hours.
Charlie simply misunderstood what Franz was signaling and flew on. Limping back to England on a wing and a prayer. Franz recognized this, and flew his plane around to the left side, positioning himself not three feet from wingtip to wingtip. At this position, the gunners on the ground would recognize this as a German plane and not fire. Franz escorted them back to the English Channel, and then once they were safely over water, waggled his wings, gave a smart salute, and peeled away.
Charlie and his crew survived that day, as did Franz. Years later the two met once more and became close friends. At a family get together, Franz was invited to attend. There, looking on the hundred or so people descended from the crew of the "Ye Olde Pub", Franz was told that he was a hero. For had he not saved that lonely bomber, no one there would be alive.
23. Tyrion Lannister Isn't Always The Best Example
I decide to urinate off a bridge, my life ends up ruined and my children end up taken away from me. Butterfly effect.
I ended up urinating on a cop, seriously by accident. Got arrested and roughed up. Ended up in the hospital for a week and a half. Went to jail for a month after because I had my wallet, with cards inside, and no one else had the money to post my bail, I was released after I waited in jail for my court date.
I lost my job and my kids during the ordeal because I wasn't there. While I got time served for public urination and "assault", my life got ruined.
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22. Harry Potter Love Triangle
In high school I joined a Harry Potter fan forum and got my friend Chris to join. He hit it off with one of the admins, Sara, and got into a long distance relationship with her. Months later she came to visit Chris and to celebrate our entire group of friends went out to eat. It was there she met my other friend Bill and became fast friends with him. Less than a month later Chris dumped her, and at that exact same time Bill had been kicked out of his house. So he moves in with Sara, they get married, she convinces him to go back to college, and now they got an adorable kid together. All because I wanted another guy to post with me about Harry Potter.
21. Pizza Is Clearly Lucky
My friend invited me over to visit a few months back, she was just laid off from her job of 10 years and wanted company, I was feeling lazy and declined, they went out for pizza instead, while waiting for pizza, her husband bought a scratch ticket and won $100,000.00
20. A Bad Roommate Can Change Your Life
Freshman year I end up with this crazy French exchange student roommate. Takes my stuff, walk in on her messing around with guys, all the typical bad dorm roommate things. RA gets me moved to a room down the hall with a girl whose first roommate didn't like her. She ends up being incredibly sweet and becomes one of my best friends. Fast forward six years later and she gets married to her high school sweetheart who was living across the country and I'm in the wedding. So is her now husband's roommate from college, who only ended up in the wedding because one of his best friends was a jerk and backed out at the last minute. His former roommate and I immediately fall for each other and now have been together for over five years. All because of my bad roommate.
19. Heartbreak Can Be The First Step To Finding Love
Me and my boyfriend at the time decide to call it quits. A good friend decides to throw a get together that night. I head over there and meet a guy who just happens to be there because his girlfriend just broke up with him too. The synchronicity was trippy but we didn't say much to each other for the rest of the night but there seemed to be a connection. 5 months later I call up an old friend who I hadn't seen in awhile, go over and guess who's there! A month later we were dating and now 7 years later we are still together and have a son. SO I guess if me and my ex hadn't decided to break up that night I would of never met the love of my life. Same with his situation too!
18. Motorcycle Love
My Grandparents only met because the day before the D-day landings which my grandfather was due to ship out for, he decided to go to the pub. He had one of those motorbikes with a side car, but his buddy decided not to come with him, so when he took a corner too fast the lack of passenger weight caused him to crash breaking his leg. He met my grandmother in the hospital, they were married for over 50 years.
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17. This Isn't Mario Kart People
I had a two seat go-cart when I was young. My cousin and I were riding it around my yard and somehow the weld on the one seatbelt broke. I had my dad unbolt it and we kept on riding. Little while later the other seatbelt weld broke. Dad took it off and we kept riding. The thing about the seatbelts was they had some spring box across the chest that would make it seem like it was tight against your chest, so it wasn't necessarily safe in the first place. We were doing some power slides when the last time we got a lot of speed. The wheels caught a hole in the ground and the go-cart started tumbling. I was slammed on the ground and my cousin was flung into the air away from the go-cart while it continued to roll another 5 times. If the seat belts were on we probably would have been mangled. I walked away with a big bump on my elbow and my cousin lightly burned his finger tips when the touched the engine. The roll cage was bent at a 45 degree angle.
16. Bad Directions Can Lead To Good Places
Decided to do a spontaneous road trip with the SO. While we were trying to navigate, we missed the exit for another highway. So we decided to visit a friend in another city that the highway was taking us to. Visit friend, and she already has people over. Later in the day I mention I plan applying to a certain tech company. One the friend of friends, hears me say the tech company and mentions her dad works there. Get dads email, get interview, get internship.
All because I suck at directions.
15. A Sad Rush
My dad works in a warehouse that delivers caskets, where only a handful of employees work at, so it wasn't unheard of for them to buy lunch for each other. One day one of the drivers was supposed to take the employees out to a buffet after he finished his deliveries. Well my dad and his coworkers were playing around and hurrying him out, because the sooner he was back the sooner they'd eat. Well he left sooner than anticipated and on his way to the delivery there was an accident. A car from the other side of the freeway lost control causing another truck driver to swerve out of the way and the truck went over the median and landed right on the hood of my dad's coworker and both the driver and my dad's coworker died. He was the youngest guy at the warehouse, he was in his late 20s if I recall correctly. For a long while my dad felt bad for hurrying him out. Kinda makes you wonder if he would've just had a quick minute conversation with someone a truck probably wouldn't have landed on him. Life's kinda weird like that.
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14. We Are Lucky To Have Family Guy
September 11th 2001, one young man gets drunk, passes out and misses his plane. That man was Seth Macfarlane. He was supposed to be on one of the planes that crashed into the Trade Centre Towers. If he had not gotten drunk the night before he would have never created Family Guy. We would have missed numerous laughs. How lucky!
Photo by Fernando @cferdo on Unsplash
13. Bad Date Leads To Best Mate
In February of 2012, I was at a friend's birthday party at a bar in Austin, Texas, and thought the bartender was cute. I had had a few drinks, so I put my number on a napkin and gave it to him.
We went on a double date with his friend, also a bartender, and his friend's date. While the guys ended up being losers, I became really, really good friends with the other guy's date. We hung out nonstop until she decided to move back to San Francisco in July.
That November, I came to SF to visit her. She introduced me to one of her best friends from college, and he and I have been dating for 2 and a half years now. I found the love of my life and moved across the country, all because my idiot drunk self put my phone number on a napkin for some loser at a bar.
12. McLovin It
Was on my way to meet a friend for a drink. Passed a McDonald's on the street and even though I wasn't hungry, decided to grab a quick snack. Dropped my phone whilst waiting and two guys in front of me looked over, I mentioned something about being a klutz and they smiled. They left and I followed them to the same bar I was meeting my friend at. In an attempt to not look like a weirdo, told them I wasn't stalking them and we struck up a conversation. They invited me and my friend to have drinks with them and their group. We moved bars later in the evening to meet up with more of their friends. Met an amazing guy in the second group of friends and we've been dating for 6 months. All because I was a klutz and unhealthy.
Photo by Anderson W Rangel on Unsplash
11. The Best Heart Attack Of My Life
Definitely missed the boat on this one but it's one of my happiest personal butterfly effect stories so here goes. My nana suffered dementia for the last 10 years of her life and had broken her hip so was in hospital. My grandad, my mum and my uncles had all gone to visit her on a Friday night while the kids stayed at my Aunts. While they were at the hospital, my Grandad had a heart attack and collapsed. Fortunately, because the smart old man managed to have a heart attack while he was already surrounded by medical staff, they were able to revive him and he went on to live another 7 years.
Photo by JC Gellidon on Unsplash
10. Love At Last Swipe
My former roommate was quite the horn dog. He used Tinder, and would swipe right on every single profile. He liked to live dangerously. He matched with a girl who we would become good friends with, but my roommate never became romantically involved with her(shocker; she wasn't as good looking as her tinder profile indicated). She was in a sorority at our University and was hosting a birthday party for one of her sorority sisters one night. My roommate and I attended, and I hit it off with one of the sorority sisters friends. Fast forward a year and a half, and we are madly in love and starting to build a life together.
9. Is There Such A Thing As Love Insurance
My father, an American soldier, was stationed in Germany. He met a young lady in a disco that he really liked. The next day, he decided to go visit her at work and ask her out again. On the way there, somebody ran a stop sign and hit him. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but the driver of the other car had borrowed the vehicle from a friend, so it took months for the insurance to pay out. Meanwhile, Dad and this young German lady are dating. The day he finally got the insurance money happened to fall on a pay day, so he had several grand in his pocket. He used the money to buy her an engagement ring. My Mom and Dad celebrate their 40th anniversary this January.
Photo by Montse Monmo on Unsplash
8. Cramping My Rave
One night in 1991, my buddies and I were going to a rave. I was 19 or 20, as were they. We were really looking forward to the night. As the evening arrived, I was getting my baggy pants, etc ready. A few hours or so before getting picked up, my mom got abdominal pain/cramps (not menstrual). She didn't think much of it, but after increasing in severity, she wanted to go to the emergency room (she wasn't one to want a doctor's help usually). I called my friends to let them know that I wouldn't be going to the much anticipated rave, and took my mom to the hospital. After she was admitted, and had the necessary tests run, the doctors said they couldn't figure out the issue. The cramps subsided, and after feeling normal again, she was released. As we were literally walking out of the emergency room doors to leave, both of my buddies were rolled in of gurneys, neck braces and all (there are multiple hospitals in the city, so that was pretty weird). Turns out, they were on the way to the party, when an oncoming car crossed the center line and hit them head-on. The car they were in was messed up pretty badly. It was said that if they weren't wearing seatbelts, they wouldn't have survived. Of course, I was the shortest of us three, so I would probably have been in the back seat. Back then, no one wore seatbelts in the back seat...so I might not have made it. My mom never before or after that time had any issues related to that hospital visit. I can only chalk it up to dumb luck, mother's intuition, or something else entirely. I felt very lucky to still have my life. Some other things have happened since the 20 years to make me remember how lucky I am, but nothing like that night.
Photo by Alexander Popov on Unsplash
7. Just Your Friendly Support Group
My father died and I was depressed because of that. One day at the university I broke into tears and some guy I know approached me, comforted me and told me about a certain group that was supporting him and basically that the experience was changing his life. The only problem, entering the group was pretty expensive but he said basically, "it's totally worth it, I promise". I didn't give an answer immediately, but I had saved money and was so emotionally low that I really considered accepting his proposal.
Before I could give an answer, the swine flu epidemic emerged and I fell ill, spending around two weeks in bed. The very first day I could go outside, I had contact with my nephew, who happened to have varicella. That was another two or three weeks in bed for me.
After so much time, I lost contact with that guy and never ended up entering the "group". But several months later, I met a girl, a former classmate. She was unsettled and told me. Half of our department entered that group and she was leaving, but was scared from the harassment she knew she was going to suffer, since another girl that had left earlier had that happen to her. The group was a LGAT scam: Posing as a coaching group, they were brainwashing people and ended up destroying several lives. Also, it operated under a pyramidal scheme, so members had to constantly be recruiting people. The guy who contacted me was one of the most fervent in the bunch, being the only one who stuck around until the very end. Eventually the group's founder ran away with lots of money.
If I hadn't fallen ill, it's very likely I would have accepted the proposal and would be completely poor and crazy by now.
Photo by Gabriel Checchia Vitali on Unsplash
6. WW2 Might Not Have Happened If He Got Accepted
An amateur Austrian painter in Vienna who was selling tourists water colors of the city decided to up his game and become a professional. He applied twice to the city's Academy of Fine Arts and got rejected both times. The Academy's director encouraged him to switch to architecture which he was also interested in, but his lack of the proper academic training kept him from applying.
Instead he turned to politics and 37 years later at least 50 million people would be dead because they found him unfit to paint fruit or design apartment buildings...
Photo by Mike Petrucci on Unsplash
5. Rescued By Forgotten Potato Salad
When my grandmother was a kid she and her family would take a ferry to this beach house island off the coast of Long Island. Well, one year as they were about to get on the ferry they realized that they had forgotten a bowl of potato salad for their island picnic.
So they went back to get it and they had to take the next ferry. Well turns out the ferry they missed sunk and everyone on board died. That potato salad saved my grandmother's life and thus saved mine. Thanks, potato salad.
4. Dumped For Encouraging His Girlfriend
I had plans with my girlfriend for Saturday night a couple months back. I received a last minute call from my close buddy, inviting me to drive an hour and a half north of where I live to a party. I call my girlfriend, explain the situation, she said "Go ahead and have fun, I'm just filling out online job applications anyway, I'll just finish doing this. We can just see each other tomorrow on Sunday."
I was so happy and relieved. I promised her a great night and had a couple gifts to give her as well. Things were going so good with this girl. As the night progressed I text her and ask her how things are going. She said that her friend was trying to drag her out, I encouraged her to go out, so she did.
I text her a couple hours later, no response. I call her, no answer. The next day, I call her a couple times, no answer. I text her, no response. She completely flaked on our date with no explanation. I find out a couple days later that she is in a relationship with a guy she had met that night when her friend dragged her out - and I encouraged her. They are now engaged.
3. A Nail In The Head
When I was 3 years old we had a wooden playground that my Dad would build every summer and dismantle every year. I thought it would be a good idea to climb the big pile of wood and nails to impress my Dad. He walked over, picked me up, and stumbled a little, stepping on a nail. Because he was diabetic he was bedridden for 6 months and almost lost his leg. The woman he'd be training got the promotion he was in line for while he was off work. Because of that when it came time for workers to be cut down he lost his job. We ended up having to move, and that woman he trained is now at the very top of the company. Whoops
However, my parents both agree that if they hadn't moved they would have gotten divorced. My Mom's job was keeping her on the road for a lot of the year. Because we had to move, she had to let her job go and decided to start a home business instead... Ultimately saving their marriage.
2. Cancelled Job Interview In The World Trade Center
On Monday, September 10th, 2001 my father received a call to let him know his job interview for tomorrow had to be postponed until that Thursday. Because his would-be employer had overbooked his schedule, my father was not in the World Trade Center when it went down.
1. Spoiler Alert: It Was Hitler (Far-Right Below)
Perfect example would be during WWI when a British soldier decided not to shoot a lone, unarmed German soldier. By the 1930's, this German would kill many Jews. Had this British soldier taken the shot, the Holocaust would have never happened.
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