Sometimes it's easy to brush off the small things that happen day to day, but even the tiniest event can have huge effects that can change your entire life for the better— or worse! Whether it was a chance meeting with a stranger or a brush with the law, these people recounted real stories that changed the course of their lives forever.

Saturday Night Fever

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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.

Story credit: Reddit / Wu-TangJedi

Take the Next Boat

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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 passed away. That potato salad saved my grandmother’s life and thus saved mine. Thanks, potato salad.

Story credit: Reddit / Unknown

He Could Have Been a Painter

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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 gone because they found him unfit to paint fruit or design apartment buildings…

Story credit: Reddit / Cinemaphreak

Lend an Ear

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My father passed away 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.

Story credit: Reddit / jugol

On the Way to the Party

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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 on 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 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.

Story credit: Reddit / mojool

One Person's Trash

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Just last month, a friend of mine told me a story from his recent heartbreak. He (lets call him Mickey) had been with this girl (Minnie) for almost 4 years when out of nowhere, she told him she is leaving him and moving out. He had no idea the relationship was in jeopardy, but she dipped.

Anyway, a few weeks go by. Mickey is hanging out with a coworker of his with who he had just recently met and ends up back at his place just to hang out. On the fridge, he sees a note in Minnie’s handwriting. The note detailed several issues in Mickey and Minnie’s relationship and so Mickey asks his new friend where he found this note.

Turns out, this new buddy had gone to the same music festival as Mickey and Minnie a few months prior. The friend had found the note on the ground of the parking lot and thought, “Wow, what a sad and angry note. I’m going to keep this because it’s so raw and interesting.”

The next day, Minnie came over to pick up some of her things. Mickey produced the note and it led to a long tear-filled conversation about their relationship and what went wrong. They didn’t end up back together, because despite the pseudonyms, this is no Disney story. However, the resulting discussion helped them both achieve closure in a meaningful way.

All because a random coworker found and kept her discarded note in a festival parking lot.

Story credit: Reddit / NF-kBiologist

Live Dangerously

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My former roommate was quite the 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.

Story credit: Reddit / igskywalker

Excellent Timing

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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.

Story credit: Reddit / BekkiFair

Late Night Craving

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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 hang out 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.

Story credit: Reddit / julz607

Put Yourself Out There

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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 self put my phone number on a napkin for some person at a bar.

Story credit: Reddit / olliepots

Missed Flight

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September 11th 2001, one young man becomes inebriated, falls asleep 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 been inebriated the night before he would have never created Family Guy. We would have missed numerous laughs. How lucky!

Story credit: Reddit / Flaaakaflak

Never Rush

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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 passed away.

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.

Story credit: Reddit / deleted

Spontaneous Road Trip

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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 to apply 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.

Story credit: Reddit / nick771

Walked Away Without a Scrape

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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.

Story credit: Reddit / satanshairlip

Meet Cute

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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.

Story credit: Reddit / Pippasaurus_Rex

Calling it Quits

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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 odd 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!

Story credit: Reddit / gumbywonton

Roommate Replacement

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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.

Story credit: Reddit / cori-iyupa

A Stroke of Luck

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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.

Story credit: Reddit / deleted

Close-Knit Fandom

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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.

Story credit: Reddit / fluffywhiteduck

One Night Ruined My Life

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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.

Story credit: Reddit / darkshine05

A True Hero

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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 taken out 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 hardest to keep the waist gunner alive.

The ball turret gunner was no better off, both his feet were frostbitten, while the navigator had past away from a direct hit to the nose of the plane. Charlie himself was trying to fly with shrapnel in his shoulder, 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, climbing his BF109 up to deal with the damaged 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 aiming for a man in his parachute, I’ll aim for you myself.” Looking at this 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, 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.

Story credit: Reddit / Kabukikitsune

In Recovery

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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 passed away. 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.

Story credit: Reddit / Bonesbing5

We're Still Together

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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 sad about it. The homeless shelter had a television set that played sports games. The Sixers played some other team, and if I recall correctly they did great. 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.

Story credit: Reddit / [deleted]

All Thanks to My Car

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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.

Story credit: Reddit / RichCovs

That Yellow Sweater

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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.

Story credit: Reddit / TwoAMTuesday

Online Romance

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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).

Story credit: Reddit / Sandmans_ire

I Owe Him My Life

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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.

Story credit: Reddit / TiredMold

A Chain Reaction

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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 test for narcotics. 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.

Story credit: Reddit / maggotbrownie

Listen to Orders

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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.

Story credit: Reddit / Unknown

A Common Link

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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.

Story credit: Reddit / lordthistlewaiteofha

Spur of the Moment Decision

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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.

Story credit: Reddit / Citrus_supra

Unnoticed For Years

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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.

Story credit: Reddit / rosesandivy

In Perfect Harmony

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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.

Story credit: Reddit / shviss_vatches

Awaiting an Omen

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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.

Story credit: Reddit / GiantBabyHead

Heads or Tails?

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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.

Story credit: Reddit / MarshalByRefObject

Preventative Screening

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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.

Story credit: Reddit / dcompare

An Historic Moment

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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.

Story credit: Reddit / Helix1337

The Greatest Gift of All

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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.

Story credit: Reddit / Unknown

Rainy Days

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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.

Story credit: Reddit / psychopathicturtles

Postponed Interview

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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.

Story credit: Reddit / TheHobbyist94

Apply Yourself

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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.

Story credit: Reddit / naffrodisiac

I Owe You One!

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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!

Story credit: Reddit / zackhankins74

Proud of His Country

Public Domain

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.

Story credit: Reddit / Yellowbug2001

On the Move

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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.

Story credit: Reddit / Sdot2014

See You Next Fall

Pexels

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.

Story credit: Reddit / super_techno_funk

His Only Day Off

Wikimedia Commons

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.

Story credit: Reddit / ArcticMonkey505

Dust Storm

Unsplash

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.

Story credit: Reddit / [deleted]

Please Let Me In

Pixabay

This is probably more a sliding doors/near miss thing than a butterfly effect one.

All the way back in 1989 I was on a round-the-world trip. I had been travelling through Australia, South-East Asia and China. To get back to Europe I decided to take the Trans-Siberian railway through Mongolia and what was then the Soviet Union. In pre-internet days and with China and the Soviet Union not exactly tourist-friendly countries at the time, this wasn’t super-easy.

I had to organize all my own visas, train tickets, etc. When I got to Beijing, the hotel I stayed at had free loan bicycles and so I grabbed one and made my way around to the city to try and find the Mongolian embassy to get a visa.

There was only one train running each week, so I was desperate to get this organised as soon as possible, partially because I was low on money, but I was also quite homesick by now. I’d already gotten a train ticket and a Soviet visa in Hong Kong, but I still needed a visa for Mongolia. Again, this is pre-internet, pre-google maps days. I had a street map but just couldn’t find that bloody embassy.

At long last I got lucky and found it. But by then they were just shutting the gates. Business hours were over for the day (at 3pm!). If I couldn’t get a visa, I’d not be able to get on this week’s train. My train ticket would be worthless and I’d have to wait a full week for the next train, plus I’d need a new Soviet Visa too.

So I pleaded with the guard. Eventually he relented and let me in. There was still someone in the office and because they were keen to finish off for the day, they pretty much just put the sticker in my passport and shuffled me out the door.

All set, I got on the train the next day and had an amazing time, going through Mongolia, the Soviet Union, spent a few days in Moscow and then headed via Finland and Scandinavia back home.

The week after I’d been on the Trans-Siberian train, a massive gas explosion caused by a leaking gas pipeline triggered a huge explosion on the train. Over 500 people died. If the Mongolian embassy guard hadn’t let me through, I probably would have ended up being on that train.

Story credit: Reddit / saugoof

The Beginning of a Strange Friendship

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I had a crush on a guy when I was in 5th grade, he was a grade ahead of me. I finally told my parents about the crush. They ended up befriending crush’s parents. My dad started working for crush’s dad. My dad borrowed crush’s dad’s work van for a job and went to return it and then ride his bike home. He fell off his bike during that ride and died two weeks later.

My mom, a few months later, starts having an affair with crush’s dad (who was and still is married). That was 16 years ago and it’s still going on.

Story credit: Reddit / GimmeDatBaby

Thank Goodness For Delays

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Around 5 years ago I was going to live in Australia for around a year, as part of a student exchange program. I would have been able to leave for Australia earlier, but I had troubles organizing my visa. The visa couldn’t come from my national government for some reason, and had to go through the German bureaucracy. The delay meant that I had to leave one week later than originally planned. I had to reschedule flights, which was a large nuisance at the time.

The original flight I would have been on would have been flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur that was shot down with a rocket above Ukraine by pro-Russian separatists. Everybody on that flight had died.

I took flight MH19 instead, thanks to the delay caused by slow bureaucracy. I would have died had I gotten my visa on time.

Story credit: Reddit / ShowdownAtNoon

Peer Pressure

Pixabay

Getting my ears pierced the day after I graduated high school got me where I am today.

I worked at McDonald’s at the time and was scheduled to work that night. Before my shift, my girlfriend at the time convinced me to get my ears pierced. Well, when I showed up to my shift with these clear ear studs in, my manager gave me an option. Either take them out, or go home. Being only 17 and not taking anything seriously, I went home.

On my way home, I called that girlfriend’s dad, and asked if I could work with him laying tile. He gave me a chance, and I quit McDonald’s that day. Worked with him for about a year until the 08’/09’ recession caused us to run out of work. I got laid off.

4 months later, I land a job in a new hospital doing admitting in the emergency room. Did that for 2 years before I got my phlebotomy certification. Been doing that for a few years and now I’m in my final semester of nursing school.

I attribute everything I’ve done to that day my ex girlfriend pressured me into getting my ears pierced. Who knows how long I would have stayed at McDonald’s.

Story credit: Reddit / Comatose22

Just One Swipe

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Was pretty lost after graduating University. Ended up having a few too many drinks, installing Tinder, and swiping exactly one time. Matched with the first person and we started dating, doubled down on staying in that state rather than going home.

Got a crap job for no money that ended up working out tremendously, promoting me, sending me overseas to an amazing new country and paying off 6 figures of student debt in 3 years with money in the bank. All because I moved my finger slightly to one direction.

The relationship didn’t work out, but that’s okay.

Story credit: Reddit / Turkey_Tron

Highly Competitive

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My dad raised me to be highly competitive.

One day in junior high I tried out for a play but didn’t get in. Then I saw on the bottom of the cast list that they were looking for a student director to help out. I wasn’t particularly interested, but another girl saw it at the same time as me and she did want it. I wanted to beat her. So we both applied and I got it.

Long story short: I was a theatre director for 15 years and have started directing films now (though now I prefer to write).

All because of how competitive I am.

Story credit: Reddit / FreddieGregg

Upward Mobility

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Got arrested for growing, moved back home. Got first job I could at Ikea. After working there for over a year, randomly decided to check Craigslist for jobs and saw an opening at a cafe and they were hiring right then, so instinctively went for it.

The cafe was connected and owned by one of the most popular brewpubs in the area. They hired me to host there, quickly worked my way up the ranks to eventually bar manager. Met girl of my dreams, we are now married with 2 amazing kids. Opened two more restaurants with them and am currently assistant director of operations, overseeing three restaurants with 3, 5, and 8 million a year in sales!

Love my job, love my family, love my life. No idea what I’d be doing if I never got arrested, or never applied for the cafe job.

Story credit: Reddit / pakiranian

Don't Forget Your Water

Pixabay

This happened two days ago.

It was early in the morning and as I’m about to leave for work when my mom reminded me that I forgot my water bottle on the table while I was walking out. For whatever reason I decided to go leave my backpack in the car and then walk back into the house for the water bottle. Well that took about maybe 10 seconds total.

It started to rain heavily on my way to work and couldn’t see very well but I noticed the break lights of the cars ahead stopping suddenly and some moving off onto the shoulder and decided to slow down and put the hazard lights on for the people behind to slow down.

Well turns out everyone was breaking because a 4-5 car accident had just happened seconds before. All the cars were scattered across the highway spread across the left/right shoulders and another had hit the crash barrier, basically a total bad mess. The drivers were still in their cars, I guess processing what had just happened.

After seeing it I immediately started to think that if I hadn’t gone back for the water bottle there’s a chance that I could have easily been in the accident or at least even closer to it. It tripped me out for the rest of the day.

Story credit: Reddit / AgentCulper

Flip a Coin

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Almost everything that has happened in my life for the past eight years is a direct result of me literally flipping a coin to decide between two colleges. The reason I play the sport I do, have the friends I do, am dating the person I am, and very nearly every other aspect of my life, is all because a nickel landed on heads.

Story credit: Reddit / Sethrial

No One Was Hurt

Unsplash

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.

Story credit: Reddit / nerak1138

Never Alone

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Grew up speaking Spanish so in high school my mom made me sign up for French. I didn’t really care, but figured whatever at least it’s something new. I was a good kid, bit of a cut up with absolutely 0 direction.

In that class I met a girl and we sort of became friends. She got sick that year, cancer. It was horrible. Visited her in the hospital, got close to her family (still am), she passed the following year.

French, it turns out, was her favorite subject and her dream had been to study abroad. Her parents asked if we (her friends from that class) could do that for her.

The years went on, I worked every summer try to save up to study abroad. I noticed the others who had made the promise weren’t making moves towards it, so I worked even harder. Finally went for a semester my 3rd year.

To be honest I always enjoyed French, but it wasn’t a passion. Except that semester something kind of shifted. Came home, finished undergrad, then got into a masters in French. The whole time my friend’s mom is excited, feeling like my friend is somehow vicariously living through me.

I graduated from my masters and then moved back to France. Been here 3 years now, and May 1st was the 11th anniversary of my friend’s death.

As I type it out it’s not so outwardly obvious, but the entire time it’s been so clear for me that she’s been with me on this journey.

Story credit: Reddit / avocadopixels

Shared Interests

Pixabay

When I was 18 I had a girlfriend, and her older brother owned a small company. He said to me “you know I think you’d be pretty good at this job.” I’m 34 now, and have a legitimate career that I love because I dated a girl for a bit.​

I also had a cat for the better part of that time period because of the girlfriend. I’m a cat person now.

Story credit: Reddit / ballards_blood

That Extra 30 Seconds

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The wife and I were having dinner in Hawaii one night on vacation. As we were getting up to leave, I noticed she hadn’t finished her drink. I told her she should finish the thing since we paid some ridiculous price for it.

Fast forward 30 seconds and we leave the restaurant and are walking the 3 blocks back to the hotel. About 50 feet in front of us as we’re walking (were walking down the sidewalk on the left side of the road), a car comes flying out of a side street from the right and crosses through the street, hops the sidewalk in front of us, and smashes into a wall.

If she hadn’t finished her drink, we would have been smoked by the car and most likely squished between the car and the wall. We always finish our drinks now.

Story credit: Reddit / mikevankempen

Lesson Learned

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If my biological mom hadn’t asked her parents to watch me for a couple hours and then left town, I wouldn’t have had the incredible and privileged life that I was given through adoption. My younger half brothers were raised by our biological mom and they are a total freaking mess (I’m more of a mom to them than their actual mom), and I would have been an absolute wreck also if she’d kept me.

Instead I was given an amazing private education, all the sports and musical adventures, and most important a healthy, loving home with two parents who taught me that just because you share blood doesn’t mean you love, and just because you didn’t give birth to a child doesn’t mean you can’t be their parent.

Story credit: Reddit / Sweet-Lady-H

Pursue Your Hobbies

Pixabay

I procrastinated one day in high school by watching a foreign musical on YouTube. I ended up trying to learn the lyrics and eventually the language. That led me to discovering the field of linguistics, which I’m now majoring in. I don’t know what I’d be doing now had I actually started doing my homework that day instead.

Story credit: Reddit / ASzinhaz

No Matter What

Pixabay

Received an incredibly high paying job offer to run our biggest competitor’s team. Told my boss, even though I loved my job, but it was more than double what I was making.

Boss agreed to a reasonable raise, still not near the offer. I decided to stay because I genuinely loved my team/coworkers, and the money wasn’t enough to leave that happy place. In exchange, I had to take up another account that meant a business trip I didn’t have in the plans.

Went on that trip and met my future husband. Couple of years later, we went on our honeymoon at a new resort in St. Lucia. Ran into someone I knew from home/work. Turns out, the team that I’d been given the job offer for had made so much money that they had booked the same resort to celebrate.

I sat there and went WOW. Life is nuts! Would’ve ended up there, either way.

Story credit: Reddit / speedy-tomato

An Incredible Distraction

Pixabay

I was walking to school and got distracted by a hedgehog that ran in a bush next to me. Just then, a huge tree branch fell in front of me, would’ve crushed me if I hadn’t been distracted by a spiky little mouse scurrying in the bushes. I gave him a dead cricket the next day, he took it and ran off. God speed spiky mouse.

Story credit: Reddit / EhhLeeBee

Catch the Next One

Pixabay

Pregnant cousin usually takes the bus at around 5:10pm after work. She was about to hop inside the bus but she needed to pee really badly and the commute is about an hour long so she decided to go to the restroom instead and just catch the next bus. That 5:10 bus ended up falling from a cliff.

Story credit: Reddit / ImaginaryxDoll

Curse of the Buffalo Bills

Pixabay

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.

Story credit: Reddit / Jatz55

Stomach Problems

Pixabay

I was going out to grab pizza and a case of brews for me and my roommate but he texted me that he had a stomach thing so I walked to a restaurant and ordered dinner at the bar and met a girl there and now we are married and have two kids because my roommate had diarrhea.

Story credit: Reddit / plateishot

Just One Man

Public Domain

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.

Story credit: Reddit / Corrupt187

Born This Way

Shutterstock

The best example is JFK.

Born with one leg slightly shorter than the other, leading to his famously unstable back.

Football injury in college exacerbates back problems.

Injury during PT-109 incident in WW2 further worsens back.

Fast-forward to Dallas, Texas. November 22nd, 1963. The first shot that hit Kennedy in the back 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.

Story credit: Reddit / littlepoot

New in Town

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I was just out of high school and new in town with no job. I was living off what savings I had left and my account went below zero without me knowing. I was overdraft charged like 10 times and owed $300+.

I went down to the bank, spoke with a teller, and she ended up being a lifesaver. She worked with me and got all the charges removed. On top of getting the charges removed, we got to talking about my situation and she said that her son worked at a local restaurant and she would help me get a job. She was a woman of her word and by the end of the week I was working full time.

Fast forward, I meet a cool dude who worked there, we became friends, I introduced him to my sister, they fell in love, got married and had two kids.

His best friend came into town for the wedding and I introduced him to my roommate at the time, they fell in love, got married and had two babies.

I also got my best friend a job at the restaurant where he met a girl working there, they feel in love, got married and had a kid.

Right before I left I got my roommate a job at the restaurant, where he met a customer, fell in love, got married and had a kid.

As a bonus, my best friend, who I helped get the job, repaid the favor and got me a job at a different restaurant, where I met a girl, fell in love and got married.

Story credit: Reddit / nuckingfuts73

The Surprise Gone Wrong

As an introverted teen, expressing my feelings wasn't my strongest suit, especially when it came to matters of the heart. My neighbor, an extraordinarily captivating girl who moved in a few months ago, became the object of my affection. I was massively smitten with her.

After spending weeks wrestling with my feelings, I finally confessed to my dad. Instead of teasing me, he seemed eager to help. He was good friends with my crush's dad, and I suppose he felt that could be an advantage. A strange feeling of hope mixed with anxiety washed over me.

One morning, just as the sun was breaking over the horizon, my dad woke me up. 'Son, we're going fishing,' he said. The real surprise was that it wasn't just him and me. My crush was going with us. As soon as I saw her standing next to our old van, I felt my heart skip a beat.

The car ride was a whirlwind of mixed emotions. Every word spoken, every shared laughter, every stolen glance; it was all so overwhelming. We drove for about three hours, and the surroundings grew less familiar. There were no lakes or rivers around, just vast, open land. I was confused, but I kept my silence.

Suddenly, the unthinkable happened: Dad stopped the car in the middle of nowhere. My heart raced as I tried to comprehend the situation. My crush looked at my dad and said, 'Um, is this the part when we...' Before she could finish her sentence, my dad interjected, 'Yes, it is! Look, baby girl, it's your dream came true!'

My crush's eyes lit up, but my mind was spinning. She then turned to my dad and asked, 'And will you sit in the car while I--' I couldn't take it anymore. I blurted out,' Wait- WHAT IS GOING ON?!'

My dad, grinning ear to ear, opened the trunk to reveal a brand new mountain bike. My crush gasped, her face lit up with excitement. 'Your dad told my dad how much you loved biking, but you didn't have a bike. So, here you go,' my dad said, pointing at the bike.

My heart sank. The romantic fishing trip I had imagined turned into my crush's biking adventure. And just like that, the crush I had been nurturing was crushed, not by a confession or rejection but by a mountain bike. I could only watch, heartbroken, as she rode off into the horizon. The day I had hoped would bring us closer ended up driving us apart. It was the epitome of a surprise gone horribly wrong.

One Night Gone Wrong

A couple of months ago, I had plans to spend Saturday night with my girlfriend. It was our usual date night, something we both looked forward to after a tiring week. However, my friend invited me to a once-in-a-lifetime party that Saturday night. I thought, why not? I asked my girlfriend if we could reschedule our date to Sunday, she agreed saying 'Go ahead and have fun. We can just see each other tomorrow on Sunday.' I was relieved and excited. Not long after, she texted me saying she was going out with her friend and not to wait up for her. 'Nice!' I thought, glad that she found something fun to do as well.

But then Sunday came, and I couldn't reach her. I called several times, texted her repeatedly, but no response. My joy from the party was quickly replaced with panic and regret. Two agonizing days later, her friend sent me a photo with the text, 'You really should see this.' I opened it, and it was like a punch in the gut. There she was, my girlfriend, in the photo, looking radiant and content, with an unfamiliar guy by her side, arms wrapped around each other. I sat in stunned silence, my heart pounding. My entire world shattered in a snap. The party I couldn't refuse had cost me the love of my life.

A Fiery Introduction

My girlfriend had been pestering me for weeks to meet her parents. Personally, I wasn't ready for the whole 'meet the parents' phase, but she was persistent. So, I caved in, ironed my best shirt, and decided to make the best impression possible. The evening came, I knocked on the door, she opened it with a radiant smile. The moment her mom laid her eyes on me, her face turned into a scowl and she screamed at the top of her lungs, 'YOU MUST BE INSANE!!!' I was taken aback and genuinely confused, 'Wh--what?! Wait--- Did I do something wrong?' I stuttered, looking at my girlfriend for answers.

Just then, her dad entered the room. He took one look at me, and his face mirrored his wife's horror. 'OH, HELL NO!! GET THE HELL OUT OF OUR HOUSE!' he shouted, pointing a trembling finger at the door. I was bewildered. I looked at my girlfriend, who seemed equally shocked but more desperate. 'Please, no! I can still change him!!!' she pleaded, her voice trembling. I was astounded, her parents' reaction was unexplainable and her words were even more perplexing. Change me? What the hell was she talking about? I was left standing there, aghast at the reality of this disastrous introduction and the chilling realization that my girlfriend wanted to change me.

"END"