
I was visiting family in LA and I randomly suggested we check out the places we went to when my older brother and I were younger.
One day, we decided to visit the house where I was born.
I have no memory of that house near East Los Angeles since we moved to another house when I was two. But we pulled up to the house and I got out of the car and looked around the front yard.
A guy emerged from the home and we locked eyes. I didn't say anything out of fear went back into the car where my family sat waiting. My mother, however, insisted I go back out and explain to the guy why we were there in order to avoid further suspicion.
The man understandably stared me down and I told him this was the house where I was born. His surly expression changed instantly and he insisted my family come inside and meet his mom and dad and tour their home.
Under different circumstances, I'm not sure if we would have experienced the same outcome. To me, this is my one-in-a-million story.
Curious to hear from strangers online, Redditor IcarusTheTaker asked:
"(Serious) What is your "1 In a Million" story?"
Connections
Interactions with strangers led to mind-blowing discoveries for these Redditors.
Family Secrets
"My dad died when I was 12. We had a favorite picture of him that my uncle made prints of and gave to us kids, and my two half-brothers, as well as other family members."
"Fast forward 15 years or so. My brother and his roommate are at a bar and pick up a couple of women and bring them back to their place. The women spend the night. The next morning, the woman that slept with my brother's roommate sees my dad picture on the mantle, turns white and says 'Who's that?'"
"That's my roommates dad. He passed away a while ago."
"Oh, thank God! I REALLY need to talk to him."
"That's how we found out we had a half-sister we never knew about."
"My dad got a girl pregnant in highschool and she decided to go it alone. She moved across the state and never contacted my dad other than to say it's a girl and what her name was."
"Our half sister never knew what dad's name was until word got to her mom that he had died. The mom contacted our mom and they had a conversation. My mom had known everything and had kept it to herself. My mom then had a copy of the photo sent."
"Half sister was visiting her friend, when they met up with my brother and roommate in a random bar in a random city."
"Family secrets, man."
Passengers
"My friend was on the tube (london) and was forced to get off at an earlier stop due to line works. He was relatively new to london and didnt know what to do so he got talking to a guy who sat opposite him and he was heading the same way and he welcomed my friend to come with him. They started making small talk and asked about where they were from originally. Turns out the guy was from the next town over from where he lived. The next part is where it really gets 1 in a million. When my friend said that he knew the town and told him where he was from, the guy is like 'no way, my grandma used to live there' The guys grandma lived next to my friend, and it turns out they used to play together when were around 5/6 years of age (they are both around 30 at this time). When they realised this they recognised eachother."
"If the train never had to stop they would have carried on their journeys and never known."
High School Buddy
"Went to New Orleans for Halloween a few years ago with a few friends. Ended up at the famous Cafe Du Monde for some Beignets. Was sitting at our table with my 4 travel friends, when I let out a loud laugh."
"Right behind me I hear someone say 'wtf, I know that laugh, that's gotta be whopper68!'. I turn around as he turns around. It's an old high school buddy that had just gotten off a plane on a last second trip decision to fly to New Orleans to meet his fiancé's parents before they flew back home."
"Hadn't seen em in 10+years."
Familiar Face
"I was on a motor vehicle collision call out as a volunteer fire fighter. There was freezing rain on the Trans Canada highway and around 30 cars in the ditch. I checked on one lady in a flat bed tow truck who looked distraught because she just wrecked her vehicle. After speaking with her she seemed okay and I went about my business."
"A couple of years later I was hanging out with friends and family around Christmas and my brother-in-law mentioned he had a flight attendant friend staying over on her day off. She seemed really familiar, and after a while I figured out that she was the lady in the vehicle I checked in on during the freezing rain accident! What are the chances?"
People Share The 'Dirty Secrets' That Their Bosses Don't Want Customers To Know
There's a lot businesses hope their customers believe, and there are many business practices you wouldn't dare believe. These are some of the secrets Reddit ...Odds
Luck of the draw? Right place and time? Who knows?
Dad's Luck
"Me and my dad were on a hike, in the middle of the woods. We brought out knives, for whittling. So, we are carving out sticks, and he accidentally cuts himself. Nothing too bad, but it was big enough that you can't ignore. Then he notices something under the rock he is sitting on. It is a box, with a multiple bandaids in it."
"Also whenever he is looking for a parking spot, he finds one, right in front of where he needs to go."
What Are The Odds
"I have a distant relative that was an author. I'm always trying to find the few books of hers that I don't have. I bought a copy of one off a used book seller via the internet several years ago. When it came it had an inscription inside the front cover from the author to my grandmother (I'm sure it's her, she had a very unique nickname). This book had come out of my grandmother's library and been around the country to come back to me!"
Small World
"I met a girl on a bus in Mexico traveling to Guadalajara. We sat next to each other and hit it off. She was only in Mexico for another couple of days but we exchanged numbers. We never ended up staying in contact but ran into each other 8 years later in Oklahoma City and found out that her family grew up with my best friend's family. Crazy stuff!"
The Dodge King
"So here is the shortened version, i was playing dodgeball and was the last one on my team, i had three people throw a ball at me at the same time, i walked forward with my arms out as if accepting the fact that I couldn't dodge it even if i tried, and then they all barely missed me, never happened again and when i play dodgeball with the same people everyone calls me the dodge king and wont attack me."
Free Car On Tinder
"I met a girl on tinder, she came over and we... Well anyway before she left she told me she'd like me to go to her house the next day so i said sure! The next day she gives me her address and its in a different state but i live relatively close so i head over and she tells me to park out front by the mail box, ok sure. I go inside and we start making tea and just as the water starts to boil i hear a CRASH... Her 89 year old neighbor totaled my car, a lil dinky '95 saturn, with her brand new mercedes. So now im stuck. In another state. With a girl ive known for, oh about 16 hours.
Well she feels TERRIBLE and has me stay the night and takes me to work in the morning. Well at work i get a call from Mr. Tinder girl saying how he understands ive been friends with his daughter for a while and he heard what happened and is literally buying me a car while on the phone with him! Turns out he was a multi millionaire and worked on Wall st."
"No i did not stay with her. Money can buy negative happiness apparently and also spoil you rotten."
"R.I.P. Michael J. Fox, my '95 Saturn that shook a lot, thanks for the insurance money :'|"
– newguyay
Drunk Hotel Heiress
"Amazing story!"
"I was on a vacation with some friends and on our way home from a alcohol and other things infused night we found a girl sleeping on a bench right in front of a closed coffe shop. As she was clearly not a hobo (judging from her clothing) we tried to wake her up and talk to her, because in this part of the city it was very unsafe, especially for a young girl dressed up for a night in the club... She was very drunk and could barely talk, after a couple of minutes she vomited and was desperately embarrassed. We weren't so sure of what to do, she was starting to feel save around us but was clearly very uncomfortable. We managed to get her address from her and decided to order a taxi. We were five guys, so we decided three of us should just head home, while I and a friend brought the girl to her apartment. Finally there, we asked for her keys, when she realized that she had lost her bag!
We called our buddies but none of them answered their phones. Well, we weren't exactly sober so we decided to smash in the door to her place, brought her to bed and wrote a short letter, mentioning the broken door, that her bag was missing and left an anonymous email-address for her to contact us if she wanted. Right when we got out of her appartment our buddies called, he had her bag, totally forgot that he took it when she was vomiting (as mentioned, a lot of alcohol has flown this night...). He took a cab and brought us the bag, we went up there again, put the bag beside her bed, plugged in the phone, saw a friend of hers was concerned, unlocked the phone with the passed out girls fingerprints, wrote a message to calm her concerned friend, plugged the phone to recharge, and added some lines to the before-mentioned letter."
"We headed home to sleep out our intoxication."
"The next day around noon we got an email from the girl. She was in the city for university, the apartment was not rented but BOUGHT by her father just so she has a place to live near uni. Her father was the owner of the second most expensive and exclusive hotel in the country. She was very, very thankful, said the smashed door was no problem at all, and after speaking to her father, we all have an all-inclusive weekend at the hotel for free!"
Genetics
Uncommon medical conditions and egg mutations take the spotlight.
Mutated Egg
"I cracked an egg and two yolks came out. I cracked another and three yolks came out. This was one after the other. Or consecutive as you might say in English."
"English isn't my first language, sorry for any mistakes."
Fascinating Patient
"I have 3 different unrelated liver diseases the odds of having all three is about 1/ 2,000,000."
"I have Non alcohol fatty liver disease (1/4) weight related, hemochromatosis (1/300) genetic, alpha 1 antitrypsin deficiency (1/1700) genetic."
"The two genetic conditions are in completely unrelated genes, it was just bad luck!"
"The docs tell me I am fascinating medically, My blood test results are somewhat wacky, when they did a liver biopsy my liver was bright orange (its normally dark red / purple) but I am still alive and not expected to die anytime soon."
Physical Anamoly
"I was born with a hole in the internal walls in my heart."
"Apparently this is pretty rare."
– sorude27
Miracle Being Alive
"Took a common medication for a sinus infection when I was 15, and ended up with something called Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis Syndrome. The 'lesser' but more well known is called Steven Johnson's Syndrome."
"Basically it's a reaction that acts like a burn, attack's your mucous membranes and your skin blisters up and peels off. Like, I had no face, and almost all the skin north of my legs was gone. Pretty much awful."
"If I remember correctly the case rate is like 1 per million per year, and the mortality rate is basically tied to the % of skin you lose. Most lose 10-30%, I ended up losing 80%. Spent 2 months in ICU burn unit. An absolute miracle I'm alive. I didn't even end up needing skin grafts and didn't get infections which are a big issue when you just...don't have skin. To look at me now you'd never know, except for some uneven skin tone and low profile white spiderwebbing scars where the "burns" were deepest."
Continuing with my one-in-a-million story, my family accepted the invitation and we walked around. The family was warm, kind, and let us take pictures.
My family was ecstatic and emotional walking around in a familiar environment.
We took a group photo in the living room with the current homeowners before we left, and the guy I initially had contact with told me his mother said we were welcome to visit again any time, and that they would serve us Menudo. (They were a lovely Mexican family.)
I'm glad my mom insisted I go back and explain to the son why we were there. Had it been a different – and not as welcoming – family, we probably would never get to have that night of enjoying Menudo we are now looking forward to.
This example of a Japanese and a Mexican family interacting despite a language barrier between parents was an example of the American dream my dad sought for after leaving Japan so many years ago.
- Window Cleaners Share The Weirdest Things They've Ever Seen ... ›
- History Buffs Share Strangest Events To Happen That No One ... ›
- Bartenders Break Down The Craziest Things They've Overheard ... ›
- People Divulge Their Best 'Gotta Take One For The Team' Stories - George Takei ›
- People Share Their Craziest 'Oh You Thought This Was Bad, It Gets Worse!' Experiences - George Takei ›
It's highly believed that it is important to learn history as a means to improve our future.
What is often overlooked is that what is taught in history class is going to be very different depending on where you went to school.
And this isn't just internationally, even different regions of the United states will likely have very different lessons on American history.
This frequently results in our learning fascinating, heartbreaking and horrifying historical facts which our middle or high school history teachers neglected to teach us.
Redditor Acherontia_atropos91 was curious to learn things people either wished they had learned, or believe they should have learned, in their school history class, leading them to ask:
What isn’t taught in history class but should be?
The Irish Troubles
"The troubles."
"Too many people in America do not understand why a wall straight through Ireland would be a BAD idea."
"I’m referring to the Brexit referendum and possible outcomes."
"If people were wondering why we were talking about walls through Ireland in the first place."- CLCVS.
Forgotten elements of World War II
"What the Japanese did to the Chinese during WW2."
"Unit 731."- CaptainMcBoogerJew.
"Japan gets off easy for their war crimes in WW2."
"They killed an estimated 16mil Chinese civilians and another 8mil soldiers"
"Also, Pol Pot."
"Didn't know who he was until I was like 25."
"Worst dictator all time (in terms of percentage of population he decimated)".
The truth about the American Revolution
"That the American Revolution was part of a wider cold war type of conflict with France."
"The American Revolution was basically the UK's equivalent of the US version of Vietnam."- vinsant7.
The Dark side of Swedish history.
"As a Swede, I'd like to know more of all the horrible sh*t my country has done throughout history."
"It's a damn shame we're trying to hide our history."
"For example, Swedes killed a metric sh*t ton of all Polish people when we were at our strongest."
"That's the kinda sh*t we don't get to learn."- mogwandayy.
Colonization
"Basically what Belgium did to the Congo."
"A lot of people are telling me that they are taught about this actually."
"I'm glad to hear it because I wasn't taught about this in the USA during my public school days (1995-2008)."- EconArch.
The truth about "heroes".
"While teaching about historical Heroes they should also tell students about the unspeakable things some of them did."
"Many famous figures throughout history who are pillars of morality actually did many terrible things." - User Deleted
Intolerance for Mental Illness
"The dark history of mental illness treatments."
"I think it's worth learning about."- 7dayexcerpt.
Slavic Mythology
"Slavic mythology in Slavic countries."
"Don't get me wrong, I love both Greek & Roman mythology and as a person from the Balkans both of those cultures are part of my country's history and had great influence over not only my region but the entirety of the continent & the western world but I wouldn't mind knowing more about Slavic mythology as well."- ShorsShezzarine.
The truth about the CIA
"How the CIA was made and all the shady things they did over the years."- ALargeChip.
There is a lot about the history of our world, not to mention our own country which shouldn't be ignored.
And it's from learning from our mistakes that we really improve our future.
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So apparently we are in the endemic phase of this nonsense.
We have light at the end of the tunnel.
So what now?
Where do we go from here?
Normal seems like an outdated word.
How do we get back to normal though?
Is it even possible?
What are reaching back to?
Life pre-Covid.
Those were the days.
If only we could bring them back.
Redditor hetravelingsong wanted to discuss our new normal in this hopeful "endemic" phase. So they asked:
"What’s something random you miss about pre-COVID times?"
I miss people being sane. Though that maybe election cycle issues not COVID. We'll never know.
I thought I was Alone...
"Being able to grocery shop after 11 pm."
Reading_Rainboner
"Hell yes. I miss the days where the Walmart across the street was open 24 hours."
Small_Tax_9432
let's just go...
"I miss spontaneity... everything now seems to have a barrier of difficulty."
iidosee
"I live very close to Disneyland so I have an annual pass. My friends and I would just go there after work and hang out and grab a bite to eat."
"Now, we have to reserve a day to go. And most of the time, the days are at 'full' capacity so we couldn't even reserve. I don't want to schedule to hang out at Disneyland for a couple hours for July. So yeah, I definitely miss the 'lets go eat at Disneyland tonight?' texts."
mymymissmai
Not til 24-25
"Functioning global supply chains. Ah, the product you want has got microchips in it? 9 month wait."
richard-king
"Minimum, I'd been saying for a while now that I wouldn't expect a true return to normalcy in terms of electronics prices till 2024-2025. Although Crypto crashing through the floor really took some of the pressure off graphics cards which I really appreciate."
statiiic
WTF?!?!
"How affordable everything was!"
Disastrous_Hour_6776
"Yep. Today I was bagging up my things at the grocery store and I heard the cashier say to the lady behind me 'thats $78.12.' She had -- 2 boxes of Kellogg's corn flakes, a carton of 12 eggs, milk, strawberries, raspberries, blue berries, a small cheese cake, English muffins, coffee, and a small whole frozen chicken that could maybe feed 3 people if the meat portioning was small."
SnowyInuk
Sushi
"My favorite sushi place. It was good quality, close by, kid-friendly, and not too expensive."
InannasPocket
All of this... it was a simpler time.
NASTY
"As a retail worker, just how f**king NASTY some people have gotten."
DmitriPetrov*itch
"They applauded you for being an essential worker but won’t vote for policies that’ll raise minimum wage while insisting a wage cap for heavily paid employees."
sketchysketchist
CHANGES your DNA...
"Some of the people closest to me became very bitter and petty over the last 2 years. So many people have the 'crazy eyes' now."
__--__7
"So true and holidays with the family is like who has the biggest tinfoil hat building contest. How many jumps does your brain have to go through to think that the Covid vaccine CHANGES your DNA into the patented DNA so that the government now controls your body."
"So like vaccinated people now have a singular DNA set. I feel like I still have a chunk of my brain just broken off due to that comment alone. I was also told by same family member that I could never donate blood again due to the vaccine. I guess it is so my patented DNA doesn't affect people?? FYI my vaccinated butt just donated today fine and multiple other times after the vaccine."
tyreka13
Homeward Bound
"House prices."
adrianinked
"I'm resigned to never thinking I have a chance on owning property where I live. I'm 30 and just can't imagine it anymore. And I don't want to live anywhere else so, whatever."
Osdab2daf
"That didn’t happen because of the pandemic. That was already happening regardless."
CH11DW
Oh Mickey
"All Day Breakfast at McDonalds."
hutch2522
"It was honestly hell to do, and not very popular. ITs margins aren't anywhere dinner and lunch specials. ON top of that, the temperatures are such that They require its own grill, meaning that if you have 2 grills in shop, you are down 50% of lunch capacity."
Freyas_Follower
Way back when...
"Hanging out with friends. And I mean waaaaaay before Covid. Like 2006 back when I had some friends."
LoocsinatasYT
I miss the old days. Maybe we'll get back there.
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What do you believe?
Is there a GOD in the sky?
Is he guiding us and helping us?
Life is really hard. Why is that is a big entity is up there loving us?
Atheists have taken a lot of heat for what feels like shunning GOD.
What if they've been right all along?
Maybe let's take a listen and see what they really think.
Redditor __Jacob______ wanted to hear from the people who don't really believe all that "God" stuff. They asked:
"Atheists, what do you believe in?"
I'm waffling between G-O-D and nothing. So please give me some education.
911
"We need to look out for each other because help isn't coming."
cknipe
Peace Out
"More than 2 decades ago, a priest was giving a sermon in my church and he said 'our faith requires you to believe without question. Why call it faith if you have to ask questions?' I haven't returned to church. Not until my wedding day but you know what I mean."
asiangontear
Delusion
"When I was young I used to think that after death you would have access to a PC that you could see absolutely anything about your life. Stats, any question you had no matter how obscure, replays of moments, perspectives of others in relation to you. No matter what you wanted to know, if it was relatable to you, you could see it. I know it's silly, but as time goes on I just want it to be real, and I don't think I'd have any issue allowing myself to fall into that delusion."
eggwardpenisglands
I think nothing happens...
"Realistically, I think nothing happens. We literally experience nothing after death. Same thing that we experience before birth. We don't exist, so it's nothing. I think the tenant that we should follow while living is to try to be happy and healthy while minimizing the damage we do to each other."
"What I would LIKE to happen after death is whatever you believe in, exists. I think Christians should get to go to heaven if they truly believe in it, Hindus and Buddhists get reincarnated, and everyone else also gets to experience what they believe they will experience."
"'I would still experience Nothing. Maybe it's one of those things where at the moment of death their brain makes them experience what feels like an infinitely long moment in time where they experience their afterlife. I just think it would be neat for everybody."
Better_Meat_
Shrug
"Best advice I received from a dear senior on their way out. 'You win some, you lose some' shrug. Nothing divine, life is that simple and wonderful, accept it and move on."
Tune_Kindly
It all sounds pretty simple. Why are people so up in arms about Atheists?
Whatever
"I believe in a universe that doesn't care, and people that do."
imCIK
Cool with Empty
"Nothing. [Serious]."
rumblingtummy29
"I feel this way about death. When I was 5, my grandfather died and my cousin simple said, he is dead, that means you are gone forever. Everything ends up dying, even plants and animals. I'm now in my 40's and still have this simplistic view of life and death. People think I'm ambivalent to life and death but it's just what it is."
thepigfish82
puppet-masters...
"I think a lot of religious people struggle with the fact that we are all just swirling units of chaos. There is no grand plan or great orchestrator. I think that’s why people who are prone to religion are also susceptible to things like Q anon and the Cabal and all that. They REALLY want to believe that there is some almighty puppet-master who determines all of humanity’s fate."
Lngtmelrker
“we’re living in a society!”
"Just be a kind and empathetic person not because you’re worried about some cosmic justice, but because it’s the right thing to do. If there is some being that created us there’s no way they actually care about believing in it or adhering to some rules from over 2000 years ago."
"Also a big thing for me is that I find the idea that you need religion or the Bible in order to have morals and ethics pretty dumb. It’s pretty f**king clear that most evangelicals have neither. But my main thing is being a good person simply because, as George Costanza once said we’re living in a society!' If you’re only a good person in order to make it to heaven you probably aren’t actually a good and moral person."
conservative_genius
That's All
"You're born. You live. You die. That's it. After you die you cease to exist, the same as before you were born."
serefina
Believe what you want. We're all here together. So let's focus there.
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The list of what irritates me is endless.
I mean... breathing too loud or dust can set me off.
I'm a bit unstable, yes.
But I'm not alone.
So let's discuss.
Redditor Aburntbagel6 wanted to hear about all the times many of us just couldn't control our disdain. They asked:
"What never fails to piss you off?"
I feel like this article can go on forever. Let's get some highlights.
Wasted Time
"Meetings that could and should have been an email."
Sirena609
Lotto People
"Getting stuck behind people playing the lottery at a corner store."
thenuggetlover
"I also used to work in a gas station and you’re SO right. I f**king hated the lottery people. Especially since my store had a small staff and there was usually only one of us working at a time, which meant that I couldn’t get any of my other work done as long as they were there."
"And you’re right, it’s also pretty sad to watch. I had one lady who used to come in every day and spent hundreds and HUNDREDS of dollars on scratch tickets. One day, she won $200 after spending probably around $600 and she was so excited and saying she can 'finally pay her bills.'"
i-am-your-god-now
Aware...
"No situational awareness. Job, home, shopping, driving. Think for one minute and go about. OBSERVE!!"
Dizzy-Foundation8122
"My mom is one of those people who leave the shopping cart in the middle of the damn aisle and proceed to walk twenty feet away. After correcting her a million times to no effect I just walk away now so people don’t know I’m with her."
OutrageousEvent
Shut Up!
"Endless barking in the middle of the night, I love animals but that sh*t I can't stand."
Acceptable-Lemon2924
"Endless barking in general drives me up a wall. One of my friends dogs was barking almost an entire gaming session the other day. I wanted to reach through the computer and smack him for letting it go on."
bangersnmash13
Kindness
"People being mean to service workers, especially if the workers are very young."'
scaryboilednoodles
All of these things. I hate them all.
Admit It
"People who never accept fault when they mess something up. Like, why blame a million people when it was clearly you who did it???"
Quirky-Area-8978
From Above
"My upstairs neighbors."
lutzow89
"I had terrible neighbors at my previous apartment. It was a one person studio for students, but her boyfriend was clearly living with her illegally and he was loud."
"One night we knocked n the door at 3 AM because of the loud music and an unknown girl opened the door. I just thought they were having a little party. But the next door I saw the girl living there come home with a suitcase after having been away for the weekend... Her BF was cheating on her in her own apartment."
Th3_Accountant
Move Away
"People who sit directly next to me at the airport, movie theater, any other place where you can choose a seat when there is PLENTY of other seating."
BacardiPardy33
"I can’t YES this enough and the ones who can’t park for crap so they park so close you can’t open doors on one side of the car or the ones who park directly behind when you pulled through so the door won’t open to load groceries."
BacardiPardy33
It's Over
"People who try to restart old drama. Like I'm done with you, just leave me alone."
Tired_Potatos
"Yep, half the reason I've basically quit playing one of my favorite online video games. People keep bringing old crap up or sh*tting on on someone who used to be our friend. I got tired of it so I just ejected the game out of me."
CaucasianHumus
AHHHHH!!!
"People walking too slow in front of me with no way to get around them. It’s even worse if it’s a couple or group taking up the whole sidewalk. HAVE SOME SPATIAL AWARENESS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!"
_-v0x-_
Life in general pisses me off. I'm easy.
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