Life is a series of curveballs that are impossible to dodge. Some good, some bad, but always worthy of a story on Reddit.
USN_Babs asked: What was your "Didn't see that coming" moment?
Submissions have been edited for clarity, context, and profanity.
15. A real life Ace Ventura.
I'm a journalist in Ireland. A few years ago, I used to ghost write a weekly first column on people who had unusual jobs. I'd meet the person, ask them a few questions and write 800 words in that person's voice.
So one week my editor suggests I talk to a friend of her father's who is a well known pet detective (i.e. he recovers lost or stolen pets.) So I meet the guy and he's quite a character. He's wearing Steve Irwin-style fatigues and he's full of energy, posing for photographs wearing a deerstalker hat.
He starts telling me how he's able to track animals, how there are major international gangs stealing dogs and cats. How by the time you even notice your pet is missing, it's probably already been whisked out of the country and is being held in some criminal safe house in Albania. Fortunately, he had an extensive network of contacts in Interpol and the various European police forces who were able to help him recover the animals.
About halfway through the interview, the penny dropped that this guy was a complete fantasist and it was unlikely any of what he was saying was true. However, I was on a deadline and my name wouldn't appear on the piece, so I wrote it up as he told me and was published and it got a great reaction.
Next time I saw my editor, she complimented me on the piece. I knew the pet detective was a friend of her family so I chose my words carefully. "To be honest," I said, "I wasn't 100% convinced he was telling the truth." My editor just laughed. "Of course, he wasn't," she laughed. "My father is pretty certain he steals the pets himself and just returns them. But sure, it gets him out of the house and it's great excitement for the kids in the town, so what harm?"
14. That sucks for sure.
A well-liked coworker that was an excellent at his job went into his supervisor's office for an annual review.
The guy came out with tears streaming down his cheeks, having just been told that his job was being eliminated and that there was no other position available for him - an outcome no one would've thought possible.
Now that's just really really sad.
13. Not cool would be a massive understatement.
My (ex) best friend started dating and eventually moved in with the guy who sexually assaulted me.
She was around when it all happened to me. How do you just ignore that?
Edit for clarity: There was about a year between the incident and when they started dating, she remained friends with him the whole time which I learned from other friends after we stopped talking.
She did not witness the incident, when I say she was around I mean she was a close friend at the time who I trusted and told about him.
The incident itself I would rather not go into full details about. It was very traumatic for me. I was young. I told my trusted friend, my therapist and police. Ultimately charges were filed but as we were both under 18 and they couldn't (wouldn't) do much about it and basically got out of it without consequence.
12. You can stand under my...
Went out drinking with my four buddies. Then went outside for a smoke. One of my mates decided to chat this woman up. she was older than him but he thought he would chance his luck... it started to rain. Lucky for them she had an umbrella, so being the gentleman that he was he decided to hold it. Next thing we know. This random dude came up and and started making out with her. The rest of us started laughing at him because he was still holding the umbrella whilst they were still chasing each other's tongue. That was my didn't see that coming moment.
Umbrella holder-zoned.
11. Can we make it a throuple?
I used to teach karate and had an awkward kid, speech impediment, long hair always in his face, never would say much. Maybe seemed autistic, but this was years ago before diagnosing people with autism became more common and accepted so I don't know. Figured he'd be a shy guy forever.
Nope. Went into the marines. Did war. Came home and biked across the country. Grew up into a fine man! Honestly happy for him but can't say I saw that coming.
Ran into him at the grocery store the other day and he introduced me to his boyfriend. Didn't expect that either! Double whammy.
Overall very happy for him and proud of what he's become. It's good to see kids that struggled grow up to be great people.
10. It didn't see *you* coming.
I ran I to a lamppost while trying to catch a frisbee.
When I was a kid, something similar happened to a neighbor, but it was a pole from a basketball hoop instead. His limbs all shot forward like in the cartoons, and thankfully we were old enough to know to check that he was ok before laughing.
9. How does one burn oatmeal?
I was microwaving my bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats with milk in the microwave and the oats caught on fire.
Thanks, sounds like some bullsh*t I would do. My mom doesn't allow to to use the stove without supervision so I just microwave everything. Cracked eggs, bread (turns out soggy but oh well) etc lol.
8. I'll take worst fears for $400 Alex.
I was driving at night, pitch black, turned left and got hit by a truck without it's headlights on. Literally didn't see it coming.
This happened to me and my mom once. Why do people not put their f*cking headlights on at night???? Anyway, hope you're okay. And I hope the truck guy got punished.
7. How did they not see this coming?
I had an art instructor who was reviewing an art student's portfolio. The student literally printed copies of the instructor's own artwork and put in his portfolio.
He pretended to feign intense interest in those pieces in particular and asked him all sorts of technical questions about techniques used and tools and materials until the student finally broke.
Yup, saw that happen in college (pre-Internet era) where a student cribbed an art design from a foreign art book not understanding that the design was from our professor who was originally from the country in the art book. Instant FAIL and withdrawal from the major program.
6. This is not something you want to see coming.
Finding my wife's Reddit posts confessing to sleeping with her boss. That was a doozy.
That's terrible. Did you know her /u/ ahead or did you figure out it was her from the clues?
I knew her nickname that she uses, she used it in her hotmail account. Plus, I got a hold of her phone just to verify.
5. What a crappy day.
A baby took a sh*t on a pile of apples in a store I wish I was kidding.
That baby is going places.
A baby being carried by his mother barfed all over me when I was sitting in the theatre waiting to see Star Wars Revenge of the Sith. And the movie was actually worse than that experience.
4. It's 'possibly a phase?
My little sister (pre teen) got a "girlfriend." Our dad and my stepmom were kinda mad at her for it too... which like, isn't cool. They weren't mean to her but they were upset. They're not even homophobic but I guess if it's one of their kids it's different? I made sure to let her know she can come to me for anything. Idk if she'll really end up gay, or bi, or whatever but I don't want her to surpress anything because of her parents.
So.. as far as the preteen girls go... My niece is 11 this year. She came home one day and said that her "boyfriend" (really just her best friend for as long as I can remember) "broke up" with her because she told him she was a bisexual and liked both girls and boys.. and she said that he told her that was weird and couldn't be her boyfriend anymore.
So My sister is super ok with anything and was very supportive.. and told her no matter who she liked, it was ok. And then proceeded to ask her why she thought she was bisexual.. and of course she said because she likes both boys AND girls. So as gently as possible to an 11 year old she explains exactly what that means.. that they like to kiss and have sex with both girls and boys (now both my sister and I are extremely ok with our kids knowing the what sex means and the real words for male and female genital, it's biology, not a secret).
So she gets finished explaining everything and my niece exclaims.. "omg.. I did not know that is what bisexual means!! I thought it was just having friends that are both girl and boy!! omg I'm so embarrassed".. Moral of the story.. They're just kids.
Anyway.. I thought it was a funny story.
3. Welcome to dating.
Me having to break up with my girlfriend and not the other way around in high school.
Right there with you. Never thought it would be me to do it but I knew I had to because of friends and family.
2. When the boss gets replaced and you don't.
Was working at this company years ago. Boss was shady shady shady and ruthless AF. Truly one of the worst bosses ever. She keeps making comments to us about how we are expendable and that we are 'lucky to have a job' and she expects us to make her look good at all times and not complain. She keeps using the upcoming threat of 'budget cuts' as a Sword of Damocles" and implicitly threatens our jobs fairly regularly (which she did pretty much from the first day any of us started).
So, a group of us start to get the feeling that she is planning to lay off a bunch of us in order to preserve her own job (budget cuts, etc.) and we just are taking it one day at a time and not trying to rock the boat. About a week goes by and we all get this email from HR that we have a mandatory meeting at 4 that day in the 1st level conference room and that attendance is 'mandatory'.
We all go to the meeting expecting to be mass fired but they instead tell us that they have fired our boss, her boss and her boss's boss and that we are now reporting to this other woman from another area. Now, this new boss; the BEST, totally respectful and professional.
Best part of the story: we all got our jobs reviewed and our compensation studied and analyzed and we all got raises and/or promotions within 3 months of the new boss taking over.
1. Spooky.
Too long to fully recount here, but TLDR: Wrong number from a man who was incredibly verbally abusive and ranting so hard that I couldn't even interrupt him for a couple minutes to let him know. I listened out of stunned amusement/curiosity for a bit, but finally broke in and said "Look asshole, wrong number" etc and started to hang up.
Suddenly he yelled "WAIT!!!!" and, out of morbid curiosity, I paused. He started to weep and apologize profusely and kept saying "I've just had the WORST day, I'm sorry but I'm also kind of glad I didn't do that to somebody I actually know." I was like "yeh yeh," and then he added "I'm so sorry. It's just that my son keeps dying, and I keep having to revive him, and today it happened twice."
I'm sorry whut? Turns out his son had this rare heart-rhythm disease and they couldn't find a diagnosis, had been all over the world looking for a diagnosis/treatment, but meanwhile the poor kid's heart would stop randomly and they'd have to defib him.
It just so *happened* I had, several months prior, been emailing with a doctor/researcher who specialized in something very similar. I searched my archives, found the guy's contact info, put them in touch with each other and it turns out this kid had that very exact syndrome AND the doctor lived in the kid's hometown. So the kid got free medical treatments while they studied him to find a cure for other kids.
That story is one of the reasons I believe in God.
Dating and the search for love and companionship... What a nightmare.
This journey plays out nothing like in the movies.
Every Prince or Princess (or everything in BTW) seems to have a touch of the psycho.
The things people say during what should be simple dinner conversation can leave a dining partner aghast.
Like... do you hear you?
Redditor detroit_michigldan wanted to discuss all the best ways to crash and burn when trying to make a romantic connection. They asked:
"You're on a date and it's going really great. What can another person say to ruin it completely?"
I once had a guy ask me if I was willing to follow him into the woods, depending on the price of the meal.
Yeah. No steak is worth that.
Plans After...
"Thanks for the ride but I have a date with someone else, I figured you wouldn't drive me if you knew I was going on a date with someone else and I really needed a ride."
"Online dating, talked to her for a while, finally got the courage to ask her out and then she said that as we got there."
iareyours
Mirror Image
“'You look just like my wife!'”
catalinachild
"I did have a guy tell me I reminded him of his son. I don’t believe English has a word to adequately describe my feelings at that time."
UnicornMagicRainbow
"That would definitely do it."
chaotica78
Third Wheel
"'Hope you don't mind if my mother joins us.'"
ofsquire
"Actually had a girl do this on a first date because she had anxiety issues. Honestly wasn’t bad except that 90% of the time she was silent and her mom talked over her."
"I didn’t mind that much and wouldn’t have minded trying again when she was more comfortable except that she was let go at the company we worked at and she deleted her social media profiles and she never responded on her number. Ah well."
Seightx
Liar
"'Hey bro aren't you gay? I made out with you last night.'"
"Random dude I've never seen before in front of my (f) date."
JHXC16
Was he lying though?
Filter Issues
"'You looked better on Tinder.'"
waqasnaseem07
"Isn’t it basic knowledge that everybody looks slightly worse than the worst picture you can find?"
no_user_ID_found
The Past
"'My ex used to do that too.'"
xxIvyOF
"Yep. I’ve definitely had two otherwise-decent-guy date-situations sour because the ex-comparisons just would not stop flowing. No woman wants to be seen as interchangeable—I’m not here to perfectly fill that ex-sized hole in your life. Focusing on the present moment and a future we could build together is a courtesy we need to grant each other in earliest dates of dating."
LarkScarlett
Powerless
"'I'm an alpha, you cant handle my top energy.'"
Midnightgay28
"I actually left a dude in the middle of dinner, in part, for saying this. I ordered an Uber under the table while pretending to listen to him. Went to the bathroom, and never came back. That was when I was young. Now I’d just say, 'How about we enjoy this meal in silence, before we head our separate ways.'”
UnicornMagicRainbow
Mommy...
"'Mother says I should be back by 9.'"
"Saying 'mother says' just feels weird."
bunnyrut
"That gives me Norman Bates vibes."
Werewolf_lover20
"'Mother says alligators are aggressive because they have an overabundance of teeth, but lack a toothbrush.'"
sodaextraiceplease
Obvs...
"'If you were going to be murdered, what method would you prefer. Purely hypothetical. Obvs.'"
Specific_Tap7296
If it looks anything like a Dateline NBC episode... RUN!
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Despite the advancement of technology rendering people left to their own devices–literally–to entertain them, there are some leisurely activities that will never go out of style.
Or so you would think.
Do people still knit to pass the time? Are people actively collecting stamps?
It depends on who's asking.
Curious to hear about hobby trends, Redditor gizehgizeh asked:
"What are once popular hobbies that are slowly dying these days?"

Before we've become conditioned to living on our phones, these activities used to keep people occupied.
Before Texting, There Was This
"Letter writing."
– littlekingMT
Literal And Tangible Joy
"Well the internet killed pen pals for sure. I do remember I had a Japanese girl for a penpal maybe back in 2007 or so. I honestly don't remember how it started, pretty sure some website, but that was a fun experience. But now I can just straight up talk to foreign people real time, lol. But yea getting a physical letter that someone took the time to write and mail still is hard to beat feelings wise."
– skyburnsred
Model Trains
"When I was growing up, every town had a model train store in it. Now I have one in region and everything else has to be bought online."
– Hairy_Effective1172
Pretty Rocks
"Don’t see anyone playing marbles anymore, I had an awesome collection in school."
– sheeple85
"I had some marbles as a kid in the 90s. My grandma got them for me and I had no idea what I was supposed to do with them. I always imagined them as a thing kids in the 40s played with."
– Ryoukugan
People Were Moving Canvases
"Paintball has been dying a slow death since 2006. Sad, really."
– hobo_recycler
Before the general population began hating clutter, collecting was once a "thing."
Precious Coins
"Coin collecting... I'm a silver/gold nut and I'm always hunting for precious metal coins. whenever I go into a shop they get all excited because 'no one under 70 collects coins anymore.'"
– ThatFishySmell99
Post It
"Stamp collecting."
– spooky_scully_mulder
"Collecting in general, really. Of course there are still prominent collectors but it's slipped more into enthusiast and niche territory than being a popular hobby that you might expect anyone to have."
– iuytrefdgh436yujhe2
What A Gem
"Rockhounding was immensely popular back in the 1950's and 1960's. Personally, I think it's a fascinating and fulfilling hobby, but when I go to a meeting at a rock and gem club, I'm usually the youngest one in the room by several decades."
– filthy_lucre
People once enjoyed making things.
Admiring The View
"Stained glass. I learned how to make it from my old man, and my junior high art class teacher also taught it. Very few artisans are still around."
– brobeanzhitler
Metal Vocation
"Black smithing."
– kenworth117
"I bought a forge to try. It’s insanely hard work, and crazy expensive. I still haven’t finished a piece."
– DSentvalue
Scrapbooking
"Yeah. I'm watching the arts and crafts stores around me completely uninstalling their racks for specialty paper. Now the only thing they have is mega packs of repeating colors/images. To boot all the inclusions like papercraft/die-cut things, washi tape, scissors, stickers, etc have gotten so expensive I would rather go buy $5 bags at value village to get an assortment of things versus buying anything new. I really, really miss yard sales for the same reasons."
– Phantasmai
I envy people who have jobs that are basically their hobbies.
Not everyone gets paid doing what they actually enjoy and have a profound level of passion for.
If they do, kudos to them.
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When we first meet someone–whether through mutual friends, at school, or in a new work setting–we generally feel people out to determine if they're worth getting to know.
While the process could take time, some people make our jobs much easier after spotting instant red flags.
Curious to hear about our general radar of people, Redditor xxFluffie asked:
"What is something that makes you immediately dislike someone?"

Some people just think they are absolutely hilarious and never realize they're the only ones laughing.
Next In Line
"They laugh about having screwed someone else over. If you think you're not next, well, you'll learn."
– whiznat
Unfunny
"when you mention you don't like a thing and they immediately do that thing 'as a joke.'"
– wayfinder
Playing Devil's Advocate
"Kneejerk contrarians. People who, no matter what you say you like or believe, just have to dismiss it and say they like or think the opposite."
– BubbhaJebus
People who put others down get slammed here.
Bad Parents
"When they treat their kids sh**ty in public. I don't mean handling tantrums, setting a rule, having to hurry to the train etc. I mean perfectly normal-behaved kids getting in trouble for trailing along peacefully, looking at things, asking questions etc."
"If you don't like tiny humans who learn the world, why have them??"
– raxeira-etterath
Public Humiliation
"Treating people sh**ty in public for laughs. Like being rude to service workers because they think it’s funny. Big red flag."
– Ok_Personality_1080
Simply Uncalled For
"Someone who is a d*ck to other people or animals for no reason."
– xebt1000
Those with ulterior motives rubs people the wrong way.
The Scheme
"If they try to get me to join their MLM scheme."
– spazmcgee1
Hard Sell
"A guy I used to be friends with in high school reached out a couple of years after graduating about a business opportunity he wanted my opinion on because 'you've always been smart', then he set up a Skype call and brought some other dude into the call and they started trying to sell me on what was clearly an MLM scheme. The guy went from friend to 'I'm never talking to you again' in a matter of 10 minutes."
– Mental-Afternoon-164
A Timeline
"Good gawd, this! I've had more than one exposure to this abject bullsh**tery..."
- Back in the late 80's/early 90's I was invited to a meeting of literally the OG "Pyramid" where you're recruited to pay in, and then you go out and recruit others to pay in, and the last in line got f'kall.
- In 1995 I had a coworker try to reel me into Amway, which was a hard no.
- In 2000 it was Pampered Chef, though to be fair they did have useful products.
- In 2009 a coworker tried to get me into some stupid video calling service that was obviously stupid from the description. He even got offended when I called bullsh*t.
– Mystical_Cat
Too much ego is a no-go.
I Can Do Better
"Being a b*tch just to stroke their own ego."
"We get it, you can lift 5lbs more than the 12 year old, you don't have to rub it in their face just because you're slightly better"
– Livia_Pivia
Can't Top This
"Oh, you did <story that's been told>? That's nothing! I did <implausible story>.
"I get the whole empathy through relating common experience, and I'm someone who does that (which drives some people crazy on its own), but there's a big different by empathising through common experience, and one-upmanship."
– Tisarwat
Lacking Conversational Etiquette
"Starting to talk over me when I was already talking."
"Stop it you rude, arrogant jerk."
– R33Gtst
If one or more of these traits sound familiar to you, you're not alone.
We don't have time for braggadocios, pyramid-schemers, and conversation interrupters.
And that's just for starters.
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Children tend to believe just about anything they hear.
That there are monsters under your bed, watching too much TV will make your head explode, and silly faces will be permanent if you make them too often.
The sky is truly the limit when it comes to silly things that children will believe.
Some call it naivitée, other's youthful innocence.
But it's hard not to look back with embarrassment on certain things we believed as a child, that today might simply seem dumb.
Redditor Disastrous_Toe_6548 was curious to learn the multitude of silly things people believed when they were children, leading them to ask:
"What's the dumbest thing you believed as a kid?"
Pleading to deaf ears...
"My dad told me he had hearing loss and couldn't hear me if I whined because my pitch would get too high."
"Would completely ignore me until I asked him questions in a normal voice."
"Trusted him implicitly until I was 12 and he yelled at my younger brother for whining."- Tyrion_Stark.
Get it while you can.
"That they took everything off the shelves when the supermarket closed."- fgyfddg.
Silly superstitions.
"My grandfather used to tell me that if I played with the fire, I'd pee the bed."
"I believed him for a while, until I got older."
"I think he was just trying to protect me from the fire."- teddypa1981.
"Rain, rain go away..."
"That if it was raining where I was, it was raining everywhere in the world."- morningshartz.
Age is just a number.
"My parents used to seem really old to me, so much so I believed they grew up like cave people as children, wearing giant leaves for clothes and what not."- Laleena_.
So that's how they're made!
"That smokestacks from the power plant created clouds."- Scaniarix.
An instant cure.
"The sun gives you sunburns, therefore, moonlight should heal them."- velocipeter.
Better safe than sorry.
"Don't drink and drive meant all drinks."
"My dad was super confused when I told him he wasn't allowed to have any soda until we got home."- hulagirlslovetoparty.
Don't believe everything you see on TV.
"There was an episode of Mickey Mouse where Mickey couldn’t reach something at first, so he tried again and somehow his arm was long enough to reach it."
"As a small kid I believed that if I couldn’t reach something, I should just try reaching for it again and my arm would then somehow be long enough to reach it."- That-Dutch-Person.
The miracle of childbirth.
"That babies are pooped out."
"When I was like 7 I was listening to my aunt as she explained that childbirth was pretty intense and painful for her, and I was all solemnly like, 'yeah, sometimes just my poops are painful, I don’t think I could get a baby out' and she went 'um, WHAT?' and her reaction made me realize real quick that I had f*cked up somewhere and I tried to change the subject while my mind was just reeling lol."- thesoundingfurrows.
Oh to be a child again.
And to believe literally everything you're told.
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