Life is full of crazy possibility and unbelievable coincidence. You have to wonder if fate and destiny are actual things. I mean what are the odds that we could come face to face with family or old acquaintances in the darkest rooms at the farthest corners of the Earth? Or how in the world do you wake up one morning next to a long lost relative? The surreal is plausible, even on a planet of billions. The Universe definitely likes to have some fun. And the world may actually be smaller than we think.
Redditor u/TruckerGabe wanted to see who else can attest to life's great "coincidences" by asking... What's your best "it's a small world after all" story?
The Bloodline....
I was selling some books online years ago and some guy reached out. We agreed upon everything and decided to meet after we had realized that we live in the same town. During the meet-up we also discovered that we have the same surname; it turned out that we're actually long distance cousins. I gave him a discount and we still keep in touch to this day. Miss_Keys
Auntie Em?
A few years after I found my natural father, he sent his sister to bring me $ when I was in a mental hospital. I'd gone there because I was having trouble dealing with PTSD. So anyway, we were sitting out on the smoker benches, and I realized it wasn't JUST that she looked much like my real dad, she looked familiar. I asked her where she had worked. Turned out she was a teller at the bank branch where I did all my adoptive mother's banking for almost 20 years! My mom was agoraphobic, so I ALWAYS did her stuff for her. I'd dealt with my real aunt for years.... telerisghost
School Daze....
I was in Japan with my boyfriend and saw my favorite high school teacher sitting at a restaurant we were going to eat at. We live in the US so it was a weird coincidence. Luxuryserena
The Mean Girls....
GiphyI was holidaying in Europe and went to a lovely little restaurant in Greece for dinner. I was dining alone, and the girls (about the same age as me) from the table next to me started talking to me mid way through my dinner. Turns out we were all from Australia, but different parts of the country. At the end of the night I added them to Facebook and went on my way. The next morning I wake up to an angry text on my phone, from one of my best friends from Uni, asking why I added the girls to Facebook. Turns out they used to bully her all through high school before she moved to my state for Uni. Fruitloops_for_B
Tristan! Come Back!!
Was on vacation in Phuket, Thailand. Finished my beach book by one of my favorite authors. Tristan Jones. Went in to a used bookstore near the beach, found a new book by him (which was weird, he's fairly obscure) in the "new arrivals" box. Store owner said it had just been dropped off, 20 minutes earlier. By the author, who had also autographed it. AkumaBengoshi
Berlin! The city of.... Um... Coincidence!
I worked with a girl at a movie theater in the US for about three years. Years later I ran into her in the parking lot of IKEA in Berlin. We'd both just moved there. ArmyOfDog
Alaska Tales....
I grew up (mostly) in Alaska. After college and some failed career paths - joined the Army. Outside of going overseas, was stationed pretty much as far away from Alaska as you can get in upstate NY.
Before you're assigned *your* barracks room, they put you in a transition/temp room. My roommate at the time?... from Alaska. Not just Alaska, but the same town I grew up in Alaska. We were some years apart so we barely knew the same people but it was nuts. TacticalNaps
He can't hide Forever!
One time I saw my dad (who left us) in a public bathroom. So I ran out because I was like 8 and scared. Bumblebee4Life
"It makes sense that you'd find a piece of s**t in the bathroom." Pacatrack
Fate is the best reference!
GiphyI went in for a job interview a few months ago. My interviewer mentioned he recently moved back from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I told him how my cousin was living there for work, and I had visited him a few times. Ends up, he lived 2 apartments down from my cousin and was good friends with him. I got the job. ShayBriar
My Best Friend's Wedding....
GiphyWas on a boat party on the Thames in London and got talking to one guy from America who was traveling around Europe, he ended up joining our group for drinks after. Travelled across to the US the following year for a friend's wedding and turned out he was the brother of the maid of honor.... CrispyBaconAndSyrup
Curious to hear from ex-lovers who've been there, Redditor Lishasquarepant asked:
"What caused your last break-up?"
These Redditors found they and their significant other were no longer on the same page.
"Simply, we grew apart."
– catetheway
"Same, I feel like Michael Scott everytime I try to start another relationship. 'No question about it, I am ready to get hurt again.'"
– Gthew
Happier Apart
"Same. We loved each other like siblings, not spouses... Ugh! Lovely man though who now has a fab girlfriend. We are good friends and much happier apart."
– MoxieHasKnottyBits
No Regrets
"Same. And it f'king sucks, but that’s life. It’s been a year and I still hate every second that she’s not in my life, but at the same time I know she’s happier now than she would’ve been if we stayed together."
– throway35885328
Having no communication is the worst part.
Silent Partner
"He slowly got distant. I believe he lost interest and didn't dare be honest with me about that."
– GaiaNatur77
The Late Blame Game
"I had that happen as well, but then he pinned it on me being distant and not affectionate enough."
"My guy, if you pull your hand away every time I try to hold it, I'm gonna stop trying to hold it. And if I ask if something's up and you repeatedly tell me everything is fine, I'm going to believe you. Don't wait till I'm at my worst moment and then reveal you had issues with me for 3 months and break up with me for it being 'my fault.'"
– Billielolly
"Everything Is Fine"
"Oh man, the asking repeatedly and getting a 'nothing' reminds me of a story."
"My friend used to ask her ex this every time he was unusually quiet. He’d always say he was fine, then at one point, told her to stop asking because it was making him feel weird."
"So she did."
"Six months later he initiated a divorce because she didn’t care about his feelings anymore."
"Like…don’t ask for sh*t then get pissy when you get what you want."
– TheRealJackReynolds
And then there are those who were not invested in the relationship for a long time.
The Struggle Is Real
"He seemed to struggle with the concept of not f'king random people."
– spanglesandbambi
Leaving The Problem
"He moved to his country because he missed his family. So he only sent a WhatsApp message saying he was going to stay there. I would have preferred a call at least to break up a marriage."
– kattia12
New Life
"Something similar happened to my cousin. He married her in the US, they had a baby together.. a few years go by, he misses home, goes back to visit.. His family had an arranged marriage ready for him 🤦🏻♀️ He ended up with a new wife and new baby. Hasn’t came back."
– MysticalMom7
A Foreign Custom
"It just seems so surreal that a grown a** adult with a wife and baby would leave his family behind for an arranged marriage. I'll never fathom the mentality."
– ro0ibos2
Ouch
"I wasn't having sex near as often as she was."
– YourWordsMatter
Breaking up is hard to do.
But a good thing to remember is that love can be found again and the new relationship can be even better than the previous one.
And that's something that can't be recognized until you look back in retrospect.
We all have to kiss a few toads.
Redditor TractorLoving wanted to hear about the things many of us have seen that left us shaken and a bit scared, so they asked:
"What's the most creepy thing you've ever witnessed?"
I've lost track of the number of things that have creeped me out in life.
I barely leave the house.
From the bushes...
the lion king disney GIFGiphy"When I was about 12 I was sleeping on my trampoline with a friend and we heard the bushes move behind us, we flashed our flashlight to the bushes and a mountain lion was laying there stalking us, I have never run so fast in my life."
Fortherecord87
Voices
"Finding my dad dead in his recliner. I swear I heard his voice when the coroner came for his body."
PolesawPolska
"My granddad knocked over my great-grandma's ashes in his car accidentally, and to this day swears he heard her laugh, loud and clear as if she was standing next to him. She had a hugely wicked sense of humor and would have found this (and my very stressed granddad carefully collecting her ashes back into the container before my grandma saw) very funny."
Tanyaaahhh
From the Sea
"When I was serving my time as an engineer in the merchant navy we used to have to clean out what is called 'sea chests;' they're basically big filters for seawater that we would pump in to use as coolant and if the pumps were on when we were dockside we'd find all sorts of things like bottles, fish, crabs etc."
"One day we opened up the chest, pulled out the filter, and immediately saw this gold shiny thing which turned out to be a Rolex watch. Usually, we'd just dump out the filter but with the mitigating circumstances, we went through it thoroughly and found a piece of a shirt with cufflink still attached and last but not least a nicely rotted finger."
"The police ended up closing off the dock and dredging it but never found anything on the end." ~ MarkyBhoy101
Terrified
Watching I See You GIF by TravisGiphy"This guy followed me home. Said he saw me there often and named a few local spots I go to sometimes as places he sees me. It’s been about a year. Never saw him again. I was terrified for a little while for sure."
ewqdsacxziopjklbnm
Stay vigilant out there kids.
People are watching and some of us don't notice.
Back Up Creep
Scared Homer Simpson GIF by reactionseditorGiphy"I was in a restaurant years ago on lunch break. At the time I was a very thin 25-year-old woman. There was this big creepy guy sitting there who would NOT stop staring at me from the moment I walked in the door."
"I mean just open face staring without blinking for the entire 15 minutes I was eating several seats away. I asked for a box and left early to get away from him. As I walked out he said, 'You shouldn't be out alone. Someone's going to grab you and steal you away." 100% convinced creepazoid had someone locked up in his basement."
xain_the_idiot
'Youth in need'
"Was working in a restaurant. Nice place. That night we held a charity dinner for a 'youth in need' type of house. The guy representing the house, a worker there, was such a nice and kind man. Every teen there was only saying nice things about him. A good soul, that was giving everything he could for these teens."
"At one point they gave a big check to the charity. I must guess an amount they rarely received. Well under the excitement, that poor man had a cardiac arrest. Dropped there on the stage, cheque in hand. He couldn't be brought back. He died. Seeing this was already bad enough, but the kids everywhere in the restaurant screaming and crying for hours after... haunting."
Agronut
Inside the House
"One random night in middle school I woke up and had the odd feeling that something or someone was present in the house and coming towards my room. I was scared so I closed my eyes to pretend to be asleep. I could faintly hear something come into my room and it felt like someone was standing over me, looking to make sure I was asleep. I laid on my back, eyes shut, until the feeling passed, and ended up falling asleep. I woke up in the morning to find out that our house was robbed."
ThatOtherOtherGuy3
There in lies the rub...
"Well dressed 50 something business dude on a quiet Chicago L train reading a Wall Street Journal. Pretty woman with long curly hair dozing in the seat in front of him, her hair dangling behind the seat. The guy is rubbing and playing with her hair while reading his paper so I figure she's his wife or girlfriend who just wanted some space to nap."
"He is now intently rubbing and fondling her hair and not reading anymore. Suddenly she snaps awake and pulls in her hair like a bug was in it or something. She gets off at the next stop, he continues reading. They didn't know each other at all."
mtzuker
Why do people feel the need to overshare?
People really need to discuss boundaries.
