People Share Their Best 'Right Place At The Right Time' Experiences

People Share Their Best 'Right Place At The Right Time' Experiences
Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

There are certain moments in life that are inexplicable. Somehow the Universe lined up your life with that of something else's, and by pure luck, you just happen to be in the right place at the right time to change your's, or someone else's, life. And the stories you're about to read are from just a few of the lucky ones.


Here are some of the best accounts of being in the right place at the right time. M1racle asked:

What was your best "right place at the right time" moment?

​Pure luck can truly save a life. It just depends on who is around to help.

It was fate.

“A buddy and I were driving down a remote highway in rural Alberta, two hours from anything. We were passing the only other vehicle we had seen in a while, when there is a huge shudder. The guy in the vehicle we are passing is pointing frantically at our front right tire, and his eyes are huge. The tire explodes. My buddy who is driving barely gets the vehicle under control in order to eventually get it slowed down and stopped in the shoulder.

That vehicle we just passed? A AAA tow truck, and I'm a member. He pulls over, checks my card, and changes the tire while we take a smoke break. We were back on the road in 10 minutes.”

Sugarfoot00

Rip currents are no joke.

Ocean Surf GIFGiphy

“Outer Banks North Carolina. I went down to the beach kind of early and I noticed a group of people right at the water's edge looking concerned, pointing etc. As I get close to them I realize there's a person perhaps 50 yards offshore floating on a little raft you'd see in a pool. I know there are nasty rip currents there, but I slowly start walking out in the water thinking as long as I don't get too deep I'll see how far I can get. I end up getting within arms reach of the girl on the little raft, when I realized her boyfriend and a guy probably in his seventies are holding onto the far side of the raft, as well. I ended up pulling them in and probably saving the old guy's life because he was really struggling to keep his head above water. Once we got the shore, he collapsed and was vomiting sea water until the ambulance showed up.

It was pretty stupid on my part, and I was probably right next to the rip current, not in it or I would have been screwed too. Anyway, none of my friends saw this, but the next day as we're down there, one of the group came over, handed me a beer and told them the story like I was some incredible superhero. So that was cool.”

ASA-firepower

​Thank goodness for that nurse.

“It was actually my father.

He had received a double bypass about 12 years before and was now semi-retired.

My parents had a spot at the "First Monday Trade Days" in Canton, Tx. where they sold various things he restored/built. (It's like a very large swap meet). They generally set up on Wednesday and were open through Sunday. He had an awning he set up over his spot so he stayed in the cool shade. Normally, either my mother or sister were with him to set up and help run things. For whatever reason this time he was on his own.

According to the bystanders, he was reaching up attaching some rope to the awning when he had a heart attack. Technically dead before he hit the ground. It just so happened that the lady who had a booth a few spots away saw it happen and was a registered nurse.

She immediately started CPR while others called 911. When the ambulance arrived, they used a defibrillator and were able to bring him back.

He coded again in the ambulance on the ride over and they were able to bring him back again.

At the hospital, we were told that he would probably never recover as he only had about 15-20% heart functionality. (Spoilers - he recovered).

It turns out that despite his sticking to a heart healthy diet, his heart was deteriorating after the bypass (they only last around 10-15 years or so) and when he had his heart attack, the doctor reckons he had about 30% functionality. The heart surgeon said the only reason he survived is that his heart was so used to functioning on such a low level, that it wasn't as much of a "shock to the system" as if a person with normal function had that kind of event.

They gave him a pacemaker with a built in defibrillator, and he is still plugging along over 5 years later.

But if it hadn't been for that particular nurse being right there and seeing it happen....

They still stop by every year and give her a basket of goodies by way of thanks. (mailed it due to the CoViD last year).”

Thechervil

​Being in the right place at the right time can also mean massive career changes in just a split second.

​Knowing Excel pays off.

“I showed up to the temp agency for my first job on the day they were about to call a business back to tell them they didn't have anyone who knew Excel. I knew Excel very well, and after temping at the business for two months, got hired on permanently. I've been here for 30 years now.”

Jaycatt

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​Now THAT’S cool.

You Shall Not Pass Lord Of The Rings GIFGiphy

“Got called up as an extra on Lord of the Rings, sent to the Minas Tirith set. Immediately greeted by "Hi Dingo!", make up artist was a friend from high school who had me set up in hero (close camera) Gondorian armour.

Got paid to hangout on a cool movie set, chatted to Sir Ian, can see myself in RoTK doing some stuff. And the ice cream truck came too!”

Dingostealingbaby

Dodged a bullet there.

“I went to a job fair, nearly two decades ago. Handed my resume around. Had a brief stairwell interview with a the PI of a small cancer research lab. Got called back, and part of the interview was with the tech I would be replacing. They did everything they could to signal to me all of the red flags that she was a terrible boss. Body language, odd statements, the PI was nuts and they almost said it outright. But I needed the job.

She called me back saying that while I was a great fit for her, actually her husband needed me more, would I work for him even though the position wasn't yet posted? In a much larger more prestigious lab because he was the Dept Chair, doing things better suited to my skill set (small animal surgery). And as it turned out, he wasn't nuts, he was a great boss. (His wife was really nuts, this was a close call). Two years later his recommendation got me in to medical school. I learned a lot and had a great experience.

Always interview like it's a great job, you don't know who's watching.”

Procrast1natrix

Most of all, cool happenstances like these always make for a cool story.

Score.

“I bought a single ticket to Kanye's performance of 808s And Heartbreak at the Hollywood Bowl. I was in the center nosebleed section. Pretty crappy seats but I was cool with it. I went for a walk around the venue before the show started. When I got back to my seat someone was sitting there. After I got the courage to confront him we talked and he was super apologetic he said his friends were there and he just wanted to talk to them. Since I was alone I just said "hey man if you want to switch seats that's fine, my seats can't get much worse".

He just smirked and made a comment about it being my lucky day then he gave me a paper that gave me a near front row box seat. The crazy thing is mid way through the show I saw him in a different box seat. I can only assume he was someone important.”

Nick_Full_Time

​A very cool find.

hockey stick GIF by NHLGiphy

“Not necessarily the best, but today I was in a thrift store looking for a laptop bag strap, and found a really nice hockey stick. I picked it up, and it was a CCM composite, long enough for me, and a lefty curve. I carried it around for a while before I noticed the nametag on it.

After a Google search, I paid $4 for a game-issued but unused 2008-09 season stick belonging to Pittsburgh Penguin Maxime Talbot. (It has the NHL logos, inventory barcode with serial number, and player's stamp.)

The thrift store is within sight of the Pens practice facility, and there have been 2 sticks identical to this one at auction in the past few years. He's holding an identical stick on his trading card.”

Jef_Wheaton

​Living the dream.

“I was doing an event for NASCAR in Las Vegas. We were at the end of the event, and had to get the cars from the display area to the trucks they use to transport them. This was something that we had planned on doing at 4 am when the crowds were low, but no one wanted to do that.

So, while we were having a meeting with the Las Vegas PD and the drivers, the LVPD captain said, "Why don't we just do this right now(9 PM)? I'll just shut down Las Vegas BLVD and we can drive the cars right down the street." Everyone agreed that was the best option, but one problem was, there were only 11 drivers for 12 cars. The question then went out to the group, "Does anyone know how to drive a stick?" Everyone kinda stared blankly at one another until I said, "yeah, I can."

And with that everyone went to hop into their cars, I got an incredibly brief tutorial on how to flip the right switches in the right order to start the car, then I was just left to my own devices. And that's how I ended up being able to drive a NASCAR car down the Las Vegas Strip. And, I only stalled it 4 times!”

Nickelnomics

​I lied- THIS is living the dream.

“I was at a fancy waffle place with some friends. The manager came out of the back and said they were testing new flavors of whipped cream for future waffles and asked if we'd like to participate since they didn't have many staff.

We all got to try lots of fun infused whipped creams. It was a good time.”

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