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.”
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.”
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).”
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.”
People Break Down The Creepiest Research Holes They've Ever Fallen Down | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
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!”
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.”
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.”
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.”
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!”
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.”
Dumb luck can really pay off. My best advice is to follow your gut- you never know where it’s going to lead you.
Redditor Jarvis_Strife wanted to hear about the times the price tag left people a little shook, so they asked:
"What turned out to be A LOT more expensive than you anticipated?"
Used cars.
HOLY MOTHER OF GOD?!
How does a 20 year old car with 250,000 miles on it cost THOUSANDS of dollars?!
MADNESS!
Open Wide
Dentist GIFGiphy"Root canal with a crown. I understand now why a lot of people just get the tooth pulled."
Bitey_the_opossum
"Dental insurance barely covering anything is crazy to me. It’s extremely important to keep teeth healthy, being that an infection can kill you, so you think it would be covered under preventative care, but nope."
Jamie9712
The Usual
"Car repairs."
BlackLesbianTroll
"My usual shop tried to charge us $700 for a coolant flush, engine air filter, battery, and spark plugs. I did all of it but the spark plugs myself in an hour for about $120. I have started doing my own oil changes and it's about 50% cheaper. It's crazy how much places by me charge for cheap and easy stuff."
gaybatman75-6
"The fact that every service ends up being an extra $100+ is frustrating sometimes too 😮💨."
-Tired_Phoenix-
Flooring
"Rugs. Biggest shock when I got my own place."
spnginger3
"One of those things I can’t believe people pay full price for. Those things are like 85% margin if you buy them from retail. Find a local auction website and search through it to find a rug distribution center that usually does quarterly (or so) liquidations at auction. You can get thousands of dollars in rugs for a couple hundred bucks."
FairState612
Window Dressing
"When I bought my first house about 5 years ago it was a new build, as such it had no blinds or curtains etc. I’m a blinds guy so we got a company Dunelm Mill to make us measure blinds for the whole house. It was a couple thousand pounds but we had allowed for it when buying."
"The blinds ended up being a little delayed, not a crazy amount but a bit of a frustrating amount - maybe 2 months or so. They straight up gave them to us (and still fitted them for us) literally for free, and they had given us a temporary more basic blind for our bedroom in the meantime!"
jw205
Why so much?
Angry Organized Crime GIF by Law & OrderGiphy"Kitchen garbage can. Why are they $50+!?"
redheadscorp
"Man mine was double that! Options are apparently either a five-dollar plastic bin with no lid that is borderline useless or a $100+ Ferrari trash can. I just wanted one with a lid and a foot pedal to open it."
BellicosePost
Seriously garbage bag prices have gotten out of control.
There has to be a better way to sell this product.
Get Another Quote
Doors Doorways GIF by Joe MerrellGiphy"I had someone come out to the house and he quoted me almost $20k to replace four doors. I passed."
stoneman9284
"I'd get another quote. I spent $1,500 to have an exterior door replaced last year. I had quotes come in from $1,500 to $7,500 for the same scope of work."
Milehighcarson
In the dirt
"Landscaping. Even by yourself."
alwaysyardening
"There's that saying 'cheap as dirt' but soil/dirt is expensive AF."
notjanelane
"Getting quotes on having some landscaping done and wow... it is insane. Four quotes ranged from $1500 to $8500 for the same work. To the point where I called the $1500 and told them maybe I forgot to include stuff because their quote was so much lower. LOL!"
Miserable_Emu5191
"Landscaper quoted us $20k to re-rock flower beds that already had [some] rock in them. We were getting more of the same rock to just freshen it up. I laughed them out of my house. We did it ourselves... very. very. slowly. And very painfully. Still spent $12k after everything was done."
thatChickinBFE
Chronic
"Being sick/chronic illnesses/becoming disabled. Everyone thinks that having a chronic illness or becoming disabled is a great excuse to sit at home and watch TV all day. The constant doctor visits, surgeries, prescriptions, medical devices, and therapies add up to thousands a year."
"And the more you make the more you spend, when I could still manage to work I’d pay for or buy any type of treatment or device I could that promised some relief. $100 massages every week? Ok fancy chiropractor at $40 a visit, sure. $100 massager tool, ok. I’ve spent tens of thousands just because I got in a car accident that left me with chronic back pain and surgery that left me disabled."
"And these are just the monetary costs, there are plenty of costs that aren’t money. Want to enjoy a day out, well now you need to be on bed rest for a week. It’s constant and unrelenting, and unless a miracle happens it will be the rest of my life."
PinkPrincess1224
Every Week
"Seriously, groceries, it's insane how high the prices have risen on everything."
Ddowns5454
"The really shi**y thing is it keeps going up basically on a weekly basis. I work for a major national grocery store and I hang the sales tags for the grocery department. We apparently have this AI that will see how much money they can milk out of customers."
"It will set a price higher and I think based on how much we well over a specified amount of time the system will lower the price if the changed price cuts too much into their profits. I've seen crazy price jumps of like $2 or $3 because they are just trying to f**k with the prices until they hit that sweet spot."
jpaugh69
Every Breath
life GIFGiphy"Life. Even just sitting in my apartment doing nothing costs $2000 a month."
Eyfordsucks
"For real. I pay 1600 for half of a beat-up duplex. After everything, it's like I have my Xbox and that's it."
Lovetopuck37
Life. What a scam.
Even breathing feels expensive.
