People Share Real Events That Had an Incredible Domino Effect On Their Lives

Sometimes it’s easy to brush off the small things that happen day to day, but even the tiniest event can have huge effects that can change your entire life for the better— or worse!

Whether it was a chance meeting with a stranger or a brush with the law, these people recounted real stories that changed the course of their lives forever.

Saturday Night Fever

I had plans with my girlfriend for Saturday night a couple months back. I received a last minute call from my close buddy, inviting me to drive an hour and a half north of where I live to a party.

I call my girlfriend, explain the situation, she said “Go ahead and have fun, I’m just filling out online job applications anyway, I’ll just finish doing this.

We can just see each other tomorrow on Sunday.”

I was so happy and relieved. I promised her a great night and had a couple gifts to give her as well. Things were going so good with this girl. As the night progressed I text her and ask her how things are going.

She said that her friend was trying to drag her out, I encouraged her to go out, so she did.

I text her a couple hours later, no response. I call her, no answer. The next day, I call her a couple times, no answer. I text her, no response. She completely flaked on our date with no explanation.

I find out a couple days later that she is in a relationship with a guy she had met that night when her friend dragged her out – and I encouraged her. They are now engaged.

Story credit: Reddit /Wu-TangJedi

Take the Next Boat

When my grandmother was a kid she and her family would take a ferry to this beach house island off the coast of Long Island. Well, one year as they were about to get on the ferry they realized that they had forgotten a bowl of potato salad for their island picnic.

So they went back to get it and they had to take the next ferry. Well turns out the ferry they missed sunk and everyone on board passed away. That potato salad saved my grandmother’s life and thus saved mine. Thanks, potato salad.

Story credit: Reddit /Unknown

He Could Have Been a Painter

An amateur Austrian painter in Vienna who was selling tourists water colors of the city decided to up his game and become a professional. He applied twice to the city’s Academy of Fine Arts and got rejected both times.

The Academy’s director encouraged him to switch to architecture which he was also interested in, but his lack of the proper academic training kept him from applying.

Instead he turned to politics and 37 years later at least 50 million people would be gone because they found him unfit to paint fruit or design apartment buildings…

Story credit: Reddit /Cinemaphreak

Lend an Ear

My father passed away and I was depressed because of that. One day at the university I broke into tears and some guy I know approached me, comforted me and told me about a certain group that was supporting him and basically that the experience was changing his life.

The only problem, entering the group was pretty expensive but he said basically, “it’s totally worth it, I promise”. I didn’t give an answer immediately, but I had saved money and was so emotionally low that I really considered accepting his proposal.

Before I could give an answer, the swine flu epidemic emerged and I fell ill, spending around two weeks in bed. The very first day I could go outside, I had contact with my nephew, who happened to have varicella. That was another two or three weeks in bed for me.

After so much time, I lost contact with that guy and never ended up entering the “group”. But several months later, I met a girl, a former classmate. She was unsettled and told me.

Half of our department entered that group and she was leaving, but was scared from the harassment she knew she was going to suffer, since another girl that had left earlier had that happen to her.

The group was a LGAT scam: Posing as a coaching group, they were brainwashing people and ended up destroying several lives. Also, it operated under a pyramidal scheme, so members had to constantly be recruiting people.

The guy who contacted me was one of the most fervent in the bunch, being the only one who stuck around until the very end. Eventually the group’s founder ran away with lots of money.

If I hadn’t fallen ill, it’s very likely I would have accepted the proposal and would be completely poor and crazy by now.

Story credit: Reddit /jugol