Join the Fun!

SubtleRapscallion , Azra Tuba Demir / pexels Report

Improbable Doesn’t Mean Impossible: 35 Unlikely Events People Experienced I was on vacation in Buenos Aires, Argentina and noticed a very distinctive looking couple while eating in a restaurant (think wild hair, tattoos and very unique wardrobe). Thought they looked pretty cool and didn’t think much of it again after that.

Fast forward 7 years and I’m in a Costa coffee in Edinburgh, Scotland…SAME couple is drinking coffee at the table next to me. I couldn’t leave without checking, so I introduced myself, told them my story and turns out they live in Buenos Aires and were on vacation in Scotland. 7 years and a half a world away and we bump into each other is crazy!

Final score:

223points

POST

Kathy 5 months ago (edited)

I have a lousy memory for names, dates, places, but if I have ever seen a face even once, I will remember that I met that person somewhere, sometime. So, I'm walking down a street in a city in Israel, an elderly couple ask me for directions to some place. While I'm explaining to them how to get there, I look at the woman and say, "I've met you before, somewhere!" She says, "I don't think so..." Turns out they're from Cambridge Massachusetts, I tell them I'm from Cambridge England, she mentions that she visited near there once to see the famous Kew Gardens. I mention that I went there once, as a small child, many years ago. She looks at me again, takes out her purse and pulls out a faded photo of the long-dead friend that she had visited Kew Gardens with that one time, guess whose standing next to them in the photo: seven-year-old me! Because it was my Mum who they asked to photograph them as a keepsake from the visit, and I stood next to them and got snapped in the picture as well! Freaky!

5points

Magnetickiwi1 , cottonbro studio / pexels Report

Improbable Doesn’t Mean Impossible: 35 Unlikely Events People Experienced Back in the early 2000s I bought something off the equivalent of Craigslist in my country. I text messaged the seller letting him know I was travelling to his city of more than a million people for work the following Tuesday and I'd arrange to pick it up then. The seller said this was fine.

On Tuesday morning I texted the seller asking what the pickup address was so I could schedule a pick up time. They didn't get back to me all day so after I had finished my business I started driving back home to my city. I was driving on the highway and had a phone call come through. I looked at the number and didn't recognise it so I dismissed the call. After a few minutes I realised it might be the seller so I pulled off at the next exit and drove down a couple of streets to find somewhere quiet to park and call them back.

I found a good spot, pulled over and gave the number a call back. Sure enough it was the seller and they had the item with them at work ready for me to pick up. I pulled out a paper map so I could figure out where I was in relation to them and an ETA (this was before Google maps and GPS units). They gave me their address which I found on the map. Then I looked around the car to figure out where I was. I couldn't believe it. In this city of over a million people, with no prior information of the sellers work address, I was literally parked directly across the road from them.

Final score:

200points

POST

Linda R 6 months ago

Same thing happened to me back in the mid-90's when I was job hunting in a new area we had just moved to. The ad only had the name of the business and a phone number, so I pulled into a small strip mall to use the payphone. After I dialed the number, I looked up and saw the business was right next to me. I got the job, too.

55points

Improbable Doesn’t Mean Impossible: 35 Unlikely Events People Experienced Was helping my dad spread new soil on our front yard and plant new grass seeds. After spreading the seeds, my dad said that he should have bought hay to cover the grass seeds so the birds don't eat them. Just after he said this a large speeding truck passed that was carrying bricks of hay and several flew off the truck and tumbled into our yard.

Artai55a , Vlad Chețan / pexels Report

Final score:

189points

POST

Libstak 6 months ago

Ask and ye shall receive...

91points

nickbarbanera1 , Анастасия Триббиани / pexels Report

Improbable Doesn’t Mean Impossible: 35 Unlikely Events People Experienced Tbh being alive. I was born 26 weeks one of triplets (the only one to survive). My mother said doctors would literally come into the hospital room daily saying either (i would die soon, or if stayed alive wouldn’t walk, have brain damage etc). I was in an incubator for quite awhile as soon as i came out. I came home my original due date. Long story short through surgeries, therapy etc i’m now 25…with mild CP and work with adults with disabilities.

Final score:

187points

POST

Pandemonium 6 months ago

Thank you for your meaningful work!

58points

Improbable Doesn’t Mean Impossible: 35 Unlikely Events People Experienced When I was 8, my dad took a picture of me in a private jet at an air show.

16 years later, I was hired to fly a private jet. At some point, my boss saw the photo from when I was 8 in Facebook and said, “What were you doing in our jet?”

It had been dramatically repainted, but I had been hired to fly the same jet that my dad took a photo of me in.

Western-Sky88 , Pixabay / pexels Report

Final score:

181points

POST

Nina 6 months ago

Cool!

34points

Low-Stick6746 , Anna Shvets / pexels Report

Improbable Doesn’t Mean Impossible: 35 Unlikely Events People Experienced I was a cashier and a customer coughed on me. I felt the spittle on my face. Of course I got sick. I wound up in the ER with breathing difficulties. They said I had sepsis and if I had waited less than a day to come in I probably would’ve died from it. They did chest imaging and diagnosed me with pneumonia. But they also discovered a 6cm tumor on my spleen that turned out to be an ultra rare cancer that only a few hundred people worldwide have been diagnosed with. I had zero symptoms. No weight loss, zero pain. Absolutely no clue I had huge tumor in my abdomen. The type of cancer I had is caused by a virus. So the pneumonia virus led to a cancer diagnosis caused by a virus.

Final score:

171points

POST

Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My! 6 months ago

When I was in prison, I started having continence issues. I was embarrassed and ashamed. For me, this was room 101. I had no idea medication could fix the issue, so I dealt with it as best I could. Due to prison regulations, there were times when I wasn't immediately allowed to change or shower, and I wasn't always allowed extra laundry time to wash wet bedding and clothes. I'd tie the wet stuff in a plastic bag until I was allowed to wash it. Most of my roommates were understanding, but one started giving me hell. She told people I was so lazy I wouldn't bother to go to the bathroom. At the time, the least urge caused me to go so quickly that I didn't have time to get up. My roommate told people I'd deliberately wet, and refuse to clean up. If the unit guard refused to give me a wash time, there wasn't anything I could do until the next shift. If it wasn't a time of day we weren't allowed free movement, the guard might say no to my request for a shower. My roommate escalated the situation to the point where I felt unsafe. During the process of coming to terms with the issue, one staff member took me under her wing to the point of getting me in the clinic to see one of the doctors that actually gave a damn. She prescribed medication that takes care of the issue, and found out I have a fallen bladder. While trying to determine the cause of my incontinence, the doctor did an ultrasound on my bladder, discovering my uterine cancer. Had my roommate not been so horrible, the cancer would never have been discovered in time. She saved my life.

138points

CaptnandMaryann , Forest and Kim Starr / flickr Report

Improbable Doesn’t Mean Impossible: 35 Unlikely Events People Experienced Had a summer job looking for Uranium in the NWT of Canada. The job entailed walking through the woods while using a gamma ray detector to find boulders having Uranium. The theory was if you found a boulder that was "hot" one could traced it back to where it originated and maybe a Uranium mine is found.

One day during a typical survey I found a piece of moss that made the detector absolutely go nuts but no boulder.

Narrowed it down to a piece of moss no bigger than my pinkie finger nail. So I bagged it and flagged the location and went back to camp. Sample was sent to Canada's Atomic Commission to find out that it was a fleck of radioactive isotope from the Russian Kosmos satellite that hit the eatth near Baker Lake NWT Canada in 1977.

The odds of finding this given the huge area really was statistically improbable.

Final score:

170points

POST

María Hermida 6 months ago

OP was curious enough and careful enough to pay attention to the anomaly. Other people would have continued walking because they have no curiosity and just live in autopilot.

42points

BaulsJ0hns0n86 , FBO Media / pexels Report

Improbable Doesn’t Mean Impossible: 35 Unlikely Events People Experienced Driving down a backroad in the middle of nowhere.

Get a flat tire.

Guy walks out of the bush with his dog.

Helps me out, asks for a ride back to town.

Start talking. Turns out we know some of the same people. Turns out dude was a distant cousin.

Final score:

159points

POST

Orang lord 6 months ago

Was that guy just waiting for someone to get a flat tire?

41points

#10

Improbable Doesn’t Mean Impossible: 35 Unlikely Events People Experienced Lost my class ring outside of school. About a year later I went to a beach about an hour away (I rarely went there as others are much closer). Was washing my hands in the restroom and sitting on the side of the sink was a ring that looked like mine. I checked the name inside, it read *ArcticGurl* 🤯

ArcticGurl , Julianna / pexels Report

Final score:

144points

POST

Libstak 6 months ago

Mum lost her engagement ring, she had no clue where to start looking. We turned the house upside down, nope. At least 15 years later mumand dad sold the house. As part of the moving out and clean up she decided to grab any ripe vegetables and weed the vegetable garden...her ring popped out of the soil as she pulled up a weed. One more week and it would have been lost forever.

90points

Ok-Bus1716 , Karolina Grabowska / pexels Report

#11

Improbable Doesn’t Mean Impossible: 35 Unlikely Events People Experienced In college a couple of my buddies wanted to go see a dollar movie. Stopped at a gas station to put a few dollars in (I was hella broke) and my buddy offered to buy me a Dr Pepper. I looked down, half in embarrassment/half in pondering) and I saw a $50 bill laying in a box of candy bars and I said 'nah I'll pay for yours.' Filled my tank up, bought a few sodas and some candy and we went on our way.

After the movie they were hungry so we stopped at a Perkins. I didn't quite have enough to get an appetizer so I just planned on mooching some fries. Waitress came out and said 'the guy over there ordered this but decided he didn't want it. Anyone here want it?' I raised my hand. So I got to eat for free.

Got back to school. Sat down to start marking my finals, on a white board, for the upcoming week and started freaking out. Per my syllabus, I had a final the next day and hadn't studied at all. Did my best to cram but was exhausted the following morning. Walked in to class and sat down. Professor's wife walked in, about 10 minutes after class was supposed to start and said he was sick, class was cancelled and we'd take the final the following week.

Was a helluva 24 hour period for me.

Definitely would have purchased a lottery ticket if we had them at the time but alas...

Final score:

136points

POST

SCamp 6 months ago

I think you used up all your luck anyway

40points

lologblamme , Ketut Subiyanto / pexels Report

#12

Improbable Doesn’t Mean Impossible: 35 Unlikely Events People Experienced I am from Denmark.
Traveled to the US.
Doing a roadtrip on the west Coast.
Going to San Diego, finding a bar in gaslight district.
At the table next to me sits a girl from my class from elementary/primary school.
My mind refused to believe it. I simply thought I saw her doubledgaenger until she also recognized me.

Same country, same state, same city, same street, same bar, at the next table at the exact same moment l. It is still something than messes with me.

Final score:

134points

POST

FoxEcoLimaIndiaCharlieIndiAlfa 6 months ago

Doublegaenger...🤣 we should make this the official word to replace doppelganger. All in favor?

53points

i_know_tofu , Artyom Kulakov / pexels Report

#13

Improbable Doesn’t Mean Impossible: 35 Unlikely Events People Experienced Drove my car off a cliff (easily 60 degree angled embankment) on a gnarly logging road, and it careened 60-70 feet down into a gully. The car bounced between trees all the way down, in a narrow alley of no trees. The roof caved in, the driver's door was crushed, the passenger side of the hood was demolished...and I didn't have a scratch. That narrow alley without trees meant none came through the windshield to impale me or crush me. It existed because a young woman had driven her van off the road the week before in the exact same spot, clearing the trees. She did not survive.

Final score:

129points

POST

FoxEcoLimaIndiaCharlieIndiAlfa 6 months ago

Wow, things like this always amaze me and make me wonder about guardian angels. I've seen car accidents that look minor but yet there was a fatality. Also the other way around, like OP where the car is completely effed up but the passengers walk away with minimal injuries. I hope where ever these accidents happened, that proper safeguarding has been implemented, to try and prevent any more major accidents, off that cliff.

38points

PM_Me_Your_Vagina1 , Jack Sparrow / pexels Report

#14

Improbable Doesn’t Mean Impossible: 35 Unlikely Events People Experienced Picking the slowest checkout lane in the grocery store every single time for the last 15 or so years.

Final score:

118points

POST

SirWriteALot 6 months ago

Hahaa :-) Same!

34points

lokeilou , Jonathan Borba / pexels Report

#15

Improbable Doesn’t Mean Impossible: 35 Unlikely Events People Experienced All three of my children were born on one of their great grandparents birthdays.

Final score:

111points

POST

FoxEcoLimaIndiaCharlieIndiAlfa 6 months ago

I'm the oldest of 3 girls and we were all born on a holiday. I was born om Labor day, my middle sister was born on Memorial Day and the youngest was born on my parents first date anniversary. I know the youngest wasn't born on an actual holiday, but kinda to us. Lol

34points

KailuaCarpenter96734 , cottonbro studio / pexels Report

#16

Improbable Doesn’t Mean Impossible: 35 Unlikely Events People Experienced My mother donated my older sister‘s handmade high school pottery vase to our churches thrift store in Southern California before we move to Hawaii. Six years later, my mother sees it for sale in a for-profit thrift store called savers on Oahu. She bought it and put it back on our shelf. We Still could see my sister’s name carved underneath.

Final score:

106points

POST

Tamra 6 months ago

Why would she donate it in the first place?

27points

HoldComprehensive808 , Ron Lach / pexels Report

#17

Improbable Doesn’t Mean Impossible: 35 Unlikely Events People Experienced I lost my driver's license on a work trip in a different state than where I was living. Moved from the address and apartment on my driver's license. 3 years later moved back to the same apartment complex different apartment and in the mail room throwing all my junk mail in the large trash can in said room. Saw the envelope on top in the trash can had my name on it but different address. Opened it and my lost driver's license from 3 years ago nothing else in the envelope.

Final score:

102points

POST

Colt Winkler 6 months ago

good or creepy stalker people. you choose

10points

#18

Improbable Doesn’t Mean Impossible: 35 Unlikely Events People Experienced I had twins whose combined weight was 11 lbs, 15oz at birth (5lb 4oz +6lb 11oz). Then, I had a singleton that weighed 11lb 15oz. Evidently, my uterus has a capacity, and it’s one oz less than 12lbs.

Super_Be , Tom Fisk / pexels Report

Final score:

97points

POST

BoredPossum 6 months ago

How much is that in bananas?

39points

#19

Improbable Doesn’t Mean Impossible: 35 Unlikely Events People Experienced Took us 27 hours to drive from Houston to Dallas, which is normally a 3.5 hour drive. Everything, and I mean everything that could go wrong did go wrong. It's a story I will tell my grandchildren.

Edit: I was lazy and didn't want to type it all...but here's a summary...our new car broke down an hour into the drive because we put too much stress on the engine too soon, drove back to Houston to get another car, started again, that car broke down 1.5 hours later. Had to get it towed to some sketchy roadside shop, got it fixed, got on the road again, stopped to get gas, our dog escaped the car and was running around in the pitch black wilderness, took forever for local PD and us to find her, started again, got pulled over because my boyfriend was swerving (he wasn't drunk, he was exhausted...), got on the road again, some crazy fog rolled in and everyone had to pull off the side of the road because it wasn't safe to drive, while we were pulled off to wait for fog to pass, an 18 wheeler slammed into the back of us and totaled the car...I could go on and on and on...we finally made it into Dallas 27 hours later, slept through our event that we even went for...and had to rent a car to get back home...It's been 10 years and we STILL laugh about that god forsaken trip to Dallas. We have never visited Dallas again...f**k that.

GadgetQueen , nappy / pexels Report

Final score:

96points

POST

FoxEcoLimaIndiaCharlieIndiAlfa 6 months ago

Talk about Murphy's law, on steroids.

42points

Dutch Swimmer Goes Viral For Super Revealing Trunks During 2024 Olympics: “Is This Legal?”

See Also on Bored Panda

Thrill-Seeking Diver Jumps Down Extreme Waterslide, Ignoring The Strict Ban For Women

#20

Improbable Doesn’t Mean Impossible: 35 Unlikely Events People Experienced My first time going to the horse track, I didn’t know what I was doing and was just betting similarly to my bf (same type of bet, but picked my own horses). 3rd race in I was betting a box superfecta for $0.50, (that’s where you pick 4 horses, and the “box” parts means the order they finish doesn’t matter as long as they’re 1-4) so a $12 dollar total. I got up to the betting window and one of the horses I had planned to pick was a scratch so I
just randomly picked a horse cause I liked the name. My 4 horses came in 1st-4th and I won ~$3700.

Waterproofbooks , Absolute Charm Absolute Charm / pexels Report

Final score:

93points

POST

Squiffle Noses 6 months ago

I think it was the 1993 Grand national, in UK, that 2nd 3rd and 4th places all had 'Blue' in their name. (It's a big race, with lots of horses, and you could place bet for 2nd 3rd and 4th place... and I would have done so too, if i hadn't been short on time before my Logic exam! I still made a quick place only bet on one of them and won over $300 though!)

17points

OMEGA__AS_FUCK , Pavel Danilyuk / pexels Report

#21

Improbable Doesn’t Mean Impossible: 35 Unlikely Events People Experienced Not me but I knew a woman whose husband died of a rare form of brain cancer in his 30’s. She eventually moves on, meets a new guy, remarries….and he dies of another rare kind of brain cancer before he’s 50. I can’t even imagine how that might f**k someone up. Losing two spouses to brain cancer like that, and so young.

Final score:

92points

POST

Blue Morpho Butterfly 5 months ago

Thats honestly terrible 😢 I hope she's OK

13points

Woman Put A Water Fountain With A Camera In Her Yard, Here Are 24 Photos Of Regular Visitors (New Pics)

See Also on Bored Panda

“Ma’am I Live Here”: Woman Refuses To Back Out Of Driveway, Learns A Lesson The Hard Way

#22

Improbable Doesn’t Mean Impossible: 35 Unlikely Events People Experienced I was sitting on a park bench leaning backwards, stretching, and feeling the grass on the elevated land behind me. I randomly picked a plant. Person I was with: "you got a 4 leaf clover!", and I was like "oh they must all be like that". I assumed it was some random plant cluster that all looked like 4 leaf clovers and I was wrong, I totally blindly backwards grabbed a 4 leaf clover on a random park bench.

OfficialAbsoluteUnit , Beyzaa Yurtkuran / pexels Report

Final score:

86points

POST

Karina 6 months ago

Imagine the Powers of the Universe aligning to make you the luckiest person alive, and then you get an intensive thought to "grab something" and all your luck goes into that moment instead 🍀

31points

h2opolodude4 , RDNE Stock project / pexels Report

#23

Improbable Doesn’t Mean Impossible: 35 Unlikely Events People Experienced I was going through a rough patch, and on Valentine's Day in 2002 I was at work and we ordered Chinese takeout. My fortune cookie had an inspiring saying in it, so I kept the little slip of paper.

Exactly 10 years later, I had made a major, life altering decision and was second guessing myself. I was also 1500 miles away from home, alone, on Valentine's Day, sitting in a Chinese restaurant. I got the exact same fortune in the cookie at the end of the meal.

I've got both little slips of paper together in an envelope. One of the more interesting things I own.

Final score:

86points

POST

Ghostshaper 5 months ago

"This is going to be your year." The year was 2020

1point

50 Of The Most Incredible Shots That Were Submitted To The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards

See Also on Bored Panda

French Diver’s “Jewels” In Tight Swimming Trunks Become Talk Of The Town At Olympics

#24

Improbable Doesn’t Mean Impossible: 35 Unlikely Events People Experienced I transferred within the post office to a new facility after 10 years. My first night working there I opened a tray of mail that contained only one letter. It was a birthday card to a person with the same name as a guy who had been my best friend in college 10 years prior. I hadn’t spoken to him in nearly a decade, and I remember wondering if it was the same person (somewhat common name in my area). I got back to work, and a few hours later the letter carriers started arriving to start their shifts. I said something to another clerk and a letter carrier recognized me, and it turns out it was the friend from college. He had become a letter carrier 8 years prior to that day. I asked if he had a birthday coming up and he said it was his birthday that day.

PostalMike , Tima Miroshnichenko / pexels Report

Final score:

80points

POST

Heyday 5 months ago

Crazy Wow!

4points

Bigkahunafishfry , Jonathan Cutrer / flickr Report

#25

Improbable Doesn’t Mean Impossible: 35 Unlikely Events People Experienced Won $50 from a scratch-off, cashed it out, and was literally mugged outside of the store. First time I ever bought a scratch-off & first time I was ever mugged. Needless to say I never bought another one.

Final score:

75points

POST

Libstak 6 months ago

That sux

15points

Woman Moves Out Of Parents' Home After They Asked Her To Give Her Space To Brother, They Freak Out

See Also on Bored Panda

Mom Leaves $250k Inheritance To Son, Throws A Fit When Daughter Stops Looking After Her

#26

Improbable Doesn’t Mean Impossible: 35 Unlikely Events People Experienced I’m a dude in his mid-40’s. A few years ago, I was running on a trail at a national park near where I lived at the time, and suddenly heard some hiker randomly yell out “hey u/rabiesinremission!” I looked up and it was one of my buds from high school, whom I hadn’t seen in two decades. We were 760 miles from our hometown and I was floored by the infinitesimally minute probability of just bumping into this guy, in the woods, halfway across the United States from where we grew up. One of the nicest conversations I’ve ever had thanks to the unlikeliest coincidence.

RabiesInRemission , Ketut Subiyanto / pexels Report

Final score:

74points

POST

Brian Hawley 6 months ago

I once visited Hong Kong, walked around a corner and bumped into my brother. I had no idea he was visiting too.

57points

Danimation65 , RDNE Stock project / pexels Report

#27

Improbable Doesn’t Mean Impossible: 35 Unlikely Events People Experienced Was stationed with a guy in Japan who was originally from Sierra Leone.

Transferred to another base in DC. Lived in a condo complex in Northern VA.

One of my neighbors was a cousin of the guy I was stationed with in Japan.

Final score:

70points

POST

Karen Krause 6 months ago

My sister was in Japan because her ex was stationed there. Seven years later, she gets into a car accident in the States, the x-ray technician says, "I know you!" She said, "No, you don't!" It turns out the technician who x-rayed her in the States, remembered x-raying her toe in Japan. "It was the smile!"

35points

Woman Refuses To Chip In For Babysitting Because She Doesn’t Even Have Kids, Asks If She’s A Jerk

See Also on Bored Panda

“This Breaks My Heart”: People Stunned—And Angry—After Woman Buys Lost Luggage From Airport

#28

Improbable Doesn’t Mean Impossible: 35 Unlikely Events People Experienced Met a guy in Ireland who raved about a restaurant a few blocks away from where I live, over 4000 miles away

MissHibernia , Vincent M.A. Janssen / pexels Report

Final score:

70points

POST

Bexxxx 5 months ago

I (🇨🇦, from a very remote and rural northern area) was in Bangkok with a friend. We stopped in a 711 to grab some snacks, and were chatting about how much bigger and busier Bangkok is than our tiny hometown. A lady in line in front of us with the same accent as us turned around and said “you think you know small towns? I’m from _____, Canada. Bet you haven’t even heard of it.” Turned out it was the next nearest village to our tiny town. Most people have never heard of it. There’s only like 3,000 people in a more than 1000-square-kilometre area around us so it was a pretty cool coincidence!

23points

#29

I was walking my dog around the neighborhood, our usual evening walks however it leads to the main road and my bf said no lets go the other way today. I was like ok sure, then suddenly as we are crossing the street a speeding car full of teenagers loses control and crashes onto were we could have been. Divine intervention.. it’s still crazy to think about.

Icy-Establishment370 Report

Final score:

69points

POST

Bexxxx 5 months ago

I hope everyone was ok!

10points

A-Aron0118999 , cottonbro studio / pexels Report

#30

Improbable Doesn’t Mean Impossible: 35 Unlikely Events People Experienced After university, I went on a trip to Europe. On my last night before flying home, I went down to the lobby of my hostel to get an alarm clock. At that exact moment, a friend of mine walked into the lobby. Neither of us had mentioned to each other that we were going to Europe that summer. But we ended up in the same city, staying at the same hostel, and entering the lobby in the same window of minutes.

Final score:

68points

POST

Mark Rudolph 6 months ago

I used to teach college-level German in Oregon. One summer I was traveling in Germany with my girlfriend. While we were eating in a pizza restaurant in Heidelberg, one of my former students unexpectedly came up to me. Neither of us knew the other was going to be in Germany. And the topper is that she didn't actually see me in the restaurant; she heard and recognized my voice while walking past!

26points

"I Didn't Start The Dryer": Karen Gets Taught A Lesson After Throwing Out Neighbor's Wet Clothes

See Also on Bored Panda

College Student Does Exactly As Told After Roommates Demand They Keep Their Stuff In Their Room

#31

Improbable Doesn’t Mean Impossible: 35 Unlikely Events People Experienced My one and only time hitchhiking.

It was in college. The semester was over, so for the fun of it, I thought I'd try hitchhiking home. This was a long time ago, in both a time and a part of my country where hitchhiking was safe.

I get picked up two times, then let off just outside of a mid-sized town in the middle of my province (in Canada). I'm like 18, and this guy in his 40s, heavyset, dressed like a train driver picks me up.

We're driving for about 20 minutes. Driver looks like he doesn't talk much.

Suddenly he asks me, "What's your name?"

I say, "AAAAA BBBB".

He turns his head and stares at me.

"MY name is AAAAA BBBB!!"

Well, we're off. I knew I had distant relatives from that part of the province, so we both start rattling off names of family members trying to figure out if we are related, and how. We talked nonstop for two hours.

He lets me out just outside the next town, we wave goodbye. Never saw him again.

coffeeinvenice , Anastasia Shuraeva / pexels Report

Final score:

66points

POST

Karina 6 months ago

And now he knows aaaalll about you and your family. Please be avare of bad players out there, and never give your real name.

20points

Darius S. (he/him) cis/grey 5 months ago

AAAAA BBBB

8points

P Peitsch 6 months ago

Living in fear is not fun ....

4points

SCamp 6 months ago

Read that literally and for a few moments I’m like AAAAA BBBB? 🤔

6points

Dexter's Lab Fan 5 months ago

same at first, then I was like, Oh, it's to conceal their identity

1point

Paul Gerrard 5 months ago

Never hitchhike. Ivan Milat was a friendly aussie guy who who pick up hikers and murder them. All were missing tourists. One final victim ran and was shot at but not killed or found. Police Then took the missing person issues more seriously and found his victims in a nearby forest.

1point

Puppy Dancing! 5 months ago (edited)

Common on the Canadian prairies, I am always running into someone with a family name who is distantly related to me, since the ancestor moved to the prairies in 1800s and had 20 kids. I am lucky to have a different name, but there are thousands of people from my family name, hundreds with my offshoot name.

1point

Guy Divorced 3 Years Ago Drops Off 3 Y.O. With His Ex-Wife Completely Out Of The Blue

See Also on Bored Panda

“All Three Shot Out Pink”: Triplets' Baby Shower Turns Sour, Pregnant Wife Wants A Divorce

#32

Improbable Doesn’t Mean Impossible: 35 Unlikely Events People Experienced Watched my wife get struck by lightning. We were dating at the time.

She had a summer life-guard job, but a thunderstorm came up. Drove over to pick her up. Watched the last kid and their mom drive off. She was starting to lock the pool gate when lightning struck her, the gate, and the pool pump house. She flew backwards 10 feet without even touching the ground and landed on some grass. I got out of the car, ran over, and helped her up. She was shaking all over, jittering as she walked to the car.

I saw the whole thing from inside the car, including the flash and (at that distance) instantaneous "crack" (not a "boom", a "crack"). There were loud noises and sparks coming out of the pump house, so I threw the breakers outside to off, then locked the pool up and drove her home. She shook like that for 10 minutes non-stop.

TheScarletPimple , Pixabay / pexels Report

Final score:

66points

POST

Libstak 6 months ago

She belonged in the ER not home?

148points

#33

Improbable Doesn’t Mean Impossible: 35 Unlikely Events People Experienced Geoguessr dropped me outside of my house

lilstarzz , suLcideee / reddit Report

Final score:

58points

POST

Robert Trebor 6 months ago

In Oz, the game would drop the house on you.

24points

PotatoFrites , Daian Gan / pexels Report

#34

Improbable Doesn’t Mean Impossible: 35 Unlikely Events People Experienced I was at a Brooklyn art fair and some painting caught my eye. I looked closer, and it was a portrait of the inside of a coffee house I used to study at in college—in Minneapolis.

Crazy!

Final score:

52points

POST

_physically_insane_(he/him) 6 months ago

I’m not from the US, how far away is Minneapolis from Brooklyn?

6points

#35

Improbable Doesn’t Mean Impossible: 35 Unlikely Events People Experienced I ran into a semi that ran a stop sign, doing 50kph, no airbags went off in a 2009 Explorer... and walked away.

The police officer that responded was quite shocked that I was walking around taking pics (in high vis clothing), he was expecting to be calling for the Jaws to get me out. Should have taken him up on the offer to be transported to hospital to be checked out, ended up tearing my shoulder out the back of the socket.

vampyrewolf , Mike Bird / pexels Report

Final score:

51points

POST

BoredPossum 6 months ago

As if a great white shark would help.

53points

Note: this post originally had 55 images. It’s been shortened to the top 35 images based on user votes.

Howdy, I'm Adelaide! I'm originally from Texas, but after graduating from university with an acting degree, I relocated to sunny Los Angeles for a while. I then got a serious bite from the travel bug and found myself moving to Sweden and England before settling in Lithuania about two years ago. I'm passionate about animal welfare, sustainability and eating delicious food. But as you can see, I cover a wide range of topics including drama, internet trends and hilarious memes. I can easily be won over with a Seinfeld reference, vegan pastry or glass of fresh cold brew. And during my free time, I can usually be seen strolling through a park, playing tennis or baking something tasty.

Read less »

I'm a visual editor here at Bored Panda and I enjoy a good laugh. My work ranges from serious topics related to toxic work environments and relationship difficulties to humorous articles about online shopping fails and introvert memes. When I'm not at my work desk, checking if every single pixel is in the right place, I usually spend my free time playing board games, taking pictures, and watching documentaries

Read less »

What do you think ?

POST

EvilNob 6 months ago

Once I was hit by a fire truck, then a war elephant and right after by an ufo. After that the operator stopped the carousel and told me that I should get the f*ck down if I'm that drunk.

22points

Kristie French 6 months ago

When I was 10 or so, we moved from a small city to a very small (6x6 blocks small) town. In this small town I met and became friends with two girls that had the same first name, spelled the same, same middle name and same birthdate. One of them was a year older, and the other was two years older. Didn’t think about much as a kid, but seems very odd to think about now.

9points

J Howard 6 months ago

I’ll try to make this short. When and my best friend were younger we were OBSESSED with a this HUGE celebrity. We never thought we’d meet her in a million years, cuz… she was/is a huge celebrity. On day we found out she was gonna be in our city and lost our s**t! So, our local station was giving out passage for meet and greet with her, but you had to win them. Me and my friend were on the phone EVERY DAY, to meet her. It comes down to the last day to win the passes, but this time you had to answer a trivia question to win. I get through because I was the 9th caller. I’m like “piece of cake” because I know every thing about this celebrity! The question isn’t about the celebrity and I lost. I started sobbing, but they wouldn’t budge so we decide to go to the radio station just to catch a glimpse. We’re outside waiting for her to come back down, and my friends cell phone rang. It was my mom. She goes “Huge Celeb just called here for you!” We got to go upstairs to meet her!

5points

J Howard 6 months ago (edited)

Turns out while I was sobbing on the radio, she had just gotten off her flight snd while in her limo.was listening to the station. She got to the station asked about meeting me, and called my house while I was already downstairs in the parking area. Can’t make this s**t up!

7points

D. FoxGaming 5 months ago

Met a guy through online dating and really hit it off. We had never met before, but we figured out that we had gone to the same drag show and made note of each other previously. The more amazing part is that we spoke on the phine, sometime multiple times a day, for work for over a year. He was one of my favorite contractors, now we're getting married this summer.

4points

brittany 5 months ago

when i was 19 i was headed to school (college) in the rain. i was driving slow but apparently not slow enough. my breaks locked up on the wet road, i slid, hit the car in front of me and then did a 90 degree turn somehow and hit the ditch. broke my leg and had to stay in hospital. my bio mom went to get my things out of the car after i was home. she said she walked around the tow yard with my aunt for 45 minutes without seeing my car. she passed one that was wrecked so bad she turned to my aunt and said "the people in it probably didnt make it. im glad that wasnt her car." they decided to give up after a while and leave. as she was coming up to the gate, she saw my personalized plate on the back of a car and went to the front to see why she hadnt recognized it. turns out the car that was so wrecked she didnt think anyone survived the crash was my car. it was so bad she didnt recognize it.

3points

Xip Dizc 6 months ago

Not me but two guys I worked with in Vancouver. One was former US military the other Canadian forces. Both left and reenlisted with their respective forces. Sometime later US is eating in a mess tent when he sees a guy from CA staring at him. US goes over to CA to see what his deal is and they realize they know each other. Half a world a way in Kandahar.

3points

ॐBoyGanesh 6 months ago

The most statistically impossible thing that’s ever happened to me was surviving a plane crash when I was 17. I flew home from the crash location & still fly regularly. The most interesting, tho, is traveling to Europe from San Francisco in 1998 to follow a band tour. In Prague I ran into my brother who was living in Australia & we hadn’t discussed our travel plans. I met several people on trains & in cities. One became my next door neighbor in Hawaii in 2003. I met another one randomly at a flower market in Bangkok. In total, I’ve run into 11 people from this tour that I hadn’t kept in touch with, in other places in the world. Now I know we were meant to be in each others lives.

2points

Cat Chat 5 months ago

After my mom remarried we moved out of state, and a year later moved to another. My grandparents on my father's side had no idea (they had gone no contact to help him when he was hiding from the government to avoid child support). Years later, we found out they had vacationed to the 2nd city we moved to at was at the same beach at the same time we were for a holiday.

1point

Livingwithcfs 5 months ago

Had a foreign student bored with us, she was showing photos of her trip around our country and in the background of one my son was walking past as clear as day. He'd been on a school trip at gge same time ... was a very odd sensation

0points

Wheeskers 5 months ago

When I was a kid we lived overseas. I had a friend who was a princess or something, I lived in the compound she would often visit and as we were the only children, we talked and played together, we were about 10-11. One day she invited me for lunch and it was a big occasion! A whole goat and rice with veg and such piled high! The servents served and I was amazed they treated her like a princess! So the next week mom invited her for lunch at our house. We had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and chips and helped mom clean up. My friend really enjoyed helping. Sometime later we moved and I never saw her again. So, about 15 years later I'm in Texas working on a golf course and I meet a couple who live on the course. We start talking about their travels and tell me they just got back from a wedding and the bride was a beautiful princess who told them of a charming afternoon as a child where she had pb and j sandwiches and got to help clean up. She said it was one of her favorite memories

0points

Kris 4184 5 months ago

I was born in Buffalo New York and moved away when I was about 7. We lived in various places since then but we always vacationed in Sarasota Florida for Easter every year. One day on vacation in Sarasota when I was a sophomore in high school so I was 15 at the time, we were walking around St Armands circle, it's a shopping area mostly for tourists. All of a sudden I hear somebody yell my mom's name. I turned around, and it was my best friend from buffalo. She lived down the street from me and we played all the time together. I've always remembered her and thought I would never see her again. We spent the rest of vacation figuring out ways to hang out with each other, and after that I never saw her again, even after social media. This was back in the early 2000s. I'm sure I could find her on social media but I actually don't really do a whole lot of social media, but figured I'd post this one in the comments for everyone's enjoyment.

0points

Nonya Business 5 months ago

When I was 24 I was the pedestrian in a bus vs. pedestrian collision. I have a news alert set up for my last name, for the maybe 50 people world-wide by this name. I got an alert for the 20-something bike in a bus vs. bicycle collision. I am not convinced correlation equals causation.

0points

distant_echo 5 months ago

This will get hidden but here's mine. I have a favorite local artist in Atlanta, GA and several of her prints are on on my walls. I was looking at an IG post from my former hairdresser who lives in Mississippi. The photo was of a her in a tattoo shop and on the wall was one of the artists prints.

0points

Bloobee bloobee bloo bloo bloo 5 months ago

Several years ago I moved from MI to TX. I frequently come across other people from MI but hardly anyone says they’re from near where I lived. One day my kid was flying home as an unaccompanied minor so I was waiting by the gate for the plane to take off. In the next row of seats a woman started talking to me. She asked what city I was from and I told her. She said “me too”. I wasn’t expecting that reply so I barely registered that she said that. As we continued to talk she started on about the schools. The same schools my kids went to. Turns out if I was still in MI we would’ve lived near each other and our kids would’ve went to school together. I was really taken aback by that. It it was nice to to talk about my hometown that I dearly miss

0points

Bloobee bloobee bloo bloo bloo 5 months ago

An old family friend lost her son to violence. She was very secretive about what happened so me and my sister were online to see if we could find any info. She went to some crime map website and just entered our zip code. The map opened and our house was pinned for the starting point

0points

Optimyst 5 months ago

My first year in school, I was in the same class as 2 others with the same name as me. I also shared my middle and first initial of last name with one of the girls who also had a brother with the same name as my brother. Speaking of, my parents accidentally named my siblings and I the most popular name of the year we were each born. Unrelated; a close friend of mine traveled one school holidays and while they were at the Dubai airport for a stopover they met our PE teacher. Considering that we're from NZ I thought that was pretty insane. So many synchronisities happen everyday, I love noticing them :)

0points

FaceTime Audio 5 months ago

I visited Japan and saw an old childhood friend that I hadn't had any contact with in years. I was on a very busy street in Harajuku, Tokyo, just crowded with shops and people, and happened to walk into the same little cafe that this old friend had also walked into. Had no idea she was visiting Japan, she didn't know I was, we hadn't spoken in years (and the last time we'd spoken was for about five minutes at a mutual friend's Bat Mitzvah), and we were both thousands of miles from home. On a less exciting note, I once met a different childhood friend in the waiting room of a medical testing center while dropping off a urine sample.

0points

Shannon Matthews 5 months ago

At the pharmacy where I get my prescriptions, I always have small talk with the pharmacy tech. Probably talked to her once every couple of months. Several months later, I took my first trip ever to Door county, where I stopped in at a bakery near the hotel. Imagine my surprise when I heard my name and turned around to see that pharmacy tech! The pharmacy where i always go is 190 miles from where I was when we ran into each other.

0points

POST

EvilNob 6 months ago

Once I was hit by a fire truck, then a war elephant and right after by an ufo. After that the operator stopped the carousel and told me that I should get the f*ck down if I'm that drunk.

22points

Kristie French 6 months ago

9points

J Howard 6 months ago

5points

J Howard 6 months ago (edited)

7points