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Have you ever thought about certain events of your life in hindsight and thought, "Whoa, the outcome was nearly very different"? Whether for the worse or for the better, a slight change in your choices could've altered your life in a big way.
As you could've guessed already, that's what we're focusing on today - stories about so-called "close calls." To be more specific, about those who could've turned things for the worse. So, without further ado, let's jump in!
More info: Reddit
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#1
Almost accepted a job in January 2020 as a researcher “collecting samples from ICU patients with unknown upper respiratory illnesses”.
RELATED:
#2
Not being able to get pregnant by my ex husband. HUGE bullet dodged. Thankfully.
Huddo's sister 20 hours ago
Same with my best friend's first husband. They had started looking into IVF, then a few months later she is able to finally leave the a*****e d**k. None of us knew he was abusing her until then.
#3
That one guy who wanted to take me to get coffee who, thank god, I didn't go out with. He ended up dating someone I knew and living off her couch for months. He turned out to be such a nightmare, like a really gross roommate she couldn't get rid of. I think she had to have him physically removed from her couch and it was this huge drama. I think her two older brothers, who were these huge bouncer guys, ended up going over there to do the "removing.".
Do you know the saying “things happen for a reason”? It basically entails that everything that occurs, even the negative stuff, isn’t random, but has an underlying meaning or even purpose. It’s usually used to find comfort when facing hardship, to rationalize seemingly arbitrary happenings, or to simply believe in fate, which suggests a larger story where challenges end up leading to better outcomes.
While some people full-heartedly believe this saying, others also take into account that there are some more underlying reasons behind what happens to us besides the “it was supposed to be like this” idea. Believing in it basically goes along the lines of the idea that we don’t really have that much free will.
#4
For a while I dated the most attractive, wildest, most fun girl I had ever met. Too much drinking and partying got overwhelming for me and we broke up. I thought I made a big mistake at the time, but I ran into her a year later and she was an alcoholic selling substances. Still looked great though.
#5
I was at a small music festival and they were selling helicopter rides. I stood in line with a buddy. It could take 4 people and there were 3 people in front of us. Because I wanted to ride with my friend I told the guy behind us he could go. It crashed and everyone was gone but him. However, he was gone later in the hospital. Coulda been me...
#6
Vietnam. I enlisted in the army right out of high school in 1964. At the time, if you qualified, you could pick your MOS and your duty station. So I chose to be a medic and picked Germany.
Vietnam was just rumors at the time, though there was more going on there than they were telling…
But had I not enlisted, I would have been highly likely to be drafted. As it was, I did my 3 years in Germany and flew home, free and clear.
I watched Ken Burns’ series on the war, and the interview with one of the grunts who was at My Lai. The guy even LOOKED like me….
Tabitha 23 hours ago (edited)
Two of my brothers went. One went in the Army in 1965, and ended up with his one and only tour split between the DMZ in Korea, and early Vietnam. The other went into the Marines in 1967, and did two tours, all in Vietnam, running reconnaissance in country. He said he was in a couple helicopter crashes, one of which he was the only survivor. Purple Heart and everything. Both brothers came home profoundly changed because of their time in Vietnam. Messed with their heads for a long time. One never got over it, never really accomplished much, screwed over the GI Bill and never got his degree, ended up tending bar, freeloading off our parents, and dying in his fifties. The other took a couple decades to get back to a semblance of himself, got his degree on the GI Bill, got married, had kids, and still died in his fifties. In many ways, even though they both came home, I lost two brothers to that unnecessary b******t in Vietnam that we should never have been a part of.OP should consider himself lucky AF he never had to be in country.
That’s something we already talked about more in this piece, so we won’t go into it that much today. Just as we said, some philosophers and people believe that all we do and all that happens to us is predestined and we essentially have no say in it, while others oppose such a thought, saying that we have a lot to do with the choices we make.
For instance, we have several parts of the brain that are involved in making decisions. These brain regions work together to evaluate potential choices, assess rewards and risks, and consider all kinds of implications of each decision. The list includes parts like the prefrontal, insular, and cingulate cortices; the amygdala; and the striatum.
#7
Getting let go from my last job. The company lost funding shortly after. I found a better job before all hell in our sector broke loose. Kind of like I got a head start in musical chairs.
#8
I got laid off after 17 years with the company.I got a decent severance package, and had a new job within a few months. About a year later the company went under and all the people who were still there, some for 20-30 years got no severance. Some who had taken stock options instead of a 401K lost it all.
V 21 hours ago
The company that I used to work for decided to slowly restructure. As the highest paid person in my position I was first on the chopping block. I was on good terms with HR, payroll and middle management so I got a hefty payout. The company went really corporate after being a bit more of a hippie store so I dodged a bullet. They went from 6 KPIs when I was there, ran into a manager who is still there and they now have 15 KPIs they have to manage and the entire culture of the company has shifted.
#9
When I was 4 years old, I chased a golf ball I had been playing with out into the street and almost got hit by a car. Luckily, the driver was paying attention and had swerved to avoid me.
I wasn’t the smartest 4 year-old.
Serena Myers 1 day ago
The vast majority of four year olds have not developed road sense, they don't understand that these large noisy roary things are dangerous. A four year old knows very little about danger. OP should be glad that the driver was paying attention!
All the information regarding decisions that these regions have to process is collected from and driven by the mix of our emotions, past experiences, core values, and the environment.
And still, all of this considered, it doesn’t mean that every single choice we make is conscious. Some things we decide come from the brain’s automatic processes, so basically, things like habits, subconscious feelings, and instincts.
#10
I don't know about the "biggest", but a bullet I remember dodging was when a bunch of my friends in college joined one of those "sales" companies that are just multi-level marketing schemes trying to disguise themselves as something else. It was a soft drink company called something like Vemma. I remember my friends were super excited to join to start making side money as broke college students, and they got me to come to one of their presentations as I was definitely curious (since I was also broke haha). The presentation was so weird, the entire time they were trying to convince us they are not a pyramid scheme, but instead they work as a "reverse funnel" system (lmao). I found it very strange that pretty much the entire presentation was essentially spent reminding the attendees that they are NOT a pyramid scheme. I noped out after that, despite several of my friends trying to convince me to join, which I eventually came to realize that they were just trying to make money off of me joining. They all ended up losing thousands of dollars as that's how much the original investment cost.
#11
Both of us in the military, I wouldn't entertain a marriage proposal from him for a year (he was a bit eager). Two weeks after I said "yes" and told my family I'd be getting married, I found out he was cheating on me. But at least it wasn't after we were already married, right?
#12
The FWB I got hung up on who didn't want a relationship.
15-ish years later, he called me up to say he had regrets, admitted that he had a friend neg me to damage my confidence so I would sleep with him, and gently suggested I should start something up with him even though he knew I was happily married.
At the same time, even if we make conscious decisions, we might not be aware of their consequences. Like the people from today’s list. At some point in their lives, they were faced with a choice that could have turned things for the worse.
Yet, they managed to pick the right option and dodge a bullet. The thing is that they didn’t realize the magnitude of the decision when they were making it; the realization came only later.
#13
Dragged my feet on buying a house for a while, then finally got my finances in order, credit pristine, a hefty chunk saved for a down payment, and actually found the perfect house for me. Closed on it in November, 2019. I’d be renting now if I didn’t somehow get my life together- and I only paid $167k.
Huddo's sister 20 hours ago
I literally viewed my house between lockdowns. I had driven up (1.5hrs from where I was living, to near my mum's house) that day to view a house that ended up no longer for sale (without any mention on the website). Called the agent and asked if there were any others nearby we could see that day. Viewed one and was happy, stayed for dinner at my mum's, gave an offer over the phone, and drove home to be there before the next lockdown that started at 12am. Got a long settlement, so that lockdown (and maybe another) was over by the time I moved. Added bonus, because I was no longer in Melbourne, no more lockdowns for me. Price would have raised at least $50 000 if I had waited another month.
#14
It’s a very sad story, but I got a dog from a rescue. I’ve had dogs all my life and plenty of rescues before this one.
After a month foster trial he went back. I was heartbroken, but there was something not right. I still can’t really put my finger on it, but he went back and we got a new foster trial with another dog we did decide to keep.
We eventually learned that the dog we didn’t keep at his next foster attacked the woman fostering him, out of the blue, from behind, and bit her multiple times without any warning or provocation. She ended up in the hospital for several days. This was someone with years of rescue experience with difficult dogs and the dog needed to be euthanized.
I definitely dodged a very dangerous bullet.
Mel in Georgia 1 day ago
A friend runs a rescue - there have been a couple of times they've had to put down an aggressive, untrainable and un-adoptable dog. It's heartbreaking every time.
#15
Found out I was preggers in HS. I hadn't gained any weight at all, still had a period, and only some weird breast tenderness made me take a test.
Made an appt with a clinic 3 hours away, turns out I was months into it, and only a few days away from the cutoff, as in 'no, you can't get an abortion'. They did mine the next day. Thankfully I was 18 at the time, so I could do it on my own, parents never found out until decades later.
I couldn't believe how close I cut it, and every now and then I think what a completely different (and truly awful) path my life would have taken if I had been a few days later.
Mel in Georgia 1 day ago
So glad you had the option at the time. Today in my state you probably wouldn't have discovered your pregnancy in time.
Do you have any similar stories from your life or someone else’s you know of? Please, don’t shy away from sharing it all with us in the comments!
#16
This happened decades ago, but the roof over the ice rink at Kolonnade mall collapsed and injured a bunch of people.
I only avoided this by a minute. After parking my car and starting to walk to the ice rink, I realised I had forgotten to move my bag to the boot. I walked back to do that and then headed to the rink again.
As soon as I reached the entrance of the mall, the roof came down. I would have been injured by the roof collapse if I had not walked back to my car. .
#17
Got into a fight with a guy on the other team after a soccer match and decided to walk away. Dude went out and shot someone dead right after.
Bi.Felicia 21 hours ago
I know the question asked people to talk about the biggest bullet they dodged, so this guy goes ahead and literally dodges a bullet. Sadly someone else received it and lost their life.
#18
Almost became a franchise restaurant owner in Fall 2019 but had to back out unexpectedly one week before signing due to an unexpected family situation.
Serena Myers 1 day ago
And, of course, Covid followed shortly after, OP did, indeed, have a close call.
#19
Law school. I lived in a college town with a great law school. I took the LSAT, and did really well. I put together all of my application documents, official copy of my test scores, etc.
I went to the law school admissions office to drop them off, but the person there told me I had to upload them to a third party website and they would get them from there—for a fee of $250 dollars.
I was dumbfounded. A public university was telling me—as I stood with all my materials in hand—that I had to pay a huge amount to have a private company send these same documents to _this very same office_, with a huge time delay on top of the fee.
I told them I wouldn’t take up any more of their time, turned around and left. I’d never intended to apply to any other schools, so that ship sailed for good.
But I would have been miserable as a lawyer. It took me a little while, but I found an _amazing_ career and did things I could never have dreamed of before. I’m in a rough patch now, but I’m hoping that turns around soon. But whatever comes next, I’m lucky that I’m not a lawyer.
Huddo's sister 20 hours ago
I can't imagine having to pay a fee to apply to uni! I had my top preference (in Australia you don't apply separately, you put your preferences into one document all the unis access) as the uni my mum had gone to and I had liked when I went to the open day. I then got 10 points lower ENTER score at the end of the year than I was expecting (because I had thought it would be easy and did the bare minimum- was my least stressful year ever though- plus my subjects were 'marked down' more than I realised- certain subjects, usually the more popular and artsy ones, are marked down compared to others, which is a stupid system). I wasn't happy, though I didn't freak out as much as my mum did, but it really turned out for the best, because my next preference had a lower entry score and I got in, and it was a much smaller uni so less intimidating, and I fit in better than I probably would have with the other. Realised pretty quickly it worked out for the best.
#20
When I was 18 my gf cheated on me and got pregnant. At the time My dad told me to send the guy a gift basket bc I owe him one. That girl is now divorced twice and has kids with 3 guys.
Mel in Georgia 1 day ago
I'm so glad our son didn't stay with his HS gf or get her pregnant. She was a beauty, but such a hot mess. She married several times, had several kids, and had a married sugar daddy at one point. He definitely dodged that bullet!
#21
I was moving to the other side of the country and was driving. The whole drive took over a week.
I had lived in an apartment in a dodgy area and the apartment had a Facebook page for residents just to post about anything important, basically just an online message board.
Like if there's a homeless guy sleeping in the elevator again, or if one of the cars in the parking area was getting broken into. That stuff.
Anyway day 2 of the drive I see a notification from that page. It's pictures of the entire apartment building engulfed in flames.
Great timing on the move out.
Appearently the residents weren't allowed back until months later after a remediation company went though, and people found their valuables had gone missing once they were allowed to get their stuff.
#22
Dated a toxic women that I believe was trying to baby trap me. When I got a vasectomy she ghosted me.
Bi.Felicia 21 hours ago
As in 1 woman or multiple toxic women? Either way, at least he got snipped in time.
#23
Turning down a marriage proposal from someone I loved.
Years later the relationship ended *horribly*, so thank goodness I had gone with my gut and not said yes to getting married.
Huddo's sister 20 hours ago
I still feel guilty about not encouraging my friend to break off her engagement to her first husband. I didn't know he was a*****e at the time, thought she just had cold feet. Many years later I found out when she had suggested to him she wanted to break it off, he threatened to k**l her sisters if they didn't get married, so probably nothing I said would have made a difference anyway but doesn't ease my guilt.
#24
Had an ex-boyfriend who turned out to be monster. He would later ruin several people's lives. I am thankful I got out when I did.
#25
9mm. I was in front of my folks' laundromat sweeping the sidewalk like always, when some folks started shooting at each other across the street. They missed each other, and barely missed my head too. I was facing the wrong way, and just thought it was fireworks.
#26
I guy I was dating for almost five years went momentarily psycho on me. Just for an instant. I said no, flew back home mid-vacation. Changed my locks. Turned out he was living a double life and that was his MO. When he got serious with someone new, he’d go violent on the person he was dating so they’d run away quickly. No messy breakups or attempts of reconciliation. And the ex’s would go out of their way to avoid him out of fear he’d go nuts on them.
Because the world is weird, I’m now friends with two other ex’s and we’ve compared notes. The dude lives a completely scripted life. Same love letters. Same birthday gifts. The three of us each have the exact same custom made t-shirt.
#27
I'm an introvert. My first semester away from home was awkward to say the least. One day I was in the library study hall when a couple came up behind me and nearly made me jump out of my skin 😆
Nice looking couple: nerdy guy, pretty brunette. Asked to sit at my table and started a breezy chat (ugh). Finally told them I needed to get back to my studies.
They asked what dorm I lived in (I lied). They asked for my phone number (lied again and said I was waiting for a new phone).
They left me a pamphlet then she asked for a hug.
The pamphlet was an introduction to Dianetics 🙄.
Serena Myers 1 day ago
Dianetics: A system developed by the founder of the Church of Scientology which aims to relieve disorders by cleansing the mind of harmful mental images. No further comment.
#28
I was supposed to be on the Air India 814 flight from Kathmandu to New Delhi that was hijacked by the Taliban.
#29
I interviewed for and was offered a management position at a living history museum a few years ago. I ended up turning the job down. A few months later the guy who took the job got stabbed by one of the actors.
#30
Got under a heavy table in the garage to block a possible mouse hole with a brick, and then later realized 20 years of humidity had warped these tables enough to where you could collapse them with 1 moderate push from the side.
The screws attaching the legs to the table top just ripped right out.
UnclePanda 4 hours ago
My house came with an old wooden decorative 'wishing well,' complete with a peaked roof. One day, on a whim, I pushed on the top a bit to see how stable it was. It slooowly and inexorably pivoted over until it hit the ground, and then the barrel-like staves of the 3' wide base all folded out like a daisy, just like in the cartoons.
#31
Standing on a granite cliff ledge about 30ft above ground when the "tested by me" grip I was holding on to broke off. I went over headfirst backwards. Flailing I got my fingers around a pine branch just long enough to swing my feet underneath me. All I got was a nasty Charlie horse and sore knees but it sure was a close call.
Serena Myers 1 day ago
According to investigation, a charlie horse is a "sudden, involuntary, and painful muscle cramp" just in case you didn't know, same as wot I didn't.
#32
I couldn’t put in my leave requests for a trip to Paris because my manager was on leave. I had to reschedule the dates which, at the time, I was super frustrated about.
The Bataclan attacks happened when I was originally meant to be there. I even went to the cafe that was shot up.
#33
I had a huge crush on this one guy. He was a total player. I am glad I found out before I got too invested. | could have gotten my heart broke for nothing.
#34
I had to withdraw from a masters program before starting due to life getting in the way. The day of the program’s orientation for new students was the date that Lehman Brothers collapsed and started the Great Recession.
#35
The time in highschool where I was going to rob houses with a kid I met a yeat pior only for us to not be able to get into any of the houses and then he said lets try tomorrow and I said okay then the day came and he said sorry bro I got a car of people to come you can go next time let's just say there was no next time they got caught 2 days later and then all four of them told on each other I could have a record at 16 years old I was like that's crazy so yeah don't do what I did please 😉.
What do you think ?
Rick Murray 1 day ago
In the summer of 1987 my mother was going to buy a little house down near the south coast of England. All the paperwork was in place and... she got gazumped. In a way that made the estate agent furious "This! Cannot! Happen!". But it did. Mom was a big believer in "things happen for a reason" so she was like "let it go, we'll find another". She eventually did, and in 1992 bought the place in France that I'm writing to you from today. And the 1987 home? Well, October 1987 was a violent storm that caused a huge amount of damage along the south coast. That property did not survive. My memory is hazy, but I think the roof collapsed into the first floor that collapsed into the ground floor and the stress of that along with the wind brought one of the side walls down. Luckily the new owners were not there at the time.
Rick Murray 1 day ago
In the summer of 1987 my mother was going to buy a little house down near the south coast of England. All the paperwork was in place and... she got gazumped. In a way that made the estate agent furious "This! Cannot! Happen!". But it did. Mom was a big believer in "things happen for a reason" so she was like "let it go, we'll find another". She eventually did, and in 1992 bought the place in France that I'm writing to you from today. And the 1987 home? Well, October 1987 was a violent storm that caused a huge amount of damage along the south coast. That property did not survive. My memory is hazy, but I think the roof collapsed into the first floor that collapsed into the ground floor and the stress of that along with the wind brought one of the side walls down. Luckily the new owners were not there at the time.
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