We can never truly forecast what’s coming, regardless of how carefully we prepare or guess. The future often catches us off guard, be it through random occurrences or the behavior of people we trust. Although these surprises aren’t always welcome, they tend to teach important lessons and sometimes even turn into funny stories down the road.

Story 1

I was at a work lunch and saw my wife there at the restaurant. It was weird because 20 minutes ago, she had texted me saying that she was home. I was going to call her name, but she was staring at her phone, smiling and typing, so I silently watched her. Then, all of a sudden, my phone chimed.

I froze when I saw it was a photo of her. She had sent me a selfie from home with a face mask on. She wrote, ’Can’t wait for you to come home! xoxo.’ I went straight to her table to confront her, and she turned pale when she saw me.

I asked what she was doing there, and just then the waiter approached her and handed her bags of takeout food. Turns out she was preparing a romantic dinner at home for us in the evening, and she was there to pick up the food because it’s my favorite restaurant. That’s why she’d been so secretive about it, so that I wouldn’t suspect.

Story 2

My niece had back pain for a couple of months. One time she visited us for lunch. She had horrible back pain and stomach pain and was crying in bed from the pain.

Once we took her to the hospital, she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. She was way more surprised than us. © ZeoBorlis / Reddit

Story 3

I once stopped my car to let a woman cross the street. I then entered a parking garage that was apparently full. Then a car started pulling out in front of me; it was the lady I had let cross the street. © foevalovinjah / Reddit

Story 4

I am a community firefighter. Last year, our deputy chief was getting divorced and wound up resigning from duty. Fine, we all figured he needed time to get his life figured out.

Our female new recruit resigns 6 weeks later citing work responsibilities. Turns out she was having an affair with the deputy chief’s wife. She also leaves her husband and the two are now living together. Each have 3 kids.

Now that everyone in the dept knows, deputy chief is coming back. © mojo4mydojo / Reddit

Story 5

When I was a kid, one weekend I was staying over at my grandparents’ house, just casually playing in the yard.

I came across a little spider standing by himself on his little web he made under an old, wooden table. I thought the little guy was a bit lonely, so I decided to bring him a leaf to eat (I wasn’t very smart).
I left him alone for less than a minute, and when I returned with the leaf, he wasn’t there anymore. He was on my hand… © JediExile90 / Reddit

Story 6

A husband and wife were watching a movie with their friends, another married couple. The wife of the first couple falls asleep, as does the husband of the second couple. She wakes to find her husband kissing the wife of the second couple.

Things get ugly, and both couples divorce. Then they get remarried, but with opposite partners. Now they’re all friends again and perfectly happy. © LeP***smith / Reddit

Story 7

My grandpa passed away 40-something days ago, in a sudden way (he fainted while playing cards with my grandma and my parents and could not be brought back). Well, it’s been a week since my mother called me to say they had been to the lawyer, and she had an envelope.

Inside this envelope were birth certificates for two girls fathered by my grandpa that no one in the family knew about—one is 22 years old (my age), and the other is 18 (about my younger sister’s age). My grandpa was 78. © Unknown author / Reddit

Story 8

My eldest brother, 30 at the time, sat down the entire family to surprise us with the news that there would be an addition to the family. We were so happy because he and his wife had been trying to conceive for some years.

He then went on to say that we were having… ANOTHER SIBLING. My divorced, 49-year-old mother was pregnant. I didn’t even know she was dating anyone. © xCanont70x / Reddit

Story 9

I had a friend in college whose girlfriend got pregnant. He went all in. They didn’t get married, but he was super supportive.

He was genuinely excited to be a dad at 19. He was supportive and was making preparations to provide financially for their new family. When the baby was born, he was Black (both the mom and my friend are white). © HomesickAlien1138 / Reddit

Story 10

A few years ago, a friend of mine was dating someone online and had never met him in real life. It turns out that her roommate was actually the boyfriend.

When she found out, it wasn’t pretty at all; she was super mad. The roommate was actually a girl faking a man’s voice and everything. © smallmight2018 / Reddit

Story 11

I had a friend in college whose girlfriend got pregnant. He went all in. They didn’t get married, but he was super supportive.
He was genuinely excited to be a dad at 19. He was supportive and was making preparations to provide financially for their new family. When the baby was born, he was Black (both the mom and my friend are white). © HomesickAlien1138 / Reddit

Story 12

A few years ago, a friend of mine was dating someone online and had never met him in real life. It turns out that her roommate was actually the boyfriend.

When she found out, it wasn’t pretty at all; she was super mad. The roommate was actually a girl faking a man’s voice and everything. © smallmight2018 / Reddit

A tech startup turned me down for a paid internship position because I “didn’t have enough experience.” Two weeks later, I received my offer letter for $5/hour more than the internship, in a mid-level technical position at a different tech firm. The aforementioned startup had a shakeup, and the man who turned me down for the job got fired. © Unknown author / Reddit

My roommate had a crush on this girl we were both friends with, and it took him almost an entire school year to ask her out. They went on one date, then both went home for the summer to “think about it.” They got back to school and “dated” for a few weeks.

Plot twist 1: She broke up with him because she didn’t think it was going to work from the beginning.

Plot twist 2: Four months later, he asked out her roommate, and they’ve been dating for five months. We’re all still friends. © HackaToaster / Reddit