34 Memorable Moments People Had With Complete Strangers

‘I once gave birth near a rhino I didn’t know very well’
34 Memorable Moments People Had With Complete Strangers
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Sometimes, as soon as you witness an event, you know that’s going to be a permanent memory. The kind you can’t forget, even through effort and money paid to a good therapist. These moments might happen while you’re with friends or family, and become something you share.

Of course, they also might happen while you’re nowhere near anyone you know, and the people who you witnessed it with become part of a very specific, very strange sort of family. You’re probably not swapping numbers, but maybe someday you’ll exchange a somber nod at an airport. 

Redditors shared some of these pivotal moments that accidentally bonded them to someone they’ve never met. Who knows, maybe that lady you were standing next to when a pigeon flew in front of a city bus is documented below.

lonedayatatime1234567 . 7y ago Pulled a 3yr old and his unconscious mom out of a burning car when I was 16. Unconscious people are heavy af and I was convinced I was handling a dead body. I am invited to the kiddos elementary graduation this May though.
chase4652202 7y ago I was on a commuter train when a young woman seated in front of me suddenly let out a scream and started sobbing. People around her assumed the stoney-faced commuter mask, but she was so distraught that I got up and sat beside her - - she had just received a text that a good friend had committed suicide. I put my arms around her and she sobbed against my shoulder and talked about her friend for the duration of the ride (about 15 minutes). I got off at her stop and walked her to her mother, who was waiting
. 7y ago Randomly getting paired up at a golf course with someone and they got a hole in one. Guy went ballistic. It was awesome.
intensenerd 7y ago Edited 7y ago About 15 or so years ago I was wandering a museum in Seattle. As you do in museums, you tend to run into the same families and groups as you tour around. I happened to notice a grizzled man and his family taking a double take at me every time we'd happen upon each other. Не finally walked up to me and apologized for staring. Не said he'd noticed me and thought he was in a time machine. Why's that? I asked. Well you remind me a lot of a guy I was in
obfromwoo 7y ago I was going home really late one night (around 3am) and I noticed this girl sitting in the street who obviously looked like she had cried recently so I asked her if she was okay, she said yes, and I asked her if she wanted me to stay with her and she didn't answer so I sat next to her. She didn't do or say anything for about a minute and neither did I but then out of nowhere she hugged me, SO I hugged her back and we stayed like this a few minutes, not saying
Bodymindisoneword 7y ago Edited 7y ago | was carrying groceries in my arms and saw the paper towels were slipping out if the bag. I tilted to let it fall, hit it back up with my knee towards my arm and caught it under my arm (btwn my elbow and ribs on the side). | felt bad ass. A lovely older woman across the street saw this and cheered Nice move! She was genuinely cheering, arms up and everything. Another was a kid, my husband was wearing a tee shirt with an old batman logo on it and held the
wildflavoringz 7y ago Flying up I-65 between Nashville and Louisville, this random guy in pickup truck and I were leapfrogging our way up the interstate. I was in front and came flying up on the ass end of a state trooper. Cop did nothing but keep cruising at 75mph. Realizing what was happening I flipped my signal and moved back in the right lane. Truck guy comes flying past me as I slowly creep back from the cop like I never sped in my life. Truck guy realizes there's a cop and flicks his signal and gets in the right
shinyhappycat 7y ago I was a witness to a car VS motorbike crash, and had to hang around for the police. Another girl was a witness too, so we were there, talking to the biker who was a little hurt but mainly pissed off. The police came, and the girl said she was freezing cold - so the police officer gave her his coat. She was about 5' - he was well over 6' - she looked ridiculous in his coat. We had a real laugh about it, gave our statements and were released from the accident site. This was a good few years ago but
WhereCat 7y ago | was on a plane ride, and just as we're landing, the plane suddenly angles up at 45 degrees. It was pretty shakey and really threw the passengers around and made some people visibly confused/anxious. The most memorable thing was this Hispanic grandma next to me. She looked at me as this was happening, and simultaneously, we both shrugged and raised our eyebrows like welp, this is it. We're done. It was a weird experience to briefly just accept our fate together as total strangers. Lol
cheesegod69 . 7y ago I once started chatting with the woman next to me on the plane. She took some edibles and we spent the next 6 hours of the flight coming up with a business plan for a food truck where everything it served was ball shaped.
throwawaythrowavvay 7y ago One day in 5th grade I got really sick and was taken to the ER. Once there, I sat next to a woman who was in labor and having contractions. She caught me looking at her so she gently took my hand and placed it on her belly, letting me feel the baby kick. That was the first time I ever felt a baby kick in a woman's belly. The kid's probably in their mid-teens now! Hope you're happy, kiddo:)
harmberry 7y ago I was working a shift at the hotel I work at, and was getting breakupy vibed text messages from my now ex-boyfriend (Yes, that day he literally moved out all of his stuff and sent one text and erased me on everything over a really dumb fight...totally toddler-ish but whatever) and I just sort of silently cried the whole shift. A guest came up to me to check out of his room, much older than me(probably about 65). Не noticed the tears in my eyes, and asked me what was wrong. I explained vaguely that it was
vzsax 7y ago | ran the last mile and a half of my first half marathon with a random girl, we chatted the whole time because we both were struggling. It was really cool to cross the finish line right next to her. I'm married, so it wasn't a romantic thing or anything like that. Just two humans that needed some encouragement to finish a run. Never even got her name.
discreet1 7y ago I was crossing a street in a crowd of people by Union Square in пус. Не was crossing the other way. We caught each others' eye at the same time and held the gaze for the whole walk, both turning around and walking backward so we could keep looking. When we got to the other side, we both stopped. I mouthed hi. Не waved and smiled. Cars stared blocking us, so we both just turned around and walked away. I've thought about that for years. Everything seemed so choreographed.
7y ago | noticed this girl at a bus station had a green day shirt on and she was attractive so | was looking at her. She was on the other side of the station. She noticed me but didn't really do anything. Finally a guy walks over and they both walk together toward where | am to get on a bus. Before she got on the bus she turned around, smiled, and waved at me. Never saw her again and never will but I'll always remember that.
AurghOurgh . 7y ago Edited 7y ago A random 7 year old kid walking with his mother holding up a hand to me and saying high five as we passed each other one street, which I promptly obliged without breaking stride. It was such a surreal moment, but it put a smile on my face for the rest of the day.
Splatterfilm 7y ago On my way to work, I had to change highways. This one merged two lanes into one, and it was super common for people to get hyper- aggressive, try to cut instead of taking turns, and using the shoulder to drive ahead of people. So it's another morning rush hour and I'm getting near the stopping point when someone blazes up on the shoulder. Welp. I notice him soon enough that I can angle my car to the point that it'd be risky to his paint job to try and keep going. After I straighten out, he
7y ago Edited 7y ago Standing in an hour long line for a roller coaster. I have ridiculous anxiety. I don't fear the ride, I fear the ride malfunctioning. I was so scared but my kids really wanted me to ride it with them. All the people around me in line were so supportive, answering my questions and giving me pep talks. Every cell in my body said bolt bolt bolt get out you're gonna die as they strapped me in my seat. The ride was amazing!! Afterwards all those strangers who had seen my deep and real fear
GhostOfYourLibido 7y ago I was sitting in the car waiting to pick up my boyfriend when he got done donating blood. I was watching this dude outside chilling and waiting for someone, too I assumed. The place was surrounded by this garden that had all these little rocks everywhere, and he started juggling them. So of course I'm like fuck yeah, so he stops and I scream JUGGLE THE ROCKS AGAIN! Now I'm like 20 feet away in my car so this must have sounded like a disembodied voice, but he did it and it was awesome and I think
MotherTucker93 7y ago I was in the grocery store when I heard a young child pitching a fit. The kid was screaming, crying, the whole kit and kaboodle. Well this old man who was in the same isle as me paused to look in the direction of the crying child. Не then looks at me and says I feel the same way and goes back to his shopping.
7y ago Back when weed was illegal. I was smoking a joint down town Toronto. This super old lady walked up to me and asked Is that marijuana? i replied. Why absolutely it is! She then compliments my joint. It's so straight! I thought it was a cigarette but I could smell something funny. | laugh and offer her some. You want some? she looked left and right. I was laughing so much already and then she says Ok let me give it a puff. She hit it 3 times like a champ. She thanked me and went on
7y ago This happened before I could remember it, but my parents tell me the story all the time when we pass the spot it happened. When | was just getting good at walking, | was a few steps ahead of my parents, chest puffed out, walking like I was the king of the world. According to my parents, this tall black man walking the opposite direction of me looked me up and down and said, Walk tall little man, walk tall!
7y ago I was working at a natural food co-op in northern california when I was in college, re- stocking the bread aisle. This was one of those places where the customers were primarily from the 'hippy' community, for lack of a better word. I remember a woman standing behind me, asking me some question, in a soft voice, about the loaf of bread in her hand. I turned to look at her to ask her to repeat her question and then we just kind of stared into each other's eyes for a second - not out of attraction, but I
Dinobam100 7y ago I remember joining a discord server that has thousands of members, but very few of them went into voice channels. It was me and a bunch of other guys chilling, then I decided to whip out the You're A Wizard Harry script from that one GMod parody. A random guy I have never spoken to before decided to join in. We read the script and started yelling at each other while everyone else died laughing. One of the best moments ever
7y ago On my way home from work I was stopped at an intersection - which is the best time to go into full on sing out mode, of course. So I'm really into it, putting all of my leftover energy into this song. A brown jeep crosses through the intersection in front of me in what feels like slow motion, and the passenger turns his head to witness my show. I lock eyes with him and keep on going, not even sure if he can see through my tented windows. But then he breaks out into the widest grin and
7y ago I was stuck at the airport after several long delays and the thought of missing my sister's big day looming. I started crying and trying to cover how upset I was when this guy across the bench asked to sit next to me and proceeded to give me a tissue and show me his Tibetan singing bowls. Не let me try them and told me more about each one. I couldn't stop imaging how insane we looked in an airport, making incredible and weird chanting sounds from the bowls, but it truly calmed me down and I
thermonuclearmuskrat . 7y ago I once gave birth near a rhino I didn't know very well.
Vincent-Van-Schnitze 7y ago I performed at this specific bar a couple times in the evening (played guitar and sang), everyone, and especially me, were having a good time and nothing extraordinary happened. A couple days later I'm down at the beach, like 5-6 minutes drive from said bar, when this guy approaches me, asking if it was me singing at that bar the other night, I said yes, and he told me he really liked it and gave me a thumbs up. That seriously made my damn day.
cstaylor95 a 7y ago I used to get compared to Ed Sheeran in my appearance. Was leaving a Def Lepperd / Whitesnake concert when I saw a guy who looked super similar to Ed Sheeran. We locked eyes and knew without speaking, and then excitedly bonded over our experiences. We were a two man doppelgang.
. 7y ago Walking through Ruby Fall's Cave singing Afternoon Delight when a guy from an oncoming group joins me in song, including the clap clap and we sang until we couldn't hear each other anymore as we went our separate ways.
hahman12 7y ago I was standing at a bus stop downtown Toronto and this Korean guy asked me if the bus went to the stop he was looking to get off at. We the got into a conversation about how he just moved here from South Korea looking for a fresh start in life. Apparently he was working in some soul crushing office job and felt stuck. Не didn't like the work culture in SK and felt like there was always pressure to just work all the time and never truly enjoy life. So he moved to Canada to find
Scottish_WWII 7y ago I was backpacking in New Zealand and wanted to go to a DnB festival out West of Auckland. I was alone and just jumped on a train to head in the general direction, got off at the last stop and there wasn't any shops that sold alcohol. I asked this older lady if she knew of anywhere, she drove me two towns back to the get booze, then asked me where I was headed. Instead of dropping me off at the train station she took me all the way to the festival and gave me a couple
7y ago a 4 hour class that was part interview, part testing for a job. She and I hit it off and made the class fun for each other. we talked about working together and basically became good friends. this was way before cell phones. | got hired and she didn't. never saw her again.
7y ago Edited 7y ago I was in Naha, Okinawa and came alongside a tiny, elderly Japanese couple waiting for the pedestrian crossing light to change. I'm 6'6. They were under 5' tall. They looked up at me and I looked down at them and all three of us simultaneously broke into laughter at the difference. The light changed and we crossed. | turned right, they went straight, and we waved goodbye workout without having spoken a word.

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