16 Remarkable Coincidences That Made Us Go “No Way!”

Sometimes events in our lives are so cleverly intertwined that we can only exclaim, “This just can’t be!” How can it be that guys who saw each other once in their lives meet 20 years later, for example? The heroes of our article shared the most unusual coincidences that happened to them.

And in the bonus section, you’ll find a story that proves that sometimes a strange coincidence is not a coincidence at all.

• Went for coffee with a potential new housemate with 2 other confirmed housemates. Get chatting to the potential new housemate, and find out she’s from Spain. One of my confirmed housemates is from Spain, and asked where she was from.
  Long story short, they’re from the same town, went to the same school, and lived streets away from each other. Further conversation reveals that they were actually part of the same group of friends when they were really young kids, and their parents used to hang out together. And they both coincidentally left Spain at the same time, to go to the same (not very well known or big) university, and nearly ended up living together! © daisychaingirl93 / Reddit
• When I was a kid, my uncle brought me a book from Hungary. It was about a gray bear with patches — Teddy. I longed so much to get a teddy bear like that, but my parents gave me a regular brown bear. I’m not offended — I guess they couldn’t get a gray one back then. I loved the brown one, but I named him Winnie, and I never forgot about Teddy.
  And on my 35th birthday, my husband gave me my dream — my Teddy. And the best part is that he didn’t even know my childhood story. Such a wonderful but very happy coincidence for me. © Caramel / VK

• Once I went on a business trip and my luggage was lost, first on the connecting flight and then at the final destination. 2 of my colleagues had the same problem. As we were leaving the airport empty-handed, my colleague pointed to the nearest bushes and sarcastically said, “Your bag is probably lying there somewhere.”
  I look, and there it is! And not a single thing was missing from there. I still don’t understand how this could happen.
• I randomly met a boy on the beach while visiting my grandmother. I was 10, he was 14. I’m American, he’s English.
  Years later, I’m on a message board trying to find out if Dead Like Me is coming back. Begin conversation with a random guy on a message board. It’s him.
  We meet up and get married within months. 20 years and 3 kids later... © HmNotToday1308 / Reddit
• I was selling 2 baby car seats, well-known brand, not cheap. A blue one and a red one, for twins. No one was buying them for a few months, and then 2 different people wrote to me on the same day, wanting to come for the seats.
  I even asked the man, “Wasn’t it your wife writing to me?” “No,” he said. 2 strangers came at the same time, the man took the red one for the girl and the woman took the blue one for the boy. I still don’t understand how they got so synchronized. © EmilyaM / Pikabu

• Snow in our city is removed according to the principle “it will melt in spring.” Remarkably, it was spring, and the snow was already melting. All the way down at once. I was walking, and I saw a car stuck in a rut. I approached, showed the driver to switch to the rear speed, and we jointly solved the problem.
  A couple of hours later, I’m driving out of the driveway and slip into the same rut with the predictable result. Then someone comes up behind me and waves their hand for me to keep driving. I got out of the car to thank him — and this is the man I helped 2 hours earlier. He is on foot, 1 mile away from the first place. © MercatorNSK / Pikabu
• One day, my sister and I decided to go on a double date. I’ve been single for a year, and her boyfriend promised to invite his friend over so we could get to know each other. My sister told me that this friend was very successful and assured me that I would like him. And so I come to the café, my sister and her boyfriend are sitting there, and next to them is my ex.
  Just when I wanted to turn around and leave, they noticed me. I made a surprised and happy look, but in fact I was not happy at all — we had parted not on friendly terms. After dinner, my sister apologized and said she didn’t know her boyfriend knew my ex. © Caramel / VK
• Dislocated my knee once on a ski slope. A guy named Michael shared his elastic bandage, saying, if you have a chance, give it back to me. I returned to the city, the knee was okay in a couple of weeks. I rolled up the bandage and put it on the table next to the exit.
  I was going for a walk with my girlfriend in the spring (a couple of months later), we went by tram to the other end of the city, and before leaving I put this bandage in my pocket for some reason. When we got to the stop we needed, I saw through the window that Michael was standing there. We’re getting off, he’s getting into the tram. I meet him, give him the bandage with the words, “Michael, here’s your bandage,” and we go on. © StivMalder / Pikabu

• I have always been afraid of getting married pregnant. But despite the fact that I didn’t want it, this is exactly what happened — I got married in the fourth month. You could see my baby bump under my wedding dress.
  It just so happened that on the very day when my beloved proposed to me, I told him that I was pregnant. This was a coincidence — neither I nor he had any idea of each other’s surprises. © Mamdarinka / VK
• When I was in college in Texas (back in the early ’90s), I took a summer trip to England. My flight left on the last day of classes. I had an English paper due that day, and the professor insisted that it was due in his box by noon. Of course, I procrastinated, and didn’t turn it in until 1:00 (and mine was the only paper in there).
  I was sure I had screwed up, but I had to go catch my flight. I got to London and the next day I was on the Tube, telling my friend that I was sure I had failed the class because the professor never got my paper. “It’s going to be hanging over my head the entire trip,” I said. “There’s no way I’ll know if he got my paper.”
  We arrived at our stop, the doors opened and there was my professor, waiting for the train. “Professor X! Did you get my paper?” “Uh... yes, yes, I did.” “Great, thanks,” I said, and went on to enjoy my holiday. © tadhg555 / Reddit
• I, completely by chance, got tattooed in my mom’s childhood bedroom. I made an appointment with a tattoo artist, and when I was on my way there, the address sounded familiar. So, I texted my mom, and she confirmed that it was her childhood home, a pastor’s house built next to a church.
  By pure coincidence, she was also in the same city that day (she never visits it and lives about 2 hours away. I lived 2 hours away the other way as well). We ended up going for lunch together, and she showed me around her old house. It turned out I got tattooed in her old bedroom.
  The old built-in closet she used to climb in was still there. Still the craziest coincidence ever, I don’t think my mom at 9 years old expected her own daughter to get tattooed in that room 45 years later. © Art-Soft / Reddit

• A friend saw me at a bus stop, so he came up and shook my hand. Then he said, “Sorry, you look like someone I know.” That’s when I realized it wasn’t my friend and this guy just really looks like him. We both just happened to look like someone else in each other’s life. © reearemadeofbark / Reddit
• We moved to a new place. Our neighbor turned out to be my ex-boyfriend, with whom we broke up on bad terms — I caught him with my best friend.
  And recently, my husband met him under strange circumstances: he helped my husband to push the car. As a result, now I know his future wife, we are family friends and will be witnesses at their wedding. It’s a small world, after all. © Overheard / Ideer
• My boyfriend and I decided to gather our families to happily announce that I was pregnant. While we were choosing the day and making plans for everyone to come over, my mom made a move first. She called me and shouted into the phone that she was pregnant with my stepdad’s baby.
  Our due dates are 1.5 weeks apart. It’s something really weird: we go shopping together, choose everything together. We decided to give birth in the same hospital. I can’t imagine that I will become a sister, and a few days later I will become a mom. © Mamdarinka / VK

• My friend met a girl at a party: she caught her eye because they had the same things — phones, handbags, bracelets... They chatted and laughed about the amazing coincidence that both of them had been given these things by their boyfriends. And then they jokingly showed the pictures of their boyfriends to each other, and it turned out they had the same boyfriend. He dated the first girl for 3 years and the second one for a year, and he just took 2 sets of gifts at a time. © Caramel / VK
• About 5 years ago, I was travelling on the morning train and doing my makeup, because I didn’t have time in the morning. An old lady was sitting in front of me, who, of course, said, “You should do these things at home. It’s bad manners to do it in public”. I replied something like, “None of your business.”
  In the evening of the same day, at another station, I got out of the train and ran into the same old woman. We were so surprised by this coincidence that we greeted each other cheerfully, asked each other how the day had gone, and parted with satisfied smiles. © Overheard / Ideer

Bonus: sometimes a coincidence isn’t a coincidence at all.

• When we went to parties or cafés, my boyfriend would tell me to take anything I wanted. But when it was time to pay the bill, he would start to freak out, take offense, and leave without reason. I paid and thought it was a coincidence, until he told a mutual friend that he just didn’t want to pay for both of us, and for himself too. © Overheard / Ideer
• For a year, I’ve had a problem: as soon as I tell my mom about another suitor, he immediately stops communicating with me. I thought it was a coincidence, but after breaking up with the fifth guy I started to think that “happiness loves silence,” became almost paranoid, but everything turned out to be simpler. My mother would find out the phone numbers of my suitors, called them and set the condition — “either you marry my daughter or stop communicating with her.” © Overheard / Ideer

And these coincidences can become a plot for a bestseller.