When we’re making a bet, there’s always the possibility of a loss. No matter how good the odds are, in life nothing is certain. (Well, maybe except for death and taxes.) So when we gamble on meeting someone new, we have to understand that it might not work out.

Interested in the bitter end of socialization, Redditor confoozulment asked other platform users, “What is the strangest interaction you’ve had with a random stranger?” and they received plenty of awkward, cringy, and even creepy stories.

We thought why not take a look at this online discussion; maybe it’ll teach us how to deal with the unexpected. To help us make more sense of it, we also contacted the author of the post and Arjen Stolk, Ph.D., who is an assistant professor at Dartmouth College, where he directs the Mutual Understanding Laboratory.

• Read More: 30 Unbelievably Strange Encounters With Random Strangers That These People Just Can’t Forget About

#1

When I was 30, I had a sword fight with a boy about 11 or 12 in a Rite-Aid. He was standing there looking at the plastic swords, and when he looked up at me, I held my sword out and gave a nod, like let’s go. I was at the other end of the aisle, so we run towards each other and take a huge swing. When the swords connected, and they shattered into a thousand pieces. I mean they exploded. He’s got a look of utter shock. He starts looking around and I gave him a, don’t worry about it, I’ll pay for them. I think they were about 3 bucks each. His mom didn’t notice as she was checking out. He’s gotta be in his 30’s now. It was fun.

Image credits: FutureManagement4504

#2

I guess not really strange, but it’s stuck in my mind for over 10 years.

I had just moved halfway across the country for work. After a couple of months there, my great grandmother passed just before her 101st birthday. I got an early morning flight back to my home state. The lady next to me was probably just near retirement age.

I wasn’t crying, but just keeping to myself as one does when traveling with things on their mind. Once we were able to let our trays down, I dropped mine and laid my head and arms on the tray, and just watched the city lights out the window. For nearly the entire flight, this woman started rubbing my back and told me everything would be okay.

I normally hate being touched, and honestly don’t seek comfort very often. But that was one of the most comforting things that’s ever happened, and I just let it happen. So wholesome strange I guess.

Image credits: wystful

#3

No one in my family wanted to ride the Aerosmith Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster with me so I went solo and got seated next to a guy who didn’t speak English. I knew ahead of time that they take your picture as the ride blasts off so I made a face (rock fist, tongue out). At the end of the ride, my ride partner and I went to look at our photo and amazingly, unknown to the other, we had both made the same face and gesture. We both laughed when we saw it. He said something to me I didn’t understand, gave me a hug, and we parted ways. I still think about him 6 years later.

Image credits: VariousGnomes

#4

Working as a nurse In a nursing home, suburb of Boston. One day one of my residents get a visit from two elderly residents. One is his friend, the other a stranger to him, who gave his friend a ride (they were in their 90’s and only one of them drove). The driver started a conversation with me while his friend visited with his friend. He asked me where I was from, parents, grandparents. Told him my mother was originally from Dorchester Boston. He asked me which part. I said Ashmont station area, ocean Street. He asked me if my grandfathers name was Hugh. I told him yes and my grandfathers last name. He then named all my aunts and uncles names, including my mothers and asked me who’s child I was. Turns out this man, who drove his friend into the country to visit a dying friend, was my grandfathers business partner (who I never met). My grandfather had died about 15 years before. What a small world. I couldn’t wait to get home from work to call my mother and update her that I met Saul Goldman. (She remembered him and his family fondly). Made me happy to be alive. I know he enjoyed meeting me as well. It was as if thru both he and I, my grandfather came back alive for a few minutes, just then.

Image credits: Brave_Career4429

#5

I was in Boston one night with friends and started to sing show me the way to go home. A girl on the other side of the street walking in the other direction sang every other verse with me for over a block and a half. We were quite loud before we ended.

Image credits: Boxdog

#6

I was at Busch Gardens in Virginia, maybe 9 years old when an elderly man walked up to me and gave me a 1 million dollar bill with his face on it. I still have it

Image credits: LeoThyroxine

#7

I was studying in a uni library when I see the guy sitting next to me turn his head to look at me for a moment too long. I turn to look at him and he sticks his arm out and offers me some cheetos. I politely turn him down and we both go back to studying, he doesn’t make any attempt to interact with me again.

Fast forward a few months, I’m heading back to my home State from a completely different State 3 hours away on a bus with assigned seating. It’s relatively empty other than maybe 10 others max all in random areas of the bus. I’m minding my own business when the guy in front of me gets up on his knees on the seat and turns around to face me. It is the same guy from the library. And what does he do? Stick his arm out and offer me cheetos.

Image credits: ThrowRARAw

#8

I was around 16 (F) at the time and at the mall with my two guy friends. We split up in the food court and while I was aimlessly walking around trying to pick out food, someone bumped into me from behind. I assumed it was my friends but as I turned, I was handed a BABY from a man I’ve never met. He then backed away towards a woman and they started laughing. It looked like she was taking pictures of me with her phone. They spoke in a language I didn’t recognize and kept backing up further away while looking at me and laughing almost as if trying to make me follow them. All the while I’m holding a strange baby in the middle of the mall food court too stunned to move. After what felt like hours but was maybe a minute or so, my friends walked over to me very confused and why I had a baby. Before I could even utter a word, the man and woman ran over, took the baby and left. 11 years later I still have no explanation.

Image credits: olivebean217

#9

Just arrived at a music festival in the Faroe Islands back in 2005 with my friends and this girl I’d never seen before leaps around my neck, gives me a kiss on the cheek and wishes me a happy birthday before running off into the night, check my phone and its literally just struck midnight on my 21st birthday.

Image credits: SigurVid

#10

I’m Canadian, so keep that in mind… (also pre-covid)

I bought a coffee and package of cookies and sat outside on a bench to enjoy the summer day. I sat on one end and put my things in the middle of the bench.

Another guy sat down on the other end of the bench and put his things down. Then he opened my cookies and ate one.

I was surprised.

I reached over and took a cookie and ate it. He looked at me sharply, then, keeping eye contact, he reached out and took another cookie and ate it.

I was again surprised and I’m sure it showed on my face.

I reached out and took another cookie and ate it, washing it down with coffee. He did the same.

We continued on that way, each eating a cookie and staring at the other.

When I ate the last cookie I stood up and picked up my things. That’s when I saw the unopened pack of cookies under my coat.

Image credits: DeeperSea1969

#11

I work in a hospital on the third floor. One evening I was washing up in the coffee room the sink is next to a window. It was getting dark, and I glanced out the window, and at exactly the same time a woman on the other side of the street glanced up at my window. I decided to wave, and as I raised my hand she simultaneously raised hers. We both had a little chuckle about it and went on with our lives. The whole thing took about 5 seconds but I still think about it.

Image credits: Nim2019

#12

I was in the backseat of my friend’s car, one friend driving and one in the passenger seat. At an intersection a truck pulls up next to us and in the most Southern U.S. smoker accent he says out the window, “Hey kid! What do you know?” And my friend replied “I know a lot of things, what do you know?” And this crazy dude, without missing a beat, said “two plus five equals nine and crime is only illegal if you get caught, so drunk drive safely. Have a day!” And then sped off, timing the light perfectly somehow so that it switched to green as he finished the sentence. Felt like something out of a fever dream.

Image credits: FermentedPickles

#13

I was in a mostly empty locker room at a pool, a random older man walked up to me and asked, “Do you want a pickle?” I answered no, and he responded, “How about a nickel?” He proceeded to hand me a nickel. Very odd.

Image credits: ridemooses

#14

Guy was wearing the exact same outfit as me. Like same shoes, same colored jean, same sweatshirt and even same hat. Wouldn’t have been surprised if he had the same underwear even. But it was definitely the biggest glitch in the matrix moment I’ve ever had.

#15

A woman who was clearly not sound of mind in a macdonalds told me with deep and serious certainty that we are not to eat figs as they are the fruit of the devil.

I had watched a nature documentary the previous day and explained to her in great detail the anatomy of a fig (which is in fact, a flower) and the life cycle of wasps and how they use figs to their advantage.

She was very confused.
Then she turned around and went to find somebody else to hassle about not eating the devil’s fruit.

Image credits: anon

#16

A few stick in my mind, but this one I have just never understood.

I’m at a busy downtown intersection, on a sunny Saturday, waiting for the light to cross. Guy beside me starts making small talk. Very chatty. We had quite a wait for the light for … some reason I don’t remember… so it was a bit of a chat.

He made some unusual remarks asking me about my ethnicity (somewhat accurate). Then it was him telling me his life story, out of the blue.

Ok, maybe he’s hyper for some reason. I’d just moved to the city from a more rural area so I was polite and didn’t elbow him away. Not sure if maybe I should have. His story about himself was just a bit memorable because it involved some globetrotting and a few other random details.

I thought nothing more about it after crossing the street and we went separate ways.

Then a couple of months later I’m in a downtown mall. Same guy walks up to me, out of nowhere, and starts chatting to me again. I interrupted him and said “Yeah, I remember meeting you before,” and I repeated the life story ramble that he’d done earlier. At that point he does a disappearing act.

I have no clue to this day what that was about. Just odd.

Image credits: anon

#17

My family and I were traveling cross-country and stopped in this tiny rural coffee shop for lunch. The waitress came out to take our order, she took one look at me and said “Hey Kim, how’s your mom doing? I said “I’m sorry, I think you’re mistaking me for someone else, I don’t live around here and I’m not Kim.” She kept insisting that I was just joking around and teasing her. This went on for quite some time, until I had to convince her with my drivers license that I was not this person that she knew. She was blown away and said I could be a twin to this person that she knew, as I look exactly like Kim, talk like Kim, everything.

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Image credits: Chinooki

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