All the way back in 1989 I was on a round-the-world trip. I'd been traveling through Australia, Southeast Asia and China To get back to Europe I decided to take the trans-siberian railway through Mongolia and also what was then the Soviet Union In pre-internet days (and with China and the Soviet Union not exactly tourist-friendly countries at the time) this wasn't a super easy thing to do I had to organize all of my own visas, train tickets and everything When I got to Beijing the hotel I stayed at had free loaned bicycles and I grabbed one and made my way around the city to try and find the Mongolian embassy to get my visa There was only one train running each week, so I was desperate to get this organized as soon as possible... Partially because I was low on money, but I was also quite homesick by now I had already gotten a train ticket and the Soviet visa in Hong Kong, but I still needed that visa for Mongolia Again, this was in pre-internet, pre google.maps days. I had a street map, but just couldn't find that bloody embassy At long lost I got lucky and found it, but by then they were just shutting the gates Business hours were already over for the day. It was only 3 p.m! If I couldn't get a visa, I'd not be able to get on that week's train My train ticket would be worthless and I'd have to wait a full week for the next train Plus I'd need to get a new Soviet visa too So I pleaded with the guard Eventually he relented and let me in There was still someone in the office and because they were keen to finish off for the day they pretty much just put the sticker on my passport and shuffled me out the door All set, I got on the train the next day and had an amazing time going through Mongolia, the Soviet Union... even spent a few days in Moscow and then headed via Finland and Scandinavia back home The week after I'd been on the trans-siberian train this happened: A massive gas explosion caused by a leaking gas pipeline and triggered by a passing train killed over 500 people If the Mongolian embassy guard hadn't let me through I definitely would have ended up being on that train When I was in my early 20s, I worked at a run-of-the-mill gas station in your average Florida town Didn't pay great but at the time a job was a job One particular night and I had to swap shifts with a co-worker I'd eaten some hard candy the day before and ended up cracking one of my teeth real bad The pain was so excruciating that it prevented me from working or even sleeping I had to book an appointment at the dentist to get it all fixed It was serious agony That night the guy who swapped his shift with me was just minding his business at the gas station. It was midnight and empty Suddenly a couple of guys rush in shoot the worker point-blank in the face and empty the cash register Took his head half-off No words were exchanged. My coworker didn't even have time to react. Probably didn't even see it coming They later caught the guys thanks to the CCTV footage, not that it did much to console my co-worker's family My son had just been born at the time Scary to think that if I hadn't eaten that hard candy the day before I wouldn't be here to watch him grow up My pregnant cousin usually takes the 5:10 p.m. bus after work She was about to hop inside the bus, but she needed to pee really badly, and the commute's about an hour long so she decided to go to the restroom instead and just catch the next bus The 5:10 bus ended up falling off a cliff This was back in the 80s I lived in Australia and was driving from Brisbane to Sydney I had a Jimi Hendrix bobblehead on the dashboard of my truck We'd recently had a "secret santa" at the new company I was working at, and a co-worker bought it for me as a gift why she'd picked that out for me was anyone's guess I guess I was a newbie and she didn't really know me that well, so maybe she thought it might be a funny present... I dunno... I wasn't actually a Hendrix fan. I was more into disco music myself, but obviously I didn't tell her that She was cute though, and on the off-chance that she might one day get inside my vehicle I decided to put the bobblehead on my dashboard On that drive to Sydney I noticed a hitchhiker on the side of the road Well, this was the 80s when this sort of thing was more acceptable and viewed as less of a big deal so I decided to help the guy out and give him a ride. He looked normal enough The guy hops in and thanks me. Says that he's heading in the same direction As we made our way towards Sydney the guy points out to the Hendrix bobblehead on my dash "Hey, man, you're a fan of Jimi Hendrix, huh? He's the greatest guitarist of all time, am I right?" The dude starts getting seriously passionate about Jimi Hendrix and starts going off about him so much that I can't get a word in edgeways He seemed like such a big fan of Jimi Hendrix that when he asked me "You're really into his music too, huh?" I just replied with "yeah, I'm a big fan" Didn't want to ruin the guy's buzz, you know "Wow, that's awesome, man... which songs?" "You know, all of them man... couldn't pick one in particular!" In all honesty, I couldn't actually think of a single song title The hitch-hiker gives me a big smile "Right on," he says He spent the rest of the journey smiling and looking out of the window as if he was contemplating something We start to get close to Sydney That's when he says that we're near where he needs to be dropped off He points me down some side road that took us off the beaten track I pull up where he tells me The place looks deserted No buildings around and no people, real nowheresville Why did he want to be dropped off here of all places? He hopped out of my vehicle "Thanks for the ride, man," he says to me "Yeah, don't mention it. It was good to have some company" "Hey, I'm gonna be honest with you," he said He dipped his hand into his waistband and pulled out a pistol "I was gonna end you man right here right now, just take your money and run, you know... But I can't do that to a Hendrix fan man... not to a Hendrix fan." I had no idea if this was some kind of sick joke or what, but his weapon looked real enough to me! I knew I had to say something, but all I could muster was "oh... Thanks for not going through with it, I guess." With that, he strolled off to who-knows-where. Didn't wait around to see, just floored it out of there Not too long after that, the guy's face showed up in a newspaper I was reading He was facing charges for slaying a middle-aged man that had picked him up while he was hitchhiking Could have easily been me, had my coworker not picked me as 'Secret Santa', and not bought me that stupid bobblehead On the way to work one morning some guy rear-ended my car with some force His excuse was ridiculous; that he'd just seen some pretty lady walking along the sidewalk and she had distracted him I ended up hitting my head in the collision and was advised by medics to go to the hospital and get it checked out The doctors didn't seem too concerned, but scheduled me for an MRI scan anyway, just to be on the safe side What they found was completely unexpected The scan showed that I had a tumorous growth on my brain that I had no idea about Had it gone undetected for just a little longer it would have become terminal, and it wouldn't have presented any kinds of symptoms whatsoever... Not until it was too late at least Because they managed to catch it in time I was able to go in for an emergency surgery, which was thankfully successful So, because some woman just so happened to be walking down a particular street at a particular time, distracted some particular guy who just happened to be right behind me... Well, I'm still here today 1943 Stalingrad My grandfather and his comrades were defending the city from German aggression They were hungry and exhausted but escape from the city was impossible A group of five of them were about to rush from one building to the next across an open courtyard It was risky, but the enemy were encroaching, and they knew staying where they were would mean the end of them My grandfather (being the youngest and least experienced of the men) waited for the order to charge His superior rallied the group and began to make a dash for the building across the open courtyard My granddad and the rest of his friends followed closely behind As he sprinted, my grandfather noticed a German Panzer tank turning its turret to take aim at them distracted by his impending doom he forgot to look where he was running and ended up tripping on something... A dollhouse of all things, nestled in the rubble on the ground He fell flat on his face How that dollhouse came to be lying in that exact position to trip my grandfather was the result of a long chain of mundane events A family just so happened to live in a building that once stood there The parents of that family had decided to buy it for their daughter who kept it in a specific place in their home Once the building was destroyed during Stalingrad the dollhouse (being placed exactly where it was) just so happened to be launched from the building landing in the future trajectory of my grandfather, who tripped and fell over it Whatever the case, it caused my grandfather to fall behind his friends who kept on running He quickly got back to his feet and looked towards them A few seconds later the panzer fired off a round Where his friends once were, there was now only a large cloud of dust The tank had blown them all to pieces My grandfather had just enough time to scurry back to a defensive position and survived the day Had that dollhouse not been exactly where it was He most certainly would have been right where his friends were when the shell cut them all down He would have never made it back home. Never met my grandmother. Never had my father and... well, I guess I wouldn't be here to type out this story now, would I? When my daughter was born I bought her a dollhouse. Never know when they might come in handy Obviously, it's impossible to prove anything in this vein but my favorite butterfly effect to think about involves a 10th century emperor of China who just so happened to have a favorite concubine That concubine was a dancer and would perform for him in court When she danced she would wrap her feet (I assume to protect them during her dance) The fact that she was his favorite concubine was well known so other women in the court began to imitate her, particularly her way of wrapping her feet This practice eventually spread from the court to the general population of China and evolved into the horrific practice of foot binding Now, aside from the fact that this one woman led to a millennia of women being maimed and crippled to the point that the architecture and design of old Chinese cities reflects their inability to walk (ie multi-story buildings being uncommon because women with bound feet couldn't climb stairs and cities being built with narrow streets because women often had to lean against the wall just in order to walk around) this possibly had a greater effect on world history than it's possible to entirely conceive of It's well known that China was technologically advanced in comparison to Europe This extended to their ships There are historical accounts of Chinese explorers traveling to Africa and whatnot, some before their European counterparts Thing is, they never colonized Never attempted to set up a kingdom anywhere else, and while they had many nations paying tribute to them it's very different from the European way of doing things, of settling into a country and declaring it their own, attempting to change the culture It's kind of odd considering that just like Britain, China considered themselves the center of civilization literally the 'Middle Kingdom' One theory (and to me a very plausible theory for why they never colonized) is that their women couldn't travel In order to successfully colonize you need women who are at the very least mobile It's hard to even imagine what history would have been like if the Chinese had been colonizing like the Europeans Considering their technology they probably would have been the first doing it And all because an emperor had a thing for a dancer... My uncle was a deep-sea fishermen His boat was due to sail on Sunday morning and he went out with a few of his buddies on Saturday night Had a sort of 'goodbye party' since he'd be out at sea for a good long time Ended up having a few too many drinks Some dude made fun of his Hawaiian shirt... just a throwaway insult, but things escalated and he ended up getting into a bar fight Spent the night in the slammer Missed his boat the next morning Some other guy filled in for him at the last minute and they left without him He felt awful since he really needed the money Turns out it was a lucky escape The fishing boat he was supposed to be on was attacked by modern-day pirates The crew resisted and everyone on board was slaughtered The boat was later found abandoned Good thing he wore that Hawaiian shirt that night I was walking to school and got distracted by a hedgehog that ran in a bush next to me Then a huge tree branch fell in front of me Would have crushed me if I didn't get distracted by a spiky little mouse scurrying into the bushes I gave him a dead cricket the next day He took it and ran off Godspeed, spiky mouse... Hey guys, Lazy here and thank you very much for listening Well, everyone loves a good butterfly effect story, and you will voted for it on Twitter, so I hope they lived up to our expectations A huge shout out to all of my supporters on patreon, especially my biggest supporters... Thank you all so much for your support. It really helps the channel out! And if you'd like to leave a pledge as well, you can find a link to my patreon in the description below That about wraps things up for this one guys Remember to smash that like button or I'll smash you, and I'll be back again very, very soon until then, you all stay spooky... and remember: The best things happen... In the dark
