Kate Hackett
A “butterfly effect” is defined as a phenomenon in which a small change impacts a much larger system via a series of interconnected events. Some small thing you do today reverberates so far that it influences the world in years to come. It’s kind of a mind-bend to think about and that’s why people love to think about it!
We combed an AskReddit thread from u/PM_Me_Pierced_Labia in which they asked:
“What small action did you take that you later realized had ‘butterfly effect’ that turned into something much more important?”
Some of the best replies are below!
1. Turned right
I turned right down a hallway I’d never been down before in college instead of taking my usual exit. Saw a job posting. Got the job. Met a girl at said job. 30 years together this coming July. Two grown daughters living their lives. Right instead of straight out the door did that.
2. New job
I was waiting tables at a restaurant and I picked up a shift on my day off.
During that shift one of my friends who recently quit came in to get his last check, so I got talking with him and asked about his new job, then asked if they were hiring, which they were.
He set me up with an interview, I got hired and trained on how to use CAD, and after being there for four years I got hired at a bigger company making more….which is where I still am today.
3. Holy sh*t!
A while back I took a retirement planning course to ensure that I would be able to stop working in ten year’s time.
I told my boss what I learned, and told him that he was probably well set to go anytime he liked. He said he hadn’t thought about it, and asked me to book him for the course. Two months later, after taking the course, he rage retired, due to being fed up with how upper management was handling things.
They moved a guy in from a different state to take his job. A month into the new guy being there, he hit and killed a pedestrian while driving to work.
My desire for a financially sound retirement led to someone losing their life.
4. Spouse!
Signed up for the Duke of Edinburgh award even though I didn’t really want to. On the expedition in the Lake District, all the different groups met at the same campsites. That’s where I met my now-husband.
5. Interrupted a suicide
I sent a very dear friend of mine a stupid meme and he called me a few minutes later to tell me that I unwillingly interrupted a suicide attempt and saved his life. He’s doing better now.
6. One Reddit Post
This past summer I commented on an AskReddit about a small donation that I made to a charity that supports foster children and young adults who have aged out of the foster system. Redditors from around the world saw my comment and made hundred of thousands of dollars in donations to the charity, allowing kids’ wishes to be fulfilled.
Reddit visitors caused the charity’s web site to crash, so Redditors with tech talent worked with the charity to make the site more resilient.
I’ve never been happier to witness the goodness in people.
7. Stomachache
My coworker’s family lived in Oklahoma City when she was younger. The daycare she went to was in the federal building that was bombed in 1995. That day her mom dropped her off at the daycare and headed to work. Her mom said she had a stomach ache and decided to call into work so she turned around and picked up her daughter from daycare then headed home. The bombing happened shortly after at around 9am
8. Chance doctor
My younger brother broke his leg and saw a podiatrist afterwards. The podiatrist saw my crazy feet in sandals and insisted my Mom make me an appointment with him. From there I had prescription orthotics, multiple surgeries and now my feet and hips aren’t so messed up- this all started nearly 30 years ago. And thank goodness it did!
9. Married her
My grandpa was diagnosed with terminal cancer a few years ago. When he called me to tell me he only had 6 months to live I stopped at the liquor store on my way home and bought a bottle of gin. My roommate came home shortly after and we drank for hours laughing, crying and sharing deep personal stories about our lives with one another.
Drunk, confident, and armed with the knowledge that we could die at any time I went in for a kiss. I was surprised she reciprocated and after that night we began dating. My grandpa died before our wedding, but I attribute the beautiful life that I have now to him.
10. One favor
In early 1998 a friend of mine was working for an ISP and his boss asked him to set up an IRC server for a customer (who turned out to be Epic UK). He didn’t know how to do it so he asked if I wouldn’t mind doing it for him and just keeping an eye on things until the customer can take over. Took me about 15 minutes to set the thing up, made myself an Oper then I just hung out on that server for a while and just made sure the handful of people using it behaved themselves
Anyway, fast forward a couple of months and I’m dropping out of University, his boss is impressed enough by what I did for that customer that he offers me a job which was my first full time IT job – he took a chance on a University dropout and I’ll never forget it. Learned a ton working there, gave me the foundation I needed to go to bigger things. I stayed on that server too, ended up getting pretty close to a few people. One day I met a girl on there and we got talking. 18 months later I jumped on a plane and moved to the USA to start a new life and marry her. It’s been 22 years and we’ve got three kids now and are still happily married.
One quick favor for a friend changed my whole life.
11. Football game
My mom made me go to a football game for my school when I was in the 8th grade. I didn’t want to go but I eventually caved and went. I ended up talking to a random person, and down the road he became my best friend. My friend introduced me to another friend, who introduced me to yet another friend. That friend eventually set me up on a date with my future wife. Now I’m married with kids. Who knows what would have happened if I didn’t go to that game.
12. Copied me
Not me, but at college orientation twelve years ago, a boy came into my orientation group late because he had changed his major to the same as mine last minute. He copied my class schedule because he was late, and now he’s my husband.
13. Late for school
I was due to leave for school one morning but decided last minute that I needed the toilet, a bus crashed into the area where I would have been walking had I not turned back. My mum’s annoyance at me for stalling going to school instantly turned to relief.
Turns out the driver of the bus had a heart attack at the wheel and crashed into the buildings across the road from where I lived. From what I remember no one was seriously injured but am unsure if the driver made it.
14. Beryllium!
About 12 years ago, I pushed some electronics suppliers in China to get beryllium out of our products (I work in tech). I was the only one talking about it and nobody even knew it was used in electronic materials aside from the metallurgists that made connectors and a few other specialty materials (Im a materials scientist with a penchant for sustainability). Fast forward to now and skipping some other advocacy work, Apple is now advertising their products as beryllium free (Google it), several other companies have eliminated it and it’s one of the points in EPEAT (the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) used by most of the PC industry to prove sustainable engineering. I figure that’s my little contribution to making the world a better place for a lot of people. If you are wondering, beryllium is an ultra potent carcinogenic metal.
15. One dispatch
I worked in a 911 center.
I dispatched an ambulance for a call taken by my colleague. A man was found unconscious and not breathing. People on scene called 911 and started CPR with AED use.
That dispatch was maybe 10 seconds on the radio. “Respond to <location> for a male unconscious, not breathing. CPR in progress. AED on scene.” The dispatch was routine and obviously something important but a very small action.
The large majority of people found unconscious and not breathing do not survive CPR. He did.
The large majority of those who survive CPR have significant mental and/or physical impairment. He didn’t.
He got to talking with doctors at the hospital where he was treated. Those doctors perform a lot of charity work for poor patients brought in from overseas by NGOs.
The patient, as it turns out, is a cardiothoracic surgeon who is a medical director for an entire hospital. He apparently offered to bring the doctors who saved his life to his hospital to train on additional techniques. That would allow them to offer even more lifesaving care to the world’s poorest of the poor.
I have often thought about if that offer of training was taken up and fulfilled. I have wondered if it did. And my hope is that in doing so my one little dispatch may play a role is saving not just the life of this one patient but also lives of many more.
16. Called in sick
I was working till 11pm at a restaurant managing. The midnight shift girl called in sick so I had yo pull a double. Around 5:30am a man came in with his daughter. We talked a bit and he told me to apply with his property management company. I did, got the job in feb 2020 (got out of the restaurant business just before covid) moved, met the love of my life, got married, found a stray husky that is now mine. All because the girl called in sick.
17. By the skin of your teeth
I was taking a very important exam, and I was debating on two possible answers. I wrote down A, and at the last moment before turning in the exam I used white out and wrote down B instead. The answer was A. I was devastated.
When I got my exam back, it turned out that because the white out was so last minute it wasn’t dry. The paper on top of mine rubbed it off so my answer remained A.
That question was worth 3 points. I got into my dream school with just 2 points over the line. If I had lost that question I would be going to an entirely different and lower rated school.
