[Serious] Have you ever had an experience, positive or negative, with a complete stranger that changed your life? If so, what interaction occurred and what lasting impact did it have?

This isn't particularly meaningful, but I'd say it's had an impact on my life.

Went out to a bar with a friend one night, not thinking much of anything. He ended up wandering around flirting with absolutely everyone. He liked to cast a wide net. All of his interactions were making me cringe, so I sat at the bar, had a drink, then texted him telling him I was gonna head home, and he could text me if he needed directions back to my place.

The instant I shot off the text, I felt a tap on my shoulder, turned around, and this woman I'd never met before said, "It's my birthday!" She gave me a big hug, and I had no idea what was going on, but she was cute, so I reciprocated the hug. She was definitely not just drunk, she seemed weirdly obsessed with rubbing the hair on the back of my neck.

Anyway, wished her a happy birthday and offered to buy her a drink, but her friend had her covered. We chatted briefly, she was visiting a friend in town, she kept claiming I looked like a few actors that are irrefutably much better looking than me, and then she went back to her friends, but not before another hug and a lingering arm rub.

I felt emboldened by the encounter, so I decided to stay at the bar and get one more drink, totally forgetting the text I sent my friend and even the fact that he was there.

Moment later, tap on the shoulder, I turn and see her, she says, "Do you have a girlfriend?"

"No."

"Awesome."

She basically head-butted me, tongue first. This kinda thing never really happened to me, so I just rolled with it while we made out for a while. After a few minutes, the kiss broke, and she headed back to her friends. I stuck around until last call and managed to find my friend.

We walked outside, and she was there, and she came up to hug me. I asked her what she was up to for the rest of the night, and she said, suggestively, that she didn't know. I knew she wanted me to invite her back to my place.

My place, however, was an absolute wreck. I hadn't so much as straightened up in weeks.

Being too self-conscious about my apartment, I parted ways with her there, and vowed from that point forward that if I was ever going out, and if there were even the most mind-boggingly remote chance I could potentially, by some stretch of the imagination, meet a woman, I would make sure my apartment was immaculate before hand.

Couple months later, I was going out on a date with a woman I'd never met before, and I had absolutely no expectation of anything happening, but I spent a bunch of time tidying and cleaning anyway. Went to the date, mostly feeling indifferent, but I hit it off with the woman, and I felt comfortable inviting her back to my place because I knew it was clean, and a few years later, my apartment is now a mess again, but it's mostly her fault.

So the birthday girl at the bar that was probably on drugs inspired me to clean my room before going out from then on, which in turn made me feel extra comfortable on a first date some time later, which in turn netted me a super messy girlfriend.

/r/AskReddit Thread