People Share What New 'Surprises' The Roaring 2020s Could Bring That Wouldn't Faze Them

Ashley Hunte
The number 2020 made of wood, being set aflame on a black background.
Unsplash | Evie S.

A few years ago, I used to see a lot of people online joke about how we're about to enter the "roaring '20s" of the 21st Century. But these past few years have been... well, not so great. For a number of reasons.

So when Reddit was asked what events wouldn't surprise them if they happened now (during the 2020s), people came up with some creative, yet surprisingly realistic answers.

"Landsharks." - sd_glokta

A great white shark swimming under water.
Unsplash | David Clode

I don't know what a landshark is, and I kind of don't want to know. If they're anything like sharks that swim in the ocean, well...

To be honest, they can't be any worse than what we're dealing with now.

"The Hunger Games become reality." - monkeyworld_M

Effie Trinket from The Hunger games saying "and may the odds be ever in your favor."
Giphy

Yeah, I'm not gonna lie here. We might not be approaching a Hunger Games situation (yet), but I wouldn't be surprised if we ever got to that point.

"If we [sic] the world ran out of a very specific food like apples, peanuts, etc.." - No_Owl8236

A basket filled with various fruits, such as grapes and apples.
Unsplash | Jonas Kakaroto

Funny enough, this actually seems pretty realistic. And sad. But what with climate change, I'd be surprised if we made it out of the decade with all our produce intact.

"Fungi zombie apocalypse." - TheDoorDoesntWork

A zombie emerging from the ground.
Giphy

Do I want a zombie apocalypse? No. I don't see anyone who would. But at this point, adding another disease to the mix probably wouldn't phase me.

"Celebrities could start giving their babies plastic surgery and I wouldn’t be surprised." - GothTwinkie

A woman sitting. Blue lines on her face mark where surgery is going to take place.
Unsplash | Joeyy Lee

This is really sad to think about, but with the amount of people obsessing over beauty and looking young for as long as possible, this feels like something that could realistically start happening.

"Considering how much more powerful James Webb is, I wouldn't be surprised if it were to locate other planets exhibiting signs of life." - metrogenics

Talk head guy says it was aliens.
Giphy | Sky HISTORY UK

Here's hoping the 2020s don't bring us just doom and gloom. Finding life on other planets would be so awesome! Or, maybe a little terrifying. Who knows...

"Geomagnetic pole reversal." - AccessibleBeige

A model of the Earth spinning.
Giphy | performance.io

"It's a completely natural phenomenon and wouldn't obliterate life on earth or anything, but the world would be somewhat f'ed for a while until the poles settled."

I... don't want to think about that too much.

"World peace." - Onewondershow

A person holding a red cloth that reads, "peace on earth."
Giphy | America's Got Talent

Now that would be a shock no one saw coming. What if we woke up one day, and literally all of the world's problems were gone?

At this point, though, it feels like anything is possible.

"Jurassic Park is real and dinosaurs escape captivity from some unknown island in the Pacific." - macaronsforeveryone

Dinosaurs running in a grassy field next to an armoured vehicle.
Giphy

Why do I feel like the world's billionaires are probably secretly trying to revive dinosaurs for their own amusement...? As if Jurassic Park hasn't taught us why that's a monumentally horrible idea.

"The moon just... disappearing one day." - Philodendritic

A closeup of the moon in the sky.
Giphy

I could totally picture the moon thinking, "I've had enough of this planet and its stupidity," and then just peacing out one day. It would be disastrous for our planet, but that's not the moon's problem anymore!

"MTV starts playing music videos 24/7." - martusfine

A loop of the MTV logo spinning, multiplying, and moving around.
Giphy | Nicole Ruggiero

With the amount of people wishing to go back to the '80s and '90s, this wouldn't be that surprising. Especially if MTV made their channel a music channel again because they were moving their shows to streaming exclusively.

"Quick sand finally becomes an issue that the child version of me was preparing for all those many years ago." - zombielunch

A woman sinking into quicksand.
Giphy | YoungerTV

You know what? Climate change is already messing the planet up, so it's probably going to cause quicksand to randomly form in the strangest places. Because why not.

"Either a full scale demonic invasion, or the discovery/creation of Godzilla." - Doppioisbestboi1

Godzilla clapping in a desolate field.
Giphy

Yeah, I'd buy either of those scenarios. We've had so much stuff thrown at us these past few years, that adding demons or a giant monster to the mix probably wouldn't shake things up too much more.

"America decides to do The Purge." - AlienSpaceJesus

People standing, looking up at a camera while wearing creepy Purge masks.
Giphy | The Forever Purge

I think the worst part about the Purge is the fact that there are a shocking amount of people who would absolutely jump at the chance to commit any crime they wanted to for one night...

"Elvis is alive." - julieisarockstar

Elvis singing on a stage with his name written in lights behind him.
Giphy | Elvis Presley

If Elvis were still alive today, he'd be 87 years old. So it wouldn't be totally impossible for him to have been alive secretly this whole time, but still not very likely.

But, yeah. Wouldn't even phase me.

"Cthulhu showing up to claim us all as his minions." - ImpossibleHandle4

A large sea monster attacking people.
Giphy | aiptcomics

The ocean is a pretty big place, and we don't know a lot about it. So would Cthulhu come out of nowhere and start attacking us for messing up the ocean be that surprising? Probably not.

"Bigfoot coming out of hiding to ask us WTF is going on." - supereri

The famous clip of Bigfoot walking in the woods while turning back to look toward the camera.
Giphy

Maybe we'll get to the point where every myth and story we were told growing up (and in adulthood) starts coming to life. Like, it feels like literally anything is possible at this point.

"I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but on multiple occasions I've thought that if I were trying to prepare humanity to accept intelligent alien life visiting us..." - Bosticles

Charlie Day in front of conspiracy board.
Giphy

"...I'd probably bombard the human race with every [expletive] crazy [expletive] scenario that exists so they that they'd be so exhausted they wouldn't care.

"6 years ago my brain would have melted seeing aliens, but at this point if aliens showed up I'd probably shrug and turn the news off."

Is it bad that this almost makes sense to me?

"Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup." - Death_Balloons

A guy wearing a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey, looking disappointed while sitting in a stadium.
Giphy | NHL

Or really, any sports team that has a pretty rough track record. This is their time to surprise the sports world and take home some trophies!

And they probably still won't do it...

"Owl attack. Parliaments of owls start launching organized attacks on humans. It’ll be like The Birds but with owls." - LocalInactivist

An owl with wide eyes, tilting its head.
Giphy | Honda

Of all the things that could go wrong on this planet, owl invasion isn't something on the front of my mind. But at the same time, literally nothing surprises me anymore. So, yeah.