42 Moments That Made Us Go ‘This Is A Set-Up’

From contradicting information to misplaced features to snarky answers, there are some things in life that feel too coincidental to be true. Those types of moments often leave us wondering, was it planned all along?

No need to fret. Though the pain of being outplayed does sting, you can look at this list and know that you’re not alone.

“My son figured out this trick today!”

I bet she thinks that she’s not only playing, but smoking him too. Whatever helps her confidence.

“Houston…”

With a sticker like that, you’re almost asking to get flipped. If you don’t even have a “problem” option, you won’t get one! I think that’s how the world works.

“Wait, so which is it?”

“Hey, I’m lactose intolerant. Can I have this?”

“Yes and no.”

“I…I think I’ll just go with ‘no’, then…”

“Girlfriend and I got photobombed by a seagull this weekend while trying to take a self timed photo!”

This seagull saw you set the camera up and started planning. That pose, that angle, it was all thought out.

“Saw this note on the bathroom door at work.”

The only way to solve this problem is to not close the door. Do your business with it wide open. No one will bug you then.

“Our 6 year old ‘ran away’ yesterday so we told him we love him and to come back if he needs anything. He came back and took the cat.”

The one dramatic look back at the camera, this kid is already an expert in pretending his life is one long music video.

“I got my dad a pair of skis for Christmas, to scare and confuse him I wrapped them like this.”

I love that one of the goals was to “scare” him. Though I guess a gift of a giant cross is a little ominous.

“I’m a man, so as I’m leaving the restroom panic sets in, then I realize there are urinals and the bathroom door was solid wood when I came in.”

Just in case you like a side of terror with your night out, this nightmare bathroom has you covered!

“Won a bet against my boss nearly a year ago. Came into work to see that he finally paid me…in pennies.”

There’s being a sore loser, then there’s this. If you get a pay cut in the near future, you know why.

“I asked my sister to dry my pants while I got dressed.”

The only important fact here is if it worked. I don’t care if the hairdryer melted or the house burned down, but were the pants dry?

“Had to do a double take.”

Get that beach bod you’ve been wanting without any of the work with this one simple trick!

“Dave Assman was denied an ‘ASSMAN’ vanity license plate so he came up with another option.”

They might have said no to his plate, but they can’t say no to the back of his truck!

“Asked the meter maid about street parking, she said I was fine to park for the day. Went to lunch came back to find this.”

I have too much anxiety for this. I would never be able to trust anyone again.

“I thought I could trick my dog into eating food she didn’t like by mixing it in with food she does like. I was wrong.”

“You really take me for a fool? For a moron? You think I can not see or taste? I know what you tried. You will never succeed.”

“Typical day at the shop until this car rolled in.”

This has to be one of those moments that makes you think you’re dreaming. This simply should not be real.

“I don’t know who to believe.”

This is part of a secret plan to destroy microwaves across the nation.

“When someone does the got your nose joke on you for the billionth time.”

“Wow, so original. Really, it’s never been done before, I’m so impressed. Hilarious. I’m laughing.”

“This is how my friend is answering the door for trick or treaters.”

This Halloween, learn a nice life skill: how to make lemonade!

“Friend bought $600 Apple Watch off eBay and got this.”

Someone made a good point that Apple watches (at the time) went for $600 on the apple website, so on eBay they should have been cheaper. Sure, the seller is a scammer, but your friend is also…well, not the brightest.

“Apparently there was some confusion?”

Wait, you’re telling me peanuts have contained peanuts this whole time? No wonder I get a rash when I eat them, I’m allergic to them!

“A dad asked his daughter to put her bike away neatly, and came outside to this.”

I see a bright future in urban planning and development for this youngster.

“Co-worker got yelled at by a customer. Customer’s daughter felt bad and gave him this.”

I’d be willing to get yelled at by a customer if it meant a sweet gift of cookies. I’ve gotten yelled at by them at previous jobs for way less.

“My GF woke up before me and swapped herself for the dog.”

This news is either terrible or fantastic depending on your taste, but I think your girlfriend is a werewolf…well, weredog.

“Merry Christmas everyone.”

This is cruel because there’s no potential gain. It’s not roulette, it’s just all bad. No chance for redemption.

“I deliver packages for Amazon, and came across this high tech security system.”

“They’ve had this sign up for a while now. Crazy that they haven’t caught this snake.”

“How long?”

“Like, two months.”

“Came home from work today to this.”

I don’t see an issue here. If anyone deserves the center stage, it’s your cat in a dapper outfit.

Wow, we only have to pay half price for this sandwich? What a deal…oh.

Yeah, it turns out that whatever company this is apparently isn’t too interested in having repeat customers. I can only imagine how many of their product reviews are written in all caps.

This is pretty awesome, but it’s also a great way to startle anybody who catches it out of the corner of their eye.

As the uploader put it, “Thought my neighbors were laughing at me in the parking lot.”

Honestly, that was better than my knee-jerk impression, which was that they were screaming at us instead.

Sorry, Wendy’s, but I’m not sure that enticing new employees works quite like The Price Is Right.

I guess I can give them some credit for having the less terrifying mascot out of the two, though. The sass just never stops with them.

This picture was taken after the uploader heard someone talking loudly outside their window.

And considering what that person turned out to be talking into, I can only guess that this was some bizarre trolling campaign.

It’s a new spin on a classic, that’s for sure.

I’d be curious to know how well this actually works.

After all, even if you knew that some of the police vehicles out there weren’t real, would you gamble on the chance of not getting a ticket here?

Personally, I just know that my luck is bad enough that the one time I was 100% sure I was passing by a cut-out, I’d soon see flashing lights behind me.

If they really want to play mind games with people, they should have this randomly flash every now and then. Ugh, why am I giving them ideas?

Max here is apparently a very friendly cat, but can we really trust that about him?

Because from the looks of it, he was only waiting for this person to let their guard down and turn their back on him before a sudden betrayal.

That’s why I’m going to say, “I’m onto you” to the next cat I see. Honestly, it was probably going to look at me like I’m an idiot anyway.

I’m starting to suspect that somebody moved this box just to make whoever put this sign up look stupid.

They must have a good view of this desk, too. After all, what’s the point of this if you can’t watch someone get increasingly frustrated as they read 50 “maybe put the box in the right place” suggestions?

This young man somehow got stuck on this swing, so the uploader reacted like a good brother would.

And by that, he apparently meant that he moved the hose underneath him so this would happen. It’s such an inspiring example of brotherly love.

Since we’re nowhere near Halloween, I suspect this driver knew exactly what they were doing.

It takes a pretty daring soul to prank the cops, but at least these two seemed to have a good sense of humor about it.

Sometimes, we can find ourselves on the wrong side of a set up by an entire tourism board.

Sure, they may entice us with this picturesque view of Mount Fuji, but my own experience of traveling to scenic mountains tells me its more likely to look like the top photo when you actually get there.

Basically, if I didn’t get to see a sheep bully a guy for his sandwich, going up Mount Snowdon in Wales would’ve been a total waste of time for this reason.

OK, I think somebody needs to have a talk with their marketing department because this makes no sense at all.

Not only do I want to know on what planet these are considered hamburger buns, but I’m having a pretty hard time believing there are 12 of them in there unless this package is way taller than I think.

The way this is presented, it definitely seems like somebody’s trying very hard to make us not notice this is an onion.

I think there are at least a few people in this world who would actually eat an onion like an apple and I want one of them to come along just to wreck this person’s little trick.

“My wife loves to take a nap whenever possible. Her mom and grandma are in town to visit and now I can see where she gets it from!”

Your wife in the middle has denim on, that’s how you know she’s a pro napper. And grandma with shoes still on? She’s honed her napping skills for decades.

“We have a Blue Football field. It confuses out of towners.”

If he believes hard enough, it could start to feel like water under his feet…

“My girlfriend’s going to kill me when she grabs her lunch in the morning.”

Or she’ll just think you’re on some really weird fad diet. Like keto but you can only eat rotted human flesh.

“I replaced a picture of my sister with one of Vladimir Putin before Christmas, family hasn’t noticed yet.”

Either she hasn’t noticed, or there’s a new member of the family that hasn’t been shared yet…