Meaning of 〜たら in 好きな人に告白したら、サインを貰いました


> 好きな人に告白したら、サインを貰いました。(This comes from a manga)

I get the gist of the sentence, in that it means something like "I confessed
to the person I like, but I received his signature instead" or "Even though I
confessed to the person I like, I received his signature instead". Any idea on
how to interpret the use of 〜たら here? Because I don't think that's a
conditional sentence.




～たら Can also be used as "when" which it seems like it would work here.

> 仕事についたら連絡して。  
>  学校が終わったら、お願いします。

If/when in English are so clear cut and used to contracts situations, it's
hard to wrap your head around them sometimes. For translation purposes, there
are many times when it's either. One of my favorites which is very common is
when someone may or may not join you later (usually not): 行けたらいく. I'll go when
I can. I'll go if I can. Either works.

