Temper tantrums are something we expect from toddlers; they don't always have the language skills to express what they need, and they don't have as much experience being told "No". Most adults, though, should have plenty of skill in both areas.
However, we've all seen that one person who was being a jerk to a cashier or server who had to tell them no, usually for something outside of their control. Sometimes it gets more extreme, and they seem to lose all sense of human decency. They usually manage to make complete fools of themselves while they're at it, which is some small compensation to those who have to deal with their abuse.
Redditor AriaStars asked the question:
"What's the worst adult tantrum you've ever witnessed?"
User responses did not disappoint. Whether because of an overinflated sense of entitlement, or simple lack of emotional regulation, these truly epic temper tantrums show that not every adult has their act together.
Some responses have been edited for content/clarity.
Actions Have Consequences
Giphy
I saw my 21 year old cousin toss his monitor out a second story window because of a video game, then proceed to cry about tossing a $300 screen out a window. Was pretty amusing.
We Know How You Are, That's Why You're Fired
Guy at work got fired for being an a--hole after he was told 3 times to stop being one. He lost it when he was informed he was being let go. That they "knew who he was and how he was" and that he wasn't being an a--hole and that everyone was an a--hole to him. Then he started crying about how he was going to die because he wouldn't be able to feed his family to finally as he walked past my desk went into a tirade about how it was my fault he was getting fired (I never once complained about him) we worked well together, or so I thought, come to find out later he was threatened by me and had been underhandedly talking sh!t about me. I was oblivious about it since most people didn't let me know and had gone to HR on my behalf.
On his way out he started throwing items off of people's desks yelling and crying and finally kicked the glass door shattering the glass.
Last I heard he was still unemployed, as our field is a pretty small world.
Not So Shady Cakes
Giphy
I worked in a cupcake shop for a year and people get way angrier about these stupid tiny cakes than you'd believe. My favorite story is about a woman who came in to pick up an order that she placed for blue gender reveal cupcakes.
On her order sheet, it said blue frosting, but didn't specify a shade, so we chose a light blue since it was for a baby shower. When she came to pick it up she was furious that it was "aqua" and not "baby blue".
The manager offered to make her new cupcakes with lighter frosting for free. The process of mixing frosting doesn't involve touching or coming close to it, so he wasn't wearing gloves. As he was stirring the dye into the frosting, she said she didn't want it anymore since he was making it with his "filthy disgusting hands".
She proceeded to throw the box with the initial order at the counter, and seeing that it didn't do much, she picked up the individual cupcakes and threw them at the ground and toward the register.
When we tried to give her a refund we asked for the last four digits of her card number to confirm it. She refused, saying she wasn't going to share that personal information in front of "all these people"... two high school cashiers and one manager.
Edit: I wasn't the one who gave her the refund and if it was up to me I wouldn't have. The store manager gave her a refund because he wanted to avoid her making an even bigger scene.
Road Rage
I got on a bus at 5pm, the whole bus was filled with people trying to go home from work. As the bus pulled out, the woman in a car behind us must have felt she had been cut off. So she pulled up beside the bus and started yelling at the bus driver through the window. Then pulled her car in front of the bus and got out to yell some more. The bus driver couldn't drive away and suddenly the police showed up. We all had to get off the bus and wait for another bus or find another way home. I decided to walk down to the ferry so I had to walk past the woman that caused this and I stared at her trying to understand how she could justify screwing up the commute of so many people.
Crocodile Tears
I had a roommate in college who spent money lavishly and liked to buy clothes, wear them once or twice with the tags on, then return them. One time we were at Target doing some grocery shopping and she tried to return a few dresses she had worn. One had a large stain on it and she didn't have the receipt or tags for the others. The cashier said he couldn't take them because they had clearly been damaged. She spent the next 30 minutes crying HYSTERICALLY while he tried to ignore her and check out other people. She sat on the bench outside of the Starbucks (that was inside the store), facing the cashier, and just stared at him while crying. It was so embarrassing and I begged her to stop and just leave with me.
Eventually I said I would go sit in the car, and she grabbed me and said "it's not real, I'm not really that upset. I know how to cry on cue." That really freaked me out, how she stopped so suddenly to tell me that, then started up wailing again. I apologized to the security guard who said he couldn't put hands on her to remove her but had to insist she leave. She kept trying to get other customers to look at her and "see what they're doing to me?" She sat outside the store for another 10 or so minutes doing this. It was ridiculous. I couldn't apologize enough to everyone there, but I sure tried. Thankfully we only had 2 months left of living together, but I'm pretty sure that was a usual thing for her to do. Haven't spoken to her since I moved out.
EDIT: On the way back to our dorms, she did say she would return again another week to try with another cashier, and she did. She got the return. I wonder if she did the same thing again and they just gave in. I refused to go with her anywhere after that, but I'm sure she still does that to get what she wants
No Chicken Bacon Ranch For You
Giphy
Don't know about "worst," but I went to a Subway in a gas station (I was hungry, and, never again). The women behind the counter were definitely not happy to be there, and one of them was just absolutely raging to anyone that would listen about how her boyfriend had done f**ked up, and she was going to go home and stab him as soon as she saw him, and that she had been in jail before, and she was fine with going back again.
All of this, she's just alternately yelling this stuff and screaming, all while people are trying to place their orders. So, it was basically like:
"Hi, I'd like to order a chicken --"
YEAH I DON'T CARE WHAT HE SAYS I'M GONNA CUT HIM THE F**K UP
"--bacon ranch, on--"
I DONE BEEN TO JAIL ONCE I'M OK WITH GOING BACK
"--wheat, please, toasted, and --"
HE will AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Your Pizza Doesn't Need Its Own Seat
I was on the bus once and a guy was sitting in the front at the handicap seats, with a pizza in the seat next to him. The bus wasn't crowded when he got on, so whatever, but it quickly filled up and he did not move his pizza nor himself.
Eventually the bus is packed and someone finally asks, "hey, can you move that pizza so I can sit down?"
He doesn't even look up, just says "F**K YOU. No."
So they ask again, and being close to the front the driver says, "you need to move to allow them a seat. That is handicap seating"
"F**k you, too"
Bus is pulled over, and the driver opens the doors. She asks him to move again, he says no again. Doors stay open, she's fussing with the buttons on top and asking for police.
He makes a stink and tells her to move along. She's got her hands folded neatly on the wheel just staring at the road, "not until the police take you off my bus".
He tantrums for a few, but finally does a "f**k this shit" and storms off. As soon as he's off the last step, doors close and bus is back on its way.
I always admired how she just waited. She knew she didn't need to put up with his garbage, and I'm glad I got to see her wait him out.
Have A Nice Day
I worked at an optical store. A man came in with 10 year old nasty glasses (green nose pads that probably weren't changed in the decade he had them). He throws them on the table as the arm came off and demanded we replace them. I told him they weren't under warranty and we don't carry those glasses (not sure if he even bought them from us). Best I can do is solder them for him to get him by but he won't be able to close them and they will be discolored since I was heating them up. Well after a full on tantrum he says fine.
When he comes back to pick them up my coworker dealt with him because she saw how pissed I was. She gives him the glasses and he is pissed they aren't closing and are discoloured (both of which he was told about). He ends up finally leaving and as he is walking out my coworker says "have a nice day". His response was to throw one of our chairs across the room...
We are in Canada. If he needed glasses and couldn't afford them there are government programs in place to get new ones...not sure that was his case but just saying there was no reason to get so upset about old glasses.
Edit: The coverage varies by provinces for low income earners. Some provinces do not cover it.
Computer Says No
Giphy
I was at DFW a few years back to fly home. I went to the self service kiosks to print a boarding pass. As I'm waiting to use one, I notice this woman nearly screaming at several employees who were trying to calm her down. She kept saying her flight was about to board and they were going to make her miss it and she wasn't going to do that so they better figure things out. I mean she was pissed.
The employees kept trying to help her but she insisted on typing everything in herself and it kept being unable to pull up her reservation and she wouldn't show the employees her confirmation email because she kept telling them it was their "stupid f**king machine" and they needed to fix it.
Finally an employee talks her into showing him the email. He looks at it as she is still yelling that her flight is boarding in ten minutes and he says, "Ma'am you're supposed to be flying out of Love Field, not this airport."
At this point I'm finished with what I'm doing but I did hear the woman start crying and the first words out of her mouth were, "Well what are you going to do about it?"
Because I'm sure in her mind it was their fault she can't read what airport she belongs at. I have luckily not witnessed too many people treat employees horribly at places, but this one was fantastic because the woman being so horrible had completely screwed up everything all by herself.
There's A Proper Shape?
I watched a grown woman b!tch at a teenager in a Sheetz because her chicken tenders weren't the right shape. She stomped her feet and angrily walked out, trying to slam a door that was on a closer. Then when it wouldn't slam, she opened it and shoved it real hard to try to get it to slam, but the closer prevented it.
So for like 15-20 seconds she was basically in a fight with a door. Like her body was flailing about and her hair was whipping around as she was trying to get this door to slam.
Eventually she gave up and left. The teenager and I just kind of stared at each other in disbelief. She didn't ask for her money back, or another order, she just stomped out, chicken tenderless.
The chicken tender box was opened and left on the counter, while I am no chicken tender-from a gas station connoisseur, they pretty much looked like a standard shaped chicken tender.
Wow...just wow.
My 24 year old sister couldn't find her hairbrush so she completely thrashed the house, accused everyone of stealing her hair brush, said she couldn't use anyone else's because she has lice which no one knew she hadlice, almost broke my Grandmas antique piano, broke glass on the floor, called my dad inappropriate slurs, called my mom a c**t even though she wasn't home or had anything to do with it, and then found her brush in the corner of her room and laughed over how extreme she acted while everyone else was still getting over just witnessing a 24 year old grown adult destroy the house and scream slurs at the top of her lungs.
No Cheese For You
Giphy
I used to work at a fast food pizza place, and one of our regulars threw a 15 minute long piss fit because he couldn't get extra cheese for free. He left, only to come back 5 minutes later and screamed demanding a refund for the pizza he ALREADY ATE because of it. Meanwhile I'm just in the back making dough like :I and my manager is threatening to call the cops if he doesn't leave. Never wanted to work that shift again knowing he went there regularly. smh
It's The Electric Kind
Worked for an electrical supply store for years. We mainly serve professionals, but open to anyone, cause money is money amirite? We were open m-f, but open Saturday mornings till 2, because residential stuff. We had a 100k sq ft warehouse. I had probably 10k different SKUs for different light bulbs. The most terrifying request I could get was "I need a light bulb". This weekend in question I was acting manager. Lady gets huffy cause line is long (we took orders and picked em, so it can take a minute). Anyway she steps up, and says the magic words, "I need a light bulb". In order to answer, I need wattage voltage etc. When I ask what kind, I'm told quite loudly "I don't know, its the electric kind you idiot".
Yes ma'am. Go grab a 1000w metal halide [think parking lot light] and bring it back. Say that will be 200 bucks. Started screaming about how its not what she needed. Admittedly my reply of "its the electric kind you idiot" was not the smartest, but I couldn't help myself. Monday was interesting in the boss's office.
Can't Really Blame Him
Worked at taco bell when I was younger, middle aged mom came in and threw a fit, called the cashier a brainless idiot who will never succeed in life and demanded a refund.
All because he gave her the wrong change amount back. He was new and just a kid, working his first job. He didn't come back the next day.
Self Awareness Comes Eventually
Giphy
Worked at Papa Murphy's in high school. A guy came in one evening and ordered a pizza. He asked how long it would take and my supervisor told him it shouldn't take more than five minutes. The guy looked a little surprised but said he would be back in a little bit because he had something to pick up next door. A while later he returns to pick the pizza up and upon seeing that the pizza wasn't baked he flips out and demands a refund. He even yelled out "Who the hell doesn't bake their pizzas?" Immediately after he looks up to see the sign, "Handmade. Home baked" to which he then retorted, "Well, I guess I'M the a-hole".
Beagle Is Disappointed By Your Lack Of Planning
Pet store not too long ago. It's an unusually long line for a weekday, and there's only one person checking people out. There was a lady in front of me who was buying some things for dogs - treats, toys, etc.
She asked the cashier if they had any Royal Canin food for Beagles in the back because there weren't any on the shelves. Side note: I have 2 dogs - I buy them "good food" (not the cheapest and worst), but I really don't see how breed-specific food is necessary. But hey, to each his (her) own.
The cashier radios to another employee asking them to check stock. A few seconds later, the employee answers and says they don't at the moment, but there should be some coming on the next truck, which was the next day. This lady was SO not okay with that.
She replies to the cashier in a pretty nasty tone and says things like "I thought this was a pet supply store" and "WHAT IS MY DOG SUPPOSED TO EAT TONIGHT?!" She asked the cashier the latter question multiple times and y'all, bless the cashier's soul. This woman deserved an award for keeping it together while this lady tore into her about them not having breed-specific Royal Canin food.
Meanwhile, I was definitely not helping because I was laughing from how ridiculous it all was. "WHAT IS MY DOG SUPPOSED TO EAT TONIGHT?!" I wanted to say, "I don't know, maybe a filet mignon?"
The lady checking out had brought a "regular" bag of food up there, and the cashier had already scanned it. Once she threw her tantrum, she told the cashier that she decided to not get the "regular" food because "she didn't want to risk it". (??)
Some people have no poise.
Also, forgive my ignorance if there really is some solid logic to breed-specific food. I've just never been in a scenario where I've needed to know about it, if there even is one.
It's All Your Fault
Back when I worked for a bank, we had a customer who would come in every day to buy fifty dollars' worth of dimes. Dimes minted before 1964 are 90% silver, so his thing was combing through dimes looking for silver ones that he could sell. Supposedly, he made decent money doing this.
At one point, he'd had a streak of failures, and had been getting more and more frustrated with us on a daily basis. Surely we were giving him new dimes on purpose, and saving the old ones for ourselves! Fifty dollars worth of dimes and not a single one minted before the 90s! This all came to a head one day when I gave him his tray of dimes as usual, and he insisted on ripping open a roll right in front of me. Not a single silver dime to be found, so he screamed "YOU'RE F**KING HOLDING OUT ON ME!" and threw the rest of the tray at my head. He didn't hit me, but the remaining rolls of dimes hit the wall behind me hard enough that most of them popped open. I would've been hurt pretty badly had I been hit.
He was banned from the bank.
I Forbid You To Save Me Money
Giphy
Work in pharmacy. So every day I see adult tantrums. But one stands out more than the others.
Lady comes in every 45 days or so to pick up her Norco, and based on the directions we have to bill for a 25 day supply to the insurance. Well her insurance says they will only cover it if she makes it last 30. So I call the doc to get the ok to say "must last 30 days" on the bottle. The approve, I bill through insurance, and save her about $130.
She gets to the register, and as I'm patting myself on the back for doing a good thing, I walk over and tell her the good news, that it's now a 30 day supply, and since it's through insurance it's $0 copay instead of ~$130. I explain that since she's been picking up every 45 days or so, she won't even notice the difference.
Lo and behold, I have saved the devil herself reincarnated $130, and proceed to have her scream at me for 5 minutes about how she only wants me to fill what the doctor says (despite me getting the doctors approval). She mentions how she always has problems with us (but still comes back) and was screaming so loud at me that all the managers in the store could hear her, even on the opposite side of the building.
Proceeded to change it back to the original 25 day supply, charged her $130, and then spent the rest of my day wondering what it must be like to have the disposable income to just drop $130 unnecessarily.
Nobody Does
Grown woman (between 50-60) gets on the train and proceeds to start hysterically crying. Screaming at the top of her lungs that she did not want to go to work. Her shrieks were so loud they penetrated through my noise cancelling headphones. Mind you this was at 6:45 in the morning. This continued until 8 stops later (the stop before I got off) she wiped her face and got off the train as if it never happened. The entire train car as well as myself looked at each other completely bewildered. I'd like to say only in New York but in this crazy world we live in I would not be surprised if this was a common occurrence in other places.
That woman just vocalized what everyone commuting to work that morning was thinking.
It Was What She Deserved, But Probably Not What She Wanted
Giphy
Woman I work with was absolutely awful at her job. She was bad with people, bad with the paperwork. Just overall a really sh!tty person. So she was fired. The day of, she stormed in on each persons individual shifts and screamed at them. Then no one heard from her again until it was time for her to collect her final paycheck.
Now when she was fired, she had the option of working out the rest of the week - that way we didn't have to pay severance. She chose not to come in. So her paycheck was significantly lower than she thought. She freaked out. Dropped to the floor and started crying.
Said that because she didn't show up for her last 3 days it means she quit, not that she was fired, therefore we owe her more money. She only left when I threatened to call the cops.
My manager was on maternity leave but still came in from time to time do payroll and stuff, so the woman who was fired decided to go and break into my managers house and try to kidnap her newborn baby until my manager made sure that crazy lady gets the money "she deserves".
She was arrested. Haven't seen her since.
"I've experienced two."
I've experienced two.
A customer called my bank and asked me to look up his account.. except he didn't have his account nor debit card number. He wanted to use his SSN. Since I work at a branch and not the call center, this was a huge privacy violation and generally a huge no-no (our lines are not recorded so we cannot use an SSN to look up an account over the phone). I tell him this and he tells me that he's blind, what is he to do?
I tell him to call the customer service line instead, since they can look up his account number, and as an alternative, I offer to walk him through finding his account # in the app, which does have accessibility settings that would make it possible for him to retrieve it. IMMEDIATELY this troglodyte starts yelling at me that I'm "discriminating against him because he's blind!" And that I "hate the disabled!!" And I "HAVE" to accept his social. I don't budge, because he's a rude idiot and he threatens to sue and is angry that he "is still talking to me" when he asked for a manager. Now, my manager was busy, but I would have loved to transfer the call over to him because he would have ripped this jerk a new assh***.
He was yelling so loudly you could hear his banshee shrieks a foot and a half away from the receiver. I put him on hold until he hung up. My manager was busy. He didn't call back. I'm afraid there was no justice in the end. Since I never got his social nor account number and he had a common name, I couldn't pull up his profile and submit a request to our regional manager to have his accounts shut down. He got away with it.
The 2nd one was today.
A customer came in looking to get temporary checks, which are free checks on which we print the customer's checking account number. We don't typically give these out unless customers have placed recent check orders and this slimeball never had. But the reason I didn't give him checks was that both of his accounts were overdrawn by at least $200 and he had THREE more accounts that were charged off and in collections. He wanted these checks to commit fraud. I told him I would give him the checks if his accounts were in good standing and they weren't; I didn't even mention the chargeoffs. Cue the yelling Shouting at the top of his lungs that he's been a customer for years and how dare I!!! And "this has never been a problem before!!!!"
I asked him "you've done this before?"
I AM A CUSTOMERRRRR!!!!!!!! I am going to call COR-PO-RATE and telling them about YOU!
"Ok sir. Do you need the number?" (refusing this POS the opportunity to defraud the bank would have earned me brownie points with upper management)
Incoherent screams as he storms out the door.
This one does have a happy ending. I reopened his profile, left a note on his account, reported him to fraud for check kiting, and had his accounts frozen by the fraud department.
"I had two coworkers..."
I had two coworkers argue about setting up a virtual machine as both started working on it and were kicking each other out of it by accident. Finally, 'Tom' walked over to 'Jerry's' cube.
T: I think we're both working on the same server. Do you mind if I finish it.
J: Well I have the ticket, I should finish it.
T: It's really no problem, I see you don't even have the checklist up and I already do. I can finish it.
J: I have the checklist and I have the ticket. I'm going to finish it.
T: I'm pretty sure I took that ticket. Would you pull up the ticket manager and check?
J: No. I'll finish the ticket.
At this point Jerry accidentally clicks on the ticket manager and it shows Tom has the ticket. Tom points this out. That's when Jerry screams 'NO' and grabs the monitor and pulls it down to the desk. He then covers the monitor with his body. The both look over at me since I've been there the longest and start arguing who should take the ticket. All the while Jerry keeps batting Tom's hands away from the monitor. These were both men in their 40s.
"I tell her it's a safety precaution..."
I worked at a kind of prestigious summer camp where high schoolers would stay for a couple of weeks, take college courses, and then leave. Part of our check-out procedure required that the adult checking out a student needed to have photo ID. Standard safety procedure. This woman comes in and one of our staff members reminds her that she'll need an ID to check out her kid. Immediately she has a bad attitude and says "Well My ID is in the car and I'm not getting it. " and then goes upstairs to get her kid. My boss warns me to make sure she shows an ID and When she gets to the check-out table I politely ask for it (even though I know she doesn't have it). This woman flips her lid, in front of her 2 children and starts screaming about how she's not going to get and ID and how she can leave with her kid. I tell her it's a safety precaution and we can't allow her son to leave without verifying her identity.
Then she starts pushing her son towards the door telling him to go to the car and drags her little daughter along and the kids are obviously terrified. My boss has to block the door as this woman is screaming about how nobody told her she needed an ID (she received an email a week prior and a reminder at the door) and how the parking lot was too far (it wasn't) and basically the entire lobby is staring at her. My boss tells her he will walk to the car with her son to get her ID. So that happens, she sits across from me all huffy and glaring and when my boss gives her her ID she throws it on the table in front of me and then snatches it out of my hand.
She made a 5 minute check out procedure last half an hour because she didn't want to make the 2 minute trip to her car....
"Once, while upset..."
My mother throws regular tantrums. Once, while upset, she full-on regressed and started screaming (in public), "I want my daddy!" again and again. My grandfather had died some five years before.
Very weird.
"After decades..."
The worst was an older woman in church who made a big scene because she walked in and found a family sitting in "her" pew.
After decades of sitting in that very pew, she threatened to leave the church and never come back if those people didn't get up and relinquish what she believed to be rightfully hers.
"We had an elderly customer..."
We had an elderly customer at a Starbucks I worked at that had laid claim to a table. And would constantly ask the baristas to ask people to move if they were sitting at "his table". We were all explicitly told by the manager to under NO circumstances ask people to move for him. He would then stand by the bar staring at both the baristas and the people at the table until they left. Even if the table next to his table was available he would refuse to sit. Weird old people claiming public property as their own.
"When I worked in an ice cream shop..."
When I worked in an ice cream shop, we had one day a year with free ice cream. Free scoop day (now you know which shop I ran.) Free cone day is messy and we have volunteer scoopers, as such we had a concern about cross contamination from ice creams that had common allergens such as peanuts. So to solve the issue, we took anything with peanuts off the menu for the day. Pretty simple, we still had twelve flavors including gluten free, dairy free and even soy free for people to choose from.
So one year, this grown-@ss woman comes through the line and orders an ice cream that has peanut butter brickle in it. Well 1) no peanut ice creams on free cone day and 2) that particular flavor hadn't even been made in years. I have no idea why she thought she would find it with us.
When we told her we didn't have it, she started berating us about not having her favorite flavor. Then when we didn't magically produce it (because we couldn't) she started screaming. Then crying. She started ranting to the entire store that this was the worst day of her life and everything always went wrong for her.
Now it should be noted that we accept donations on free cone day, all of which goes to a charity of our choice. Our shop used the donations to pay for the medical care of a girl who was very sick (CF). This little girl, who at the time was about eight or nine, was there with us, watching this go down.
So this woman was screaming and crying about how awful her life was because she didn't get the flavor she wanted on a day when we gave away free ice cream out of the goodness of our hearts while a little girl with CF was listening to the tirade.
I wasn't manager there yet, which is probably a good thing because I would have given her no mercy. As it was, the current manager politely but firmly told her to leave. The woman left, still screaming and crying about not getting a single free scoop of her favorite no longer existing flavor of ice cream.
It was absurd, but we honestly thought that maybe she had something wrong with her. You know, like maybe she wasn't quite emotionally stable. So we brushed it off.
A week later we get a phone call from corporate. The read us an email where this same woman called corporate and told a tale about how we had made fun of her weight and basically said "We have no free ice cream for you, fatso." We told corporate what really happened and the rep said "Yeah, we know you guys, you're not evil or nuts and you would never do this. We already told her to pound sand and to never go into one of our shops again."
"My dad's wife..."
My dad's wife cried, screamed, and threw plates around the house because my dad took me out for lunch after school and didn't drive 25 miles home to pick her up first so he could take her too.
"He would rant and rave..."
My father is competitive, an alcoholic, and a bit of a narcissist. We were trying to have a nice family session of Cards Against Humanity and he just couldn't accept it when his cards weren't chosen.
He would rant and rave every time his card wasn't selected which climaxed when my mom picked a card other than his. He screamed and argued why his card was clearly the superior one and berated the card my mother chose.
It was sad and the last time we attempted any kind of family game with that man-child.
"I wish I had my phone charged."
In Asia, in a popular mall, a grown woman rolled on the ground kicking and screaming when the grown man she was with refused to buy her regional jewelry.
She slammed her hand on the glass counter, then it turned into a shouting match. Then the guy started telling her off about how she needs to be a "traditional Chinese woman." Then proceeded to (childlishly) tease her about how childish she's behaving. Like full on making fake crying sounds.
She cried. Then stopped. Like cold hard stop on the crying. This was the glorious moment when she jumped onto the ground and rolled around kicking and screaming.
I wish I had my phone charged. It was glorious. But I was traveling all day and wanted to see the building's observation deck.
"Then he started screaming at me..."
When I worked at a hotel, I met possibly the most irritable man on the planet. He came to the front desk to check in and when I asked for his name, he said "I'm a regular here." And I said okay, I still don't know your name, he said "I stay here all the time, I'm a VIP. Didn't they tell you I was coming?"
This hotel was a Best Western. If any of you readers are unaware of this particular chain, no Very Important Person has stayed at any Best Western location, ever.
I said, "Thank you for your business, I have only worked here a few months and I apologize if I've checked you in before and didn't recognize you, but I really do need your name to find your reservation." Finally after a little more back and forth verbal abuse, he spits out his last name and I search for it in this system: nothing. I try a few different spellings: nothing. I ask him to spell it.
"Are you kidding me? First you interrogate me, now you're saying I don't have a reservation?"
"No, sir, I'm just having trouble finding it. If you'd please just spell your name for me--"
Then he started screaming at me about how ridiculous this was, how he would never come back, how he was going to sue the hotel, etc. He stormed out and I heard his car peel out of the parking lot. Later on I did find his reservation -- his name had a very odd spelling that I hadn't guessed earlier -- and when I told the manager the story, she said "Well, yeah, that sounds like him." Apparently he was just that irritable all the time. (And I checked his room history, his last visit was three months before I started working there, did he think we kept portraits of all the guests and memorized them?)
I saw many, many adult tantrums at the hotel. We were the first hotel driving into town off a long stretch of highway so many of them I chalked up to people who were tired and cranky from the road. But lots of people just wanted to throw a tantrum to get a better rate on the room, and of course the people who just like to abuse service workers.
"I don't miss that job."
I worked at an airport bookstore. My county had just created a ten cent charge for bags, and explaining this to non-locals (everyone, basically) was hit and miss. Some took it as nothing, others lost their mind.
This lady lost her mind. Blond, mid 30s, midwest from the twang. She bought a pack of gum or something small and I asked her if she wanted a bag. She said no. I gave her her change and she just glared at me and asked me where her plastic bag was. I said we don't carry plastic, we have paper and it'll be ten cents. She is yelling about why and how and this is stupid and I'm stupid and I don't know how to do my job, the works. My shift is ending and my boss is behind me a coworker coming to take my reg and the three of us watch this lady go beet red in the face over ten cents. She eventually takes her gum or whatever and stomped out of the store towards the gates.
I don't miss that job.
So for starters I work at a Subway at a popular amusement park. Said park usually closes at 10 pm and thus all the restaurants and attractions inside close as well. Unfortunately on this particular day we were so swamped that we ended up being open up until 10:30. So it's 10:30 and we are serving our last guests of the day, a middle aged woman with 5 young children, and then a man and older women behind them.
So at this point in time we are 30 minutes past close we and thus have started to run out of items, and it being a REALLY busy day don't have much in the way of prep in the back for the next day. So we make this woman and her 5 kids their sandwiches and get to the very end where we add condiments. ML requests that we put mayonnaise on each sandwich but unfortunately we're out. So I tell her this and at first she is a completely reasonable human being and we offer her light mayonnaise instead which she accepts. So we put light mayonnaise on each sandwich when lo! and behold one of her demon spawn of a child starts screaming.
Apparently the child is so distraught at having light mayonnaise instead of regular that ML demands we scrape off all the mayo off of each sandwich. So we do. She then decides this isn't good enough and demands we throw all 6 sandwiches away and remake her new ones. I'm pretty damn ticked at this point, and so as we go about making them a second time we proceed to run out of even more ingredients. Though when I inform her that we are out of, for example, banana peppers because she wasted the last of it she surprisingly took it well and moved on.
So here we are at the condiments again and she does her famous line, "Now, put mayonnaise on all of them." because for some reason between the time it took to remake her sandwiches she forgot that we are LITERALLY OUT OF MAYONNAISE IN THE ENTIRE FRICKEN STAND. So I tell her again, we are out, to which she proceeds to scream and cuss me out for an impressive amount of time.
So I decide to go in the back to 'look for more again' and to get away from her screaming with another supervisor. We sit back there, staring at each other in disbelief until one of us decides, f*ck it, we take a spare light mayonnaise bottle from the fridge, take off the cap that's labeled "Light Mayo" and replace it with a regular Mayo label. (Now I would usually never give someone some food item they didn't ask for such as coke instead of diet because I don't know their dietary needs but f*** this lady I wanted to go home.)
Triumphantly we bring the 'completely regular mayonnaise' up front and make up some lie about how it fell behind another bottle. She rewards us by screaming some more about how we lied to her all that time about not having any before etc etc etc. we finish her transaction and send her happy ass and her demon brigade on their way.
Humorously the man and older woman behind her happened to be her husband and mother (or mil) who apologized to us profusely and were all around very kind people.
"Apparently this error..."
My boss when I worked at KFC was an angry and immature man. During my first week, he threw chicken at me because I put it in the bucket in the "wrong order." Nobody explained to me that grilled chicken must go in the bucket first so it doesn't drip juices on the friend chicken, making it soggy. Apparently this error warranted the chucking of chicken at a new employee.
It seems that just about anything can set someone off these day. Beware.
Do you have similar stories? Share them in the comment section below!
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again.
- People Share Their Best 'F**k It, I'll Deal With The Consequences Later' Experiences - George Takei ›
- Hotel Employees Describe The Worst Thing They've Ever Discovered In A Room After Check Out - George Takei ›
- People Share Small Things That Send Them Flying Off The Handle With Rage - George Takei ›
- People Describe What They Were Grossly Underprepared For As An Adult - George Takei ›
- The Worst 'Adult Tantrums' People Have Ever Witnessed - George Takei ›
- Seen At 11: Adult Temper Tantrums - YouTube ›
- Why Adults Throw Toddler Temper Tantrums | The Exhausted Woman ›
- Adult Temper Tantrums - YouTube ›
- How To Handle Adult Temper Tantrums – Lindy – Medium ›
- 3 Ways to Deal With an Adult's Temper Tantrum - wikiHow ›
- Adults Throwing Temper-Tantrums Could Be Suffering From ... ›
- Let's Talk About Your Adult Temper Tantrums | Shine ›
- Adult Temper Tantrums | Psychology Today ›
- Adults Can and Do Have Tantrums ›
- A Strategy to Deal with Adult Temper Tantrums | Psychology Today ›
For many childhood memories are overrun by living nightmares.
Yes, children are resilient, but that doesn't mean that the things we see as babes don't follow us forever.
The horrors of the world are no stranger to the young.
Redditor -2sweetcaramel- wanted to see who was willing to share about the worst things we've seen as kids, so they asked:
"What’s the creepiest thing you saw as a kid?"
Serious Danger
"Me and my best friend would explore the drainage tunnels under the Vegas area where we grew up. These were miles long and it was always really cool down there so it was a good way to escape the heat of our scorching hot summers. We went into this one that goes under the Fiesta casino and found a camp with a bunch of homeless people."
"Mind you we are like 11 years old lol. And we just kept going like it was nothing. It wasn’t scary then but when I look back at it we could have been in some serious danger. Our parents had no idea we did this or where we were and we had no cellphones. We could have been kidnapped and never have been found."
oofboof2020
Waiting for Food
"I was at a portillos once when I was 12 and I was waiting with my little brother at a booth while my parents got our food. This guy was standing with his tray kind of watching me then after a couple of minutes he started to walk over really fast not breaking eye contact with me."
"He was 2 feet from the table and my dad came out of nowhere and scared the s**t out of him. He looked so surprised and just said he wanted to see if I’d get scared or not. He left his tray full of food near the door and left. My folks reported him but we never went to that location again since we found a better one closer to home."
nowhereboy1964
Captain Hobo to the Rescue
"When I was a pretty young teen, my friends and I were horsing around in San Francisco and started hanging out to smoke with some homeless guys. Another homeless dude came up and began aggressively trying to shake us down for anything (money, smokes, a ride, drugs- all of it) and wouldn’t take no for an answer."
"We got in over our heads and could tell this guy was now riling the other 2 guys up and they were acting like they wanted to jump us. Some grandfather-looking old homeless man appeared out of nowhere and yelled at us to get the f**k out of here- nice kids like us don’t belong down here at this hour!!"
"Captain Hobo saved our lives that night. My parents sincerely thought we were at a mall all day lol."
FartAttack911
Survival
tsunami GIF
Giphy
"I was 7 and survived the 2004 tsunami in Thailand. Witnessed the wave rise way above the already massive palm trees (approx. 40ft?) and my family and I watched/heard the wave crash into the ground from a rooftop."
faithfulpoo
These Tsunami stories are just tragic.
On the Sand
Scared The Launch GIF by CTV
Giphy
"We were a group of kids who went to swim in a local lake. And there was a dead body on the beach with their hands raised and their legs bent unnaturally that local police just took out of the same lake. I've never put my foot in these waters again."
oyloff
Be Clever
"I was walking to school and I was about 5 or 6 years old and some guy pulled up beside me in his car and asked if I would get in. He also offered me sweets to do so. I said no. The creepy bit was when he calmly said ‘clever boy’ to me, then drove off. I’ve never even told my parents or anyone else about this as it would most likely freak them out."
OstneyPiz
Bad Jokes
"Dad's side of the family pranked me by burying a fake body on our back property and had me dig it up to find valuables. Was only allowed to use a lantern for light. They stuffed old clothes with chicken bones. Sheetrock mud where the head was... Random fake jewelry as the treasures... I was like maybe 10 or 11.. I remember digging up the boot first and started gagging because it became real at that point."
Alegan239
YOU
Who Are You Reaction GIF by MOODMAN
Giphy
"Woke up to find my little brother staring at me in the dark, asking, Are you really you?"
PrettyLola2004
Siblings can really be a bunch of creepers.
No one should talk to others in the dark though.
Not all pet owners have the same relationship with their pets.
While anyone who decides to become a pet owner, or pet parent as some say, love their pets equally, some never ever let them leave their side.
Taking their pet with them to work, running errands, even on vacations.
Many pet parents even allow their pets to share their bed with them when going to sleep.
For others though, this is where a line is finally drawn.
Redditor Piggythelavasurfer was curious to hear whether pet owners allowed their pets to share their bed with them, as well as the reasons why they do/don't, leading them to ask:
"Do you let your pet sleep in your bed? Why/why not?"
The Tiny Issue Of Water...
"Absolutely not."
"I have fish."- Senior-Meal3649
Everyone Gets Lonely Eventually...
"I adopted an eleven year old cat the day before Halloween."
"She has mostly lived in my closet since I got her, and she hasn’t been too interested in coming out."
"Last night, she came out of my closet and jumped up on my bed, and crawled under my covers and curled up by my feet to sleep."
"I was so happy!"- YellowBeastJeep
The Comforting Reminder That You're Not Alone...
"I recently lost my Greyhound but I used to let him sleep on my bed with me."
"The company was nice and he was no trouble to have on my bed."- HoodedMenace3
Hungry Cookie GIF by De Graafschap Dierenartsen
Giphy
What Do You Mean Allow?
"I have no choice."
"She is a cat, cats do whatever they want."- Small_cat1412
"He lets me sleep in my bed."- Poorly-Drawn-Beagle
Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way
"I carry my old boy upstairs to bed every night."- worst_in_show
Hug GIF by The BarkPost
Giphy
Who Needs An Alarm Clock?
"I let my two cats sleep with me."
"They're so full of love and just want cuddles all the time."
"And so do I."
"We've all developed a lil routine."
"Get to bed, oldest sleeps on my feet to keep them warm, youngest lies in my arm while I lie on my side (she the little spoon), then when I snooze my alarm for work in the morning the youngest paws at my face and meeps loudly to wake me up."- GhostofaFlea_
Whose Bed Is It Anyway?
"Yes."
"They're also kind enough to let me squeeze into whatever space they've left for me."
"Although I do get a few dirty looks off them."- Therealkaylor
"I found this tiny kitten screaming her head off under a car."
"Would not come out."
"Got some food and some water in dishes."
"I stood by the tire so she couldn't see my feet."
"She got curious about the food and water and started gobbling it down."
"I thought she would bolt when I squatted down."
"She was too busy eating."
"I grabbed her by the nape of the neck and all four legs went straight out and she tried to scratch me to death."
"I got her in the door and tossed her toward the couch."
"She ricocheted off the couch as if she was a ping pong off a table and I lost sight of her."
"I put out food and water and a sandbox and did not see that kitten for three days."
"On the third day, I came home and she was on my bed pillow."
"I thought she would bolt when I came near, but she didn't."
"I wanted to sleep so I tried to scoot her little butt off my pillow."
"She would not go."
"I put my head down to sleep and that is the way it was from then on."
"She ran the roost."- Logical_Cherry_7588
sleepy kitten GIF
Giphy
Sleeping Is A Prerequisite...
"No, he's a cat and he cannot keep still during the night."
"He walks across the headboard, opens the closet doors, jumps into the windows and rustles the blinds, etc."
"If he would sleep he could stay, but alas, he's a ramblin' man."- Spong_Durnflungle
Saying No Just Isn't An Option...
"'Let'."
"Lol."
"It's a cat's world and I'm happy to be on her good side."- milaren
Felines Only!
"The cat does, the dog doesn't and the horse certainly does not either."- Xcrowzz
Angry Tom And Jerry GIF by Boomerang Official
Giphy
Is That My Hair On That Pillow?
"My dog is perfect."
"She comes up, cuddles til we start to fall asleep, then gets down to sleep on her bed so she doesn't get too hot."
"Jumps back up in the early morning for wake up cuddles."
"The hair everywhere is the only downside but she is so cozy, what can you do."- HoodieWinchester
It is easy to understand how some people are able to fall asleep more easily knowing their friend and protector is there, in bed, with them.
Though we can't blame others who don't want to run the risk of being scratched or bitten in the middle of the night either...