You think you and your friends throw some good parties? These people will make your most epic rager look like an afternoon of tea and scones with grandma.
Here are the 17 most legendary parties ever thrown. Enjoy! And make sure to check out the sources for even more.
(1/17)
It began as a normal peaceful day on October 17th, 1814 in St. Giles, London. However, trouble had been brewing behind the scenes for quite a while and soon the day would become known as the great London Beer Flood. Industrialization and a rapidly growing London population had led to a sharp rise in the city's production of beer (which was cleaner and safer than water at the time). Beer Barons had begun popping up over the city in fierce competition with each other, and Sir Henry Meux was determined to outdo them all. He created a brewing vat so large that 200 guests could dine inside of it, then filled it with porter liquor. The vat burst and the whole structure began to go, releasing almost 1.5 million litres of beer (approx. 7.5 million frothy pints) flooding into the streets.
The massive tsunami of beer caused at least seven drownings, and total chaos broke out. Attempts to rescue those drowning in beer were thwarted when thousands of people instead started to drink from the streets. An entire neighbourhood became intoxicated and had to make a trip to the hospital soaking in beer. Then the hospital patients began to riot thinking they'd been cheated out of free beer.
Meux was never charged, as the court ruled the flood was an act of God. Probably Dionysus to be specific.
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(2/17)
Imagine one of the most powerful Empires on Earth and all the massive wealth and power at its disposal, being run by a spoiled, narcissistic hedonist with the sole desire of throwing parties. Well thats exactly what happened when Nero became Emperor of Rome in 37CE. After the great fire of 64CE destroyed a good portion of Rome, Nero finally had the real estate that he needed to build the party crib of his dreams. Completely ignoring the starving citizens, or the entire empire that he was supposed to be running, Nero took up to possibly 300 acres to build the Domus Aurea (The Golden House.)
In order to entertain himself and his rich friends, he built a vast compound of artificial lakes, manufactured groves and exotic gardens. The winding pathways between the festivities were reportedly kept lit at night by setting Christians on fire.
At the centre was a massive domed building with over 300 rooms, plated with gold on the outside and decorated on the inside with ivory, diamonds and solid marble. Engineering marvels allowed entire rooms to rotate while guests were inside, and there were floors that could catch the light of the sun and project it into other rooms. Historian Suetonius wrote that all the dining rooms had ceilings of fretted ivory, the panels of which could slide back and let a rain of flowers, or of perfume from hidden sprinklers, fall on his guests. Oh, and he had a 116 foot tall statue of himself placed just outside the main entrance.
Eventually the Roman people got sick of Neros opulence and staged a revolt. Nero committed suicide rather than be captured and tried, and his party palace was condemned and filled in with dirt. Archaeologists are still finding new rooms complete with frescoes and artifacts that have gone untouched for centuries.
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(3/17)
250 gallons of brandy, 125 gallons of wine, 1400 pounds of sugar, 2500 lemons, 20 gallons of lime juice and 5 pounds of nutmeg. Thats the recipe for the largest cocktail ever created in history, served to over 5,000 sailors and officers by Admiral Edward Russell. Out of appreciation for their service, he poured all the ingredients into his gardens fountain and let them drink their fill.
But this wasn't some low-brow grog chugging affair either, this was an Admiral's party after all. Russell set up a tent above the fountain to prevent evaporation and hired bartenders to serve up the cocktail. Unfortunately the walls of the fountain were too high to make regular service easy, so the bartenders had to paddle around the cocktail in canoes. Even for a bunch of sailors, the concoction still took an entire week to finish.
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(4/17)
Showing a total lack of social awareness that would give Nero a run for his money. In 1903 while the people were starving and freezing to death, Tsar Nicholas II and the Empress Alexandra threw the most infamous Russian party this side of the Bolsheviks. In the Winter Palace of St. Petersburg, the theme of the night was a throwback jam to the 17th century. Everyone dressed in the famously opulent style of the Baroque era, complete with musketeers, rapiers and feathered hats. Priceless artifacts were taken from the Kremlin to become accessories for the party goers. The more famous (and arrogant) guests dressed as famous kings and queens, including Nicholas and Alexandra as Tsar Alexis I and Tsaritsa Maria Miloslavskaya.
At the time Nicholas was worth over $20 Billion dollars, which would equal roughly $300 Billion in modern US dollars. Sparing no expense, the entertainment for the evening was a triple billing of some of the greatest Russian operas ever written, performed by the most famous musicians and dancers of the time. Followed by a dinner so large it spilled across three whole rooms while full orchestras played the music of Handel and Bach. At the end of the night formal photographs were taken of the Russian nobility, who were perhaps too drunk on the night to realize what the real cost of the party would be. It was the last time they would all be assembled together to be photographed before the October Revolution.
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(5/17)
Novelist Truman Capote swore up and down that one day he would become so rich and famous he'd throw a party no one would ever forget. The time finally came after the release of his classic 1966 true-crime novel In Cold Blood. Left with enough money and time to finally throw his dream party, Capote spent three months planning his masquerade at New York City's famous Plaza Hotel. The ball had a famously strict black and white theme, which was designed so well it was rumoured to be the inspiration for Stanley Kubrick's use of black and white sets in his films.
Not shy to show off, Capote invited all the elites of the day. Royalty, politicians, movie-stars and many, many writers that Capote personally admired were in attendance. Classic southern fare was served up to the guests, along with 450 bottles of notoriously expensive Taittinger champagne. The part finally raged through the night, but finally started to dwindle at 2:45 in the morning when Frank Sinatra left. Capote begged him to stay, knowing that once the crooner left he would be hounded by hungry reporters outside and in the process drag everyone to the impromptu after party at Jilly's Bar.
The party was apparently so incredible that it has been called the last great moment in New York City's social history.
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(6/17)
Paul Poiret was one of the most influential fashion designers of all time. Most well known for his modern dress designs that eliminated corsets in favour of using drapery to accentuate figure. By 1911 he was a celebrated Parisian designer set to release his much hyped fragrance, Perfums de Rosine. His marketing strategy? Poiret was going to throw the best party Paris had seen in a long, long time.
Held at his own villa with a Persian theme, all 300 guests and the house itself were decked in colourful, florid style that would make any Sultan envious. Palm trees, tropical birds and lots and lots of gold decorated wall to wall. Poiret's wife Denise took the place of honour, basking on a sofa in a golden cage suspended over the guest and laughing riotously at the patrons.
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(7/17)
Imagine one of the most long awaited parties of all time, celebrated simultaneously around the entire world. With the brutality of WWII over, Victory in Europe and Victory in Japan Day saw millions of people flock to city squares in France, UK, US and Russia. People who attended describe a feeling of overwhelming euphoria in the crowd, a chance to finally let loose and celebrate peace after years of watching the world being torn apart.
The party was so intense that Moscow actually managed to run out of liquor entirely and all the free drinks resulted in a vodka pond forming in the street.
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(8/17)
Celebrities are known for throwing incredible parties on their birthday, but the party to top them all remains the Sultan of Bruneis 50th birthday bash in 1996. As one of the last absolute monarchs and among the richest people in the world at the time, the Sultan spent 27.2 million dollars on his 10,000 guests.
Starting with a military march and display before treating them to caviar and champagne. The Sultan didn't even attend the entertainment for the evening, a $16 million dollar concert put on by the King of Pop himself, Michael Jackson.
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(9/17)
Whenever the Pope died, Italy found itself with a strange dual responsibility thanks to its position as the heart of the Catholic world. While there were days of mourning, the process of selecting a new Pope almost always meant a a serious party was in order. Of particular note was the Papal Conclave of 1667, which had come after a series of long and frustrating papal elections starting in 1644. Tired of all the political manipulating from France and Spain, as well as backstabbing between the cardinals, by the time Clement IX was elected Pope it was time to forget all that and get obliterated.
The city of Rome celebrated the elections at the famous La Fontana Dei Leoni. At the foot of the grand stairs designed by Michelangelo himself, the Renaissance revelers replaced the boring old water that the lion statues spouted with wine. Literal fountains of wine available free of charge to anyone who wanted to dunk their goblet in.
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(10/17)
Count Etienne de Beaumont and his wife Edith were renowned throughout Europe and America for throwing some of the greatest parties of the roaring twenties. Every summer they would host an extravagant masquerade party at their mansion in Rue Duroc, Paris. The parties were so exciting that frequent guest Raymond Radiguet wrote an actual novel about them entitled Le Bal due Comte dOrgel.
However, in 1924 they decided to kick it up a notch with an odd and outlandish theme. Everyone had to dress up as cars, which were still a fairly recent invention at the time. Pictures of costumes from the Automotive Ball are still circulating to this day, perhaps only topped by Beaumonts other theme party in which guests were required to leave exposed the body part they deemed most interesting.
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(11/17)
Coming from the Old Testament, the story of Belshazzar's feast may have been based on the true to life conquering of Babylon by Cyrus the Great.
According to the story, Belshazzar decided to throw a party for a thousand of his lordly friends in the ancient city of Babylon. Dining on treasures from all around the world, Belshazzar and his friends became so drunk on Babylons famous barley beer that they decided it was a good idea to swap their regular fancy chalices for the sacred golden vessels stolen from the conquered Solomons temple. Why? Because he had them, and he could.
Belshazzar's flippant rager came with serious consequences though, as his kingdom was assailed and conquered that night by Cyrus the Great. With all the leaders of the city too drunk to think straight it was an easy fight, and the much more popular Cyrus took control. Hows that for a hangover?
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(12/17)
Andrew Jackson ran his campaign as a man of the people. So it wasn't much of a surprise that after running on a populist platform he threw one of the most memorable inauguration parties in American history.
By the morning he made it to the capitol, 10,000 people had come to witness the event, and by the time he reached the White House at noon the crowd had more than doubled. The 21,000 strong crowd broke the ship cable used to keep them at bay and stormed the lawn of the White House to party.
Jackson had no way to calm the rowdy partygoers down, and had to climb out of a window in order to escape the mob. With no options left, someone suggested placing large tubs of punch and liquor outside the White House to get them to move.
Jackson would go on to have many parties at the White House, which probably made life difficult for his security detail.
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(13/17)
One of the most anticipated performances of its time, famed composer Igor Stravinsky premiered his ballet Les Noces (The Wedding) at the Thtre de la Gat in Paris on June 13th, 1923. The premiere was such a success that Stravinsky's rich friends Sara and Gerald Murphy decided to throw a massive party to help him celebrate. So on July 1st, they rented a barge on the Seine river and invited all the coolest people of the time. Pablo Picasso, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jean Cocteau, Cole Porter and the entire troupe of Ballet Russes were in attendance, enjoying the food of five-star French chefs and an endless river of champagne.
Sara Murphy originally planned to decorate the barge with flowers, but since the florists were closed on the day of the party she instead bought a hoard of toys, stuffed animals and dolls. Picasso decided these would look better in a massive abstract pile while Cocteau convinced partygoers that the ship was sinking and a very drunk Stravinsky jumped through the massive laurel wreath before calling the party the greatest night of his life.
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(14/17)
Because peace doesn't mean the end of competition, King Henry VIII of England and Francis I of France celebrated the Anglo-French Treaty of 1514 that ended the Hundred Years War by throwing two massive, rival parties. Although theres no record of how much was spent, the 2200 sheep needed are probably a good indicator of how much the party cost in medieval terms.
Endless jousting, melee and archery competitions kept the crowds entertained while hundreds of tents and even temporary castles were constructed for everyone to stay in. The party lasted seventeen days and ended with a wrestling match between the two kings that reportedly made the blood bad enough to start another war just months later.
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(15/17)
Just as Watergate became such a symbol of scandal that everything now ends in -gate, Woodstock has become elevated as the party to which all other American generations compare their parties. In 1969 over half a million people came together on a dairy farm in White Lake, New York for three days of peace and music that would forever leave its legacy on American culture.
First hand accounts describe the miles of overwhelming traffic and abandoned cars on the way to the festival, and it became almost physically impossible to get there.
The entertainment was what everyone was coming to see, and the line up of Jimmy Hendrix, The Who and the Grateful Dead among many others remains legendary to this day. Amazingly, despite a lack of proper hygienic supplies or food and water, no riots broke out among the huge crowd. And only two deaths were recorded at the festival, one from a tractor accident and another from an accidental overdose.
Thousands of iconic photos of Woodstock exist, but perhaps the most famous are those taken during the steady rainstorms that left everyone playing together in the mud.
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(16/17)
An annual party since 1924 that only gets better every year. La Sagra DellUva in Marino, Italy celebrates the defeat of the Ottoman navy by local hero Marcantonio Colonna. Patrons like to dress in the Renaissance garb of Colonna's sailors while attending jousting matches and eating ripened grapes hung from fountains. Every balcony door and terrace is strung with garlands of flowers while local shops and restaraunt's hand out free food to partygoers.
The festival lasts from the dawn of one morning to the next, but the event that everyone waits eagerly for happens right at dusk. When the sun hits the horizon the water is drained from the towns Fontana Dei Quattro Mori and replaced with sweet white wine to be enjoyed by everybody. Spending $250,000 on the wine alone, the resulting week long hangover is cured the next Sunday with the well timed donut festival.
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(17/17)
While Neros personal pleasure palace might have been impressive, it might have lasted longer if he didn't make everyone feel like there was an amazing party they weren't invited to. In contrast, keeping the public happy was the point of the famous Roman Colosseum. A ten year project completed in 80CE, at the time it was unmatched in scope and complexity. With over 50,000 seats, a covered dome and an intricate engineering system that delivered the entertainment to the stage.
When it was first opened, the celebrations lasted a hundred straight days. A hundred days of liquor, orgies and lots and lots of murder.
In total 9000 animals were killed, and 2000 gladiators died in the opening ceremonies alone. These numbers don't even include the water events staged in the Naumachia outside the stadium. An event in which entire mock naval battles were staged in a giant flooded pool complete with fake shipwrecks for obstacles.
Given how many vivid descriptions of the Colosseums opening survived, its unlikely that a party this intense will be topped for a long, long time.
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The Mandela effect is when multiple people share the same, incorrect memory.
Its name stems from when paranormal researcher Fiona Broome falsely believed that the future president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, died in prison in the 1980s.
A false memory she shared with a number of others.
Our memories have been known to deceive us, as we might frequently forget someone's name or one of our numerous online passwords.
But when we share a memory that turns out to be false with many others, convincing ourselves it wasn't the truth can be a very difficult ordeal indeed.
Redditor Mysterious_Boat_1701 was curious to hear people's most unsettling experiences with the Mandela Effect, leading them to ask:
"Which Mandela effect freaks you out the most and why?"
A mysterious gym
"Just had one personally."
"Went to a mall where there was supposedly a gym, asked around and nobody that worked at the mall knew what I was talking about."
"Looked around and couldn't find it."
"Come back a few months later and it’s right there in front of my face, you'd have to be strung out to not notice it."
"idk how or when it just appeared but it freaked me out."- prex320278
A "fruit"ful logo.
"That the fruit of the loom logo never had a cornucopia."
"What’s crazy about that one is that someone emailed the creator of the logo about it and he said even he remembers it having one."- mrcock2·
Less well intentioned than they thought.
"I Mandela effected my whole family once."
"Years ago there was a football player on a rival team that always did a dumb celebration after he got a sack and my family and I always hated it."
"One night after he did it my family started trashing the celebration and I said as a joke 'we are all going to feel terrible when we find out he is doing that celebration as a request from a make-a-wish kid'."
"Fast forward to years later and our team is playing that team again."
"The player got a sack and did the celebration."
"I rolled my eyes and said 'I hate that celebration so much' my mom instantly turned and said 'don't say that, he is doing it for a sick kid'."
"'I actually like it."
"So I was like 'what?'"
"'No there is no sick kid', my whole family then proceeded to argue with me'."
"They all vividly remembered reading articles about it, seeing special report segments before games about it, and other information."
"Some of them even thought they knew the disease the kid had and even extra details about why the kid chose that specific celebration."
"They all had these shared memories that they were sure were true."
"I was floored by all this and insisted none of that was true."
"So we looked it up.'
"Not true."
'No kid like that ever existed.'
"They still have trouble wrapping their heads around this one."
"Turned out human memory is not near as reliable as we think"
"It was American Football and the player was Jared Allen of the Minnesota Vikings and his cattle roping sack celebration."
"This was maybe 10 years ago."- AUSpartan37
College Football Win GIF by Michigan State FootballGiphyHis eyesight was better than we thought.
"Mr. Monopoly's monocle."- Additional_Day9903
It's not easy being green.
"I have a personal one that to this day a decade later still destroys my mind."
"I had an old(ish) 2001 dodge neon."
"With BLACK SEATS.'
"I drove this car for years and years, like 80,000 miles.'
'All through college."
"I took work breaks in my car, commuted hours every day total, to college and then the opposite direction to work and back."
"I even lived out of this thing on several occasions.'
'The day I go and trade it in, I'm pulling misc things out of the car at the dealer."
'And the seats are GREEN."
"Not even a little."
'Like very unmistakably GREEN."
"In my black Neon, with black interior, that ALWAYS HAD BLACK SEATS."
"My girlfriend then, wife now, goes oh they've always been green."
"EXCEPT THEY F*CKING WEREN'T DON'T LIE TO ME."
"This is still upsetting to this day..... life is a lie and nothing is real."- ZakuLegion
Winona Ryder Omg GIFGiphyAn urban legend was born.
"Not a global one, just a family thing."
"Back in 2002 my grandma had her 60th birthday, my father took us home at 10.00pm, ready for bed."
"We, me and brother, were 12 and 14 at this time."
'All went well."
"Over the years, a story was made up that we went missing after visiting the local playground after dinner at said grandma's birthday party."
"Some neighbors help to search us, the whole train of 'missing children in a smal village'-thing."
"Fun fact: we never went missing."
"Dad brought us home, put on 'Toy Story' on tv and left."
"My brother and I heard first about this in 2015.'
"From different people on different occasions."
"'Ah your one of the missing boys'."
"I first thought they were mocking me for a different event.'
"I got lost, but it was 2013, alcohol inflicted, different story."
"But then they ALL tell us the same story about us going missing."
'And the stories are damn close to 'true' in every story my mum is driving around the same neighbors to different locations to search, old wine yard, old mill etc."
"Sometimes I think I got lost on the most brutal way."
"I was lost and changed this plane of existence with another one."
"It sometimes made me think about my whole life."- tjorben123
missing kenny mccormick GIF by South Park GiphyMemories are a fascinating thing.
They can be changed or altered with even the tiniest suggestion.
And making the truth seem less believable than lies.
One last time. One last meal.
How do you chose a last meal?
Let's hope we never have to find out.
People on death row get that option.
Do they deserve it?
Whose to say?
But they have it.
A steak. A pizza... Burger King.
The food world is their oyster.
Oyster. Also an option.
The menu is endless...
Redditor No-Caterpillar4212 wanted to know what our menu choices would be if we faced the end. They asked:
"You're on a death row, you have one hour left, they ask for your final meal - what is it?"
I'd want 2 hours in a Golden Coral with a bar. Covers it all.
Years
"I want a nice filet mignon, medium rare, a baked potato with everything on it, and a nice Cabernet from a good year - I'm thinking 2135."
cleon42
"'Sorry, we couldn't get the Cabernet from 2135. So instead of what could have been a great wine request from a more plausible period of time, you get this crappy stuff we sourced from Wal-Mart. Enjoy your meal, I hope that maintaining your sense of humor was worth it."'
Until_Morning
Take Me
"Something badly cooked so I will be sick and want to die sooner and have diarrhea so bad it will be a last revenge!"
ratchet0101
"Taco bell it is!"
No-Caterpillar4212
"If Taco Bell makes you poop a lot, it's a sign that you probably need more fiber in your diet."
RDAwesome
The Yuck Factor
"A huge bowl of baked beans, a bowl of shredded wheat, a six egg omelette, and a gallon of apple cider. I'm gonna make it awful for everyone."
"Save yourself the hassle of eating all that, just ask for one pack of sugar free Haribo gummy bears. Should make for an interesting time for the folks watching you die."
MamaSweeney24
"You void your bowels when you die too so that should be lovely."
IDontControlTheFood
Perfect
Fried Chicken Scandal GIF by ABC NetworkGiphy"Fried chicken with some Fanta."
Aggravating-Year-776
Fried chicken is on the top of everyone's list!
Details
Interested GIF by Nick CannonGiphy"150mg of MDMA. I’m dying happy."
W0nderfu1W0nder
"This should absolutely be allowed. If our leaders insist on the practice of capital punishment then the condemned should be able to ingest any substance they damn please."
forewontoi
Broken
"McFlurry. Those machine are always broken. I just bought myself some time."
Curiousuk_South9566
"Is this like an American thing? I worked at a McDonald's in Denmark once and our machine was never once broken when i was there."
oliv111
"I saw a video about this once. I'm a little fuzzy on the details but I think it has something to do with the contract that was signed in America. Only one company is allowed to do maintenance on the machines and they basically lock out if it's cleaned incorrectly. It's a crap system."
grilled-pbj
Sorry
"Cabbage!! Add some cabbage. I don’t know if an hour if enough to take effect but there was an old coworker on a cabbage diet. Omg she smelled, like it was coming out of her pores. She knew she smelled and kept apologizing and reminding us of the diet."
ImStillaPrick
The OG Always
"Olive Garden. Unlimited soup and breadsticks."
thegodfaubel
"I saw a sketch once, can't remember who it 2qs from. But a an inmate ordered the all you can eat buffet and had been eating for like 8 years. He's constantly on the toilet and takes micro-naps between bites."
KingOfTheGoobers
"Unlimited for 1 hour. Cool."
anticlockclock
How Golden
Golden Girls Dorothy GIF by HULUGiphy"If my grandma is still alive her potato soup and cheesecake. Hopefully I'd be able to cook said meal with her one last time."
ATLAS_IS_LOST
Let's hope none of us has to make this decision.
Most people have friends they've been close to for most of their lives.
But at the same time, friends evolve, and everyone finds themselves losing touch with any number of people they at one point considered their friends over time.
Most of the time, this isn't intentional, but just simply happens.
On rare occasions though, people might realize that their friends were not exactly who they thought they were, and didn't like who they revealed themselves to be.
Redditor One-Refrigerator69 was curious to hear stories of people who realized their friends were not exactly the nicest people to be around, leading them to ask:
"When was the moment you realized that your friends are assholes?"
Compared to others...
"When I started hanging out with better people."- Darklink326
All it took was getting my life together
"When I quit drinking ‘cos it was killing me."
"There were people I literally saw every single day who just disappeared as if by magic."
"12 years ago this week, as it happens."
"I’m not anti-drink, far from it."
"Some people, me included, just can’t enjoy it without it becoming a problem."
"Everyone is different."- bigdaftgeordie
A little perspective goes a long way.
"After I realized that other people don't sh*t on each other on every possible occasion in their circle."
"And that it isn't right when a 'friend' uses every known insecurity as an argument against you when you do not behave the way he/she would want you to."- ViscousPlateman
The Simpsons GIF by MOODMANGiphyLack of respect for other people's things
"I let my friend borrow my ps2 when I went to boot camp."
"When I came back, he said he sold it and gave me $50 I think?"
"This was in 2006."- madmike-86
Lack of mutual respect
"When he does sh*t to me and acts like it’s no big deal, then I do the same back and he gets offended."- Primary-Maybe-2749·
Constantly being taken advantage of.
"They only bothered with me when it suited them."
"I'd rather have nobody than have to deal with that."- zombi33mj
happy eric cartman GIF by South Park GiphyWhen they literally revealed themselves to be criminals
"When they robbed me at gunpoint."- Ok_Student8032
When they stopped liking them after a change of situation
"Fourth grade, when my parents economical situation went downhill and suddenly no one invited me to their birthday party."
"Until Seven years later no one had never invited me to their birthday, or to anything at all actually."- Justalittletoserious
Not being able to get a word in...
"When they tell me to shut up when I say anything."- the_golden_cheese
la respuesta GIF by Becky GGiphyViolently playing with emotions
"She got a boyfriend and would let him listen to our phone calls and not tell me, even if I was crying about personal stuff that I would only ever tell her."
"Then they both started lying to me about my crush liking me back, forcing both him and me into awkward positions, telling everyone we liked each other so they'd play along, swapping places constantly to make us sit next to each other, pressuring him into giving me a lap dance, making him kiss the prettiest girl in the room, etc, and encouraged me to shoot my shot more and more."
"All the while they knew he didn't like me, he had told them both directly."
"One night I was crying on the phone cause I was so confused why my advances weren't working, and they just kept explaining it away, blaming some other bullsh*t reason and telling me to try again."
"The next day they told me they were laughing throughout the whole call, because I didn't get it and I was so upset."
"I should add I had no dating experience at all and nobody had ever liked me at this point."- Juliemj
It's always sad when our friends disappoint us.
But when our friends proved to be completely different people than we thought they were, it can be devastating.
As the saying goes, one never truly knows who their friends are.
When visiting any foreign country, one should always be familiar with the laws and customs of the land.
After all, what might be generally accepted on your home turf, might be frowned upon, if not illegal, elsewhere.
For that matter, even locals might need a refresher course on what they can and can't do while at home.
A recent Redditor was curious to hear what tourists and locals alike should avoid doing in the USA, leading them to ask:
"In the United States, what should you never do?"
Stay out of the skies!
"Don't fly a drone in Washington, DC."
"The whole D.C. Area is a no fly zone."
"It's a federal offense."
"Just don't do it."- PeytonCarrK
Cops can't be bribed.
"Don't try to bribe cops when you get pulled over."
"I had some Argentinian friends immediately pull out their wallets and start pooling their cash when they got pulled over once.'
"Fortunately someone in the car noticed and told them to put it away immediately."- PeytonCarrK
"Don't pay off the police."
"My dad has friends from several third-world nations where it is common practice to give the police some cash when you are pulled over."
"However, if you try to bribe a police officer here, you'll get into a lot of trouble."- JohnASmiley
Know your rights.
"Everyone, including foreigners, has the right to be silent and have a lawyer when being questioned."
"Don’t say anything."
"Also, even if you speak English fairly well, ask for an interpreter."- WickedLilThing
Enjoy all that nature has to offer... carefully!
"Don't wander off in the national parks."
"It's very real wilderness and you can get lost and die out there."
"This includes going over railings you aren't supposed to, or off trails."
"People have died accidentally falling into a steam geyser that looked like normal water, mauled by animals or left to the elements."- AlphaOhmega
national parks GIF by Visit The USAGiphyAllow plenty of time!
"Expect consistency at TSA in airports."- WickedLilThing
Some terminology doesn't translate...
"If you’re from England, they’re called cigarettes here."- Yung_Onions
Make sure your license is up to date.
"If you come from a walkable country don’t come here expecting the same."
"There are some areas with good public transportation and bicycle/pedestrian friendly streets but for the most part, especially outside of cities, the areas are designed to accommodate cars more than anything else."
"The reason a lot of Americans drive everywhere is because, depending on where you live, we have no choice."- The_Cars93
Dog Driving GIFGiphyWait for instructions.
"Get out of your car and approach the cop when being stopped by a cop unless told to."- hildrash
Whether your'e waling down a street in a foreign country, or the street you've lived on for your entire life, it's always wise to be on guard and aware of your surroundings.
Not to mention, obey the law.