Before 2020 ZOOM almost seemed like a novelty way to work and play.
Now, it's the mainstay.
Wow, this has been a long two years.
And oh my goodness, the things we've seen because of it?!
ZOOM has given us a literal window into one another's worlds,
and some of those worlds are a "WTF is happening" situation.
Redditor yarakmansarak1 wanted to hear about all the ZOOM calls that have left many of us SHOOKETH! SO they asked:
"What is the most terrifying thing that happened during a Zoom Call?"
I was late to the ZOOM party. Still am. And my jobs allow me to be dark screened.
So you'll never know my drama. LOL...
Mute Please
Be Quiet Go Away GIF by Ryn Dean
Giphy
"It was mandatory to keep our mics and cameras on and my parents were having a screaming match in the background. Maybe not terrifying but it was horrible."
mommyittickles
PING!
"Last time when I was having a discord call with my online friends (playing mc together), we saw fire in one of my friend's background. We were telling him that there was fire outside his window but he had deafened his discord and he couldn't hear us. Some guy spam pinged him in the no-mic and then he saw the message, turned around, and left the meeting The whole group freaked out because he didn't respond for a week, even after we spam pinged him again."
"At the end of that week he messaged in the chat and said that he freaked out a lot but his house was intact and no one was hurt but the small patch of trees behind his house. (I'm pretty sure the message saved his life)"
Ilias_2008
Mean Girls
"A personal social nightmare. During a discussion heavy class I was taking last year I had a question that turned into a 2-3 minute back and forth with the teacher as they expounded on my question. Just when they were redirecting the convo back to their PowerPoint slides one of the girls in the class wasn’t on mute and someone in their room, I guess their roommate or something, said, 'that guy has such an annoying voice' and the girl responded, 'I hate hearing him talk, every time he opens his mouth I’m just waiting for him to shut up.'”
"Teacher reminded everyone to mute themselves and the girl got wide-eyed and muted herself. We could see her tell her roommate about it and then laughing, but they didn't apologize or anything. There was just a few moments of silence and then the teacher moved on. I stepped away from my computer for a bit and barely ever said anything the rest of the semester."
BK_Hazard
Speaking Up
"I attended a virtual networking zoom for work and during the main speaker event someone unmuted. They were clearly on the phone with someone and started going 'oh no I can talk now. It’s cool I’m just on this stupid webinar. I’m not even going to listen to this.'"
overduedoughnut
"HAHAHA. That happened with my company too. My work leadership wanted to do 'spirit meetings' to 'boost morale' and one of the agents had a hot mic that picked up her saying, 'Hang on, I gotta go to this wack-a** meeting.' It was amazing. She was just saying what we were all thinking."
pandamomium824
Hide Dad
GIF by CTV Comedy Channel
Giphy
"I was giving a university lecture on zoom, i only require camera if it's an evaluation. One of my students were speaking, camera on, and her dad shows by only wearing a g-string. He realizes that the camera is on and makes a quick escape."
Mediocre-Doughnut637
How hard is it to mute? Although now I'm going to be super sensitive to make sure for myself.
Caught
Lights Camera Action Thumbs Up GIF by Milwaukee Panthers
Giphy
"Saw a guy's wife beat him over the head with a purse. He was on mute and no one else on the call had noticed. I had to interrupt the call to ask if he was OK. Apparently, the wife had been abusing him for a while and this was the final straw that made him leave her."
fulthrottlejazzhands
Shots Fired
"Multiple shots being fired at the apartment across from me. I was on my weekly team call when it happened and I was asking a question so I was unmuted I went holy s**t those are gunshots and hit the floor. All my team saw was me throwing my headset off and frantically rolling off my couch. Supposedly my mic picked up me calling 911. Don't get involved with drugs everyone. There's a chance people will come and try to shoot you in the middle of the day."
nerdgirl37
'Hey IRL name.'
"Was on discord with friends and hopped in a work call early. I forgot I switched calls, and walked away from my desk with my headset on to go get a snack before the meeting. Someone said 'Hey IRL name.' Thinking it’s a gaming friend, I blurt out 'the f**k? Since when do you call me IRL name.'”
"Was not a gaming friend. Was the CEO. (I work for a start up so I luckily have a decent relationship with him) I realized my mistake a second later and mentioned that I’d been sitting in a call with friends while working today and apologized. He luckily laughed it off with me and never brought it up again."
ChocoboToes
For TEN minutes...
"Last year during the Dixie Fire in California, CalFire set up a Zoom meeting to give a state of affairs for residents who were evacuated. It was a public meeting. Whomever hosted, didn’t understand how to mute people. Some dudes came on and started saying utterly offensive and disgusting things. For TEN minutes."
"Every bad word, insult, vulgarity you could imagine. The CalFire team didn’t seem to understand how to mute people, or how to read the comments telling them what was happening. My husband was a fireman deployed to that fire and I was pissed. Just wanted information."
LittleWhiteBoots
TP 911
Toilet Paper Comedy GIF
Giphy
"Attended a zoom wedding and one old couple didn't know you had to self mute. Just prior to the wedding beginning the wife (offscreen) yelled 'Toilet paper, I need toilet paper quick!' Then just after the wedding ceremony finished same lady said 'That was the most boring wedding talk I've ever heard.'"
Nouveaucola
Clips
"My friend is a special ed teacher. A student recorded a brief clip of an inopportune moment and almost got him fired for inappropriate behavior - sexual harrasment. He was playing a harmonica and briefly had his back turned to the computer. The student turned down the volume on his computer and said my friend was simulating oral sex. There was an investigation and he was cleared, but it was pretty traumatic for him."
LeeSheltonsHat
So Helpful...
"Yeah, I teach, and I prefer cameras on for the younger classes so I can see if they're paying attention, but mics on only when it's your turn to talk and cameras optional for teenagers. I had a good student not responding to questions when usually she'd be full of ideas, and it turned out her grandmother was having a meltdown caused by dementia and the student was home alone with her trying to reach her parents and avoid calling the police to respond."
"One of her parents was in the room with me (we were team teaching from on campus) and was pulled aside to go deal with the crisis, which was how I found out. I was teaching a professional development workshop on best practices for online classes and shared the story as an example of exactly why cameras and microphones should be optional."
"You don't know what's happening in the background and why the student isn't responding."
NeonHairbrush
Trauma
"At the middle school I used to go to a teacher got assaulted by her boyfriend. Apparently he didn't know her entire class could hear it and it was recorded as well. They were not on camera but the threats and sounds were enough to arrest him."
"Edit: did a little research and it was actually filmed as well and a video of it circulated online for a while. The latest update is a month later and the guy was being charged for abuse and the teacher was still not working because of the trauma."
Joka96
Best Class
Oh My GIF by Omaze
Giphy
"Girl crap-talked our professor without turning off her mic. Someone recorded it and went viral on TikTok. Several million views. Funny thing is, best class I’ve ever taken."
_MilkBone_
Meow
"My cat once walked over the keyboard and I said, 'sure, why wouldn't you walk over there?! It's not a laptop. It's a modelling ramp your father built for you!!' Turns out she had unmuted my mic. The instructor politely asked everyone to mute their mics."
1ta_Agni
“I need to go”
"At the end of 2019 I was at the office in London, and on a Zoom with about a dozen other folks spread across the US. Got some pretty shocking news during the call, and felt a cold sweat come on, a lightheaded sensation, and then searing burning pain in my chest."
"I’d suffered a massive heart attack, and apparently managed to say 'I need to go' and then pushed my chair back from my desk and just collapsed. Thankfully it was still working hours and the office had people in it, so my team-mates got me into a safe place, grabbed my nitro spray, called an ambulance, etc, and all was eventually well."
"I ended up having a quadruple bypass not long after this. Had it been an hour or two later in the day I’d have probably died as the office would have been empty."
matdotcx
Poor Kid
"Blind kid in a zoom class at the end of last year during english, I see out of the corner of my eye he is the only one with a camera on, teacher was chill if we didn’t want them on while online. Starts stroking his soldier in front of half the class and the teacher. Teacher kicked him from the class without saying anything and continued on with the lecture like nothing happened. Poor guy probably didn’t even know, but yeah that was a very jarring English class."
Sparklebugsy
The Crawl
"My brother was on a zoom interview for a job in England early in the morning in my basement where we had our computers set up and I used to have my room. I crawled across behind him to avoid being seen in my underwear as I needed to get some clothes from my old wardrobe. My brother later told me he could clearly see me crawling across. I jokingly say his interviewer told him, 'your sex slave is escaping.' Funny enough he got the job."
imodea
Options
Hide Reaction GIF by flor
Giphy
"Had an optional zoom meeting with my boss and the head of a software company who's product we use. I was the only one who showed up. I wanted to die."
dont_tempt_me_frodo_
tabs
"This happened when I joined my company as a fresher and I was in training period. So one of the trainers started sharing his screen and it had porn tabs open. He stopped sharing instantly but everyone saw it. Then the other trainer (who was a lady btw) told him to leave the meeting saying she will take care of the rest."
angrybunny09
ZOOM is not the way. Be careful people.
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Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.
When we're intoxicated, or even the slightest bit tipsy from having a little too much to drink, our immediate perspective on things is hazy.
But there's nothing like a bit of alarming news or a jarring incident to snap us out of the fog and focus on the moment.
Sometimes alcohol isn't always to blame for our impairment.
It can be a state of mind, like a perpetual numbness from being complacent in life, and all it takes is one shocking moment to rattle us back to our senses.
Curious to hear from strangers online about this type of scenario, Redditor Known_Challenge_7150 asked:
"What’s one thing that sobered you up real quick?"
These individuals were witness to shocking events that sobered them up right quick.
Bleeding Out
"Got out of a taxi and found a naked man profusely bleeding from his head crawling up the driveway in my condo. Called him an ambulance completely forgot I was absolutely wasted until 45 minutes later when I'd helped him translate and in to an amublance and stepped in my front door."
"Later a few days later learned he'd slipped in the tub and literally crawled out for help. Poor dude. He was fine but I genuinely thought he was going to die there."
– DongLaiCha
Tragic News
"At a bachelor party and we got a phone call that the groom’s father had suddenly passed."
– accountnameredacted
Bottom Of The Barrel
"I went to visit my parents back in July. I was homeless and deep into fentanyl addiction so I lost a lot of weight. My folks could see it. They knew something was up. Anyway, I spent the night and I was getting ready to leave in the morning and I looked at myself in the mirror for a good long time. I finally had enough and told them everything. They took me to detox, from there I went to rehab. Graduated in August and been living with them ever since then. I have 160 days clean and sober."
– Crotch-Monster
A reality check can be enough for some people to snap out of it.
Like Father, Like Son
"Was driving a drunk friend home, he had been on a bender again and was smart enough to call me for a lift rather than try and drive. As I helped in to his house his mother came down the stairs and said 'your as drunk as your father' and went back upstairs. I haven't seen him drunk since then, he still drinks but the thought of turning into his dad scared him out of hard drinking."
– psycospaz
Busted
"Flashing blue lights."
– FiddleOfGold
"This sobered me up just thinking about it."
– redmaple_syrup
Losing Sight
"Woke up to no sight in one eye. I had cataract surgery so just thought one of the lenses had slipped and it was an easy fix. Eye doc says nope, you had a stroke. I loved soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and salty food, which caused high blood pressure, which caused retina damage. Over six months was able to get most of my eyesight back with medication, and all back within a year. Trying to navigate life with one eye was very sobering. Started taking HBP much more seriously."
– MissHibernia
Quitting The Bottle
"Looked up someone I went to highschool with who was an awesome guy. Found out he had been dead for 3 years from alcoholism, at age 33. I made an overnight change. I hadn't started drinking that night yet, 10 months ago. Haven't touched it again since."
– omgtater
These disturbing moments were enough for Redditors to immediately come to their senses.
Unplanned House Guests
"Me and a buddy Woke up in someone’s living room, realized neither one of us knew the people, they were just nice and let 2 drunk guys sleep on their living room floor. We didn’t even say goodbye."
– Oneinsevenbillion75
Serious Health Warning
"Elevated liver enzymes."
"And the knowledge that this sh** was gonna kill me and I just couldn't orphan my family over it."
"So I opted for recovery, instead."
"Clean and sober since June 5, 2009."
– Far_Meal8674
The Joyride
"Grew up in a rural area. The little town hosted dances at the hockey arena, everyone (adults and kids) went and they overserved everyone, regardless of age. I was maybe 16 or 17 and was absolutely sh*tfaced, and jumped in the back of someone's truck with about 8 other people to go back to someone's cottage for after dance drinking. The driver (still don't know who it was) started racing one of his buddies and we whipped around small dirt roads, flying around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, going god knows how fast. It was basically a disaster waiting to happen. It was crazy scary and I was sober and thankful to be alive when we finally arrived."
– foxfood9116
The human psyche is a fascinating thing, isn't it?
How we can automatically focus on something urgent at a crucial time, even after getting buzzed from drinking too much alcohol.
But as we're in the thick of the holidays, it's a good reminder to drink responsibly and stay off the roads if you drive to your celebratory destination.
Cheers. Stay safe. And happy holidays.
We've all complained or vented about something in our lives which, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't exactly a problem, or is very easily solved.
Then there are those who complain about things that others almost hope will happen to them at some point in their lives.
These are known as "first world problems", as they are problems that pretty much only the world's one percent faces.
From having to fly business class instead of first class, or being served Roederer instead of Dom Pérignon, these complaints are often met with amusement, bewilderment, or even anger.
Redditor jennimackenzie was curious to hear the most absurd "first world problems" anyone ever complained about, leading them to ask:
"What’s the most ridiculous 'first world problem' you’ve seen people get worked up over?"
"Tale As Old As Time..."
"I once knew a mom who was legitimately devastated, to the point of tears/grief, because a doctor predicted her 8 year old daughter's final height to be around 5'2","
"Which wasn't tall enough to get cast as Belle at Disney World."
"That was the child's (and her mother's) only dream in life, apparently."
"Didn't appreciate my suggestion that she could be Minnie or Mickey."
"Lol!"
"Only a face character would do!"- TravelLovingMom
"Must Be Funny, In A Rich Man's World..."
"My boss from about a decade ago was this insanely rich dude who always went to the bank to get fresh and crisp currency."
"He'd call the bank in advance to make sure they had some on hand."
"I think he was a germaphobe."
"He had a trash can that he'd throw $1 and $5 bills in that he thought was 'dirty' and regularly just donated it vs spending it."
"I asked him why he did this and he said it was too much trouble and asked if I wanted it."
"I said f*ck yeah dumped it into my bag and when I got home it was close to $400 in singles and fives.
"Another time, he wanted to upgrade all the computers in his studio, so we went to a store and bought 10 PCs."
"They all had $150 mail in rebates and he wasn't bothered to go through the trouble of mailing them in."
"3 weeks later I received $1500 after spending a whole afternoon filling out all those goddamn forms."- azninvasion2000
Money Burn GIF by nog
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Who Wore It Better?
"When I was about 19 years old, I was at my boyfriends family BBQ."
"I was wearing this pretty floral sundress."
"His cousins girlfriend showed up in the same dress and she was SO mad that she went and changed."
"I will never understand being upset when someone is wearing the same thing as you.'
"Did you really think that your shirt you bought off the rack is going to be unique to you?"
"No."- mertsey627
Seeing Red! Or Blue In This Case...
"The blue of the balloons wasn't quite the same as the bridesmaid's sashes."
"Years ago my wife and I attended a wedding."
"It was very low key."
"The dinner was in the dining hall at the university where the couple met, cinder block walls and all."
"It was a Baptist wedding - no booze and very serious."
"The dark blue balloons attempting to liven up the hall were a slightly darker shade of blue than the sashes on the bridesmaid's dresses."
"The bride lost here sh*t and absolutely raved for nearly an hour."
"I can't remember how they finally managed to talk her down."- mechant_papa
south park wedding GIF
Giphy
See You In Court!
"Rich neighbors who end up in expensive court battles because they disagree about where a tree can be planted or whether the color of a fence fits in with the street’s 'amenity'."
'These disputes get really heated and rack up huge lawyers’ bills."
"The most pathetic part is after the judgement when they are arguing about who should pay the other party’s costs."
"Lots of affidavits filed citing the 'emotional distress' they had to endure, or painting themselves as brave warriors who were forced to take a stand to fight for 'justice'."
"Also lots of pompous litigants insisting that the judge refer to them by their 'Dr' title."
"An absolutely insane dumpster fire of entitled rich people problems."- ElectrocRaisin
It's Always People With Money Who Don't Want To Pay!
"I work in a public library."
"People will get so so mad if they have to be put on a wait list for a book."
"A popular book that just came out."
"Ok our services are not only free but so are the books."
"You’re welcome, a**holes."- Switchbladekitten
A Warm Butt Is A Happy Butt!
"My own."
"We have a bidet toilet seat (Fabulous! Everyone should have one!) and not only does it wash your bum and blow dry it, but the seat's heated!"
"It's shocking how much a heated toilet seat makes the whole process more agreeable."
"Except: We had a power outage and I went to use the toilet and the seat was cold!"
"Unacceptable!"
"This shall not stand!"
"I was really upset because it didn't feel good."
"Then I stopped and thought: This is the most first-world problem anyone's ever had."
"I was really pissed because my heiny was tepid."
"I got over it."- DeathGrover
homer simpson episode 23 GIF
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Holy Matrimony!
"Weddings are a gold mine for this question."
"People get so hyped up over their 'most important day of their life'."
"They'll destroy friendships, go into debt, and have crazy expectations."
"It's not always the couple who go crazy, either."
"Sometimes, it's the parents or another family member who feels entitled to control the wedding."
"It's just a party."
"Be considerate of guests, have plenty of food and drinks, and enjoy it."- magicrowantree
When Fast Food Isn't Fast Enough...
"Having to pull off to the side to wait for a drive-thru order to be brought out to you because your food isn't ready and there's a line building up behind you."- demanbmore
In Case You Don't Think Customer Service Employees Are Undervalued...
"I was working the return desk at a Target next to a military base so I have so many stories."
"One of my favorites was a lady who had her baby shower before revealing the gender and was livid that she had received floral newborn diapers when she’s having a boy."
"It was a huge box of super expensive, all organic diapers, that we didn’t carry and therefore could not return."
"I cannot accurately express her fury and disgust."
"How dare either suggest her boy could wear feminine diapers."
"I suggested she donate them if she didn’t want to use them and she instead threw away the entire box."
"When she left we pulled it out and threw it in our donate bin."
"There have also been multiple times where mom’s order massive toys and when we bring them out to the car they get furious that they aren’t wrapped."
"We don’t offer wrapping services."
"Here’s the thing, if you don’t want your kids to see the toys you got them for Christmas or their bit to day DON'T BRING THE CHILD WHEN YOU PICK IT UP."
'I’ve had multiple women scream and curse me out that I had ruined their kids Christmas by bringing the toys they ordered out to the car like they requested."- clever-mermaid-mae
Customer Service Waiting GIF by Juno Calypso
Giphy
Happiest Place On Earth!
"I used to work for Disney."
"That in itself should tell you everything."
"However for fun I'll give you two specific stories one form our tech department and one from my wife who worked bookings."
"I specifically worked for their call center to help with technical issues with magic band and the website."
"Suddenly got worse huh?"
"A right of passage call everyone has at least one story of is the 'Dome call'."
"Basically there is a subset of Disney Guest (TM) that believes if it rains at Walt Disney world there is someone that will push a button to encapsulate the whole of Disney property in a dome to keep out the rain."
"I'm not kidding."
"If this button is not pushed they call our tech department to angrily ask why."
"My wife worked booking."
"Pretty much everything including Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique and Pirate's league."
"These two things did roughly the same thing difference being price and theme."
"BBB was expensive did more and was focused on princesses, pirates league did a bit less and focused on mermaids and pirates."
"Lady called up my wife, and got pissed about BBB being booked up (It goes FAAAAST)."
"Karen: 'Im going to give the phone to my daughter and I want you to tell her how you are ruining her vacation by not letting her do BBB'."
"Wife proceeds to explain how pirate's league is so much cooler and how she can be a mermaid or pirate and basically gets the kid to start demanding to their parents about how they want to be a mermaid instead of a princess."- trollsong
Disney World GIF
Giphy
The horror!
Being booked into a junior suite at Disney World instead of an executive suite!
It's almost as bad as having no money for groceries, or no food to feed you children...
Said absolutely no one.