People Reveal The Most Out-Of-Control Adult Temper Tantrums They’ve Ever Seen

It's okay to get a kind of sick joy out of watching a small child melt down in a grocery store. Seeing them cry out and lambast their poor parents because how dare they not get them Fruity Pebbles? That's fine to admit that watching children meltdown is fine, but those times when adults don't get what they want? Reddit user r/CrappyUsername911 posed the following question to learn about when adults just couldn't take it:

What is the biggest adult temper tantrum that you've ever witnessed?

1. He Was SO Close

Was at a restaurant with my uncle and cousins from far away. First time visiting with them in years. At the end of the dinner one of my cousins snuck off and paid for everyone as a nice gesture.

My uncle got irate yelling and complained that he wanted to pay his share because, and I s* you not, he has a movie ticket points Visa card and he was close to getting a free movie. He argued and told off our cousin loudly in the restaurant over a few free movie points. He would not drop it until he got our cousin to apologise to him for costing him movie points.

I don't think those cousins are going to fly down again any time soon. Jaegs

2. Pecans Are A Problem

When I worked in the bakery at Whole Foods, we had a customer who kept asking us to make banana muffins with A LOT of pecans on top for her - but only a few at a time, like two or three. In general it was a request we could accommodate...

...The problems started arising when she would call us while she was on the way to the store, expecting to pick them up when she arrived. She was about twenty minutes away and they took 45 minutes to bake....

First she got mad that we couldn't magically make them in twenty minutes because chemistry. I was unfortunately the supervisor on shift when she called most of the time, so she'd keep me on the phone for fifteen minutes raging about how the customer is always right - even though she was factually incorrect in this circumstance. She started saying we should just make them her way all the time so that we always had them on hand for her...

Eventually my team leader said that we had to put our foot down with her and tell her that she had to put in special orders two days in advance just like everyone else. When we told her this, she of course got like sputtering infuriated (along the lines of "How am I supposed to know when I'm going to want them?!?!")...

Finally, though, she came in personally to berate my team about how rude and inconsiderate and generally s_*_ty we had been to her. Then she asked to speak to our store manager, who had been made aware of the whole Banana Nut saga. He escorted her outside and told her she was banned from the store. We found out later that she had also been banned from the three nearest Whole Foods locations over this exact same set of circumstances. and_so_obvs

3. That Garage Door Is Too Squeaky

My mother-in-law doesn't handle stress very well, she tends to start lashing out at people and starting fights for no reason.

On the morning of my son's 1st birthday party she started to lose it as we were running around getting everything ready before the guests arrived. She first cornered my wife and started freaking out over the thermostat and some other unrelated pointless crap, then found me and started a fight over the garage door (it needed oiling and I hadn't done it because I was busy setting up the party). Volume of the voice steadily increasing.

My wife marches up to her and actually sent her to her room to calm down, and she did it! She stayed up there for an hour while my wife and I finished putting up decorations. It is a memory I will cherish forever. Neoptolemus85

4. Who Cares About Your Cheeseburger?

Had a patient family member that was super picky, constantly calling the nurses station, constantly coming out of the room to complain.

She was upset because she ordered a guest tray, wanted a cheeseburger, and it hadn't come up yet.

Another patient coded next door. So basically, patient was literally dying. All of us nurses left crazy lady to go to the code, and the lady went bats*, yelling YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT MY CHEESEBURGER! We ignored her lol. NurseJessASMR

5. But, The Gate Wouldn't Go Up...

The parking garage near my work is a frustrating place. The monthly customers have a parking pass that lifts the gate to get in and to get out. The thing is, the pass and their sensor dont work. You have to creep up to where you think the sweet spot might be, wave your pass around, reverse and try again, curse a bunch, endure people behind you honking despite them going through the same thing..... frustrating.

Not surprisingly, I witnessed a grown man throw the most excellent temper tantrum I've ever seen. The gate wouldn't go up, and he just started screaming in his car and smashing on the horn, straight out of a movie. The worst part is is that the gate always seems to go up right when you reach peak rage. So he's yellin' away, and then the gate is just like "Alright, man. I'll open. Jeez." bam_shazam

6. Let Me Speak To The Manager

I was at the pharmacy around 8pm, waiting in line behind an older lady. The pharmacist tells her she'll have to pick up her prescription tomorrow at 10am because this location doesn't carry this particular medication. The following ensues:

Lady: I'll wait

Pharmacist: No ma'am, we physically don't have it in this store. You have to come back tomorrow at 10am.

Lady: Let me speak to the manager.

Pharmacist: I am the manager, I'm the pharmacist and this is my store. I'm telling you, we do not have this medication right now.

Lady: Can you just give me one pill and I'll get the rest tomorrow?

Pharmacist: Ma'am, we don't have any of the pills here.

Lady: What if I pay you for the cost of that one pill right now, and I get the rest tomorrow?

Pharmacist: Ma'am, I can't give you one pill because we have zero pills in this store. You'll be fine until tomorrow at 10am, I promise.

The woman proceeds to go APE S*. She begins throwing stuff on the shelves onto the floor, stamping on them, screaming about how she will sue this pharmacy and how she's never seen such terrible customer service in her life. She even started kicking the partition between her and the pharmacist, threatening to go back there and fill it herself...Matilda__Wormwood

7. ISIS Car Wash

A 60ish year old man was getting gas and the pump allows you to pay for a car wash at the same time. He adds the car wash to his bill.

Drives around to car wash, big huge large see from space type sign "Temp Out Of Service"

Goes inside starts screaming that this mother f_*_er tried to steal his $7.99. The guy explains that the ticket is good for 90 days and he's sorry. Slams his fist on the counter screaming that if the car wash was out of service the pump shouldn't have offered it to him in the first place. Demands a full refund including the gas for wasting his time.

Then it gets bad.

He starts calling the guy an ISIS member and throwing things off the shelves before storming out. Calls the guy all sorts of names. I thought his head may have exploded with all of the veins showing.

This man is my father. We don't speak anymore. captain_housecoat

8. Over Decaf?

Back when I worked at 7-11 a woman came in for coffee, and i was out of decaf. so i offered to make her a fresh pot and she said that it wasn't good enough and she was already late, threw the cup on the ground and stomped out. novelty_bone

9. Bra Problems

I worked as a bra fitter in a department store. We had an older lady, probably late 60's with her rich old husband (80's) come in to the store wanting to buy bras after she had 2 weeks earlier gotten a boob job. We explained that because of swelling she should wait to buy bras and she became so enraged she literally started yelling abuse at us and pushing over entire racks of underwear. Picture a thin, somewhat wrinkled woman in rhinestones, losing her s* and tossing around undies. It was glorious. katandkuma

10. Next Time Never Forget The BBQ Sauce

I used to work at McDonald's. One time a guy came through the drive thru and ordered chicken nuggets. We gave him his food and he drives off. A few min later, he comes in to the store and runs up to the counter ranting about how we forgot his BBQ sauce. My manager meets him at the counter, apologizes profusely and him some BBQ sauce packets (extra too, maybe 6-7 packets). He proceeds to throw them at her and the rest of us workers behind the counter. We all had BBQ sauce splattered on our uniforms, on the walls, equipment etc. After he ran out of ammunition, he ran out of the store and drove away like a coward.

I was 15 then and I pretty much lost my faith in humanity. acar90

11. Let The Dog Do Its Work

I told a grown woman she could not pet my service dog while he was working. She got herself so worked up she started shouting, and told me that if I didn't want people to pet my dog I shouldn't bring him into the grocery store. I expect this sort of behavior from young children, and I also expect their parents to keep them under control. [username deleted]

12. Losing It Over Apples

I worked the front desk at a hotel a few years ago. A guest came to check in around 10pm and asked if he could get a room with 2 beds (he booked 1 bed). I told him we were sold out of rooms with 2 beds. Before I could offer him anything else, he took the bowl of apples we had at the desk and threw it against the wall. Then he took his OWN laptop, threw it on the ground and started kicking it around the lobby. Security came out promptly and told him he needed to leave, which obviously prompted more screaming and kicking. Needless to say, he didn't stay at the hotel that night. mrsmoose33

13. "I Said No Foam."

Oh good lord. When I worked at Starbucks there was a very well-dressed man who came in and ordered a latte with the following customizations: whole milk, no foam, 200 degrees. We had just run out of whole milk, which I told him and apologized for. He didn't get sty with me or anything, but was sort of weird and soft-spoken. Okay, whatever. So I handed his cup down the line for his drink to be made. 200 degree no-foam lattes are a b*__ to make, but my best barista was on duty so I wasn't worried at all. She hands off his drink. He takes the lid off and looks at it.

Customer: "I said no foam."

Barista: "Oh, I'm sorry, I must not have been paying attention. Give me one moment and I'll remake it for you."

Customer: "No, it's fine."

The customer walks away in the middle of my barista explaining that it would only take a few seconds to correct his drink. Suddenly, but also very silently, he takes the lid off of his drink, and pours it all over the condiment bar in a sweeping motion.

Not really a temper tantrum, but obviously the dude had some very VERY weird ways of dealing with dissatisfaction. princessblowhole

14. It Always Begins With "I Want To Speak With The Manager"

I'm in retail, so I witness my fair share of adult temper tantrums, but ever since I became a manager it's 10x worse because now I'm the one that gets called up to deal with the tantrums. A few weeks ago a woman wanted to return a curling iron that had clearly been being used for years, and wasn't even a brand that my store sold so she obviously had no receipt and no original packaging, meaning it wasn't eligible for return anyway whether or not it's something she had bought at our store.

When I told her this, politely of course, she puffed up and asked to speak to the manager. Okay, I'm a manager, but the store's general manager will be here tomorrow if you want to leave your number and I can have her give you a call. Nope, not acceptable, she wants cash for it today. Even if I somehow was able to accept the return (my system literally won't let me) it would be store credit only, never cash. I tell her this, and she flips the f* out.

Screams at me (literally, not figuratively), tells me she's calling the cops and corporate and the Better Business Bureau AND the attorney general (wtf are they going to do about it?!), calls me a cand a w, and then she tells me karma is going to bite me in the a* and I'm going to have a stillborn baby. Which was really fun to hear considering I'm currently nine months pregnant. tomatotomato50

15. FLIP THE CART

i work in retail, and i saw one woman literally flip her full cart over and walk out after her coupons wouldn't go through

it was actually extremely impressive now that i think about it, it must've had $150 of groceries at least Fintonius

16. This Woman Speaks For All Of Us

One day, the woman ahead of me as I walked down the stairs had a large folder in her hands. She was reading what looked to be a fairly technical financial or legal document, and you could tell she was really stressed out about it. Like, rubbing her temples, cursing under her breath, etc.

Anyway, we get through the turnstiles and are about to head down to the train platform and she stops and just kind of looks at her stuff...and then screams at the top of her lungs I HATE WORKING!!

Then she starts sprinting back and forth and screaming (in a crowded T station during rush hour, mind you) I HATE WORKING!!!

She does this for about 30 seconds or so before eventually tossing her file up and the papers filling the air. She then sprints sprints back up the stairs out of station.

Wildest part was people paused for like two seconds then went back on their way as if nothing happened. not_a_robot1

17. Samsonite. I Was Way Off.

Just landed in Orlando, picked up my bag and it was SHREDDED. I knew it was a cheap bag, just went to customer service to get a trash bag to hold my clothes so I could get to the hotel. Middle aged lady in front of me is going nuclear that the little ID tag was missing from her bag. No other damage. She'd had 2 connections, but that CSR better sthat tag right f_ing now, how dare he lose the picture of her dog, rant goes past 5 min. I tap her on the shoulder and ask if this is really what her spent money to go on vacation to do, held up my fed up bag with s*_falling out of it and said some off us have real problems. She stomped off without another word, I apologized to CSR for s**ty people and asked for a trash bag. CSR hooked me up with a free Samsonite because of it. Diesel_Daddy

18. But, It's Chocolate Day

I work at the Costco food court and there are a plethora of stories I could tell ,but one sticks out in particular. We usually have the option of chocolate or vanilla ice cream; however, our shipment of chocolate ice cream didn't come in so we were left with only vanilla all day. Most people wanting chocolate were slightly upset but went on their way. But here comes in a mother in her 30s with her son who's maybe 5 years old who were more adamant than the usual customer.

Mother: I'd like 2 chocolate ice cream cones please.

Me: I'm very sorry ma'am, but we only have vanilla at the moment

Mother: Oh, then I'll have the twist (Mixture of chocolate and vanilla)

Me: I'm sorry, but we just don't have any chocolate ice cream right now

Mother in shock

Mother: So how am I supposed to get chocolate ice cream? Today is the day we get chocolate ice cream.

Me: I'm not sure what to tell you, our shipment might come in for tomorrow or there are other stores that could sell you ice cream

Mother: THAT IS UNACCEPTABLE, WHERE IS YOUR MANAGER

I call manager and she comes

Mother: Your worker here told me that I can't have chocolate ice cream and I should go away!

Me stares at manager like she's a psycho

Manager: Ma'am, our shipment for the ice cream never came in, we can't serve you any for today

The mother's kid: I'm okay with just vanilla ice cream

Mother yelling at kid: ARE YOU KIDDING ME, THIS IS CHOCOLATE DAY, WE ALWAYS GET THE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM, WE ARE LEAVING RIGHT NOW, THIS PLACE IS AWFUL. TastyBiscuit

19. To Be Fair, We'd All Be Made At This

A woman who was in her late twenties/early thirties, dressed in a business suit, who was literally screaming in the face of a poor security guard at Heathrow after having her half-finished juice box taken away and disposed of. [username deleted]

20. And The Best Tantrum Of All...

I used to work for Goodyear tire & auto stores about 10 years ago.

A man, 40s, well dressed, came in wanting an alignment done on his truck. When they told him a price, he got upset and said that he had purchased a "lifetime alignment" from us and would not be paying. Our sales guy explained calmly that Goodyear does not, and has never sold lifetime alignments, but Firestone does, and perhaps he is mistaken. The man became furious, insisting that we perform his alignment because he paid for a LIFETIME ALIGNMENT, and that of we don't be will sue for breach of contract. Manager gets involved, there's no calming this guy down, he has us check our system and he's never even been to a GY store before at all, that just made it worse, etc. The next few minutes was him yelling incomprehensibly at our manager, other customers in the lounge, demanding action be taken on his vehicle. Finally the manager says he's calling the cops and the guy goes on a full blown profanity induced rampage through our store on the way to the door, knocking over coffee dispensers and cups, a magazine rack, and ends it by kicking open our door. The kick ripped the hydraulic door closer off the wall above the door, and he left.

Our manager ran into him a week later at a car dealership, turns out he was a sales manager there. Our manager walked out and cited that guys behavior as the reason they just lost a sale, then he forwarded the security cam video of his rampage to the GM of the dealership. Still not sure what happened on that part. deepsouthsloth

H/T: Reddit