How rare is it nowadays to see someone get booed off a stage (and I don't mean "BOO-URNS")? Believe it or not, it still happens in many different situations. Watching an excited crowd turn sour is a fascinating social event, and these Redditors witnessed some of the best.
u/A-random-Person123 asked: What is the fastest way a room of happy people turned sour you've witnessed?
The DRAMA.
When I was a kid, there were about 6/8 families in our area who were a good group of friends. Regular holidays together, kids all close friends too and in the same classes at school etc.
The backstory was that one of the families kept noticing money going missing from a drawer in the master bedroom. They had an older son who was getting the blame but was denying it.
Fast forward a few weeks and it's their younger kid's birthday, and everyone is at their house. Usual script was the kids party would be late afternoon, then in the evening the kids would end up playing games in some bedroom as the adults had a few drinks.
Kids were happy because we got to stay up late with all our friends, parents got to have a few guilt free drinks. This night was going as normal until we're all shuffled out and home earlier than usual. We got the full story the next day.
Once the kids were out of the way, the owners of the house had turned on their tv and pressed play on a video. On screen there was cctv of the bedroom where the money had been going missing. Clearly in the video you could see the wife of one of the other couples, sitting in that very room, going into the drawer and taking money. Apparently the switched off the video, said "what you saw is exactly what it looked like" and asked that couple to leave. Everyone else left shortly after.
No one likes a wet suitcase.
Giphy
I was on a Chicago to NY flight. We all get on the plane, but were delayed taking off due to a heavy storm going on. About 20 minutes in, everybody was still pretty calm until the pilot announces they're working on getting our baggage loaded, because it's been sitting on the tarmac this entire time.
The entire plane looks out, and sees all our luggage just sitting there in the pouring rain uncovered, and starts freaking out.
Meschugener.
Party at a woman's house. Everyone talking and happy. They mention a local business burned down.
Drunk guy yells "Must have been Jewish Lightning!"
The entire party goes silent, awkwardly glancing between him and the hostess, who just so happens to be Jewish.
The man looks around, thinks for a moment, and realizes his mistake. They didn't hear him! So he yells louder, "MUST HAVE BEEN JEWISH LIGHTNING!"
That's horrible.
Back when I waited tables, guy walking to his table, had a massive heart attack, and hit the floor.
EMT's said he was dead before he hit the floor. I've never seen a restaurant go so silent so quickly.
Wooow.
Giphy
My friend used to work for a company that has always promised out IT department a trip to Hawaii for working through a couple of rough years without pay raise and on the flip side we won't get any personnel cut. It was a verbal promise that once we are back to profitable, the IT department would get all expense paid trip.
Back around October of 2015, they were gathered in the largest meeting room for a meeting with the president. There were snacks, drinks, pizza, etc. It was assumed that it was a celebration for a good year and they'd get the promised trip.
It was a mass layoff since IT has been outsourced. All credentials were locked during the meeting and everyone was asked to leave the premise right after the meeting.
What an a**hole.
The President of our company got completely plastered at our Christmas party. His speech started off funny because he was slurring hard and he was playing on it. Then he started talking about how he came from nothing and became something. Then he proceeded to tell us how if it wasn't for us working so hard and keeping our clients happy, he wouldn't have been able to accomplish building his mega mansion for him and his family, nor would he have been able to afford his new Benz.
Awkward muttering, followed by him directing us to "drink up & enjoy, because due to budget cuts, the future Christmas party/bonus budget is cancelled from here on out." Many of my coworkers relied on that bonus. No one was impressed. Except for 1 person, the rest of us quit within the first few months into the new year.
Hypocrites are the worst.
I made the mistake of playing Scattergories with my mother. She said "No Foreign words, you have to use English words". Fine, fair enough. She then called out someone for using a foreign word (I can't remember, it's been 10 years). He took off the points. The next f*cking round she used three foreign words. I called her out on it and she said it was no big deal, it was just a game. I argued that not only had SHE set the rule, but that she already called someone out for doing it.
She called me a f*cking a**hole and left the room. The Thanksgiving family time was over as pretty much everyone decided that was the time to leave.
Total time from game start to end of the family time? 6 minutes.
Oh NO.
Giphy
I was watching Bruce Lee's "Enter the Dragon" in a movie theater when it came out in the early 1970's. The projector died during a fight scene.
Similar experience. I'd already seen Batman with Jack Nicholson as Joker. I went again with my uncle (not much older than me) and a few of his friends. Remember that scene where Joker (who has yet to be seen as Joker) is talking to the crime boss who tried to have him killed? The boss (Grissom) calls Joker "Jack", his real name. And Joker responds with "Jack's dead. You can call me (steps out of shadows for the big reveal) Joker."
At "Jack's dead...", everyone watched the film melt onto the camera. I laughed my a** off but everyone there who hadn't already seen the movie lost their damn minds. I actually thought I was going to witness a riot.
Yikesy.
Was on a team (about 15 people) for a special project for a regional Internet Service Provider. During the bi-weekly team meeting the manager was super pumped about how far ahead of schedule we were due to some new processes we came up with.
After about 20 minutes of atta-boys, the manager concluded with telling us all we were being laid off in the same tone of voice she used for the whole meeting issuing a bunch of praise.
Most of us awkwardly laughed for a couple seconds thinking she was joking. She was not.
You wanna start a riot or something?
I worked at a casino for a couple of years and the joke is totally true:
How do you piss off 500 old people?
Yell "BINGO!"
That's just wrong.
Giphy
3 hour safety training at work, rewarded everyone with pizza. You could go one of five days- Monday-Thursday everyone got pizza after, everyone who went Friday got ham sandwiches. Blasphemy.
Oh my goodness.
Was with a missions team in El Salvador. Our evening meeting was waiting on one of our leaders to come downstairs before we began. It had been a great day; we visited the artisan's market and a new ministry startup.
I remember it clear as day. The scene frequently replays in my mind. He sits down at the table. Suddenly, his head falls to the table and lands on his arms. Our other leader begins to shake him, but he is unresponsive.
For what felt like forever we were trapped in that room listening to CPR. They laid him down in the only doorway. Eventually, one of my friends and I were able to lead everyone out without getting too close to the leaders.
I'll spare the details, but long story short, I believe one of his aorta had burst. He was dead within minutes.
Whoops.
My family drove up to my grandma's house for her 90th (give or take a couple of years) birthday. She had the family and neighborhood over. My sister brought her boyfriend, but she was called away for a group school assignment because of her incompetent classmates. Anyway, her boyfriend had to fend for himself.
My grandma's neighbor first introduced him as "Bob" with two O's. This was a harmless joke/we all know he has a crude sense of humor. Everyone goes on eating and talking and then Bob (again) tells a story about a huge deer he saw (grandma/neighbors live in woods). He proceeds to tell us how gigantic the rack on the deer was and addresses a relatively new neighbor and newer girlfriend and says, "just like your girl."
I didn't turn the room sour but it was definitely uncomfortable.
Yikes.
Giphy
I went to a leaving party for a member of staff I used to work with. We were all dancing and having a good time when suddenly one of the SENIOR members of staff was outside and started shouting at a young member of staff and threw a chair at him.
We all rushed to wear the argument was going on and he walked in really upset and the manager walked into the room and asked everyone what we were looking at. No one could say a word we was so shocked.
Well.....f*ck.
I entered a bar a ordered a beer. The music was quite loud so I decided to fart. Then I looked around and saw everyone was staring at me.
Then I realised I was listening to my mp3 player.
But some of the terrors rooted in reality are scarier.
Whether it's a brush with death after hydroplaning on black ice while driving or being held at gunpoint, they are the stuff of true nightmares.
However, the jury remains out about the reality of ghosts.
Regardless, Redditor Geace_69 asked:
"What's the scariest thing that's ever happened to you?"
One of the worst things must be to look down the barrel of a gun as these Redditors did.
"Wrong Taxi"
"A guy stopped traffic and walked up to the window of the taxi I was in and pointed a gun at my head through the window. Then said 'wrong taxi', and casually walked away."
"I hope he never found the right taxi."
– MercutiaShiva
Cashier At Gunpoint
"I got robbed at gunpoint when I was working alone one night at Subway when I was 16."
– scottevil110
Getting Authentic Tacos
"I got stopped by the Cartel in Mexico. I live on the border and we decided to go eat some authentic tacos. My dad, my brother and his blonde girlfriend and I (12) were driving to our favorite taco place when this truck behind us started honking at us. Unfortunately there were 3 speed bumps in a row right in front of us. So the truck got impatient and pulled up in front of us. Then they stopped at the intersection which was right in front of us. Along with another truck that was behind them. And a van. Then, like insects, they all swarmed out of their vehicles with AK's and body armor. They lined up pointing to both out car, and then down the street in the direction our car was facing. 2 guys started smacking the car with the butt of their guns and yelling at us to leave. Then they shot some warning shots at the ground in front of the car. My dad floored it backwards while my brother shoved his white girlfriend into the floor and I tried to become one with the seat. Almost died that day. At least thats what it felt like."
– priorityslayer
These Redditors recount the times they were asked to be taken to the ATM. And not in a very polite way.
Unwelcome Passenger
"I stopped at a light in a questionable part of town and a strange lady hopped into the passenger seat of my car. She told me to drive her to the ATM and get her some money...I told her that I had forgotten my purse and could not do so (my purse was behind my seat and I was really hoping she wouldn't look around and catch my lie). She kept insisting that I give her money and I kept driving and telling her I couldn't... I'm pretty sure the $20 or so dollars I had in the bank would not have been enough anyway."
"Finally I saw a cop car stopped on the side of the road. I pulled up behind it and told her she could either get out then, or I'd start honking my horn to get the cops attention. She decided to leave."
"I was pretty shaken by that... I'm not sure what I would have done if I hadn't seen the cop and she was getting increasingly insistent and I know I would not have won a fight with her."
"Also... She took my bag of gummy worms."
– bettyblack825
Drive To A Construction Site
"Something similar happened to my friend's dad. Guy got into his car, pointed a gun at him, told him to drive to an ATM, and pull out money. The dad was scared shi*less, but seemingly, calmly agreed. He drove the car to a construction site nearby, hoping that the workers would be on duty that day. Fortunately, they were and the dad, driving a luxury car, looked so out of place that a bunch of the workers started watching him. The dad then told the guy, 'You can either get out of my car or you can shoot me and have a dozen witnesses. Your choice, but you're not getting money from me.'"
"Guy with the gun got out of the car and ran off. The dad called off work that day and went home to spend time with his wife and kids. My friend said she had never seen him so freaked out before in her life and he made sure to tell them all that story so they would be able to do the same in that sort of situation."
– rivlet
Sometimes, a brush with death is caused by fate and not by gun-toting lunatics.
Out In The Elements
"I was driving on the northern part of the ring road in Iceland. Buddies and I were seeing the whole country and it was bad weather in the middle of winter. Roads were closing behind us so we couldn't turn back. We finally had a clear day ahead of us where we should have been able to drive and prevent being snowed in for a few days. We hit a stretch of road with no gas stations for many miles and we fill up on gas and go. Along the way the weather starts declining and eventually it gets to white out conditions. We couldn't stop for fear of being snowed in. so we crawled along at 10 miles and hour. Closest I felt I ever came to dying on a road in the middle of nowhere in Iceland in a blizzard. great trip though 10/10 would go back"
The Treacherous Slope
"nearly fell off a cliff when skiing (but got rescued)."
Swerving Towards Death
"Me 17, on a rainy day with slippery tyres went through a corner too fast. Two friends in the car with me. Lost control, car swerved, we missed on-coming traffic by probably an inch. It happened in an instant."
"I regained control when the car was pointing in the driving direction again, by lifting from the brakes so we moved forward as if nothing happened."
"A week later going around the same corner an accident happend, head to head. I was second on the scene, and held a strangers hand as they are trapped under the steering wheel. Slipping in and out of consciousness, in total pain, while waiting for emergency services. I was asked to leave by the police when they learned I was not an eye witness to the actual accident. But I knew what happened, because I escape a crash like this just a week before. I never asked people what happened to the people in the other car and I do not know if the person I assisted made it."
"All I do remember is the total chaos in my memory of arriving at the scene, linked to my irresponsible behavior behind the wheel a week before."
– KeepItGood2017
Carnival of Fear
"I was 14 I think. Went on a swinging boat ride at the fair, the kind that pause upside down. The auto locking seatbelt bar didn't lock all the way down against me, so when it stopped upside down I started to slip out of my seat. It probably only lasted 10-15 seconds until we went down again but I was holding myself into that car for dear life. Pretty scary, but it didn't kill my love of roller coasters!"
– cynth81
Shortness Of Breath
"About two years ago, I had severe bronchitis. Severe coughing and shortness of breath were the main symptoms. I couldn't talk without coughing. I couldn't lay down to sleep without coughing. It got so bad one night I was home alone and I couldnt breathe deeply anymore. I could only take a shallow breath. My roommate was out of town and I had no one to reach out to. I started getting panicky because I was afraid I wouldn't ever be able to breathe normally again and that I would die because I couldn't breathe or catch my breath."
– bigblackkittie
My brush with death continues to haunt me and I still count my blessings.
Years ago when I still lived in Los Angeles, I barely avoided a head-on collision with an eighteen-wheeler – presumably driven by a drunk driver – who was swerving in and out of their side of the road at around 10:30 p.m.
I was blinded by the headlights, and as the truck came careening towards me, I steered the wheel at the last second and my vehicle's rear was clipped by the truck.
I spun out of control and luckily managed to not collide with the parked cars on the street.
My car was not drivable after that hit-and-run incident.
But I sure was glad my life was spared that night. I have never been so scared in life until that moment.
For the record, I'll take being haunted by ghosts over these brushes with death anyday.
God bless America, land that I love. But Lord don't cross her, she can be feisty. America does have a unique connection to rules and more often than not visitors find themselves in a culture shock. Which can be entertaining.
Money Back
Bribing Season 3 GIF by NETFLIXGiphy"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."
No Roaming
"I thought this was an obvious one, but my German exchange student would very casually walk on/through people's properties, even going so far as to walk up to their houses in the middle of the night. This is a huge no-no unless you need help, just casually walking around on people's properties would make them think you are looking to rob the place."
By the Rules
"Make the assumption that you know the law. Our local laws change drastically from state to state. If you buy weed for example, it may be illegal to drive ten miles west into another state."
"There is no "may" about it. Since marijuana is still illegal on the federal level, transporting any amount of THC, even medicinally marked packaging, is a felony. Transporting any controlled substance across state lines carries a minimum of 5 year sentence and a nice little trafficking badge on your record."
Hands Up
"Get into a fist fight. In some places that isn't a big deal. Here it has significant legal issues. And the other guy might be carrying and you could get shot. Just walk away."
Straight Face
schitts creek comedy GIF by CBCGiphy"As a Canadian crossing the border to the US, don't act fun or funny with the border patrol. Give them your passports, tell them what you're doing and such. They're harda**es."
- cappo40
In others countries people can just meander through other people's backyards? Like... really? Ok. And yes, do not play games with any kind of law enforcement. They really have to sense of humor. Read on...
Pay Up
homer simpson episode 22 GIFGiphy"Don't try to cheat the IRS. They will screw your life into oblivion."
bad buzz
"Usually you should never openly drink alcohol in a public space such as the right-of-way, a park, etc. It's illegal here and getting arrested will really harsh your buzz. Not that people don't get around this by using water jugs or other opaque containers, but it might be an unpleasant surprise if you're used to more liberal drinking laws."
From the USSR
"Assume personal space distance is the same as your country. Depends on where you come from, but Americans are stereotyped as being used to more personal space than some countries. Our Russian foreign exchange student was kinda weirded out by how far people stand apart at bus stops, etc, and was a little hurt after people scooched away from him on the bus, in class, etc because "Hey we are all friends here so lets be breathing the same air."
Twice the Size
"Don't misunderstand the massive scale of the country. You will not be able to visit Vegas, Disney World, and the Statue of Liberty in a single one week trip without taking several planes. The 48 contiguous United States is nearly twice the size of the EU, by area. It is freaking massive and a lot of it is really far apart. In some states, you can drive for 8+ hours and not leave the state. Like, we have states the size of some other countries."
- zbeezle
YOU CAN DO THAT!!
Pop Tv No GIF by Schitt's CreekGiphy"You can't leave your baby unattended while shopping etc. like in some Scandinavian countries, you will get arrested."
"Wait, YOU CAN DO THAT in some places? Like I wouldn't necessarily be worried about my baby being stolen, but they're basically little suicide machines."
It sounds like we may not be the most fun country to be wandering through. Don't get me wrong, I'm an American and I love it here but we need to loosen up a bit. Let's get crazy.
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