Managers Reveal The Stupidest Reason Customers Have Asked To See Them
Managers are not the yes men customers hope them to be, especially when their requests have gone off the rails. You can't ask a hotel to fire Latino workers. You can't demand a restaurant refund your food because your hair was in it. And expired coupons? Use them before they expire. Managers know when people are trying to pull a fast one, and then they will shame you on Reddit.
Hglittle asked managers of Reddit: What's the stupid reason a customer has asked to see you?
Submissions have been edited for clarity, context, and profanity.
Lady, I think you've had enough.
Restaurant manager here.
We provide complimentary bread baskets on our dinner tables. One lady clicked me over (because who doesn't love that?) to tell me I was running the most unhygienic establishment that she had ever eaten in, and that, with her food hygiene level 3 certificate, she could and should have me shut down.
Why the fuss?
There was some "jam" on the bread, and I had clearly taken used breakfast stock and tried to cost cut by serving contaminated bread at dinner. I'd cut the bread not 10 minutes before, burning my hands on it as it was fresh out of the oven, definitely not leftovers.
I apologized profusely yet non committally, removing the offending bread amid increasingly patronizing comments about how I really ought to know how to run a restaurant and that being so thick as to do this blah blah blah...
On inspection, the red blobs of jam we're drips of red wine from the bottle next to the bread basket, that the lady had poured herself.
Needless to say, I wasn't shut down.
Nope.
I've worked in bars for 9/10 years, from a teen, right through uni and manage a bar. This happened when I was supervisor not manager.
Real quiet night, we have a horseshoe shaped bar so when it's quiet like to have one staff member on either end of the bar and one in the middle so all sides are covered and customers are served as quick as possible. The regular customers know how this system works.
The girl who was covering the middle of the bar had gone to the toilet/to collect some glasses or whatever. One of the regulars walks up and I head over to serve him, he refuses my service for no apparent reason. As soon as the girl who was originally there comes back the regular gets angry... "where the f#&k have you been? I've been waiting ages!" She explains whatever the reason was and he's still shouting, I head over and ask him politely to stop shouting and ask him what he'd like to drink (again).
He kept on and on and on, swearing at us both until I told him I wasn't getting a drink for the rest of the evening and to go home or go somewhere else. The guy gets even angrier, and lunges towards me over the bar with a clenched fist. What he obviously didn't pay attention to was the shelves above the bar for storing glasses, THWACK. Guy smashes his forehead straight into the shelf, all the other regulars laugh.
He loses his mind, and asks to speak to my manager (who was in sight of the whole ordeal and keeping a close eye on things), and tries to get him to punish me for causing him a "serious injury." We all laughed in his face and he sure as hell isn't a regular in this pub anymore!
TL;DR: regular customer gets angry for no reason, tries to punch me, whacks his head pretty hard, then asks my manager to punish me for causing him harm.
Ohh...kay...
Used to be front office manager in a hotel. In our rooms we had three phones. One next to the bed, one in the bathroom and one on the desk. This is already a lot but in the past we also had an additional 4th phone on the side table. So one day a customer asked to see me requesting the 4th phone because you could clearly see the telephone socket in the wall (neatly covered) and thus his room was not complete. I asked him why he needed 4 phones in his room, he said because clearly in the past there were 4 phones and that's what he paid for (we didn't advertise online with 4 phones, but i had maintenance bring up a forth phone nonetheless).
Where it this crazy hotel?
(I also managed a hotel)
Front desk calls me and asks me if we have any spare Bibles because room XX is asking for one. I happily oblige and walk it over myself. I apologize and hand it over to the man. Casually ask him if he normally reads the Bible.
"No... I just like to have it. Just in case."
Me: (thinking to myself) Just in case what?! The rapture happens all of a sudden?!
"Oh ok! Good night sir."
Managed a hotel in rural Georgia (the State in the U.S) and I get a call from our front desk clerk saying someone wants to talk to me.
I head over and this woman just wants to inform me that "she was going to stay at this hotel but noticed that we hire 'them Mexicans' (pointing at our housekeepers) so she won't be staying here anymore."
I politely told her they're Guatemalan and that I appreciate her opinion but don't need her business.
This set her off and she proceeded to go on a rant about how she knows the Sheriff and she'll report me for hiring Illegals (they weren't), and how we were racist, ageist, and sexist against her.
I told her to please do so and pointed at the CCTV.
She stormed off and the Sheriff never showed up.
When you try to pull a fast one, and it backfires spectacularly.
I had this insane woman flag me down at a Chinese Restaurant I used to manage.
She very loudly told me she found a hair in her Mongolian lamb, and showed me a long sauce covered blonde hair. For reference, I had short black hair at the time and the entire kitchen and wait staff on that night had relatively short black hair. The woman had long blonde hair.
Instead of letting her cause more of a scene, I apologized and got the kitchen to make her a new serving to replace the meal (even though she and her kids had essentially eaten the entire serving already.)
The part where sh!t started to really go down was when she came up with her family to pay. She refused to pay her ENTIRE bill due to the "HUGE THICK HAIR I FOUND IN MY FOOD" which she loudly announced to the room. At this point, the restaurant owner came out and started having a screaming match with the woman for trying to rip us off. Her kids appeared to cry on cue.
I sent my boss back to the kitchen and said I would figure it out. I turned to the woman and explained calmly that I would be happy to take the Mongolian Lamb off of her tally (despite the replacement serving) so long as she paid the other $90+ for the rest of the bill.
She refused and called the cops because my boss had yelled at her. No joke.
Best bit was the cops ended up telling the woman she needs to pay her full bill and that emergency services shouldn't be called for such petty reasons.
Happy I'm not in that industry anymore haha...
TLDR; Lady tries to use her own hair to get out of paying for her table's food. Aussie Cops provide quality sass.
When a customer doesn't know how beer works.
Because a bartender properly poured a beer. It was Stella in the Stella chalice. It's listed in the menu as 13.5 oz and that's the fill line. Dude asked the bartender to top him off as the head had died down a bit. Bartender does so and the guy wants the head completely poured off. Bartender points out the fill line and says that he can't just pour away beer (head is mostly beer). Customer takes this as attitude.
Dude doesn't like it and comes to me and since I hadn't heard this, I immediately point out the fill line. He ended up returning the beer.
I like to think that he had to go to the bathroom where he would have walked passed that lame 9-step perfect Stella pour poster that we have that specifically references the fill line and that the beer is supposed to have head.
Oh, and I had to spend a solid 5 minutes explaining sales tax and how it applies at a restaurant, but not at a grocer.
All this over half a dollar.
Quite a few years ago I was working at a pizza chain and I had someone call in and ask an employee if we would honor a coupon that was over a week expired. My employee told her that we couldn't honor it but he would ask me. Before he got the chance to ask me she decided to make a big fuss/was fairly disrespectful to my employee and wanted to speak to me about it directly. She complained saying it was only expired by "a few days." I backed what my employee had told her, we wouldn't be honoring it.
About 20 minutes later we got a call from her again and this time I had answered. She didn't make it the whole way through asking if we would honor before I told her the answer was still no. We had caller ID so I knew it was her again.
About an hour after the second call the employee who took the first call comes back to me saying there is a woman at the front of the store who wanted to speak to me about him not honoring a coupon. It was the same expired coupon. She told me that she would be going elsewhere for pizza from that point on because our service was terrible, specifically that not honoring an expired coupon for a loyal customer (I had never seen her before and we had no records of orders from her) was "bad business." I told her she was welcome to go elsewhere.
The ultimate kicker is that the coupon was for 50 cents off any order. It wasn't a big deal and I would have absolutely honored it had she not treated my employee like sh!t on the phone.
Tl;dr - customer was rude to my employee so I wouldn't honor her expired coupon.
I have nothing to add.
Asking me what the showtimes were.
They demanded I come over to guest service where they stood tapping their foot impatiently. Keep in mind I am in another part of the building, so it takes me several minutes to walk all the way there.
I get to guest service and ask them what the issue is. They say "We need to know the show times for today" I give them a weird look, as the box office is literally right outside the doors with a huge marquee displaying the digital showtimes. We also had a huge digital maquee sign on the inside of the building in the lobby displaying all of the current showtimes. It was also a weekday, so it was slow.
"We have the showtimes outside on the display board in box office.." I mistakenly told them.
"Well its COLD outside."
This really baffled me as it was nearly 60 degrees that day and the husband was wearing shorts (60 is warm as I live in the northeast) After reading them some showtimes they got mad "Well don't you have anything right now??"
I told them that no, we did not have anything starting in the next five minutes.
They stormed off without buying any tickets.
Don't know how someone ends up that entitled/stupid and complains about standing outside in spring weather.
Of all the stories on here, this one confuses me most. What did they hope to gain by making you repeat the showtimes? How bored do you have to be to find enjoyment in that, and then not even stay for a show?
There always seems to be a paradox between these people having extremely high standards for the delivery and certain little aspects of the product but extremely low standards on the product itself. She was willing to see any crappy movie that started soon, obviously not some kind of film buff that just flew in from Cannes. Same with these people that have melt downs over fast food, or long lines at them. I witnessed a lady at a very crowded convenience store (surrounded by several nice coffee shops btw) yelling at a busy worker because they were ALMOST out of lids and cream, she was able to get everything but every time he tried to ask her what she needed she yelled "just do your job!"
If you're gonna sneak in, be nice.
Was the casino beverage manager in Vegas and was covering the pool bar manager that day.
It was in the middle of summer and the pool team calls me saying an irate woman wanted to speak to the manager.
I make my way out there in 100F heat, while wearing my suit and tie.
This lady was seated in the VIP area and was complaining that her margarita had melted within 10 minutes and wanted me to give her a replacement as it "melted too fast".
Last I checked, being a beverage manager didn't give me control of the elements nor the laws of thermal dynamics. But, I tried to reason with her that it was 100F and we can't prevent ice from melting (but I sure as hell was melting in the sun with my black suit). She was totally livid and insisted that either we get her a replacement or to put her partially consumed drink back into the blender with more ice. Reblending the drink was never gonna happen as it violates a bunch of health codes.
I turned to the pool manager and asked, "Did anyone verify her VIP status?" as VIP guests have an assigned casino host which would liaise with me directly, or I would know who the VIP guests are during the pre-shift brief.
Long story short, she snuck into the VIP area, so I got security to kick her out of the pool in a blink.
This is wholesome content.
Good ending story,
Was a manager for a Music/game cd store back in 2007-9.
Was called in for an old grumpy man returning a CD which was not working.
He was nearly crying, the CD was expensive. It was all very scratched like it went through sandpaper.
We had a no-return policy after the package was opened, as these were original CD's. He came in claiming that the CD was not working.
We usually tested if the CD, if it played and didn't skip, we just gave it back. I tested the CD it actually played.
After a conversation, it did not work in his car, which was parked just outside the shop.
I went with him, perhaps he was not pressing the wrong button.
After arriving at the car and looking at the stereo, it had no CD player, he managed to jam the CD between the dash and the tape player, it did not play, so he removed part of the dash and took it out, and tried again.
After explaining this to him, he literally was crying.
I was unable to refund the CD under the policy. And the CD actually played because the plastic was damaged, but the top was not.
Thinking he will have a heart attack, and feeling sorry for him, I offered to copy the CD to a Tape, and he can keep the CD for when he gets a CD player.
I copied the CD to a tape, he was happy, and later returned to the shop many to buy tapes, was really friendly to me, saying I remind him of his son who died in the war (while being super grumpy at everybody else) and brought pastry his wife made as gifts every time he came.
TL:DR Gramps stuffed CD in tape player, messed it up, I copied CD to Tape. He became a regular and brought homemade pastry.
What a surprise.
Customer comes to the bar and demands to speak to the manager, won't say why, won't deal with anyone else. He's told I'm not working for another 3 hours and says he'll wait, stands at the bar angrily. Staff call upstairs to me (I live up there) and explain he's just standing there tutting. He realises they're on the phone to me and gets angry because I'm upstairs and won't speak to him.
Went down and asked the problem. "When X ran this pub he used to have Mild on tap for me. You don't. It's disgraceful, what am I mean to drink now?"
I explained that yes, X did stock Mild and when I arrived I audited the stock and realised most of the barrel was getting wasted every week. So I stopped ordering it and switched to an ale that would sell. Dickhead is still angry and says if I order it he'll drink it. I tell him he'll have to drink 9 gallons in 3 days. Still adamant I should order it. So I told him I'd order a barrel, and if it didn't sell he could pay for the wastage.
I got a spare barrel from another pub, tapped it, waited and surprise surprise, he had one pint that week and sheepishly vanished forever.
These people are so annoying.
I worked at a Toyota dealership and a salesman said his customer asked to speak to the manager because Jesus told her that we would provide her with a car. I asked her if Jesus was paying cash or financing. She literally expected us to just go, "Oh ok, well...pick out whatever tickles your fancy!"
As a server I got "Tipped" in Jesus pamphlets every Sunday. I thought about asking them if instead they could pray that Jesus would pay my light bill instead of sending me Bible pamphlets.
The nerve!
Not a manager, but I once had a woman ask me, very rudely, to get her a manager "this instant" because my behavior was "completely unnacceptable."
She'd asked me where something was and I simply said "It's over in (section), I'd show you over but unfortunately I'm tied up with another customer at the moment. Once I'm finished with her I can meet you over there and we can look for it together, or I can call on the radio and see if anyone's able to meet you there sooner."
"It's over in (section), I'd show you over but unfortunately I'm tied up with another customer at the moment. Once I'm finished with her I can meet you over there and we can look for it together, or I can call on the radio and see if anyone's able to meet you there sooner."
Woah woah how the hell do you type these words here? It's the internet, kids can access this stuff!!
The best part is the other customer was with me and as soon as we left the rude one she went "the f*ck was her problem?"
When they think the rules don't apply to them.
I get called over for a price match for a Lego set. I get there, and it's clearly a clearance price from a different location, which is a policy exclusion, of which I inform him.
shows receipt "It's from a different location! You have to honor it!"
"Clearance differs from store to store, but regardless, the price match policy excludes clearance pricing."
"So I'll call customer service and if they overrule you, you'll do it."
I walk away while he makes his call. Of course, he doesn't get his way because the policy is available for literally anyone to read before doing all this horse sh*t.
TL;DR: Just because it's clearance there doesn't mean it is or is going to be here.
Ahh hahahahaha. Damn you physics!
I worked at a marine business for a number of years. I was the head buyer for a long time. One of the things we sold was anchor chain, we sold a lot of chain for boats. We would buy it in bulk and sell it for the same amount as online retailers when you account for shipping. In a lot of cases we sell 250'+ to a single buyer.
I had a customer come in and want to buy 250' of 3/8" chain, this stuff weighed right around 2lbs per foot. He wasn't happy with the price that was listed and asked the sales staff for someone higher up, I was the only one available and had to go deal with this. He pulled up the internet and showed me this place that was 3 states away had it for sales slightly cheaper than what we sold it for. I told him we wouldn't price match and he'd still have to pay shipping. The guy says "No I don't, I'll drive to go get it." Great, go get it.
Fast forward two weeks, guy comes in and I asked about his purchase. Yes, he did buy it and yes he did drive three states away to pick it up in his HONDA CIVIC HATCHBACK. He blew out both rear shocks because the dumbass didn't account for the weight of 250' of anchor chain in the back of a car. It was pure vindication.
He blew out both rear shocks because the dumbass didn't account for the weight of 250' of anchor chain in the back of a car.
I used to work at a lumber yard driving a forklift and I can't tell you how many times someone screamed at me for not putting 2,000 pounds of cement block or concrete in the back of a small S10 truck or loading 700 pounds of lumber on top of a luxury SUV. People are just dumb.
These are the same people who expect you to show up at their house and help unload it for them.
It must be for free and god help you if tell them there will be a delivery charge.
People are required to have a license to drive, fish, and have certain jobs.
So it boggles my mind that people aren't required to have a license to have kids.
Some of the cruelest and most vicious things I've ever heard were words uttered by a parent to a child.
As an adult, I was haunted by a few thigs.
I can't imagine the scaring of an adolescent.
Redditor Tight_Anywhere6794 wanted to hear about the things parents have said in the past that haunts everyone still, so they asked:
"What insult have your parents said, that is stuck in your head as an adult?"
I've been blessed with the mother I had.
So I can't speak from experience.
But I've heard parenting horror stories.
Bad Expressions
Sad Kid GIF by 1tvGiphy“'You’re so annoying.' Said to me as a young kid while I was expressing enthusiasm over some new interest. Later my father complains I never tell him anything."
foppishyyy
Mean Spirited
"What did I do to deserve a fat kid?"
Silosolo
"My parents also mocked me for being fat, and outright physically abused me as in forcefully grabbed my fat child manboobs or slapped me while calling me fat-related names."
"A lot of people at school did it too, so obviously I have a lot of self-image issues like I never let anyone see me without clothes these days. The worst part is that I legitimately internalized a lot of hate, I could never care for myself enough to actually get fit."
FoeWithBenefits
What's My Name?
"My parents divorced when I was young and they hate each other. My mom would call me my dad's name when she was really upset. What makes it worse is that I confided in her that I never wanted to be like my dad. She used that ammunition against me."
Discarded_Pariah
"That's awful. You are your own person. You aren't your father."
blksmnr
Unfunny
"'You can't even laugh right.'"
"My mom in a weird moment I thought we were bonding. There's something inherently extra evil when someone tells you your joy is wrong. Told her I'm engaged and hoped she could at least be happy I'm happy and she ghosted everyone to the point the family thought died. She's a mess."
BlindEditor
"I'll never understand parents that are so hard on their own children that they can't even be happy for them. So their sole function is to bring misery to their offspring?"
macabre_irony
Evil
Oh My God Wow GIF by The Roku ChannelGiphy"My little brother was drowning, I tried to save him but also almost drowned, we got rescued by a neighbor. My mom told me that they should've left me in the pond. I haven't spoken to her in many years."
Ilookbetterthanyou
Good Lord. How do people like this exist?
Tragic.
HIM
"She told me I was acting just like my father when I would get upset. I would just get kinda pissy and sulk. He would go on rampages and scream and hit and throw things. He pushed her down the stairs once. I would never lay a finger on my current partner. The worst part is I look just like him. I was wondering if my mother always expected me to turn into my dad. I prove her wrong every day."
rot_grl
10 Years Old
"When I was ~10 years old, my mum once said 'If I could go back in time and make sure I never gave birth to you, I would in a heartbeat.'"
"Never forgot it. Talked to her about it a couple of times years later and her responses ranged from 'That never happened' to 'Oh yeah and I suppose I’m just the worst mother ever' and finally 'Yeah but I didn’t mean it, you know that.'"
"Messed me up tho tbh. Another one was '[older sibling] was the only child we actually planned for, the rest of you were accidents.' I don’t think it was intended as an insult, but being told your entire existence was an accident as a child kinda stung."
SpiderP*bes
Failures
“'You’re the biggest mistake I ever made.' - my mother when I was 5. I’m 32 now and it’s been the undercurrent for our relationship ever since, constantly wondering if anything I’ve achieved or struggled for is something she’s genuinely proud of or just relieved to say I wasn’t a total failure on her part."
thefaehost
Generational Issues
"Not a parent but a grandparent, I was adopted when I was 12 years old (my parents were both drug addicts so I was in and out of foster care most of my life) my adopted mother's father turned to me on Christmas Eve when no one else was around and said 'My daughter should have never adopted you, she should have let you stay on the streets where you belong'… he got nicer as he got older and sicker but I couldn’t find it in myself to forget what he said even almost 10 years later. Went to the funeral for moral support but was indifferent about his passing."
samweather227
Just Me
Sad Kids GIF by Cian DucrotGiphy"I was an only child and lonely. When I asked for a sibling, the response was 'If you want to know why we don't have more kids, go look in the mirror.'"
Responsible_Fly_3565
Some people should never have children.
Awful.
A tough realization that most of us have to process and accept at some point is the fact that our parents lied to us when we were kids.
But the tougher fact to process may not be the lying itself, but some of the lies that were told along the way.
Redditor Fearless-surfur-ee asked:
"What was the biggest lie you believed?"
Adulting 101
"That adults knew what they were doing."
- yukipurple
"Maybe not ALL adults, but I definitely thought that adults with responsible jobs have their s**t together. Then I realized they do not have their s**t together at all."
"Which in turn makes me feel somewhat better about being an adult with a responsible job who does not have their s**t together."
- kjhwkejhkhdsfkjhsdkf
Moving Violations
"It’s illegal to turn on the dome light while the vehicle is moving."
"Nope. Turns out it’s just annoying as h**l."
- OstrichMan975
A Lottery Trick
"When I was a kid, my cousin convinced me for, like, an hour that her mom had won the lottery. I can still feel the loss of millions of dollars two decades later, and that s**t hurts, bro."
"WHY, JESSICA, WHY?!"
- iforgotwhereiparked
That Truth Hurts
"I’ll fill up my car with gas before work tomorrow morning."
- hoangtudude
"I will do stuff like this for my fiancé in a heartbeat, but if I need to fill up my own gas tank to avoid doing it tomorrow? That sounds like a problem for future me."
- robbviously
When That Grief Hits Seven Years Later...
"My mom told me when I was five and my favorite dog died that it doesn't matter that dogs die, because in seven years, they respawn."
"So I was like, 'Oh, fine. See you then, bud, I will be older, and we will play again.'"
- josevilla7
Replacement Pets
"My hamster died while I was in school. Went back home, and I instantly saw he was a little bit different."
"My mum tricked me into thinking it was the same hamster and he hadn't changed a bit."
"Mom told me the truth a few years later. I was so p**sed off."
- changethename7
"My mom has done the same thing with my nephew’s parakeet. One day, Pickles #1 flew into the pantry, somehow got stuck in a case of Diet Coke, and got crushed by a can avalanche."
"He was immediately replaced by Pickles #2. My nephew asked why Pickles was so mean to him now. Pickles #2 is an a**hole."
"I’m suspicious that we are on Pickles #3 now but I don’t want to know for sure."
- Brotox123
"My mother's cousin did that with her little boy's rabbit."
"The new rabbit was a psychopath. Having his previously loving rabbit now hate him and repeatedly attack him was almost certainly more traumatizing than learning about death."
"I always wondered if stories like that were part of the inspiration for 'Pet Sematary.'"
- victoriaj
Just in Case
"The microwave will explode if I put my face too close to it while it’s heating food."
- ezzysalazar
A SUPER Secret Affair
"That my parents were married."
"The truth is, my father was, just not to my mother."
- left_over_croissant
A Creative Story
"That my dad moved out and rented a room in the house of a female friend for tax reasons."
- Eldhannas
Such Good Friends
"Outside of dumb lies your parents tell you as kids, my friend who worked at a gas station with a big food station that has some ground beef items told me they use kangaroo meat for their ground beef because it was cheaper than cow."
"I am gullible with my friends."
- _Goose_
The Lie That Keeps Going
"When I was 15, over my summer break, one day my mom called and said she was gonna pick me up and we were gonna go to my stepdad's for the weekend."
"I didn’t understand why I had to go when she would leave me at home by myself for the weekend all the time. I was old enough that I knew the rules and she could trust me."
"She told me there was a mixup at the electrical company and they seem to think we didn’t pay the bill and so the power was gonna be shut off, so we were gonna go to my stepdad's until that got sorted."
"That was a lie."
"A weekend turned into two weeks, which turned into a month, and then the entire summer. We hadn’t been home in over two months. I kept asking when we could go home and she’d always have an excuse."
"We reached September, she’s driving me from one city to my hometown to register for the following year of school, which started up in a week, and this was the closest I had been to home in two months! After I registered, we bypassed my house and started heading towards the highway to go back to my stepdad’s."
"It was at that moment I snapped and started freaking out! I knew something was wrong."
"She pulled the car over and started crying. Apparently, my brother had been helping her pay the bills and when he moved out, she could no longer afford the place on her own. So my stepdad was trying to help but he had his own house and kids he had to look after, and he couldn’t keep it up. We had been evicted."
"We stayed with my stepdad for the summer while my mom tried to work something out with the landlord, but they couldn’t come to an arrangement. Because she never told me, and in order to buy herself time to work something out, she had to be comfortable with potentially leaving EVERYTHING behind…"
"Well, she couldn’t work it out with the landlord and we lost EVERYTHING. The only thing I got out of that house was the shoes on my feet and a few outfits and pajamas enough for a weekend stay."
"My mother wanted to keep the lie going for as long as she could to buy herself time that she had to leave behind everything to keep it going. She never went back for anything, so eventually I can only assume it was all thrown away."
"So not only did I lose material belongings like my computer, my video games, and all my clothes, but I lost basic things like my own bedroom… and privacy as a teenager! I slept on my stepdad’s couch for almost two years until his daughters moved out and I took over their old room."
"But I also lost sentimental things like childhood pictures/videos, the memory box I started when I was seven, and the porcelain dolls my dad had given me over the years, he bought me two per year (birthday and Christmas,) and now that my dad is dead, those are things I wish I still had."
- Neikitia
An Elaborate Tale
"When I was very young, we had a pet hamster. He got out of his cage, so my dad put the cage in the basement, thinking he might get hungry and get back in."
"One morning I woke up and there was the hamster in his cage in the usual place. I asked my mom how they found him and she told me she opened the door to the cellar and there he was dragging his cage back upstairs."
"It wasn't until I was a teenager and remembered the exchange that it occurred to me she obviously made that up."
- censorized
Too Real
"That acne would only be a problem when I was a teenager."
- McGamers56
"I started breaking out in the third grade and haven't had clear skin since. I'll be 27 pretty soon. This one hits home."
- bayleenator
Part of the Family
"When I was like 16, I found out that one of my sisters wasn’t actually my sister. She was actually just best friends with my oldest sister growing up, and she lived with my family from when she was 12 or 13 through 18 (she and my oldest sister are 15 years older than me)."
"Unfortunately, her parents wouldn’t sign her over for adoption and didn’t contribute anything to my mom raising her for six years."
"The weirdest part is that my family is predominantly fair-skinned, blonde with blue eyes, but the girl I thought was my sister was traditional Hispanic with darker skin, dark hair, and brown eyes. My mom was always very tan and had darker skin and hair throughout my childhood, so I thought that my other two sisters and myself were the odd ones out."
- Schleeeeeem
The Deepest Betrayal of All
"On April Fool's while I was getting ready for school on a cold winter day, my mom told me, 'School is canceled! It's a snow day!'"
"I ran around for a good two minutes celebrating before she told me, 'April Fools!'"
"I've never felt so betrayed in my life."
- samivat
"You better be a mastermind supervillain by now."
- T_WREKX
"Thank you for sharing your Joker origin story, lol (laughing out loud)."
- JulienS2000
These lies have a wide range from the hilarious to the absolutely diabolical, maybe even with a few villain origin stories thrown in.
A common thread throughout most of these was someone telling a lie in order to avoid a tougher conversation, which only led the younger person to have a lot more to process later.
With theaters finally open to those wanting the ultimate entertainment experience that streaming movies at home can't provide, the pandemic that kept many venues closed now feels like a distant memory.
There's nothing like seeing a film up on the big screen the way Hollywood studios intended, and many would argue that experience is worth shelling out the cash for.
That being said, there is no assurance audiences will remain in their seats until the credits roll at the end.
Because not all movies are created equal. Some are just embarrassingly bad and not worth sticking around for.
Curious to hear from dissatisfied moviegoers, Redditor girlcalledmariaaria asked:
"If you have ever walked out of a cinema because the film was so bad, what one was it?"
These Redditors had no idea what they were in for.
Wrong Expectations
"I've not, but when I saw In Bruges, an elderly couple walked out after 20 minutes and I heard the man muttering that this wasn't a film about Belgium at all. It really tickled me."
– Reverend-JT
Regretful Decision
"Holmes & Watson, my family really enjoyed step Brothers and Talladega nights. So I shouted the 5 of us to the movies on Christmas day because for some reason the cinemas were open and it was showing and we don't really do big celebrations. 15 minutes into the movie we all looked at each other like.. wtf is this. I tried to leave.. I went to ask for a refund because their policy said you can get a refund 30 minutes into the movie... But we were 5 minutes late because of the 20 minute trailers.. I'm still seething about spending $100 to basically die of boredom for an hour and a half. I was sitting there embarrassed about suggesting the family outing. My family stuck it out because I'd paid for it and couldn't get a refund even though I told them I didnt care and begged to leave."
– jande425
Plan B
"I've got a story of a film my friends and I refused to leave, actually."
"In 2006 I was turning 14 and was obsessed with Pirates of the Caribbean. My mom threw a pirates-themed birthday party where my friends and I were meant to go to see Dead Man's Chest, which was still in theaters in August when the party was. We dressed up for it and everything."
"Well for some reason the showing we were going to see was packed despite the movie having been out over a month, so there weren't 12 tickets available. My mother (and my friend's mom who came along) made a split second decision to see the next PG-13 rated movie available."
"Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby."
"So a gaggle of 14 year old girls dressed as pirates walked into this theatre to a bunch of weird looks, but we sat down with our popcorn as normal. The next hour-and-a-halfish saw the moms be horrified at the crass nature of the film and keep asking if we wanted to leave. The answer was a HELL NO from the whole group. That movie proceeded to be the basis of our inside jokes for the next 4 years. To this day it's one of our collective favorite grade school memories, even if my mother continues to be embarrassed by it."
– fraxiiinus
Whether it was physical or emotional, these films didn't sit well with Redditors.
Saving Our Necks
"Oh, I remember vividly. It was Battlefield Earth."
"The shot angles kept being tilted this way and that for no reason and I started tilting my head so that things would be level. Then my friend joined in. Then we simultaneously were like 'are we going to cramp our necks for THIS?' And walked out."
– Ahlq802
Punishment For Sneaking In
"I walked out of 28 days later. Not because it was bad. I was 9 years old and snuck in and it was freaking me the f'k out.. watched it years later and enjoyed it."
– OMGi_hafta_poop
Oh, The Horror
"I saw Prometheus twice in theaters. At the second show, a group of 10-year-olds snuck in. The first R-rated scene, which features an alien worm/snake that crawls inside someone's shattered arm, caused these kids to flee the theater in an absolute panic. I imagine they will never forget that day."
– fleur_delyk
Sometimes, it's the theater's fault.
Failed Attempts
"I went to see Guardians of the Galaxy, and they played Rise of the Guardians."
"It took about five minutes to realize it was the wrong movie the first time. They tried to fix it, played Rise again, tried to fix it, played Rise a third time, and the whole theater walked out for refunds."
"Apparently it was a issue at a lot of theaters."
– MandolinMagi
Not A Prank
"I guess this technically counts but when I went to see deadpool 2, the cinema accidentally put the wrong film on and played some Amy Schumer film instead. Everyone in the screen thought it was some meta deadpool joke and out of nowhere he’d appear and shoot Amy Schumer so we were all waiting on that. After about 10 minutes of the film, the staff came into the screen and explained that they had put the wrong film on and couldn’t undo it because of their tight schedule etc but we would all get a refund and were welcome to stay and watch the rest of the Amy Schumer film. Everyone left."
– KMeech1969
Other times, the movie itself doesn't screen well for the audience.
Far From Purr-fect
"I’ve never walked out of a movie and I saw Cats opening weekend."
– Man_Bear_Pig25
"I walked out on it, but then decided I wanted to be back inside. They let me back in, but then I walked out again."
– CatherineOfArrogance
I'm all for supporting the arts.
But if a movie I already paid a non-refundable admission for was absolutely terrible, I'd have no problem forfeiting the cash to spare my sanity and walking out of the theater.
The one time I did just that was when I went to see The Island of Doctor Moreau starring Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer.
I was a kid and I was thrilled to go see a movie all by myself.
Unfortunately, the sci-fi horror film wasn't enough to captivate my short attention span.
I walked out and subsequently called my mom to pick me up from the mall where the movie theater was.
Those were the days...
If there was one good thing to come out of the pandemic, it was that it made us all the more appreciative of all that is good in our lives.
No one ever appreciated the importance of friends or family more, having to be kept apart from each other for months, or the little things which bring us joy, which we made sure to keep doing even as pandemic restrictions were lifted.
Of course, being alone with our thoughts for such a long time also resulted in our reflecting on things in our lives, or in the world in general, which we were less than happy about.
Not to mention the all-important realization that life is short and precious, and we don't have time to waste our thoughts on some things.
"What is something you no longer have patience for?"
Off The Clock Means OFF THE CLOCK!
"Working outside of work hours."
"I used to go above and beyond, now I only put in what is required."
"Life is too short to live only to work."- Chesterfieldcat
"The working world."
"My life doesn’t revolve around working here and it never will."
"It will never be a part of my identity."
"I come in, do the job, make money, go home."
"Don’t expect me to come to all the work happy hours so I can pretend how much I love working here."- nuclearsalt
Some Things Just Don't Get A Free Pass
"Sh*tty people getting a pass 'because they're family'."- cgulash
angry homer simpson GIFGiphySay What You Mean, Not What You Feel
"Having to guess what people REALLY mean by something they said."
"I take everything people say at face value now and don't replay conversations in my head to find out the real meaning anymore."
"Be passive-aggressive if you want to but talk to me like an adult if you really have a problem."- WateredDownSalt
EYES ON THE ROAD!
"People who text and drive."
"You're driving a giant piece of metal propelled by explosive liquid."
"Pay attention."- MasterfulNothasie
The Only Life That Should Concern You Is Your Own
"People and groups of people that only talk about other people."- Turf98
"People who can’t mind their fucking business and are always worried about what other people are doing."
"If it doesn’t effect you, f*ck off."
"It’s literally free."- wackwackwackjpg
GIF by WWEGiphySome People Didn't Mind Social Distancing
"People invading my personal space."- Mighty-Foreskin
Influence Can Be Dangerous
"Anything that has “influencer” in it."- chemistcarpenter
Indoor Voices People...
"Streamers screaming, losing their sh*t, breaking things, and having tantrums."
"I used to think this was so funny now I just can't stand it; I can't even watch a streamer if I notice they're not using their normal talking voice." - Reddit
Fail Oh No GIF by G2 EsportsGiphyTaking Responsibility Is A Sign Of Maturity
"People who constantly blame others for the situation they are in."- SuvenPan
Time Is Precious And Shouldn't Be Wasted
"Waiting on people who are constantly late to plans."
"I will wait 15 minutes then excuse myself."- Dabbles-In-Irony
There's Multi-Tasking, And Then There's Just Being Rude...
"People being on their phone while in a conversation with you."
"Seriously."
"Put your phone away!"- rosieblinkstime
Phone GIF by Poehlmann FitnessGiphyIt Takes So Much More Effort To Be Nasty...
"Bad manners, unkindness and general rudeness."
"It costs nothing to be a nice person and from someone who works in a customer-facing industry, attitudes, sadly, appear to be getting worse."
"It really makes me cross."- Bellamiles85
At Least They're Being Transparent
"Medicine commercials with worse side-effects than the thing being cured."- mrbbrj
Wasting our time and thoughts about things that we know can only bring us down is simply no way to get through life.
It's essential to live our lives by taking the present moment for what it is: a present.