Whatever happened to depending on the kindness of strangers?
Often times it feels like every stranger is my own personal comic book villain.
It says a lot about us as a society when something as simple as a "good day to you" can spark a riot.
Redditor Mizuazura wanted to discuss the times we've all been accosted by a total rando or three that left us baffled by asking:
"What is the stupidest reason a random stranger was mad at you? What happened?"
A Time for Battle
"I bought the last cream-filled doughnut at a jolly pirates and the old lady behind me in line took this as a declaration of war saying that I took it from her. The worker chimes in saying they making more and they'd be ready in about half an hour, but she wasn't having it. I hope she's doing ok, it was such a silly thing to get mad over."
AlphaThing
GiphyStupid Mom
"This would sound stupid to some of you. I was 10, and I was playing at a public park. Suddenly, a 6 year kid came near me and started confronting me, she said I was too old to play in the kids area. I wanted to ask her 'Who the hell are you??' It was embarrassing because a kid was scolding me in front of so many people."
"Her mom thought that I was harassing her and started running towards us. She shouted at me without knowing what actually happened. And, people was praising that freaking kid for being 'brave'. I did nothing wrong, the swing wasn't her mom's property and she talked as if she's the Mayor of our town."
Watermelon_Yeet
I work at Target...
"Had some lady get mad at me last night in a Walmart because I wasn't an employee there and couldn't help her. Last I checked Walmart employees don't wear bright crazy yellow shirts with reflective safety striping, faux badges on their sleeves, or wear slippers while on duty."
Witchy_Ghost
SHUSH!!
"I once had a guy at the beach yell at me to stop laughing. I wasn't laughing at him at all. Just laughing to myself because I was happy and having fun."
PrankyButSaintly
GiphyLooks Weird...
"A guy yelled at me from balcony because I didn't pick up after dog. He couldn't understand that my dog only peed. I had to explain to him that female dogs need to squat to pee. He also couldn't accept the fact that she is a female dog, because she just 'looks like male.' (American akita)."
Ives_cro
Evil Lives
"I was 8 years old, swimming in a swimming pool and a women nearby frowned at me and said, "UGH! Lose some weight!!" I didn't know how to respond, I just started crying."
1BoiledCabbage
"Man, this could be my grandmother. She liked to say things just to shock people. We were in the mall one day when a little boy strolled by, and my grandmother said, 'What a fat little boy!' This, from a woman whose body shape could best be described as an apple on stilts."
"Also the same woman who visited us while we were living in Germany, and while at a cafe, would not stop talking loudly about the Nazis. I know it doesn't help, but when people say crap like that, it usually has nothing to do with the target of their ire and everything to do with their own misery. I'm sorry you had to go through that."
koookoookachoo
T'was a pleasant experience.....
"Me and a friend were around 13. While we were waiting to cross the road, we started talking about the sushi that we were about to eat at her place, both very excited. After not even a minute, this HUGE bald man standing in front of us whips around and just yells at us to SHUT the F**K UP, with the look of a man who would not Hesitate to Punch a Child. So we did. And then had to walk in the same direction as him for the next 5 minutes. T'was a pleasant experience..."
mydadlefttenyearsago
These Conspiracy Theories Are Easy to Debunk | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
There are some bizarre conspiracy theories out there. Like Australia isn't actually real... seriously? Any conspiracy theory that requires many people to kee...Gotcha!!
"At McDonald's once. Some lady was mad at me for knowing how to work the touch screen ordering kiosk but not actually being an employee there. She acted like I had wilfully bamboozled her for a sick laugh."
MacualayCocaine
GiphyOk Bye...
"I said hi to her. This was back when bluetooth was a semi-new technology. She was wearing a BT ear piece and I didn't see it. I was walking home from school and she was standing out in her driveway. She said 'hi' and started talking."
"I turned and looked at her, didn't see anyone or her phone so I said 'hi' back while continuing to walk. She got a disgusted look on her face, pulled her hair back from her ear, and snapped 'CAN YOU NOT SEE I'M ON THE PHONE????' I just left and didn't respond."
ursaggybutt101
Dog Park Crazies...
"Brought my big dogs into 'big dog' side of dog park. Two ladies with SEVEN chihuahuas started screaming at me and then tried to tase me. Needless to say that the cops got involved."
jinxpinchpoke
Giphy“dirty money”
"I found a coin and put it in my pocket, some dude called me poor because I picked up 'dirty money' and all I said was:'richer than you' he beat me up and nearly broke my neck If you’re reading this, f**k you and get help."
"Edit: for anyone wondering, the guy was 20-24 and I was 14, I called the police but they didn’t do much. For anyone saying: 'shouldn’t have replied' don’t blame the victim alright." ~ MlCHlEL
XMAS '20
"It was Christmas Day 2020, I was at work at the register (gas station) while a customer walks up to a food warmer. Customer asks if all we have is pizza, advised we had more food like burgers etc coming up in about 10 min. Customer yells ' Great, now all I get is this f**king pizza' and proceeds to pick a slice then throw it on the counter at me." ~ Linisaria
Middle Finger
"Waiting at a bus stop after school some random guy sits next to me and tries to sell me weed. I tell him I'm not interested and he gets up and stands away near the curb as a bus approaches and he gets on then he sits at the back of the bus and looks out the window at me and just starts throwing me the middle finger while aggressively mouthing some words haha." ~ SunKing210
then/than
"It was on here. I used the word 'then' instead of 'than.' I got a message from this guy saying I'm a f-ing idiot and not to breed. Also that I must be fat and my husband is cheating on me. I laughed it off and blocked him." ~ Amie80
sign language GIFGiphyOh Karens...
"Working in retail/fast food in high school. That's all you need to say, right? But really - Karens existed well before 2020. One time working at a fast food chain, I was asked for one extra honey mustard sauce. Our particular franchisee had strict limits and we had managers all over the place. I needed my job at the time, so I told them there was an extra charge for more sauce. They wouldn't pay, left in a rage and said when I get off work, they're going to shoot me." ~ DaveyJonas
I do not miss you one bit...
"I used to work at Sainsbury's Local (supermarket chain in the UK) and some drunk dude tried to start a fight with me because I told him we don't sell individual cans of beer, only a 4 pack or more. I told him I don't make the rules and if you just want one can we have charge for four."
"He starts getting more and more irate and eventually clenches his fist and squares up to me (keep in mind I'm just 19 and this dude is like 40). Luckily my manager saw this escalating and stepped in before it kicked off and asked the guy to leave. Oh retail work, I do not miss you one bit. I have so many horror stories." ~ TheJuic3
Spoof...
"My phone number got spoofed and who ever did it called someone and then hung up after not saying anything. A**hole then proceeds to call the number (me) back, screaming about how I'm a horrible person for hanging up on them and wasting their time. I tried to explain it to him, as I had been receiving confused voicemails for a while, but he wouldn't let me get a word in. He was screaming so loud his voice was breaking, over what was probably a 5-10 second scam call. It was unbelievable." ~ JCV-16
Smirk
"I smiled at him. He was angry when he found out I wasn't the only person he smiled at. I worked in retail at the time. Customer service, mate." ~ Hellevan
Happy If You Say So GIFGiphyPlants
"Myself and some friends were walking home from some underage event, we were probably 16 or so, we took a shortcut through some estate and this absolute Karen confronts us backed up by what I can only assume we're fellow PTA members, and accuses us of stealing potted plants from their gardens."
"We had literally just arrived and tried to explain this but she was having none of it and threatened to get the police involved. Eventually she gave us a stern warning and left so naturally we then did the mature thing and stole her potted plants, left them down the road, peed on em a little and headed home." ~ Brian_Gay
I only hit the ground...
"A couple of years ago in a parking lot, my brother and I were goofing around on our way back to our car. I accidentally tripped and fell right next to someone else’s car, and the owner of said car was sitting inside of it. She got out, gave us the dirtiest look, and inspected the rear end of her car, thinking that I had run into it or damaged it in some way. I hadn’t even touched it. I only hit the ground. Literally no reason for her to be mad." ~ BootsLookinGood
Now granted, some are really struggling, so they may not have ill intent, they may not know any better.
But there are a bunch of people out there that are just plain ornery, on a good day.
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Reddit user FunChemical3182 asked:
"What is the weirdest animal fact you know?"
Like Perry
"Platypus glow blueish green under ultraviolet light."
"They also don’t have nipples, they just exude milk from glands under the skin and the baby’s lap it up."
~ WakingOwl1
"They have electrolocation in their bills that lets them detect their food under water."
~ DrPlatypus1
"And they lay eggs."
"The more I find out about them the more I understand why people first thought they were fake."
~ Reidroshdy
"After seeing all these platypus facts I am convinced these things are aliens that have been abandoned on Earth."
~ SeattleOne206
Kapow!
"Mantis Shrimp have 16 different sets of cones. Rods and cones are in your eyes. Cones see color, rods see light and motion."
"Dogs have 2 sets of cones—green and blue. Humans have 3 sets of cones—green, blue and red."
"Mantis Shrimp are seeing colors we can't comprehend and explains why they're very colorful."
"That’s not even the strangest thing about them."
"They can also punch as fast as a .22 bullet which cause a cavitation bubble which boils the water around them at temperatures of several thousand Kelvins."
~ RigzDigz
GiphyTerrible Twos
"Cats have the mental capacity of a 2-year-old which makes a lot of sense."
~ Alive_Ad823
Cats Dragging GIFGiphyLike Tinder
"When a female sloth wants a mate she'll hang onto a tree branch and just scream."
~ Remarkable_Sink2542
GiphyGood Thing They're So Small
"Dragonflies are the most successful predators on Earth."
"When lions choose prey they have like a 10% chance of catching it."
"African painted dogs—who hunt in packs—have the highest kill rate of any mammal, successfully catching 51% of their prey."
"When a dragonfly locks onto a target, it has a 99.9% success rate!"
~ PurpleInevitable2103
GiphyOn A Swivel
"Owls have really long necks, but it's hard to notice that because their feathers are so fluffy."
~ ergonaut
GiphyWhat About Cousin It?
"Sea otters are the most densely furred animal with 600,000 to 1,000,000 hair follicles per square inch."
"Dogs have about 15,000 per square inch, humans on average are between 800 to 1,290 hairs per square inch."
~ atom1129
Giphy
Sucker Punchers
"Octopus punch other fish for no reason—so, for fun."
~ Samanthalynn8915
"There's a direct correlation between species' intelligence and dickish behavior."
~ TheDesktopNinja
Looks Are Deceiving
"Polar bear fur isn't white—it's translucent (for most frequencies of light). And they have black skin underneath."
"So polar bear fur lets all the light through to their black skin to warm them—except for a few visible frequencies to keep them camouflaged as white."
~ seedanrun
GiphyWho's Going To Attack One‽‽
"Honey badgers can turn their a**holes inside out and use the smell to deter attackers."
"Not sure what exactly has the guts to attack a honey badger, but if they have the courage to do so, the badger sure as hell isn’t gonna make it easy."
~ nonexistantauthor
GiphyBig Momma
"The Blanket Octopus exhibits the highest degree of sexual dimorphism known."
"Females: About 6 feet across."
"Males: About one inch."
~ Fabulous-Pause4154
High Times
"Dolphins will intentionally use puffer fish to get high."
~ altkaldra
"They upset blowfish so they inflate, and therefore emit poison. It gets the dolphins high. Then they pass it around, literally."
~ smack4u
"Not just the dolphins. I recently saw a video about 10 animals that like to get high. Very interesting."
~ s137leo__
"Lemurs do that with giant centipedes/millipedes too."
~ chubbyknuckles420
Fabrizio Frigeni on Unsplash
Better Than Bike Helmets
"Woodpeckers' tongues wrap around their brains to cushion them from the vibrations of slamming their face into trees all day."
~ we_made_yewww
"Their tongues also have barbs to grab bugs out of the holes."
"Their brains have additional cushioning because, you know, they spend their days smashing their face as hard as possible into trees."
~ RhynoD
Detachable Organs
"Argonauts [paper nautili] are small octopuses that are too lazy to have intercourse."
"They detach their penises and toss them into the open sea to mate with female argonauts."
"The detachable 'd*ck' is a tiny tentacle, complete with suckers and sperm, that develops in a cavity under the eye of a male argonaut [paper nautilus]."
"When it's time to mate, the tentacle explodes out of the cavity, instantly killing the male argonaut. The tentacle then swims towards a female argonaut to insert itself."
"Sexy, huh?"
~ Schwarzes__Loch
What's your favorite weird animal fact?
Tough guys put on a facade that indicates to others that they always know what's going on.
But their confidence doesn't always match their intellect, which is probably why they cover their insecurities by walking around and trying to show everyone who's really the boss.
If that's the case, they should keep their mouths shut because not everything that comes out of their mouth needs to be heard.
Yet, it can be amusing to everyone else.
Curious to hear examples of these, Redditor PrototypeShadowBlitz asked:
"Reddit, what is the stupidest thing you've heard from the 'alpha male' community?"
You might find these guys at a bar.
The Dude Must Be Hungry
"Had a run in once with a group of young lads about something in a bar and one of them said we are top of the food chain bro and you will be the prey."
– insertitherenow
"'Whatever, mall ninja" -proper response."
– TheEighthLord
If The Shoe Fits
"That they were an alpha male."
– I_Have_A_Name37654
"The use of 'Alpha Male,' unironically is every indication that you're dealing with a child's understanding of manhood."
– 88Dubs
Brat Pack
"Me and my bros are all alpha males."
– SonOfDadOfSam
"I was skiing one time and rode the lift with a guy that said, 'I don't feel no pain. I live with 5 roommates and none of us feel any pain.' Okay, bud. That's a really interesting coincidence."
– NicPizzaLatte
They sure thrive on making sexist comments.
Contagious Femininity
"A coworker said, 'I don't spend too much time with my girlfriend because I'll become too feminine.'"
– Lazy_Natural6154
"FELLAS IS IT GAY?!"
– aliebabadegrote
Sexist Categorization
"I have been called a beta for saying that my wife makes more money than I do. She works in a more lucrative field and is more educated than I am, so it makes perfect sense that she makes more than I do."
"So I came back, and this post has really blown up. There's just a few things I want to clarify."
"1- I have only ever been called a beta online."
"2- I work full-time in project management. I have a master's degree. I have a 6 figure salary."
"3- My wife has a PhD and works in finance. She also has a 6 figure salary, it's just a higher salary than my own."
"4- I'm sorry to anyone who might feel as though my original post misled them."
– ExaminationDouble240
It's Teamwork
"A real man would be proud of his wife for achieving success, and not fall for that sort of insecure bullsh*t."
"It's not a contest, that's the real joke here. Good on you for seeing the big picture."
– Mrbeardoesthethings
Do these roles about parenting sound familiar?
Childish Things Are Too Girly
"Real men don't take their kids trick or treating is one that I heard recently."
– constructionguy89
"Related. Guys who brag about not changing diapers, not playing 'girly' games, etc. Essentially guys who brag that their only contribution to fatherhood is money and masculine things like fishing or football. Even then some of them brag about not paying a lot of child support to prove they didn't let the system take advantage of them."
"I can't imagine a life so empty my only accomplishment worth bragging about was being a terrible parent."
– Green7000
This Woman's Work
"I was told that taking care of my kids is woman's work. Apparently it's concerning that I try to spend so much of my free time with them. Oddly enough the meatheads at my grappling club think it's sweet I occasionally have my daughters' hair clips on and nails painted."
– MrFunktasticc
People discussed rules in the bedroom.
Never Submissive
"That a man is turned off when their wife/girlfriend seduces them, because if she wants sex and shows it she is a sl*t, also making the man the submissive one…"
– kamalaophelia
Stifling Emotions
"Not the whole community, but was cuddling with a guy once and could tell he was trying not to get emotional over something that was bothering him. He said, quite literally, 'it's not alpha male behaviour.' I told him that I liked that he showed emotions sometimes, and he looked disgusted by the fact that I pointed it out."
– LambLifts
In high school, a classmate who was on the football team said I was a "sissy" for listening to classical music.
The other classmates laughed at me, which was hardly surprising since all of the guys on our unbeatable football team were considered stars on campus.
This kind of mockery was a typical day for me.
I can laugh at their idiotic comments now but back then, I don't know why I ever let them get under my skin.
We've all done things, or in some cases, regularly do things that others might consider weird.
Even so, we often feel no shame or embarrassment and embrace how unusual these habits are, and take our friends teasing or laughing at us for doing so in stride.
Sometimes, however, we might not like to advertise some of our unusual habits or actions and make every effort to keep them a well-guarded secret.
As raised eyebrows are much easier to take than blatant judgment from friends and peers.
Redditor Key_Nectarine_1969 was curious to hear all the weird things people have done which they still keep under lock and key, leading them to ask:
"What’s the weirdest thing you’ve done that you could only tell people anonymously?"
The Devil [Dogs] Is In The Detail...
"All throughout middle school, there was someone who tucked unwrapped Hostess Devil Dogs into the toilet paper dispensers in the bathrooms, so that when you pulled some toilet paper out, the devil dog would fall out into your hand."
"We had to have an assembly about it."
"That person... Was me."- bejeweled_sky
Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time
"Was drunk at an escape room with coworkers."
"It was an extreme one where you are handcuffed the entire time."
"I decided in my drunken state that it would be bada** to dislocated my thumb and slip off the cuffs like the movies."
"It wasn't."
"We got kicked out, my coworkers were weirded out and I had to go to the hospital."
"I quit a few weeks later."
"White collar wasn't for me."- Grotesque-penguin
The Bread Of Heaven
"Stole over 1,000 wafers from church because I really liked the communion wafers & didn’t know where else to get them."
"I felt really blessed & cursed for a long time."- hALLIEcinate
catholic the exorcist GIFGiphyRetracing Steps...
"Once I got off the subway in NYC and I was super early for an appointment."
"So I picked a random guy and just followed him on foot for like 30 minutes, pretending I was like a private detective or something."
"Always kept about a half block behind."
"He turned this way and that, and eventually went into a building I had lived in 9 years earlier."
"It was weird, and so was I."- OKsurewhynotyep
Hygeine Be Damned...
"I found a dead rat in a field when i was younger and kissed it bc I wanted to say goodbye."- qeleia
exercise push up GIFGiphyBad Decisions Have A Way Of Getting Back To You...
"We got super drunk and ate a ton of spicy food in New Orleans."
"Back at the B&B, the food started to come out the back side."
"I was sitting on the toilet sh*tting bricks of fire."
"At that moment, the booze decided to hang a u-turn."
"The trash can was out of reach and I couldn't risk standing up from the toilet for even 5 seconds."
"The closest receptacle was the bathtub."
"I managed to turn in such a way that I could keep shi*ting in the toilet while projectile vomiting into the tub."
"Both ended up clogged, and there was no plunger."
"I had to call the owner to explain that I had destroyed both their toilet and their tub simultaneously."- HoopOnPoop
Things Best Left To Professionals...
"My partner is weirdly prone to cysts."
"I had to drain a 3 inch cyst on her back (thankfully she had a dr's appt the next week), then multiple other little cysts on her legs and chest."
"I never told her to her face but that first giant cyst literally haunted me, the amount of pus and blood I saw....good heavens."- SleepyBiologist
uruguay spot GIF by sargentoPezGiphyAt Least A Lesson Was Learned...
"When I was walking to school one morning, I saw a kid (7-8 yo?) kicking a dog."
"I ran over & kicked the kid and asked him how it felt."
"He ran off and no one saw."
"Still not sorry."- sneezyailurophile
All Creatures Deserve Love
"I was extremely socially isolated as a child and tried to make friends with the coyotes who lived in the woods by our home."
'I caught one in a snare and fed and kept her."
"I wanted a friend."- letthetreeburn
That's What Friends Are For...
"My wife and her best friend pick me up from a frat party black out drunk."
"Then they helped me take a sh*t on the toilet, wiped my a** and then gave me a shower and put me to bed naked."
"Don’t remember any of it."- nc3100
Party Love GIF by Chris CiminoGiphyNot The Right Kind Of Manure...
"One time I went outside at like 2AM and put the garden hose nozzle into my butthole and sprayed some water into it, then farted it out onto the lawn."
"Basically gave myself an enema with a garden hose."
"I did this because I was bored."
"My neighbour saw me and told my dad (lived at home at the time)."- WaspsInMyGoatse
A Little Fantasy Now And Then...
"When I was younger I joined an international dating site that I figured was a scam."
"Put a black square as my picture and gave myself a fake name, and then looked through their users."
"And after about 10 minutes I had like a 100 messages."
"Most of them were messages telling me how handsome I was or how these women fell in love with me at first site."
"Now I knew it was a scam but when ever I felt down or got rejected for a while I would pop back on the site and read a few messages."
'Yeah it’s kinda cringy and probably pathetic but it made me feel better."
"I would just turn off that logical part of my brain that knew it was a scam for awhile and just pretend I was this popular and desirable guy."
"And it honestly got me through the day sometimes."- Demonking3343
dating app GIFGiphyIf anyone says they've never done anything they're ashamed, or at the very least less-than-proud of, in all likelihood, they are lying.
Or, more likely, they understandably want to pretend that it never happened.
Which might be a little easier than harboring a secret.