There is nothing more satisfying than watching a cocky individual take a humble stumble after displaying their high and mighty attitude.
Sometimes, these people need a wake-up call to realize they are no better than the rest of us.
Curious to hear examples when arrogance was replaced by major public embarrassment, Redditor bendigonono asked:
"When did you witness someones large ego get absolutely flattened?"
Arrogant people really like to go off on their frustrations only to have a dose of humility slapped in their face for all the witnesses to enjoy.
Out Of Sync
"I used to work at a photography studio. I'm not a photographer but I know some basics."
"Photographer guy, probably in his 50s, tells me the equipment he rented isn't working and he is ranting on about how he has wasted 25 minutes of his rental time because his camera wasn't syncing to the lighting equipment. All in front of his poor clients."
"Best moment of my life -- as he was cursing me out I walked over and wordlessly plugged it in. Never seen a grown man turn so red."
– ashrae9
Demonstrate Like A Pro
"Long ago? In college one semester for fun I took 'Swine Management.' I’m a total city girl, about 5 ft nothing, and at the time I was like 105 lbs soaking wet. I did learn how to restrain a hog in that class, and I got to know all the barn men really well."
"Next fall semester, I start my Veterinary College courses. In Large Animal Medicine, we had a block of, you guessed it, swine disease prevention. The professor was known to enjoy taking his students down a peg or two. Great, he covers basic swine restraint really fast, like no way you’d be able to do this…unless you already know how. He looks around…barn men are watching this show from the back. I didn’t want to disappoint them, so I make eye contact with the prof and of course he picks me 'to demo.'"
"I calmly walk up to the sow, take the rope, loop around the belly, twist, half hitch into her mouth and tie her up. Barn men are like proud papas, prof is like wtf just happened. He asked me where I grew up, he’s clearly thinking Iowa or something, I answer the big city to the west."
"Best day ever."
– quikdogs
The Forecast Was Epic
"I worked for a Mercedes Benz dealer. Lots of a-hole customers, but one in particular was just a dick. He'd throw a tantrum if he couldn't get in for a service appointment with zero notice and pulled a lot of 'do you KNOW who I AM' crap to try to get his way. He came in one day and made a huge production of buying a $100,000 car - made sure everyone in the dealership knew he was buying it and exactly how much it cost, drove it into the service bay to smugly show it off to the techs, rolled the top down and blasted his lame 80's music as loud as he could on the way out...super cringy. About three hours after he left with his new car, he walked back into the service bay absolutely losing his $hit and demanding his money back because 'the car was ruined'. Sure enough, here comes the tow truck with his pretty little convertible in tow. Turns out genius had decided to show off his car to his work buddies and parked it on the street with the top down, then popped inside to 'conduct some business'. Welp, a downpour came out of nowhere and drenched the interior of the car. Totally ruined the electronics, soaked into the upholstery, and he couldn't even turn it on. The thing was essentially totaled and he'd had it for three hours. It was amazing."
– Gardengoddess83
The Kid's Alright
"Once I saw two young kids probably like thirteen years old, try to cross the street. A guy in a pick up truck yelled at them to get out of the way. The kids had the right of way, and said something back to the guy. The guy loses his sh*t, and jumps out of the truck acting like a hard a** and got up in the one kids face screaming and yelling, when he took his eyes off of the kid he was yelling at to yell at the other kid. Bam! Right hook to the face from the first kid. He got dropped with one punch. The two kids took off like the road runner. By the time the guy got up they were gone. That guy was probably twenty years older than them, and got wrecked. I imagine he had to go to work the next day with a big shiner. And had to lie about what happened. It was so awesome. He totally deserved it."
– Ilovemytocarditis
Cheap Trick
"Ex girlfriend was hostess at a swanky restaurant in Seattle. She was looking down at her book when some people approached the dais and a guy said 'I need a table for 8.' She said without looking up 'it’s probably going to be at least a 90 minute wait.' Voice says 'But I’m David Copperfield.' Ex says 'Then maybe you can make a table appear.' Finishes what she’s doing. Looks up. It’s actually David Copperfield. No table appeared."
– tikivic
Competitive people don't always come out on top.
When Pat Was Annihilated
"There was an arm wrestling trend going on at my high school during my junior year, and there was an all star athlete on my basketball team we called Pat who was very cocky. He wasn’t the best on the team at basketball, but he started in every single sport and he was absolutely jacked for a 17 yr old. One day he challenges this semi mentally handicapped kid at our school to an arm wrestling match over who gets to use this particular tool in shop. This kid is pretty big, but he’s a bit slow so he got teased a lot. Anyways they get set up, everyone’s watching, and the match starts. 15 seconds go by and Pat couldn’t move this kid’s arm at all. He just sat there smiling at Pat and watched the smug and cocky attitude disappear. Then he easily pinned his arm and let Pat use the tool anyways. He walked away humming to himself like usual. What a boss."
– Ickythumpin
Corporate Braggart
"A guy in our union was running for some executive board position and he was telling everyone what an easy win it was gonna be for him because nobody like the other 2 people running for the job. Come election day he got a very humbled awakening. Out of 1300 people he got less than 10 votes. He didn’t speak to many people for awhile after that. Nobody likes a braggart."
– 1980pzx
Bumpkin Time
"Some dude came into the pub I work at for the pub quiz. Kept going on about how he was smarter than all these bumpkins (I live in a university city) and that he was gonna get first prize. He was adamant and he sat at the bar across from me the whole time. I played on my phone and named myself Bumpkin. He didn't even place in the top 10 and was furious that he got beaten by a bumpkin and a 'gang of old retired f'kups that have nothing better to do.'"
– Unknown_Captain
Can't Beat Genius
"There was a trivia team that came into the contest I regularly go to and one of the guys was pretty intense. He started swearing when they got second or third place. Thing is, the bar is near multiple aerospace companies, so many of the participants are actual rocket scientists (one of the weekly teams is named the 'Astronaughties')."
– MitchJay71891
Unplugged & Unhinged
"I worked IT support for my school while I was in college. One of my coworkers was the type who thinks they’re the smartest guy in the room. One day he came in and couldn’t get his monitors to work. After 10 minutes of watching him struggle I tried to interject and help but got a long winded rant about how he’s been working with computers his whole life and doesn’t need any help, if he can’t figure it out I certainly wouldn’t be able to."
"I just responded with 'that’s cool man, I just thought monitors had to be plugged in to work, my bad.' His entire face turned red and he looked like he wanted to die as he realized both monitors were unplugged."
– Ryan233tiger
The Lady Doth Protest
"I knew a guy that always felt the need to one up everything I said. I was on the phone with my girlfriend at the time and he happened to overhear us talking. He came up to me and started to brag about himself, loud enough for my girlfriend to hear, and how he could steal my girl just by talking to her on the phone for 10 minutes. I offered him my phone and my girlfriend reamed him out for 5 minutes straight before he handed me back the phone and walked off. I was so proud of her haha."
– Zjoee
Ambitiously Arrogant
"A girl in my English class said that she would score a 100 on our End of Course test. She made everyone feel bad about themselves and thought that she was the best in the class. In the end, she scored a 64."
– Fit-Lawfulness-525
Go-Getters Come In First
"I got promoted (at a f'king McDonald's... Wow...) over some other girl. I didn't even know I was being considered until a day or two before the managers voted. I was told to come in the next day in my new uniform and the other girl came in, saw my uniform, and quit on the spot. She accused me of stealing 'her' promotion."
"I found out from an assistant manager that they were openly considering her and tried to push her towards things she would need to know/do and she would never take the initiative to learn more, do more. I actively tried to learn more (mainly to get out of service and into the kitchen... F'k the public) and was well liked by most of the crew/management and someone randomly tossed my name in the conversation."
– BICSb4DICS
And those with an inflated ego shared their own humbling moments.
Humbled Daddy
"Me: who's the best Dad in the world?!?!"
"My daughter: Mommy!!!!"
"Me: little sh*t"
– Covenent125
That Don't Impress Her Much
"Me when I was a kid. Made fun of a girl in my neighborhood in front of people, then proceeded to try and do a bike trick and break my wrist as they all watched."
– Mymorningpancake
Life has a funny way to slap some silly back into the lives of those who perceive themselves to be super extraordinary individuals.
And it will never cease to entertain us.
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The old wives' tales.
They are the stories of legend.
I think we all need a big DEEP Google dive though.
Where did they originate?
WHO ARE THE OLD WIVES!
You don't hear about them as much anymore.
It's like science and logic are suddenly a thing.
But they sure are a good way to keep your kids and their behavior in line.
Redditor the_spring_goddess wanted to discuss the tall tales we've all been fed through life, so they asked:
"What is an old wives tale that people still believe?"
"Wait an hour to swim after eating."
What a crock!
So many summer hours wasted.
I want revenge for that one.
Say Nothing
Giphy
"An undercover cop has to tell you he's a cop if you ask him."
LonelyMail5115
"Pretty much most advice when it comes to cops are old wives tales. I’m not even a cop but most of the advice you hear is pretty off."
I_AM_AN_A**HOLE_AMA
Say Something
"That you have to wait 24 hours to report someone missing."
Severe_Airport1426
"I really think this one is important and should be the top regardless. As it’s a piece of advice that needs to be relearned and the only way to do that is through awareness."
crappycurtains
"This used to be true. I think they changed it after some guy named Brandon went missing back in the '80s or '70s. You used to have to wait 24 hours if the missing person was an adult because they had 'a right to be missing' and then everyone realized that was stupid and stopped doing it."
AlbinoShavedGorilla
Body Temps
"That drinking ice cold water after eating oily foods will solidify the oil and permanently remain in your body. I informed my coworker that if your body temperature ever reached that point, you’d have bigger problems than weight gain."
chriseo22
"Oh, I have a cousin who 100% believed this. One of those guys who believed every early 2000s internet rumor and old wives tale. One night I chugged a big glass of ice water after dinner and he started freaking out and saying my guts were gonna harden."
"I sarcastically told him to drive me to the hospital if that happened. Obviously, nothing happened and the next morning I said something like 'Thanks for being on standby in case my guts filled with hardened oil.' He just walked off muttering under his breath."
apocalypticradish
Arms Down
"When I was pregnant, I was told by young and old alike that I should NOT raise my arms above my head or exert myself in such a manner because it could cause cord strangulation to my unborn sons and daughters."
Fatmouse84
10 Years Actually
Unimpressed Uh Huh GIF by Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Giphy
"Chewing gum stays in your stomach for 7 years."
"I remember accidentally swallowing a piece of gum when I was a kid in like 1995 and just accepting my fate like welp, gonna have this in my stomach til high school I guess."
Gecko-911
I was so afraid to sallow my gum when I was young.
This tale is haunting.
High/Low
Hungry Debra Messing GIF by Will & Grace
Giphy
"You can tell the sex of the baby by how you carry."
LeastFormal9366
"Pregnancy certainly wins awards for the most old wives tales. So much absolute BS was repeated to us by everyone we talked to."
IllIIIlIllIlIIlIllI
The Cursed
"If you’re a woman and you wear opal jewelry but opal is not your birthstone (October), you’ll never be able to have children, or will be widowed, or just generally have bad luck or something. You can counteract this by having a diamond in the same piece of jewelry as the opal, though."
"I have a nice opal ring that my parents gave me years ago, and I’ve had other women give me this 'advice' unprompted more than once when I’ve worn it. I have absolutely no idea where it started, but I’m pretty sure this little chunk of silicate rock has no concept of what month I was born in, let alone of how my reproductive organs work."
SmoreOfBabylon
Stay In
"Going outside with wet hair will make you get pneumonia. Or an earache. Or maybe arthritis. Depends on which old wife you listen to."
"Jokes on them - I haven't blow-dried my hair in decades and usually leave the house with wet hair in the morning. On winter mornings, the tips of my hair get frozen. No ear infections or pneumonia or arthritis yet."
worldbound0514
Dreams and Facts
"You never make anyone up in your dreams you've seen everyone in your dreams somewhere else before and never make anyone up entirely."
"How would you possibly prove that to be true? My partner adamantly believes this and tells me this 'fact' whenever I have a dream about someone I've never met before."
mattshonestreddit
"My late wife used to tell me that before she met me she would have dreams of standing at an alter on her wedding day but could never see the guy's face, no matter how hard she tried. After meeting me the face was filled in with mine. Don't know if it's true but one of those things I like thinking of every now and then when I miss her."
Darthdemented
Cracked
Getting Ready Episode 2 GIF by The Office
Giphy
"Some people still believe cracking knuckles causes arthritis."
Choice-Grapefruit-44
"There's a doctor (Donald Unger) that cracked his knuckles a couple of times a day for 60 years, but only on one hand, just to prove it. Both hands remained exactly the same."
MacyTmcterry
I love my knuckles.
Do you have any tall tales to add to the list? Let us know in the comments below.
