It's been said that it's the "quiet ones" you really need to watch out for - but have you ever wondered why?
The media tells us that the quiet ones are the ones most likely to go full-on atomic when they are finally pushed too far. We see it in movies, we hear about it in songs like Jeremy, I Don't Like Mondays and Pumped Up Kicks.
Obviously quiet people are pushed too far on a daily basis, but we don't hear about these atomic meltdowns ... so there can't be that much truth to the myth ... right?
Reddit user Crudop_uwu asked:
What happened when the kind/quiet person snapped?
Turns out, reality might be just as strange - and intense - as fiction. Check out these real-life stories about what happens when the quiet ones get pushed too far and finally snap.
Chorus Lessons
"My choir teacher was a really kind jolly person that younger kids loved to piss off for no reason. Like, he was incredibly patient, supported you even if your voice was god awful and really worked to make people comfortable and achieve a certain goal each individual had."
"And every year the new students of middle school would joke around antagonize the poor man all class long."
"What these foolish 7th graders didn't know was that when this man was not nice... he really was not nice. It took a long time to blow his fuse, but once it blew, there was no going back."
Giphy
"This quiet middle aged man, almost always pale, suddenly became raging loud with his face exploding red. You could see veins popping out on his forehead as he scream/scolded the younger students to behave. And he didn't stop, he got up in everyone's faces, yanked their phones from them and scared the absolute shite out of them."
"I hadn't done anything, and neither did the seniors of choir because we knew the consequences of being an ahole to this teacher. So he skipped over us and we got a full view of the younger kids crying, more out of stock than anything."
"And just as fast as it came, the teacher had calm down. His face going back to it's original color and the phones he grabbed safely locked away in his office. He was quiet once again and with a smile on his face, he'd say. "Now, let's try this chorus again..."
Crying To Mommy
"One of my best friends is the quiet kid at our school. One day a couple other girls were talking and one of them said "What's she gonna do? Cry to her mommy?"
"And another said "Sorry honey the baby needs my attention right now." Her mother and brother were killed in a car accident last year."
"My friend overheard the girls and went over and punched one in the face and proclaimed "At least my mother loved me b***h!"
"She then took the second girls tray and dumped it all over her. One of the teachers saw everything and heard what the girls said."
"My friend got off with just a detention."
An Icy Lesson
"My cousin, who I call my brother, he's my BFF, my total bromance guy, has always been an extremely calm and chilled out guy. Completely easy going guy."
"When we were little kids I was a completely insane, hyperactive, impulsive kid. We were sitting together eating ice cream out of cones and, for unknown reasons, I reached over and pushed his ice cream off the cone and then laughed like a maniac. He looked at me and then he just launched himself at me, he flew out of his chair, knocked me off mine, my ice cream flew away and we started rolling around on the floor punching each other."
"That's the only time we've ever had a fight. And it was while my uncle had a whole lot of important people and their families over at the house. He was thrilled."
Words Hurt
"In middle school in my 7th grade math class this one girl was picking on me (the quiet kid) because I lived in a apartment complex and not a house. Normally I just ignored her or anyone who messed with me. I was bullied a lot and to the point anything I said was used against me so usually I was mute 98% of the time."
"Except I guess I was having a really bad day because I spoke up and 1) told her to shut up and 2) I didn't need to take this from someone who couldn't compete with a pancake for bust size (or something worded similar)."
"I knew she was self conscious about it because I'd walked out of the bathroom stall to see her jamming toilet paper down her bra. She stopped picking on me after that."
The Silent Giant
"I was working in a kitchen when the silent giant on the grill next to me started getting a wave of steaks and burgers."
"The expediter was asking him to rush some things and he froze in overwhelmed anger for a moment, grabbed a mostly raw burger off the hot grill with his bare hand and threw it at the stainless steel wall. It stuck for a moment and flopped onto the floor."
"He then took a deep breath and started selling food faster than I've ever seen."
- trellala
Seeing Red
"I lifted a girl off the ground by her hair and told her never to mess with me again."
"I was 5'8" and 13 years old. The girl had been bullying me for years at that point. I was the quiet kid who just read a lot, liked gaming, and had severe social anxiety. She purposefully bumped into me on the way out of a classroom. By that point, she had pushed me out of my friend group and replaced me, and I just couldn't take it anymore. I snapped, and literally saw red. Like, literally. It was like a red film fell over my vision and I had no control over my actions. She was a few inches shorter than me, but had curly, poofy hair. So, I picked her up by it and told her, "Don't come near me ever again!" And then dropped her like the piece of trash she was."
Giphy
"I proceeded to walk to my next class and have a total breakdown, crying. I didn't get in trouble because the teachers much preferred me over her and knew I would never do something like that unless pushed to the breaking point. Plus, when you're bawling about how you didn't mean to do that and you were just so desperate to make her go away, you get a lot of sympathy."
"I don't regret it, and she never messed with me again."
"Dishonorable" Discharge
"Kicked the shite out of half our barracks. Was then tased by MPs and arrested."
"This guy was constantly bullied and picked on by the mouthy guy in our platoon. One day he finally snapped and was belting the life out of this guy. Like 7 or 8 of us tried to stop him, he tried gouging out the eye of our PL."
"This went on for about 10 minutes of just absolute mental swinging and screaming, no one could restrain or stop him. MPs (our version of police) came barreling in, tased him and took him away."
"Long story short he killed his career; dishonourably discharged etc. The "mouth" spent at least 3 months in hospital getting reconstruction surgery."
"Our PL also had a stint in hospital as the scratch marks on his eye got infected and nearly lost sight in it."
"The guy that copped the beating deserved it, and ultimately left. One of the boys that was friends with attacker pointed out he was already suffering with PTSD and a bad breakup."
"I feel bad for him as think a long steep descent into alcohol came after and he was a top bloke."
Broad Side Of A Sledgehammer
"I took a LOT in school; more than I should have. Looking back, I rarely fought if it was my safety on the line. Because I know I can take a few punches, and self-loathing makes self defense pretty damned difficult."
"So, I'm in Junior High. 8th grade. I've been dealing with bullshit and I cope by silently fuming, like always. Cue a small kid I'll call Chen. Very nice Chinese kid, always friendly with people. One of the school bullies, who wasn't a small guy by any means, just shoulder checks Chen into a locker. HARD."
"I completely lost it. Yelled his name, walked up, and when he did that stupid bully "What're you gonna do?" line, I headbutted the ever-living fu*k out of his face. I have a flat, kinda broad forehead. Like the broad side of a sledgehammer."
"He yells "Fu*k!" and stumbles back. I grab his shirt and ring his bell with a few rights. Fu*ked my hand up pretty bad. Also had a knot on my forehead because his nose was sturdier than expected."
"Plus side? Everyone left Chen alone after that."
No Happy Ending Here
"A former friend of mine - musician, actor, barista - broke up with his girlfriend. She then asked him to leave her house and return to his own, less than two miles away. He had his car there, nothing of his was in her house. Does an amiable separation ensue, especially considering he initiated the breakup? No."
"He responded to her request that he leave by knocking her phone out of her hands, hitting her multiple times, throwing her through a glass cabinet, and beating her unconscious while she lay in broken glass screaming for him to stop. He then drove to the police station and turned himself in, saying he thought he killed her."
"Afterwards, his only punishment was one year of probation, which he violated multiple times without consequence, assaulting her and choking her. Her only protection was a restraining order, which he broke multiple times without consequence."
"He even had the gall to complain on social media the day after his arrest about being treated like a criminal by the police, after he walked into the police station with her blood drying on his hands. He spent one night in jail."
Protecting The Cat
"The quiet one in our college was a tiny sweet and harmless always smiling girl. She was kind to everyone and stupid people mistook her for weak, because she just walked away when being picked on. One day the local bullies were chasing after the campus cat with hockey sticks. As they ran by her table she let out an audible sound of anger, stood up and smacked her flat tray right into the first ones face...with force."
"He smashed backwards into the ground and the other ones crashed right into him. She calmly sat back down with a smile and watched the cat run away."
"They were too startled to react for a while and when one of them finally started to yell at her she just stared him down with the most murderous look in her eyes. They left and she never got bothered by them again."
- teal_ish
Thought Out Slap
"I didn't snap. I thought about what I was going to do long and hard, and came to the decision that the girl deserved to get bitch slapped across the face."
"She said my brother had a sister complex."
"I was six when my brother died of a drug overdose(he was 19, away at college)."
"So, the next day at high school, right when she walked up to me to say good morning, I slapped her across the face and walked away. I had warned my other friends about what she had said, and that I was about to do something, but I am a natural peacekeeper, so they never thought I could do something like that."
"I ended up in the office, sobbing about what she had said to me. Apparently it seemed like I had just snapped out of nowhere."
"Needless to say, you don't punish the girl who slapped the person that said the girls dead brother had a sister complex."
- ChanseyChessy
Bitch Slap Slapping GIF by absurdnoise
Giphy
Sibling Revelry
"I was that person- my sister yelled at me and called me an idiot because she was forgetful and was trying to get me to run ALL THE WAY UPSTAIRS to unplug a straightening iron even though I had to leave for the bus (i do everything in the morning, and all she does is get dressed and leave)."
"At dinner time I brought this up and showed the aggressive texts to my mom, and when she was made to apologize to me she gave the most pathetic apology, and that was when I snapped and slammed my hand on the table and began to scream at her about how she was so rude and such and such. After that I didn't speak to her for days, I was livid. I do regret showing my anger like that, it was pretty emberressing..."
"But she hasn't made me that mad after that, so I guess she did realise what she did?"
"Even though I am shy and reserved I do have my moments.. And I hate having them because it makes people scared. I do wish to work on it, I guess on the bright side is that I'm not physical with others, but words can still hurt.. "
"That's why I felt so hurt when my sister was yelling at me in text and saying nasty things to me."
- Dreamy_Spooks
One Fight To Ruin It All
"In high school my former good friend (we grew distant after school ended) was in the lunchroom talking to his group of friends, I was nearby with my group of friends."
"One of the dudes in his group of friends decided to crack a joke about my friend's mom in front of him, which got my friend really quiet. What most might not have known is that his mom was a recovering drug addict and a single mother of 2 boys, the husband decided to skip out of child support and moved back to his home country in Brazil."
"She did a lot of work to get clean and raise her kids to be better than she or their dad was, and both her sons and I respected her for it. Suffice to say, my friend didn't like wise cracks against his mom, joking or otherwise."
"I don't even remember what the comment specifically was, just that I had never seen my friend's face get so red so fast. I looked over at him in time to see him dive across the table and absolutely destroy the dude, there wasn't even a 'fight', it was just a one sided massacre with my friend swing repeatedly from above. Took 3 teacher to break it up, and a few more to get him out of the room."
"He got suspended for 3 days, and it tanked his reputation with all his teachers, which used to be pretty high before then."
"I still feel bad about it years later too, nicest guy you'd ever meet but that moment led him into fighting with a lot of students on other occasions. He ended up being held back a year from failing his classes too, so that one fight essentially ruined his future single handedly."
- spydmike
From Cheerful To Frightening
"My high school sweetheart was this really sweet, fun loving guy. He wasn't quiet, the exact opposite actually; loud, rambunctious and always finds the best in things."
"We were in band together and for the first three years of high school I never once saw him get mad. The few times things got to a point where most people would get angry he managed to calm everyone down."
"Then one day our senior year this freshman was being an obnoxious brat. Everyone hated him, he was rude, mean and just awful. We were walking in from band practice and he was behind us, apparently just shitting all over one of our friends. Saying just awful and cruel things to a guy who really didn't deserve it."
"I could see my bf getting frustrated. We'd been dealing with the shit all day and at this point I was the one soothing him, trying to calm him down."
"Then suddenly the kid said something. I didn't hear it but I saw my bf's face turn as red as a tomato. He whipped around and started screaming at the kid."
"I got between him and the kid as fast as I could, but our friends were stunned. I was legitimately afraid he was going to attack him and the stupid fucking kid just kept laying it on thick. All "oh you pussy, letting your b control you, I could beat you any time of the day".
My bf was twice his size, I have no idea where the kid got the confidence but thankfully my friends managed to drag the kid away before things got worse. It took forever to calm my bf down."
"I'll never forget how terrified I was in that moment. He was so cheerful and happy all the time, the sudden change was frightening."
- annasfanfic
The quiet ones are always the ones to watch!
Do you have similar stories to share? Let us know in the comments below.
For many childhood memories are overrun by living nightmares.
Yes, children are resilient, but that doesn't mean that the things we see as babes don't follow us forever.
The horrors of the world are no stranger to the young.
Redditor -2sweetcaramel- wanted to see who was willing to share about the worst things we've seen as kids, so they asked:
"What’s the creepiest thing you saw as a kid?"
Serious Danger
"Me and my best friend would explore the drainage tunnels under the Vegas area where we grew up. These were miles long and it was always really cool down there so it was a good way to escape the heat of our scorching hot summers. We went into this one that goes under the Fiesta casino and found a camp with a bunch of homeless people."
"Mind you we are like 11 years old lol. And we just kept going like it was nothing. It wasn’t scary then but when I look back at it we could have been in some serious danger. Our parents had no idea we did this or where we were and we had no cellphones. We could have been kidnapped and never have been found."
oofboof2020
Waiting for Food
"I was at a portillos once when I was 12 and I was waiting with my little brother at a booth while my parents got our food. This guy was standing with his tray kind of watching me then after a couple of minutes he started to walk over really fast not breaking eye contact with me."
"He was 2 feet from the table and my dad came out of nowhere and scared the s**t out of him. He looked so surprised and just said he wanted to see if I’d get scared or not. He left his tray full of food near the door and left. My folks reported him but we never went to that location again since we found a better one closer to home."
nowhereboy1964
Captain Hobo to the Rescue
"When I was a pretty young teen, my friends and I were horsing around in San Francisco and started hanging out to smoke with some homeless guys. Another homeless dude came up and began aggressively trying to shake us down for anything (money, smokes, a ride, drugs- all of it) and wouldn’t take no for an answer."
"We got in over our heads and could tell this guy was now riling the other 2 guys up and they were acting like they wanted to jump us. Some grandfather-looking old homeless man appeared out of nowhere and yelled at us to get the f**k out of here- nice kids like us don’t belong down here at this hour!!"
"Captain Hobo saved our lives that night. My parents sincerely thought we were at a mall all day lol."
FartAttack911
Survival
tsunami GIF
Giphy
"I was 7 and survived the 2004 tsunami in Thailand. Witnessed the wave rise way above the already massive palm trees (approx. 40ft?) and my family and I watched/heard the wave crash into the ground from a rooftop."
faithfulpoo
These Tsunami stories are just tragic.
On the Sand
Scared The Launch GIF by CTV
Giphy
"We were a group of kids who went to swim in a local lake. And there was a dead body on the beach with their hands raised and their legs bent unnaturally that local police just took out of the same lake. I've never put my foot in these waters again."
oyloff
Be Clever
"I was walking to school and I was about 5 or 6 years old and some guy pulled up beside me in his car and asked if I would get in. He also offered me sweets to do so. I said no. The creepy bit was when he calmly said ‘clever boy’ to me, then drove off. I’ve never even told my parents or anyone else about this as it would most likely freak them out."
OstneyPiz
Bad Jokes
"Dad's side of the family pranked me by burying a fake body on our back property and had me dig it up to find valuables. Was only allowed to use a lantern for light. They stuffed old clothes with chicken bones. Sheetrock mud where the head was... Random fake jewelry as the treasures... I was like maybe 10 or 11.. I remember digging up the boot first and started gagging because it became real at that point."
Alegan239
YOU
Who Are You Reaction GIF by MOODMAN
Giphy
"Woke up to find my little brother staring at me in the dark, asking, Are you really you?"
PrettyLola2004
Siblings can really be a bunch of creepers.
No one should talk to others in the dark though.
Not all pet owners have the same relationship with their pets.
While anyone who decides to become a pet owner, or pet parent as some say, love their pets equally, some never ever let them leave their side.
Taking their pet with them to work, running errands, even on vacations.
Many pet parents even allow their pets to share their bed with them when going to sleep.
For others though, this is where a line is finally drawn.
Redditor Piggythelavasurfer was curious to hear whether pet owners allowed their pets to share their bed with them, as well as the reasons why they do/don't, leading them to ask:
"Do you let your pet sleep in your bed? Why/why not?"
The Tiny Issue Of Water...
"Absolutely not."
"I have fish."- Senior-Meal3649
Everyone Gets Lonely Eventually...
"I adopted an eleven year old cat the day before Halloween."
"She has mostly lived in my closet since I got her, and she hasn’t been too interested in coming out."
"Last night, she came out of my closet and jumped up on my bed, and crawled under my covers and curled up by my feet to sleep."
"I was so happy!"- YellowBeastJeep
The Comforting Reminder That You're Not Alone...
"I recently lost my Greyhound but I used to let him sleep on my bed with me."
"The company was nice and he was no trouble to have on my bed."- HoodedMenace3
Hungry Cookie GIF by De Graafschap Dierenartsen
Giphy
What Do You Mean Allow?
"I have no choice."
"She is a cat, cats do whatever they want."- Small_cat1412
"He lets me sleep in my bed."- Poorly-Drawn-Beagle
Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way
"I carry my old boy upstairs to bed every night."- worst_in_show
Hug GIF by The BarkPost
Giphy
Who Needs An Alarm Clock?
"I let my two cats sleep with me."
"They're so full of love and just want cuddles all the time."
"And so do I."
"We've all developed a lil routine."
"Get to bed, oldest sleeps on my feet to keep them warm, youngest lies in my arm while I lie on my side (she the little spoon), then when I snooze my alarm for work in the morning the youngest paws at my face and meeps loudly to wake me up."- GhostofaFlea_
Whose Bed Is It Anyway?
"Yes."
"They're also kind enough to let me squeeze into whatever space they've left for me."
"Although I do get a few dirty looks off them."- Therealkaylor
"I found this tiny kitten screaming her head off under a car."
"Would not come out."
"Got some food and some water in dishes."
"I stood by the tire so she couldn't see my feet."
"She got curious about the food and water and started gobbling it down."
"I thought she would bolt when I squatted down."
"She was too busy eating."
"I grabbed her by the nape of the neck and all four legs went straight out and she tried to scratch me to death."
"I got her in the door and tossed her toward the couch."
"She ricocheted off the couch as if she was a ping pong off a table and I lost sight of her."
"I put out food and water and a sandbox and did not see that kitten for three days."
"On the third day, I came home and she was on my bed pillow."
"I thought she would bolt when I came near, but she didn't."
"I wanted to sleep so I tried to scoot her little butt off my pillow."
"She would not go."
"I put my head down to sleep and that is the way it was from then on."
"She ran the roost."- Logical_Cherry_7588
sleepy kitten GIF
Giphy
Sleeping Is A Prerequisite...
"No, he's a cat and he cannot keep still during the night."
"He walks across the headboard, opens the closet doors, jumps into the windows and rustles the blinds, etc."
"If he would sleep he could stay, but alas, he's a ramblin' man."- Spong_Durnflungle
Saying No Just Isn't An Option...
"'Let'."
"Lol."
"It's a cat's world and I'm happy to be on her good side."- milaren
Felines Only!
"The cat does, the dog doesn't and the horse certainly does not either."- Xcrowzz
Angry Tom And Jerry GIF by Boomerang Official
Giphy
Is That My Hair On That Pillow?
"My dog is perfect."
"She comes up, cuddles til we start to fall asleep, then gets down to sleep on her bed so she doesn't get too hot."
"Jumps back up in the early morning for wake up cuddles."
"The hair everywhere is the only downside but she is so cozy, what can you do."- HoodieWinchester
It is easy to understand how some people are able to fall asleep more easily knowing their friend and protector is there, in bed, with them.
Though we can't blame others who don't want to run the risk of being scratched or bitten in the middle of the night either...