When I was a kid, I LOVED amusement parks and roller coasters.
Then I grew up and life happened.
There is nothing worse than being thrown up on in the Gravitron.
It just makes the whole experience a little less fun.
You know what I mean?
Redditor gakuowwanted to hear about the times people were left... unamused. They asked:
"What is your worst experience at an amusement park?"
I also have claustrophobic issues. And I once got trapped for too long at the end of one of those cyclone things. Never Again.
Son of a Wasp?
scared news anchor GIF by MashableGiphy"A wasp got stuck in my shirt while riding Son of Beast at Kings Island. We sat on the brake run for several minutes while it stung away with abandon."
DenL4242
Towering
"I got stuck at the top of one of those 'rise up high, then drop you down' tower rides because there was a technical malfunction. We were up there for five minutes, and they apparently didn't have a speaker installed in the ride at the time, so nobody had any idea what was going on."
PM_ME_YOUR_WORRIES
Small Pause
"Last year Tokyo Disney reopened the 'It’s A Small World' ride and I went on it the day of reopen. It got stuck. For half an hour I sat there with the song blaring away in not-english, which was occasionally interrupted by the vaguely threatening announcement:"
“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE HAPPIEST CRUISE THAT EVER SAILED... HAS STOPPED.”
Cavalish
Over Texas
"I was at Six Flag Over Texas in 1999, on the Roaring Rapids Ride. It's a ride where you sit in a round boat thing and splash down a concrete lazy river. Our tube looked a little low, but nothing crazy. Towards the end if the ride, it started to sink. It eventually flipped over. My dad had to swim against pumping water to save my brother and I had to hold onto a side faux rock for dear life."
"It took the employees forever to turn off the pumps. 1 lady was unable to get her seatbelts off and died. It was horrific. I remember holding on to the side singing the Titanic song to myself watching my dad disappear and reappear in the water getting to my brother. However, we ended up getting a settlement (like $100k) out of it so that was nice. The family of the woman who died got millions. Will never ride that again."
Fastthrowaway0303
Whiplash
theme park disneyland GIFGiphy"Something happened on the teacups and they just stopped rapidly. Pretty good whiplash and a bruise on my hip. Not a fun one."
louispyb
I can't with these stories. I'm never going to Mickey's House again!
Too High
fear factor falling GIF by Endemol BeyondGiphy"Me, a lad afraid of heights got stuck at the top of the titan for 2 F**KING HOURS at 6 flags Arlington."
User Deleted
Love Gone Wrong
"The girl I was dating in high school and I got stuck in the amusement park's 'Tunnel of Love.' Apparently, the pump that kept the water moving to propel the 'love boat' quit - and there we were, about 1/3 of the way into a long, deep tunnel, barely moving. It was a little scary, but cozy, being the only ones in the dark space at the time."
Back2Bach
First Times
"I was on a wooden rollercoaster with my sister, and it was both of our first roller coasters. She was (and still is) a scrawny little thing, and she's pretty short, so she couldn’t hold onto the railing in front with ease. She decided to hold onto the harness thing that comes down, even after I told her not to multiple times."
"About halfway through the coaster, we reach a small flat area, and she’s pulling on that harness hard, and the f**ker popped up, like completely opened so she was sitting there with nothing holding her in. I had to hold onto her for the rest of the ride, but I wasn’t a strong kid, idk how she didn’t fly out. We both love roller coasters still though so ¯_(ツ)_/¯."
swaghunter24
"Pretend"
"Mark me down as stupid. I stood in the line for the submarine ride at Disneyland for at least an hour. When we got towards the front I realized that those damned things actually go under water. I'm extremely claustrophobic so I had to bow out. I guess I thought maybe you stayed above water and were in 'pretend' water."
RonSwansonsOldMan
Blood
Roller Coaster Drinking GIFGiphy"My dad and I went on a roller coaster a few weeks after he'd had stomach surgery."
"The attendant pushed down the safety bar a little too hard on my dad and when the ride was over, his shirt was soaked with blood. The push had ripped some of his stitches. He was fine. I was actually freaking out more, but bright side, the park gave him a free shirt."
totallyworkinghere
Those Days
"When I used to work at one. Every other customer had a death with. They didn’t want to follow safety rules which was really stressful. Also, if someone got hurt on a ride, they could sue the operator as well as the company. At minimum wage, it really wasn’t worth it."
"Guest: Why is the safety harnesses so tight?!!"
"Me: Because I’m whipping you into the air 120 miles per hour on a ride made by a company notorious for killing people! Why do you think?"
Just the two of us...
"Some place in Wisconsin, probably the dells. Couple years ago. One of those giant family slides, where you're inside a tube on a floaty with 4 people. The weight balance was off, as a teeny me was facing my grandpa. Just the two of us. He went down and I went up. Or should I say off."
"Didn't hurt, but terrifying when the next group on a floaty jam packed comes flying at you so you have to sprint through flowing water towards your 200 pond grandfather who is desperately trying to slow down. That was a fun experience. 10/10 recommend will do again."
FreezerburntLab
didn't even touch me...
"Oh, probably the time I almost got thrown out of a coaster. I had been wanting to go on it forever and had finally met the minimum height requirement- was still tiny though. Got in and the person who had been sitting before me was huge, so the belt was basically no existent, the lap bar didn't even touch me, and no one checked me before starting the ride."
"The adult next to me held on to me with both arms after I flew halfway out on the first turn. I also had my toes boiled once, but that was just painful, not nearly deadly."
Saltwaterblood
In the Rain
disney sneezing GIFGiphy"I was riding the Dumbo ride at Disney World that was still operating in the rain. So much water had accumulated that it was up to our knees in our seats."
SheZowRaisedByWolves
I Pity You
"Splash mountain, Or at least that really big one- may have the name wrong, was Disneyland some two decades ago or there about. Turns out that while I'm not good with heights I'm worse the higher it gets. It went from begging to be allowed to get off to trying to get my parents to preform a very late term abortion to spare me from it. I feel pity for the people riding with us, honestly."
That Day
My ex boyfriend was short tempered, stubborn, mean among other things. He thought it would be a good idea to take his autistic little brother (15 years old) to six flags. As expected it was a disaster my ex is not able to deal with his brother's behaviors. This was the first time I had met his brother. We ended up leaving early and ughhh it was awful. I felt so awkward and sad for his brother. I was scared of my ex so I kept my thoughts to myself. I hate thinking of that day."
"ileeny12
Wasped
"At Carowinds in NC when I was 9. Standing in line for rollercoaster (can't remember name) and wasp starts flying around my head. I swat at it, it stings me not once... not twice... three times in a row on my right hand. Extremely painful. By the time we got to the first aid kiosk my hand had swollen to the size of a grapefruit."
"Went to the doctor later that day and at this point my fingers were so swollen I could not pick anything up with my right hand or even wiggle my fingers. Actually got a doctor's note excusing me from completing homework until the swelling subsided. Still tried to do my homework left handed though but that SUCKED."
AudiTech226
The Witness
A Goofy Movie Reaction GIFGiphy"When I was 7, I was at Disney standing in line for the Goofy Airplane ride. The guy in front of us suddenly dropped into a full on seizure. To a 7 year old with no prior exposure to something like that, I was terrified."
torioreo824
Just GO!
"I was on a class trip to six flags and a whole bunch of us were on one of those circular rides where you stand against the outside edge and it spins around all over the place. Apparently it’s called a Round Up. THE RIDE GOT STUCK IN THE 'GO' POSITION. They were able to get the platform back level on the ground, but we just kept f**king spinning and spinning."
"It was probably only 5 minutes but it felt like FOREVER. We were just all staring at each other bewildered, people were turning pale/clearly disoriented. I puked and had to go sit on the coach bus for the rest of the day. I will never get on that ride again."
ladylabradorite
That's why you have to be careful with these rides!
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Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.
Even the person who seems to be the calmest has that moment when their patience has run thin, and all it takes is a little more prodding and antagonizing to set them off.
Curious to hear examples of when strangers online were surprised by what they witnessed, Redditor Specktakles88 asked:
"Have you ever seen a normally calm person completely lose their sh*t? What happened?"
A triggering moment unleashed wild behavior.
The Dude Who Had It Coming
"I was chilling at a friend’s house as a kid. His dad was the chillest, nicest guy. That day, my friend’s mom (also super nice) was across the street talking to the neighbor about something that I can no longer recall. Neighbor was one of those guys who never respected common etiquette: music blaring, parking his sh**ty boat in front of other people’s house, cars parked on the lawn. The neighbor started screaming at the mom and we all went out on the stoop to see what was happening. As soon as we got outside, the guy called my friend’s mom a c*nt. Well, my friend’s dad heard that and went full Hulk mode. He ran SCREAMING across the street and just f'king decked the guy and crouched over him shouting warnings and threats. Took a while for his wife to calm him down. I don’t think any of them had ever seen him react to something in that way, maybe even the dad himself."
– Corporation_tshirt
Hot Kitchen
"I worked as a line cook with a chef who I became really good friends with. Really chill dude, easy going, and actually super fun to cook with. He taught me most of what I know about cooking and I owe him a lot for my success. Never really saw him get mad until one day, we were getting slammed during busy night and one of the servers said something that really ticked him off, not sure if I ever heard what it was, but next thing I knew he had sent the deep fryer basket flying at Mach 1 across the kitchen, nearly missing the dish kid and shattering a light bulb. He stormed off and 5 minutes later after a smoke break, came back and casually continued cooking as if nothing had happened."
"He apologized about it the next day and we never talked about it again. The restaurant industry is a stressful place."
– Nexteri
Thing About Grandpa
"When I was in my late teens I was financially irresponsible and borrowed money from my grandparents to move out of my mom's house. We made a plan on how I would pay it back in installments and I only missed two payments, with each one I called my granddad and asked if it was okay. He was always cool about it. One day I got a call from him and he was LIVID. Screaming at me on the phone and I could hear my grandmother crying in the background. He was the angriest I’ve ever heard anyone in my life and I was terrified. He wanted to know why I hadn’t made the payment that month, but I was sure I had. It turns out I had accidentally set the automated payment to be drawn from the wrong account and it hadn’t done it. It was an honest mistake on my part, and I explained that to him. I transferred the money immediately and he instantly calmed down. I later found out he had become an alcoholic after he quit smoking, and he would talk to my grandmother like that regularly when no one was around."
– kamaikaja
Awakening The Beast
"This is not my story but my dads. Growing up his best friend Leif was a quiet, shy guy that was a bit socially awkward. In school he wasn't physically bullied but this one kid teased him constantly. This would have been late 50's, early 60's so kids were expected to just tough it out. My dad would usually confront the kid but one day a girl runs up to him and says that Leif and the kid are fighting."
"My dad runs over to save Leif but when he breaks through the circle he finds the bully flat on his back, Leif sitting on his chest, holding him by the ears and smashing his head into the pavement over and over. My dad tackles him, wrestles him to the ground and screams at him, asking what he's doing. The thing that stayed with me from that story was how he described it, 'it was like there was nothing in there, I felt like I could see the back of his skull through his eyes.'"
"Luckily they were kids so the damage was serious but limited, the bully escaped with stitches and a concussion and Leif had to talk to the school psychologist. My dad and Leif stayed best friends and when I met him as an adult he was still quiet but less shy and awkward."
– Kenail_Rintoon
Work-related stresses really brought out the fury in these people.
The Beginning
"I had a friend who was in his 60's, a functioning alcoholic but he was the most calm and composed guy I have ever known. He never used to raise his voice or swear. Everything was done with meticulous precision."
"He once explained to me that if you use vulgar language and shout all the time, then you will have nowhere to go when you really do get angry."
"I had worked with him for about 3 years, never heard him raise his voice or swear before. The week before he had been shafted on his pay and the manager promised to get it sorted by Friday. Friday rolled around and it had not been sorted. So when my friend walked up to the manager in the open office and declared loudly 'Where the f'k is my money? You promised this would be resolved.' The whole office went silent and the look of dread on the manager's face was haunting. The money was in his account by the end of the day."
"That was him losing his sh*t."
– LinktoApop
Parting Words
"I used to see this woman in my building every day. Very friendly. We always checked on each other’s lives. We had lunch a few times over the years. It was friendly to a certain degree. A couple years passed. She was much older than me. One day, riding the elevator, she told me that she was saying goodbye. I said I was sorry to see her go and asked why. She said she was retiring that day. I asked if her office was throwing a party or if she was celebrated. She turned to me and her face contorted into an image of rage. She clenched her teeth and said she didn’t tell anyone in her office, including her bosses. She only told the HR person last week. This was her last day and she was never returning to see or talk to anyone in her office again."
– darthsnakeeyes
The Gentle Giant
"I used to do seasonal work sorting tax returns. Like, 500 people in a warehouse size room sorting through returns, stacking them in boxes, etc. This one guy on my team, huge dude, a gentle giant, really nice. Suddenly one day he smashes the table he's working at, then flips a big box full of paperwork. It flew over my head and twenty feet away. He threw the table out of his way them stormed out. Turns out he was getting his paycheck garnished for something or other."
– TheBelhade
Rambunctious behavior really set these people off, but it also restored peace.
The Teacher Who Had Enough
"One of my teachers in high school was THE calmest dude. Never yelled, never told kids off, would just laugh and smile and wait for us all to calm down and then continue with his teaching. One day we must have been particularly rowdy and we weren’t calming down like we usually did. He couldn’t get a word in edge ways. I could see him getting increasingly frustrated and eventually he just bellowed SHUUUUTTT UPPPPP And the entire class was shocked into silence. He never had to do it again lmao"
– shyaussiegirl26
Too Angry To Hold A Knife
"It takes a lot to make my mom yell. On the rare occasion she did yell, it still felt like she had self control. Like she yelled on purpose, because there was a reason to yell (like she needed to be that loud for us to hear us, or one of the kids needed to learn to never run into traffic again.)"
"But one morning when we were teenagers, my brother was being really, really difficult."
"And my very sweet, soft-spoken mother yelled 'GOD DAMN IT SHAWN' and threw a butter knife down so hard it stuck, 1/4 inch deep, in oak hardwood floor. Against the grain. I can still hear the noise it made."
"We were all very, very well behaved for the rest of the day."
"I did eventually ask my mom why she did that. Her explanation was that she felt she was too angry to hold a knife, even a butter knife, and was trying to get it out of her hand before she did something stupid."
– _Green_Kyanite_
Granny's Mean Streak
"Man my grandma has a similar thing. This boy was a couple years older than she was and he was constantly picking on her. He's riding his bike home from school one day and he rides past her and he's shouting at her and she knocks him right off his bike and beat the sh*t out of him. My sweet lil granny. The neighbor that saw it said he was proud as sh*t that she beat the snot out of this shitty kid lol. I think it was the start of my grandma's bad b*tch streak because not much later, she started street racing. She was allegedly a sweet little girl, but man I think she must have had a mean streak in her."
– Unsd
"Jerry Springer Christmas"
"My mom. We had what we now refer to as the 'Jerry Springer Christmas' when I was 7 or so. One aunt hated her sister in law and started screaming at her, then shoving started, husband's got involved, then it just continued to devolve from there. My mom went straight into mediator mode and tried to calm everyone down but it wasn't working. She decided to come check on us kids and found my cousin and me holding each other and sobbing because we were scared. The next thing I hear is her scary mom voice screaming over everyone 'listen here you motherf'kers. My kid is in there crying on Christmas because her family can't keep their sh*t together for one the one day a year we all see each other. You're gonna march your a**es into that room single file and apologize to each kid individually, then you're going to shut the hell up until I get them out of here. We're going to go find look at lights and this family better be the picture of goddam Christmas joy by the time we get back.' My mom never really cussed in front of me and only ever used gd when things were really bad. That side of the family didn't celebrate Christmas for a few years after that."
"Edit: thank you for the awards and kind words! Ma is tickled pink at all of the comments about how wonderful she is. I tell her every day how lucky I am to have her."
– thatspookyb*tch
Rage is something that exists in all of us.
Some people are good at letting small things run off their back, while others have no patience for the smallest of grievances.
The lesson to be learned here is, never underestimate the calmest people. They might be the ones to really look out for. You don't want to be the reason for them to break their patience streak and unleash all of their built-up fury on you.
Be kind to others, and just don't be a prick.
Whether that applies or doesn't apply in our own lives, we listen to the songs conveying these experiences to take us back so we may relive these affirmative moments from the past.
Curious to hear what's on the moody playlist of strangers online, Redditor udontknowmegurl asked:
"What is the saddest song you've ever heard?"
These iconic artists really touched the hearts of many people through their music.
Dolly's Love Anthem
"I will Always Love You by Dolly Parton, you can really tell she f'king lived that song."
– scruntyboon
When Mom Went To Heaven
"The night my mama died, my dad sang Elvis' Can't Help Falling in Love to her in the back seat of the car on the way to the ER. She died of fully metastitized pancreatic cancer 18 days after diagnosis."
– AmazonEllie
It Gets Deeper With Age
“'Landslide' by Fleetwood Mac I find that the older I get, the more meaning this song has."
– Rare_Matter
Leave it to Disney to have us reaching for the tissue box.
Touching Score
"That song from UP makes me cry every time and it doesn’t even have lyrics."
– TheDaughterOfFlynn
When She Loved Me
"That one Jesse sings in Toy Story 2"
– TheWholeEffinJoe
And let's not forget these emotional tunes that resonated with many Redditors.
Irish Folk Song
"‘Danny boy’ at a friends funeral 10 years ago. He, his sister and his gf all passed away in a house fire all in their early 20s. It was an Irish wake and the mix of grief and whiskey joy was something else."
– Flamingoez88
When Love Moves On
"Into Dust by Mazzy Star gets me."
– d*ckem52
When You Want To "Disappear"
"How to disappear completely by Radiohead. Haunting instrumental, depression dripping through everyline of lyrics 'im not here, this isnt happening.'"
– Bradyceneme
Ray Of Light In The Darkness
"You Are My Sunshine"
"Everything but the chorus is heartbreaking. Few people know anything but the chorus though."
– lolly_lolly_lolly
From A Powerful Album
"Sylvia - The Antlers"
"Actually that whole album, Hospice, breaks me but this song in particular just leaves me in a mess every time."
– recoverelapse
When Love Fades
"The Night We Met by Lord Huron."
"No matter where I am, if I’m happy, who I’m with, etc. I’ll bawl my eyes out if that song plays. It’s so painful and true because one day they’re there and they’re your everything and then they start slipping until they’re gone and you wished you could go back to before you met them so you wouldn’t have to go through the pain of losing them. Just the lyrics 'I had all and then most of you, some and now none of you' hit this. People falling out of love in relationships, growing apart with friends, family members passing, etc. is what this hits for me and it hits hard."
– beepbeepboopbop2
One of the saddest songs I've heard is not connected to a personal experience, but the story being told is heartbreaking.
It's called "The Queen and the Soldier" by Suzanne Vega. The song is basically about a lonely, repressed virgin queen who keeps her heart closely guarded.
When a soldier enters her domain and challenges her internalized emotions, it's too much for her and has the soldier executed.
The song has continued haunting me ever since I first heard it.
Maybe rethink alternative words for "awesome"...
"I called a taco 'the Shizznit' a few days ago."
"I instantly felt 90 years old."- fattydad075
Not as "radical" as it once was...
"Rad."- AvatarofBro
Colors Flashing GIFLanguage is eternal!
"None of MY slang is outdated, it's today's youth that are wrong!"- hotasphalt
How long have you got?
"I say things are the bees knees on the regular."
"Is 'on the regular' dated?"
"I also call the ocean 'the drink' for whatever reason."
"Picked that up at some point."- Paradigm6790
"This sub is making me extremely paranoid about my words now bc I say pretty much all of these words still."- jjjjjjj30
season 10 friends GIFGiphyCharming once, vulgar now...
"HAULIN’ A**."- f*ck_korean_air
Nah, come closer.
"Far out."- PaulClifford
A bit off
"Right on."- bombaderogato
Does anyone still even eat popsicles?
"When I'm ready to leave I say 'Let's blow this Popsicle stand."
"To be honest I'm not even sure what a posicle stand is."- B-Sdetector69
Popsicle Freezer Pop GIFGiphyIt's hard not to feel self conscious around the younger generations who might laugh at your dated vocabulary.
But one should just remember, in 10 years or so, they'll likely find themselves in the exact same position.
And won't feel as "groovy" as they once did.
And not on your foot, one imagines...
"Nothing but a tube sock."- Sanguiniutron
Reverse Psychology
"Dress normally, because if the theme is to dress inappropriately, and you dress appropriately, technically you're the one being inappropriate for the occasion."- GoAwayImHereForMemes
"I've actually been in a completely opposite situation."
"Was invited to a art exhibition, came in well dressed. It was basically porn but the person I went with forgot to mention that."
"I felt very malplace standing around people wearing next to nothing."
"So I would probably do that again because what's more inappropriate than being appropriate at an inappropriate event?"- cccantyousee
"I mean, if dressing inappropriately is the appropriate attire, then dressing appropriately would be inappropriate for the party, thus, making it appropriate."
"Now that I think about it, it's an unsolvable paradox."
"You could never appropriately dress inappropriately."- MUNKIESS
Getting Ready Jimmy Fallon GIF by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy FallonGiphyIt's all in the details
"A suit."
"With the pants cuffs rolled up, wearing tevas with gym socks."- BitPoet
And they say you can only wear it once...
"Bridal gown."- fromhelley
Depends on your surroundings...
"Imma wear a parka."
"In South Texas."
"In August."- Ahshalon_Tenisk
Parka GIF by moodmanGiphyThe question is, what aren't you wearing...
"Nothing I'd just show up in lingerie."- cloboehobo
Wrong on so many levels...
"A two sizes to small wrestling singlet, and crocs."- thirdtimer_2020
I Like Swimsuit GIF by MOODMANGiphyThere's little more fun than facing the challenge of dressing to impress.
Or, in this instance, un-dressing to impress.
And if you are greeted by a round of shocked expressions, you know your choice of outfit was a success.