Most of us do our best to be calm, poised and collected in public, even if internally we are fuming. After all, an adult screaming and shouting like a baby over a minor inconvenience is equal parts terrifying and hilarious.
Someone asked “What's the biggest public tantrum you've ever personally seen from an adult?” and people shared the worst meltdowns they ever witnessed. From toddler-like antics in a grown adult body, to physical brawls, get comfortable as you read through, prepare for some second-hand embarrassment and be sure to upvote your favorite stories.

#1

Watched the CEO of a company worked at start screaming and stomping his feet because people weren't listening to his band at a company event, and instead were mingling at the bar.
He literally shouted "this is MY PARTY! This is MY COMPANY! This is mY FAVORITE BAND!"
I just started laughing. What else can you do?!

Image credits: roguescott

#2

I actually witnessed a real, adult tantrum. My manager had to fire an employee for excessive tardies, absenteeism, and constantly being short in his cash drawer (it was a financial institution and he was a teller so that was a major problem). She took him in her office but was concerned about his reaction because he was quite a drama king and outweighed us by about 200 pounds so she left her office door open, just in case. I asked the security guard to stand near my desk which was right outside of the office. As she broke the news, he started yelling, "No! No! No!" Then, he picked up a pair of scissors and held them over his head in a threatening manner while she tried to calm him down. He put the scissors down and ran out of the office and out next to my desk in a little open area. He proceeded to throw off his blazer and rip his shirt open, buttons popping off and flying everywhere. He then ran up the stairs to the mezzanine, laid down on the floor on his stomach, and literally kicked his feet and pounded the floor with his fists like a baby having a tantrum in a cartoon! The building shook. Thankfully, we were closed so no customers were there. Eventually, he calmed down. The security guard and another teller who was going to the police academy managed to help him collect himself and then he went down the teller line saying goodbye to each employee while the guard was redirecting him away; they were all freaked out. The employee who was a future cop drove him home. It was scary and appalling. Two days later, he came back to apologize to the manager, say goodbye to me, *ask the manager if he could still come to the Christmas party*, and ask me for the buttons from his shirt! I really hope he got his s**t together, eventually.

Image credits: geckotatgirl

#3

I worked at a movie store as a teenager. A guy pulled up at 10:15pm (we closed at 10:00). He saw me in the dark store and tapped on the window to indicate he was returning his movies. I looked at him and tapped on my wrist to indicate they were already late.

He proceeded to throw all 3 movies at the window as hard as he could and started cursing at me. After he drove off, I went outside and wrote down all the barcodes. I looked up his account and added a note as to what happened. I left the movies sitting outside.

Obviously all the movies were stolen. He had to pay the capped late fee plus he had to pay for replacements.

Funny thing is, had he just accepted they were late and dropped them in the bin, I would normally do people a solid and check them in before I finished closing. His childish behavior cost him a lot more money (around $100) in the long run.

Image credits: ZachVIA

#4

I watched a 70 some odd year old Asian lady have a complete meltdown because a restaurant was out of donut holes. She was lying on the floor screaming and grabbed the restaurants credit card machine and refused to give it back until she got her donut holes. Cops were called, then she claimed she was having a heart attack so ems was called and that’s where I came into it

Long story short, she wouldn’t let me touch her so I have no idea if there was anything medically wrong, we let her have her little temper tantrum until her daughter who was there talked her up off the floor, the cops didn’t even issue a ticket but told her to never come back to that restaurant.

Image credits: LongjumpingSurprise0

#5

In my youth I worked in a little gift shop. A well dressed elegant couple in their 40s came into the shop one day during the Christmas season, with an ad in hand for a certain item. We had sold out of the item and they yelled at me demanding I order a new one for them or it was false advertising. I was timid back then so I just quietly explained that it was a limited lot, which was stated in the ad, and we couldn't order any more. This enraged the woman.

She... she actually stamped her foot and said we had ruined her Christmas. Up to that point I was annoyed and a little scared of their over the top anger. But when she stamped her foot I burst out laughing. Seeing a grown woman do that was just so absurd. Especially when the item in question was an angel figurine on sale for $5.99.

Image credits: Bleu_Rue

#6

A sales guy I worked with just earned a huge commission on a multi-million dollar mortgage. Some of us convinced him he should take us out to dinner because we helped & he was a good sport and we (sales guy & 3 low wage earning women from support staff) went out to a local pub. The bank president was there, which was not unusual, he made the rounds of all the local places most nights after work. He came over to say hello and when he found out why we were there he got angry that he hadn't been invited and started yelling at us and banging his fists on the table, then he went back to his friends at the bar. We decided he had to be joking, there was no way he could be angry at us for that so we decided we'd be funny too. We asked the server if she would bring him the check, but don't really leave it with him and she thought it was funny too, so she did. He was not kidding. I've never seen a grown man have such a public tantrum in my life. He was screaming at us until we got up and left (and would not let us take the check back). I went to work the next morning and my boss (who was supposed to be with us but had something come up) was coming out of the president's office and this guy, who did not swear in front of women wanted to know WTF we did to make his boss so mad that he was trying to order my boss to fire the guy that got the commission. Later on, we figured it out. Because of that commission, the sales guy earned more money that year than the bank president.

Image credits: Risheil

#7

My MIL threw herself on the ground and cried because I wouldn't let her friend use my company's Gulfstream to fly her to Europe for her birthday. I told her she was more than welcome to charter it at my discount if she liked. When I told her the company would need a 90K deposit is when she fell to the ground in tears.

Image credits: tavariusbukshank

#8

At Orange County, CA John Wayne Airport, a grad school friend I was traveling with actually laid down on her (soft) luggage on the floor, screamed and wailed like a toddler because she missed her flight. I have never seen such a spectacle. The airline desk workers were alarmed and came over to reassure her there were other flights they could put her on later. She was in her 30s.

Image credits: Orbitrea

#9

Dude missed a flight on the big yellow banana. Entirely his own fault. When informed that they could not accommodate him until the next day, he became enraged. Yelling, screaming, stomping his feet. He actually knocked the computers off the neighboring desk. He hit one of the employees, and then had the audacity to try to fly the next day. No, sir, you're not flying ever again. Attacking an airport employee will get you added to the no fly list.

Image credits: Meggarea

#10

I witnessed a man throw his entire suitcase down an escalator over a canceled flight. Luckily no one else was on it but I did wish he'd fallen down after it tbh.

Image credits: HuuffingLavender

#11

A new temp was fired so he got his stuff from the break room and walked out of the building punching holes in the walls and ripping down posters and destroying anything he could get his hands on. ALL of it came out of his paycheck and my boss and us were laughing that his check came out to something like 30 cents for a full week of work.

Image credits: Pm_me_clown_pics3

#12

Worked at a bingo hall for 4 years: we sold paper games as well as an electronic computer that played for you. Each computer was $30 for the night. For holidays, the jackpots for each round usually double, if not triple so the place was usually packed, so much that it occasionally became standing room only, and people would literally stand along the walls. Unfortunately, we had 200 computers with a max building capacity of 700, so if you didnt get in line early, they sold out fast. So I often had to tell people that they werent going to get a computer for the night.

This one night thou, it was December 22nd or 23rd and it was her birthday, she set aside the money for a computer but we had sold out almost an hour prior. Her group showed up after game play had started, all the tables and chairs were taken so her group had to stand. She was upset that concessions refused to give her food for free, they never gave food away for free. So what did this 20 something do? In the middle of a game, she threw her food on the cashier, drink and all, ran up to a table of customers nearby, taking things off the tables and throwing them around, picking up drinks and throwing them at others, snatching up 2 computers and yelling "ITS MY BIRTHDAY!!!!" but eventually, a few former military dudes and her ?brother? stopped her, she was arrested and charged with a few crimes. Most people she hit with food pressed charges, along with the owner who pressed charges for damaging several computers because they got soda dumped on them and stopped working. I was not interviewed as a witness, they had plenty and security footage. Games continued after a 45 minute delay. I get that people want to feel special and for things to go perfect on their birthday, but f**k.

Image credits: WoodedSpys

#13

It was around Christmas. I was at the airport waiting to fly home to see family. I heard a disturbance coming from the flight check-in counter and turned to see a grown man probably in his 40s beet-red in the face and screaming at the employee behind the counter. I walked a bit closer to hear the conversation,

“I want a new ticket! I don’t know when my flight is supposed to leave!”

“Sir the flight time is printed on your ticket right there.”

“Yeah but it’s in military time! I don’t want a ticket in military time! Get me one that has normal time on it I can’t read military time!”

Another man stepped in to break up the altercation and Mr. I-Can’t-Read-A-Clock stormed off. He never ended up getting a new ticket :).

Image credits: Chyroso72

#14

Was working in a coffee shop when I was 15. A man came in ordered a coffee and a donut and handed me an American bill. On our cash register was a button for American cash, so that it had up to the minute conversion to ensure we gave the right amount back. I handed him his change and his order and he refused. He told me I didn't give him the correct change back, and demanded my manager. My manager heard the story, ran it through again and proved it was correct by pulling up the current exchange rate on her phone. She backed me up and told him I was right, he was wrong.
The guy lost it. He threw his change at us and stormed out of the shop. We were lost for words. Not only did he pay for the order, but he left it on the counter when he stormed out. And then also gave us the change by throwing it at us and leaving.. so what did he accomplish?

Image credits: Darkest_Elemental

#15

A customer got mad at another customer for "buying the last PS5" even though it was a pre-order. The guy followed the PS5 buyer out to his car screaming at him and trying to fight him over it. As the buyer was driving away the guy started throwing rocks at the car. The buyer sped the Hell away nearly running over someone. The crazy m**********r said he was going to sue the store cause we called the cops. Not sure what happened but I hope he got jail time for assault. F*****g stupid a*****e.

Image credits: OhTheHueManatee

#16

Dude at Walmart in 2003ish had a complete meltdown over his spiral notebooks ringing up at 30 cents a piece instead of the 25 cents that was listed on the sign. Composition notebooks were 25 cents, someone put those spirals back on the shelf in the wrong spot. He did the whole shebang. Even shouted “YOU DONT KNOW WHO YOU'RE DEALING WITH” while his teenage daughter begged him to stop. The cashier started crying. First time I’ve ever seen someone trashy enough to get thrown out of a Walmart.

Image credits: RealBowsHaveRecurves

#17

Saw a woman stealing those packs of 12 croissants in plastic and then when security didn't let her leave she doubled down and went insane and started throwing handfuls of croissants. It was f*****g epic.


Edit: I wish I saw more but it was leaving a Safeway and as curious as I am I try my best not to rubberneck when people are having moments lol.

Image credits: Away-Sound-4010

#18

An ex of mine once had a massive toddler style tantrum on the floor on a Tesco because I bought white pepper rather than black.

She was throwing stuff, shouting, crying and ended up on the floor like a beetle with her arms and legs in the air shouting about f*****g pepper.

An ex for many reasons, this being one of them.

Image credits: Quack_Candle

#19

I used to work at a GameStop. We had told a guy we couldnt buy his games as he didn’t have an ID (a bit of a silly rule as we’d give them like 10 cents for a hundred games). The guy stomped out. About 15 minutes later, we see him come back in and literally throw a jar of mayonnaise at us. He must’ve loosened the lid because when the jar hit the wall behind us, we were treated to an explosion of mayo on god damn everything.

Image credits: mycatisspawnofsatan

#20

My brother's first wife, we were shopping in Safeways and she wanted some chocolates and my brother told her no, she sat on the floor and started to wail like a toddler, 5'2, 200lbs woman crying her f*****g eyes out sat in a fetal position.

Image credits: Craigothy-YeOldeLord

#21

On my first cruise, my 11 year old son and I rounded a corner and there were two old ladies, one standing in the stairwell and another halfway up the staircase, screaming. The two white haired ladies were hollering things like: "I HATE YOU!" and "I wish I'd never taken you on this trip!" and so on.

My son's eyes were as wide as saucers. Apparently any sort of tizzy that I had gotten into in his presence was far eclipsed by the performance given by these two elderly gals!

Image credits: Travelgrrl

#22

Playing mini golf and my date missed the hole and threw down his club and started yelling. That was the first and last date.

Image credits: 4csrb

#23

My uncle yelling at me when I was 5. He couldn’t stand the fact that I was sitting next to my aunt in the restaurant, when he wanted to sit next to her.

Image credits: onionsoup123

#24

Christian youth pastor at a chain restaurant where I worked. Brought in 9 teenagers on New Year's Day after a "lock in" at their church. We were the only restaurant in town open at 6am on New Year's Day, and 3 people called out "sick" (hungover), so we literally had 1 cook, 1 waitress (me), and 1 shift supervisor for about 60 people seated, and a line out the door.

He threw a hissy fit when I offered coffee and he told me they were teens and caffeine was bad anyhow. Then proceeded to order everyone Cokes (ahem...). We were already running out of food (two other restaurants in town weren't open that we'd expected to be open and our general manager sucked at inventory). Half the food they ordered (things like Eggs Benedict) wasn't available.

The guy was a total a*s to me. I hustled and kept their Cokes refilled, got pancakes/eggs/bacon/sausage orders out fast, and the kids were rowdy and wired but generally well behaved.

He tried to DINE AND DASH. I stopped him and he started yelling at me I front of 75+ people, saying my customer service was so poor we didn't deserve to be paid, that he'd complain to corporate, etc. My shift supervisor cut him off and recognized him. Told him Jesus didn't like cheats. The youth pastor screamed at him and called me a useless lesbian whore (I had short hair).

I got zero tip, a bunch of Chick Tracts, and two kids turned their waters upside down and stuck the half-full glasses to the table so it made a mess when I moved them.

Such good Christians.

Image credits: readerlove

#25

Weekly market going, as it has been for the previous two or three months (an all summer thing). Dude I guess has enough of it and decides to scream at everyone out his window that he's going to get his gun and shoot everyone up, then disappears.

Well, someone called the cops, we got evacuated, and he got arrested. I can't remember if he actually even owned a gun, but turns out the guy was all bark and no bite anyway.

Image credits: Mrs0Murder

#26

I had just walked up to my parked car with my family from the beach in SW Florida. It was a packed and busy parking lot. An older retired aged lady flew around the corner and pulled up directly behind us and asked if we were leaving. I told her that we were. We proceeded to open the trunk to put our beach stuff in. We were still wet from swimming and were drying our clothes off with towels, clapping the sand out of our shoes, etc. The lady was still parked directly behind us, watching us like a hawk. It had been maybe 3 minutes since we had got to our car. She then asked if we were almost done, and I calmy replied that it would just be a minute. We got into our car, fired up Google maps, and she started laying on her horn yelling at us to f*****g move. I put the car in reverse and asked her to get out of the way, as she was blocking us in. She got out of her car and came right up to my window, yelling and screaming profanities at us like we had violated her rights. No shame, yelling in front of several people like a nut case.

People in FL are f*****g insane, especially the retirees. They are nasty, rude, and entitled. It is not just the retirees. Road rage down there is so common, and people fly off the handle for the smallest things. I think the heat gets to people, idk, but the nastiest and worst people I have ever met live there. They are like ticking time bombs. I wish I had recorded this. It would have been an instant viral Karen video.

Image credits: Brave_Spell7883

#27

When I worked at a local mom and pop type restaurant/cafe/upscale grocery store (think whole foods but not a chain) back in the day we made this cheese dip, Better Cheddar, to put on crackers and what not. It's pretty good, but there is an unhealthy cult following for this dip from all the locals that live in this middle class area. If someone is having a little party or get together with some wine you know there's going to be some better cheddar on the table.

Anyways, one 4th of July weekend we didn't have any more better cheddar. We were completely out and we're waiting for our supplier to drop off this very specific type of cheddar we used to make it and most people understood if you come back tomorrow... the 4th, we'll have plenty in stock and your party will be saved. Except 1 woman.

When she learned we didn't have any in stock you would swear we just told her the only cure to her life ending disease was just flushed down the toilet because we didn't think anyone had the disease. She went to the fridge with all our other dips and what not in it and started opening the dips and throwing them around the cafe/store area making a HUGE mess. People were covered in spinach artichoke, buffalo chicken, bleu cheese dip, all the dips were wasted and when the display fridge was emptied she slammed the door causing the glass to crack all the way from the bottom to the top. Some of the containers she threw broke the TV, they broke the display cases for our fancy cheeses and prepared foods you just need to heat up. An estimate of the waste and damage would be around $3000 because those display cases were old and finding a replacement glass was impossible because it was curved, so a new one would need to be specially made somewhere in upstate new york.

Best part of it all was she was a friend of the owner. We all knew her very well because she would come in 3, 4, 5 times a week order off the menu and just be a problem. When she came in a few days later I was the one who decided we're not dealing with her BS anymore and refused service. She got defensive left and came back with the owner. Like a child tattling on someone. I had the pleasure of telling the owner she was the cause of all the damage and the reason we were closed on the 4th to fix the damage. The owner was not aware of this, I assume the manager just told them a random customer got angry. Lady tried to deny it but the head chef and me had pulled a copy of the security video immediately, so we could watch it again and laugh, and showed the owner.

Owner insisted the woman would need to pay for the damages and lost product other wise there would be legal action and she would not be allowed back in until she does... 3 months later, glass still broken, I was written up for not serving her. I quit shortly after that and after I found a better job bar tending in the city. This was about 11-12 years ago now and I recently went in to pick up some better cheddar for a work thing, the glass on the dip fridge is still broken in the exact same way and some of the dips that hit the roof are still there.

Image credits: smr312

#28

Two weeks ago in Orlando. My family and I were in a nice restaurant. There was an issue a few tables away from us, it was a group of guys in their late 20s. (guessing) It started over slow service, and the waiter, manager, and a food runner ended up in a confrontation with the four patrons. Lots of yelling and drama, the guys got escorted out, and it should have been over right there, but one of the guys came back in and hit the waiter in the back of the head (Sucker punch from behind) and was tackled by the busboy. Two of the other guys from the table come running back in (Don't know what happened to the fourth) and jump into it. Cooks came out of the back, and six restaurant workers took down the patrons. Ended with police being called and arrests being made, it was the biggest brawl I've seen in a while before the cops got there. There may have been alcohol involved.

Image credits: MicroCat1031

#29

I was managing a fancy bar that got full pretty easily. A girl threw a tantrum because it was full and there wasn't a table for her - she had no reservation. She was screaming so much that I managed to wiggle a big group onto a smaller table and freed up a space for her, just to get her to be quiet.

It didn't work, though. She didn't like the space I made and said she wanted our VIP table (already booked that night, and it cost €2300 to reserve it). I said no. She said if she couldn't have it, she'd lie on the floor and scream. I said she couldn't have it. So she lay down on the floor and screamed while I and all the bar clients watched her.

Some people are genuinely insane and I don't understand their vision of life.

#30

I have seen several, usually d***s or alcohol are involved but I've seen an anger meltdown from a lady before that was absolutely unreal. Must have been suffering mentally from something as it was beyond intense. 


The most entertaining one was a beautiful girl, obviously very rich, throwing a toddler-esque tantrum outside of a club in Sweden. She had tried to walk in, the bouncer wanted her to wait in line, she obviously didn't like that and tried to push her way in before losing it. Stamping her feet, screaming, throwing things, hammering her fists on him until another bouncer carried her away. She stamp walked in circles shouting. It was wild. 


It was also light outside so everyone walking along the harbor in Stockholm could see her have her little princess meltdown.

#31

Oh boy, let me tell you! I once saw a grown man throw a full-on tantrum at the grocery store because they ran out of his favorite cereal. He was flailing his arms, yelling about the "injustice of the cereal industry" and demanding to speak to the manager like it was a life-or-death situation. I half expected him to drop to the floor and start kicking his legs! People were just standing there, wide-eyed, clutching their shopping carts like they were life preservers. It was both hilarious and a little terrifying—like a scene straight out of a sitcom! ??.

#32

Used to work at Publix. Old man walked in, went to the deli, bought a fried chicken meal box, and proceeded to lose it because there wasn’t gravy included with the meal. The only time we ever had gravy as a side was Thanksgiving. We explained this. “WAAL HOW’M AH SPOSED TAH EAT MAH FRIED CHICKEN WITH NO GRAVY GODDAMMIT.” Red in the face hollering about his gravy, stomping up and down the aisles. Eventually the store manager got him calmed down and out the door but it was a solid thirty minutes of WHAT KIND OF A PLACE AIN’T GOT GRAVY FOR FRIED CHICKEN.

That’s tied with the woman who threw a bottle of wine at my head because the law in my state would not allow me to sell it to her before 8:30 in the morning. God I hated working there.

#33

I was waiting to board a flight once and they were accepting family boarding. This woman and her husband roll up with like 2-3 kids all under the age of 2 and a HUGE folded stroller. I'm not sure what the exact issue was, but they told them they had to do something different with the stroller, which caused them to have to delay their boarding.

Suddenly the mom starts yelling her part of the conversation. All I heard was her complaining that "THIS IS HOW LOYAL, WHITE AMERICAN FAMILIES ARE TREATED" (her words, not mine) and that "YOU'D THINK THEY WERE TERRORISTS". I think the funniest part was not a single person batted an eye over this. Her husband was obviously humiliated, but stayed silent.

All of this over common sense airport rules and a SLIGHT inconvenience to them as the airline actually held up the boarding process for them so they could get the situation dealt with and still have priority family boarding.

#34

Some dude obsessed with me kept buying me s**t unsolicited over the countless times I’d tell him no but would conveniently “forget” as if it wasn’t my 50th time declining his advances.

At one point he bought me a $50 gift card in which I tried to give back. He yelled at me in an explanation that he’s doing it “to get you to like me”. I told him I don’t need it to get him to like me and he went crazier. He’d slam his fist on the table and scream some s**t like “I buy people things so they like me it is not transactional so why won’t u take it?!”. I stayed calm throughout all of this as he’d get louder ? It was a face flushed in red with eyes swelled up in tears as he’d shake in anger. At this point I’m thinkin this b***h is gonna stab me in the face. I ended up changing my mind and keepin the card just so he can shut the hell up and f**k outta my face.

Over some f****n $50 giftcard. He wanted my validation so bad cause his ego saw me as some trophy to “win” and show off. Then he’d go behind my back and tell people how greedy and manipulative I seemingly am for taking advantage of him even tho I dislike him. Then he’d miserably fail to “read” me and get everyone in on it. LOSERRRRR.

#35

Trump on January 6, 2021. He incited an insurrection because he did not win the USA election.

Image credits: WINTERSONG1111

#36

Some woman in the food court yelling at the cashier that her soup was too cold. When the cashier told her to wait because she was taking another customer's order the angry lady grabbed her cup and splashed the cold soup on the cashier. She called security and the angry customer was ushered out of the mall, screaming like a preschooler all the way.

#37

I don't know if this is the biggest I've seen but it happened within the past 12 months so it's somewhat fresh in my mind:

I had gone to get food at 5 Guys one night and a lady came in with her dog. I don't know if having the dog was an issue since another guy had his dog with him without much of an issue. I'm not entirely sure what kicked off the entire thing except that it involved the lady's dog. She started screaming and stamping her feet, yelling at the employee and calling her all sorts of names (the r slur was her favorite one to use). She then exclaimed that she lived in a building with bedbugs in it and threatened to spread them to everyone in the store. Eventually she was escorted out but hung around the windows outside and started recording on her phone. She was still there when I got my food and left so I'm sure that more s**t happened but I was long gone by that point.

#38

I worked at a local hamburger/hot dog place in high school. It was a super popular location in a mall food court. We would have lines wrapped around the entire food court starting from opening at 10:30 for 2-3 hours straight. I was taking orders one day when we’d been into the rush about 45 minutes. I was in the zone, not really noticing the people, just taking orders. All of a sudden this dude stormed up to the counter and threw his hamburger at me. “THIS IS THE THIRD TIME THIS HAPPENED TODAY!!!!!! I ASKED FOR NO MAYO HOW HARD IS THAT?” Then he backed down a little and said “SHE PUT THE ORDER IN RIGHT” and pointed at me while waving his receipt. The manager came up from the back and apologized, just as sweet and caring as he could be. He said it was his fault, he’d make a new one right away. Every single person in line just stared at this goon. He finally kind of realized what a colossal a*s he was being and got a little sheepish, though he didn’t apologize to either anybody.

I couldn’t help thinking how much fast food does this guy eat to have 3 wrong orders at 11:45 am?

#39

In WV, I would regularly watch grown adults of all ages have complete meltdowns in a grocery store when they were sold out of Mountain Dew.

I can’t even look at Mountain Dew the same way after living there for a while….

#40

Used to work at a pizza shop. A lady called one day wanting to use two hefty coupons that would have made her order basically free, but there are rules that don't allow people to use certain coupons together, so this lady starts trying to throw her "weight" at me, and telling me she was ..."The executive of an 18 million dollar company" and basically told me I was poor and worthless because I worked at a pizza place. I was a delivery driver and very familiar with the trailer park she lived at. It was a s**t hole.

Another time, we had an older dude call and ask where the free parmesan cheese he asked for was because someone forgot to place them with his order. Normally, on free items, we won't send a driver out to deliver them, but first he asked for them directly and second, I was gonna take them to him because I had another delivery nearby his place. He was super nice the whole time, and then right as I was about to hang up, he tells me he's gonna shoot and kill whoever showed up as retribution for forgetting his free parmesan cheese. The absolute calm in his voice as he said that sent shivers down my spine. I had my boss blacklist that guy after that.

I've got a million more stories for my 7 years as a pizza delivery driver. But those are just the ones that come to mind first.

#41

Semi-regular customer gets assistance from a coworker who had just started that week. Usually this guy loves to talk about how he breeds rottweilers back in Cuba-he'll talk your ear off and usually I just smile and nod while trying to recommend him the supplies he was actually here for.

Well for this particular night, he decided to somehow *pivot* the usual convo about his Cuban Rotties into how he thinks "kids in Cuba are more mature" than the US (we're in the US) and started to tell this poor new coworker about how he thought it was b******t that an adult got arrested for statutory with a 16 year old.

I, while scanning someone else's items at the register, had to quickly, calmly, but firmly interrupt him with a simple. "Sir, this is not the time and place for this conversation."

He then goes on about how he thought America was all about "free speech" and starts ranting and raving, with no further provocation from anyone else. The manager came in and sadly, started ringing him up himself rather than kick him out, but even other customers were shocked while he was *still* ranting and raving about how he "wished this whole country would blow up!"

Thankfully I never saw him again, but I also never saw that coworker after that week. Can't say I blame her.

#42

As a former retail manager, I've seen a lot. The most ridiculous one was when I got called to the register because a woman thought the sales tax was a penny more than it should have been. She bought a $3 scarf that was half price, so it was $1.50. With tax it was $1.54. Tax is 6.35%, and she thought it should be $1.53. Math isn't my strongest suit but I told her that the .35% probably pushed it over an extra penny. She kept arguing to the point where she had tears in her eyes and refused to leave. I finally told her that I would give her a penny and she said no, paid and left.

Image credits: Celistar99

#43

A guy at work came out of a meeting where he was told to change his design on a project, which was a fairly standard step in the process. He stomped back to his desk. Slammed down his notebook, tossed a folder of papers on the floor, sits down and cranked his music. Normally we were in cubicle farms but the office was being renovated so we had no walls so everyone could see this, and his music is just blasting in an open area.


The manager walks by and tells him to turn his music off.


Poopy pants slams some more stuff around on his desk, "f**k this", and walked out. He came in late the next day still pouting and punching stuff around on his desk. He was like that for 3 days, during which there was another meeting where he was told to grow up. He was 35 years old.

#44

Security guard here, I've seen many, a more notable one was when a drunk lady was trying to drive her car off of a two-story parking garage, but she was failing to make one of the turns without scratching the side of her truck, I tried telling her to leave her truck up there and not drive, but she wasn't hearing any of it, she then became convinced that the architecture of the building was designed to trap her in particular, so she began screaming ,"HELP I'M TRAPPED" repeatedly before taking the turn so incorrectly that she tore her wheel well and gas cap clean off her truck, I watched and cringed as they were slowly torn off the truck, the sound it made was wretched, she didn't care she just kept driving, she then proceeded to hit one of the cars on the lower level, at this point I had already documented everything and called the cops, the cops gave her a DUI whilst she was screaming the whole time that I had set her up, a few days later when it was time for her to check out of the hotel, she was staring at me the entire time while checking out, and upon leaving she said "see you later Allen..." my name isn't Allen..., the front desk guy would ask me to tell this story to people while laughing his a*s off for the following year.

#45

This happened back when I worked in sports broadcasting.

They kind of abruptly fired this one guy who was pretty cool. It wasn't a performance issue on his part. It was just the typical upper management 'we want to go in a different direction'. They did some reshuffling and it was basically the same as before they fired dude, but with a different number of people and different names for positions. It was cold blooded lets just leave it at that.

Anyway on the day he gets the news he is livid. So he goes around to almost every department and tries to extract a promise that if he starts another bigger better thing those people will jump ship with him.

It was sad and funny. Because you could see him go office to office, then as he would leave one office to the next people would be miming 'crazy' to each other. He got to me and I agreed and said I'm right there if he gets his investors etc. After he left my cubicle neighbor says, "you aren't quitting for Johns crazy idea are you".

I respond "of course not, but I thought I'd let him win this one".

Sure it's not as dramatic sounding as a public fist fight or a bunch of broken plates, but it went on for 2 hours.

#46

My emotionally immature parents have had several public tantrums. I think people would just see them as mentally ill and I wonder about it too.

- My mom and I were in a Marshall’s. She basically stepped out of line to look at some bins next to checkout. When she wanted to get back in line, the women maybe told her to go to the back of the line. She then complains loudly about discrimination (we are a minority race)

- My dad often has road rages especially triggered by luxury brand vehicles. He will tail gate them while we are in the vehicle. He seems to get a rush and feel extremely satisfied that he has intimidated rich people.

- At Disneyland, with extended family, my dad decides to pick a fight with a big and tall security guard. My dad is a short man. I seem to remember him poking the guard in his belly. Later on, when my parents were not around, my SIL managed to make light of the matter that it was really funny. She didn’t have to grow up with this lunatic as a father.

- At a restaurant, he somehow got pissed that he had to wait in line and felt slighted. He complained loudly on how he wanted to speak to the manager. I let him know that servers will spit in the food of rude customers. We left the restaurant without eating.

Now my parents are using every tactic they can to convince me to move near them. No f*****g way. I’ve only described their public behavior. This doesn’t include their even worse behavior in private situations when they threaten to kill us over minor things.

#47

I used to work at a call center for various utility companies, first calling customers with imminent shutoff notices (Cash or Candles) & then in customer service taking calls. I could write a novel on some of the things I heard, but my absolute favorite was during my first year making cash or candles calls.

I called a customer regarding his gas bill. He wasn’t there, but his wife answered. For this particular gas company, we were allowed to speak to a spouse if the customer was not present.

So I start talking to the wife & start to give her the “your bill is overdue” spiel. As soon as I mentioned the overdue bill, this lady freaking lost it.

“THAT SON OF A B***H! HE TOLD ME HE PAID IT!” She was absolutely BAWLING into the phone.

I tried to explain that it was very possible that he had paid the bill & their number had not yet made it out of our dialer, which happened quite a bit.

“B******T! B******T! DON’T START STICKING UP FOR HIM!” More pitiful sobbing. “No wonder he was gone three f*****g hours!”

Turns out, this man had left earlier to pay the bill. He had come home, left the bill & receipt on the counter & left again. His wife was convinced he had lied about paying the bill, forged the payment receipt and was cheating on her.

It took me 15 minutes to get this lady rational enough to call the gas company & confirm that the bill had, in fact, been paid.

#48

I used to do odd bits of freelance web dev. I once met a client in a public workspace for a handover. It transpired that they were not happy despite all defined deliverables being ticked off on my end. They were clearly just looking to get out of paying or renegotiate the price we agreed (already paid 25% deposit for me to start work in the engagement contract).

When I insisted that I considered the project complete and needed to be paid in full, they had a bit of a s**t fit. Pulling their face, wouldn't let me get a word in edgeways, volume increasing, telling me that they planned to use the work anyway and I couldn't stop them etc. All the scare tactics: "you'll be hearing from my solicitor", "I'm going to sue you", "I'll report you for false advertising" (? Ok... Haha) He also "name dropped" (if you could call it that) his uncle a few times, like I was supposed to know who he was. I did not. His business was sweeping up little jobs that his uncle's firm was too big to bother with.

I can only assume that he did actually speak to a solicitor because not only did I NOT get sued, or even hear from one, but I was paid in full on the last day before the invoice was to be overdue.

The funniest bit was that he made a point of phoning me on the day to tell me he waited until the last day on purpose. Bear in mind he'd done a bank transfer already. There was no other purpose to the call! I was just like "Yeah, everyone pays on the last day. That's just trade credit mate. I gave you net 14 terms..." and he seemed really miffed that I didn't care :D

For those wondering, he hadn't been in business long and his venture never really got any traction. Site is no longer up. Thank god I never offered VPS hosting to clients.

#49

My ex, in his mid-40's, becoming so enraged at losing a game of pool, that when a 60+ year old man with Parkinsons reminded him it was just a game, he broke his screaming and yelling long enough to try to punch the guy in the face.

He would throw a screaming yelling tantrum at any little thing no matter where he was, which is only one of a lot of reasons he's an ex.

#50

Christmas 2001. Worked at Meijer (super center in the Midwest) in the seasonal department. 2 women came to freaking blows over a spool of American flag themed Christmas ribbon. It was the last spool we had. They both ended up getting arrested.

#51

Probably the random old guy who started s**t talking and berating the pharmacy staff at my local Walgreens because his meds weren't ready yet and they were very swamped.

I apologized on behalf of that s****y human to the guy working the counter who had to deal with that BS and he said that specific old dude has been doing that constantly at multiple places, not just that pharmacy. Counter guy worked at other places where the old dude has literally been banned for his behavior.

Imagine being so uncivil you're BANNED from basic every day stores/pharmacies. Absolutely ridiculous.

#52

One of the biggest public tantrums I witnessed from an adult happened at an airport a few years ago. A middle-aged man completely lost his temper at the check-in counter. His flight had been overbooked, and despite the airline offering compensation and rebooking options, he wasn't having any of it. He started by raising his voice, demanding to speak to a manager. When the manager arrived and tried to explain the situation, the man began shouting, throwing his arms in the air, and slamming his fists on the counter. His face turned red with rage, and he started hurling insults at the staff, calling them incompetent and accusing them of ruining his plans. Other passengers tried to calm him down, but he turned on them too, yelling for them to mind their own business. Security was eventually called in, and they had to physically escort him away from the counter. Throughout the entire ordeal, he kept shouting and cursing, creating a scene that drew the attention of everyone in the terminal. It was a shocking display of how some people can lose control over relatively minor inconveniences.

#53

The time I was working at a tire shop by the mall and it was Black Friday. The mall ropes off certain areas to keep the flow of traffic going, and someone moved the posts. My husband was visiting me at work when we saw the cars backing up. We went out to move the posts, so people could drive again, and some f*****g dude gets out of his car just belligerent that he’s been waiting to get out. We try to explain we are helping him do that, and now that he’s out of his car screaming he’s the a*****e holding up everyone. Dude pulls a god damn gun, and I think it was the spirit of Black Friday but I just threw my arms up like we are trying to help you, and you want to shoot us? People are backed up honking at this man child to get back in his car and go the f**k on. We tell him police are on the way if he wants to keep waiting or shoot someone while he waits, whatever you want big dawg it’s your show. Dude has a moment of clarity and drives off FINALLY. I hope he stays up at night thinking about what a little b***h he was that day for years to come. I hope he doesn’t have a gun any more but I have my doubts. I have not worked another Black Friday in retail since then.

#54

I had a flight delayed 13 hours once. Here was a procession of adult tantrums towards the customer service counter. It got so bad the airline had police come and stand next to the counter and deal with the verbally abusive ones. It was a complete s**t show.

#55

I work in hotels. Dude left behind his charger. Standard charger, nothing special. Called for daaaaays looking for it to be sent to him in Canada. The charger would cost him more to ship from the US to CAN than the charger was worth. Charger MAYBE cost $20, it cost him $45US to send back to him.

GM was in charge of sending items back and unfortunately got sick/family emergencies so it wasn't sent back for almost two weeks.

He called EVERY DAY for 2 weeks about this charger. He would quite literally SCREAM at my desk agents and I to the point I quit taking his calls. The final day, and the day my GM was finally back in office, dude called literally 33 times during my shift. Literally SCREAMING "I WANT MY CHARGER!!!"

My visual was that kid from the movie Better Off Dead, " I WANT MY TWO DOLLARS".

I get it is his charger, but he was so out of pocket it didn't make sense. It was literally a cheap amazon type charger.

#56

Saw a grown man throw a fit because he lost a basketball game against some 14 year old was full on going "YOU LITTLE CHEATING TWATS" it was really hard to watch.

#57

I worked at the airport Avis/Budget return area in college during the summer. The typical procedure is that we check for damage, check the gas/mileage, print a receipt and then send the customer to the shuttle so they can head to the airport (if they are at Budget which is offsite). For this reason we usually tell people to return the car early in case there are any issues because we don’t want them missing a flight.

Well this guy and his mom (mid 30’s and 60ish) return their car and the entire front bumper is f****d up. Like barely hanging on. I tell them I need to file a report and get their signature since it was clear they got in an accident. This dude absolutely detonates. He starts screaming they will miss their flight and his mom joins in trying to bully me into letting them go. I stood my ground and said no can do. The guy screams as loud as he can in the parking lot and does a running kick into their luggage sending it flying. This is a grown a*s adult and he’s melting down in a car rental parking lot. Eventually the mom signs the form and they scream about how they won’t be renting from us again before getting on the shuttle and leaving.

It was pretty hilarious to see someone explode over a minor inconvenience, especially when it was their fault that the car was f****d up. I saw a lot of s**t in that job but that was by far the craziest thing I witnessed.

#58

Not necessarily public, but used to work at an Oncology office, someone wanted to reschedule their appt the day before they were supposed to come in. No big deal. I tell him when I have available and none of the times worked for him. He became irate and told me “I need to be nicer to him because he has cancer”
Like sir, I sympathize, but everyone here has cancer.

#59

Got in a minor accident in a coffeehouse parking lot. The guy got out the threw a broken piece of his car at my car, got in my face and started screaming that I ‘better f*****g have insurance’. My kids hid in the backseat, I called my husband to come help deal with the guy. Insurance companies found him 100% at fault. Then he starts calling our house saying if we don’t pay the deductible, he will ‘get it from us another way’. Called the cops. Guy screamed at them. We live in a small town and his wife heard the story. Thinking this wasn’t a first offense for him because she divorced him a year or so later.

#60

It was my dad, and unfortunately public tantrums were something that happened regularly with him when I was growing up. He would get angry over some minor thing (he didn't like the food at a restaurant, he thought my mom or I gave him a rude look, someone was smoking in the restaurant, etc). This was in the '90s, so none of his episodes ever were recorded, but I guarantee they would have been if cell phones and the internet had been around then, because he absolutely loved making a scene and would often leave me and my mom stranded in places until he felt like coming back to get us.

The worst time, though, was when we took a 3 day trip to an amusement park and I was allowed to bring a friend. I was probably 15 years old at the time, which would have made my dad about 50 years old then. We stayed in a hotel, and when we got there I think my friend made some joke about sharing the bed with me, like she didn't want to or something, but it was meant as a joke and everyone knew this except for my dad. He immediately became pissy and stayed in a bad mood. We went to a restaurant and he just kept getting angrier and angrier, finally blowing up at us and storming out of the restaurant. He drove off, squealing the tires, while I was absolutely dying of embarrassment in front of my friend. She had already seen his tantrums before, so she knew what he was like, but it still was awful to have it not just happen in front of her, but in front of all of those people in the restaurant. I was trying not to cry, but wasn't successful.

When he returned to the restaurant, I was sort of sniffling a bit, and that set him off again. He slammed down his fork and stormed out of the restaurant again. I guess my crying had set him off this time. I can only imagine what the other people in the place thought about all of this, but no one said anything to us. He squealed the tires again, peeling out of the parking lot.

We ended up going outside to sit on the curb to wait for him to come back, since we were in a different state with no way to get anywhere until he came back. When he came back, he acted like we needed to apologize to him. So my mom did, because she always did when he acted like this. He settled down then and drove us back to the hotel and acted more or less normal (for him) for the rest of the trip.

This was just one example of so many and I have no idea how he never got the police called on him when he was doing this stuff, because it happened so many times. I moved out pretty much as soon as I was able to as an adult, for obvious reasons.

#61

We were briefly friends with a couple of newly weds from work. We used to hold casual card nights in the houses of all the couples involved in rotation but never had any issues until it was the newlyweds turn.

We are all playing cards, one of the husband and wife teams hits a lucky streak and is winning most hands.

Suddenly the groom stands up and leaves the table, walking towards the kitchen, where we had all left the snacks we had brought.

The winning guy calls out ‘grab me a packet of crisps while you are out there, please.’

The groom returns with a big packet of crisps, throws them on the ground and jumps on them, then runs to his bedroom and slams the door.

We were all sitting there thinking WTF just happened? His wife says ‘Roddy hates to lose. You should all leave now.’

We never told them again who was hosting the card nights.

#62

I live in a small town where all the "Peaked in High School" jocks now have kids who are old enough to play sports. I recently saw a dude who has his picture on the HS "Wall of Fame" cause he had 1 good year of wrestling, lose his absolute mind on his 8yr old son because he struck out in baseball. This 36yr old dude who's 300+lbs and couldn't jog to 1st base is screaming "I told you to hit the f*****g ball" while his son is in tears.

It's pretty damn common and it's sad. All these dudes live such sad lives that they need to relive their glory days through their kids and they have public meltdowns non stop, like are in tears and sulking because their CHILDREN aren't playing good enough for them.

#63

I worked at Wendys as a teen and one evening I was working drive thru. Some guy came through and ordered two 4 for 4's and proceeded to pay in coins. I counted the coins, they were short. Then I counted them again, got the same total and they were short. He insisted he wasn't short.

I went and got the coin counter and counted them with that, I got the same total, he was short. We were about to just give him the food and then he started screaming and yelling. He parked his car at the drive thru window and squeezed through the little crack from the door to the wall to come inside.

Our lobby was full of young families (dinner rush) and he was actively smoking both a joint and a cigarette in the lobby, next to multiple very young children. We asked him to leave and he wouldn't, then he assaulted a coworker of mine who was maybe 100 lbs soaking wet and a relatively frail woman in her 60's. Another guest called the cops and he proceeded to assault an officer when they arrived.

Instead of two 4 for 4s he got two counts of assault. He also got a DUI for smoking a joint while driving. Could've kept his mouth shut and had two 4 for 4s for free.

#64

I used to work at a Crumbl Cookies in a very wealthy, very touristy neighborhood. This grown a*s woman, in her mid 40s at least, had placed a carry out order on the app. She was about 20 minutes late to pick up her order, and by that time we had gotten so wildly busy that in order to keep up with the rest of the orders we’d had to use some of the cookies from her order to fill the ones who were actually there and on time or early for their pickups and deliveries. She was actually out in the street in her huge luxury SUV and called us saying “hey there’s nowhere to park so I’m out in the road with my hazards on just bring them out to me” which is a major no-no, we are not allowed to deliver across the street or to the street, she had to either park or come inside (not sure if that was a law or just company policy) and when I informed her that her order would need about 5 more minutes she absolutely lost her mind. I’m talking screaming into the phone so loudly that it just clipped and garbled everything she was saying, I kept hearing the phrase “terrible customer service” and “I’m not moving” over and over again. I kept trying to tell her that hers was the next order in line and we’d have it out as fast as possible but she kept cutting me off to shriek more. Eventually the line of cars in the road that she was blocking was honking at her enough that she hung up, swerved into our parking lot, put her hazards on in the middle of one of the lanes (where she was blocking some people who were trying to leave) and then called again to resume her banshee wailing at me, but by that time we had it ready so I told her I’d be out in a second and she just hung up after I said that. When I finally brought them out she didn’t say a word, just frowned at me and put them in her car. I’m not usually confrontational but I couldn’t resist throwing in an over-the-top cheerful “Thank you for your patience, ma’am!” to which she responded by giving me a look that looked like she was trying to figure out how to blast me away with cyclops eye lasers. When she couldn’t do that she just angrily said “Bye” and finally left.

#65

At an old job working at what was effectively a gas station connected to a certain popular retail chain. A customer who frankly was speaking very quietly did a very poor job of explaining to me what they wanted on their lottery ticket and I got like one number wrong or something

Now normally this is no big deal typically I just send them inside to customer service as they can refund the ticket and print them the correct one

But no no that was not acceptable for this man he sat there screaming and shouting about how I was trying to rip him off and steal his money and even started giving me death threats.

I was going to refund him right this second or he was going to f*****g break into there and kill me or fight me or whatever b******t

I calmly pointed out to him the fact that he is currently being recorded by about eight different cameras I have several weapons with me and there are several customers behind him. Either he goes to customer service and gets his f*****g refund like I keep telling him to or I call the police and he gets dragged away and gets at least a night in jail and probably a misdemeanor for threats of violence. And there would be pretty much no chance of fighting it since we have video evidence that does include audio

Seem to finally get through to him and he angrily stormed off to the store where surprise surprise customer service was able to fix his issue.

#66

As law enforcement ive seen countless tantrums from grown adults


I think the worst/dumbest was a guy who booked and checked into a hotel
Room late at night after partying and lost his s**t when he was made to check out at 11. He was adamant because the DATE he checked in was that day that he was entitled to stay until the next calendar dates check out time (basically in his mind hustling an extra night’s stay for the price of a single night)


We spent like a good 45minutes explaining why he was wrong and that he had to leave because staff said gtfo. He got so mad he called his mom to cosign his silly strategy because “you officers arent experienced traveler's like myself” (says guy staying at a hooker hangout by the pjs) and even she told him he was wrong and sounding really stupid.


He basically tantrumed so hard i had to start physically removing him from the lobby and he flipped out creating an arrest situation for himself. All he had to
Do was leave. 


I was still gonna just psych eval him but the supervisor wouldnt stand for his nonsense and ordered him arrested.

#67

When I was a chef I worked two and sometimes three jobs.

Was at job #3, greasy spoon spot in rural colorado, and had not slept in two days. Fired an order of over medium eggs, boss chirps at me to go take care of something. I forget eggs while putting away food while “chef/owner” is standing in the kitchen. I proceed to royally scorch the eggs, no big deal, it’s like $0.45 worth of eggs.

Psych. This mother f****r grabs the pan, whips it at the wall where the knives are hanging. Breaking the pan in half and sending hot oil and knives flying around our tiny a*s kitchen. This man child proceeds to scream at me for 5 minutes in our wide open kitchen while I pick up the catastrophe he has just created. Refire eggs, send out the plate, customer is happy.

When I quit over text later in the day after going to job#1 he proceeds to call me 26 times in 30 minutes leaving voice mails ranging from “mother f*****g a*****e!” “F****t” and “ I will f*****g kill you!” Then he texted me 45 times over the next 8hours threatening my life and telling me to never contact his wife or anyone involved with the business again. Shout out to Shane at the chimney brick in Eaton colorado.

#68

I've seen plenty of grown men get abusive with me as a public librarian over their books on hold or not having a certain DVD. My favorite is when they want me to make someone move out of a chair they want or someone taking too long to read a newspaper ??️. I wish we had a jar of quarters to throw at them and tell them to get out and buy their own goddamn ??️. The day I quit was the best day of my life.

#69

When I worked at Starbucks we would have this person who would come in just for a cup of water. She would walk In immediately raising her voice and cussing in front of customers and their kids. One day she reached over the bar and grabbed one of my barista’s wrists because she was in a bad mood or something idk. So I told her she needed to leave and wasn’t allowed to come back ever again. She stood in the doorway cussing and screaming at me and threatened to cut my “mother f*****g head off”. This was in front of a lobby full of customers. Maybe 30 people or so.

Fast forward a few weeks and she’s back. She makes a scene and starts going off again. A customer decided to stand up for the workers (this was my day off and I wasn’t there). She grabbed a coffee from the handoff plane and threw it on the customer. Then she spit on his kids. Meanwhile she’s still yelling and cussing and threatening everyone in the store. One of the baristas sent me the video she took of this happening. I was shocked. I didn’t know how to react.

Apparently the customer she assaulted filed a police report on her so she has a warrant for assault.

#70

Guy teased my little one (5). pretending to take away a toy she bought with a £1 he gave her.... She cried an went off, he yelled 'oh f*****g hell,what's wrong with kids!" And stomped off outside for over 30 minutes. (She had calmed down by then).

#71

I used to work as a loan officer in a credit union. I had a member who was applying for a pretty size-able loan. In the past we had accepted income as stated. However, his credit had taken a hit and he no longer qualified for his income verification to be waived.

He brought in a piece of scratch paper where he had hand written his income sources and their totals. I advised this was a good start but we’ll need his tax returns so we can confirm those figures.

He became livid. Cussed me out, and stated we WILL accept this as his income or else he will close all of his accounts.

I countered that we will not accept this documentation and that he CANNOT close his accounts until he either pays off the $100k he already owes us or finds another lender to take on that debt - which may be difficult as his current credit worthiness will almost certainly require his income be verified through the normal means.

He raged his way out of the branch and only came back a month later because every other financial institute he had applied to had outright denied him.

He would tell the tellers that he was going to knock my f*****g head off. I would make a point to friendly waive and greet him by name when he came in. He wasn’t carrying a lot of liquid assets but he owned a good amount of property and other assets.

It would have been so awesome if he had assaulted me in public. He was a bear of a man and I likely would’ve had the s**t beaten out of me but it would have been such a slam dunk lawsuit against him and my employer. For a good minute I was making plans for what I was going to do with his property after his and my employers checks were cut. But, alas, he was moderately hinged and never did end up assaulting me. F*****g lame.

#72

I was a PA for an elderly wealthy socialite couple. For whatever reason, the man's credit card declined at Barney's. He threw a tantrum at the store and then proceeded to call Barney's CEO (his friend) to place a complain. It was a surreal reality.

#73

Was waiting to board a flight and they are lining up the pre-board passengers. This older man starts throwing a tantrum when the gate agent starts wheeling another passenger in front of him. “I’ve just had chemo and I get to go first!”

The gate agent said “sir, all of these people need assistance. I need for you to be an adult and wait your turn.” Guy kept pounding his feet and stomping around in the boarding area. Gate agent thankfully didn’t give in to his tantrum and went ahead and boarded the person in the wheelchair.

Throwing a tantrum over being second instead of first to board just seemed unnecessary. Not sure how he decided he was the sickest person boarding the plane.

#74

I was working in a restaurant as the ONLY chef that night and it was my first night. I made only two big "mistakes" over all of dinner service. One was putting slightly too much cheese on the cheese plate, the other was slicing a pizza into 8 slices instead of 6. The owner flipped out, he couldn't stand it that I sliced the pizza that way and was screaming in my face about how I am an fing moron and I was so useless. I just calmly looked at him at said, as calmly as possible "I've heard what you said, lets get the food out to the customer, then if you still feel we need to talk, lets do it after closing". Of course he needed one last jab, which I didn't pay attention to and I sent the food out to the customer.

After the last customer of the night was served and the whole place closed, with only staff cleaning and he was just lounging around. So I walked up to him and said, very calmly, "Brad, we should talk about tonight. If I make a mistake and you want to yell at me, that's fine, I get it and I respect it. I wont make that mistake again. But you took it a step further and insulted my intelligence and value as a human being over pizza slices. You can't talk to me like that."

He flew into a massive rage immediately and was screaming at me about how much of a teddy bear he was and if I couldn't handle him, I shouldn't be working in kitchens. He then fired me immediately, then paused and lowered his voice and asked me if I could clean up before I left. I wanted to tall him where to shove it, but then I thought about it, what am I gonna do? Go home and play video games? I'd rather make a few bucks. So I agreed, then cleaned up and washed all the restaurant's dishes. But I did it with a smile and despite everyone walking on egg shells around me, they all heard what was happening, I treated everyone with the utmost politeness and respect. After everything was done, I met him in the main room of the restaurant where he was just chilling at a table talking to an employee about social stuff. I asked if I could speak with him and then told him everything that he needed to know about the state of the kitchen before asking when I could come back for my paycheck. He responded "Wednesday is payday.... but can you come back next Sunday?" and I looked at him and said "yes, under 1 condition. You cannot talk to me like that again." and he looked at his feet. After a pause he said "....deal.....". And he never spoke like that to me again. Or at least not until I quit 2 weeks later after seeing him wash a mop in the sink that we washed food in.

#75

When I worked at a cinema I had a couple roughly in their 60s basically folding their arms and shouting "NO" at me because I couldn't serve them a ticket to a screening of Saving Mr Banks. It was an advanced screening 4 weeks before the actual release, as a reward for membership card holders (we held these regularly but usually a week in advance, that sorta thing). Disney even sent their own security to monitor for piracy because of how far off the actual release was.

This couple had misread the website, refused to accept that it was a members only screening and insisted that I was going to let them buy tickets. I wasn't. There wasn't even an option on the till because those screenings were programmed to only scan the cards, there was no option to ring up a regular ticket. And besides, I was working a s****y minimum wage job. Being able to be the first person to ever tell these entitled dickheads "no" was basically part of my wages.

They were potentially the rudest people I've ever spoken to and thankfully the end result was them leaving in a huff once the manager came out and told them to f**k off.

#76

Was at Walmart with a guy I used to know one night. The check out we were using broke so he started smacking it for not accepting his card. After he whacked it a few times he was told to leave. As we're walking out the guy who checks recipts calls him over, turns out he had opened a hot wheel and put it in his pocket. He tried to say he cane in with it, that he only had the phone case. I walked out to go smoke so I wouldn't be anywhere near this if the cops showed up. A few minutes later he walks out all red faced, and said get in the truck we're leaving. As we walked to the truck he put his arms back and yelled, looked like something out of a werewolf movie. We got back in the truck, and he just turns on the radio and just immediately switches to nice regular mode as if nothing had ever happened. His latest girlfriend was gone the next day.

#77

My mother legit yelled at a friggin doorman “We won’t be coming here again.”

As if the doorman gives a f**k lmao.

#78

I saw the beginning of this but didn't witness the full blown meltdown. My immediate family flew to another state for my grandmother's funeral. My husband and I paid for our flights. My parents paid for theirs and my sisters flights. My sister has always been bad with money and my parents have always rescued her. At the time, she was 38 and I was 34. My parents were nice enough to pay for two rental cars: one for them and my sister and another for my husband and me. My sister got pissed that she didn't have her own rental car and threw a fit. Her fit escalated and she went to her hotel room while my dad followed and tried to calm her down. I didn't see this part, but I was told that she had a full on meltdown and threw herself down on the floor kicking and screaming. She demanded that my parents pay to change her flight so that she could leave two days early (immediately after the funeral). The next day, at the funeral, she was absolutely and completely charming to everyone. Only a handful of us knew that less than 24 hours earlier, she was a total psycho. Meanwhile, I was still processing what had happened and how my parents were catering to her insanity while dealing with my grief also. I didn't speak to my sister for two years after that. I still keep her at arms length. She is now on some better meds that stabilize her more, but there is still a ton of resentment in me.

#79

I live in Belarus. We have quite a few multi-storey buildings, once when the elevator was not working I took the stairs [I live on the 10th floor]. When I got up, I saw how an adult, pumped-up man was yelling at his wife because she had not prepared fried potatoes for his arrival.
This was almost 3 years ago and I still remember lol.

#80

I was in line to drop off a prescription and some woman cuts the line and tells the pharmacist she’s in a hurry, while the pharmacist was talking to an elderly lady. When the pharmacist told her politely to wait at the back of the line, she went on about how she has a child and her husband waiting for her and she’s in a hurry. Then she storms out, still complaining and nearly knocks into me on the way out. I can’t believe I’ve witnessed main character syndrome irl.

#81

I remember being in line at comic con and being one of the only few people they let in line because the celeb had only that line to do autographs for and then a guy came along and was told he had to try again later because the celeb after signing would be going to their photo ops then their panel and then they would be back. the guy turned into i don't know what would be the male equivalent to a karen but he was so pissed off because he said he wanted to get the autograph before the photo op but he was told to come back later. ultimately i saw the guy was in line once the celeb did go back but before he threw the biggest tantrum in the world.

#82

A woman absolutely melting down at a desk clerk for not taking her (very old) returned clothes. She was crying, yelling, everything.

#83

I have a customer that refuses to use anything more than a flip phone. he had called in an order and I miss heard him or something and short ordered him 2 items. well when he came to pick up the order and it was 2 short he lost it. I calmed him down and then he asked " why did this happen?" and when I said " honestly I miss heard you and it was an honest mistake" he couldn't accept that and kept asking " why did this happen?". got to a point were he got into my face, I am not easily intimated and that got him even more mad. he finally just said " f**k this" when I wouldn't back down and left in a hurry. didn't see or hear from him for 2 years. next time he came in he knew I had the answer he needed and was overly nice to me.