Kid temper tantrums are one thing, but adult versions are a new level of ridiculousness.
Below are the best stories of adult freak-outs in public. Check them out!
When I was 16, I worked at McDonalds. This was in the days of Beanie Babies. A woman came in with her 2 small children. She ordered some happy meals and wanted a specific Beanie Baby. When she found out that we didn’t have it, she flipped out. She called us every name in the book, right in front of her little kids and everyone else’s kids. She was a real Meanie Baby.
Panamajacques
I think it has to be when the ancient super market across the way was closing, because a new store had been built a mile away. They had this huge “everything must go sale.” I was scavenging for closeouts, as was everyone else.
At the checkout, a 60-something woman, was angry that “YOU PEOPLE” didn’t have what she wanted. Then she proceeded to tell the cashier (in her 40’s) she was “happy she was losing her job and she hoped she would become homeless.” At somepoint she also called the cashier a “nincompoop.” The manager asked her to leave and she went on an incomprehensible tirade.
I just hope that old lady never walked into the new store because, the entire staff of the old store worked there too… and I strongly suspect they will remember her.
dainty_flower
Dude I was standing behind in line at the grocery store got pissed at the cashier for charging him by the pound for grapes. He was adamant that the listed price was for the bunch and was making a huge scene and getting nasty with the cashier. He asked me to come with him so he can show me (was within viewing distance from the register and I just wanted the line to move). We walked over to the grapes and he showed me the label and said “what does that say?” looking all proud. I pointed at the small text under the price and said “per pound.” He got even more pissed and checked out talking crap the whole way through and left.
Im-That-Dude
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Once had dinner at a restaurant with a group of people who’d been partying all day. Just after the meal was served, one guy cracked it about something and upturned the whole table. Food spilt, plates destroyed, dresses ruined, and he walks off down the road. To make matters worse, we all had to chip in to pay for the smashed plates and un-eaten meals. What a great end to fun day.
quickhaggis
I worked the front desk at a hotel a few years ago. A guest came to check in around 10pm and asked if he could get a room with 2 beds (he booked 1 bed). I told him we were sold out of rooms with 2 beds. Before I could offer him anything else, he took the bowl of apples we had at the desk and threw it against the wall. Then he took his OWN laptop, threw it on the ground and started kicking it around the lobby. Security came out promptly and told him he needed to leave, which obviously prompted more screaming and kicking. Needless to say, he didn’t stay at the hotel that night.
mrsmoose33
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I was in line behind some lady in a gas station who was absolutely insistent the guy take 23 cents off whatever it was she was trying to buy. He tried every way he could to explain to this lady that he couldn’t do it but she just wouldn’t listen.
I finally gave up and just slapped a dollar down on the counter and said I’ll pay for the rest of it. She then of course insists that he not accept my money and that she wanted him to give her the 23 cents. Instead he quickly picked up my dollar and told her to get out.
Now it’s my regular gas station and he gives me a free Redbull on Monday mornings.
itendswithJumpRope
Someone opened a window on the bus and some guy went nuts, stood up and slammed it shut and starting giving everybody a lecture how this guy should consider everyone else. We of course all english told him to cram it and opened the window again.
Daisy-rain
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We were in a shoe store where a woman was trying on multiple pairs of shoes. The salesman kept bringing her pair after pair to try on. (It was a challenge for him because the lady was obese and could barely see the shoes on her feet.)
Finally, he said, “I’ve shown you practically every style shoe in your size that we have in stock. Do you like any of them?”
She grabbed a high heel from one pair and threw it at him, hitting the salesman in the chest. She yelled, “I wouldn’t buy shoes in this store if you paid me!” – and stormed out the door.
Back2Bach
Some poor kid was taking too long at the ticket booth and a father began to get upset. Like, shouting and yelling at the top of his lungs upset. He then pulled his young son closer and said “See that kid? That’s why you’re going to be an attorney and he’ll still be working here” – the poor son was super embarrassed and tried telling his dad it’s okay, not a big deal, etc.
He apparently got rounded up by security later on and made an even bigger fuss and his wife went back to the ticket booth and outright called the kid a pussy for “telling” on the dad. Real classy family.
Anuvkh
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A woman who was in her late twenties/early thirties, dressed in a business suit, who was literally screaming in the face of a poor security guard at Heathrow after having her half-finished juice box taken away and disposed of.
somersetlife
We had a dress rehearsal for an orchestra concert and the duet before us went over time, apparently because they started late.
When we kindly reminded them, the violist snapped and said something under his breath how we had made them wait at a previous rehearsal (which was not true; we were told to take more time).
Our clarinetist said “Excuse me, would you like to say that to my face?”
What followed next was two mature, adult, professional classical musicians screaming at each other on a symphony stage.
Luckily, the violist backed down and admitted fault because even the artistic director couldn’t get them to calm down.
euphman2012
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I work in retail, and I saw one woman literally flip her full cart over and walk out after her coupons wouldn’t go through
It was actually extremely impressive now that I think about it, it must’ve had $150 of groceries at least.
Fintonius
@realDonaldTrump
enchantrem
Worked as a server in a very rich NY suburb. Couple in on a Friday night, did the usual greet, specials , asked for drinks. By the time I returned he had already finished his drink, so before taking their order I asked if he would like another. She answered no for him, and you would of thought he just caught her cheating with the mailman or his brother or something. He went from a look of exhaustion to rage in a millisecond. He ordered two more, brought them over as he finished the first while just staring at her, he asked for a 3rd. Got back with the 3rd, he was still sipping and staring at her with his second. I placed the 3rd down and before I could blink, it was already in air smashing against the wall. He just whispered to her in an absolutely angry raged tone, “if you ever answer for me again, you’ll never see that fucking credit card in your life”
Vacher-Cream
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An little old lady in an unbridled rage absolutely red in the face screaming at a teenage Baskin Robbins employee, because she wanted $0.10 off a $0.99 ice cream cone. The deal was only available on Sundays and it was Thursday.
She made us wait in line behind her while she argued over a dime. The cashier couldn’t do anything because the register was electronic and wouldn’t apply the discount.
I was about to pay the lady in loose change to move along, but someone stepped in to assist us off to the side. We were in and out in a few minutes, and the irate octogenarian was still raging when I left.
Dr_Creepythings
One time I was in Target trying to return something, so I was in the customer service line. There was a lady a couple of people in front of me at the counter arguing with an employee about some coupon she was trying to use. Evidently this had been going on for awhile before I arrived, as I could see the people in front of me were visibly irritated and antsy.
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The whole time this was going on, the woman’s husband had their two kids standing right next to the main door of the store waiting. Mind you this was about 9 pm at night, and both kids were in their pajamas (so were both adults, for that matter). One of the kids was literally screaming bloody murder the entire time. Periodically the woman would turn aside from her conversation with the employee and outright yell at the kid to shut up.
This lady wasnt backing down about the coupon business, and neither was the employee. It got to the point where both of the people in front of me gave up and just left. I wanted to do the same, but I really needed to return this item and didn’t want to have to come back another time. So I’m now next in line, and can hear a lot better what’s going on. This lady is freaking out now, telling the employee how she’ll get her fired, getting inches from her face and yelling, all kinds of insane shit for an adult to do. The employee, God bless her, remained cool and calmly told her the coupon could not be honored.
This whole time I just assumed this coupon was for some significant savings, but what I heard next, I’ll never forget. The customer screams, “I’m not paying 24 cents extra!”
24 cents. That was what the coupon was for. This lady had been standing here for literally 45 minutes willingly embarrassing herself and keeping her exhausted kids from sleeping over 24 cents. I seriously don’t understand some people. Shout out to that employee though. I would need a long shower and a few drinks after that interaction.
MomsSpaghetti589
I was recently driving on a small country road when I saw a traffic jam in the distance. I drove my motorcycle ahead of the traffic until I saw two ladies facing each other in their cars. Both tried to pass each other, but neither wanted to make enough room for each other to make that possible. They could just drive forward and it would be over, but no, they just refused to pass each other and decided to just sit there and create chaos on this small road because they didn’t want to drive on the small patch of gravel.
Full-time_legend
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The woman in the cubical across from me literally every day.
Examples:
Her new puppy wont sit quietly beside her for 2 hours at her kids baseball game.
The person who just called her wasn’t 100% sure what they wanted and she has to work a bit with them find out.
Someone kindly asked for a response on the same day with multiple apologies for the short notice.
Her mother went to Vegas without her (she’s 35).
I got a review and she didn’t. (I repeatedly explained that I arranged the review so I could make sure I was doing my job well as it was a new position to me).
All of the above and so many more all result in phone slamming, needing a smoke, swearing and omg usually crying in the ladies room. We are a department of 2 so I get to pick up the slack.
adalab
My dad got in a fight with another dad at a go kart place when I was a kid because the guy was driving recklessly. It was pretty awesome actually.
ColdBeef
Back when I worked at 7-11 a woman came in for coffee, andIi was out of decaf. so I offered to make her a fresh pot and she said that it wasn’t good enough and she was already late, threw the cup on the ground and stomped out.
novelty_bone
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In the office I work in, there is a bin behind my desk/pod, whatever you want to call it. Its been there a long time and people use it to put their tissues in when they come out of the toilet.
Someone moved it to a different position, and there was a banterous discussion for 5 minutes about how it doesn’t matter where it is.
During this, the woman who sits on my table who is normally quiet yanked off her headset, launched it at the guy sitting next to her (thankfully not me), stomped over to the bin, took it back to its normal position (we have many bins in quite a small office it really wasn’t a big deal) and then proceeded to scream at us till she went red in the face about how we are being childish.
jeanal
Not so much a REAL tantrum, but it was damn amusing.
I worked at Toys R Us for a bit, and you see all sorts of tantrums working there. Well, this one time I witnessed a man and his daughter walk by a display for cabbage patch dolls, to which the daughter excitedly picked one up and shoved it into her dads arms screaming “please daddy please?!” The father looked remorseful and sadly told her he couldn’t afford her doll today. He didn’t have enough money.
She dropped to the floor, immediately screaming at the top of her lungs (she’s maybe 5, 6 tops) kicking and thrashing. The father looked baffled, and didn’t know what to do. I just watched as he stared at her in horror as onlookers came to see what the commotion was. Now, some people would sling that kid over their shoulder and take the child out of the store. Some people would try to bargain by getting the kid a different toy. Some parents may even just walk away, pretending the scene wasn’t happening. But not this man. This father, dropped to the floor, laid next to his daughter, and just screams. Top of his lungs, screaming “YOU CANT HAVE IT! YOU CANT HAVE IT!” Kicking and squirming, throwing the biggest tantrum. The little girl immediately jumped up, wiped her eyes, held out her hand and said: “I’m sorry Daddy. I’ll be good.” The father got up, dusted himself off, said “that’s better. That feels better doesn’t it?” And they both proceeded to walk out of the store. Glorious.
usamamaqsood
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Not the biggest, but one that comes to mind was a job I had years ago where all but one of us had to do this really annoying group task involving lots of back and forth trips to a laundromat on the hottest day of that year. We were academic counselors for a summer program, and we had to walk groups of 30 students about a mile away to do laundry cause the college’s machines broke and these kids were getting stinky.
The only one exempt from this task was the one suckup who always kissed the ass of the main top supervisor. We all assumed she was exempt because she kissed so much ass, but I think the supervisor just forgot to assign a task to her because she was so useless.
On our third trip back she’s literally lounging in the lobby with her feet up on a chair doing NOTHING. The supervisor walks by, notices her, has what seems to have been a moment of realization and then tells her to get a group and start doing the same laundry trips the rest of us are doing.
She. Went. NUTS. She’s not screaming, but she’s whining really loudly and quickly and repeating “that’s not fair…this isn’t fair!” over and over and over again. The fact that she felt it wasn’t fair is what infuriated me most. She then punched a hole in the lobby wall in frustration over having to do the same job everyone else had to do.
Two days later the main supervisor got fired, and the assistant supervisor who this lazy worker was badmouthing in an attempt to get into upper management’s good graces was then made the top supervisor.
WhoaMilkerson