When children throw temper tantrums, it's usually because they haven't yet figured out how to handle their frustrations in a constructive way. When adults have them? Well, that's just embarrassing. Nothing's more awkward than having to deal with someone lose their mind over the most trivial things.
These Redditors share the times the had to witness a grown adult lose it over something really, really dumb. Content has been edited for clarity.
A Very Specific Coffee Order
“I work as a barista at a coffee shop. One day, this dude comes up and wants a filter coffee with almond milk at exactly 47 degrees. So I did exactly that.
A few seconds later, he loses his marbles and complains that the drink is wrong. I asked him what was wrong with it. He refused to tell me why and just shouted and insulted me instead. He said that the drink was 1 mm too high. I was so confused.
He asked if only idiots work in the coffee shop, as it’s very easy to see the line in the cup he brought with him. He said this has never happened to him and that he felt so insulted, etc.
I tried to calm him down, but he insisted I get the manager.
My manager came and banned him from entering the store ever again.”
Everyone Hates Line Cutters
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“I went with some friends to NYC in the first couple of weeks of December to do Christmas-y things in the city. One of those things was to go to F.A.O. Schwarz but because there were so many other people trying to do the same thing, we had to wait in line. It was a 50-minute wait in line and we were queued up. The line wrapped around the block and in that time, we got to yuck it up with the people in line with us.
I turned around to say something to friends, then turned back around to move forward and noticed two strange women ahead of me that were not in line a moment before. I turned back around to give my friends a ‘are you seeing this crap’ look at the women that cut when a guy with a stroller tried to brush past me. I stopped him dead in his tracks by standing in front of the stroller.
I told him that the back of the line was down the block and about a 40-minute wait from our current spot. He just looked at me like I was the jerk and said, ‘Thanks for the information but I am trying to get to the rest of my group’ while nodding to the women that cut the line when I wasn’t looking.
The people ahead of us that we had been joking with heard the commotion that I was making and started in on the women that cut the line. The guy was looking angrier and angrier as he kept trying to get past me and finally the line as a whole managed to get the line cutters to shove off.
As the group of line cutters were leaving, the guy looked back and shot me some colorful comments about the quality of my character and left. Yeah, I don’t care that you are upset that I wouldn’t let you, your infant, and two women in tow cut the line.”
Emergency Landing
“A few years back I was on a flight to Florida when about halfway through, the oxygen masks deployed (thankfully we didn’t have to use them). The captain made an announcement that there was a problem with cabin pressure and to expect a few minutes of a bumpy ride while he descended to a safe altitude. A man sitting in the row in front of me yelled out ‘Oh, come ON!’ I had been staring at the back of this man’s head through the seat gap for most of the flight because he had a rattail and I had not seen anyone with this hairstyle since the early ’90s. I was transfixed.
Shortly after the captain came back on the speaker and said we were going to be landing at the closest major airport to change planes, and to prepare for landing (seatbelts/trays upright, etc). Rattail dude was MAD and began loudly ranting to the point two flight attendants had to come over to him. In the next two minutes, the entire plane learned his life story and the reason he was going to Florida. His wife cheated on him and he met a woman on a dating website, who he was going to Tampa to meet for the first time and (the best part), ‘She’s upset she has to get me from the airport as it is! She barely has enough gas to get to the airport, and now because you people feel like switching planes, she’s going to run out of gas waiting for me in the pickup area!’
The poor flight attendants kept trying to explain to him the plane may have a small leak, it was crucial we landed as quickly as possible, and it would not take long to deplane and switch aircrafts. During this time, the pilot came on the speaker, TWICE, to tell the flight attendants to take their seats for landing, but the dude was so out of control it was risking their safety. He would not stop. He told the flight attendants (and well, everyone) that it’s bullcrap, there is no problem and if there was we could just keep on oxygen masks the entire time if we needed them. He said, ‘There’s probably not even a problem, I bet the pilot just has to take a crap and doesn’t want to do it on the plane!’
By this point, all of us around him were telling him to stop, and one of the flight attendants told him if he continued he would not even make it to Florida since he wouldn’t be allowed to get on the new plane because he was out of control. Thankfully, he stopped yelling, and the flight attendants were able to get to their seats. But he continued to mutter to himself as the plane landed and we were pulling up to the gate.
They kept him on the plane as everyone else was getting off. I was sitting in the airport by the gate with everyone waiting for customer service to tell us more info about getting on the next plane when I saw two airport/state police being let onto the jetbridge. Unfortunately, I didn’t see him get off the plane, as we were moved to a different gate, but it felt really good knowing that this total idiot wouldn’t be making it to Florida to meet his internet love. His antics and loud mouth put the flight attendants in danger and stressed out other passengers in an already tense situation. It amazes me that people like that exist, and believe that a plane with a potential problem might continue on if you put up enough of a scene.”
What’s Your Return Policy?
“I used to work customer service at a grocery store.
One day, this woman brings in freaking boxes of canned goods and cereal boxes. No receipt. She says she bought them for a donation, but forgot. Just for giggles, I scan the item to return and it’s not in our system.
I took a look at the cans. The expiration was dated to 2005…it was 2008 at the time. I looked at the cereal boxes…expiration date 2007. I explained that we can’t return her goods because they were purchased a long time ago, and even if I wanted to, they didn’t scan into the system.
She threw a fit. She started screaming about terrible customer service, getting the attention of everyone in the store. My manager came over and she screamed, ‘He won’t return my goods.’
My manager told me to just do it. I told him to look at the expiration date, and he said to the lady, ‘I’m sorry, but you can’t just clean out your pantry and expect to return expired goods.’
She yelled some more before storming off and leaving all the stuff sitting on the counter. To this day, I don’t understand how a 40 something adult thought they would get away with that.”
Her Complaints Were The Least Of Their Problems
“I answer 911 calls.
One day we had a fatal car crash happen and had to reroute traffic from the main road down a side road, then back up to the main road. A woman who lives on the side road called 911 asking why there was ‘commercial traffic’ passing through her ‘residentially zoned home.’
I explained there was a serious car accident on the main route, and that as soon as that was resolved, the detour would be removed.
She continued to complain, very angrily, that the trucks going by her house were kicking up dust and pebbles into her driveway, and demanded we send someone to clean it for her.
I said no, we don’t do that.
She demanded to speak to a supervisor. I got all her information, then I told her he’d be along to speak to her in person after he was finished informing the family of the person who died in the car accident that their family member was dead. Then I hung up the phone.
When the sergeant got there, she refused to come to the door and refused to answer the phone when we called her back.”
Some People Just Can’t Take “No” For An Answer
“I worked in a convenience shop when I was about 18. We had a bunch of horrible 11-year-olds hanging outside the shop, taking turns coming in to try buying smokes. Each time my older colleague would say absolutely not, go away. Then the little rascals asked a guy in his mid-20s to go in for them. They are literally right in front of the shop window when they do this, we hear every word. So when the guy asks for smokes, my colleague explains that he knows the kids have sent him in and he refuses service.
The guy was regular in the shop, would always have a bit of a chat with staff whenever he’d come in. He seemed like he had an edge, but was mostly okay. Not this night. As soon as he hears ‘no,’ he flips out and starts screaming at us (mainly my colleague). He pulls his hood up, starts pulling everything off the shelves and fridges, picks up the biggest glass bottle he sees, and wields it as a weapon. After making a lot of loud violent threats, he backs down and leaves.
We locked the shop up while we contacted the boss to get her to come and see the state of the place. Whilst we’re on the phone, we suddenly hear the front of the store being smashed in. The guy had only left to go and round up his mates (plus the little rascals from the start) and was now bombarding the shop with bricks and rocks. Fortunately, after a series of armed robberies, the shop had been made slightly more secure so they were unable to smash their way in (at least not in such an impulsive, ill-thought out style).
My colleague and I had to lock ourselves in the office, just in case they did get in and wait for the police. From there we could hear the guy still screaming about not getting served. This went on for about an hour until the guy and his mates finally got bored and left. The police never turned up. We both quit the next day.”
The Apple Didn’t Fall Far From The Tree
“I had a mother stalk me on a university campus when I reported her son for plagiarizing on three essays in a row after he refused to admit he had purposefully done so. We’re talking full paragraphs linked by TurnItIn to specific web pages.
She finally confronted me after a few days (I had noticed her because she suddenly was everywhere I was) and lost her crap when I said that I could not discuss any student in any class with her. She stomped her foot, went into a dramatic monologue in the athletic center foyer about how she would do anything for her son, questioned my ethics, credentials, belief in God, and was still yelling at me when security dragged her out.”
She’s THAT Customer
“My first job ever was a teller at a bank. On my first day of work, we were explicitly told that we needed to request ID when a check was being cashed. My first customer ever was some old woman. She gave me a check to cash, so I asked for her ID.
‘Are you freaking kidding me? Is this a joke? I’ve been banking here my entire life. If you don’t cash this check right now I’m moving all my money somewhere else.’
I said, ‘Sorry, those are the rules, and I’m following them on my first day.’
She continued to scream at me until the bank manager came over and handled the transaction (no ID required, of course, because the manager knew who she was). The customer then proceeded to let my manager know how disrespectful I was and left.
My manager apologized and said, ‘She’s THAT customer.'”
“She Never Apologized”
“Once had a woman send her two 5 to 8 year old kids into the pop-up Halloween store I worked at with her debit card so they could buy whatever they wanted. The son, of course, immediately has no idea where the debit card is. He calls his mom and she comes flying into the store literally screaming at the top of her lungs that I specifically must have stolen it because I was both the floor supervisor and cashier at the time. I told her there were cameras pointed at each register and I hadn’t moved from my station for over half an hour, but I would help her look for it.
She didn’t believe me and called the cops on me. Because it was now an accusation of employee theft, even though I was the only one accused, none of the employees were allowed to leave the building. It took the police 20 minutes to show up, way past closing. We were all miserable and we just wanted to go home. All I could do was apologize profusely. We couldn’t even stand outside because SHE was there, standing directly in front of the doors, staring through the glass at us with unbridled fury.
A single cop finally showed up and she already looked fed up. She took all our statements, looked over the CCTV, told the woman to deactivate her card and go to the bank in the morning. The woman finally left, threatening me the entire time, and the cop hung out with us for a couple of minutes talking and making fun of the whole situation. She was a real chill lady.
Ten minutes later, as the cop is scooping up her paperwork, the phone rings, and my coworker answers. It’s the woman. She found her card. It was on her kitchen table. She forgot to give it to her son. She tried to ruin a young 20-something’s life because she refused to believe she could be so careless with her own money and didn’t even think to check her own house first. She never apologized.”
No Job Is Worth Being Threatened Over
“Back in the mid-’90s, I worked the morning shift at a 7-11. I went in at 4:30 and got everything started and we opened at 5 am. It was always a madhouse between 6 and 9 when people were coming in for coffee or whatever crappy food we had on hand. People were rude and messy and treated the people who worked there like crap, but one day their king came in.
In case you’ve never gotten coffee at a convenience store, let me explain the layout. There are a bunch of coffee pots with various levels of caffeination and flavors. Alongside them are sweeteners and things like half and half or powdered creamer. In the mid-’90s in Virginia, the choices weren’t vast. One thing we never had on the coffee bar was actual milk.
One day, this guy from New Jersey came in around 7 am, right in the middle of the busiest time. I knew he was from New Jersey because he kept telling me that while having a fit. He bypassed the line to come to the counter to let me know there wasn’t any milk at the coffee station. I finished up with my customer, apologized to the guy behind him, and went over to the coffee bar where there were roughly a billion little containers of half and half. I turned to New Jersey and told him they were right there. He immediately got angry and exclaimed, ‘I said milk!’
I apologized and explained to him that was the creamer we offer. Either that or the powdered kind. As I felt I had given sufficient explanation of what we offered, I headed back to the register so my coworker wasn’t completely overwhelmed. Once again, he ignored the line and came up to the counter. This time, his face was red and he had the angry eyes.
NJ: ‘You are going to get me some milk for this coffee!’
Me: ‘I’m sorry sir, we don’t have milk. What we have over there is all we offer.’
NJ: “If you don’t go over there and open one of those gallons of milk, I am going to come across this counter and whip your rear! I’m from New Jersey!’
I’ll be honest, I was scared. At this point, the manager came out of her office to deal with the guy. It was crazy busy, so I have no idea what actually happened to the guy. I did end up quitting that week. A crappy 7-11 job isn’t worth being threatened over milk.”
Watch Out For This Lady!
“A couple days ago, I had to adjust my watchband because my wrist had swollen up due to the weather and my arthritis. A woman walks by and apparently finds what I’m doing very interesting because she stops and looks closely.
Then from out of nowhere, she starts berating me for having my watch band mounted the wrong way. For simplicity, I wear it with the buckle on the lower band. This offended her to the point that she was shrieking and showering me with saliva while turning bright red.
Normally I am able to handle stuff like this in a quite confrontational way, but this… I was so shocked that she’d go off on something that petty that I couldn’t get a word out.
Enter stage left, the five-foot-tall angel of mercy that was the cashier at the shop. She physically took the shrieking banshee that was my assailant by her coat and stated quite simply that if she didn’t stop her howling and left me alone, she’d be banned from the store. For life.
It was like hitting a switch. She shut up and walked away in a huff within seconds.”
His Rage Would Cost Him
“I used to work for an electronics retail store that was notorious for having A LOT of prompts on the card reader during checkout. Probably around four before you had the option to pay.
This guy walks up and throws his stuff on the counter. After scanning, we get to prompt one and he just angrily tells me his answer rather than choosing the option and inserts his card, which of course just gives him an error. I tell him he has to actually press an option and he says, ‘Are you freaking serious!?’
He chooses a random option and jams his card in again.
Then we get to prompt two.
As soon as I ask him if he would like to donate to St. Jude, this grown man starts punching the freaking card reader. Afterward, looking accomplished, he asks me, ‘Well, how do you like that?’
He ended up actually choosing a $5 donation, so I just smugly went through the rest of the prompts for him and let him leave without a word.”
Life Would A Lot Easier If You’d Just Follow The Rules
“I work in higher education instructional technology and at one point, I was responsible for training faculty on the use of our learning management system with another colleague in group settings. When faculty sign up for training, we send an email with details about the meeting and everything they need to do prior to the meeting, like making sure they’ve set up their account with a different department.
We start this particular two-hour long training. Twenty minutes in, a woman bursts hurriedly through the door. I’m leading the training and trying to ignore her, while she’s talking over me, ‘I thought this was a one-on-one training. I couldn’t find this place.’
Everyone ignores her and she sits at a computer. While I’m still talking, she begins to loudly whine that she can’t log in. My colleague goes over to help her, only to discover that she didn’t follow the email instructions to set up her account prior to the training. She moans, ‘I thought I could just do it here. You guys can do it for me!’
My colleague gingerly replies, ‘Sorry, our department doesn’t set up accounts. That’s okay though because you can use one of our training accounts and visit that department to set up your account after the training.’
The woman snaps, ‘I don’t have time for this! This school is lucky I even agreed to TEACH HERE,’ and grabs her things, storming out the door.
Later my colleague and I discussed the woman, wondering who she was that our school was so ‘lucky’ to have her. We Googled her name and learned she is just some basic real estate agent who sells low income and suburban homes.”