From serving justice by throwing a bottle of large coke at two rude hitchhikers, to teaching this cousin a valuable lesson in drinking and driving by standing up to him, people share the time they didn't want to be rude but had to be.
(Content has been edited for clarity.)
“Deaf” Scammers On The Subway
“I was on a New York subway, and a guy came through the car handing out pens with a little note card. It said that he was deaf, and he sells these pens for donations. People saw me take a pen, make some hand gestures, break the pen in half, and give it back to him. I was raised in the deaf community, who hated this scam. I signed, ‘You’re not deaf. Even if you are, this is illegal.’ He didn’t have a clue what I said.”
Putting Things Into Perspective
“One of my female friends is incredibly sweet (she was one of my roommates at the time). Yet, she had this terrible boyfriend. He mooched off her, treated her like trash, and abused our house for his own purposes.
A buddy and I were at the bar and we saw him with another girl. They were clearly together. I took a photo of them kissing and I showed it to her. She didn’t confront him about it. The same thing happened the next week, but he was with a new girl. When I saw him at the house shortly after, I lost it. Six months of hate finally exploded, and I turned him inside out.
My friend called me a jerk for saying all that to him and wanted me to apologize. I didn’t. Within two days they broke up. Four years later, she thanked me for doing that, as it forced her to put things into perspective.”
Complete Lack Of Manners
“About 10 years ago, I lost my eye in a thermal/chemical burn incident, as such I’ve drawn some attention. Either from the remaining husk being not too attractive or at the time of the story, an eye patch draws a lot of attention too.
I was working at Outback in my hometown, middle of the evening dinner rush, and this lady walked in asking for a table for one. I was a host at the time and walked her over to one of our smaller booths. She sat down, looked up at me and said, ‘Do you wear that patch as a fashion statement? Or to make others feel bad for you?’ My response, flips eye patch up to reveal husk of my eye, with the recently surgically grafted eyelid they crafted from the skin in front of my ear, ‘I try to be kind to people and not force them to look at my messed up eye, especially while working at a restaurant, it could potentially put them off their appetite. Is there anything else I can get for you while I’m here?’
The look of abject terror on her face as she took in the horrible sight that was my eye still warms my heart to this day. Needless to say, she either lost her appetite or realized her complete lack of manners and promptly left through our takeout door.”
Using ‘The Voice’ With The Cable Company
“My wife and I used to live in an apartment. One day, our internet connection got wonky, dropping us offline, so I called the cable company. After getting through all of the initial nonsense, they finally agreed to send out a tech. The guy showed up, declared it was our modem, replaced it, checked the signal, and left.
Not two hours later, it started doing the same thing. I called again, went through all the same stuff again, and they ‘boost the signal’ on their end, which did nothing. Finally, they agreed to send another tech. This guy showed up, climbed up into the attic to replace the cable, checked the signal, and left.
Next day, the same issue. Called them up again, and this time I was immediately transferred to some other person who informed me that they were aware of an issue in my apartment complex which would require them to replace some wires on the pole, which they would conveniently get around to within several months. I asked for a bill credit since my service would be terrible for an extended time, they told me no.
Up until this point, I was polite to everyone. I understand that chasing down an intermittent issue can be a pain in the butt. This, however, was the last straw. So I called again, and this time I used what my wife refers to as ‘that voice;’ basically the even, measured tone of a man who is trying hard not to destroy you. I think I legitimately scared the person who answered my call because they wasted no time telling me that a supervisor would call me right back.
I still feel bad for that supervisor, and it’s been eight years. I explained everything in ‘the voice,’ and when he started in on ‘we know about an issue and will fix it in several months,’ I lost my mind. So he said he would send out one more tech and would give me a bill credit for my trouble.
The third tech came out and checked everything. That new modem? Replaced again. New cable? Replaced that too. He went outside for a minute, then came back in laughing. In his hand, he was holding one of the most corroded connectors I’ve ever seen. That was on the box outside where the line came from the street to our building. He was baffled how the previous techs didn’t think to check that. So he replaced it, and the internet worked perfectly until we moved out.”
Justice Served In The Form Of An Extra Large Soda
“Leaving the gym one day, I noticed a couple of hitchhikers on a particularly dangerous on-ramp onto a highway. As I was speeding up, I gave them the obligatory nod and hand wave to acknowledge their existence. After I passed them, I heard something hit my truck and immediately checked my mirror to see what happened. That’s when I saw it. One of the guys threw something at my truck because I wouldn’t pick him up. ‘Alright, guy, I got you,’ I hit the next exit and circled around and that’s when it hit me, I should grab something to eat before I get home. I stopped on the opposite side of the freeway from the hitchhiker who signed his own death warrant. I grabbed an additional extra large soda because this guy was probably thirsty from practicing his baseball skills on the highway. So from the time I hit the U-turn to face the enemy I had about a quarter mile before I got to him.
I waited until there was nobody coming to impede my ability to speed up. I put my foot on the floor like my life depended on it. By the time the hitchhiker turned around and realized what was going on it was too late. That extra large drink had already been ejected from the vehicle through my passenger window at about 70 mph and was a center mass hit. The accuracy and devastation of the drink were equivalent to the shock and awe campaign. An overwhelming sense of calm had rushed over me letting me know justice had been served at 70mph in the form of an extra large soda.”
If You’re Not The Queen Of England, Back To The End Of Line You Go
“I was in a grocery store in a not-so-great area of town, and for some reason, there was only one cashier open, and the line was fairly long. When my turn came up, this lady came from around the exit part of the register, stepped in front of me, and put her few items in front of my stuff on the conveyor belt.
I said, ‘What are you doing?’ and this lady said. ‘I’m not waiting in this line,’ so before she could say another word, I grabbed her items, handed it to the person behind me, and told them to keep passing it back. Then, I turned to this lady and said, ‘Are you the Queen of England?’ When she said no, I said, ‘Then back of the line, Toots!’ while everybody else in line was telling her to ‘get lost’ and to ‘learn what respect means.’
She just slinked away with her tail between her legs.”
Teaching His Cousin A Valuable Lesson
“My cousin and best friend had a problem with driving under the influence a couple years ago. He’d get absolutely wasted, and 2 a.m., when no one was paying attention, he’d quietly sneak off to his car and drive home.
We have a good group of friends who all worked together to get it to stop, but no amount of work, pleading and/or reasoning ever sinks into the brain of this guy. I don’t think the guy wanted to, but he just seemed to lose any sense of reason and thinking when he was drinking, and it always resulted in him getting into his car.
We all said enough was enough and stopped talking to him completely. No texts. No hanging out. We all agreed to it and stuck with it. I had to take the lead and be a jerk to my cousin and told him he wasn’t welcome around our group of friends anymore. I couldn’t be apart of it anymore.
After a month or two of having no friends, the guy learned his lesson and got a grip on himself. We’re all good friends and he hasn’t driven under the influence since.”
It’s Not Your Turn, Mister!
“I was standing in a taxi line late in the evening at an airport in France. It was a short line, but the taxis took forever to show up. After 15-20 minutes, it was getting closer and a huge taxi showed up which would take a large family behind in the line. When they were shuffling up the line, we had to move around and give them space and this guy sneaked behind me and stood by my side a little in front of me. I noticed this and when the next taxi was for me, I walked straight past him while he started shouting in French. As one of few European countries, there are not many people there who know or want to speak English, so I talked back to him in English with ‘Shut up, you cut the line,’ handed the bag to the driver, and told him where to go. When I sat in the cab, the guy was fuming trying to convince the taxi driver to take him instead. One of the few times in life I’ve gotten mad at someone.”
No Cutting In Line, Random German Citizen
“At a random small gas station outside of Berlin, I pulled in and got out to pump my gas. I had pulled into the last free pump. Some random guy got out of his car and started complaining that he was late for a dinner reservation and informed (not asked) me that I needed to move before I started pumping so that he could fill up his car before I did mine since he was in such a hurry. I was polite but firm and basically told him ‘Sorry man. I’m also in a hurry.’ I filled up, went inside and paid. As I was paying, I saw him standing by the passenger side of my car whining to my pregnant significant other about the fact that I wouldn’t let him ‘cut in line.’ My protective instinct kicked in and I was just like, ‘Okay, time to unleash a threatening stream of angry profanity on some poor German guy.'”
This Mildly Annoyed Gay Man’s Revenge
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“A few weeks ago, I bought a new car. About a week after I got it, some random guy came up to me yelling about my old car still being in the parking lot. We have more than enough parking for the number of tenants, so he was just going out of his way to being a jerk.
Cut to tonight.
I’m trying to sleep when I hear some terrible music blasting through the walls of my apartment. I look out the window and see that it’s coming from the same guy who whined at me a few weeks prior. He’s sitting in his busted Focus, oblivious to everything around him.
I knock on his window and say, ‘Dude, people are trying to sleep, can you turn that down?’ It’s obvious he had a few drinks. He flips me off, but I’m like, ‘As long as the music is quieter, alls well that ends well.’ As soon as I turn the corner, the music starts up again. At this point, three different people from different units are standing around being like, ‘What is this guy doing?’
I look at the prettiest girl standing outside and say, ‘You go talk to him. You’re a pretty girl. He won’t mess with you.’ So she goes and he flips her off too. At this point, I’m like, ‘That’s it! He had way too many drinks and the keys are in the ignition. I’m calling the cops.’ So I do.
My neighbors and I are standing outside, waiting for the cops to come, when he decides to back up and leave. Right as he tries to back up, three cop cars pull up. They’re talking to him and an officer comes over to hear our side of what happened, so we tell him. When he leaves, everyone starts talking about what an insufferable prick he is to them too.
After about 10 minutes, the cops pull him out of his car and put him in the back of their cruiser. Turns out, this guy had eight warrants out for his arrest. They put him in the back of the car and an officer comes up and asks if I wouldn’t mind backing his car into a spot since moving vehicles isn’t in their job description. I jump at the chance to be the one to do it.”
This Rude Customer Who Isn’t Even A Regular
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“I was working as a cashier at a grocery store, so as can be expected, we have our regulars. I had worked at this grocery store for over a year, so I was close to some of the regulars. It was about 10 p.m. when a regular came through my line.
She didn’t have a lot of stuff, so I was going at my average speed and we were just talking. She asked me about school, I asked her about her kids, etc. Eventually, some guy behind her in line said, ‘I don’t have all day.’
The regular and I were put in an awkward situation. I hurried up and she left. The guy came through my line and rather than get into it, I just apologized and hoped to leave it at that. But no, he kept going. ‘When we come to the store, we are not trying to take our time. That’s something you’ll learn when you get older. You’re taking up my time by talking.’ I apologized once more. He then said, ‘Yeah, you’ll be sorry when I talk to your manager.’ That’s when I couldn’t do it anymore. ‘Excuse me, sir, but I don’t deserve that. Neither did that customer.’ He replied with ‘What’s your name?’ As soon as he said that, I knew he was going to complain so I gave him this response.
‘My name is [real name], and my supervisor is Billy. He’ll be in tomorrow starting at 9 a.m.’
He spat some profanities at me and walked out.
He called and complained. He claimed he spent $400-$500 a week in the store, which was a lie. I had worked there over a year and had never seen him before. The best was the managers being on my side, since I was always even-keeled, except for that moment.”
When The Suits Attempt To Get On A Busy Train
“When I was living in London, I had to take the Tube (Underground) during rush hour through the city center. At every station an attendant will say ‘This is X Station, please allow all passengers off the train before attempting to board’ or something along those lines. On this particular day, a school group of about 20 kids, all under 10, was trying to get off at a busy station with their teachers. I stood by the doors as there were no seats. The doors open and immediately these suits all attempt to barge on the train and separate these kids from each other.
Without thinking, I barricaded the door and yelled ‘WELCOME TO OXFORD CIRCUS STATION, PLEASE ALLOW ALL PASSENGERS OFF THE TRAIN BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO BOARD. WELCOME TO OXFORD CIRCUS STATION…’ etc. for a good 10 seconds before the suits got the message and let the kids off.
I then had to get off because I knew these guys were not a fan of me.”
No Regrets For Making Her Cry
“When I was 24, I reluctantly went back to my nan’s old house that I grew up in to scatter her ashes. My two aunts – let’s call them Ruth and Joanne – started arguing almost right away. My mom acted as the diplomat, but Ruth was verbally beating Joanne to a pulp. Everyone finds it hard to stand up to bloody Ruth. She’s not physically imposing or violent. But she’s considered the big ‘success’ of the family and has always weaponized her intellect. Joanne is non-confrontational and Ruth’s treatment of her was borderline bullying. I hated everyone and everything at the time. My nan who half raised me was dead. I sat away from the chaos, half listening to it all.
Finally, Joanne’s daughter Gemma stepped in to defend her mom. Gemma is one of the kindest people in the world and struggles to say a bad word about anyone. We are like sisters but our relationship was strained at the time. Grief messes with everything. ‘Ruth,’ she said. ‘I think you’re being a bit unfair considering.’
‘Don’t,’ Ruth snapped. ‘Don’t you even dare.’
And that’s when I couldn’t stand it anymore. I jumped up from the couch and stormed into the loungeroom and said, ‘Or you’ll WHAT Ruth? Or you’ll what?!? Come on tough lady, tell us what you’ll do,’ she just stood there stunned. ‘I’ve sat there for an hour listening to your bile and enough is enough. They might all be scared of you but I’m not!’ There was dead silence. Then Ruth let out a howl and basically fell apart, sobbing. I didn’t feel guilty.
Later that day, my cousin and I went to the beach. Looking back, my arsehole moment of the year strengthened our relationship. As we were about to leave she suddenly said, ‘You made Ruth cry.’ There was a beat. Then we both burst out laughing.
I don’t feel guilty.”
No Touching The Baby, Ma’am!
“I work as a nanny. Whenever I go outside with the kiddos, old ladies love to coo over them. The babies are adorable, so this is usually fine. Normally they just tell me how cute my kids are (even though they aren’t mine) and continue on their way.
Occasionally they try to get touchy which I don’t allow. I tell politely but firmly not to touch the babies. Most women are understandable, some give me scowl then walk away.
On one occasion I was at a department store with a 14-month-old in my cart. She was being her adorable self. This older woman approached us and immediately reached out to touch toddler. I asked her politely not to touch her. She ignored me and started pinching the toddler’s cheeks.
Then she asked me if she can hold little one and take her around the store while I shop. Nope! I’m not leaving my charge with a strange old lady who doesn’t respect our boundaries. So at this point, I told her we needed to leave, and got ready to go.
Ignoring me, she tried to unstrap toddler from the cart. I went into a full rude mode, shoved the lady away from my charge and started laying into her. She was mortified as I was screaming at her. I grabbed the baby and diaper bag, found the manager, told him everything, and left the store.”
The Only Time To Feel Proud For Being Rude
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“I used to be a campus concert programmer.
Every year, we’d book a HUGE act, and it would draw a ton of students out. One major component of my job was having to book vendors, building a plan for them all to be on site, and loaded in, in a specific order so we could ensure that risk was limited.
One vendor that I booked was a major soft drink company promoting their energy drinks. I had all of the pieces in place except this energy drink vendor that was giving away free product. They told me they’d be two hours late.
Being at the head of everything for this event meant that it had to come up to me. In a few more words I not-so-politely told them to get here on time or else. They tried to guilt trip me for being so rude and tried to say that they would never come back for another event again if I talked to them that way. It took so much for me to get worked up.
About 15 minutes later I got a call from their manager asking what was happening. I told the manager about how they said that they’d refuse to ever come to another event again and suddenly the truck providing the promotional energy drinks showed up quickly, and I mean VERY quickly; as in, it would have been impossible for them to get to the venue in the time it took based on where they said they were coming from because they were late. At first, I thought that it was another truck, but when they showed up, I politely thanked them for coming, and they told me that I didn’t have to be a jerk about everything.
It was one of the only times I ever felt great about being one.”