Did that really just happen? You never know how close to the end people are until they snap. Unfortunately, it almost always happens in public. Here, people share the time an adult had a full blown tantrum for the whole world to see.
All stories have been edited for clarity.
What Do You Know?
“I was waiting in line at an auto parts store. The guy in front of me set down an alternator and asked the clerk for a water pump. The clerk was naturally confused and asks about the alternator. The guy then told him, ‘It’s a water pump and that’s why I asked for one.’
The clerk tried to nicely to correct the customer. He even showed the guy a picture of an alternator vs. a water pump for his specific car. To no avail, the guy claimed he ‘knows more’ than this poor clerk. I add that the clerk was totally correct that the alternator was NOT a water pump.
After going back and forth, the customer just went nuts. He threw the alternator at the poor clerk. Luckily he missed. From there the customer made threats about calling corporate. Then he bragged about the tons of friends on social media he had that could ‘close the store down’. On and on this guy went on about how much smarter he was than anyone behind the counter. I swear it lasted twenty minutes. Anyway, the manager, a woman, came out, picked up the alternator, set it on the counter, and asked the guy why he was throwing such a temper tantrum over an alternator.
‘Oh here we go again!’ the customer yelled. How dare a woman correct him. The man then said the manager ‘doesn’t know blank about cars.’ He then asked, ‘What’s a woman doing working at an auto parts store?’
The man’s disgusting behavior just kept going. Well, during ALL of this mess someone decided to call the cops. At some point the cops snuck in and were right behind me. I was gently pushed aside before they yelled, ‘Sir!’
The man turned and his skin turned into a ghostly white. The cops started asking about the situation. One took the rest of us aside, found the caller, and we were telling them what we witnessed. The other officer was talking with mister alternator/water pump.
Next thing we knew, the customer was placed under arrest and as they were escorting him out we hear one officer tell the other officer that arguing about alternators was the dumbest thing they have witnessed all month. To which the guy yelled, ‘It’s a f*cking water pump!’
Grow Up!
“I was with my two small kids in a Target parking lot. After parking, I went over to the passenger side to get my son. In the process, my door gently tapped the Audi next to me.The wind got it a bit but it wasn’t hard at all. I got my son out, closed the door, and saw that there was ZERO damage to my door and the driver’s door as I expected. I then noticed there were people in the Audi. Still, I said to myself, ‘No worries, there is no damage, whatsoever.’
I took my son, then went around to get my other son. That’s when the door next to me slam shut from the passenger side. ‘WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST DO TO MY CAR?’ a man screamed before even seeing the other side of the car. He was the passenger. His wife was on the driver’s side. Apparently he had to get out to give me a hard time.
‘Hey sorry, the wind got it a bit, I checked, there is no damage. It’s fine. Also I’ve got kids, please mind the language,’ I said.
‘SCREW YOU! You damaged my car!’ The man still hadn’t gone around to check the side where the door dinged it.
I ignored him and continued getting my eleven-month-old out of his car seat.
The man then stormed over, noticed there was no damage, then stood there for a moment. At same time, I finished getting my little one out. I’ve never NOT been one to be a smart ass. So, I said, ‘See, I told you, no damage, no need to get your panties in a bunch.’
Yeah, the man didn’t like that. He launched a verbal tirade about how I was an irresponsible parent, a terrible driver, a rude bimbo. I just stood there and only said the same thing over and over again, ‘Dude, mind the language.’
Finally, his wife got out and yelled, ‘John, enough! There is no damage to the car, grow up!’
I looked at her, laughed my ass off, grabbed my kids and headed into Target.”
Let Me See Some ID
“I was barely twenty-one and working the overnight shift alone in a convenience store. A boy that was about seventeen was a regular. We had talked quite a bit and I had learned a lot about him. He had worked to buy his own car and was determined to graduate high school. A teacher at the school had taken him in because he was such a good kid.
One night while I was working, the boy was playing a video game in the corner. A man came in to buy beer. I was careful to request a picture ID because law enforcement in the area had been really cracking down and performing many sting operations. They could be very tricky. The man could not produce the ID and got an attitude. After giving up, the man demanded I just give him a pack of cigarettes. I told him I still needed the ID for that too. The guy did look military and old enough, but I had underage friends in ROTC that could pass that test as well so I wouldn’t give in. The man flew into a rage and began cursing and calling me names. He stormed out, got into his truck and gunned it. As he spun his truck around he smashed into the boy’s car who had been playing video games. I called the local police who also called the military police from the nearby base.
We had to go to court and I was called as a witness. I heard that he was reduced in rank because of the incident even before his court date but it got worse from there. I took the stand and his lawyer began questioning me. I will never know why but his lawyer asked if anyone was with him that night. I answered yes. When the lawyer asked me to explain, I said there was a woman waiting for him in his truck but it wasn’t the one he brought with him to court that day, who was apparently his wife. I felt really bad for her as the entire court room burst out in gasps, but she did need to know. Her face said it all. He was found guilty and faced several charges but that was the least of his problems at that point. That man had managed to destroy his career and his marriage all in one night.”
Caught
“When I worked retail, a woman came in with a sweater inside of a box with our store name on it and a gift receipt for a different store. The sweater was CLEARLY from Old-Navy. The tags were still on it. Still, the woman was livid after standing in line to make her return for over an hour just to be told it wasn’t our sweater.
‘But it’s in your box!?’ she kept screaming over and over.
My manager, sick of dealing with her, said, ‘Fine, we’ll see what we can do.’ She used the bar-code which (fortunately) happened to scan into our system, but came up as a Lady Godiva candy bar. The manager over-rode the system and gave the lady her three bucks, snatched the sweater and told her to leave or she was calling the police.
The manager then placed the sweater, the gift receipt and the box at customer service and waited. A couple hours later, the woman returned with her husband with a smug look on her face. The manager asked her for the receipt from the return and the money back and she paled. Apparently she’d stopped at Wendy’s for a Frosty on her way home and spent it, and lost the receipt. The husband paid the three bucks (with a check) and apologized profusely for his wife’s behavior.
We had an associate who’s sister worked at the store that was on the receipt (not Old Navy) and the woman had been there just a couple days before trying to return the sweater with the same gift receipt.
Our loss prevention guy called Old Navy to warn them about the woman. They called a few days later to let us know they’d had to call the police on her, because the sweater had been bought on post holiday clearance the year before…ON HER OLD NAVY CREDIT CARD!”