How does a room full of happy people turn ugly in a matter of seconds? Read on to find out...
Where are all your brains, sir?
A coworker and I wrote a proposal for a project. We were selected (along with 2 other firms) to make a presentation in front of the Board of Directors to win the project. We had been marketing this project pretty heavily and felt pretty confident about our chances. We walked in to give our spiel in front of the Board Of Directors (who happen to be all female). First thing out of my coworkers mouth: “Where are all the men?” Room went colder than an Antarctic winter. I thanked the Board for their time and packed up our sh_t. I told my boss about my coworker’s antics. Coworker did not get fired though since he claimed he said it as a joke (and because the boss likes him). (Source)
The pizza party that never was
One day at work we had an hour meeting followed by a planned pizza party as a reward for meeting some safety goal. They’d been telling us all week not to worry about food because they were getting pizza. Well after the meeting were sitting around waiting for the pizza to get there when out boss comes in and tells us there was a failure of communication and no one actually ordered the pizza. If you want to see 50 factory workers go from excited to murder ready in less than a second that’s what you tell them. (Source)
The Applebee’s Riot
During bar trivia the question was “What was the biggest fish in Finding Nemo” the answer was “blue whale” Whales aren’t fish. People started yelling at the guy that whales are mammals. He said it was in the water so it counted as a fish. I asked if the dentist was a fish since he was in the water. That Applebee’s just barely avoided a riot that night. (Source)
The Canceled Christmas Party
When it was announced our community bank was being acquired by Wells Fargo and ~85% of people were going to lose their jobs. The announcement was made during the end of year manager’s meeting where bonuses, Christmas party festivities, etc. were discussed. No bonuses, no Christmas party—most people just got severance for the holidays. (Source)
The funeral speaker
At a friend’s funeral who had committed suicide. Everyone was somber and respectful as the service went on and the clergy talked about heaven and whatnot. The last speaker comes up and says well she may not be allowed in heaven because of the suicide and how that’s a terrible sin Yada Yada Yada. A huge portion of the family starts sobbing uncontrollably and some outright walk out. Those that stayed were super angry and began to threaten the speaker. He had to be escorted from the funeral home by security. From what I understand of this guy, he was trying to discourage copycat suicides by not glorifying it and saying my friend was definitely in heaven like it solved all her problems. Certainly not the best way to go about it. (Source)
The Columbine supporter
In the spring of 1999 I went to a film festival that debuted a documentary about the Gothic subculture called Sex, Death and Eyeliner. It was made by one of the guys who made Trekkies and was very similar to that movie. It poked fun at the Lunatic Fringe elements of the subculture, but overall it was pretty respectful and everyone in attendance (mostly a toned down group of goths) enjoyed it. At the end of the film the producer did a Q&A, and during it mentioned that he was having a difficult time trying to sell it to the right people. The Columbine massacre had happened just a few weeks earlier and for a while the media was trying to portray the shooters as Goths. A lot of companies were interested in buying it, and the producer was very concerned about not letting it get into the hands of someone who would try to portray Goths negatively. The final question of the Q&A was from a guy who went off on a tirade defending the shooters of Columbine, and explaining how he understood how they felt and why they did what they did. The entire room went from laughing and feeling very good to overwhelmingly pissed off at this guy and booing at him. Completely killed the mood of the evening. (Source)
An ugly fight
The couple hosting the party got into a fight with each other in front of everyone – so much so that she slapped one side of his face, then expected guests to take sides. It ruined everything – people left. (Source)
The clever pigeon
I was waiting for a flight at Newark when an airline employee gets on the PA of the gate next to mine and says: Dear passengers, flight *to *_ has been delayed due to a pigeon entering the aircraft during the maintenance process. So I thought, okay a pigeon got sucked into the engine or something, serious stuff. But then the announcement continued. The pigeon entered the cabin through an open door while the aircraft was being cleaned. Our crew attempted to find it, but could not. United Airlines was being outsmarted by the dumbest of birds. This guy clearly knew that the passengers were not impressed. We don’t expect your understanding, but your patience would be appreciated. (Source)
The “Night Putting”
At my work we host weddings. A few years ago the groom and one of our waitresses were caught having sex on the ninth green by the maid of honor. The 180 degree turn of drunk happy people to incredibly angry drunk people was insane, the families were screaming at each other the bride was crying, the mother of the bride was crying, the dad was being held back cause he was gonna kill the groom (understandable). We ended up calling the police, they came and escorted the groom’s family out the door (some of the smart groom’s family took off right away when they heard). It all happened within an hour. We call the incident “Night putting.” (Source)
Grandpa to the rescue!
My extended family had a day at the lake. All day was nothing but happiness, until we started cleaning up. Half of the family were on the lake and decided to play a prank on the rest of us, who were getting ready to go. They sent a voicemail that they were sinking and didn’t have life jackets (there were kids on the boat who couldn’t swim). My grandpa believed it and when none of the nearby boat owners would let him borrow one to save his family, he stole a boat and went out to look for them. He of course found them safe and sound, and there was a huge fistfight when everyone got back. Some of them haven’t spoken to each other since, and its been years. (Source)
A different kind of retirement
The owner of a property management company I worked for in high school summoned all of the employees into a conference room for a special announcement. She had been hinting at retirement for awhile so everyone suspected she was about to hand her responsibilities over to the office manager to transition into ownership over time (as promised). Turns out she sold the company to a larger management firm and as of that day, nobody in the room has a job anymore. Wasn’t a big deal to me because it was just a summer job and I had already given my 2 week notice before school started back up, but it was the livelihood to most people in the room. (Source)
Extremely tragic…
I was in 8th grade coming back from a field trip. Bus was pulling up to the school parking lot full of kids. We see one student’s mom holding a baby and crossing the street. The crossing guard told her to cross and an oncoming car totally missed the crossing guard’s signal. A lot of parents and a lot of elementary/middle-schoolers watched the mom die in the street before the ambulance arrived. Horrible. Mother shielded the baby from the fall. Still horrible. (Source)
“That was nasty”
Was at a house party—everyone was high as f_ck, having a great time. Then we find out one of our friends has hung himself. That was nasty. (Source)
Easter brunch
We were sitting at the adult table eating our Easter brunch in the house of my ultra-religious brother’s family. We were all laughing and recalling funny stories about relatives long gone and after a sudden lapse in the laughter, the room became dead silent when my son at the children’s table screamed to his cousin “There’s no proof of God being real!” Easter was pretty much over at that point. Dishes were cleared, cleaned and we sulked out without much eye contact. (Source)
Party’s over
Yesterday evening. At a house party, bbq, beer, swimming, everyone is having a real good time. I go to get in the pool and these two girls from the middle east start making fun of me because I have some really bad scar tissue around my left leg. Asking me if I got f_cked up by a dog or something. Essentially the front of my shin and the side and back of my ankle is all scar tissue and there are a couple of pretty nasty scars on my thigh in the front and on the outside. I had to explain that while I was in the sandbox working private security for a humanitarian organization providing aid to children that one of the guys we were with stepped on an IED and blew his leg off. I went in to get him and another went off, shrapnel tearing chunks out of my lower leg and then three entry/two exit wounds getting shot trying to drag him to cover. Got him out. He was screaming the entire time. I’m covered in blood and sh_t holding this guy, looking at the leg in the dirt and wondering if it’s his or mine. Everyone just stared for a solid minute or three. One of the guys says “that’s some hero sh_t right there”. That’s when I told them he died. Right there. While I was still half-ass holding half-ass shielding him. Sh_t got dark real quick. (Source)
April Fools?
April Fool’s Day 2009 everyone at the dealership I was working at gets called into the shop for an important meeting. We all assume it’s going to be something silly. The owner informs us that the dealership has gone out of business effective immediately and for everyone to pack up their stuff and wait to be escorted out of the building. We just stood there waiting for someone to shout “April fools!” It never happened and the building stands empty to this day. (Source)
That’s one way to kill the fun…
At a 21st birthday party several years ago, having a big house party. Music blaring, drugs and alcohol in abundance, good times being had by all. Then some dudes driving by hear the noise and decide to crash the party. While trying to be nice and kick them out politely, one of them says “You can’t kick us out.” and flashes his gun. Never seen a party go from Full Blown Fun to Where Is Everyone so quickly. Someone called the cops and the a__holes took off. (Source)