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Viktorija Ošikaitė

“The Squirrel Won”: 75 Public Moments So Chaotic People Still Can’t Believe They Saw Them

Normally, chaos is reserved for the big screen (or little screen, in the age of short form videos) but every now and then real life has its moments. So someone asked “What’s the most chaotic thing you’ve witnessed in public?” and people shared their most unhinged examples.

From very public crash-outs to just a Rube Goldberg machine of things going wrong, get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote the best posts and be sure to detail your own wild encounters in the comments down below. While most are quite amusing, there are a handful that are a bit dark, so be warned.

#1

Saw a full-blown, screaming argument between a guy and a squirrel over a single french fry. The squirrel won.

#2

I wasn’t there but I’ve heard the story a few times.

My mom used to pretty much live in high heels. One day at a busy, fairly nice restaurant, she was sitting with her legs crossed for a bit too long. Her foot went numb. As her group stood up to leave, mom lost her balance, stumbled back, her shoe went flying across the restaurant, and she landed in a random guy’s lap.

Legend has it, he looked at her and said “this isn’t what I ordered”. She had to hobble across the room to get her shoe back.

#3

I was in Seattle and watched a guy in a cab honk at a cyclist. The cyclist then pulled the guy out of his cab and proceeded to beat the [hell] out of him. A few seconds later, like three other cab drivers ran over and kicked the [hell]of the cyclist. Then a homeless guy stole the bike that was laying in the intersection.

It was like 30 seconds of pure madness.

#4

I only heard about this. My parent took her Mastiff puppy to the mall to get X mas photos. The dog was under a year old but @ 100lbs. She sat in front of the drape and had her photo taken.

Once the photo was done, something got her attention and she pushed the drape aside and started running through the mall.

My parent started chasing after her as the dog raced towards Macy's. On the way, the dog spotted a woman with a baby in a stroller. My parent could not catch up with her but yelled at the woman, "She doesn't bite!" The dog licked the baby in the face and took off towards Macys.

She ended up running into the fine jewelry section and planted herself next to an old lady (who was not amused).

I still have this photo and love it.

#5

Saw a dude try to chase his own runaway shopping cart down a hill, grab it, miss, spin, and accidentally tackle a random guy who was just walking by.

Both of them went down like bowling pins. the cart kept going. a third guy tried to stop it and slipped. It was like watching a live action slapstick scene with zero music.

#6

Minding my business driving to work one morning on a two lane road (both lanes going in the same direction) when the vehicle in front of me comes to a dead stop. No red light, no stop sign. Just stopping in the middle of the road. Another vehicle pulls up next to me in the adjacent lane and stops also. The drivers of both vehicles get out all aggressive and start screaming at each other. They look similar enough that I think they may be siblings. It escalates to a physical altercation in front of me. Now mind you this is the morning work commute so there are cars piling up behind me and they are honking and yelling but these two are undeterred. Now a woman gets out of the vehicle that had stopped beside me ans she is trying her best to pull them apart. She looks like she could be their mother further supporting my impression that these are brothers. She gets them pulled apart finally the one dudes shorts are around his ankles and there he is in his drawers and the other guys shirt got ripped off. Dude with the shirt ripped off gets out of the woman's grip and runs to the grassy median and pulls an election sign out of the ground and then starts beating his brother with it.

Ironically enough the elections sign was a "Make America Great Again" sign and i could help but to find that funny.

#7

Has to be an attempted kidnapping in the Orlando (MCO) airport one night. we were walking to our hotel at the airport and heard the most awful scream from about 30 yards away. turned our heads to see a man with a little girl in a stranglehold and waving to onlookers to stay away. thankfully a few brave folks approached while one snuck behind and knocked his legs out from under him. they got him subdued and police arrived seconds later. it felt like it lasted an eternity, but was probably over in under 15 seconds.

#8

On holiday in Amsterdam this summer. Hot as hell, lots of people swimming in the River Ij.
Watched a heron scoop up a fat rat, fly off with rat struggling, seagull tries to intercept. Heron drops live rat from 10ft above the water into incredibly crowded swimming spot.

#9

A friend on a dare tried to eat a potato bug for $20 and chase it down with a 40 oz of mickeys. He took a bite of the bug, the bug bit him on his tongue. He was basically puking foam from his open mouth with half a potato bug attached to his tongue.

My other friend laughed so hard he fell over a table and knocked himself out. My third friend laughed so hard from all of that he ran into the other room and puked into the bathtub.

all in the span of like 30 seconds.

Edit for anyone wondering: My friends are [jerks], they didn't give him the 20 bucks since he didn't actually eat the bug.

#10

Middle school science class when someone microwaved a bag of grapes “to see the plasma thing from YouTube.” Fire alarm went off, half the class was screaming, the other half was chanting “SCIENCE” while the teacher tried to explain to the principal that we were not, in fact, trying to burn the school down.

#11

A young Japanese "gothic lolita" girl leading an old (60+) Japanese man, who was dressed in a Sailor Moon outfit, around by a leash. Hankyu Umeda station, Osaka, Japan, 2008. Over a million people a day go through that station, so a lot of people saw this.

#12

I was in graduate school and a hurricane was headed to the coast of Texas, mind you my university was ~200 miles inland. My roommate and I were both from gulf coast Texas and went to the grocery store to procure more beer since it’s likely rain for a day or two where we were.

It was absolute chaos. You would have thought the world was ending. People were fighting over cans of creamed corn, there was no water left in the store, all the canned goods gone, but basically all the other dry goods mostly untouched. Students in a complete panic calling their parents in tears.

We grabbed some beer and snacks, filled up some water pitchers at our apartment just in case and it just rained for a day or two. Never lost power, watched Netflix, drank and ate Oreos.

#13

I was working at a bar downtown and I stepped in to the alley to smoke. I’ll preface and say this was all during some festival happening.

As I’m smoking a girl falls out of a portapotty and lands face first unconscious. So I immediately call 911.

The operator says “see if she’s conscious but DONT try to move her. She might become irate. Just nudge her with your foot and try to to see if she reacts but try and keep a distance”

So I walk up and nudge her with my foot and say “hey, are you breathing?” And she JUMPS up, SCREAMS like a banshee, throws an empty bottle of fireball at my face and takes off running down the alley way. At one point I thought she was going to fall but she just squatted and pissed in the middle of the road. Then she kept running down the road. Screaming the whole way.

I almost laughed when the 911 operator said “Well, did she move?”

#14

Oh walking in San Francisco where a little person dressed in an outfit I can’t even describe came zooming by on a scooter with a humongous blaring sub woofer, followed by a quite large woman who was completely [bare] and shouting to the scooter person. One of the few times I’ve been legitimately speechless.

#15

Walmart, Black Friday, around 2010. They rolled out a pallet of cheap DVD players and it was an actual feeding frenzy. I saw a middle-aged woman literally climb on top of the pile and start throwing the boxes behind her to her husband like she was digging for gold. People were grabbing, yelling, a couple of dudes almost got into a fistfight over a $19 Sanyo. All for a piece of junk that would probably break in six months. The whole scene was just pure, unadulterated consumerist rage. Never again.

#16

Once in DC, I was walking to a pharmacy and outside it a homeless man and a homeless woman crossed paths. They seemed to be coming from different directions. One of them was carrying a large comforter. Without hesitation, the other grabbed it and a tug of war ensued. There was a lot of screaming. I just sidestepped the whole thing and went to the pharmacy. After I paid and left, I saw them both sitting on the side of the building calmly, peacefully sharing the comforter. It was July.

#17

Back in the late 90's, I was friends with a house DJ and we went to an after hours club in Vegas. I saw a bald fat man with a white goat on a leash wearing a muumuu and similar hat like Homer in that one Simpon's episode where Homer gained a bunch of weight. This was waaaaaaaaay before that episode ever came out.

#18

Riding the Paris subway at night when a woman standing near our seat tells two young guys to turn down their boom box. One of the guys smacks her and she gives him a high kick to the head.

Everyone on the whole car stands up as one and starts yelling at the guys. (Except for my partner and I because we can’t follow what is being said and we’re almost in the middle of the fray.).

The guys got off at the next stop. If they hadn’t, we would have!

#19

I've been inside a 30-40 person riot as a Paramedic.

This was in a small rural town in Australia, perhaps 4 cops available. So there was no control.

My understanding is that a fight broke out, someone was knocked out, and we didn't know it was a riot when called. Our notes were sparse, saying it was at one of the local pubs (2 in town), and when we pulled into the centre of town saw the chaos spread out over 2ish blocks, and Police overwhelmed.

A cop told us a block down there was someone unconscious, and my partner and I decided bravado and drove through (weaved) the crowd, pulled up, did a 'rapid trauma assessment', and then a 'rapid extrication' (throw on stretcher, bail). Around the patient was their, very drunk, very hostile, family members.

Loaded into the back, my partner in the back and I jumping in the drivers seat, when the back doors opened and the patients HUGE father (45ish, 6'5", built like a truck) climbs in aggravated. My partner talked him down, got him out of the back, I locked up to whole vehicle and bailed around the corner and a couple of blocks up.

I climbed over the front seats into the back, and started helping the assessment/treatment. Then, the whole ambulance started to shake, and it turns out the family followed in cars, got out, and were all around the vehicle (doors locked).

As a rural ambulance, we have super-geared out high beams, and I turned them on, the people in front scattered like a monster film, and escaped for the small rural hospital.

Pulled up, followed by the family. There is no security here.

We get the patient out the back, push through to the ED, and kicked the whole family out due to drunkenness/behaviour. The ED door was a metal/glass, hinged, door that opens outwards. The huge father started barging the door, shoving it *inwards* on its hinges. We called a 'Code 1' (Paramedics in immediate danger, urgent police needed) and barricaded the door with the stretcher.

Control was confused, as they commented "Aren't you with police? They were at scene?". Explained we were followed, far away from the riot, and the Hospital is being battered in.

Control got in contact with police, a minute or so later 2 cops pulled into the Ambulance bay with guns drawn (a big deal in Australia). One officer held the family at gun point, and the other ran straight for the ED door to secure the hospital, us, and the nursing staff.

Heightened emotions were quelled, the family told to move on, nursing staff were not in a good mental state but persevered. Officers were brought in from closer towns (1-1.5 hours away) to assist in moving on the riot, and the next day was paper work and conversations with Management.

#20

I was leaving a New Year’s Eve party in Boston about 20 years ago with a group of friends. Great night that we were still enjoying despite low single digit temps as we made our way to a spot where we hoped to have better luck finding a taxi.

As we walked, about a block away we heard a lot of commotion and saw about 30 guys in a full scale punch up that flowed in and out of the street. They were evenly matched, and everyone had on very bulky winter gear, which probably explained why they weren’t hurting each other as much as you might expect.

Along the moving perimeter of this scrum were all the female dates of the combatants who weren’t engaging, but we noticed that a sub group of them were huddled and moving together, seeming to be talking about how to put a stop to it.

All of a sudden, with cheetah-like agility, these girls [attack] the other group of girls, but only to steal their vuvuzelas (very long plastic horns that were popular at the time). They then immediately began to attack the opponent group of guys with shots to the face from their newly acquired arsenal, which they were wielding like baseball bats with amazing accuracy. The other girls tried a weak counteroffensive, but were pretty quickly put down by the armed group after several of the women were knocked by David Ortiz level swings.

We watched in astonishment as this actually turned the tide of the main battle, and the losing side ultimately scrambled away with their dates less than five minutes after the successful flanking maneuver, leaving probably $2-3k worth of hats, scarves, gloves and designer shoes in their wake.

EDIT: And yes, as the losing side made their retreat they were most certainly urged along by a hearty vuvuzela victory cadence. I half expected a fife and drum corps dressed in tricorns and breeches to emerge from the alley to join in.

crowpierrot:

Incredible. I would pay money to see this.

#21

My dog once found some garbage bags with a cut up rotting carcass in it, dumped in the woods.
He went completely feral from the smell and wrestled himself out of his harness and jumped face first into that pile of rotting deliciousness. He was in heaven, rolling around in it, while gorging himself on rotting organs, and every time I tried to approach him he turned into a feral wolf trying to guard it’s bounty.

I wasn’t sure if the remains were human or animal so I called the police but the smell was so overwhelmingly disgusting I kept dryheaving and vomiting while trying to explain to the dispatcher what was happening. She was like ‘wait… your dog found a body and is now eating it?? What is he eating exactly?’ Me dry-heaving: ‘the heart, liver, intestines I dunno!!’ Her, to her colleagues in the background ‘this lady’s dog is eating a body and she keeps vomiting’ Then I heard them giggling in the background.

About twenty minutes later police arrived on the scene to find me still dryheaving and my deliriously happy dog, covered in blood and gore rolling around in a scene out of a horror movie. They could not stifle their laughs! W*f…

They got him out in the end and send us home. Took me three days to get the smell of putrefaction out of him.
Police later called back to tell me it was a sheep carcass. So at least my dog didn’t eat a human.
It was the best day of his life.

ETA: oh yeah so this was in a sort of ditch between a woodsy area and a busy road so a lot of passing cars saw a woman vomiting while a feral blood covered wolf looking dog played with viscera.

#22

Saw a plane crash happen less than a mile away from where I was sitting and eating pizza at the time. That was something.

#23

A guy on a segway crashing into a hotdog stand.

#24

Years ago I was at work and a tornado just passed by the front window a few hundred feet away. The area was not even remotely known for getting tornadoes, I didn't even know it was possible at all. Upper management didn't let us leave but we did anyway and when the even upperer management learned of it, they fired the guy who tried to keep us there.

#25

Worked at a summer camp up north Michigan. Part of the camp was a horse corral, for teaching kids to go in circles and trail riding and all that. I get shaken awake in the middle of the night by an amorphous black shape that slowly revealed itself to be a fellow counselor. He's whisper yelling that the horses are out the horses are out. They had either not been locked up right that evening or an old latch had finally given up. 12 horses unaccounted for. I hop off my bunk and run outside in my boxers. Myself and the other counselors that have been pulled from our slumber are spread out, silently running around in the moonlight trying to track down each horse. 15 decibel chaos.

The story arrives at a point where I'm on a horse bareback in my underwear, emerging from the thicket to find some other brothers in underwear atop their own recovered steeds in the central cabin area. 15 decibel celebration. We split up again and the story ends with all horses back in the corral and a gang of teenagers climbing the trail back up to the cabins as the sun is greeting us through the trees.

#26

Saw a guy chase a runaway flamingo through a crowded park, total chaos, everyone screaming and cameras out.

#27

I watched a full on riot happen in a hotel lobby in Vegas.

I was at a music festival that got canceled the afternoon it was supposed to start. Several of the bands performing ended up booking super last minute shows at extremely weird venues. 3 of the bands ended up performing a show in the lobby of a hotel on the strip.

The hotel clearly had no idea how famous these bands were and were super pissed when they had a massive crowd in their lobby. The crowd was thirsty and still cranky about the festival getting canceled and eventually the crowd broke out into an all out brawl that the hotel security struggled to contain.

#28

I rounded a corner on a country road and a head to head collision just occurred. The front of one car was on fire, and the other car was off the road in a ditch and completely flattened in the front. The driver of the car on fire was physically okay and walking around with an adrenaline dump, his passenger was on his knees in passenger's seat flooring compartment, squished between the seat and the dash with the car smoldering beneath him.

It was not so much fun dragging him out of there because he had some back and hip injuries, but it happened anyway. The look of panic on his face when he realized he was pinned in there, then the pain of being ripped out of a smoldering car was something I'll probably not forget.

The person in the second car was alive but trapped inside of it and had to be extracted with the jaws of life. It was unexpected and wild to stumble upon. A lot of people stopped, just to sit around and watch.

Keep your eyes on the road out there..not your phones.

#29

I saw a guy on the subway eating a rotisserie chicken like an apple. No bag, no napkins, just vibes.

#30

Someone threw a watermelon down the stairs at someone in my library.

#31

Late 90's, Long Beach California. At the local dive bar outside smoking a cig, it was about 1am and getting busy. About 15 people outside and a guy starts pointing at people a yelling "you're the one!" He the starts swinging at people, then he pulls nail clippers out and starts thrusting the file at people screaming "you're the one!" A couple guys clock him and it doesn't phase him. 10 cops show up, it takes 5 to take him down, the hog tied him and put the bite/spit mask on him.

#32

Not me, but my uncle had gotten fired and decided to go on a trip. So he went and spent a few days in NYC. On the last day he decided to grab breakfast at a small dinner. While eating his food, he witnessed an airplane crash into a building less than a mile away.

This was September 11, 2001.

#33

The 1999 "Battle in Seattle", a huge protest downtown against the WTO meeting. Anti World Trade Organization.

Complete pandemonium that lasted for days. I worked in a highrise and had to walk from my place to downtown since the area was cordoned off by police on horseback.

No public transportation, so I wore hiking boots and jeans to walk a mile to the highrise where my law firm was located.

#34

People making sweet love in the mud, at a waterlogged music festival. No care about the crowds of people passing by.

#35

I was apart of an “Exercise” (Exercise- simulated what if scenarios for response) of an unauthorized entry to a flight line ……. 🤦‍♂️(sigh) …….Dude was called to a response for this and he drove on the flightline where the individual was last spotted. Near that individual was a stationed F-16, upon arrival he put the truck he was driving in neutral and what was meant to be on park, at this time he was on foot chasing the individual all while the truck was still moving and which then crashes into the pointy tip of the F-16 causing millions of dollars worth of damage 💀…..that’s not even the worst part lol. He had a partner with him as well sitting in the passenger seat and she couldn’t get out in time and the tippy part almost punctured her. Let’s just say that was a educational night for everyone 😂.

#36

Watching a guy have a heart attack/stroke at all- you-can-eat buffet. In front of his wife. Paramedics trying to bring him back to life. Awful stuff.

#37

Two septuagenarian men in safari gear getting into a physical fight with a pair of twenty-something women in the parking lot of a Midwestern renaissance fair.

#38

A [bare] guy at a gas station yelling for help while people in white coats and cops try to grab him while he yells “i know my freedoms!” Help me!

They took his clothes away because he kept escaping.

#39

Two people getting into a fist fight in the parking lot outside my university. A fist fight in-and-of itself isn't too chaotic. The car crash that ensued on the street because the driver slowed down to watch the fight? That was wild.

#40

A sword vs knife fight. I was parked, eating a sub sandwich at a city park in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. I watched two individuals get into an argument, one guy pulled out a sword and the other a knife.

#41

This isn't too bad, but it sort of changed my life path. I was in a British Literature class in college and these two guys are arguing about Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales". They stand up and start squaring up, getting ready for a fist fight. The professor calmed them down.

I decided that I couldn't be an English major any more. I just wasn't that passionate about it!

I ended up dropping out of school and working in a lab for years and years.

#42

Was in Queens visiting some family. Me and my brother were standing outside the house smoking a cigarette, we hear yelling and look down the street. We see 2 young dudes maybe early 20's arguing over a bottle of rum. Me and my brother look at each other and we're thinking the same thing, [something] crazy about to happen. We walk inside for 30 seconds, come back outside, and we see one of the guys take a knife and slash his own chest open from left shoulder to right lower ribs. He ended up collapsing in the middle of the street. I heard he actually survived.

#43

A car pulling out in front of a couple riding a motorcycle, causing them to hit her driver's side head on. They both flew off, flipping over her car like ragdolls. The woman landed mostly on her back, while the dude landed breaking both his legs. Screaming ensued, with the guy yelling and cussing at the driver as he was trying to stand up and couldn't. The woman was screaming and crying but not able to move. Neither were wearing helmets as it wasn't the law. The speed limit on that road was 40mph.

#44

In Delhi I saw a man being robbed of his belongings. The victim was defecating on the street while the robber reached for the wallet.

#45

I used to work in a public library. We had a decent number of computers but sometimes, rarely, they would fill up and we couldn't give current users time extensions. Usually this wasn't an issue but one day a young guy somewhere in his mid to late 20s came in wanting to game or whatever. Some librarians get weird about it but I’m not the Computer Police.

Unfortunately, he'd already had a time extension and the computers filled up. So when he asked for more time, we had to tell him no because we had people waiting. He couldn't cope. I can’t even give you a clear play by play because what happened next was straight-up Looney Tunes.

We look up and see him on someone else’s computer. The person had just stepped away to use the bathroom. They'd even left their stuff behind. Even if it hadn't been obvious that they weren't finished, you don't just get on a computer. They have to be logged out so personal files and browsing details can be cleared. Knowing this, he'd still sprinted over and claimed her terminal like he discovered new land. Her personal stuff, documents, emails, and social media were all still open. We told him nope, absolutely not, so he slunk off toward nonfiction like a raccoon caught in the trash.

A few minutes later we spot him again, diving onto another computer before the rightful user could sit down. This happened I don't know how many times. He caught on to us watching him so he began to run away the second one of us would stand up. He'd dash off through the stacks thinking, I don't know, maybe that we'd eventually give up? Probably not thinking at all, honestly.

We finally decided to kick him out of the library. He'd become a full-blown disruption, he was a grown adult who'd had enough chances, and we didn't need him running into other patrons. The problem was, he'd gotten squirrely. If he saw a staff person he recognized, he ran, and we weren't about to literally chase him through the library. That's not even appropriate.

I finally had enough and told the Assistant Director, an older beast of a woman who started her career as AD by getting into such a fantastic row with an unruly patron that she told them, "Let's take this outside". He didn't know who she was, she didn't have her name tag on, so she walked right up to him and calmly said, "Let's have a talk" while gesturing him off to the side.

I don't know what she said to him but he didn't come back.

#46

Worked security at a bar near Fenway Park in Boston on New Years Eve around 2006. Wasn't the usual spot I worked at, but the Fenway joint was the same owner, so I got sent there. Because they were understaffed, the friggen' place didn't have coat-check. It was just one long rack in their downstairs area. So one person would grab a coat, realize it wasn't theirs, discard it (usually onto the floor), repeat, etc. So at the end of the night many drunk, cold, and belligerent 20-somethings go to grab their coats and find that nobody's stuff was where they left it. People immediately got pissed off, fights broke out, etc. I basically just abandoned my post.

#47

Guy ran into the eye doctor's while it was raining, slipped, fell, and skid on his stomach halfway across the room.

When he was done he just laid on the floor. Everyone, including me, was too in shock to ask if he was okay so we all just stared at him for a while.

Then he got up. Then left through the door he fell in from.

#48

I was coming out of a movie theater as a kid and saw a vehicle run a red light in front of me, hit a Jeep (if I remember correctly) and then speed through the movie theater parking lot after the hit and run while other movie goers tried to stop them.

The Jeep caught fire and some other bystander rushed to get the driver out of the vehicle as it very quickly was engulfed in flames. The whole time I stood there slack-jawed. Completely unreal experience to witness after just coming out of the theater.

#49

Someone riding a shopping cart down a grocery store aisle while people were screaming and trying to stop them. Absolute chaos.

#50

My young dog was always chasing squirrels. Finally one day he caught one and bit down on it. The squirrel bit my dog’s lip. Both were crying and screaming . Finally my dog shook his head and the squirrel was let go. My dog never chased anyone squirrel after that.

#51

Grocery store before a blizzard and they suddenly shut down all the self-checkout lanes, presumably due to thefts. People who had been in line for 15-30 min and we had to get back in longer lines and some lost their s**t. I left because it was getting so volatile.

#52

The racial riots in the South during the 70's, when I was in middle school. No one was prepared for them.

#53

This is random and weird but it was so wild and we parked ourselves in the lobby because we needed to see the ending. We were checking out of a Comfort inn and some Karen type started yelling at the desk clerk. The elevator was out of order and her mother could not get down the stairs unaided. The woman went ballistic- saying they had an appointment( on a Sunday) with an attorney for a parole hearing. Sus, but whatever. Karen kept throwing a fit- the elevator was broken and the clerk could do nothing. They ended up calling paramedics to get the mom down the stairs. It was such a show. She made no sense, and she truly thought the louder and crazier she became that it would help.

#54

I once pulled up to a stop light and saw two car loads of girls in club dresses and heels having a brawl in the street. One girl had her weave ripped out, another had her dress pulled all the way up. Heels everywhere. Light turns green and they scurry to grab their items jump back night car and take off.

#55

A teenager stealing a phone and then some motorcycle guys followed him and punch him in the face and kicked his stomach and then they called the police and the teenager started vomiting.

#56

Tweeker riding a bike thru a 7-lane intersection looking down, doesn't stop as the light turned red. Almost makes it all the way across but the last car next to the turn lane on the other side did not see him and hits him. Was the first time I have ever seen somene "rag-dolled". Probabaly went atleast 30 ft in the air and almost landed on the median. Meanwhile I am on the opposite side from where he crossed the red light, just frozen, dudes not moving. Longest light of my life, another person went over to help. Either the person was going to take off his coat to cushion their head or just cover their face completely because the guy was for sure [gone]. NOPE! dude pops right up, limping but was able to cross back over and out of the way.

#57

Just recently I witnessed a guy get pepper sprayed while riding my local light rail system. As a result, the guy was in massive pain and refused to leave the train (even at the request of transit staff) until paramedics arrived. Many people were agitated and annoyed at the guy because of his refusal to leave.

The train was held up for ~20 minutes as a result of the incident. I was on my way to class and I was late for it as a result, though I told my professor about the incident and he understood.

#58

Older woman in stained, miss-matched clothes, clearly out of it, eating a bag of pickles with this sharp dressed younger man, rubbing himself on her and kissing her on the metro bus in Bratislava.

#59

A moving fight. Lived on the 4th floor and looked out of the window after hearing some commotion. A group of 12-15 people were walking down the street, yelling at one another, every few seconds a couple/few individuals would break off and throw hands then rejoin the rest of the group as it moved. Could not tell who was on what side or what they were beefing about but watched them go at least 2 blocks like that.

#60

Two homeless guys having a belt fight in the middle of a busy intersection.

#61

Worked at a car dealership in NJ during hurricane sandy. New cars come with a full tank of gas. No dealership I have worked at has it’s on gas pump, instead they have a contract with a local station. After sandy every station with gas (and a generator to power the pumps) had a multi mile long line. Everyone was stressed because they didn’t know when the station would run out of gas. The dealership sent us to fill up a bunch of cars. The cops opened up the line and we got right in. The amount of people getting out of their cars, yelling, honking, etc. despite police presence was impressive. We got out of there before anything went down but that was a tinderbox situation. Something would have happened if we were 10 minutes later when they did run out of gas. People were not happy.

#62

Just yesterday I was out walking and I right as I greeted a guy walking his dog, the dog weaseled out of his leash and flipped him over. He got right back up and kept calling for it.

#63

A plane crash. This was chaotic because of the circumstance but I was blown away at how efficient the emergency crews were.

It was a single engine two seater taking off from a local airport. It had mechanical failure and crashed nose first into the intersection on the corner. It was only blind luck that the intersection was clear.

My eyes saw the plane nose dive into the ground and break up. It took about 5 very long seconds for my brain to catch up and realize it wasn’t a car accident and that those were wings on the ground.

Everyone stopped their cars. Someone came running out from the auto garage on the corner and looked for the pilot. The man told all us waiting that it was a lost cause and airport emergency services were there in minutes.

I still work next to that airport and I think of the crash often. RIP Mr. Pilot.

#64

A team of horses pulling a carriage tour in downtown Charleston got spooked, reared, and tried to climb over a sedan with a family inside, trampling the trunk of the car with their hooves, spooking another carriage full of tourists that took off past us on the sidewalk at full speed with terrified passengers clinging to the carriage. Multiple cars damaged.

#65

Karens, like, plural. Four of them arguing with one cashier at once!

#66

On Halloween many years ago, I saw a teen that had to be between 15-17 run up to a child that had to be around 5-6, punched them in the face, grabbed their bag of candy and bolted. I dunno if the teen got caught. I hope he did. Everyone was more quick to check to make sure the child was alright. Who the [hell] does that to a little kid in front of multiple people out and about? That was just crazy to me.

#67

When I was a college student, a friend and I decided to go to the first Obama inauguration in DC. Like most people, we couldn't get tickets to the ceremony proper so we went to the National Mall where they had a couple of big screens broadcasting the whole thing. After the ceremony, we left. And so did everyone else.

I've never seen that many people.

You couldn't really move as an individual person; you just had to follow/ work your way through your crowd of 100s of people moving vaguely in the same direction until you could break off and join the next herd of people going in another direction.

At one point, one of our crowds just... stops moving forward. 100s of people trying very much to advance, but they literally cannot. Just walls and walls of people in every direction and all we can do is move towards one another.

A few people try to push, but luckily cooler heads prevail. Eventually, some people in very official looking uniforms start to direct the human traffic. But it still takes a good long while before my friend and I can move on. It was scary and confusing at the time, but over the years I've come to realize how dangerous that situation actually was. It's the closest I've ever come to being in a crowd crush and I'd like to never do it again.

Still wasn't as bad as the free cans of Red Bull Energy Coffee we had that morning, though.

#68

LAX during holiday travel.

#69

A group of teens raced shopping carts through a crowded mall food court.

#70

Just kids running around the restaurant. Thought of putting my foot out to trip the kid, but I ain't that bad.

#71

Imagine a 4 lane highway with a left and right exit at about the same point. I am in one of the middle lanes, and about 100 feet from where you could no longer enter either of the off ramps. Before me I see a UHaul box truck blast across all four lanes from the left exit to the right. Fully perpendicular to traffic. This person realized at the last possible second they were heading the wrong way, and despite having no hope of reaching the correct ramp, fully committed despite the danger.

And they made it all the way across this highway with nary a scratch. Until they were in the grass of the opposite ramp. This being a box truck, they weren't able to reorient when they reached their destination. So the driver overshot and again landed in the on coming traffic of the other exit ramp. They proceed to get t-boned by an F250. Which then forced the UHaul into the exit sign and ripping it off it's supports.

#72

The arrival of the Dutch version of Santa Claus many years ago in my hometown. Dutch people come in two flavours: those who parent and those who don't. The latter group will push their kids past the kids of the first group, teaching them that cutting in line and pushing totally works. When the initially well behaved kids of the first group catch wind of this, all bets are off. There will just be a cloud of dust with grasping hands sticking out of it, demanding candy and raising a level of shrieking that will split your eardrums.

Parents will hold cigarettes on kids' eye level to enforce personal space, telling other parents to stop whining about kids being kids while yelling at Santa and his helpers to not forget their candy while other parents try to reign in their kids, who are now beyond recall.

My very pregnant sister with a toddler in a pushchair was almost pressed into delivering against a crowd control barrier. The main culprit was a man arriving late with his kid who did not understand the simple instruction of "stop pushing" and who kept yelling "my son did not get anything yet!". My 4yo daughter was dragged backwards by her hair by his son as he watched and nodded.

We elbowed our way out and told the kids Santa had sent his candy for them to our homes. It was bad before when my sons were younger, but the share of people who have the experience that [bad] behaviour pays off has risen to critical mass apparently. Never again.

#73

Was sitting in a window seat at a restaurant watching an obviously drunk driver fishtailing down the road while towing a fishing boat.. right in front of the restaurant the trailer swung wide and hit a car waiting at the traffic light, the boat flew off the trailer did a complete 180° in the air and landed on the opposite side of the street while the driver kept going.. someone flagged him down about 1/2 mile away.. dude pulled a U turn in the middle of a busy road, hit 3 cars, one that was towing jet skis, and parked on the curb next to his boat. He then proceeded to start picking up the coolers and beer and fishing poles and tossing them in the boat like "oops I dropped this".. he was so obliterated he had no idea what happened.. all of this happened in the span of about 2 minutes.. it was wild..

#74

Years ago, heading home from Lincoln, Nebraska to Minneapolis. Boarding one very small commercial jet -- looked like a flying cigar -- one seat on each side of the aisle, maybe ten rows. We're mostly on board and look out to see the last passenger working to get up the little stairs. She's HUGE, and we all had to press ourselves to the windows to make space for her passage. You guessed it, last seat in the back. Anyway, her boarding took the plane past its tipping point. The front wheel rose up 'til the tail hit the tarmac. Cabin was so tilted up, no one could leave their seat. Ground crew worked to pull us back down. Everyone had to get off to check for damage. When we reboarded, it was just me and a couple others. Lady was no longer there. The rest of the passengers bailed while we were still on the ground.

#75

I was walking my malamute on a busy street close to a school when he all of a sudden dove into a bush and jumped back out with a sick rabbit between his jaws. He proceeded to shake it and it made horrible piercing squeaky sounds, then he put his paws on it and ripped out it’s intestines. All the while parents with young kids were passing by in cars and on bikes. Oh lord the screaming… the amount of kids my dog traumatised that day 🤦‍♀️.

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