This was the incredible question someone posed on Reddit: What’s the most awkward situation you’ve ever been in with a stranger?
12,000+ comments later… we have these gems!
1. That amused sparkle…
This happened to me in Japan. I was in a clothing store and my wife was shopping.
Being the dutiful husband that I am, I remained silent and stayed out of the way, barely moving a muscle.
A little girl, maybe 4 years old, approached from one side and slipped her hand into mine.
I looked down. She must’ve thought “Wow, this mannequin’s hand is warm.” Then it clicked.
She looked up at me with such a look of terror.
In a flash, she was gone, and I hope she will forever remember with terror the amused sparkle in my eyes.
2. Pure fear!
One time, I was in a parking lot waiting to get into my friend’s dad’s car.
I saw a car that looked identical to the one I needed to get into, so I got into it.
It turned out, it was not the car I was supposed to be in.
The stranger’s expression of pure fear still pops into my head from time to time.
3. The gas station
When I was a teenager, my friends and I would spend the weekends staying up late playing video games and eating junk food. I was also a cross country runner, and on this particular night, I was experiencing some extreme chafing from a long run I took earlier that day.
While we were at the gas station getting Doritos and energy drinks, I announced to who I thought was my friend, “Man, my pecs really hurt.” Upon realizing it was a complete stranger with whom I had just shared this intimate detail, I simply stared at him and said, “You’re not my friend” and walked away.
I didn’t go back to that gas station for a long time.
4. Tickle, tickle, tickle…
My wife and I went out for a drink one night.
We walked into the bar and I immediately saw someone I knew. I walked up behind him and tickled his sides. It turned out, I didn’t know this person.
He just gave me a weird look and walked away. We got his spot at the bar though.
5. Hey franges!!
I had just pulled into a parking spot at the mall. I saw my friend and his girlfriend pull in a few spaces past mine.
Thinking it would be funny, I snuck up to their car and started slapping their window like a crazy person.
It turned out, it was not them in that car.
I still cringe years later remembering the look of pure terror on that poor girl’s face.
6. You’re not my dad!
We were lining up for Disney’s Tower of Terror.
12-year-old me spent the entire lineup desperately trying to catch the attention of a cute guy who was there with his dad. I ended up sitting in the same car as him on the ride.
As the ride started, I grabbed my mom’s hand for support.
Near the end, I realized that my mom was on the other side of me and I’d been holding hands with the cute guy’s dad the entire time.
7. Deleted!
I was at a bar with my brother’s old phone.
A random girl asked me if she could use my phone to call her own because she had lost it. She began dialing her number and bam, right there on the screen is her name saved on my phone.
My brother’s contacts must have transferred when I took his phone. Her eyes got real big and she looked up at me with what could only be described as confused fear!
I tried to ask her if she knew my brother, to which she said she did, but she was obviously still weirded out.
She deleted her number from the phone and fled so fast.
8. Dat ass!
I was at a bar with some friends watching a basketball game, and this guy kept asking me to check out his girlfriend every time she went away.
For example, when she got up to go outside for some air, he stayed in and was like: “Be honest, is that not the best butt you’ve ever seen?”
He did this several times. I felt so uncomfortable, and there’s no nice way of putting it — she wasn’t attractive whatsoever to me.
I’m glad that guy is happy with her, though.
9. Awkward, but necessary…
My boyfriend and I were with another friend and we were walking home from a movie.
We came across a guy sitting in a small patch of grass rocking back and forth. My boyfriend wanted to keep walking, but I felt the need to ask if he was okay. He immediately broke down and said he wanted to end it all. It turned into a really awkward situation because the other two didn’t know what to do.
We ended up sitting with him for a while as he broke down, and we called emergency services because he was apparently very far from home.
He eventually calmed down enough and we drove him to the hospital. He was very thankful once he was there and safe.
I still think about him every time I walk past that patch of grass, I really hope he is okay.
10. Cheese explosion!
During my first week at college as a freshman, I wandered into the cafeteria, still unsure of how things worked.
I spotted a pizza station and waited in line. I grabbed a slice of pizza with the pizza slice grabber, but the scalding hot pizza slid off and landed face down on the cute girl’s foot behind me.
Sauce and hot cheese explode everywhere up her leg. And since it was the end of summer, she was wearing sandals.
In a panic, I muttered “I’m so sorry,” and ran out of the cafeteria without eating for the rest of the day.
11. “Nevermind me!”
I worked at Old Navy and some lady was looking at men’s shirts.
She stopped me and held up a shirt to me, asking if I thought it would fit her son. I looked around and no one else was there.
We stood in silence for maybe 30 seconds before she started laughing and said, “Oh! Haha, you don’t know my son; he lives in Michigan. Nevermind me! Haha.”
And then she went and bought it.
12. “I could be!”
On a trip to Orlando, my husband, son, and I spent some time in the swimming pool at our hotel.
There was a large family enjoying a family reunion at the hotel that week as well. They were a super nice family! We were all kind of hanging out together and our kids were playing.
Well, imagine my surprise when I watched my husband swim into the shallow end and wrap his arms around a woman standing there.
He burst out of the water and said, “Oh, you’re not my wife!” to the 50-something lady.
She said, “I could be!”
He has since had Lasik!
13. What. A. Dick.
A woman at a gas station didn’t know how to put air in her tires, so I helped her.
She called her husband on speaker phone to let him know she found some nice man to help her. Then, I heard him call her an idiot and say that I was only helping her because I wanted to get together with her.
She stammered and tried to explain that nothing was going on between us.
After she got off the phone, she looked at me as if her husband just caught her cheating. No thank you; nothing.
And for some reason, I felt guilty for even helping her out.
14. British things…
Not long ago, I made a short visit to the local supermarket on my usual dog walk.
My dog was tied up outside, and as I was crouched down to unclip him a woman came out of the shop and fell over me.
For a few brief seconds, I was sandwiched between my dog and an old woman.
We’re British though, so everyone looked embarrassed and we both said sorry.
15. Nose rip!
The most awkward moment of my life thus far was with a stranger. I was in a Quebec airport going through customs with my family. Because of some recent changes to their system, they didn’t have everyone in a line, but instead in a large pen where they would release around 50 people at a time.
When my family got to the front, they released us and everyone was running forward in a mass, trying to get to the kiosks. Next to me was a tall Swedish man trying to get his family a kiosk; he was running forward and waving his arm behind him in a “come on” motion, clearly frantic. Well, somehow his middle and pointer fingers went perfectly into my two nose holes.
As he then ripped his arm upwards to motion his family forward, my nose was also ripped forward, and I immediately began bleeding everywhere.
He looked at me in horror, and the customs agents looked at me in bewilderment. The language barriers made the situation all the more awkward!
Those were the cringiest, craziest stories!
What’s yours?
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