If you spend any time around other people, you already know that sometimes people can act rather foolishly. Whether by accident or deliberately, the fact that it sometimes happens still stands.
Today, let’s look at specific real-life examples of such accidents. In fact, these instances seemed so foolish-looking from the side that the only proper reaction to them was ‘Are you kidding me?’ And if the examples don’t provoke such a reaction in you… Well, you might be able to stomach weirdness more than these netizens.
More info: Reddit
#1
Student thought the UK and France were both in America. I pondered this for a moment then asked ‘what, like states?’
‘whats states?’ he gurgled back at me.
‘states, like the United States.’ Blank look. ‘of America.’
‘The what?’
‘the USA?’
‘That’s not a real place though.’
‘So where did you think the UK is then?’
‘IN America’ (huge emphasis on the preposition, as if I were being wilfully obtuse.)
Edit: student was British and in Year 9 (so about 13-14).
Image source: anon, simonapilolla
#2
Customer: What’s your soup of the day?
Me: Chicken noodle.
Customer: Oh is that vegan?
Me: . . .
Image source: krustykrabpizza9417, chandlervid85
#3
I have a last name that is common but comes in multiple spellings. Think Smith/Smyth. I always spell the name out when I tell people my last name because mine is the less common method. I was checking into a hotel and the employee checking me in was having a hard time finding our reservations. I believe it was her first day so she asked the manager for help. I tell him how to spell my name but he wasn’t really listening. More of a let me show this new girl how it is done.
After what seemed like 20 minutes he says “Oh here it is. Someone misspelled your name. They put a y instead of an I”
Me: “That is the correct spelling”
Him: “No it isn’t! I know how to spell Smith. I am going to change it in our system it will only take me a second”
That was the day I realized I didn’t know how to spell my own name.
Image source: Themapples07, freepik
There have probably been instances in each of our lives where he has mumbled ‘Are you kidding me?’ or anything along those lines. Essentially, it’s a form of expressing surprise or disbelief over someone’s actions or words – just a fancy way of saying “are you being serious?” or “I can’t believe this.”
The mentioned disbelief may be caused by a variety of factors, as today’s list illustrates. In fact, in it you’ll find the experiences various people had, to which the only sane reaction was ‘are you kidding me?’, just how weird or straight-up foolish they were.
#4
I got suspended for the horrendous crime of taking Tylenol on school property last year. I was waiting for the shuttle to marching band practice when I had cramps, and there was no way to get to the nurse and back to the bus stop on time. I of course complained about my impending miserable practice to a few friends and one offered me Tylenol. Practice went great, I thought nothing of it. Next day my friend and I were dragged to the office and interrogated because someone told the school I took 6 illegal pills. I never had broken a rule before that so I was panicking. I remember the quote of the year being “if it was just Tylenol that doesn’t explain why you’re so upset right now”. Apparently I was the only person at that school who cared when they were in trouble. They ended up confirming it was Tylenol though, and just when I thought Truth, Justice, and the American Way had prevailed, they suspended me anyway.
Image source: notkathy56, freepik
#5
I used to work at an animal shelter. A woman brought in a Rottweiler puppy, age 8 weeks. Said she was surrendering it because she did not realize it would get that big. O.O
(Honestly, though, thank you thank you thank you lady. You brought him in young, cute, and supremely adoptable and not a year and a half later, out of control and completely unsocialized from living in your yard. You did the right thing!).
Image source: IThinkThingsThrough, Genadi Yakovlev
#6
G2A customer service.
Me: “I’d like to exchange this game because I meant to get it for Steam but accidentally bought it for gog.”
G2A: “Send us the key so we can verify it’s unredeemed.”
Me: *sends key*
G2A: “We can’t refund it because you looked at the key.”
Got my refund via PayPal, never buying from g2a again.
Image source: anon, Getty Images
While you could write off many of these instances to people being sheer stupid, we shouldn’t generalize about anyone this way, especially when we know so little. After all, one event does not paint an accurate picture of someone.
In fact, writing off anyone as completely stupid is… well, rather foolish. People are not two-dimensional beings that can be viewed on a “black or white” scale – the grey place exists too.
#7
“Do you know how to read a tape measure?” This was an interview for a job doing construction.
Image source: srgoodguy, Curated Lifestyle
#8
When people correct me about my last name, or claim to know where it originates. Here’s a typical cringe conversation I have about it:
“My last name is (last name)”
“Oh, you mean (mispronounces last name)”
“No, it’s pronounced (correct last name)”
“Well, in Russia its pronounced my way”
“…my last name isn’t Russian, it’s German.”
“Actually, I know it’s Russian and…blah blah blah (I stop listening at this point)”.
Image source: anon, Getty Images
#9
My biology teacher insisted people with Downs do NOT have an extra chromosome.
Image source: rigiied, Getty Images
What we mean by that is that if someone is knowledgeable in one area, it doesn’t mean they’re completely clueless in the other. For instance, if I’m interested in cars and other vehicles, I might not know about them a lot, but I might be knowledgeable in other areas that are more fascinating for me.
What’s more interesting about it is the fact that most of the time, “stupidity” comes from ignorance, and thus cannot really be called the first term. Looking at the very rigid definition of ignorance, it is “the lack of knowledge, education, or awareness.” And while that explains the idea, it kind of lacks the point of it usually being something that’s chosen.
#10
Flat earthers and people with common sense alike will enjoy this one.. I was talking to my professor after class just about some space stuff, and this girl was listening in on us. She interrupted with a question, “Wait, aren’t we like, inside the earth??” She believed that we were inside a globe where space was in the middle. I am sure her world opened up (pun intended) quite a bit after we explained to her that that is entirely incorrect.
Image source: anon, A Chosen Soul
#11
I had a teacher in a base level chem-phys class yell at my class after everyone failed a test because we hadn’t been taught half of the unit.
His exact words were “it’s not my job to teach you the materials”.
Image source: lorganna, Getty Images
#12
I had a college professor scold the class for helping each other study for exams because she stated we were all competing for a program spot/future job and needed to be more competitive. She magically was not teaching any classes next semester.
Image source: SheZowRaisedByWolves, RDNE Stock project
By this, we mean that a lot of times people choose to ignore something, hence the term’s name. Like with the mentioned example, you might choose not delve into certain topics because they do not interest you. But interest isn’t the only driving force behind ignorance. Selfishness can be too.
Like this study showed, sometimes people deliberately choose not learn something, just so they could have an excuse to act selfishly, like when a person ignores the information about the problematic origins of the products they buy, just because they really want them. Basically, you choose to close your eyes in certain moments; that’s what ignorance is.
#13
Worked for Bath & Body Works.com customer service for years. It was nothing but “are you kidding me” moments.
One winter we had hand soaps with a cartoon polar bear and penguin on the label, wearing scarves and sledding or something. I had a lady call and shout at me for nearly an hour about how inaccurate that is, since polar bears and penguins don’t live in the same place. She demanded that I tell her why we put them on the label together.
I didn’t last much longer after that.
Image source: anon, Bath&Body Works
#14
Going to the dreaded blue store and a woman on her phone nearly pulls into me (big blue dodge van) as she suddenly decides she needs to be in the turn lane and then nearly rear ends me because she assumed we would just continue to go when the light changed to red (there were two cars ahead of me too). If that wasn’t bad enough she nearly hits me again in the parking lot as she drives across the parking spots and has the nerve to flip me off when I honk at her to stop her from slamming into me.
Image source: LibrarianBelle, stefamerpik
#15
My boyfriend (gay couple, so the stereotype makes this 10x worse) was looking up who the voice actor for Sephiroth from Kingdom Hearts was. He says “Lance Bass”, and I’m like “oh dang! from Nsync?”
He has no idea who Nsync is. We live in America, we’re both 90’s kids in our mid-20’s. I listed off a couple songs and he still had no idea. I’ve never been so taken aback by something like that.
Image source: RuPaulver, *NSYNC
Others argue that it can be a rather spiritual practice. When you ignore something, you have more time and mental power to magnify something else, which can be a positive thing. Essentially, if properly applied, ignorance combined with magnification can lead to one’s joy and creativity. Sounds a bit like our given example previously, doesn’t it?
So, what we want you to carry out of this piece is that while sometimes people do foolish things, it does not define them. That means that while all those examples you’ll read in today’s listicle might just be one-of examples. Or they might not be, but we don’t know these people enough to make assumptions.
Have you ever witnessed anything that made you murmur, “‘Are you kidding me?’ Please, share!
#16
“Wait. Aren’t potatoes from cows or something? Why can vegans eat them?”
This grown man thought Potatoes were from animals.
Edit: we were eating fries, he was clearly talking about the vegetable.
Image source: SuxAtGaming, EyeEm
#17
I started casually dating a guy that I met on Tinder. My best friend at the time kept going on and on about this awesome guy that she had met at the beach that also happened to live in the same town as us. My new guy informed me his brother met someone at the beach that lived in our town and that they were talking. Have you put it together yet?? Small, small world.
Image source: yyellowpaintt, freepik
#18
Denied a drivers license because my birth certificate was “invalid” for having a tiny hole in the center. I waited 4 hours.
Image source: throwaway987612943, syda_productions
#19
I spent a long time saving money to go to Paris from America. For the sole purpose of spending a couple days at the Louvre. I am there just in immersing myself in an art high and boom. I bump into the nasty lady from my hometown who talked a bunch of stupid things about me to an ex and caused our breakup.
Image source: Liar_tuck, prostooleh
#20
This girl I went to school with told me she didn’t believe in four leaf clovers. Not the “luck” part, but that they exist at all.
She said it was because she didn’t believe in things she’s never seen. She also said she didn’t believe in shooting stars until she saw one a month earlier. It also came up that she thinks the moon landing was faked so the US wouldn’t lose to the Russians. I told her I couldn’t prove the moon landing, but I’ve found four leaf clovers before and assured her they’re real.
Last week she asked if you could recycle an orange peel. Like, put it in a recycling bin.
Image source: isfjkatie, EyeEm
#21
One time a customer noticed my engagement ring and told me that it was “the most beautiful sapphire she’d ever seen”. I thanked her, but explained it was actually a topaz, to which she replied “That’s absolutely a sapphire. I love sapphires, and they’re my birth stone, so I KNOW a sapphire when I see one”. Obviously, she didn’t.
Another time that was a pretty equal ” you HAVE to be kidding moment” was once when my grandmother-in-law came over. I adopted a dog that was abandoned after hurricane Harvey, and later found out she was pregnant. She’s half chow and half shibe, very bright ginger and large. We kept one of her puppies, a very tiny, Solid black dog. We have a hunch that he is a schipperke, which not many people have heard of. I pulled up photos and a behavioral description of a schipperke to show her. The puppy is pretty much what they describe, so her response was “How do you know he’s not a full-bred schipperke??”. I said “Well, because we own his mom” and she argued back “She might be a schipperke too!”. She fully knew that my sbibe/chow was the mother, and both dogs were in the room during this conversation. Couldn’t believe it.
Image source: tiffyjeevas11255, Gary Yost
#22
An acquaintance posted something on my Facebook wall attacking me. He didn’t use any punctuation at all. I asked him if he could explain what he meant and use punctuation this time so I could follow his argument. He told me that “grammar didn’t matter because schooling was invented by the devil.” Then he posted a link on my wall about the Deluder Satan Act.
He was promptly blocked.
Image source: IamTheDoctor16, The Yuri Arcurs Collection
#23
A customer in the restraunt I work in had a seizure and an ambulance was called. My reaction when the ambulance pulled up was to prop he door open for the paramedics so they could get in faster. The assistant managers reaction was to complain to me about how they parked right in front of the entrance, and that they should have more respect for the business…
Image source: Jafarah, stefamerpik
#24
I spent 30 minutes talking to a flat earther.
A REAL flat earther.
Image source: TheEnderCobra, EyeEm
#25
There used to be a minecraft server (mcsg) and for like the two year anniversary they did a live stream and they were giving away ranks. The grand prize was a rank that you weren’t able to buy and a tshirt. Now it was getting around that time when my parents yelled at me saying, “You’ll never win! Get off the dang computer!” So after a minute or two of protest I gave up. They left to go shopping a little bit later so as soon as they left I hopped back on the stream. The guy said, “ok he isn’t here lets reroll.” I asked the chat who won. Guess who it was? Meeeeeeeeee. Some nice guy won a rank that he already had and i guess he felt bad because he gave it to me.
Image source: LapizVGC, Oberon Copeland @veryinformed.com
#26
I’m a professional driver in a city full of people who are on par with baboons on illegal substances for the average quality of commuter. I see all kinds of stuff.
But the #1 “Are you kidding me?” in traffic I think was when I saw a guy on the freeway (3 lanes on our side) pull over onto the left shoulder, proceed to go into reverse and **slowly crawl across all three lanes**
He was in the far left lane and missed his exit so he backed up on the opposite side and then strolled across 3 lanes of fast moving traffic. I’ve yet to see a more douchey maneuver that was so blatantly selfish and had total disregard for other driver’s safety.
Image source: InferiousX, M. R.
#27
You know that feeling when you drop something? Then you try to pick it up six or seven times and your hands just can’t GRAB IT? It just keeps slipping out of your hands and you just stare at it like “fine. This is your home now. On the floor like the dirt you are.”.
Image source: anon, Eduardo Ramos
#28
Smashed a cockroach with a 5 pound hammer.
It scuttled away.
If it hadnt been a friends house on a military base.,..i would have just burned it down.
Image source: WeirdWolfGuy, aukid
#29
We were doing an event at a school for some tuition program – and one question was asking what they wanted to be when they grew up. It turned into a debate since half the class said they wanted to be astronauts and one kid kept shouting how the moon landing was fake, and outer space was fake.
Man, they sure do get them while they’re young.
Image source: avilsta, History in HD
#30
My license got suspended for several months because a woman with my exact name (not at all common) got caught driving without insurance and the officer mistakenly assigned the ticket to me. After finally figuring out what happened, my boyfriend and I had to take a day off work and drive an hour to the town she got the ticket in to go to court and basically prove I wasn’t her. After I was cleared it still took well over a month for my license to be reinstated. It was so inconvenient and beyond frustrating because I had done absolutely nothing wrong! Fast forward two years and I’m denied when trying to get a library card because the same woman had a late fee for a Fast and Furious 6 dvd.
Image source: HellFlamed_Paradise, pixel-shot.com
#31
Arount 2 years ago, an older lady that works for our company called our IT helpdesk asking us to remotely download all her data from her company iPad (something we cant do) because she left it in the buggy of a target parking lot because it started raining and she didnt want her hair to get wet. Instead of grabbing it/ waiting/even calling target later she just left a 700 dollar iPad in the child seat of the buggy.
The second “are you kidding me” moment came when she got pissed and wanted to talk to our manager because we wouldn’t call apple and make them try to download the data. She told my boss she had pictures from her daughters graduation and granddaughters’ birth on it and (he usually silently ties us into any conversations people want to have about us) he told her she should consider reading the message about personal data that comes up every time she logs into a company computer.
A few weeks ago target called us to tell us that they found her iPad in the former store manager’s office, he apparently wiped the data on it and was using it for himself. He forgot to remove the property control sticker from the back though.
Image source: whornacia
#32
Hospital worker, here. This happened last week.
A patient was brought into ED with a fresh, poisonous snake bite. The pharmacy was called to prep the anti venom once the species was identified.
The pharmacy then REFUSED to prepare the mixture and insisted that because the patient was ill equipped to pay for the therapy, (and that they were to be transferred to another hospital) it would be a waste and an undo expense to give them anything.
The provider, who insisted the pharmacy was wrong, had to make several demands which were all ignored. The patient was withheld the therapy and undeservingly had an increased risk to their life.
Finally, the CFO made the “call” to allow the medicine to be given—at which point the patient was already in transit to another facility.
Thanks, for profit hospitals!
Image source: _Zealand_
#33
My husband’s grandma was sure carrying our baby daughter in the detachable part of the car seat was going to cause the shaken baby syndrome she had heard about on TV. A car seat designed to protect the baby in case of a car accident?
Image source: NANDINIA5
#34
I’m eating Christmas brunch with my Mom, Dad, sis, SIL, niece, and nephew. Mom says “did everyone one get their Christmas money?” Sis and her family say yes. I say (lightheartedly) no. Dad grumbles at me “we’ll you don’t get any money because you don’t celebrate Christmas.” We were literally eating the Christmas brunch I made, consisting of a ton of food including filet mignon. Thanks Mom and Dad! Keep insisting she’s not your favorite, ha ha!
Image source: loritree
#35
When I mentioned something about prostate cancer my cousin goes, “Prostate cancer, that means a guy has no balls!”
I get confused and ask, “Do you even know where the prostate is?”
“Yeah it’s in your balls!”
Years later I still remind him of this.
Image source: anon
#36
TLDR: Ex cheats on me, leaves me for him, and expects me to still pay for her brand new car.
At one point I was engaged. I was together with this girl for nearly 7 years. Her car died so I bought her a brand new one of her choice. She wanted something small and easy to drive with good storage space so she chose a Scion xD. We drove 4 hours to the next state to get one in the color that she wanted.
A few months later she’s leaving me to be with an older mid 30s, unemployed, uneducated, no skills, married loser who she knows fulls well is cheating on his wife with her. He stayed at home all day while his wife worked. They would do their thing together and be sure to get him back home before his wife so she wouldn’t know.
Well, here’s this brand new car. It was in my name. I was making the payments. And she’s leaving me to go be with this mutual cheater. I told her that she had two options regarding this car. She could either get a loan to purchase this car off of me or I’m taking the car back. I’m not going to pay ~$18,000 after interest for a car for you now.
She wasn’t happy about this. She was also using my old cell phone since she broke hers. I told her that I wanted my phone back, too. After I got it back I looked at what she left on it. She deleted the contact of her new cheater fuckboy but the text messages remained. I knew his number so it was easy to see who she was talking to.
She was saying to him that I was “driving her crazy” about this car and that I wouldn’t just leave her alone about it.
You think that you can leave me for the guy that you were cheating on me with and that I’m still going to pay for this brand new car of your choice for you?
**Are you kidding me?**.
Image source: Zediac
#37
Told this story before but here we go.
TL;DR: Boyfriends friends threw him two birthday parties back to back and forgot to invite us to both, while posting all over Snapchat about the parties.
My boyfriend’s 21st birthday was on a friday. It wasn’t one of the big ones, so he just wanted to hang out with a couple friends and have a few drinks. So his friends are like “yeah we’ll all go to the trailer and party, we’ll text you when we’re all ready”.
Bf and I go home and get ready and wait for the text. 4 hours later, bf checks Snapchat and all his buddies are partying, at the trailer. We never got the text. He’s understandably upset, so I suggested we just go there anyway, maybe the text didn’t go through cause service is notoriously bad. He’s upset though, so we just had a quiet evening in, watched a movie and shared a couple bottles of wine.
Next day, bf texts the group chat like “what? why didn’t anyone text me”. Cue a slew of texts from everybody apologizing, all saying they’d make it up to him that night, they’d get back to him with a time (this was early afternoon)
Well wouldn’t ya know it, the SAME THING happened that night. He promptly dropped those friends from his life.
Image source: ashrose4789
#38
Last week I forgot my keys inside the house and I didn’t find out until I drove all the way home and walked up three flights of stairs and couldn’t get in the door. So then I realize I need to drive to my husbands job because he won’t be home for hours. I drove there, grabbed his keys and I’m on my way back home and just as I’m unlocking the door my dang phone dings telling me he gave me his car keys too so I need to come back. So at this point I’m furious because I just worked 9 hours and have wasted over 2 hours in the car due to pure stupidity. What a great day….
EDIT: No the keys are not on the same ring, and there is a reason for this. One time I locked my keys in the car and I couldn’t get into the house to get my spare car key because they were all on one ring. So since then I keep them separate.
Image source: rihannaiguana
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