Most of the memories that stick with us are of pivotal moments in our lives, perhaps getting that job that kickstarted your career or the day you met your soulmate. However, memories are a fickle thing and some people have the unfortunate experience of meeting a stranger so horrible that they still carry the story with them. 

An internet user, out of morbid curiosity no doubt, wanted to hear other’s worst experiences with total strangers. And people delivered, with stories ranging from bizarre to downright terrifying. So be warned, some potential unpleasantness ahead. If you do stay, be sure to upvote your favorite (however you choose to interpret that) and share your own stories in the comments. 

#1

Me, a child: playing with toys in Walmart

a random stranger: “I’d like you to play with my little boy toy.”

My Dad, just on the other end, watching me doesn’t say a word to the man just grabs him and throws him across the aisle. Then screams out, “If you want to play with him. You’re gonna have to play with me first!”

Image credits: HoHerm

#2

I work in retail and once a customer jiggled my belly and said ‘I see the diet stuff doesn’t work here’ I know it doesn’t seem much but I keep comeing back to it. It was just so IDK invasive?

Image credits: brumbles2814

#3

A guy sneezed in my face on the subway, and after s******g on him verbally he just shrugged and made it out to be no big deal. Since i couldnt do anything but verbally abuse him i left to find another seat. 2 days later i almost reachter 41 degrees…. Havent been sick like that my whole life. Literally and figuratively. Im still wearing masks in subs cuz of this s**t.

Image credits: Bradur-iwnl-

Unfortunately, there are people out there who are somehow entirely blind to social norms and will flagrantly break them without a thought. In a few cases, this could be simple ignorance or lack of ability to read social cues. Everyone knows someone who is probably well-meaning but ends up being downright annoying to be around. 

But many of the cases listed here go much further than, say, a loud belch at a dinner table or an awkward question about one’s love life. These encounters veer into downright antisocial behavior, which at “best” are a nuisance and at worst, could be seen as a crime. Traditionally, this is seen as part of a personality disorder, but more contemporary psychologists believe it could, instead, be a result of certain issues in upbringing. 

#4

Back in the ’70s, I was riding in a car that my best friend’s mother was driving on a highway. There was me, my friend, her brother, and a couple of other kids in the car. The age range for the kids was about 7 to 9 years old. It was a warm day, and my friend’s mother had her window rolled down (no air conditioning). A car full of teenagers pulled alongside of her, and someone threw a full cup of ice water through the window at her. I got hit by it, too, because I was sitting in the front seat next to her. She managed not to lose control of the car. In retrospect, it was incredibly fucked up to try and cause a lady with a car full of kids to crash.

Image credits: jemy74

#5

My grandmother was at the movies, and a guy walked up the aisle and punched her on the side of the head. He told the cops he was mad because he was on a bad blind date. Like…great excuse to wallop a 75-year-old woman minding her own business?

Image credits: BarracudaImpossible4

#6

I was about 11 and me and some friends were standing on a small bridge over a lake. All of a sudden I was picked up and thrown over the railing into the lake below. I tried to grab onto anything I could as I fell and scrapped my arms up pretty good. I still have scars 30 years later. So I swim to the side and some older kid comes up to me and just say – sorry, I thought you were someone else.

Image credits: discostud1515

The generally accepted cause of antisocial behavior is upbringing or a lack thereof. This is a sort of double-edged sword, as it lets us pinpoint how to prevent it, but unfortunately, it offers little hope for people who are already adults. The upside is the policymakers, social workers and just people who live in a community can all do their part to help, but it also means they generally have to suffer at the hands of existing, antisocial adults. 

#7

Some asshole tossed a lock (like the combination type) out of a car at me and hit me in the knee. I had trouble walking correctly for a month. I always thought if they had stopped at a light, I’d have hurled that bitch right back (good thing they didn’t — I wasn’t in any condition for a fight)

Image credits: Ok_Relationship_705

#8

Dude parked his 18 wheeler in the middle of the road and started walking into Dunkin Donuts. I told him to move his truck, and the guy ran to my car and started punching my drivers window calling me a “f*****g liberal pussy”. Then he stopped and rubbed his hand in pain and I pointed and laughed at him and said “Try the other hand now!” He said something else I didn’t hear because I was still laughing and he walked away. Cops came and gave the guy a summons and made him move the truck.

Image credits: NickelAntonius

#9

When I started 3rd grade, I transferred to a new school. The school I went to prior was an abnormally small private catholic school. I think they only had about 5 teachers and under 30 students total. This school was so small, the cafeteria doubled as an art classroom. With the size of the school, it was also very protected. Everyone in the school was friends with each other. There were no such things as bullies, because everyone’s parents were friends, and those parents were also great friends of the teachers. Aside from the occasional pre-pubescent children nagging and whining amongst ourselves and outbursts that young kids have, it was pretty great of an atmosphere.

When I got to my new school on the first day, which was a public school in Pittsburgh. I was so out of my element it was insane. I couldn’t comprehend why everyone wore different clothes, why there were so many people, why the teachers were so brash and somewhat aggressive. Nobody seemed friendly, nothing made sense. It was a total culture shock.

Fast forward to lunch, they announced they had a salad bar. This was the most normal part of the day for me, because at my old school we usually had lunches like salad bars. I made a few acquaintances prior to lunch which gave me tremendous relief as the biggest worry I had that day was wondering if i’d have to eat lunch by myself or with a table of people i dont know. Me and the two other kids at the time made it through the lunch line and got to the salad bar. I started to fix up my tray with the most wonderful salad a kid could ask for – lettuce, ranch, croutons, bacon bits. As soon as i turned away from the salad bar, a very tall and lanky girl with zany pigtails in braids just stood in front of me and practically made sure i would “accidentally” walk right into her. The obvious outcome; My tray collided with her tray, which sent the salad flying, covering her mostly in ranch dressing. I lost all of my salad, and everyone was f*****g chuckling about it. She decided to start crying and it went from bad to even worse, because i had the teachers rush over to me and grab me by my arm and drag me to the principles office.

I got yelled at for about 10 minutes and was told that my first impression was certainly not a good one, and the girl had to have her parents come in and bring her a change of clothes. Nobody would listen to my side of the story, and this idiot told everyone that i threw my salad at her so she would “get out of my way”. I never met this girl in my life, i didnt even know she existed prior to her sabotaging me and making me go hungry. When i explained that it was an accident, they would retort with “how? You saw her standing there”.

I sat in the office, starving, crying, and scared that my mom would beat my a*s. She came down to the school shortly after, and this was the light at the end of the tunnel. The principle takes her into her office, and i start to hear yelling. I start crying harder, because now momma is in trouble… but then i realized the yelling wasnt from the principle, it was my mom. My mom went the f**k off on the principle. I heard things such as “It’s his first day, do you really think he would throw his f*****g salad in her face?” and “How dare you not let my son eat?!”

My mom took me home, got me mcdonalds, and i lived in total fear for the rest of 3rd grade. Mom cant always be there to save me, but goddamnit mom… you f*****g killed it.

Happy mothers day.

The rapid social changes brought on by technology have made it hard to track exactly what stimulus ends up causing kids to start behaving poorly. In the age of regular TV consumption, some studies found that for every additional hour of TV a teen watched, the risk of them exhibiting some antisocial behavior rose by roughly 30%. However, as most parents now know, young people aren’t really watching hours and hours of TV, but it’s unclear if, say, video games or streaming has the same effect as TV used to. 

#10

I was in London on business and my hotel was hosting a Christmas party for a bunch of Russians also there on business. I was sitting at the bar by myself and one of the Russian women invited me to sit with her and her friends. Her table had her, three other women and two men. I don’t speak Russian but they were all very nice and welcoming to me. The woman sitting across from me was passed out drunk with her head on the table. No one paid any attention to her. After 30 minutes me and the woman who invited me were flirting pretty good. Suddenly the drunk woman sits up straight, points at me, scowls and begins yelling what obviously were Russian swear words. She does this for about a minute while the rest of us just stare at her and say nothing. Then she plops her head back down on the table and goes to sleep. I asked everyone collectively “what was that all about?” One of the guys replied “she doesn’t know why you are sitting with us, she hates you and she called your mother some very bad names. But don’t pay her any attention, she’s a crazy Russian. We’re happy to party with an American.

#11

Sit next to me on the bus when there’s a single seat on the other side

Image credits: Bonez_Z

#12

One time I was in south Philly and a car pulled up with two guys in it. They called out to me asking for directions so I walked over. As I was explaining where to go the dude in the passenger seat spit in my face and they sped off.

Image credits: the_humbL_lion

It’s not fair, however, to pin all the blame on media. Media only raise a child if the parents are absent in some form, which might be a more significant trigger than, say, Cartoon Network or Minecraft. Even more significantly, parental abuse is pretty closely tied with the victim “passing on” the abuse to another, creating a spiraling cycle of violence and bad behavior. Even smaller things, like poor nutrition and poverty, can cause an environment where normal social behavior is not learned, leading to the sorts of adults we see in these stories. 

#13

Complimented my penis. I was at a camp shower at a campground. I was around 12 some random guy walked in and just stared at me and watched me take a shower making weird small talk. This was the late 70’s, early 80’s. Kids werent special yet and we basically were raised you just be polite to adults so I was “yes sir” and “no sir” the creep. The Adam Walsh TV movie changed all of that and parents were like, hey, maybe we should watch our kids a little bit? He didn’t rape me so I guess that’s a plus.

#14

I was sitting at a cafe with my then partner. A man came up to our table, held finger guns at my temple and whispered “I wish I f*****g could.” And then yanked my hair and rushed out. It was completely unprovoked. I’ve technically had more violent and scary things happen to me, but that’s stuck with me for a really long time. I think it’s because I had been having a lovely day until that point. I was so excited to be sitting in a cute cafe, eating pie with my date. And now I can’t get the image of her face falling as she looked at the man out of my head. We went home after that.

Image credits: Overall-Drawing4716

#15

I work at a hotel as a housekeeper. Yesterday we had a baseball team checking out and I had a bunch of their rooms on my list. The rooms were reasonably messy, nothing too bad. But the last room…they trashed the place. Trash thrown everywhere and hidden in some places, food ground into the carpet, p**s on the bathroom floor, greasy hand prints on the windows and mirrors. The whole shebang. This was s****y, sure, but what made it f****d up was how they tipped me. They dragged a chair into the middle of the room, faced it towards the door, and left a stack of fake hundred dollar bills in the seat in plain sight.

There are also some genetic factors that ultimately might lead to people behaving in ways that others find annoying or downright horrible. The bottom line is that antisocial behavior, ultimately, needs to be cut off at the source. This means that all of us have to look for ways to help dysfunctional families, to make sure children can live in a safe environment and that psychological help like Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is available to those in need. 

#16

I’m gay and my husband and I married in the rotunda of the courthouse. As we said I do and kissed a group of Mennonite kids started spitballing us and throwing stuff down at us. Hit the judge too. It was a really crappy way to remember our wedding. No witnesses, just us which is how we wanted – but then what was essentially a hate crime. The children’s parents were amused.

My husband chased down security and they had it on video. Security stopped the family and then asked my husband if he wanted to prosecute. I was turning in our marriage certificate at that moment so I wasn’t there to threaten ‘yes’. My husband said no of course. I didn’t want to really prosecute, but I wanted to put some fear in them.

#17

I had just recently got my driver’s license. I was driving down a back road going the speed limit (55) and I was the only car on the road. When I checked my mirror a few seconds later, a red car was directly on my a*s, so close I couldn’t see his front plate. He began slowing down and speeding towards the back end of my car repeatedly. After a few minutes, he sped past me in a no passing zone and started brake checking me (speeding up and slamming his brakes to try getting me to hit him). After a minute or so of that, he slammed his brakes and we both came to a full stop. He got out of his vehicle and started pounding on the driver’s side window screaming and cursing me out before getting back in his car and speeding off. I pulled over and stayed there for a few minutes to insure he was long gone before proceeding…

#18

Pulled her pants halfway down her butt and asked me to check the size on her underwear.

I hated being a cashier.

Image credits: Alarmed_Alpaca2022

#19

Punched me, for no reason. I was standing. Waiting for the community bus. A stranger got out of the car and punched me. I filed the Police report but nothing happened.

Image credits: Hallo-Mapskollegen

#20

I was with 2 of my friends walking out of a Walmart at 10pm. I was about 17/18 years old at the time. Some dude came out and full on made out with me. Just beelined for me and grabed the back of my head and proceeded to kiss me for about 30 seconds. I froze, my friends froze and then he ran off laughing. We stood there in disbelief for a minute or two. I went home and brushed my teeth repeatedly. F*****g strange and very invasive.

#21

I was walking home pretty late one night and noticed one of my new neighbors walking up towards me from the opposite end of the street. As we were passing each other I said a friendly hello- in response this grown man silently turned his a*s towards me and let out the most repulsive, bombastic fart I’ve ever heard. I was too shocked to speak, to move, to defend myself. He didn’t even say anything, just calmly walked into his house afterwards. As far as I’m aware he still lives there, and I’ve never gotten an explanation lmao

Image credits: susgodtraplord

#22

Got a phone call from my wife’s number, it was a random dude telling me my wife ran a red light and got t-boned. Kept saying “yeah she really f****d up man.”

It was the guy that t-boned her. He ran the red light. He was inebriated. I rushed over to the address he gave me, cops and ambulance and everything. They let the guy drive off in his smashed up truck. No insurance. F*****g prick.

Image credits: Chemistry-Least

#23

Stole a piece of chicken from my plate as I was eating at the counter of a restaurant in NYC. Seems funny now ?

#24

Stopped at a red light one time. Someone from a building adjacent to the light threw a bag of ice and water on my car, from a few stories up. Dented the roof and shattered the windshield.

Wasn’t even a nice car, I was driving a Dodge neon shitbox

#25

First day of senior year I held the door open for someone. As he walks in he goes, “thanks. Your hair’s gay btw” and I’ve never forgotten that.

#26

Tapped me on the shoulder in a club and when I turned around, he headbutted me with all his might. Before I could even process what had happened, two bouncers had a hold of him, dragging him outside.

I was just stood there, dazed and confused with my nose pissing blood everywhere – then I was lead into a room by one of the bouncers and given tissues to stop my nose bleeding. He said to me that the guy had struck one of their guys on the way out and the police were going to arrest him if I wanted to talk to them. Automatically said no, not wanting to be a grass (snitch).

I never left my feet and my nose wasn’t broken, so it wasn’t really *that* big a deal – but it lives rent free in my head because I don’t know who it was or why he did it.

I seen his face momentarily and didn’t recognise him, and as such wouldn’t be able to pick him out a crowd now. I wasn’t dancing with any girls as I was already with my now Fiancé and very happy, so I didn’t make moves on his girlfriend or love interest. Me and my friends keep ourselves to ourselves and aren’t involved in any beefs or anything. I wasn’t stumbling drunk, so couldn’t have barged into him or spilled his drink or anything.

My best theory is mistaken identity. I look like my Brother and he and his crowd are a bit more nefarious. Either that or he just thought I was someone else completely.

Why did you headbutt me Mr Stranger!?

Image credits: TheOldGodsnTheNew

#27

Put “something” in both my gf and my drinks. Probably GHB.

Something kicked in and I managed to get us home. Don’t remember how.

We are actually lucky to still be alive after that. Put me off concerts for a long time.

Was even weirder that it happened at a metal gig.

#28

I parked completely WITHIN the lines of a parking space. Did nothing wrong. Received a note on my car: “Learn to park, A*****E!”. Rolled up to this note after a long day of dealing with young children. A man was walking by and I showed him the note and asked him if he thought it was warranted. He told me to crumble the note up and forget about it, I parked completely fine. Hope whoever wrote that note got some nice karma coming to them.

Meanwhile, one of my biggest pet peeves is when people park straddling the parking lines. And yet I am the one who received a note. Cool.

Edit. Now I’ve read a few of the replies on here and maybe I should just delete mine. I didn’t get punched in the face or hurt. Just felt the inconsideration and unjust rudeness from a stranger.

#29

One time I was walking to my car. An old man approached me and asked if the church bells meant it was noon. I told him that it was noon. Then he asked me if I knew where the Jewish center is. I said, “I don’t know, I’m protestant.” Then he yelled, “IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU DON’T EVEN CARE!”. Then I started running away and he shouted, “YEAH! YOU GET LOST AND GO FIND YOURSELF!”

Image credits: Yeongtong

#30

Walking home from school when I was a kid.

Two boys I never met before were behind me and threw a rock straight into the middle of my back for no reason. All I remember is them laughing about it and approaching me telling to try something so they could beat me and impress the girl who was with them.

The other thing was being randomly shot.

I’m not sure which is worse but those aren’t the worst things to ever happen to me, just the worst things done by strangers.

#31

Out at a bar in my mid 20s, my friend started talking to this girl. I let him do his thing for a while until he finally included me in the conversation and introduced me. The girl took one look at me at said “if you’re going to have any chance with a girl like me, you have to lose a few pounds and shave that goatee”. I was completely stunned. I had some very unkind words for her and eventually told my buddy to take her home and screw out what little brains he had left before I left the bar.

That was over ten years ago and unfortunately, that moment has stuck with me for a long time and probably contributes to why I have trouble meeting girls while out, even to introduce myself. I’ve dealt with rejection before and it hurts, but that comment hit me to my core.

Image credits: Vlper17

#32

I was waiting for my girlfriend at the bus terminal in order to go to her home to meet her parents for the 1st time. This one random old dude aproaches me, askes me about the boat schedules (it’s a boat and bus terminal), and I’m happy to help him out. Since it’s still a while for the next boat and it takes a while for my girlfriend to arrive, the dude keeps talking to me and I didn’t mind about it and was having a conversation with him. He asks me for a cigarette (I don’t smoke) and offers me a beer (I don’t drink). Out of the blue he asks me “Do you want to go to my house while you wait for your girlfriend?”. I’m like “Is this dude hitting on me or something? wtf…” and try my best to be polite and shut down and move away from him because it was getting a bit unconfortable. Not long after, the bus is arriving and I use it as an excuse to gtfo of the conversation. By my face my GF can tell that something happened and I tell her wtf just happened and when I look back to tell her who the dude was, the dude just vanished like a ghost. I’m even more confused by this. Next thing I know, she’s describing me the old dude “Is the man you talked to like this and that, and wearing this and that?” and I’m like “Yeah, how do you know?” and she blank stares at me “That’s my dad and he’s right there”. Not a bad f****d up thing, but f****d up to do to an unsuspecting person in a stressing situation like meeting your SOs parents for the 1st time. In his defense tho, he did make a joke when we “officially” met and said “Well, we’re going to my house after all!”

#33

A foreigner was sitting behind me and sniffing my hair on the bus. I noticed some pulling and saw some fingers in the corner of my vision when I turned my head. As soon as I realized someone was touching my hair- I stood up and looked back to see what’s going on and he was looking right at me, scared/guilty

Image credits: Cat_Kidnapper

#34

I was walking in a mall with my sister and this really huge guy walked past me and as he walked past he basically groped me down there. I’m a female for reference. I asked wtf really loudly and looked back and he just kept walking on and didn’t look back. I wasn’t sure what to make of that situation.

#35

7 years old…dad took us to a Boston Bruins/Atlanta Flames game in Atlanta (1978ish?). Drunk guy grabbed my hand an put his cigarette out on the top of my hand.

#36

Drove with a blood alcohol level of .1 and then rear ended me at a stop light going about 50 mph. Totaled my car when I was 21, living on my own and struggling financially. He had no insurance or license because he got drunk and caused a car accident 3 months prior. Then he died of alcohol poisoning. I got $157.63 from his estate 2 years later for the damages.

But, it was that event that taught me to drive a standard transmission car.

#37

Drugged out couple walked up to me and touched my nipples at a festival.

Image credits: OSHAstandard

#38

Smashed me in the face with a glass bottle and left me bleeding on the sidewalk

#39

I was dropping off a friend at their apartment late one night. They live on a pretty quiet side street so we’re talking on the street outside for a few minutes. Two guys show up and one completely unprovoked attacks me with a tire iron. Never seen them before in my life. Fought them off but he grazed me with the tire iron. Ended up with a nasty concussion, ten staples and no answers on why it happened

#40

was a kid trying my best to become the next Tony Hawk, i tried doing an oillie on the side walk next to a busy road… ate s**t infront of a bunch of people and some dude driving by with his window down yells out “you suck!”

#41

When I was ten or so a man started to scream at me and hit me with a newspaper. Afterwards I think I managed to figure out what happened. He angrily said that I was “smelling” being a bullied kid I assumed he meant that I was dirty, I was in actuality suffering from hay fever and he assumed my sniffling was me mocking him. He was an immigrant and it was “normal” for racist people to say that immigrants were smelly.

Several adults intervened and helped me run out from the subway train.

#42

I was a cycle courier in Central London 2005/7 and amongst the litany of s**t that people did to me whilst riding through W1 my top three are:

3. Riding through Soho someone tried to snatch my bag and yanked me off the bike I came off and the bag was on me new york style when they couldn’t get it off me the person squired a bottle of stewed p**s on me. F*****g junkies.

2. At Leicester Square I was taking a break on a slow Thursday afternoon and a couple of kids ( no older than 14) snatched my bike and tried to ride off but it was a 21inch frame and they stacked it in the road resulting in it being run over by ta bendy bus. ?

1. Riding down Godge street on my last run of the day a car pulled up at a red light and threw a milkshake (Macdonalds chocolate ) in my face it smacked me and it really shocked me, I saw red and chased it for two blocks just raging at the next light I threw my lock through the back window. The car just drove off I was expecting a fight, harsh words something but nope just drove off.

#43

Some old guy went really close to me and started whispering slurs into my ear

#44

Was on an escalator and a woman farted in my face.

#45

I had a dude/dudette throw a full unopened beer can at me from a moving car while I was standing on the sidewalk. Hit me right in the chest. Scared the hell out of me. I wasnt sure if I had been shot or was having a heart attack.

#46

Not me, but some years ago my (middle-aged bordering on elderly) mother came off the bus one day when a guy straight-up punched her in the eye and left. She didn’t know him, hadn’t done anything to set him off to her knowledge and he was never caught. (edit: scrolled down and realized there’s another person with a similar story)

EDIT: When it comes to me personally then the worst that comes to mind is some blokes with a car trying to steal my newspaper cart during a summer job once upon a time. When I was doing the rounds at around 4-5 am. It wasn’t too scary at the time, I was mainly angry at them, but thinking back I can imagine how the situation might’ve escalated if they hadn’t been clearly high off their asses and scared of me calling the cops.
Source: boredpanda.com