Public spaces are full of surprises, but some moments are so bizarre you can’t help staring, and sometimes laughing, out loud. From people talking to invisible friends on the subway to impromptu dance-offs in the middle of a grocery aisle, the world seems to have an endless supply of incredibly strange moments.
This fascination with the unexpected is what inspired a thread where netizens shared the strangest things they’ve ever witnessed in public. The stories ranged from utterly baffling to laugh-out-loud ridiculous moments, and of course, we’ve sifted through the most unforgettable, hilarious, and downright weird answers so you can enjoy from the comfort of your own screen.
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A guy dressed in neon orange from head to toe and wearing the same shade of orange makeup on every bit of his hands and face was waking down the street. He was compulsively touching every single orange object he saw. Traffic cones, constructing signs, every brick in a brick wall, and any vehicle painted orange. Thankfully, he didn't touch anybody.
A month later, I saw him again, but he was wearing white and doing the same thing with white objects.
I love that there are quirky people in the world - they should be celebrated!
Ikr yes I’d laugh my self silly at this one ,but in a nice way ie laughing with him not at him , I think this is well cool tbh
Load More Replies...I saw 3 people in different color morph suits walking along a busy road one random Tuesday in spring.
There was a guy on my college campus who would wear a full blown Darth Vader costume every single day. By the end of the semester he stopped wearing the helmet/mask but he would still wear the cape, boots and outfit. Every day.
If you held open a door for him or whatever he would always say"thank you, admiral".
I don't recall many people in full Darth Vader costumes or indned in any full costume daily when I was going to college.
Load More Replies...I'm glad he stopped wearing the helmet/mask. I would have found his lack of face disturbing.
We had a uniform, so he couldn't do it every day, but there was one kid who would dress as The Doctor (David Tennant) every casual clothes day.
Isn't the whole purpose of the force to subjugate others? Then that would be counterproductive, I gurss.
Load More Replies...Maybe just maybe he hated people , n found away to deal with the world ,he had to be in , this is cool !.
A few years ago at the laundromat, a guy pulled out a larger comforter from the dryer, wrapped himself in it, and then called out, "Come, join me in the warmth." And invited everyone to come cuddle under the comforter.
A few people took him up on the offer.
Ooo nothing better than that is there ,❤️fresh clean smell n warm ,I’d have been one of those people who took him up on it I gotta say ,
Load More Replies...I might have joined in to. I loved fresh laundry out of the dryer. It is so warm.
The Decision Lab explains the concept of deindividuation which refers to a psychological state in which people in a public space begin to lose their sense of individual identity and self-awareness because they feel anonymous or less identifiable.
In these situations, personal responsibility can fade, making individuals more likely to act impulsively or behave in ways they normally wouldn’t when alone. As a result, social norms may weaken, leading to unusual, bold, or even bizarre actions that stand out to observers.
Had a couple walk into the restaurant I work at, well the husband didn’t like the music and demanded it be turned way down or changed. We weren’t going to do that. This is a very high end steakhouse, so while we don’t play Frank Sinatra, it certainly isn’t offensive music.
My GM comes out to intervene, the man immediately starts yelling and cursing at my GM, typical “I know the owner”, jerk. After a few tense moments, my GM kicks the guy and his wife out (their friends speed walked out when the old man escalated).
Turns out the old man did know the owner. The owner told him to get lost and to never step foot in any of his restaurants ever again. His name was red flagged in our sister restaurants as well.
Restaurant music can be so loud and obnoxious. Yes I have asked an owner to turn it down for me. Yes, he did. A pity I can't also tell drunk patrons with screaming children to also turn it down.
Depends where u are lol, in the pub in our village my daughters worked in for 8 yrs , Cotswolds village , if kids are running amok ,n the owner happens to be working , ( single owned place very busy ) he or the manager or my daughter very much will go and tell the parents to keep their kids under control, most places in uk won’t tolerate it , no one should either ,
Load More Replies...People have tried the whole "I know the owner" at a restaurant I was picking up from, because they felt insuited that the several card numbers they gave over the phone to pay for their food didnt work. The owner was taking the order! He went though the whole "Yes I've owned it for 20 years." While she got indignant that she had to check with her bank... her account was a locked one and she forgot to authorize the purchase.
A guy covering himself in peanuts while lying on a public bench, then insanely giggling as squirrels crawled all over his body, eating them off.
Just needs to come to my village or any uk village in rural areas ,the rabbits are rife ,
Load More Replies...Weird method to hunt squirrels, but if you're hungry you're hungry ...
Back 1989 I was stuck in traffic near OHare airport. Eventually all movement came to a complete stop. I saw an elegantly dressed and very pretty woman in a convertible strip down, out of a stylish white suit, pants, and blouse, and get undressed to a thong. Shd just put the car in park and changed clothes. She then put on a very skimpy dress. She paid no attention to the cars, trucks, and nearby pedestrians. There was honking, yelling, and screaming as she got undressed. It didn't phase her. She ignored it and sat right back down in the driver's seat and waited until the traffic moved again.
Her body, her car, her choice. I'd only be worried if the traffic was moving.
She either is just that comfortable with her nudity because she's from a country that allows that type of bodily freedom, or an exhibitionist. Sorta reminds me of when a group of Brazilians went to a beach in Manitoba, went to the open-air swimsuit shop and just started trying on swimsuits where they stood, even though change rooms exist.
StrangeOne: alternatively, she was a working girl changing into more suitable working clothes. 😉 (my thinking goes like this: the traffic jam was going to make her late, so she was changing then so as to avoid being any later than needed at her final destination)
Load More Replies...Well if needs must 🤷♀️traffic wasn’t moving ,so what’s the problem 😂ATTA GIRL x
Why was there honking and yelling? The right thing to do would be looking the other way, wouldn't it?
Lmao cos they thought like idiots do that honking n yelling would get her to move quicker , Wes flash SHE COULDNT anymore than they could !
Load More Replies...According to USA Network, the concept of deindividuation was first studied by psychologist Philip Zimbardo, who examined how being part of a crowd or anonymous environment can reduce a person’s sense of accountability.
This diffusion of accountability is what makes people feel less scrutinized, which can encourage actions they might otherwise avoid when acting alone or under direct observation. When they do this, they might shift their behavior away from personal values or morals.
Run through a sprinkler in a billy goat suit while singing I'm a Little Teacup.
I'd start by looking for the guy in the billy goat suit.
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We had an old man that would run the jogging course near downtown Houston. He always wore a tutu and long hair in pigtails. On weekends he be dressed like a little girl riding a little girls bike. He would sit in the gazebos dolled up like a "baby jane" Hudson doll. Nobody messed with him. He was our funky vibe. You'd have got your tushy handed to you if you messed with Tutu Man.
I've seen men dressed like that in the thrift store. When you first see it, it's like "W*f???" But then you have to remind yourself they are there as customers and they shall be treated the same as everyone else.
I was working as a teller at a bank. A woman came up to my window and told me she needed the bathroom key. I told her I didn't have the key but to go to the asst manager desk and get the key. She stared straight at me and said "I have to pee". I again told her to get the key from the asst manager. She stood in front of me staring for about 30 seconds and then left. A short time later, we got busy and all the tellers had lines but me. I called someone over and they said you have a huge puddle in front of your window. She peed while staring at me.
On the other hand, people often find strange or unusual behavior in public amusing because of incongruity theory. Psychotricks highlights that this theory suggests that humor arises when something deviates from what we normally expect, especially from established social norms.
For example, when someone behaves in an unexpected yet harmless way in a public setting, the surprise creates a mental mismatch that our brains interpret as funny rather than threatening. These moments stand out because they break routine and catch us off guard, turning everyday situations into amusing, memorable experiences.
We were in Manhattan for work and we watched a woman fully shave her private area on the sidewalk. A working girl’s gotta work, I guess, but man, that was a sight.
That's just sad. It indicates she must work very long hours that keeps her from being able to be home enough to take care of herself in privacy and dignity. Gotta remember, these women are not working for themselves, and some not voluntarily.
Erm why did you watch ?.poor girl , no one should have to do that anymore 💔
Today I saw someone arguing with a mannequin. I have no idea how it started.
Be careful, they drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.
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Saw a dude maybe homeless maybe not
Skateboarding down bourbon, and ever 10 yards or so he would pull his jeans down to his ankles and point his tushy towards the the beautiful bourbon street balconies as everyone one cheered at 3pm.
No one skateboards down Bourbon Street, unless they want to meet the pavement often.
Furthermore, how people respond to strange behavior in public largely depends on whether social norms are being violated and how clear that violation appears. Neuro Launch notes that when behavior deviates from what’s expected, bystanders may feel disapproval but still hesitate to act due to diffusion of responsibility, assuming someone else will step in.
They also explain that pluralistic ignorance also plays a role, as people look to others for cues on how to respond. When a stranger’s actions are ambiguous, uncertainty increases, often resulting in collective inaction rather than intervention.
I saw a lady walk into Dairy Queen with her small army of children and start shamelessly flirting with the cashier, saying things like "Oooh the things I would do to you!" The man looked *so* embarrassed lmao.
Given the number of her children, it was probably not the first time she had issued such an invitation.
Now imagine if a man said that to a woman cashier. I can bet she wouldn't be *so* embarrassed.
No the cops would have been called wouldn’t they ,
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Saw a homeless woman get completely bare on the NYC subway and sit there as if nothing happened. The guy sat across from me never said a word but the look we gave each other was a whole conversation let me tell you.
I once saw a guy strip completely bare and start yelling “I’M HAVING A BABY!!!!” while running in circles. Then he was tackled and put into a police golf cart.
Nah, he was just pissed because the Panda Express was closed.
Load More Replies...At the heart of these wild public antics, there’s more than just shock or laughter, they’re little reminders of how wonderfully unpredictable human behavior can be. From the hilarious to the downright baffling, these moments show that people often march to the beat of their own drum, whether we understand it or not.
Some actions are harmlessly eccentric, others are boldly attention-grabbing, and a few are just plain inexplicable. But one thing for sure is that witnessing the unexpected in public keeps life interesting, keeps us entertained, and sometimes even gives us stories we’ll be telling for years.
A man having a date with his AI waifu.
I was going for a night walk a little after 2am in Central Park, NYC (I highly do not recommend) and my flashlight very unexpectedly landed on this dude sitting on a bench in complete pitch black darkness with an entire posse of raccoons hanging out around him, one of them being on his lap. There had to have been at least 10 of them. Dude didn't even react to being blinded by the light and didn't say a single word either. They seemed very comfortable with him so I can only assume that he does it on a regular basis. I just continued walking as if I didn't see anything cause ya know...
❤️❤️awwwww now that wouldn’t faze me one bit ,how amazing I live them trash pandas ,why can’t we have them in the uk pff ,
I work in a public library. I once saw a man dressed in an immaculate suit. He sat down in front of one of the computers and proceeded to create dozens of tiny creases in his suit, the 2 sides of which he then sewed together, one by one. He did this for about 30 minutes, then spilled an entire container of bath beads on the computer desk before he got up and quietly walked out. I still think about that guy often. Hope he's doing well!
Peeing against the bar while holding a conversation with the barman. Immediately turned on my heels and left.
I got yelled at for peeing in the lake. I mean in the water vs off the dock, is it really that different?
In northern Germany, someone was acquitted by the court after being fined for urinating in the Baltic Sea. ‘Under the vastness of the sky, humans have no fewer rights than deer in the forest, hares in the field or seals in the Baltic Sea's surf zone,’ the court ruled.
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Worked mall security for a brief stint. 350 pound guy on a mobility scooter got so mad that the food court Panda Express was closed that he turned 90 degrees on his seat, pulled his pants down, pooped on the floor, then drove away on the scooter.
Puzzling. If it had been a Taco Bell, I would have understood the gesture.
How is his weight relevant except adding to the "gross factor"?
No. It's a fast food chain (like McDonald's, but Chinese food instead of hamburgers).
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Walking around my living room which was a daylight basement so it had windows just above ground level. A a homeless woman stopped and dropped a number 2 in my front yard right at my eye level. Needless to say, I saw EVERYTHING. Portland is great.
Drunk chick outside a bar just casually laughing walks up to a metal pole and just smashes her head on it, and slumps full on legs folded under her limp, out cold.
If it was a crack head or something, while weird probably wouldn't make my weirdest, but it was like an early, mid 20s preppy looking blonde chick fully in night out expensive clothes flared leather pants, chelsea ankle boots etc super put together looking so it added to the what the hell factor 🤣.
Lily bloom: no explanation in the original thread that I can find. I suspect the woman in question might have consumed a drúg in addition to alcohol - perhaps without knowing... 😬
Load More Replies...Seriously think about not being offended by descriptive nouns. It's a colloquial way to describe a female, not a derogatory word unless used specifically for such a purpose. Chick is akin to using Dude for males. Please stop being the word police for the world.
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Burnt down Ford F150 truck on the side of Aurora Ave in Seattle (pretty well known area for bad people and general "what the heck" stuff). Dude’s standing at the back of the burnt out truck with the tailgate open and several cases of beer in the bed. Wearing only boxer briefs, he’s pouring beers over his head and scrubbing up, taking a shower, literally, in beer. Watched him go through like three bottles of beer before the light turned green and I had to move on.
Not seen but heard. Was listening to my scanner the morning after the 4th of July, and heard basically this:
Dispatch, show me with one, minor, and field testing for DUI.
10-4, where is your location?
"......"
Sir, are you ok?
(Big sigh into the mic) Dispatch, send me another unit, they just threw up all over me.
Clip their toenails on the bus and then produce a Ziploc bag from their pocket filled with toenails and put the clippings in there. .
I was stopped at an intersection on my way to class when I saw a guy on my right drive slowly through the intersection and slowly hit a light pole. The interesting part is I saw him do the exact same thing the following day at exactly the same time.
Sounds like insurance fraud. Had an accident one day, got insurance then did it again the next day when it was covered. Wont work but some people gotta try.
Sitting outside my old apartment building, I saw one woman (clearly with mental and/or substances issues) trying to hail the perfect cab. She hailed a streetlight, a mailbox, a cop (who didn't stop), and many other things. One cab, she looked at and waved on. Cab #2, she got in, slid over to the other side, and got right back out. Cab #3, she got in, stayed in, and it drove off. I was so happy for her!
A few minutes later, I saw her walking back up the block, only to continue her cab-hailing.
Get out of a car and change their tampon right there on Main Street in a small town. There was traffic. She was born and raised in this small town. Everyone knew her.
Parents beating their children in grocery stores. Especially when they pull down the child's pants and stuff.
The country where I live has anti-smacking legislation. Smacking is treated as any other a*sāult would be.
So does the US because some parents can't differentiate between just swatting a child and out and out physically abusing their child. The rest of the parents in the US refuse to even tell their kids "no" with the result of a whole generation of entitled little brats are now growing up to be entitled adults.
Load More Replies...I would to ,just no call for it is there , makes things worse ,plus cps or the equivalent where every they live would be called I HOPE ,
Load More Replies...Highly illegal , well is here uk ! has been for decades , doing it in public , your getting your kids taken off you , SMACKING does not work !
Oh ffs do check the facts before posting. Smacking is illegal in Scotland and Wales. Allowed in N. Ireland and England if it is deemed reasonable which seems a bit mad really.
Load More Replies...That's what got my dad in jail. Well, he would have us pick switches off a bush, use them on our bare bottoms, and with my brothers he would apparently get a hard-on, so they called it sexxual a***e. With seven kids the "weekend jail" he had to go to was a fukn vacation from the kids he a****d.
They don't have to pull the pants down and they don't have to hurt the child. One good swat across a covered bottom that the child "feels", but not painfully, is usually all it takes to let a child know he's been "spanked". I mean, I can swat anyone on the bare arm and they won't be hurt by it, so same thing here. Kid's gonna scream like a banshee in any case so now you know you have his attention, and that's the point of it. And I'd bet a penny to a pound that kid doesn't risk being swatted again. It's called the consequence to bad behavior.
Absolutely not. When you mess up at work does your boss yell at you or hit you? What about school? Even if you commit a crime you deal with consequences not violence. If you need to"swat" a kid to teach them then that just means that you don't have the patience or ability to properly raise them.
Load More Replies...Once a woman, who i presumed was diabetic, walked up to me at an outdoor train station while wearing a nightgown and flipflops that did not fit her feet. All of her limbs were completely swollen and she could barely use aby of her digits. She came up to me (I think i was around 15 or 16 at the time) and asked me to open her 32 oz mountain dew bottle for her. I saw no harm in that so I did that for her. She was very nice. A couple moments later she came up to me again holding a little plastic baggie of white powder. She asked me to open that as well. Me, barely through puberty at the time, felt to nervous to say no. I opened the baggie for her and then she asked me to pour it onto the back of her hand. She snorted it less than a foot away from me. I was at a loss for words. I know i fed into someone’s dependency but alas I was a kid. I hope she is still alive and okay!
2 things actually,popped in my head,same downtown area of Philly.
#1-On a subway platform while waiting for the El,a guy was staring into a trashcan bunch intently,then very carefully pulled out a piece of green and white paper(part of a pack of Salem's) and daintily,ate it like caviar on a cracker.
#2- On a rather busy corner ,right near City hall,I saw a guy whose jacket had a very noticeable and expanding burn hole(with red embers along the edge).
Finding that to not be one of the 80's fashion trends of the day,I proceeded to say"Dude !! Your jackets on fire".
His response was to look down to confirm my observation...agree with me by saying"I know",and went back to his day ....and a serious comatose stare without missing a beat...
There are many more headscatchers that have come to mind,but maybe another day...
Peace ✌.
Peeing in a coffee cup while waiting for the tram at 6am.
A guy pissed in the cart corral in front of our store before we opened this morning. Said he "just had to go"
I can think of a few:
1. Guy on a train came on with a big plastic bag filled with oranges, he proceeded to rip into each one with his teeth and gorge himself on the insides, no peeling or anything.
2. A woman at a craft store who was just standing there whistling at people walking past. Not a wolf whistle, just full on “tweeeeeeee” at anyone who went near her.
3. Two girls on bikes who came pedaling furiously towards me. One yelled “I’m having pumpkin for dinner!” And then the two of them rode off.
Drive head-first into a Saguaro cactus on a quiet desert road after midnight. No traffic, not one other car on the street. Just a tired septuagenarian driver, a red Dodge Stratus, and the cactus.
I'm having a little difficulty with the phrase "cactus on a quiet desert road". Like a cactus on the road? Aren't they really big? Did it fall into the road? Or maybe the driver accidentally left the road and the poor cactus that was minding its own business just off the road fell victim to a sleepy driver that left the roadway?
It was winter in Minnesota. I was driving my car to work, rounded a corner and came across a man standing in a grocery store parking lot. He was bent over, in half, bare from the waist down looking at me driving by through between his legs. He had to be cold standing there like that with his tushy hanging out.
Okay, too many uses of tushy in this list, so I checked. OP's original phrasing was "àss and bàlls." They couldn't have used b**t? Is "b**t" too vulgar for the advertisers?
Oh my god. We can't say būtt. What about buttocks? Edit: buttocks is apparently fine, but for how long, I wonder
Load More Replies...This is probably a little late, so it might get buried. However in the middle of an electronics store, I watched someone pull out a used feminine product out of themselves from the back! They put it on a shelf, and then, like it was completely normal, they licked their fingers like they’d just finished a bucket of KFC.
Take a number 2 on the subway. Quite the commute that day.
I was taking illegal substances a few years ago and decided to go to a really nice part of town to feel peace and not be surrounded by the chaos of my neighborhood. For some reason a whole family— like extended family and all, I’m talking aunts uncles granny’s cousins etc — were dressed as monkeys (like the gay little monkey in the Apple Store) and were walking down the street hooting and hollering. I stg I stopped and rubbed my eyes a few times I thought I fried my brain. I took a picture bc I thought it was fake. They ran up on me and were oooing and aaaaing and I literally was like “NOOOO! NO OO OO AA AA PLEASE GOD LEAVE ME ALONE!” And they kept making monkey noises at me surrounding me until I ran into a random parking garage. They could smell my fear or something. Idk what that was about but it filled me with primal terror.
I don't know where he bought that illegal substance, but I would be a repeat customer.
I wonder if you always saw monkeys after taking it. Options would be nice, one for penguins, one for elephants maybe one for raccoons.
Load More Replies...Or he lives in Mexico n it’s one of their traditional things they do , ,they have a fair few , all look weirded but tbh lovely x
Load More Replies...A woman used to come into my work and stand in the entrance and wash her private parts with the hand sanitizer. She also touched her parts in the parking lot on occasion while screaming for help.
Nah. The hand sanitiser is alcohol-based. It would hurt like hell.
Early morning bus ride in Brooklyn. The lady across from me proceeds to pull out and devour an ENTIRE roasted chicken. No utensils, just using her hands. She then proceeds to wash it down with a liter of Coke. All before 8AM.
Early morning bus ride in Brooklyn. The lady across from me proceeds to pull out and devour an ENTIRE roasted chicken. No utensils, just using her hands. She then proceeds to wash it down with a liter of Coke. All before 8AM.
Sarah , some of us do not become boring adults you know , I have a lot of slogan t shirts ,there is nothing wrong with it what so ever , so me thinks lass that be a you issue not a them issue sorry x
Here in the UK, places like Taco Bell and Krispy Kreme etc are very rare (or were rare). Around 15 years ago my town opened up it's very first Krispy Kreme store and they were giving away trays of glazed donuts for the first 100 customers. Someone had dropped (I'm presuming accidentally) a full tray of 12 donuts in the street and all of them had spilled out of the box. They were on the wet, dirty floor. I don't know how long they had been there but when I walked past them I saw a very well dressed and elegantly made up woman, daintily crouch down, pick one of the dirtied donuts up and start to eat it whilst walking off.
Five second/minute/hour rule (delete as appropriate).
Load More Replies...Sarah , some of us do not become boring adults you know , I have a lot of slogan t shirts ,there is nothing wrong with it what so ever , so me thinks lass that be a you issue not a them issue sorry x
Here in the UK, places like Taco Bell and Krispy Kreme etc are very rare (or were rare). Around 15 years ago my town opened up it's very first Krispy Kreme store and they were giving away trays of glazed donuts for the first 100 customers. Someone had dropped (I'm presuming accidentally) a full tray of 12 donuts in the street and all of them had spilled out of the box. They were on the wet, dirty floor. I don't know how long they had been there but when I walked past them I saw a very well dressed and elegantly made up woman, daintily crouch down, pick one of the dirtied donuts up and start to eat it whilst walking off.
Five second/minute/hour rule (delete as appropriate).
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