Whether we're willing to admit it, or if we allow ourselves to remember it, we've all done some fairly embarrassing things.
But there are some embarrassing acts that far exceed others, and sometimes, those most embarrassing things happen out in public, where everyone can see.
And the secondhand embarrassment is real.
Already cringing, Redditor akash20501 asked:
"What's the cringiest thing you've ever seen someone do in public?"
Jumbotron Proposals
"I saw a guy propose at a packed sports game. She said no, and the camera was on them. The whole stadium saw it go down."
- Lybethras
"I used to work for a Pro Sports team and it was my job to make sure they were in their seats for the cameras."
"A few times the guy got cold feet and just left the game before the proposal. I also saw a few that were a 'yes' on camera, and then when the game started back up, you could tell the lady was pissed, and it was actually not gonna happen."
"We did one time plant a fake proposal and had the woman freak out and throw flowers in the face of the guy and act really over the top and then the mascot come and walked her up the isle."
"The only times I really enjoyed it was when you could tell the couple were die-hard sports fans and it really was what they both thought was a super awesome proposal, I would say I saw at least 6 of those and it was very heart warming."
- whatchewsaynow
A Witness to Broken Dreams
"This was both cringe and sad, I've gotta admit. I was in New Zealand and saw a street magician in passing who was in the middle of his act with a volunteer."
"In the middle of the bit, he stopped and, into the mic, said, 'I'm sorry, I think I'm going to have to stop this here because no one really cares and my ego isn't big enough to handle this unfortunately.'"
"I then realized he had no audience, no crowd of spectators watching him do his thing like you normally see with street performers."
"He then apologized to the volunteer and said, 'I think I'm just going to pack up everything and my pride and head down to the pub for a beer.'"
- ThrowRARAw
Crying Over Spilled... Coffee
"This person was yelling at the barista for getting their coffee order wrong and made a huge scene over a latte."
- CompetitiveHippo1482
"I once saw this interaction, and the barista asked to take a look at the drink. She asked the customer’s name and she told her, to which the barista turned the cup around and said, 'See how this isn’t your name? Yeah, it’s not yours, that’s why it’s not what you ordered.'"
"The lady clearly was embarrassed but wanted to keep huffing and puffing. It was fun to glare at her and laugh."
- jillyszabo
No Work Ethic
"I work in public cleanup. My coworker does not like doing his job, so he uses the air hose to send his mess onto my side for me to clean up. When I started sending it back to him, his response was to get in my face and start screaming like a child."
- TheRexRider
Just Not Worth It
"This grown 40-year-old man was yelling at a 16-year-old girl at Burger King because his food was taking too long, even though it was only her and one cook back there, and he saw that coming in and could've easily gone to a different restaurant."
"But no, he screamed at a teenage girl and made her cry, and she had to get the manager."
- Resident-Theme-2342
Sounds Like An Advertising Opportunity
"I saw a video of a kid dressing up in a full-length, black spandex costume, with a pair of Apple wired headphones, dancing around in an Apple Store, like a silhouette in the commercial."
"Nobody paid any attention. Eventually, the manager awkwardly asked him to leave."
- joseph4th
New Trend: Solo Flash Mob
"I watched someone try to start a flash mob in the mall, but no one joined in, so they just danced alone while everyone watched."
- Suspicious-Ear5116
"Peak Michael Scott moment, honestly."
- mship
Free Entertainment While You Wait
"I was waiting in an agonizingly long line at the post office. It was completely silent in there."
"A man behind us answered a call to a person who, I assume was a psychiatrist or a therapist, because when he took the call, he said, 'Hello Doctor.'"
"He then proceeded to LOUDLY go into great juicy detail about his problems, as well as some deep drama that was going on with his family, which I think involved some sort of crime."
"It was extremely intimate, and it was painful being held hostage in that line having to listen to every detail of this man's private life."
- RamenTheory
What Was He Thinking?!
"This didn't happen to me, but a friend. She was in a band and she and one of the guys in the band grabbed dinner one night (they had a couple of times prior)."
"Out of nowhere, he gets on a knee in the restaurant and proposes to her, with no ring."
"With everyone looking, she just yelled, 'What? No!' and walked out."
"She really tried to figure out how he thought they were dating. Aside from dinner after rehearsal a couple of times, they had never even kissed."
- dougiebegood
Caught In The Wild
"I was taking a herpetology class in college (study of amphibians and reptiles) and we would have field labs where we would go wandering through the backwoods of Alabama just looking to see what we could find."
"We turned a corner in a trail one time to saw a guy in a G-string running down the trail. As soon as he saw us, he turned and ran away."
"A few minutes later, we came across him sitting in his parked car, and he threw it into reverse and fishtailed trying to get away from us. Gotta love Alabama, lol (laughing out loud)."
- CanadianSpunk
"As far as Herpetology field trips go, discovering a new species of g-string clad runner should be enough to get published in 'Nature.'"
- CaptainKursk
Poor Money Management Skills
"I watched my friend throw a temper tantrum like a f**king child when he realized he was short on money to buy an anime figure because he wasn't paying attention to his finances."
"I called him out on that s**t. I'm still friends with him, but my love for the guy has been faltering in recent years."
- MythicForgeFTW
Read The Room
"I was out to dinner with friends from work. We were having fun making jokes and flipping out sarcastic lines."
"We were all laughing when the waiter decided to join in and apparently felt he was funnier than we were. I would start to talk and he would completely cut me off and insert his own lines."
"He did this over about a half hour between slapping dishes down. He did not know any of us, or even what we were talking about. Everyone just clammed up, but he kept inserting himself into the dinner. A real downer."
- MissHibernia
Thanks, Mom
"I was working at a video game store, and a regular and I were chatting, when outside this guy (like, 30ish) on the phone was getting louder and louder, and storming back and forth in front of our windows, and eventually culminated with him screaming a bitter, 'THANKS, MOM!' into the phone, loud enough that we heard it clearly through the glass, before hanging up and stomping off."
"And we've been making fun of the guy ever since."
- dozy_b***h
MLM: Not For Everyone
"I was at an Amway seminar. I was shocked to see soulless people expound on the benefits of being a self-starting entrepreneur and how they never thought they could run their own business. Then I saw people being forced to do 'mentor' speed dating to find a good mentor, and finally, they drag you away into private rooms to try to get you to sign up."
"I was 18 and horrified. I was only there because a friend invited me. The friendship didn't last long after."
- tugboatnavy
Ew. Ew. Ew.
"One time when I was going to college, I heard some random guy say in full seriousness that you don't have to wash your pants. And he was telling that to some woman. I hope she wasn't his girlfriend."
- FartMazzter
These were unquestionably cringeworthy, and it makes total sense that these were these Redditors' top cringey moments. From misinformed remarks to outbursts to just plain nonsense, these would be incredibly hard to live down, or forget witnessing.
@elektrotimmy/X
@RpsAgainstTrump/X
@madameshawshank/X