'A guy proposed to his girlfriend of two weeks at my senior prom': 25+ Moments of cringe that happened in front of other people

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
May 2, 2024 11:00 AM EDT

Every friend group has at least one cringe friend. So if your friend group isn't cringe to you… you're the one! 

It's one thing to act goofy in front of your friends. It's a whole other story when people do stuff in public that's wildly embarrassing. There's a whole type of cringe where folks decide to propose in public, whether they're asking for a hand in marriage, or asking a date to prom. For some reason, a lot of people feel comfortable asking someone they've barely dated to prom publically. They're apparently so sure this person will say yes that they'll gather a crowd or make a scene! Then when the person says no, there are dozens of people around who will never forget that moment. 

Other people wrote about the different ways they tried to impress women. You can tell some people just blank out when they're near someone they find attractive. They just cannot think of anything to say, and so in a panic, they just blurt out the first thing that comes to mind. Instead of impressing their date, they end up repelling them. 

Next up, read about the micromanager boss who wanted her employee to work exactly 8-4 each day, something she soon came to regret. 

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  • 01
    'Saw a guy in a band jump offstage and propose to his girlfriend in the crowd... She gently told him "no," and something like, "We'll talk about this later.""
    via Muneeb Syed on Unsplash
  • 02
    What's the cringiest thing you've ever seen a person do in public?
    via u/[deleted]
  • 03
    sadcactusboy A guy proposed to his girlfriend of two weeks at my senior prom. Then asked her if she wanted to live in his trailer with him and his mom
    via u/sadcactusboy
  • 04
    Propose to his girlfriend in the middle of a shopping mall. (She said no.)
    via r/AskReddit
  • 05
    imperio Saw a guy in a band jump offstage and propose to his girlfriend in the crowd. They were close to the stage and so was I - close enough to tell that she gently told him "no," and something like "we'll talk about this later."
    via u/imperio
  • 06
    The band saw it, too, and were super awkward about it but the singer just said into the mic "She said yes!" so the crowd couldn't tell and the guy wouldn't be embarrassed. The crowd then exploded with cheers while the guy - who looked dumbfounded - and the girl hugged tightly and started crying. Only a few of us
    via u/imperio
  • 07
    were close enough to see what actually happened, so at least it was only so awkward? Everyone else just kept offering to buy the "newly engaged couple" drinks. They probably broke up later that night. Yikes.
    via u/imperio
  • 08
    np89 In University, as part of my degree in music (haha I know), I had to take a Sight Singing class. There was an older guy in the class (mid 40's) who I think was just taking part time courses out of interest. In class he'd belt like an opera singer, even for small exercises.
    via u/np89
  • 09
    One day we left class in this order: random person with their friend, then opera dude, then me. We're all walking the same way I then hear them - making fun of him, like saying "omg he's like LALALALALLALALAAAAAAA , it's horrible".
    via u/np89
  • 10
    The guy is literally walking 5 feet behind them, and I'm right behind him. He's straight up trying to ignore it, but they keep going and going. I just wanted to jump in a bush and pretend I hadn't witnessed that.
    via u/np89
  • 11
    Heels2015 Packed subway car, heavy set woman gets on. The car is quiet as a seated male says to the woman "Excuse me, would you like my seat?" Whispering and clearly trying to avoid any attention the woman responds "No thank you I'm fine" and puts her head back down. Guy stands up drawing even more attention
    via u/Heels2015
  • 12
    to the scene and says "Please, sit down, you're pregnant". With the entire subway car looking she responds "I'm not pregnant" So bad, so so bad.
    via u/Heels2015
  • 13
    Scorpio5445 I was in the computer lab at the university I was attending one Saturday morning and noticed two girls sitting together and another guy sitting a few chairs down the row from them. Periodically this guy would let out a huge belch (mouth open wide and everything) and would immediately whip his head
    via u/Scorpio5445
  • 14
    around to see if the other girls noticed. I don't know if they guy was expecting compliments or for them to be flattered, but the girls just ignored him. He did this once every five minutes for about half an hour until I left.
    via u/Scorpio5445
  • 15
    Is_2012 I once saw this guy in a bus station walk behind a random woman and cover her eyes asking her to guess who it was. She then screamed and pushed the guy away cursing him out and his face turned bright red trying to explain to her that he mistook her for his girlfriend.
    via u/Is_2012
  • 16
    RageRomano I was waiting for my clothes at a laundromat and noticed this dorky guy lingering near a very attractive woman. After a few minutes of thinking of the perfect line, he leaned over to her and said, "Laundry day, am I right?!" She politely smiled. and I had to go wait outside.
    via u/RageRomano
  • 17
    scarletnightingale I was sitting in a restaurant with a couple of friends when 3 people were seated in the booth behind us. These booths were not those kind that you see in some places that completely enclose you so we could see and hear what was going on at the next table.
    via u/scarletnightingale
  • 18
    I forget the make up of that group, but one of them was most definitely a guy, probably between 16-20, who seemed very intent on trying to impress his dinner companions and was failing. horribly. We sat at the adjacent table intentionally not looking but all listening intently to the cringe occurring next to us and trying not to laugh out loud for fear of stopping what
    via u/scarletnightingale
  • 19
    had become our dinner show. Our cringy young man had brought with him a pack of playing cards and was attempting to explain a card game to the other two people at the table, neither of which seemed particularly interested in playing or learning. It was a game that required speed. He more than once gave them demonstrations of his speed
    via u/scarletnightingale
  • 20
    with some amazing quotes such as: "Did you see how I did that? do you know how I did that? Cause I'm quick, I have viper hands! demonstrates again See, Viper hands". This when on for probably 10 minutes until the necessity of eating the dinner he had ordered forced him to stop. None of us will ever forget good old Viper Hands.
    via u/scarletnightingale
  • 21
    cold_toast_n_butter Was at the mall once. A gay couple walked by holding hands. This girl passed them. She was wearing like 3 tutus, cat ears, and a tail. She stopped and turned around, bent over at the waist, and dropped her jaw to the floor. Then she screamed, "KAWAIIIIII!" at the guys. They ignored her. I
    via u/cold_toast_n_butter
  • 22
    live in a small town in the Bible belt, so it's not super common to see openly gay couples. I guess she was trying to show her support, but that was probably the worst way to do so.
    via u/cold_toast_n_butter
  • 23
    yeahokaymaybe Back in high school I watched a 6'10 friend of mine (yes, from chess club) stage this elaborate... performance, I guess? in the cafeteria at lunch in order to ask out this cute girl. He'd never once talked to her, only knew her name because they had a class. together, but he had a crush so they were meant to be or something.
    via u/yeahokaymaybe
  • 24
    Anyway, he came into lunch one day (it's about 2004) with a fedora on and kind of dressed like Guy Fieri, trombone in hand. He made this big loud announcement to everyone (I went to a very overcrowded school, 3000 in my grade alone, this was one of eight lunch times, so lots of people there), calling for attention. Then he turns to this girl all, "Jenna, from the moment I saw you I
    via u/yeahokaymaybe
  • 25
    loved you blah blah blah" and she starts getting RED, looking uncomfortable as I everyone staring, shaking her head no every so often. And once my friend was done talking, he lifts his trombone and says that this song was for her and he loved her so much. And he started playing "Love Song" by The Cure. On a trombone. Badly. In front of everyone. While sort of
    via u/yeahokaymaybe
  • 26
    dancing, i think, but with his height it looked like this creepy Slenderman looming thing. About 30 secs in she got up and left for the bathrooms, and one of her friends knocked my friend's trombone to the ground and shouted, "What the is wrong with you?" which led to everyone else basically booing and hissing my friend
    via u/yeahokaymaybe
  • 27
    for a few moments before getting distracted by their lunches. My friend still thought they were meant to be even though she would deliberately walk in the opposite direction to avoid him for the rest of school.
    via u/yeahokaymaybe
  • 28
    m1nhC Watched a guy dance pretty hard at a mobile tech event testing new Bluetooth earphones singing my humps by black eyed peas. Second hand embarrassment watching it nearly killed me.
    via u/m1nhC
  • 29
    [deleted] I saw a guy clip his toenails on an airplane once.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 30
    MyutshiAyo A kid I used to know went around with earphones in his ears, but because he didn't have a phone, he would just be listening to silence and jamming out.
    via u/MyutshiAyo
  • 31
    5་ [deleted] A guy once hit on my sister at the dollar store. At first, we thought it was normal, she gets hit on sometimes in odd places if she's dressed nicely or something. But then we saw him walk down the aisle to a girl who was wearing pajamas, hair was a mess, looked like she just
    via u/[deleted]
  • 32
    got out of bed, and generally was just unattractive. The guy promptly hit on her, saying the same things he did to my sister. We were hysterical. I guess hitting on random girls at the dollar store was his game.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 33
    rahyveshachr Some "goth" (or whatever tf that style was) teen at the mall jumped off the stairs about 10 feet to the ground floor to impress his friends/girls. Nobody cared and he just whined loudly about how much it hurt.
    via u/rahyveshachr
  • 34
    Omnichromic Kid at my high school would anime run (hands behind back) everywhere around campus while blasting various anime osts from a speaker in his backpack. And I mean everwhere, across the courtyard, up and down the stairs, even when he was in a boot. I cannot make this up.
    via u/Omnichromic
  • 35
    [deleted] OP i was at the laundromat waiting for my stuff to dry and there was a guy in shabby clothes borderline- loudly talking to someone. with his bluetooth headset. he kept switching between a normal tone and being a and on the guy he was talking to. after like
    via u/[deleted]
  • 36
    15 minutes i pack my clothes and leave. while i leave i turn to the guy and saw both of his ears. there was no bluetooth headset. he was talking to himself.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 37
    jceconnor A bit of backstory for this, I wear pretty thick plastic rimmed glasses, and usually have a beanie on my head, and skinny jeans. I was in a Publix (pretty basic grocery store for anyone who doesn't have one), and I saw this girl come tearing towards me from the other side of the store. From about three aisles away I
    via u/jceconnor
  • 38
    hear "HIIIIIPSTER!" And here she comes, stopping right in front of me. This girl literally sniffs me and and says "I smell a hipster!" It was super uncomfortable, not an experience I'd like to repeat.
    via u/jceconnor
  • 39
    [deleted] A man came into my store wearing no shirt, basketball shorts, and a flatbill cap laying crooked sideways. He was holding some of that purple flower weed that grows on the side of the street. He saw my female coworker and wanted to give her flowers (she was stocking warehouse in the back, didn't see it at all.) He
    via u/[deleted]
  • 40
    suddenly decided he was shy, and handed them awkwardly to my boss to give to her. You would've thought he was done after that, but no, before leaving, he asked for a job.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 41
    criuggn A guy loudly yelling at a cashier about how the cashier's sexist (?) because he wouldn't give the customer change with two 5's instead of a 10. They were out of 5's.
    via u/criuggn
  • 42
    nonsequiturnip While waiting at a red light, I looked to my right and saw a middle-aged man licking his phone screen. I'm talking entire length, like it's some sort of popsicle. He stopped to wipe part of it off then went to town again.
    via u/nonsequiturnip
  • 43
    Azuralos This took place about 2004. I was in a Waldenbooks looking a manga when i hear a nasally, lispy voice say "Ugh, you can't be serious." I peer over into the aisle it came out of, and I see what appears to be a man in his early twenties sporting a patchy neckbeard and wearing a fedora, cargo shorts and sandals with a
    via u/Azuralos
  • 44
    black short-sleeve button up shirt, who is going up and down the aisles sneering at the selection of books while making dismissive noises and comments. He does this for a few minutes until one of the workers, a young woman, goes over and asks if he needs any help finding anything. To which he responds:
    via u/Azuralos
  • 45
    "Yeah, can you help me find your books that aren't trash?" Which I thought was super and cringey. I mean, its what the waldenbooks, do you expect, theres no reason to be to the poor employees there.
    via u/Azuralos

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