# A man's absolute worst nightmare. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 6, 2017, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-mans-absolute-worst-nightmare/783896 "2017-04-06T16:42:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-mans-absolute-worst-nightmare/783896/1 "2017-04-06T16:42:33Z")
This happens more frequently than it should. A man gets a woman or kid angry and they may make false charges against you. . The legal burdon to disprove these charges is disproportionate to the relative ease of making them. Imho Fortunately this was all captured on video. Thankfully this lady doesn’t represent the majority of women or kids. But men still need to be extremely careful in today’s litigious world. > **[SEE IT: Irate Uber passenger in the Bronx threatens to accuse driver of rape,...](https://www.nydailynews.com/2017/04/06/see-it-irate-uber-passenger-in-the-bronx-threatens-to-accuse-driver-of-rape-hurls-racial-expletives-warning-graphic-language/)** > > She’s definitely in The News now. A crazed Uber passenger boasting about being “in the Daily News” hurled racial expletives at her driver before threatening to falsely accuse him … > [@](#): > > the unidentified driver told the fuming woman that he didn’t have an iPhone charger. The bizarre video was posted to YouTube on Monday and quickly garnered over 100,000 views. > > “I’m going to start screaming out the window that you’re raping me, that you raped me,” the woman shouts in the video. > > The driver repeatedly asks the woman to get out of his car after she begins yelling about “calling the cops.” > > After screaming herself hoarse, the woman suddenly tells the stunned driver to “get the f–k out of my country.” ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-mans-absolute-worst-nightmare/783896/2 "2017-04-06T16:48:49Z")
I can’t imagine that it is any worse than the false accusations made about women. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-mans-absolute-worst-nightmare/783896/3 "2017-04-06T16:52:02Z")
Do those false accusations result in many, many years in prison? Maybe a lifetime’s burdon and public disgrace on the sexual offenders registery? Certainly the majority of charges are legitimate. But the ones made up by angry people cause a lot of harm. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-mans-absolute-worst-nightmare/783896/4 "2017-04-06T16:55:17Z")
I’m a man, and my worst nightmares involve something really painful and terrible happening to my wife or children. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-mans-absolute-worst-nightmare/783896/5 "2017-04-06T16:59:59Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Do those false accusations result in many many years in prison? Maybe a lifetime’s burdon and public disgrace on the sexual offenders registery? > > Certainly the majority of charges are legitimate. But the ones made up by angry people cause a lot of harm. I wonder how often the results you decry actually happen to innocent people where no actual evidence is brought forth? In the meantime, not only are women subject to the same laws as men are, but a falsely-accused woman can achieve the name of “slut”, while a man that brags of the same type of offence might earn the title of “stud”…or even “Mr. President”. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-mans-absolute-worst-nightmare/783896/6 "2017-04-06T17:01:27Z")
What a scary, scary world you live in, **ace**. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-mans-absolute-worst-nightmare/783896/7 "2017-04-06T17:05:34Z")
n/m ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-mans-absolute-worst-nightmare/783896/8 "2017-04-06T17:06:18Z")
I’m aware of the world we live in. I take common sense precautions. I don’t babysit anybody’s kids unless my wife is with me. I meet women only in public places. Keeping a very professional and businesslike attitude. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-mans-absolute-worst-nightmare/783896/9 "2017-04-06T17:16:49Z")
Common sense tells me any crazy woman who jumps to such a threat over a phone charger, has probably made such threats to others over other minor things. Seems like she’d be pretty easy to discredit to me. Common sense would also indicate a really good chance this person has been in trouble before, based on her performance. Known to the police might well make this an empty threat at best. Common sense covers a lot of things. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-mans-absolute-worst-nightmare/783896/10 "2017-04-06T17:30:30Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > a falsely-accused woman can achieve the name of “slut” Yes, I’m sure a man in prison after being falsely accused of rape can take solace in the fact that he is not considered a “slut” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-mans-absolute-worst-nightmare/783896/11 "2017-04-06T17:32:09Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Common sense tells me any crazy woman who jumps to such a threat over a phone charger, has probably made such threats to others over other minor things. Seems like she’d be pretty easy to discredit to me. > > Common sense would also indicate a really good chance this person has been in trouble before, based on her performance. Known to the police might well make this an empty threat at best. > > Common sense covers a lot of things. Ever heard the saying, “The Truth is still tying its shoelaces by the time a Lie has already made its way halfway around the world?” ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-mans-absolute-worst-nightmare/783896/12 "2017-04-06T17:32:25Z")
I watched the 1980’s cases play out in the news. A lot of good people were hurt. > **[Day-care sex-abuse hysteria](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day-care_sex-abuse_hysteria)** > > Day-care sex-abuse hysteria was a moral panic that occurred primarily during the 1980s and early 1990s, and featured charges against day-care providers accused of committing several forms of child abuse, including Satanic ritual abuse. The collective cases are often considered a part of the Satanic Panic. A 1982 case in Kern County, California, United States, first publicized the issue of day-care sexual abuse, and the issue figured prominently in news coverage for almost a decade. The Kern Durin... I’m just saying men have to be careful in today’s world. The burdon is on us to prove our innocence. The attitudes of that lady in the Uber are not unique to her. It’s well known that the law can be manipulated with false charges. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-mans-absolute-worst-nightmare/783896/13 "2017-04-06T17:33:31Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Yes, I’m sure a man in prison after being falsely accused of rape can take solace in the fact that he is not considered a “slut” :rolleyes: Well, he wasn’t when he went in. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-mans-absolute-worst-nightmare/783896/14 "2017-04-06T17:33:44Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I can’t imagine that it is any worse than the false accusations made about women. Which ones? Not disputing that women get falsely accused, but which specifically? ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-mans-absolute-worst-nightmare/783896/15 "2017-04-06T17:41:31Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > What a scary, scary world you live in, **ace**. No, he’s actually living in a great world if this is the absolute worst nightmare he can think of. Because I can think of 20 worse things in just a few minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-mans-absolute-worst-nightmare/783896/16 "2017-04-06T17:43:14Z")
I honestly don’t think that this happens very often. Perhaps you might be better directing your ire towards the administration of allegations of sexual assault on college campuses in the US? That’s much murkier, darker and frankly more likely scenario than random people claiming to have been assaulted. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-mans-absolute-worst-nightmare/783896/17 "2017-04-06T17:59:59Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > I’m a man, and my worst nightmares involve something really painful and terrible happening to my wife or children. Like having you go through years of legal, career and social trauma because you’re (falsely) accused of rape, or molestation, or the like? Yes, I suppose having something bad happen to other family members is right up at the top of the nightmare list, but being subjected to the trauma and life destruction from accusations of sexual predation isn’t far behind. For everyone. It’s good that such claims are taken seriously, with our cultural history of dismissing them or worse. But the hair trigger on such charges, with huge consequences from even evidently false but deliberate (or demented) ones, is worrisome. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-mans-absolute-worst-nightmare/783896/18 "2017-04-06T18:05:45Z")
It would be interesting to know the percentage of people charged for sex crimes that have charges dropped or are acquitted. DNA has freed a lot of imprisoned people convicted of various crimes. > **[DNA Exonerations in the United States (1989 - 2020) - Innocence Project](https://innocenceproject.org/dna-exonerations-in-the-united-states/)** > > Please note: The Innocence Project used to track all DNA exonerations nationwide (cases in which post-conviction DNA testing was central to exoneration, both our cases and other people’s) but for a variety of reasons, after... DNA helps modern day investigations find the right suspect. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-mans-absolute-worst-nightmare/783896/19 "2017-04-06T18:11:56Z")
I have represented more people falsely accused of sex crimes than any other crime. (In my opinion, of course. I can’t ever be certain.) Nonetheless, I spend exactly zero time worrying about it. I wouldn’t call it my worst nightmare by a long shot. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-mans-absolute-worst-nightmare/783896/20 "2017-04-06T18:16:05Z")
Sure, going through some extended legal bullshit is going to be traumatic. You might even call it nightmarish. But how likely is it to happen to you? I mean, compared to other things. Like getting hit by a bus. Or going to the doctor for a routine physical, and he says, well, there are some further tests I want to run, no need for concern yet but… Or you show up to work tomorrow and the boss asks you to come in to the office, we need to talk. Or you’re walking down the street and some shaking junkie shoves a gun in your face and when you’re too slow to reach for your wallet he pulls the trigger. Or there’s a 8.0 earthquake, and you’re trapped downtown and you don’t know if your kids are alive or dead. Or some marginalized nut starts spending a lot of time on ISIS message boards, and decides to head for your kid’s school with an AR-15. Or you come home early from work one day and notice that your wife’s car is in the driveway and some other strange car. So yeah, being falsely accused of rape is a bad thing. It’s not something I worry a lot over. I’m a heck of a lot more worried about the car’s engine suddenly going out and we have to drop a thousand bucks or more on getting the damn thing fixed. And if it’s just an out of the blue he-said she-said accusation like the crazy woman in the OP? That’s not worrisome at all, because there’s absolutely no evidence other than the crazy woman’s unsupported accusation. I spend absolutely zero time worrying about being randomly accused of rape by random crazy women. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-mans-absolute-worst-nightmare/783896.md?page=2)