# Accidentally Terrifying People **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 5, 2005, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accidentally-terrifying-people/283190 "2005-01-05T12:52:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accidentally-terrifying-people/283190/41 "2005-01-06T03:28:51Z")
Let’s just say there are no atheists in a car my father is driving. Pretty much everybody thanks God if they get out alive. ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accidentally-terrifying-people/283190/42 "2005-01-06T11:37:17Z")
> [@haardvark](#): > > But it’s a question of who receives the action. There’s the act of accidentally terrifying others, and then there’s other people who are terrifying to you, but not through their own deliberate action, i.e. temporarily. > > Well, I’m an engineer, not an english major. It makes sense to _me_… Well, I’m a mathematician (and english, so was never taught diagramming). 🙂 Yes, I see that “accidently terrifying people” can refer to (1) people who are accidently terrifying, or (2) the act of terrifying someone by accident. And I suppose (1) could be either (a) being terrifying at that moment, or (b) being terrifying in general. But (1a) and (2) are the same thing described in different ways: someone is scary to someone without meaning it. It’s just that one way the subject and object are reversed in the sentence. ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accidentally-terrifying-people/283190/43 "2005-01-06T13:41:25Z")
> [@Tikki](#): > > My poor, overloaded, frazzled mind suddenly thought it was in 1930’s Chicago and immediately screamed, “Gangsters! Help! Gangsters!” For a split second I thought he was there to collect some insurance money or to break my knees! :eek: That’s brilliant. I love it. It’s just the kind of non-sequitur I’d love to use as a .sig line, if you’d be so kind to permit it, **Tikki**. > [@Martha](#): > > My thought was: me? You’re afraid of me? I know I’m a little on the scruffy side, but what is your problem? I can’t imagine being afraid of someone called Martha, myself. Maybe you should just wear a nametag? TeaElle, who isn’t short, just small-boned. (5’ even.) ---
**Author:** ![robotic\_panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed8c4c/32.png) [@robotic\_panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robotic_panda)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accidentally-terrifying-people/283190/44 "2005-01-06T22:29:10Z")
> [@TeaElle](#): > > I can’t imagine being afraid of someone called Martha, myself. Maybe you should just wear a nametag? _COUGH_martha stewart_COUGH_ _shudders_ ---
**Author:** ![luluBahrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e5b9ba/32.png) [@luluBahrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/luluBahrain)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accidentally-terrifying-people/283190/45 "2005-01-06T22:55:16Z")
> [@iggy popov](#): > > I accidentally chased some some joggers with a ski pole while screaming as loud as I could. > At least they got a good workout that day. How do you allegedly _accidentally_ do that? 😕 My curiousity is killing me. ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accidentally-terrifying-people/283190/46 "2005-01-06T23:27:39Z")
> [@Ashes](#): > > When my 6’4", 280 pound dad, complete with he-man beard, lumber jack clothes, and _axe_ stepped around the corner of the house, well, our dear neighbor found something else to do right quick. Poor dad never did get used to people thinking he was scary, even when he remembered to leave the axe at home. Yes, I’ve noticed that axes scare people. A few yers ago I was at home, after school splitting wood on the side of my house. I see someone comming up my driveway, and so go to investigate. From where the car stopped, they couldn’t see the side of the yard, where I came from. I emerged: a seventeen year old with a shaved head, black hoody, t-shirt with a skull on it, and a massive sledge-maul (like an axe, but one side is a hammer, and really heavy). I don’t know what the person wanted, as they sped off upon seeing me. Also walking home drunk from a halloween party wearing a leather vesttalking loudly and occasionally roaring, holding a wooden sword in one hand, and a plastic axe in the other. Awesome. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accidentally-terrifying-people/283190/47 "2005-01-06T23:39:07Z")
One night at college I was wandering around the bowels of the theatre and found a door I hadn’t known about before. It was unlocked and I found myself in the costume storage locker, above the costume shop. I figured I’d just go out through the shop door and lock it behind me, so I went down the stairs. I didn’t make any noise (though not intentionally) as I walked into the shop, only to see a friend sitting with her back to me working on a project. I didn’t know what I should do because it was obvious she hadn’t heard me. I figured if I started back up the stairs I might make some noise and freak her out, so I decided to try the other approach. I walked toward her and said something like “I don’t want to startle you Jerri, but…” and of course she jumped, screaming. I quickly told her what had happened and she calmed down so I left and that would have been the end of it, except… about 3 days later I was opening a door in the theatre to head to a class just as she was about to open it from the other side. I remember her reaction being a startled gasp and something along the lines of “stop doing that!” Sadly, I’ve never gotten quite the same reaction anytime since. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Martha\_Medea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@Martha\_Medea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha_Medea)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accidentally-terrifying-people/283190/48 "2005-01-07T01:34:29Z")
> [@Ashes](#): > > **Martha** , could she have thought you were a kidnapper? Happens a great deal in Mexico City (or people are really worried about it). I can just see it now-- innocent Martha acts as a decoy while evil kidnappers grab the woman and take off! Had to be something like that, or she thought I was planning to rip her earrings out. If I did have mugging in mind I like to think I’d at least have picked a victim with better taste than Mrs BMW with her big hair, frosted eyeshadow and tacky baubles. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Martha\_Medea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@Martha\_Medea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha_Medea)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accidentally-terrifying-people/283190/49 "2005-01-07T01:37:45Z")
> [@TeaElle](#): > > I can’t imagine being afraid of someone called Martha, myself. Maybe you should just wear a nametag? Martha’s not my RL name. That is something truly spinechilling. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accidentally-terrifying-people/283190/50 "2005-01-07T02:04:50Z")
When I rehired at the Lazy B many years ago, I was sent to obtain the required certifications needed to perform my job. I wasn’t familiar with the building I was sent to and was wondering around trying to find the room I was suppose to go to. I passed a snack machine and stopped to see was offered. Suddenly I felt a hand on my package and turned to see a shorter statured blonde gal with a smile on her face. That smile turned into a frown real quick and her face turned white. She blurted “You’re not my husband” and she turned a ran up the walkway. A few years later I attended a meeting with some engineers and and she was in attendance. I’ve never seen anyone avoid eye contact like she did and after a few minutes she excused herself and left. I haven’t seen her since. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accidentally-terrifying-people/283190/51 "2005-01-07T06:42:21Z")
> [@Podkayne](#): > > There is one guy at work who insists on stealthing up on me when I’m working and listening to my headphones. I don’t know what his deal is! Maybe the eight millionth time he puts his hand on my shoulder and I jump three feet in the air and squeal, he might figure out that it was better to approach me from the side so I can see him coming, or make some noise… What you need, **Podkayne** , is a mirror. I spent a very short amount of time working in a “cube farm,” and that’s one of the first things my friendly co-workers taught me. A properly-positioned mirror near your computer screen (or whatever else you might stare at all day) eliminates the problem. Even if you’re not looking at the mirror, movement in the entrance to your cubicle (or office) will catch your peripheral vision. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accidentally-terrifying-people/283190/52 "2005-01-07T10:29:14Z")
> [@Evil Captor](#): > > I am 6’4", have broad shoulders and a matching paunch. I also wear a beard. I don’t look much like Leonardo di Caprio. I have on many occasions been greeted with shrieks of fear when someone opened a door quickly, or I did, and they saw me. Makes me feel all warm inside, it does. The worst case was late one night when I was riding a subway car on the way home from work. One other passenger, a woman, giving all sorts of fearful/nervous vibes the whole time she was in the car. I had just worked a sixteen hour day and was exhausted – I had no interest in her or anything other than a nice mattress, but I imagine I looked pretty grim because I was so tired. I wanted to say something to make her feel less nervous, but I was afraid I’d scare her even more. I could have written that post. What makes it worse is that I am a fast walker, and I can’t abide walking at the dawdling post of most people. I feel frustrated and like I’m about to trip over my own feet. This means that 6’4" of bearded, buzzcutted TLD comes looming up behind people (usually very late at night when I walk home from the station). But the “victims” are to blame too: please, if you feel vulnerable walking alone at night, DO NOT walk right down the middle of the footpath. Keep to one side, so that I can give you as much clearance as possible and that when you first see me in your peripheral vision, I will have a slower apparent velocity, giving you time to work out that I’m moving parallel to you and not towards you. A couple of extra feet makes the difference in this. Also, don’t walk out of a house a few doors ahead of me, _see me_, start walking in the same direction ahead of me, and then _still act startled_ when I overtake you. I was there first! I’m not interested in you! I’m just going home. It sucks being scary sometimes. Especially when you’re actually a complete pussycat. Really, most of us scary types are acutely aware of it, and will try to minimise it (ok, so maybe shaving my head wasn’t a good idea), but you need to help us help you. Anyway, back to the OP, **robotic\_panda** , I read a lot of amusing stuff on this board, but I don’t often literally laugh out loud at them. Your first post did the trick though. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accidentally-terrifying-people/283190/53 "2005-01-07T13:17:20Z")
Mom\_Crayons and her friend went on a raod trip last year. Mom\_Crayons can pack so that she can live a week out of a teen tiny bag, but as a result always needs an iron and ironing borad in her hotel room. So it kind of became a running joke. They were in the winding mountains of California and finally decided they were tired and had to stop. They found a small hotel that gave them the last room they had. They got to the room, where the curtains were already drawn leaving the room pretty dim in the late afternoon. After a cursory look they said “Awww… no iron.” Mom\_Crayons went to the bathroom, while Friend was going to move the car. But on the way out of the room, Friend saw… an iron! So she picked it up and as Mom\_Crayons came out of the bathroom, held it up triumphantly, as if to say “Ta-dah! I found it the iron!” From Mom\_Crayons point of view: Friend had left the room to move the car, she went to the bathroom. She came out of the bathroom into the empty, dimly-lit hotel room to see the silhouette of some maniac brandishing a big rock with which to bludgeon her to death. Apparently, much to her own surprise, Mom\_Crayons can outscream even the most famous of horror film divas. Her scream scared Friend. Friend screamed and spun around defensively to see who was behind her scaring Mom\_Crayons so badly. Upon see the “Scary Figure” actually _move_ Mom\_Crayons screamed again. Hotel staff comes running in to the room to find too elderly ladies lying on the ground with tears in their eyes in complete hysterics. They were laughing so hard, they couldn’t breathe. The hallway door had been open thewhole time, so other guests must have thought they’d checked into the Bates Motel. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accidentally-terrifying-people/283190/54 "2005-01-07T17:53:20Z")
Ooooh, I’ve got another one to share. When I was in college I spent one summer taking summer classes. While I was there I found that an excellent way to unwind was to do some simple, repetitive manual task that would leave my mind free to consider weighty issues. Like the nature of good and evil, what the proper response to political actions of the day might be, and what will dinner be. I also found that doing this repetitive task outside was kinda nice. I mean, it was Ithaca, and well, school year Ithaca is very different from summer Ithaca. During the school year there is no direct evidence of the sun in Ithaca. One might be able to infer the presence of the sun, but there is no direct observation. It’s even possible that, well, since this was during the Star Wars debates, there was no sun, just orbital lasers being used to simulate the sun. During summer, however, Ithaca has some lovely weather. Including lots of sun. So, I’d go out onto the back yard of the house I was staying at doing my repetitive manual task, and just think and enjoy the weather, and some down time. Oh, did I mention? The repetitive manual task I found most therapeutic was using a whet stone to sharpen a knife. So, one day I was sitting out there, in the sun, with a whetstone in my left hand, the knife in my right, and making slow progress honing the edge onto the blade. And some of my housemates came around the corner of the house. So, well, I waved. Did I mention I’m right handed? I didn’t realize why they blanched and turned around **very** quickly until some time later. I mean it’s not like I did anything threatening, is it? :smack: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accidentally-terrifying-people/283190.md?page=2)