# The Most Disgraceful Thing You've Ever Seen (Especially in Public)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgraceful-thing-youve-ever-seen-especially-in-public/653297>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [March 18, 2013, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgraceful-thing-youve-ever-seen-especially-in-public/653297 "2013-03-18T21:01:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 13

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgraceful-thing-youve-ever-seen-especially-in-public/653297/241 "2014-03-26T17:52:27Z")

</div>

> [@Cartooniverse](#):
>
> I’ve walked past people on the streets of NYC who were either urinating or defecating. And I mean, ON the sidewalk or IN the street next to the curb between parked trucks. I find it to be disgraceful that a city cannot provide _some_ public toilets so indigents are not forced to use the streets.

Many years ago, when I was living in NYC, I was walking on 42nd street, past Bryant Park around lunch time. There were hedges separating the park from the sidewalk. All of a sudden it seemed to be lightly raining, in spite of the blue sky. I ran through a gap in the hedge, and sure enough, a homeless man was asleep on a bench, with his still-peeing dick pointed upward.

I know this seems like an urban legend, but it’s not.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgraceful-thing-youve-ever-seen-especially-in-public/653297/242 "2014-03-26T18:04:02Z")

</div>

> [@Doctor\_Why\_Bother](#):
>
> A few months ago a friend of mine went on a stag night. The groom was dressed in a costume: Cock Man! Cock Man is pretty much like Superman, only…well, he’s got a little fake penis tacked onto his Y-Fronts. Hey, it was a stag. Don’t judge.
> 
> So anyway my friend, his friends, and, of course, Cock Man, were having a few drinks at a bar when they decided to go outside for a smoke. A middle-aged woman walked past and, entirely unbidden, dropped to her knees in front of Cock Man, put the fake cock in her mouth and mimed giving him a blow job.
> 
> Her 10-year-old son was standing right behind her.

Where do you live, I’m moving there tomorrow!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgraceful-thing-youve-ever-seen-especially-in-public/653297/243 "2014-03-26T18:06:33Z")

</div>

> [@hajario](#):
>
> It gets worse than that. Policies like these are because one too many fuck head lawyers helped to sue supermarkets because someone claimed to get ill over taking food out of a dumpster and eating it.

I realize this is a zombie thread, so I guess I can’t ask **hajario** for a cite, but I’d still want to see one before I took this seriously. It’s not exceedingly unlikely that a lawyer helped someone sue on those grounds, but I have a hard time believing that it was successful. Not to mention, I’d think the risk of being sued would be even greater if the store took deliberate action to make the food in the dumpster dangerous to eat.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgraceful-thing-youve-ever-seen-especially-in-public/653297/244 "2014-03-26T21:59:13Z")

</div>

I saw a hospice worker wearing a shirt (while working in direct patient care) that said, “Eat right, exercise, die anyway”.  
mmm

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgraceful-thing-youve-ever-seen-especially-in-public/653297/245 "2014-03-26T22:31:27Z")

</div>

I don’t know if that counts as “disgraceful” but it sure is fucked up.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![keeganst94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a6a055/32.png) [@keeganst94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keeganst94)\
**Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgraceful-thing-youve-ever-seen-especially-in-public/653297/246 "2014-03-27T16:29:58Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> Originally posted by **dublos**
> 
> I’m thinking your definition of cold does not match those of a majority of human beings… nor that of most state legislatures.
> 
> Now outdoor dogs who have a reasonable shelter that they can get into when excessively cold… that I have no issue with.

My definition of cold probably is different, because I live in a place that is colder than most. If we didn’t let our dog stay out in freezing weather the dog would not be out for 6 months of the year.

Canadian animal cruelty laws require the animal to have experienced distress for the owner to be charged with any kind of neglect, and since neither our dog nor most other dogs around here are experiencing distress, it doesn’t apply. I mostly responded to Renifer because she wasn’t appalled by the fact that the dog was in pain or suffering, but by the mere fact that it was outside in freezing weather, as though that automatically meant the dog was suffering. On review, it also seems that the dog did have shelter- a doghouse.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\
**Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgraceful-thing-youve-ever-seen-especially-in-public/653297/247 "2014-03-27T21:08:09Z")

</div>

I walked through San Francisco’s Tenderloin District at noon one time. I saw hookers paying their pimps, a woman shooting up her man whilst laying in a doorway, and the worst left turn I’ve ever witnessed in the space of 90 seconds.

For a moment, I felt a sympathy with Mr. Kurtz.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgraceful-thing-youve-ever-seen-especially-in-public/653297/248 "2014-03-28T02:55:02Z")

</div>

> [@StusBlues](#):
>
> I walked through San Francisco’s Tenderloin District at noon one time. I saw hookers paying their pimps, a woman shooting up her man whilst laying in a doorway, and the worst left turn I’ve ever witnessed in the space of 90 seconds.

One day a rain is gonna come, and it’s gonna wash all this scum off the streets.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgraceful-thing-youve-ever-seen-especially-in-public/653297/249 "2014-03-28T03:37:28Z")

</div>

> [@Mangetout](#):
>
> [My co-worker picks his nose](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=543084), picks skin and scabs off his ears, picks sleep from his eyes and eats it all. Constantly. Not even slightly covertly. During the working day. **In meetings with customers and suppliers.**
> 
> He’s been told by everyone to stop, but it’s continued unabated **for years.**

Holy mother of god.:eek::eek::eek: How is it that he’s managed to retain his job at all, much less continue to be permitted to be in the presence of customers and suppliers? Seriously, I need to know…

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgraceful-thing-youve-ever-seen-especially-in-public/653297/250 "2014-03-28T04:52:05Z")

</div>

> [@Svejk\_1](#):
>
> One day a rain is gonna come, and it’s gonna wash all this scum off the streets.

For SF? It’d have to be a Noah sized rain, there’s so much scum there. Hell, The Augean stables are nothing compared to just City Hall.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgraceful-thing-youve-ever-seen-especially-in-public/653297/251 "2014-03-28T05:59:46Z")

</div>

> [@purplehorseshoe](#):
>
> I don’t know if that counts as “disgraceful” but it sure is fucked up.

What do you mean? He’s sure telling it like it is…

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgraceful-thing-youve-ever-seen-especially-in-public/653297/252 "2014-03-28T09:35:14Z")

</div>

I’d say it is the parents at kids sporting events who think it is their God given right to be obnoxious jerk to the officials.

Look, I dont agree with every call either. But unless I see a kid endangered or I believe a ref is blatantly trying to help the other team (which happens) I usually bring it up with the coach who then can talk with the official better than I can. Its only a kids game and the refs are human.

One time I did speak up was when the other football team had 12 kids on the field and the refs didnt catch it.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgraceful-thing-youve-ever-seen-especially-in-public/653297/253 "2014-03-28T12:52:24Z")

</div>

When I was 16, I saw some younger teenagers hurling abuse and stones at an old man. I crossed the road, walked with him to a more populated area, then carried on my way.

The teenagers caught up with me. One of them claimed I’d said something about her - I hadn’t; they were strangers and I didn’t want to pick a fight. They all came over and hit me, kicked me and spat on me, and finally the eldest one held my head over some park railing spikes while her little brother kicked me.

This was on a very quiet road, but eventually a man in a suit walked past. The kids let me down and I ran towards the man, saying hey bro, how’s dad? Pretending he was my brother, but whispering to him to just walk with me until we got somewhere safer. The teenagers followed at a distance and we really weren’t that far from safety.

He ran away. ☹ A grown man ran away from a young girl asking for help.

That’s one of the most despicable things I’ve seen.

Another one from my teenage years: walking around trying to find my friend, and seeing a van slow down and someone toss her out the back. Bloody, bruised and delerious. She’d been raped by the men in the van; her “boyfriend” had given her to his cousin and his friends. We staggered slowly back to my house, passing several people who looked away. We never went to the police because it would not have turned out well for my friend and her family.

When I was heavily pregnant, a girl and her bf attacked me and held a knife to my womb. I was quite young so maybe the passersby thought it was a gang thing or something. My crime was yelling at her boyfriend for cycling into me on the pavement.

I’ve also seen a gang attack a kebab shop worker with a samurai sword. A shoot-out on the street like something from TV. An old lady, clothes torn, face in pieces, blood dripping down her thighs, shrieking about the men who’d done it. She was trying to walk to the hospital and was nearly there so I took her the rest of the way.

But hey, no ratty flags.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgraceful-thing-youve-ever-seen-especially-in-public/653297/254 "2014-03-28T20:10:16Z")

</div>

I think because I work with so many people with developmental disabilities (autism, aspergers, etc…) I have developed a pretty high tolerance for odd-weird-unacceptable behavior. Many kids are prove to “meltdowns” where they can go pretty crazy and everyone think the worse of you and all. Or the older ones will say and do some pretty bad things.

Take for example - my self and my son who has severe autism. One time we were at the library and he couldnt find a particular book. He had this major MAJOR breakdown where he was screaming at the top of his lungs and running around. It was so bad I had to literally pick up and drag this kid out all the while he was screaming and I mean SCREAMING! The library was pretty full and literally every person was staring at us thinking I was some sort of child abuser or I was stealing him or something because he was yelling “No, No, No go!!!” Luckily the only person who “helped” was a librarian because she understood and held the door and even came outside with my books I was trying to carry. Of course the minute we got outside he settled down and even realized what he had done.

I dont know of many worse things than to have your kid go nuts and have hundreds of eyes staring at you like you were some sort of freak show or criminal.

When I am around others where this happens I quietly come to assist, offer encouragement, and try to help.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\
**Post date:** [March 29, 2014, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgraceful-thing-youve-ever-seen-especially-in-public/653297/255 "2014-03-29T14:44:54Z")

</div>

**SciFiSam** , where in hell did you grow up?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\
**Post date:** [March 29, 2014, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgraceful-thing-youve-ever-seen-especially-in-public/653297/256 "2014-03-29T17:38:17Z")

</div>

> [@Ike\_Witt](#):
>
> **SciFiSam** , where in hell did you grow up?

My guesses are Bogota, Mogodishu, or the New York portrayed in Escape From New York.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\
**Post date:** [March 29, 2014, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgraceful-thing-youve-ever-seen-especially-in-public/653297/257 "2014-03-29T20:11:09Z")

</div>

Just outside London. I think the rest of you must have had charmed lives of you’ve never seen anything similar.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\
**Post date:** [March 29, 2014, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgraceful-thing-youve-ever-seen-especially-in-public/653297/258 "2014-03-29T20:53:37Z")

</div>

> [@SciFiSam](#):
>
> Just outside London. I think the rest of you must have had charmed lives of you’ve never seen anything similar.

Seriously?? You think that what you have seen is normal?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\
**Post date:** [March 29, 2014, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgraceful-thing-youve-ever-seen-especially-in-public/653297/259 "2014-03-29T21:16:20Z")

</div>

> [@Nars\_Glinley](#):
>
> Seriously?? You think that what you have seen is normal?

Yeah, I had no idea _A Clockwork Orange_ was a documentary.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\
**Post date:** [March 29, 2014, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgraceful-thing-youve-ever-seen-especially-in-public/653297/260 "2014-03-29T22:00:32Z")

</div>

> [@Nars\_Glinley](#):
>
> Seriously?? You think that what you have seen is normal?

Well, maybe not the samurai sword, but the rest of it isn’t that unusual. It’s a few events over 20 years, after all. Well, there have been others too, but it’s not like this is a weekly round-up.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgraceful-thing-youve-ever-seen-especially-in-public/653297.md?page=12)

[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-disgraceful-thing-youve-ever-seen-especially-in-public/653297.md?page=14)
