I would totally do it for a grand, but I’d have to go somewhere and do it knowing I could never show my face there again.
Yeah, pubically bare-assed? No way.
I couldn’t do it for any price. I remember things that humilated me from decades ago and I couldn’t take the chance of hurting someone else like that.
$20.00
I’m not sure. A few thousand, maybe? Being easily shamed and quick to embarassment myself, it’s not something I’d have an easy time of.
It would probably have to be a hostage situation. Someone holding a gun on my husband or my cat or some random child pulled off the street. Like gigi, I can still recall too many personal humiliations with face-burning clarity to be able to drop that load on anyone else unless overwhelmingly deserved. Sorry, but money is just money and I have guilt issues enough already.
Hmmm. I dunno. Being a loud, unforgiving asshole in public is sort of embarrassing in its own right, too.
That being said, I’m pretty much a wuss, but if someone started yelling at me for a NONEXISTANT mistake, I’d tell them to fuck off. It’s the actual mistakes I make that, when someone gives me a hard time, make me very upset.
But, my answer? Probably $500. I’m young and impermanently employed.
I wouldn’t ever publically embarass someone for no reason. Do unto others as you’d have done to you, and hope that maybe you’ll get some of that done unto you.
To me, the question really is how much would it take for me to publicly embarrass myself, because I couldn’t humiliate someone else without humiliating myself.
The answer? A huge amount of money. Huge.
My thoughts, exactly. Who is this presumed silly waiter who just stands there and cries at an imagined failure? You are really opening the door to be embarrassed yourself if you try to pull this one in your average waiter. They know how to handle pricks like that. They do it every day.
Now that you’ve said that, I will be checking various charities to see if they received any large donations every time someone acts like an ass in public. This is going to take up a lot of my time.
I stressed nonexistant mistake in the OP so that one could not use the rationalization of “well, she did make an error” to alter their answer.
For those who can’t imagine a waitress crying over getting yelled at- imagine a sheltered 16-year old with little social skills getting her first job and then getting yelled at by an adult.
I would try to embarrass the person who was offering me money to pick on a waitress.
Uhm… isn’t the title a contradiction in terms?
I guess in my case the reason would need to exist and would be a bad case of the nitpicks 
Embarrass a stranger? No way! I only publically embarrass friends and family.
The “offer a good-girl answer so they like you” part of me wants to say No! Never!
The honest part of me admits there’s a price, and I don’t even need to do a lot of torturous “do it for the chiiiiiiildren” rationalization, either.
Since dollars are different for everyone, let’s just say that I could probably be bought out for about half our annual income.
This is with the “wisdom” of maturity, however, and the knowledge that embarrassment isn’t the end of the world, or even your career. The waitress who can be broken by an irate customer should probably look into another career anyway. Embarrassing a strong and healthy individual leaves no lasting scars. I can honestly say that I would never knowingly cause lasting harm to someone, or physical damage, for any price.
I would, however, have to totally disassociate myself while I was doing it, and view it as being paid to play a part. Yes, this indicates to me that it’s a poor ethical choice. Yes, I’m probably a bastard for admitting I have a price. What can I say? If I was all enlightened and shit, I’d go be an Ascended Master and stop wasting my time on message boards! 
But then, it’s not for ‘no reason’. It’s for money. The OP contradicts herself (himself?) between the title and the text of the OP.
I will happily publically embarass a stranger if they:
hurt or abuse a child, infirm or disabled person
park in a "Handicapped space ( with out tag)
block or other wise impede trafic in a public walk way (ie walking 5 abreast, slowly, in a crowded mall)
mistreat animals
talk (badly) behind another person’s back, especially if they are “friends” with that person)
abuse trust, in any way… (from not putting your quarter in the office coffee fund to robbing millions from the poor with illigitimate contracts)
I guess what I am saying is that if more people pointed out the assholes, then a lot more people would tend to be less assholish… The way I do it is to try and moderate my rebuke in proprotion to the offense /people affected…
ie- Miss use of handicapped parking stalls… I once watched a young, fit, man pull into the handicapped parking space at Best Buy… I followed him around for 5 minutes, saying to my daughter (in a PUBLIC voice) “See that man, he has a terrible handicap, he has to use the handicapped parking space, and he is not visibly handicapped, nor can he obtain a handicapped parking tag! What ahorror his life must be, to have to live like that! Some day there will be a telethon for people suffering from his condition!..etc”
regards
FMl
I’ve known a few people who had handicapped passes who looked otherwise normal and healthy. One had fibromyalgia and occasionally, despite feeling as if there was no way to do it, had to run an errand anyway to keep afloat of household needs. The cops in his town would often question why he had a handicapped parking pass and give him the third degree because he “looked normal” to them. The other had a skin disease that made him allergic to the sun. More than a few minutes in the sun would cause him to be seriously ill. I’m sure that neither of them would deserve that kind of behavior, but both would probably be diligent about their parking passes.
I haven’t gone out of my way to embarrass strangers unless provoked (i.e. they confronted me with their arrogance and shortcomings and were trying to get a reaction out of me), but I have publicly embarrassed people I knew. In fact, I do recall an event when I sent a former friend into tears for what I thought was her own good. (Long story short: her behavior was causing harm to everyone around her in addition to herself. Someone had to snap her out of it and tell her that she’s not the victim in this situation. I’m not nice about these things, and she was left bawling in a fetal position.) I’m not proud of it, but sometimes a bit of embarrassment has to be done in order to correct people’s behavior.
Honestly, I don’t know how much money it would take me to treat someone horribly without just cause. I’ve been in too many situations where I’ve had to stand there and take it because I was at my (retail/food service) job and not allowed to retaliate. Even when given the opportunity at one point in time, I took the high road.
No, I wouldn’t do it.
Nope. Perhaps there are some things that are more important than money.
Sacha Baron Cohen told me to tell you that he’d do it for a few million bucks and the near-unanimous adoration of the SDMB. Oh, wait…