# What would shock you the most? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 5, 2018, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-shock-you-the-most/815486 "2018-06-05T20:58:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-shock-you-the-most/815486/21 "2018-06-06T02:11:34Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > \*…wait, WHO do you think I am? Nah, I’m Heywood Kalel, from Aldebaran 5. I’m here for a Marshall – Whiteapple – no wait, Applewhite. Yeah, I was supposed to be here about twenty years ago, but somebody spilled coffee on the Hale-Bopp timetable, and I missed my connection, sorry. > > But if I see this Christ guy, I’ll be sure and let him know you’re waiting. > > So, if you could just take me to Mr. Applewhite, and any fellow passengers he might wish to bring along, we can be on our way.\* That would be even more shocking. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-shock-you-the-most/815486/22 "2018-06-06T02:17:17Z")
If our government decided it didn’t need an army bigger than the next dozen largest countries combined, cut back on everything and split the money: half to paying off our horrific debt and half to making the world a better place. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-shock-you-the-most/815486/23 "2018-06-06T03:23:04Z")
Melania coming out of hiding and convincingly showing that she is in good health and spirits and loves and respects her husband. (Actually, the idea sickens me more than it would shock me since I wouldn’t put it past you know who to force it.) ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-shock-you-the-most/815486/24 "2018-06-06T03:28:55Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > If somebody demonstrates scientifically double-blind repeatable tester/environment independent psychic powers. > > Moreso if that somebody is me. Why would I want to show off in public and end up in a lab? ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-shock-you-the-most/815486/25 "2018-06-06T03:30:14Z")
> [@FloatyGimpy](#): > > Seeing Christ descend from the heavens for the second coming. [My favorite comic on that one.](https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/2008-11-24) ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-shock-you-the-most/815486/26 "2018-06-06T04:10:49Z")
Trump’s message backfires horribly, and the next president of the US makes Bernie Sanders look like a timid right-wing Democrat; Venezuela cuts all ties because new POTUS is too radical; the whole thing succeeds and everyone is happy. THAT would shock me. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-shock-you-the-most/815486/27 "2018-06-06T04:17:08Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > [My favorite comic on that one.](https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/2008-11-24) I lol’d 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-shock-you-the-most/815486/28 "2018-06-06T05:58:55Z")
If people finally came out and said “You know what, the opening of the pilot episode of The Newsroom really wasn’t that good. Why would a college student ask why America is the greatest country in the world unless her entire plan was to allow the main character to give a speech showing how amazingly cognizant and smart he is” ---
**Author:** ![GoodOmens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@GoodOmens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoodOmens)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-shock-you-the-most/815486/29 "2018-06-06T10:32:00Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > One would be the NFL or NBA openly admitting to rigging games. I’d trump that with the inverse…the WWE admitting that it’s all real, they’re not playing characters, they’re actually fighting. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-shock-you-the-most/815486/30 "2018-06-06T11:57:50Z")
One word—Dino-chickens. ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-shock-you-the-most/815486/31 "2018-06-06T14:49:57Z")
Incontrovertible evidence that ghosts exist. And CNN devoting 15 minutes to a news story that doesn’t involve Trump or a school shooting. ---
**Author:** ![senoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@senoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/senoy)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-shock-you-the-most/815486/32 "2018-06-06T15:15:50Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > Donald Trump doing a complete about-face and openly supporting progressive liberal positions on major issues: abortion rights, gun control, LGBT rights, etc. Not shocking at all. He’s not particularly an ideologue and has supported abortion rights and gay rights in the past. He has waffled on gun control. Basically, he goes whichever way the wind blows. He’s a populist. If the polls showed that his base wanted free abortions for all, tomorrow he’d be on Twitter telling us that he personally is going to kick pregnant women in the stomach and that has been his position all along. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-shock-you-the-most/815486/33 "2018-06-06T15:18:24Z")
> [@Atomic\_Alex](#): > > I’m thinking of things along the lines of the Pope holding a special conference to announce that he has been struggling with his faith for a long time and has decided to renounce his title and position and is now a declared athiest. That would be pretty shocking _(and actually might make an interesting thread, how would the Catholic Church and world react to it)_. That wouldn’t bother me at all. Now what I would find shocking is him announcing he has been married for the past 18 years and has no intention of giving up his wife or his position. You can select a wife of either gender if you wish. About the only thing that would totally shock and amaze me to the point of speechlessness would be either or both major political parties announcing they are disbanding so that we can get back to being a country closer to what was originally formed and framed – of the _people_, by the _people_, and for the _people_ – rather than for and by a group of professional political hacks. ---
**Author:** ![Marine\_One](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marine_one/32/3461_2.png) [@Marine\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marine_One)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-shock-you-the-most/815486/34 "2018-06-06T15:19:28Z")
“And in a shocking announcement, Bigfoot has been found! This is no joke! A farmer in Montana has captured Bigfoot. Scientists have confirmed this is indeed Bigfoot.” “This just in…THE BIGFOOT IS A FEMALE AND IS PREGNANT!!!” ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-shock-you-the-most/815486/35 "2018-06-06T17:03:32Z")
I just found out yesterday that Shaun T (the coach from Insanity) is gay, and I was flabbergasted. As much people say that gay men are no different from anyone else, I haven’t totally internalized that yet, and I still have this mental image of a gay man being effeminate. And Shaun T is so manly! I know this thread asks “what \*would \*shock you,” not “what _did_ shock you,” but since I only found out yesterday I think it’s close enough to count. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-shock-you-the-most/815486/36 "2018-06-06T17:11:47Z")
On his deathbed, George HW Bush confesses - he shot JFK. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-shock-you-the-most/815486/37 "2018-06-06T17:12:59Z")
> [@Jennshark](#): > > And CNN devoting 15 minutes to a news story that doesn’t involve Trump or a school shooting. I thought the OP was talking about something remotely plausible. Mine would be - “Former President Barack Obama was arrested last night on charges of domestic abuse in connection with an apparently cocaine-fueled incident between him, the former First Lady, and a person described as a ‘personal friend of the President’…” Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-shock-you-the-most/815486/38 "2018-06-06T19:38:53Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > There are millions of things that could shock; I am guessing the OP is aiming for plausible-but-only-very-borderline and also high-profile examples. > > One would be the NFL or NBA openly admitting to rigging games. That would do it for me. It just feels more plausible than a supernatural event or a politician suddenly reversing himself. There’s just enough suspicion. Then again, the Tim Donaghy surprised me that it wasn’t a bigger story: “rogue ref, end of story”. How about a popular player admitting he threw a game. Like Russell Wilson throwing that Super Bowl INT on purpose. Or Pete Rose admitting he bet AGAINST the Red. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-shock-you-the-most/815486/39 "2018-06-13T21:05:26Z")
> [@Marine\_One](#): > > “And in a shocking announcement, Bigfoot has been found! This is no joke! A farmer in Montana has captured Bigfoot. Scientists have confirmed this is indeed Bigfoot.” > “This just in…THE BIGFOOT IS A FEMALE AND IS PREGNANT!!!” This reminds me of the over-gasping scene in Futurama 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-shock-you-the-most/815486/40 "2018-06-13T21:19:57Z")
That dogs can really understand English and could talk. They just don’t want to talk to us. “There is no intelligent people here” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-shock-you-the-most/815486.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-shock-you-the-most/815486.md?page=3)