Have you ever frightened anybody?

Recently my neighbour chopped down a couple of huge pine/fir trees in his garden and gave us the trunks for firewood.

My housemate got the chainsaw and and cut them into manageable pieces and I helped heft them up the garden path to the side of the house. I could manage two or three large pieces in the wheelbarrow and was happy to leave my h/m to use the chainsaw.

However, eventually the pieces had been sawed to manageable size and needed chopping up with an axe. Well, we've got a large axe with a handle about as long as my arm and a whopping great head on it.

My h/m was happily chopping up the wood when I got a severe case of axe-envy and asked nicely if I could have a go. After I had to resort to begging (Can I have a go? Oh, let me. Why not? Oh go on, eh? eh? etc etc) he finally relented.

I should mention, at this point, that I have astigmatisms but I've never let being unable to see straight stop me from doing anything.

So there I was with the axe, and most of the time I hit the logs or only just missed. To be fair, in some cases I only just hit them. Of course, the bigger the log the better chance I had at hitting it. Unfortunately, they were that big that I couldn't get the axe to go straight through them, so I had to heave them over my head and crash them down on the tree stump to try and break them.

And that's when my housemate told me I was frightening him.

Now, he's really hard and not easily scared, but I managed to put the frighteners on him so YAY me............I rock!

Anyone else manage to frighten anybody?

I guess I'm a quiet agile walker, so I sometimes scare people by accident because I walk past them when they think nobody is there, haha.

I used to climb really tall trees, I mean REALLY tall, then I would hang on a branch near the top and swing. Crazy I know. That scared my brother haha.


If I find a spider, I pick it up and chase my brother around, he is REALLY scared of spiders, even more than some girls haha. He will lock doors, and he will be paranoid for the next half an hour, even if I tell him I put the spider away.

[edit on 28-2-2009 by _Phoenix_]

Originally posted by _Phoenix_
If I find a spider, I pick it up and chase my brother around, he is REALLY scared of spiders, even more than some girls haha. He will lock doors, and he will be paranoid for the next half an hour, even if I tell him I put the spider away.
[edit on 28-2-2009 by _Phoenix_]

I'm sure he'll thank you one day for toughening him up lol

(Oh why isn't there a smiley for lol on BTS? Or even a grin?)

Originally posted by berenike

(Oh why isn't there a smiley for lol on BTS? Or even a grin?)

there is

reply to post by blupblup


Well! Aren't you just the smart-alec??????? lol lol lol lol

I could use the grin before I got my new computer, but now..... Let's say I'm about as competent on this as I am with an axe.

lol, I love freaking people out like that.

To my colleagues dismay, I often wire many of the low power circuits I work on while they're live. As in, I keep the power on while I work.

Of course, to me it's no big deal, I know what I'm touching and the levels everything's at. I always attach ground first before anything else, and I never touch the leads on larger capacitors.

... but it's always hilarious when someone comes by, asks you if you know what you're doing, and you pretend to get zapped.


The look on their faces is priceless.

Until they get the bright idea to try and kick you away from the lab bench.

I own a few knives and always carry one with me. One day at work someone needed a box opened so I pulled out my knife and cut the tape off. From the look my coworker was giving me I scared the crap out of him.


Did I mention the knife is this?

reply to post by Tentickles


Can you carry knifes around in the USA?

I'm not allowed here in the uk

Thanks for the replies, everybody.

I always suspected there were some secretly evil people on here. Muahahaha and all that......

Some of your antics border on genius.

That's a beautiful knife, Tentickles, thanks for taking the trouble to put up the picture.

reply to post by berenike

Yep, I scare myself some mornings after a wild night out.God I hate that bathroom mirror at times like that!

You're lucky it's only in the mornings after a wild night out.

Originally posted by berenike

Originally posted by _Phoenix_
If I find a spider, I pick it up and chase my brother around, he is REALLY scared of spiders, even more than some girls haha. He will lock doors, and he will be paranoid for the next half an hour, even if I tell him I put the spider away.
[edit on 28-2-2009 by _Phoenix_]

I'm sure he'll thank you one day for toughening him up lol

(Oh why isn't there a smiley for lol on BTS? Or even a grin?)

Here is a link that might help as far as the smiley situation goes.



Back when I used to be a security guard one of the office building that I worked at wasn't all that well lit at night and a few people had a tendency to come in to work at odd times. I was doing my rounds when I encountered a lady one night. Scared the wits out of her since I was walking on carpeting, very quietly and came out of a dark hallway and startled her.

"!!" was the closest sound that I can duplicate at this time.

"Good Evening!" was my cheerful reply. "Working late?" I asked.

After her pulse rate slowed a little came a quiet affirmative.

"Have a good evening then then, Miss ******!"

After a couple of seconds.

"Wait a minute! How do you know my name?"

"I take it that you hadn't gotten the memo about limited Omniscience being a requirement for all security personel?" I asked with a smile.

She simply gave me a look like she didn't believe me. I then proceeded to inform her that every time she used her magnetically striped entry card to unlock a locked door a printout of what card and who it was issued to would printout on the computer in my security desk.

"Oh and it shows everyone?"

"Yep, even me and my card that I use."

So not only did I unintentionally scare someone but also played with their head a little. (chuckle)

Originally posted by _Phoenix_
I guess I'm a quiet agile walker, so I sometimes scare people by accident because I walk past them when they think nobody is there, haha.

I'm so glad someone else does this. I can't count the number of times I've been standing behind someone waiting for them to turn around and then they do and I get greeted with "ARGH!"

I've tried wearing heels and stompy shoes, but it doesn't seem to matter. I'm apparently just unobtrusive by nature.

Apart from unexpectedly being where people don't expect me to be, though, I'm about as frightening as a fruit salad.

Anyone seen Donnie Darko?

My friend has an awesome Frank the rabbit costume, and we had so much fun one Halloween scaring people.

I was the 'plant' who would get people's attention and he would do the scaring.

A rabbit? Scary?

It is when he moves and acts like a serial killer hah. Stands up in a hedge... walks out and just follows you. Not half unsettling at all right?




[edit on 2-3-2009 by fooffstarr]

Have you ever frightened anybody?

Yup, many times. I'd sneak up behind old timers and give them such a start. I've stared down children to eyes the size of saucers and animals to back away. It's what I do naturally. Thank you.

Thanks again for all the replies.

Deson - THANK you for the encouragement. I'd given up on the smilies, but I found out what I was doing wrong. I was highlighting the smiley and copying instead of putting it in the reply box and highlighting the code.

Showing off now.

[edit on 2-3-2009 by berenike]

I once hung from the banister that runs across the landing in my house (young and drunk!!), I waited for my housemate to come out from the toilet, I then jumped up from the banister causing my friend to jump out of his skin and nearly passout from fright, he really fell out with me for quite a few days.

[edit on 2-3-2009 by Kurokage]

I might have known you'd be the worst of the lot

And you've got some stiff competition.

[edit on 2-3-2009 by berenike]

Originally posted by _Phoenix_
I guess I'm a quiet agile walker, so I sometimes scare people by accident because I walk past them when they think nobody is there, haha.

I'm forever doing that in crowded places etc. One time I almost caused a traffic accident there was this dog, I didn't think much of it I had my head down and I was trying to get somewhere quick - as I came up behind this dog it got spooked and literally jumped into the road! There was an almighty screech as one car slammed on the breaks (in quite an uncontrolled panic kinda way!) and another car coming the opposite direction swerved into a parking space.

Turned out the dog had got out from one of the gardens and was just pottering around.

Also when I know someone is not paying much attention to their surroundings (usually women! :shk: ) I sneak up unnaturally close behind them knowing full well they are gonna turn around! - then they jump out of their skin and depending on who the person is I sometimes even lick their face Mmmm face licking

reply to post by Now_Then


And I stand corrected - see my previous post.