What is the most childish behaviour you have witnessed in an adult ?

[WildRosie]

Mine isn't dramatic but it was pathetic and cringeworthy nevertheless. Our hero was a work colleague of mine in his mid to late twenties, a little sensitive and utterly mollycoddled by his parents. One evening at work, he prepares to put his microwave meal in the microwave oven but, having read the heating instructions, he learns that said meal is "Not suitable for microwave cooking". Fair enough, that's a bummer, especially when you're peckish on a late shift. His reaction was to phone his Mum straight away and whine to her, rather than taking it on the chin and nipping out to the shops or for fish and chips. In other words, taking appropriate responsibility for his meals like a grown man should do didn't occur to him. His priority was to go crying to Mummy. Drip. Painful and ridiculous.

Someone I unfortunately have to come into contact through work;

Refuses to drive any distance and manipulates others into chauffeuring her about (although manages to drive herself to M&S a couple of towns away, town where I live and indeed caught her doing the family food shop)
Dramatises any potential health issue to extraordinary proportions - think best part of a working week in bed due to weaning herself off Diet Coke.
When not getting her own way/enough attention in meetings/conferences, creates a diversion by fainting/sudden onset food poisoning/grave family emergency or simply labelling every other participant of said meeting a bully/sexist etc.
Flights for work, due to fear of flying always has to have a window seat, unless there’s a seat with extra legroom, then has to have that to prevent cramp (she’s 5ft). Ditto hotel rooms, always something wrong with her allocation, never happy until there’s been multiple swaps and she’s in the best room in the fucking place.

She’s 50 years old who lets her inner spoilt toddler out far too often.

@AlGorithim

I saw some children throwing stones at ducks in a pond in a pub garden so I told them not to as it would injure the ducks. Children run off to mummy and daddy to whine that the nasty lady told them off. Knuckle dragging dad comes storming over saying how dare I tell his kids off so I pointed out pretty mildly that I’d only suggested they not throw stones at birds.

What does he do? He picks up a stone and lobs it at the ducks, just to prove that he can.

Absolute bellend.

Oh jesus what a twat

I was part of a food service team at a large (5,000 people) event. A grown adult has a strop because the sandwiches, which were included in the price of the event, were cut into triangles, not squares.

Another wined that I could only serve his 8 year old one burger, because that is what had been budgeted for. The child could have added salad, fruit, bread, and/or veg to his dinner if he was still hungry. The dad would not accept that if I gave his child two burgers, someone else would have no burger.

I’ve temped and met some crazy other temps who expect to do no work. I mean I’ve had some jobs where I’ve had little to do, but some seem to freak out at being asked to do a small task (stuffing envelopes etc).
I worked in a school with a dress code for staff. No bare shoulders, no toes on show etc. Woman came in with massive stilettos with cut out toes and she was told not to wear them again. 2 days later she has them on again. She also walked into the Head Teachers office twice without knocking (when the PA wasn’t there) for ridiculous reasons nothing to do with him. Asked to leave and said she was going do complain to the agency about unprofessionalism.
I’ve also seen a school receptionist walk out at 4pm every day regardless what was happening. Once a crying parent was there as a vulnerable child had gone missing and she literally just stood up and left as it was ‘the end of her day and I’m not getting paid anymore’. (Child had missed bus and gone to neighbours as her mum had gone looking and phone was out of charge). She didn’t last much longer.

So far, a curious mix of downright childish behaviour and painfully spoiled and indulged conduct.

The star of my story had another food-related episode at the office. Another of our colleagues had brought in a huge pot of homemade curry and rice for evening nosh; plenty to go round and so on. Our hero says not to serve him in any, thankyou, as he has already brought something to eat (microwave compatible, for once). Fair enough. Later on, after everyone has eaten and the curry is all gone, buggerlugs whines at our colleague,
"Where's mine?
"What are you talking about? You said you didn't want any because you'd brought your own."
"Yeah...but you could still have plated some up for me"
"Why would I do that when you didn't want any?"
"Oh, forget it!"

Cue strop and sulk for the rest of the evening and at least half a dozen face-palms and expressions of disbelief from other people.

What a prick.

@BearSoFair

Some might say having an argument on a forum thread would be a good example of childish behaviour in itself

That is literally the point of an internet forum such as MN - to debate!

I had a boyfriend once who was a complete spoiled brat. He still lived with his parents who did everything for him.
In his extended family was a two year old child who was very cute. BF's DM sometimes babysat this child, and BF seemed actually jealous of him, which was deeply unattractive.
One day we were round at BF's house. On the table was a decorated cake, with a picture on the front printed onto the icing, that BF had been given for doing someone a favour.

BF asked why the cake was on the table and not in the pantry. BF's DM said that the little child had visited earlier and she had shown him the cake. Not given him any, just shown him the picture.
BF then threw a tantrum, as if he were two years old himself, which ended with him sulking on the couch, arms folded and face like a slapped arse, not talking to me or his DM.
His DM actually apologised to me and said she was ashamed of him. He was 22 at the time. I dumped him not long after.

Honestly?

Some of the arguments between posters on mumsnet.

I have read them open mouthed at how petty and childish they seem.

And also a bit disturbed at thought they’re probably mothers

Another one about a spoiled man child. I took my dog for a country walk with the man child and his father. MC wasn't wearing wellies and got a spot of mud on his gorgeous honey-coloured cords. Cue for mega strop and tantrum in the field, followed by a sulk that lasted all the way home. He was in his mid-30s at the time.

After pointing out to my (then), manager that what they were asking would not be possible she actually came out with the words ...." You have to do it because I'm the boss of you so there!!" I really did not know whether to laugh or cry at how pathetic she sounded.

A colleague who used to turn up to work in fancy dress and coughed phlegm in my tea.

A friend's ex who sulked in the bedroom during dinner as my friend had dished him up a slightly smaller portion. I believe he's now a life coach.

My XMIL cried when I told her I didn't want a balloon arch aty wedding to her son.

Perhaps not the worst, but for some reason it sticks in my memory:
Once on a railway station platform I was buying a train ticket from the machine when a woman waiting to use it next asked me to help her. I did so but before the process was finished the train I was catching drew into the platform. I said "Here's my train, I must go" and she grabbed my arm shouting "NO I need your help, don't leave!" I pulled my arm away and got on the train with her shouting and ranting after me....

I've just googled - he is a life coach and offers hypnotherapy.

I used to work in retail during my uni days - the amount of childish behaviour I witnessed from grown adults was unbelievable.
If something was not in stock or they couldn't get a refund on something ( no receipt or out of date) it was just bizarre. It's like they resorted to throwing tantrums thinking that would make us change our minds. It never worked and they just looked very stupid and entitled.

We used to have a very entitled woman at our livery yard. One day the horse box parking arrangements were changed, so instead of the horse boxes staying in the “normal” car park, they were to be moved to a securely locked area about 50 yards down the lane. As this would have inconvenienced Ms Entitled very slightly, she had a screaming crying tantrum to the yard managers. She then got her mum to back her up. She must have been early 40s at the time. What’s worse, she was allowed to keep parking in the car park while everyone else just got on with the new regime.

My SIL who we was house sharing with for a while.

She threw many epic tantrums but one I remember clearly was her screeching, sobbing and foot stamping because I threw away a rotting stinking chicken she had bought a few days before (obviously wasn’t rotting them).

She was furious that I had thrown it out and was screaming about how I was trying to starve her and what on earth would she eat?!

A member of my family made an gigantically enormous fuss about not being asked to be a bridesmaid for a much younger family member. She was 51 at the time. The bride only wanted a few little ones to be bridesmaids.

I know someone who lay down on the floor of the co-op drumming their heels on the ground because they weren’t allowed to buy alcohol after 10pm. This individual is a health visitor. And a twat.

I wonder how fine is the line between abject spoiled indulgence and a genuine mental health issue ? How does one tell the difference ?

My DD works in retail. Yesterday a woman threw a trantrum because DD wouldn't pull down her mask to speak to her. DD had done it for another customer who needed to lip read.
The trantrum lady didn't need to lip read but didn't see "why she couldn't get special treatment too". She banged on the plexiglass and cried

@Cocolapew

My DD works in retail. Yesterday a woman threw a trantrum because DD wouldn't pull down her mask to speak to her. DD had done it for another customer who needed to lip read. The trantrum lady didn't need to lip read but didn't see "why she couldn't get special treatment too". She banged on the plexiglass and cried

This is the sort of behaviour I was just alluding to. To a neurotypical person it's likely to be viewed as irrational but is it a deep-seated anxiety showing itself? Who knows? One for an expert, not me.

I had an ex boyfriend who very thoughtfully bought his parents a holiday for Christmas … his sister ran off crying and locked herself in her bedroom because his present to them was better than hers. We all just say round awkwardly waiting to open our presents while his mum tried to calm her down

For my mother's 60th I travelled for 11 hours and spent all day making her a home made buffet with a cake. I bought a little Happy Birthday banner and put it on the front gate so she'd see it when she came home from a day out shopping that my brothers has taken her on.
She ran into the house screaming to the point of foaming at the mouth because "I don't want this fucking thing, are you an idiot? I don't want people knowing it's my fucking birthday," and threw it on the log burner.
Because that attracts so much less attention than a banner
Apart from that, she'd told people all about how she was having a shopping day for her birthday so the neighbours knew anyway.

O so many, my exDH was a classic man child. One that springs to mind was when he opened a Christmas present from him mum on Christmas Day. He had told her he wanted a new wallet which is what he got but it was brown not black! He had a full on tantrum and threw it at her. She promptly went out Boxing Day and bought him a new black one.

Worked with a lady she was 24, use to go on about how poor her family were, she grew up in a 4 bed house with swimming pool. Granted her university friends were all very very rich but the ones I met had no problems slumming it. She had arranged a weekend away with some of them and kicked off because she wasn’t going to have her own bathroom for the weekend. The rest of our team were amused and saying things like but you used the shared toilets at work, surely you have used shared bathrooms when at uni and flat sharing…apparently not, from the moment she left home she insisted she always have her own private bathroom because her life was hard haveing to grow up and spend her whole life having to share a bathroom with her parents and 1 brother 🙄

A school dad parked across a driveway on school pick up, the homeowner man came out to get in his car and asked the school dad to move his car, cue a big argument. School dad didn't move until kids came out. School dad then went back at night and threw eggs at the man's house. School dads wife told me the full story like she was so proud him. School dad must've been mid 40's at the time and homeowner was probably in his 70's.