11 People Who Just Refuse to Understand the Word “No”

Saying ‘no’ should be enough, right? But what happens when it’s not? These unbelievable stories show just how far some people will go when they don’t respect your wishes. Get ready to dive into the drama of when boundaries are pushed, and watch as the consequences unfold.

• A mom and her little girl boarded after I was already at the window. The daughter started pitching a fit about the window seat. The mom turned to me and said I was going to “need to switch seats with her little girl or the flight wouldn’t be pleasant for me.” I looked at her and said that may work for you guys with other people, but I’m not one of them. She flagged down the flight attendant and said I wasn’t “cooperating” with her daughter (a 4-5-year-old!) by letting her have the window. The flight attendant said it was my decision and that she and her daughter could look for other seats, but the flight was pretty full. I smiled at the FA and put my headphones on and enjoyed the flight.
  © Flimsy-Housing-2468 / Reddit

• I was on the commuter train, headphones in, halfway through my coffee. A man tapped my shoulder and pointed at my seat. “Move—this is my regular spot.” I shrugged and said, “Sorry, I got here first.” He huffed, stood in the aisle... and stayed there for three full stops, sigh-sigh-sighing until a seat opened up. The second it did, he slid in, glared, and muttered loud enough for half the car to hear, “Some people are just selfish.” Sure, buddy—assigned seating in your imagination only.

• I work in an office with mostly cool people, but there’s one girl. Let’s call her Lisa. Last week, I brought in my phone charger. Around 2 PM, Lisa strolls over and goes, “Heyyy, is your charger free? Mine’s at home, and I need to make a call later.” I said, “Actually, I kinda need it to keep my phone alive today.”
  She got annoyed and said I was being selfish and that her phone was at 9%. I said, “Mine was at 7% twenty minutes ago, that’s why I brought my charger.” She rolled her eyes and walked away. Later, she made a very loud point of saying to no one in particular, “Some people just can’t share, I guess.” I just sipped my coffee and pretended to be deep in an email. My manager actually pulled her aside and gently reminded her that personal items should be respected and that she should stop treating people’s desks like a rental shelf.

• A friend I hadn’t spoken to in months messaged out of the blue. She asked if I could watch her kids while she ran errands. I politely declined, explaining I had other plans. She replied, “Well, they’re already in the car. I’ll just swing by—10 minutes tops.” I quickly locked the door and didn’t respond. She rang the bell anyway. Twice. Then texted, “You’re being so dramatic. Our friendship is over.”

• So, I was in a public toilet. Someone knocked on the door and told me to leave. I answered that there was another toilet down the hall. The person then told me, “No, YOU go, I am here with a CHILD.” Then I heard something that made me freeze. She was trying to open the door. I immediately stood up, my mind racing—was she really going to force her way in? Then, the unthinkable happened: she started pounding on the door, shouting now. “GET OUT! I told you, I’m with a child! MOVE NOW!” My hands trembled as I grabbed my bag and opened the door just enough to slip out. As I did, I saw the child she had been talking about. It was a teenager standing behind her, rolling his eyes and clearly not in any distress at all. And the moment I stepped out, she just walked off, leaving the teenager behind.

• At a family reunion, my cousin gave her toddler my daughter’s tablet without asking. I told her I’d rather not—it wasn’t waterproof and the kid was heading toward the pool. She said, “It’s just for five minutes. She won’t drop it.” Ten minutes later, the tablet was at the bottom of the shallow end. Cousin’s response? “Well, maybe don’t bring electronics to parties.”

• We hosted Thanksgiving at my place. When leaving, my brother asked if my nephew could take one of my 2-year-old son’s toy trucks. I told him that I’d be happy to give him a link to the store where I bought it. My brother said that my nephew would throw a tantrum if he didn’t get the toy then and there and that everything would be easier if I just let him take the toy and get sent a replacement in the mail.
  I told my brother that it’s my brother/SIL’s problem if he throws a tantrum. Of course, the inevitable happened—my nephew started shrieking inconsolably at the top of his lungs, and my brother/SIL/nephew had to leave.
  Later that evening, I got an angry text from my brother saying that my nephew screamed his head off for the entire 3-hour car ride home and only stopped screaming after he literally passed out from exhaustion. He said that the tantrum was my fault since it would have been completely avoided if I’d just given my nephew the toy. © aita_toy_tantrum / Reddit
  

• My coworker once asked for a lift home. I said no—I had plans right after work. She said, “It’s on your way. Just drop me first.” I said again I didn’t have time. That evening she waited by my car anyway. When I unlocked it, she opened the passenger door like it was normal. I had to stand there and tell her again to please respect the no.

• I was at a coffee shop working when a woman came up and said, “I need your chair. We’re a group of four.” I told her I was still using it. She pointed at the empty seat across from me, saying, “But nobody’s sitting there.” I said it’s for someone joining me soon. She scoffed, dragged the chair away anyway, and yelled across the café, “Got it!”

• I hosted a birthday dinner at a restaurant. I made it clear on the invite that this was an adults-only event. One of my friends, “Laura,” has a 3-year-old daughter. When I first sent out the invite, she asked if she could bring her child. I told her that, unfortunately, I really wanted to keep this an adult-only event, and I totally understood if she couldn’t make it. She said she’d figure something out and never brought it up again.
  The night of the dinner. Everyone is arriving at the restaurant, and Laura walks in, holding her daughter’s hand. I pulled her aside and asked, “Hey, I thought we talked about this?” She shrugged and said, “Yeah, but I couldn’t find a sitter, and I didn’t want to miss your birthday.”
  I was frustrated but still trying to be polite. I told her I understood, but I didn’t think it was fair to the rest of the guests. I asked her to leave. She got upset and said I was being ungrateful and ridiculous, that her daughter was “well-behaved” and wouldn’t cause any trouble. She ended up leaving in a huff, and later, she sent me a long text about how I “humiliated” her in front of our friends and made her feel like a bad mom for bringing her daughter. © Express-Clue-5563 / Reddit

• My neighbor offered me a box of her daughter’s clothes for my kid. I appreciated it but politely declined—we didn’t need them. She dropped the box off anyway. I returned it. Next day? Another box. “You’ll thank me later,” she said. I finally donated it all to a shelter. A week later she asked if I could return her bins.

And our reader found herself facing a different kind of drama in her personal life. Her relationship became the target of office gossip, with people offering unsolicited opinions and judgments. But when her boyfriend, Luke, decided to step in and handle the situation, things took a dramatic turn: My Coworker Shamed Me for Dating a Deliveryman—I Refused to Swallow That