This discussion centers around a humorous anecdote about a man accidentally attending the wrong wedding, leading to a variety of related personal stories and broader societal observations. The main themes that emerged include:
Accidental Attendance and Social Awkwardness
A significant portion of the conversation revolves around the core experience of being at the wrong event, particularly weddings, and the social pressures to remain inconspicuous. Users shared their own embarrassing or awkward experiences of similar mix-ups.
- "You canāt exactly stand up and walk out of a wedding mid-ceremony, so I just had to commit to this act and spent the next 20 minutes awkwardly sitting there trying to be as inconspicuous as my 6ft 2 ass could be" [saghm]
- "āWrong wedding <_leaves_>ā could have removed the tension of most weddings?" [a3w]
- The original poster's situation: "He rushed in, the ceremony started, and then he realized he was at the wrong wedding. Once the ceremony starts, you stay quiet. Getting up and leaving from aisle seat while the wedding party is coming down the aisle would have been a jerk move." [Aurornis]
- A relatable college experience: "I didn't recognize anyone and soon realize that I hadn't overslept and was just an hour early. I was too embarrassed to get up and walk out so I sat through the class." [gdw2]
- Another college anecdote: "Since I made such a commotion getting to the seat, and since I didnāt want to do that again, I just sat there and pretended to take notes." [LadyCailin]
- A similar instance at a funeral: "After maybe 5 minutes of not recognizing anyone, someone simply says "who are you", and after explaining my relation to the deceased, my error became apparent." [sixothree]
- A user recalling a professor's experience: "He was enrolled in the second, and had arrived 30 minutes _early_. Horror turned to joy as I failed to find a single error on his exam." [boothby]
- A humorous mix-up at a religious service: "It was daylight savings time change and we hadn't adjusted our clocks being drunk college students. That was my one experience attending mass." [mythrwy]
- A cousin's particularly unfortunate mix-up at a mourning event: "Then she approached the casket and leapt forward exclaiming "I'll miss you, Uncle", only to find a lady laying inside." [pif]
- A relatable story about a drunken relative at wedding events: "Heād got the venue wrong and had already spent an hour at a different wedding reception eating and drinking... But thatās only half the story. Heād got the date wrong too, and had already done the whole thing the night before." [kranner]
Comparisons to Pop Culture and Media
The scenario evoked humorous comparisons to popular TV shows and films, suggesting the inherently comedic nature of such social blunders.
- "This reads almost like a scene from the IT Crowd." [antonymoose]
- "Or Harold and Maude obsessed with weddings instead of funerals." [DonHopkins]
- The following comment shared a link to an IT Crowd episode: "āThe Work Outingā, the episode with a vaguely similar plot which made me cry with laughter the first time I saw it, is available for free on Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cj490uNht4o&pp=ygUVaXQgY3Jvd2Q..." [uncircle]
- A user mentioned the "Seinfeld episode if I ever seen one, something something Kramer with some side shenanigans..." [nowittyusername]
Gatecrashing and Social Engineering
The theme of intentionally attending events without an invitation, or "gatecrashing," emerged, with users sharing strategies and humorous anecdotes about their experiences.
- "I am something of a professional gatecrasher, which is a skill I picked up from a friend many years ago. Interesting event happening as youāre walking past? Just walk on in, look like you belong, see where it goes." [madaxe_again]
- A practical gating crashing tip: "That or carry around a hi vis vest - they fold up tiny and can live in a jacket pocket unnoticeably, and they will allow you access anywhere." [madaxe_again]
- "Iāve also been chucked out of a few things but thatās definitely the minority - most of the time when people are like āso are you with the royal brigadiersā¦?ā Iāll just say āno, Iām gatecrashingā, and they assume Iām joking until they realise Iām not, but by that point weāre already on our fourth round." [madaxe_again]
- A more subtle approach for weddings: "Tuxedo works fine for a wedding. I'm a wedding musician, so I'm often in a tux, and nobody questions it." [analog31]
Open Weddings and Public Access to Ceremonies
A clarification arose regarding the nature of wedding ceremonies, with some users pointing out that in many religious traditions, ceremonies are public events, thus making accidental attendance less of a strict faux pas than attending a private reception.
- "In the Episcopal Church (of the U.S.), and doubtless in others, my understanding has always been that wedding ceremonies are just as open to the public as any other church service." [dctoedt]
- "Same is true for the Catholic Church. Weddings and funerals are both open to the public if anyone in the community should wish to attend." [bigstrat2003]
Cultural and Linguistic Nuances (Catalan Discussion)
A significant tangent developed concerning the distinction between Castilian Spanish and Catalan, leading to a debate about language classification, regional identity, and national unity. This discussion was eventually marked as off-topic.
- A user mistakenly referred to Catalan as "Catalan Spanish": "To my horror, more people started coming in as well and I realized I was in for some sort of book or thesis presentation on the subject of Spanish language on the Balearic islands. I barely speak Castilian Spanish (the more common one) and it was instead in Catalan Spanish, so I didn't understand a word, but stayed for the 1-2 hours it took, clapped, and skipped the handshakes/signing part of it." [potatototoo99]
- A linguistic correction: "You may be referring to Catalan language. I'm not aware of any "Catalan variant" of Spanish." [Rygian]
- A user explaining the linguistic context: "when contrasted against "Castilian Spanish" it does make some sense: it's the Romance variant that developed in the Catalonia part of Spain, vs the one that developed in Castile." [dddgghhbbfblk]
- A linguist's observation on language naming conventions: "āA language is a dialect with an army and navyā" [bdunks]
- A native speaker's perspective on the distinction: "In my languages, they're both referred as "Castellano" o "Catalan". I'd appreciate that people referred to these languages either as Catalan or Spanish, no need for unnecessary qualifiers." [jvican]
- A discussion on official Spanish language policy: "The constitution of Spain uses this phrasing in its article 3: ... āLas demĆ”s lenguas espaƱolas serĆ”n tambiĆ©n oficiales en las respectivas Comunidades AutĆ³nomas de acuerdo con sus Estatutos.ā ...The richness of the different linguistic modalities of Spain is a cultural heritage which shall be accorded particular respect and protection." [schoen]
- A comparison between Catalan and other linguistic distinctions: "normie3000: Isn't Occitan "French Catalan Spanish" / ted_dunning: Darn! You're right. The step after is to start talking about Provencal as if it were a dialect or French. Or Sicilian or Napolitano as a dialect of Italian." [normie3000, ted_dunning]
Employee Treatment and Corporate Culture (Toxic Workplaces, Firing Policies)
A significant portion of the discussion detoured into the topic of corporate culture, particularly focusing on the impact of employee fear, at-will employment, and the perceived "toxicity" of certain work environments. This thread began with a story about a person who was fired but continued to work at Apple unnoticed.
- "There was an even crazier story when someone was fired from Apple, but still kept coming to the office to work on their project for free for like half a year before someone noticed." [cynicalsecurity]
- A critique of a "trigger happy" firing culture: "I think employees being afraid they can be fired at any moment _also_ creates a loss of productivity." [jakelazaroff]
- "Itās really disappointing to read someone describing that kind of toxic working environment as a āgainā." [hnlmorg]
- A list of negative consequences of a fear-based work culture: "- Make employees scared to point out flaws. - Make employees less engaged in the success of the company. ... Yes. Gains. All those gains. I can only see gains here." [aDyslecticCrow]
- A counterargument to the benefits of easier firing: "When it's simple and easy to fire people, companies are a lot more willing to take a chance on hiring somebody they aren't 100% sure will be a good employee, and willing to hire a lot and grow fast knowing in both cases they can fire easily if needed." [ufmace]
- A defense of worker protection: "Easier planning life and reduce work anxiety for employees. - It encurrage companies to invest and train their existing employees since they`re hard to get rid off. ... Finally, i must ask what the societal purpose of jobs and companies are. From a pure "numbers go up", there is a cost to worker protection. But id argue the society as a whole benefit much more from it than having a multinational IT company on the stock market." [aDyslecticCrow]
- A response to the "fear of firing" argument: "I'm not smart enough to come up with everything anyone could ever want to do, and frankly, neither are you or anyone else." [ufmace]
- A user's preference for freer markets: "Europe seems to have very little in the way of invention or growth pretty much since WWII. ... I'm not dismissing anything outright. I've carefully observed the results of both styles of economy and I prefer freer markets." [ufmace]
- A cautionary tale about confronting leadership: "My boss pulled me aside later and said, "Don't ever talk to a CEO. Nothing good can come from it."" [RyanOD]
- A similar experience with a CEO's "open door policy": "That day, he learnt that an open door policy is a massive red herring and got reamed for disturbing the CEO. It was all performative - they don't actually care." [greyb]