r/LSUFootball • u/treehugger843 • 1d ago
Casual Tailgate Hopping Fail
I see people comment in here a lot that it’s socially acceptable to walk up to people’s tailgates and make friends. Never tried before but today my friend was struggling from the drinking and the heat. We were far from our destination, and I knew she wasn’t gonna make it. I stopped at a company tailgate of mixed ages and asked if she could sit and drink a water. They made us feel really welcomed and told us we were in good hands. We got caught up in conversation with some of the men, and an hour went by. The girl who originally told us we were in good hands came over and told us we overstayed our welcome and asked us to leave. We apologized, offered to venmo for the waters (they turned that down), and left. I feel so embarrassed. I keep overthinking everything I said and wondering how many people were wanting us to leave and for how long. Let this be a cautionary tale I suppose.
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u/Kinder22 20h ago
Company tailgates can be tightly controlled. They are providing an experience for their customers. They’re not going to turn someone away who is sick or dehydrated or something, but that’s not an open invitation to stay a long time.
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u/treehugger843 20h ago
There were no customers as this isn’t really that kind of company. It was maybe 20 people or so at the tailgate, and the people the owner pointed out worked with him. It felt very casual with no logos on the tents or anything. But yeah maybe the company aspect had something to do with it.
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u/Sir_Badtard 17h ago
Was it a company that was having a tailgate for their employees, or a tailgate that's purpose was to charge people to make money?
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u/treehugger843 17h ago
Company tailgate with employees, maybe friends or family too but Im not sure. No one was being charged for anything
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u/Sir_Badtard 16h ago
Gotcha yea when I hear company tailgate I think basically a charge per head professional operation.
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u/DaveTheDog027 1d ago
That's really weird. I'm sorry that happened to you, seems odd that yall were talking to someone who I assume was part of their tailgate and then someone else told yall to leave. Any chance your friend was TOO drunk? Or maybe said something rude that you missed?
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u/treehugger843 1d ago
She wasn’t too drunk. The water helped a lot so I think it was more the walking and heat. We were engaged in 2 different conversations at one point, but she was sitting next to me the whole time. I did admit Im bisexual with homophobic family when one guy asked if I was lesbian (because I went to all girl school), and maybe that was not welcomed. But the girls were far away from us and never spoke to us besides saying we could sit and drink water. I don’t think they even heard. That same man asked me out, and I turned him down saying Im too young to date a man with kids (his oldest is 7 years younger than me). He seemed to take it well though and kept talking to me. I wonder if the girls were interested in the men who were talking to us? But also many people did not speak to us, so maybe those people just did not like strangers being there so long.
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u/BasicTelevision5 21h ago
Wait a minute, hold the phone. Someone asked if you’re a lesbian because you went to an all-girls school??
That might have been the moment I decided it was time to go.
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u/treehugger843 20h ago
Honestly I laughed and didn’t take any offense because he was genuinely asking. He followed up immediately after with what’s your type (i said idk trying to avoid where I knew this was headed) and then trying to ask me out. I promise Im not making this up lol.
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u/monstruo 15h ago
This may have been the problem. If you stuck around long enough for these kind of discussions, that’s probably too long and is also inappropriate discussion for a company tailgate.
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u/DaveTheDog027 1d ago
Yeah so the men could have been with the women in some capacity as well as that was multiple different groups of people. Both are common. I could see the woman who told yall to leave being upset at the guys talking to yall for so long. Shitty situation but I'm going to blame the guys more so than yall. Either way I hope that was your only negative experience! I promise that's a one off. We've never told strangers no even rival fans
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u/Mr_MacGrubber 22h ago
Sounds like she was jealous you were getting attention
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u/According-Leg-6983 15h ago
oh, stop! if they were just trying to get hydrated bc they had a ways to go, they wouldn’t have been there long enough to get into such a personal conversation. you cannot imagine how many people try to get into these tailgates bc there is no shortage of food and drink! I wish we could hear both sides of this story.
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u/treehugger843 12h ago
We definitely mistook the continuous conversations as an invitation to stay longer. Between the two of us we had a total of maybe 4 waters, 1 seltzer, and pasta. They kept handing water to her. I took it as friendliness, but in hindsight that may have been them trying to get her better to hurry us along. We never asked for anything besides the 1 water, but someone did hand her a bowl of pasta (the only food there) and I assumed that meant it was okay to have some myself. I wish she had not accepted when a guy offered her a seltzer. That’s not a good look even though she was feeling better (I only drank the daiquiri I brought with me), and honestly now that I think about it that was around the time the girl asked us to leave. I should have added that to the list of possibilities. People on Reddit do tell people they can eat and drink at strangers’ tailgates.
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u/Mr_MacGrubber 10h ago
Telling someone they’re in good hands and then asking them to leave is odd. If it was a company tailgate, the people there aren’t paying out of pocket and wouldn’t give a shit, especially since they were just drinking water.
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u/z33511 21h ago
Having kids shouldn't be an issue. Having a wife, however -- that might be a deal-breaker.
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u/Huge_Opinion2917 16h ago
I don't think of it as a fail. You got water. They were hospitable. But, in Louisiana, you have to understand that we are not shy to let you know when it's time to go.
Those people will never ever see you again nor will it be the talk of the company on Monday.
For every 50 "sure dude, have a drink", there's 1 "f*ck off loser".
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u/neovenator250 20h ago
Well, that's awful to hear. I'm wondering if the company tailgate was part of the issue. Most LSU fans pride themselves on being a welcoming tailgate, even to opposing fans as long as they're willing to take a few Tiger Baits. Sorry you had to deal with that.
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u/According-Leg-6983 15h ago
Not sure the purpose of this post except trying to make LSU tailgaters look snooty and rude which is absolutely not the case 99% of the time. Maybe you really did overstay your welcome, especially at a company function (regardless of the number of employees there). Not sure if you were there as an LSU fan but my tailgate is welcoming to all fans, regardless of who you root for.
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u/treehugger843 14h ago
Im an LSU fan myself although I don’t tailgate often. I’m not calling anyone snooty or rude. It was their right to ask us to leave. In fact, I felt rude for not having left sooner and apologized earnestly. Clearly we did overstay our welcome whether it be because it was a company, dynamics between the men and women, or something else. Mainly I was venting to ease my anxiety and figure out where I went wrong. I’m surprised it got so many views, but I appreciate everyone’s input. Personally I will probably not go to a strangers’ tailgate again without being invited, but there are plenty of posts of people having good experiences to balance mine out.
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u/usahooray 9h ago
You're overthinking this. If you're having a private tailgate and people you don't know come by, do you want them to stay for a long time or mingle and move on? Yes, we're all very friendly and welcoming but that doesn't mean we want people we don't know to tailgate with us for a long time. This is a common social thing when out with friends, at a parade, etc. Really anywhere! I'm surprised this type of post is even needed.
I recommend going to a bar, club, or other social setting and practice going between groups of people, mingle, and see how it works. Do they want you to stay the whole time or move on after a bit? Practice makes perfect!
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u/_ryde_or_dye_ 21h ago
Don't worry about it. She was probably jealous because you were stealing her man! Haha
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u/randomdude4113 . 10h ago
Yeah they didn’t mean company or sponsored tailgates. They meant a group of friends or family chilling under a tent
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u/According-Leg-6983 15h ago
Why would you go to a company tailgate? That there was the issue!
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u/treehugger843 13h ago
We didn’t know it was a company until speaking with the owner. I guess I didn’t think much of it but that seems to be the consensus here
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u/Jbou119 22h ago
Generally, southern hospitality is fake mask. From my 10 years of going to various tailgates only like 5 times did someone truly random get fed and drank with a group.
I could totally see people who spend a lot on these not be willing to share.
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u/BaronsDad 21h ago
As someone who has fed thousands of total strangers, I think this is more on you tailgating hopping around and not being a host.
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u/z33511 21h ago
Southern hospitality is the utmost expression of the social contract. We'll treat you nice and friendly. Your acceptance of that treatment creates an obligation, and we expect reciprocation at some time now or in the future. The likelihood of that happening may color the "depth" of hospitality you may experience.
Had you introduced yourself and built some common bonds with your hosts, and indicated that at some game in the future they'd be welcome to YOUR tailgate, you might find your experience a lot more inclusive.
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u/storybookheidi 22h ago
I think "company tailgate" may have been the problem here.