What could be more crushing than proposing marriage to the person of your dreams and having them turn you down? How about doing it while a stadium filled with onlookers act as witnesses? Or, worse yet, if the entire humiliating episode is
That's what happened to a young man who proposed to his woman during a UCLA basketball game last month.
A video that caught the entire painful exchange on tape shows the stadium's "Mistletoe Cam" zoning in on unsuspecting couples taking in the game, who are supposed to kiss when they see themselves on the giant screen.
All goes well until the camera singles out a young couple. Instead of kissing, the young man stands up and presents his girlfriend with a ring. Initially smiling and looking surprised, the woman sits in silence and then bolts from the arena as onlookers cheer and ask her to give an answer. A collective gasp ripples through the audience and the young man is left down on one knee.
Although there has been considerable speculation the entire episode was staged, a sports reporter from the LA Times tweeted that a UCLA spokesman confirmed it was the real deal.
This isn't the only case of a proposal-gone-wrong being posted online for all to see. In fact, simply Google "marriage proposal gone wrong" to see other examples of public humiliation on display.
Which prompts the question: Why do some people still decide to make a very personal moment a public spectacle. Perhaps this should serve as fair warning that if you're prepared to propose on the big screen, you should be prepared for the consequences if you don't receive the answer you're looking for.
Do you think people who propose in public are playing with fire? Did this guy just get what was coming to him?
Carly Weeks