There are few things more satisfying than knowing you left a party before things turned sour. You came, had a good time and had the sense to hit the exit before a fight broke out, the cops showed up or a bunch of people got into a drunken debate about politics.
There’s one rule my wife and I have: When the couple throwing the party starts to fight, that’s when you grab your things and go.
When you’re younger, it’s a bit harder to recognize the telltale signs that a party is about to go sideways. But when people age and have seen a thing or two, they start to develop a Spidey sense for the moment when it’s time to hit the exit before all hell breaks loose. They also know how long to stay before they’ve become an unwanted house guest.
It’s one thing to know how to leave before things get lame. But it’s seriously important to identify situations that could lead to physical violence or sexual assaults.
Reddit user u/mharris1405 must have gone to a rager over the weekend, because on Sunday, they posted a great question to the online forum,“What are some signs you need to leave the party?” The Reddit community responded with some funny and practical advice on when they know it’s time to hit the exit.
Here are 18 of the best responses.
1. A party rots from the host down
“When the host is the cause of any form of drama,” – Nova_Phoenix
2. When the drunks are the only folks left
“When all the fun people have left and it’s just the last of the fucked up people hanging out,” – ParsnipBusy.
3. Don’t be the last person standing
“When it suddenly goes from 30 people to you and 2 randoms,” – hoot69
4. When things turn sloppy
“When people start getting obnoxious. If you see drunk or high people breaking shit, or screaming, interrupting others’ conversation, that’s when you can see that the party is going to get worse,” – ToastedMaple
5. “Who invited these dudes?”
“When a group of 5-10 unknown men arrives, which weren’t invited,” – Katsudonisyummy
6. When the antisocial crew arrives
“If a group of guys come in and don’t greet anybody, they just stand around looking around, someone is about to be jumped or shot. Leave.” – CGY-SS
7. When the night has peaked
“There usually comes a point in the night, usually around 2-3am, where everyone’s drunkenness wanes from energised to a bit sloppy. A lot of people start sitting down in increasingly insular circles, and drinks just stop going down so well. A lot of people will just hang around because it was fun earlier and they don’t want the night to end, but you start to really compromise on tomorrow’s happiness by drawing out the night.” – Tosslebugmy
8. When it devolves into a sausage fest
“When you’re a young female and suddenly realize the male-female ratio is more than 12-1 and the crowd is taking on a shark-like circling motion with a lot of side-eye. The actual nice guy I was chatting with suddenly said, ‘You need to leave’ and I jumped to my feet and bailed like the place was on fire. I suspect the nice guy covered my exit. See, there are nice guys and scary ones and fools like I was,” – Melina26
9. When your phone is more fun
“You’re starting to be on your phone WAY too much,” – Pillsbury Toasters
10. Guns? No thanks
“I once walked into a party and saw a bunch of guns just laying around and I grandpa Simpson’d myself right back out the door,” – popcornkernels
11. Leave before you get pulled in
“When you realize you’re just standing there watching the shit show. There’s a time limit to that. No need to become part of the show. Get out while you can,” – toriaehi
12. When you’re the third wheel
“Everybody is hooking up except you and you’re sitting next to a couple making out on a couch,” – OliveaSea
13. When the cops arrive
“I have a rule. No matter how good a time I am having, even if I have done nothing wrong, when cops show up, I leave then,” – Latvian_Pete
14. When your friends have left
“When you feel as though you’re ‘on the outside looking in,'” – Back2Bach
15. Trust your gut
“I saw no one mentions this so here I go. When your 6th sense or danger sense is screaming at you. You know that feeling when you suddenly feel unsafe, where there is no reason to be so? That is basically your unconscious mind screaming at you, because you unconsciously noticed something wrong, but cant put your finger on what. For those who have not had this yet, the most easily identifiable signs are, cold running down your neck, sudden extreme vigilance, the hair all over your body stands, and in general you feel like death itself is breathing down your neck.
If you have this (gut) feeling, flee. I am not kidding. Run like the wind. This saved me from some hairy situations.
As for an example that would be, something along the lines of seeing someone spike a drink at the edge of your vision, you personally did not notice it, but deep down you realized what is what so your body warns you about it. Even if this gut feeling is only correct 1 out of 10 times, you will thank it when it does,” – TehBuckets
16. The rule of two
“Never be the drunkest person in a room. If you are at a party and can’t identify 2 people more intoxicated than you, find a safe ride home or quit drinking for awhile,” – YeaahProlly
17. Terrible DJ
“When the music just sucks,” – JuliusTaka
18. Again, trust your gut
“When you can tell there is an emotionally unbalanced person there who you have a feeling will be a problem, you may consider leaving if it escalates. Whether it be starting a fight, or you can tell they are going to cause a problem later in the night or you feel uncomfortable around them always trust your gut. The same goes with a person you just feel is ‘off’ around. You are there to have a good time, not be anxious,” – foofighterfoos