History Main / RightInFrontOfMe

* ''Film/{{Water 1985}}. Environmentalist Pamela bumps into MichaelCaine in a floral shirt and asks him for advice on how she should greet the Governor of the island. "You know how tightass the British can be." On realising that Caine is the Governor, she burbles her apologies, though the Governor isn't too bothered as he's rather taken by her.

* In ''Literature/{{FirestarSeries}}'', a public school has just been turned over to a private company, Mentor Academies, due to poor performance. At the first meeting after the takeover, a number of teachers start complaining about the changes with a young woman they assume is a new teacher. A couple of weeks later, they discover that the "new teacher" was actually Mariesa van Huyten, the CEO of Mentor's parent company.

* In ''WesternAnimation/DrawnTogether'', Xandir, at a party full of gay people, meets PacMan, tells him that he knows that Pac-Man's ex-girlfriend and his girlfriend are good friends, and asks him not to tell MsPacMan about his orientation. Pac-Man then puts on a bow and tells him that "she already knows". Upon realizing that PacMan is also MsPacMan, Xandir decides to tell his girlfriend the truth.

* A non-insulting variation occurred in the French movie ''Parlez-moi d'Amour'': A man heading to a job interview for a rich businessman has coffee spilled on his shirt, and in desperation asks another man to trade shirts with him. He accepts, but turns out to be his interviewer and future employer.

* ''VideoGame/{{Halo4}}'', this comes up in Spartan-Ops. [[TheCasanova DeMarco]] starts flirting with a female Spartan he just met. Then he learns she's his boss.

-->'''DEVEREAUX:''' What's wrong, Lieutenant? Did I bruise your ego?
-->'''BLAIR:''' No, it's just that I'm not used to getting combat advice from a [[WrenchWench grease-monkey]].
-->'''DEVEREAUX:''' ''[introducing herself]'' Commander Devereaux, Lieutenant. Your wing commander.

** possibly a shameless lift from an episode of ''{{Cheers}}'', where Rebecca does this to a very short man in a lift who turns out to be her supreme boss and trhe ultimate owner of the bar.

* In MaiOtome, this happens to Mashiro on a few occasions while she's going incognito, such as when she meets up with the similarly disguised Prince Takumi, or with Mimi [[spoiler:while fleeing Windbloom with the other refugees]]. Both those instances show how much the people hate her, and lead to her CharacterDevelopment and becoming a better ruler.

* In Moribito: Guardian of the Spirits, one of the main characters, Balsa, and the group she is traveling with and protecting, is being pursued by authorities. While having lunch, she runs into a man who, upon being questioned, tells her about her alleged demise at the hands of the search teams looking for her. He then goes on to make up a story about how he met her in the mountains, and despite her great skill with the spear, managed to fight her to a draw. Balsa seems to take this humorously and with good spirit, most likely because in his version, it took a thousand men armed to the teeth to kill her.

* In Elecktrum's Narnia Fic [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3193599/14/They_Also_Serve "They Also Serve,"]] Ilando, a visitor from Galma, unknowingly accuses Edmund of being a traitor to his face. Edmund, being a pretty decent guy by this point, takes it pretty well, but that doesn't stop Ilando from being horribly embarrassed when he finds out.

* A classic example is in "TheyDiedWithTheirBootsOn" on the life of General George Armstrong Custer. As our dashing hero (Errol Flynn) is on his way to meet his girlfriend's father for the first time, he gets into an altercation with an imperious old gentleman. Guess who the old guy turns out to be?

* In the VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft novel TheShatteringPreludeToCataclysm, Thrall meets a female orc upon his arrival in Nagrand who [[InsistentTerminology insists on]] [[AccidentalMisnaming calling him "Go'el", rather than Thrall]] and mentions that Greatmother Geyah has a student named Aggra (whom Thrall initially assumes to be male) who will teach him more about being a shaman. Finallly, the encounter concludes with the following exchange:

* In the SwordOfTruth, Friedrich very briefly gets one of these looking for the Lord Rahl. Subverted because, due to the D'Haran bond with the Lord Rahl, he's already fairly sure who just saved his skinny old posterior from Heart Hounds.

* A variant in TheLordOfTheRings where Gandalf discusses Bilbo's mithril vest, and how he never told Bilbo how ''extraordinarily valuable'' it was, in front of Frodo, who is now wearing said vest.

* In ''Still Standing'', Bill and his co-workers are goofing off at work when a college-age fellow calls them out on it. Not realizing that this kid is their new manager, they blow him off and continue goofing.
* One episode of ''Nurses'' revolved around a rich woman who checks herself into the local hospital and [[AnnoyingPatient demands the royal treatment]], running the nursing staff ragged. The head nurse eventually gets fed up and tells the woman off; it is later revealed that the woman is the hospital's new Administrator.

* In the first episode of the fourth season of HellsKitchen, Gordon Ramsey spied on the contestants on the bus to the restaurant disguised as a contestant. The others talked about how they are going to impress Gordon and he will love them. They were shocked when Gordon revealed himself at the restaurant.

[[folder:Jokes]]
* Stand-up comic Brett Butler tells a joke about a comedy routine she performed in England. According to the joke, after the performance Butler became embroiled in a ('''ahem''') colorful argument with a boorishly critical woman; as onlookers dragged the comedienne away they told her "You cannot speak to the Queen that way!"
* One man at an opera, to make conversation with the rich, important fellow next to him, said "Who is that ugly woman who just walked in?" The answer: "That's my wife." "Oh, no, not her; I mean that shocking monstrosity next to her." "That is my daughter."
* There is a joke that both uses and subverts this, involving a man listening to his boss speak.
-->'''Man:''' *turns to woman* This guy is a pompous fool.
-->'''Woman:''' Do you know who I am?
-->'''Man:''' No.
-->'''Woman:''' I am that pompous fool's wife.
-->'''Man:''' *in an imposing tone* Do you know who I am?!
-->'''Woman:''' N-no...
-->'''Man:''' That's a relief. *blends into crowd*
* A joke about a man trying to make the situation less awkward while dancing with a beautiful woman at a party.
-->'''Man:''' I really made a fool out of myself before.
-->'''Woman:''' Is that so? How?
-->'''Man:''' You see that man over there? The one with that disgusting wart on his nose? I commented on how the woman standing by the door was the fattest I'd ever seen. Turned out it was his wife!
-->'''Woman:''' *coldly* Oh, really. What did dad say then?
[[/folder]]

* In one video exercise for teaching french, two boys are talking with each other about a girl, whereupon one asks if she has a boyfriend, and the other gives a very flattering description the boyfriend, leading to this exchange.

* In ''Theatre/MeasureForMeasure'', Duke Vincentio of Vienna appoints his deputy Angelo as Replacement Dog Kicker and disguises himself as a friar. The "fantastic," Lucio, proceeds to slander the hell out of the Duke in front of the friar. Later, when the Duke returns, he slanders the friar in front of the Duke. This does not end well for Lucio, [[spoiler: whom the Duke sentences to a fatal HumiliationConga.]]
** Eh? The Duke makes Lucio marry the prostitute whom he had impregnated. How is that fatal?[[note]]Unless, like Lucio, you think that marrying a whore is pressing to death, whipping, ''and'' hanging.[[/note]]

** Though, to be fair, O'Neill's entering line could have (and has been many times) much, much worse.

[[folder:Jokes]]
* Stand-up comic Brett Butler tells a joke about a comedy routine she performed in England. According to the joke, after the performance Butler became embroiled in a ('''ahem''') colorful argument with a boorishly critical woman; as onlookers dragged the comedienne away they told her "You cannot speak to the Queen that way!"
* One man at an opera, to make conversation with the rich, important fellow next to him, said "Who is that ugly woman who just walked in?" The answer: "That's my wife." "Oh, no, not her; I mean that shocking monstrosity next to her." "That is my daughter."
* There is a joke that both uses and subverts this, involving a man listening to his boss speak.
-->'''Man:''' *turns to woman* This guy is a pompous fool.
-->'''Woman:''' Do you know who I am?
-->'''Man:''' No.
-->'''Woman:''' I am that pompous fool's wife.
-->'''Man:''' *in an imposing tone* Do you know who I am?!
-->'''Woman:''' N-no...
-->'''Man:''' That's a relief. *blends into crowd*
* A joke about a man trying to make the situation less awkward while dancing with a beautiful woman at a party.
-->'''Man:''' I really made a fool out of myself before.
-->'''Woman:''' Is that so? How?
-->'''Man:''' You see that man over there? The one with that disgusting wart on his nose? I commented on how the woman standing by the door was the fattest I'd ever seen. Turned out it was his wife!
-->'''Woman:''' *coldly* Oh, really. What did dad say then?
[[/folder]]

* In the 2001 Australian miniseries ''Day of the Roses'' a man from the Justice Department asks for the Coroner's office. Two men burdened with boxes of files say they're heading that way themselves, then ask for his help carrying the boxes. The men replies, "Get stuffed" and walks off, only to find one of them was the coroner he's come to see.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* People with bad eyesight or people who cannot recognize faces for whatever reason often suffer from this, and can become more shy and friendly than they otherwise would around others.

* John Krasinski, of ''TheOffice'' (US version), stated in one of the show's DVD commentaries that when he first auditioned for the role of Jim Halpert, he struck up a converation with another man at the audition and stated in passing, "I hope they (the show's producers) don't screw this up." The other man then introduced himself as executive producer Greg Daniels.
* In his autobiography ''About Face'', David Hackworth tells how he was talking on the phone to what he assumed was an officious and annoying clerk at the Pentagon. After calling him a "little prick" Hackworth discovered the man was Attorney-General Robert Kennedy, brother of President John F. Kennedy. Fortunately his (Irish American) commanding officer was able to smooth things over, but as he put it: "Of all the people!"

* Supposedly, Mark Twain once said "Keep your words short and sweet, for you may be forced to eat them."
* In the 1970's a group of feminist activists set up the Elsie Refuge for domestic violence victims in Sydney, Australia, but were unable to get any government funding. Eventually the Minister of Social Welfare Bill Hayden turned up unannounced at the shelter, only to be curtly refused entry as no men were allowed on the premises, until the activists realised who he was and rushed out to bring him back (after Hayden talked to the women who'd taken shelter there, they did get their funding).

* ''DropTheDeadDonkey''. PointyHairedBoss Gus Hedges starts ragging off at a woman in the lift with him who's apparently forgotten her ID card. It turns out she's an inspector from the government.

* In the VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft novel TheShatteringPreludeToCataclysm, Thrall meets a female orc upon his arrival in Nagrand who [[InsistentTerminology insists on]] [[MyNameIsNotDurwood calling him "Go'el", rather than Thrall]] and mentions that Greatmother Geyah has a student named Aggra (whom Thrall initially assumes to be male) who will teach him more about being a shaman. Finallly, the encounter concludes with the following exchange:

** Eh? The Duke makes Lucio marry the prostitute whom he had impregnated. How is that fatal?[[hottip:* :Unless, like Lucio, you think that marrying a whore is pressing to death, whipping, ''and'' hanging.]]

[[folder:Web Orginal]]

-->'''[[CharacterAsHimself General Ryan]]''': Hello, Colonel.

-->'''[[StarringAsHimself General Ryan]]''': Hello, Colonel.

-->'''General Ryan''': Hello, Colonel.