As humans, we naturally crave power. Thanks to a survival-of-the-fittest mentality, we find it ideal to be in situations where we feel like we are in total control. This is exactly why pulling off power moves is so gratifying.
Some people have go-to moves to use in certain situations. Others work better by establishing dominance and demonstrating confidence on-the-fly. Either way, seeing someone perfectly pull off a power move is always entertaining. Just ask the following people, who recently took to the internet to share some of the most epic power moves they've witnessed or executed in real life.
Don't forget to check the comment section below the article for more interesting stories!
#1 Tuning You Out
My friend's daughter has hearing aids. They're similar to the ones elderly people use. If someone is bothering her and she doesn't want to deal with them, she pulls her hearing aids out and keeps doing whatever she was doing.
She's only eight years old.
#2 Private Property
A friend and I were driving home after a night out, and we got pulled over by the police for speeding. The cop approached our vehicle, and my friend said to the cop, “I didn’t even see you; where were you parked?” The cop responded by saying he was parked at the bottom of an apartment building driveway in a blind spot. My friend said to the cop, “Well, I own that building, and it’s private property. I’ve asked you guys numerous times not to park there as I don’t want my building to have a reputation of being a speed trap.”
A couple of minutes later, after the cop verified the information, he apologized and sent us on our way.
#3 Dueling Dinner Dates
My boyfriend and I were out at a restaurant in the middle of the week. It was nearly empty, but for some reason, the hostess sat us across from the only other couple.
We were 18 years old and the couple was about 30 years old. The guy was talking at length about his boring job and the lady was obviously not into it. He was talking so loud that we couldn't even have our own conversation.
The guy finally shut up and there was an extended silence. After a bit, my boyfriend looked up at me and said, "So, do you put out?"
I busted out laughing and the woman at the other table hastily covered her grin. The dude scoffs and says, "Good one buddy," and threw his napkin down like he lost an argument or something.
I'm not a man, so I don't know what kind of power play that was, but I will never forget it.
#4 No Joke
My three-year-old nephew came up to me and said, "Uncle, do you wanna hear a joke?"
I responded in my best world-weary voice: "Kiddo, my whole life is a joke."
And without missing a beat, the little jerk replies, "Okay, but this is a funny one."
Love that kid.
#5 A New Way In
A kid from my class in high school was late for physics class. When he entered the room, the teacher said, "When you are this late, you know you are not supposed to enter through that door, Jacob." So he left. This happened on a summer day, and the fire exit door was open. After a few minutes, we heard a walking sound on the metal steps of the emergency stairs outside. After a while, we all saw Jacob enter the room from the fire exit like nothing happened.
#6 Taking A Stand
When I got fired at my old job, they pulled me into a conference room. There were three people sitting around the table. One said to me, “Have a seat,” and I said, “No,” so I stood while they all talked up at me. I’m glad I went out that way because, apparently, I was the talk of the company for a few days until the next person quit. It was a super terrible company.
#7 Helping Hand
I was at a Mexican restaurant on Cinco de Mayo. The place was absolutely packed, yet somehow, there were only like two, maybe three waiters on staff. We'd been there about 40 minutes and had drinks, but still hadn't gotten to order food.
A dude at the next table stood up, started taking people's orders and delivering them to the kitchen. The other waiters seemed like they really appreciated it because people were starting to get angry. He didn't take my table's order, but he took one nearby and he sounded pretty chill.
#38 Self Serve
At a bar, the bartender was talking to some girl, ignoring everybody else who was trying to get drinks. Ten minutes went by and he was still chatting. A guy then reached across the bar and filled himself up from the tap.
#9 A Lecture On Authority
My father told me this story. He had a friend who took a philosophy class and they were discussing themes of authority. The teacher gave an example: "If I say, 'The class is over,' you can leave. But if Mark says the same thing, you will stay here." After that, Mark stood up, said the class was over, AND EVERY STUDENT LEFT THE ROOM.
#10 Puking Over PTO
My old company required a doctor's note if an employee missed three days sick. We also had a paid time off system, meaning that our sick time and vacation were the same. On the third day, I called my bosses and told them I wasn't feeling better.
They asked me to email them a doctor's note. I told them I didn't go to the doctor because it was a flu that I just had to wait it out.
Basically, the vice president put his foot down and told me to get a doctor's note or come in. So I came in, in my PJs, clocked in, and filled out the paid time off request for the rest of the week. I puked in my wastebasket and was sent home for the day... because guess what—I was sick.
#11 So Icey
It might not be the biggest of all the power moves, but I always appreciate it when somebody shows up late drinking an iced coffee. If it was a regular coffee, you could assume that they got the cup a while ago and are still carrying it.
When you hear those ice cubes rattling around in the cup though, you know for sure that they got that drink pretty recently even though they were running late.
It’s a real, "Say something" move.
#12 A Toast To Her Ex
One time, I was at a bar with this girl along with some other friends—there were six of us in total. At some point, the girl's ex walked in and came over to our table to make awkward conversation. The girl was clearly uncomfortable and so was everyone else. So I went to the bar, ordered six shots and brought them back to the table. I handed over a shot to each person in my group and held mine out for a toast. The girl's ex got the hint and left us alone.
#13 Walking Tall
Not me, but a coworker.
She was in court arguing with the opposing counsel about some settlement. She gave them the, "Take it or I walk" speech and they refused. As she made her power walk out of the courtroom, her high heel shoe slipped off her foot. Without missing a beat, or tripping, or even turning her head, she tells her assistant, "Get that," and kept walking.
#15 Gone With The Wind
When my sister and I were little—like seven and nine—my sister saved her allowance money to buy that Shaggy CD with the then-popular hit "It Wasn't Me" on it. We were in the car and my sister put the CD in. My mom listened to about 50 seconds of the song, ejected the CD, and swiftly tossed it out the window of the moving car without saying ONE WORD.
#15 Lunch Negotiations
At my first job at a small newspaper, I had to interview a local guy who had written a book on negotiation strategies for everyday life. We grabbed lunch at a small cafe and he talked while I asked questions. When we were done he said, “Thanks for lunch,” then stood up and walked out. The man knew his craft.
#16 Statistically Speaking
On the first day of my stats class in college, I sat in the back corner of the classroom. My prof walked over to me and told me that I should sit up front because students who do that have better grades. Feeling courageous, I looked him right in the eyes and asked him if I could get the stats on that. I meant it as a joke, but he didn't talk to me that entire semester...
#17 Slice Of Revenge
Just last weekend, my buddy and I were tipsy while getting pizza after the bar. While in line, some kid started being kind of hostile to us, so my friend looked at him and said, "What slices are you going to get?" The kid pointed at them, and my friend told the cashier, "Ya, I'll take that whole pizza." Just the right amount of pettiness and a power move.
#18 Bouncing Around
I went to a bar in Vegas with my girl. There were two bouncers letting people in about 20 feet away from each other. I asked the first bouncer for half price cover since we were staying at the hotel the bar was in. He said that was fine. I went to the second bouncer and told him the first bouncer said we could get in free. He looked at the first, and first one gave a get-in-free nod back. I sashayed in.
#19 Trough Story
I was at a college football game and went to use the bathroom. Instead of having urinals, the stadium had those long troughs that multiple guys can do their business in.
A spot finally opened up so I went to do my business; however, when I get to the trough the guy next to me looked me in the eye and just says, “Welcome to my trough.”
I’ve never felt more alpha’d in my life.
#20 A Lesson For The Professor
My dad had a professor in college that was particularly rude to him, although he was a perfect student and never broke any rules. He didn’t like how the teacher treated him, obviously, since he did nothing to deserve it. He waited until one day it was pouring rain and parked in the teacher spot near the classroom. He took a parking ticket in order to make the professor walk from the student parking in the rain to get the classroom.
#21 Soda Shower
My girlfriend and I were at an outdoor mall one day and a 12-year-old child started insulting us. I was floored as there was no basis for this. So I calmly asked him if he was talking to me. He responded by saying, "I sure am, you idiot." The kid had guts for sure. I am 6’3 and 280 pounds. I followed him and his two buddies into the ice cream shop they when into, asked him where his parents were and got hammered with more vulgarity. So I took his friends soda, opened it, and slowly poured it all over his stupid little face. Screw being the bigger person, the little jerk had it coming.
#22 Work From Home
My friend isn’t rich but he’s smart with his money and his expenses are super low. He usually has his bills paid a minimum of six months in advance. He started a new job back in April. After having worked at home for close to 10 years, being in the office sucked for him. For about two months he worked his butt off, showed his worth, and then he had this conversation: “I’m going to start working from home as of June 1st.”
“Um, well I’ll have to check with the VP.”
“Sure. But I’m working from home as of June no matter what. The only question is whether or not I’m taking your laptop and continuing to work for you.”
#23 Rolling With It
I watched a guy tip over backward in a lawn chair once, but instead of falling, he did a backward somersault and stood straight up without spilling a drop of the beer in his hand. If that isn't a power move, I don't know what is.
#24 Sleeping On It
I asked my mom if I could go get ice cream with a girl. She told me she’d think about it, then she went into her room and took a nap.
#25 What A Wash
It was bath time. My three-year-old brother refused to get out of the bath. The more mom would reason with him, the more stubborn he got. The three of us will never forget the time she started counting to three. “One...”
Without a beat, my brother stared her down, with a scowl that could pin you to the wall, and definitively replied, “Two.”
My mom left the bathroom to burst out laughing and my brother won the day.
#26 Polite Party
I work at a winery and we see lots of bachelorette parties come through. There was this one that came in where a girl was late. She came in and hugged all the girls except one who she gave a very cold handshake. I’ve never seen such a power move in my life.
#27 Tooting Her Own Horn
I was hanging out with one of my musician friends. She had me try her trumpet, and I sucked at it, of course.
So I handed the trumpet over to her, and she starts playing Chuck Mangione’s "Feels So Good." She doesn’t break eye contact. She doesn’t even blink. She just plays through "Feels So Good" while staring into my soul the whole time.
I’m still shook.
#28 Hampering The Hug
I went in to get a hug from my friend's wife, and my friend took a crab-like side-step (his back was facing me), slightly sticking out his butt to block me out. He acted like he was reaching for something... We all called him out and everyone had a good laugh. He admitted it was a bit of a power move.
#29 Winning Prize
I was at the fair with my girlfriend and a small group. As the evening waned and we were leaving the grounds, we walked past some games. Most of the patrons had gone and it was close to closing time so nobody was playing at any of the booths. One of the operators sees our group and while looking right at me says, "Hey buddy, you gonna win that girl a prize?" So I said, "I am her prize!" and we all kept walking.
#30 Sweat-Inducing Moment
I dropped the lid of my antiperspirant. It hit the toilet cover twice (similar to a basketball about to enter the hoop) before I managed to block it and hit it away so that it didn't fall in the toilet. Then it hit the wall and bounced back to do the exact same thing, about to fall in the toilet after bouncing on the side twice. Then I caught it.
I held my breath for the duration of this. I felt like I had sick instincts but there was no witness. I didn't even bother sharing this with my girlfriend as explaining how it happened wouldn't give it justice.
#31 Trash Shoot
When I was 19, I wasn’t a very good soldier. Our captain had it out for me. One day, the entire battalion was in line outside our rax at some field training event when the captain piped up unexpectedly and called me out for chewing gum in the front row of the formation.
Probably with an annoyed look on my face, I spit my gum a little up in the air, took half a step forward, and punted it as hard as I could. Some way, somehow, it flew 20 yards off to the left and landed straight in a tiny trash can outside of one of the buildings. I’d love to say I did that on purpose but I didn’t even know it was there. Everyone looked in awe for a split second and no one said a word. If it hadn’t landed in that trash can I imagine kicking my gum would have been considered very disrespectful and I would probably have heard about it later.
#32 Coffee Break
I was in a coffee house ages ago talking with a friend when this dude walked in and started harassing the employee behind the counter. The guy was yelling, swearing and starting to work up to a physical confrontation. The guy I was talking to, who is about three inches shorter and a good 20 to 30 pounds lighter, walks up behind the angry dude, grabs him in a half-Nelson, and drops the guy to the floor. The angry man was so surprised he stood up and took off. I still have no idea why he was so annoyed at the employee.
#33 Stopping By With Fries
My classmate was like, 20 minutes late to class. He comes in with a McDonald's bag and coke, drops them into the bin pretty loudly, looks at the teacher and says, "Hey." The class was silent and then erupted into hysterical laughter while the teacher looked dumbfounded. I'll always remember that moment.
#34 Major Beef
One day, when I was in my early teens, my father and I got into an argument about responsibility. I was smarting off and deserved a smack but my dad held it together, for a while. Finally, he snapped and chucked a bowl of leftover beef stroganoff at me that he was about to reheat for lunch. He missed me but did manage to hit the top of one of the kitchen chairs. The bowl began moving in slow motion at that point, spiraling and sending that stuff everywhere. Ceiling, walls, rug, table, everything got nailed; then he told me to clean it up. I stood there, mostly calm, and said, "I thought we were each responsible for our own actions." He was dumbstruck but started cleaning it up himself. In the interest of self-preservation, I helped.
#35 Open Invitation
A friend of mine pulled this at a party with a girl he had been chatting up. After it was established that she was at least into chatting with him. This legend looked her straight in the eyes and said:
"Well, I'm going to go outside and make out a little. You can come along if you like."
He walked away and didn't turn around to see if she was coming. She was totally blown back by it for a second, then shrugged and followed.
#36 Cabs Are Here
Two of my best friends got into an argument at a party once. One was much larger than the other. The bigger one picked up the smaller and said, "I'm putting you in a cab." The smaller one, now over the bigger's shoulder and facing his butt, calmly said, "No, you're calling a cab for yourself." He proceeded to pull the shorts of the other open and vomit down his pants. Needless to say, you can guess who left ASAP. We still laugh about it today, and no bad blood either.
#37 Monk On A Train
There was an old Thai monk on a train. It was full and there were no seats left, so one guy thought it'd be a good idea to pick on the monk. He told him to get out of his seat, but the monk just put his hands together in a prayer position as if he was about to kung fu the living heck out of the guy.
Needless to say, the guy backed away real quick. He ended up moving to another carriage.
#38 Times Have Changed
I ran into a high school bully at a bachelor party. He incorrectly assessed that the dynamic of old was still in place. He came over and asked what I did for a living and tried to spin it into something that would make him feel superior. I cut him off, held up my wrist, and pointed to my Rolex. I then said, “This watch costs more than your car.” He didn’t have any further comments.
#39 Leaving It There
I saw someone from school in a bar and overheard him retelling the same prepackaged conversation to everyone he talked to.
He approached me, and I shook his hand. He started with: “Hi, how’s it—" and I reply, “Let’s leave it there bud." I then gave him a wink as if it was some sort of private joke.
Didn’t have to listen to him.
#40 Raw Spaghetti
At the school where I teach, there was a seventh grader who brought raw spaghetti for lunch. He took a bite while making eye contact. Never felt more inferior to someone half my age.
#41 Self Nourishment
In middle school, a teacher told my friend to not waste paper towels. She just stared right at the teacher and ate the whole paper towel. Swallowed it and everything. The teacher just looked very confused and so did the class.
#42 Kicked Off The Couch
My sophomore honors English class has a couch. The teacher lets people he likes to sit on it.
One girl who doesn’t really care about school was sitting on it with her friends. She talked over the teacher a few times and he got mad. He told her to go back to her seat. She said, "No," then he asked her if she’d rather get kicked out of class. She just walked out the door and went to her house across the street.
#43 Claiming Their Domain
This one guy was so enraged at a hotel during check-in over some mishap. He found out the names of everyone at the reception desk and bought domains in their names. Not sure if it's power move or a jerk move but definitely some kind of move.
#44 Punishment Pay-Off
I went to a middle school that was connected to the high school. Sometime during the first week of middle school, the school paid for a ton of pizzas for the new students. They had a few high schoolers hand them out in lieu of detention.
The three geniuses handing them out charged $2 a slice, which pretty much everyone paid. They made money at detention. Brilliant.
#45 Vacationing Off Commission
I used to work in a call center. At the time, my then-girlfriend and I were long distance, and I wanted to spend a week during the holidays with her. I put in the paid time off request and it was promptly denied.
I approached my boss' boss and explained how important the time off was. She said I was too good at making sales to not be on the floor during such a busy time, and that she needed me to log the hours.
"What if I work the hours the week before, and max out commission?"
She agreed to let me try it, thinking it was impossible.
The week before my trip I worked 90 hours, only going home to sleep. I maxed out every possible commission tier. And I took my vacation.
A nice bonus is they had to pay me for the maxed commission, 90 hours of work, and 50 hours of overtime.
I used the extra cushion to my finances to find a better job when I got back.
