These Men Proposed to Their Girlfriends by Thoughtlessly Stealing Their Shine

If you're lurking around the internet looking for creative ways to pop the question, first of all congratulations! Secondly, let this article serve as a great resource for what NOT to do on your guys' big day.

The Knot was handy enough to publish an article detailing five big no-nos when it comes to proposing to your GF — including asking her to marry you in front of an audience, and popping the question at a terrible time — and these guys definitely did not read it when it came out.

No, these men decided to tick both of those mistake boxes and go about their proposals in the worst possible ways. Thankfully, their fiancées loved them enough to ignore their huge blunders — but save yourself the personal suspense and trust when we say these are terrible ways to get your girl to say yes.

On the day of the New York City Marathon, one woman was about to make her first-ever competitive 26-mile run. The day should have been about cheering her on, as any kindhearted, caring individual would know. 

But her boyfriend of four years had another idea altogether. Instead of patiently cheering her on with signs of support, and waiting just — I'm no runner — maybe 30 more minutes (?), he decided to literally hop over the barrier when she hit the 16-mile mark to get down on one knee. 

In other words, he effectively interrupted the New York City Marathon — as people in the race had to slow down to accommodate his stunt (and also snap selfies, duh), according to CBS. He also crucially stole his girlfriend's thunder by making her first marathon about HIM! When she still had 10 miles to run after the distraction! Gross. 

In the words of one hilariously observant tweeter, "This is a perfect proposal because there's no better metaphor for hetero marriage than being well on your way to accomplishing your personal goal only to be stopped by a man asking you to do something else."

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Getting engaged is supposed to be one of those milestone moments you'll remember forever and will tell your future kids about so often, they'll have to beg you to stop. 

Here's what it's not supposed to be: an interview you've been waiting for your entire career that suddenly gets foiled because A) your boyfriend steals your thunder and B) he'd actually orchestrated the whole thing and you'd never been invited to speak on TV at all.

To rewind a tad, Simone Jhingoor, whose work at The Women's Housing and Economic Development Corporation in the Bronx touches many lives on a daily basis, also happens to be a fan of TODAY. So, in what probably felt to her boyfriend, Chirag Shah, like a well-intentioned, what-could-possibly-go-wrong scheme, he decided to pull some connections to get Simone on the show on the day of their fourth anniversary.

Except (cringe), she thought she was being invited to talk about the work she does at her nonprofit. And the second she opened her mouth to speak about the organization, Chirag stole the mic from her, dove into a really corny speech about how he wants to spend the rest of his life with her, and dropped down on one knee. 

I'm sure his heart was in the right place, but as Bustle puts it, "at the end of the day, the headlines read 'She Said Yes!' and not 'Incredible, Charitable Woman Speaks Her Mind on National Television, Gets a Ring Too.'" 

I'm mostly just bummed this woman was punked into thinking she was being recognized for her hard work when she was actually just being recognized for being "marriage material."

Maybe this is because I lead a pretty monotonous life, but I personally like to space out my big events. Like, if I'm graduating from college on a Sunday, I don't need to also be surprised with an engagement. Call me boring, but I'd be happier if my significant other held off for a day or two so I could give both events all of my presence, attention, and joy.

But who knows, it's possible some people have so many exciting things going on every day of their lives that they have to start lumping the milestones together.

Perhaps this is the case with James Clark and his girlfriend, Marquell. On the day of her college graduation — which, need I remind you, requires a decent amount of hard work and studying — James decided to propose while everyone was taking photos with Marquell, the star of the day.

Her face when he pops the question is pretty telling in itself. She's totally nonplussed like she can't decide whether to hide with embarrassment or roll her eyes at the whole thing, and finally nods yes, presumably to get the ordeal over with.

Could it have something to do with the fact that the party was there to celebrate her B.A., not her Mrs.?

Just when you thought these proposals couldn't possibly induce more cringe, here's one that takes it to an Olympic level, literally. 

When He Zi, a star diver on China's Olympic team, won a silver medal for the women's three-meter springboard event, she was ecstatic. I mean, this is literally the goal she'd been working toward probably since shortly after she was born. 

But her boyfriend, Qin Kai, thought to celebrate her achievement in the best way he knew how: by securing He as his wife.

Because I have no PG words to adequately describe this atrocious proposal, I'll leave you with one woman's commentary on what went down at the Olympic podium: "Dude! Way to rain on her parade. You couldn't even give her her moment of victory?"

She continues, "Pro-tip for men proposing to women: don't, on her graduation, book launch, medal ceremony, when her Pluto exploration vehicle is landing! Also don't propose marriage at someone else's wedding, graduation, book launch, medal ceremony or Pluto exploration vehicle landing. Don't!"

Very sage advice.

I'm sincerely not sure if these guys asked around before staging these unfortunate proposals — they could have run their idea by one friend or even done the most cursory of Google searches. 

But because I'm giving everyone the benefit of the doubt, I'm pretending these guys have zero idea that when you're celebrating someone else's accomplishments, it's common courtesy not to make that event about yourself.

Come to think of it, you know what's the absolute opposite of these proposals? The guy who won an Emmy and proposed to his girlfriend during his acceptance speech.

Moral of the story: If you're going to steal someone's thunder, you're better off stealing your own.