50 Times People Had Such A Horrible Day At Work, It Might Make Yours Look Not As Bad (New Pics)
Interview With ExpertIt’s inevitable—sooner or later, you will have a bad day at work. Heck, you’ll have plenty of ‘em. Dealing with terrible things is a core part of life. However, no matter how tough you think you have it right now, it’s very likely that someone else is having a far worse day than you. And that’s an oddly comforting thought.
To make you feel better about your job, our team at Bored Panda has collected some of the most devastating fails that have happened at people’s workplaces. Scroll down to see just how bad things can get. But be warned—it hurts to look. Oh, and you should totally spam your colleagues with these pics… they definitely deserve a break.
Bored Panda reached out to Jodi Wellman, MAPP, for her thoughts on building resilience to stress and how to respond to bad luck in a healthy way. She was kind enough to answer our questions, and you'll find her insights as you read on. Wellman is the founder of Four Thousand Mondays and the author of You Only Die Once: How to Make It to the End with No Regrets.
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Boss Didn't Believe Me When I Said I Am Allergic To Latex And Cannot Use The New Gloves He Bought
He bought latex gloves in the new shipment and no nitrile, told me I couldn't be allergic to latex (that must be a myth) and demanded I just 'get back to work'. I was a food prep at a buffet restaurant. I must wear gloves. Well, I put them on, ten minutes in and my hands start to burn like fire. Another ten minutes and I'm ripping the gloves off, hives up to my elbows, hands double in size. I only put them on because I knew my reactions, knew that it's like getting into poison ivy and no anaphylaxis, I did this to prove a point.
Anways, I had to go to urgent for some cream and a strong dose of allergy meds/benadryl, and was out for five-ish days because my hives were so bad. Oh, and I got paid time and a half for the days I missed. Behold I come back and that manager was 'on leave', ultimately fired over other things staff complained about.
Latex isn't food safe for this exact reason. Many people have latex allergies and if latex touches their food, that they swallow, bad things happen. That's why manager got fired. If the health dept got wind off later gloves the restaurant would be shut down
Got New Glasses Three Weeks Ago. Dents Are From A High-Speed Bottle Cap From My Co-Worker's Soda
On the plus side, I still have two eyes.
What A Monday
Saw This After Hearing The Loudest Scream Of My Life
I was working and heard someone screaming at top of his lungs. Went to washroom and saw this. The poor guy was pooping while this happened.
How I Found Out I Was Losing My Job
This happened last December, but it's still makes my blood boil thinking about it. I was out shopping for Christmas presents when my former director accidentally sent a message to a Teams group chat that included me and another manager. It clearly wasn’t meant for me to see.
The next day was supposed to be the company Christmas party, and I had been asked to help out with planning and running some of the events. Even though I didn’t normally work in the office on Fridays, I wanted to make the effort. I had only started the job a couple months earlier and was looking forward to bonding with my new coworkers since we were all never really in the office at the same times.
This all came after I had already helped them automate a lot of their CRM processes and clean up a massive database. In hindsight, that probably led to me automating myself out of a job. I had just left a company I’d been with for nine years, and now this? I went straight home, drafted an email to HR, and thankfully managed to hold onto the job for another week while they tried to sort things out.
Shortly after I was fired. There was huge layoff, with around 800 people across different departments losing their jobs. The company ended up outsourcing all of those positions to a firm in India. In the end, I only had about a week of downtime before a contracting agency helped me land another job. Still, the whole experience made it really hard to trust the people I work with.
Stay safe and stay sane out there. Wishing you all the best in this messed up world.
Pizza Party At Work
14 hour shifts frequently, but the boss put together a pizza party. It's days like this that makes it all the worthwhile! (Everyone gets one slice)
I'm A Plumber. I Had To Open Up A Customer's Wall To Do Some Work And Found This
House is 50 years old. Builder must have had a fun sense of humor.
Had Some Trouble With The Ketchup Dispenser At Work
I Accidentally Set Off A Mounted Fire Extinguisher At Work
The Day Before My Vacation, And I Cut Through My Client's Internet Cable
I'm an HVAC technician and was installing an split. He wanted it very close to the corner and I was prepared to hit little bit of the stud but then I would angle it away form the stud to go to the outside unit. I was thinking about it could be electric cables behind it, and should have brought my cable scanner. Client told me that he was very sure it's nothing behind right there except for the stud.
Lesson learned to not trust clients and double check.
Coworker Started A Literal Dumpster Fire
Landed A Great Job! But This Is The Chair And Cubicle I Was Assigned
Went To The Restroom At Work And The Toilet Roll Escaped Around A Corner
There’s no spare roll either.
Ran out of toilet paper at daughter's dance studio and no one was in the bathroom to get me any. I called their front desk and asked them to bring me a roll. It worked but they still laugh about it 🤪
Well, The Slide Works
I May Or May Not Had A Little Accident At Work
That's a 10 liter can of white oil based paint, my suit trousers and my leather shoes.
My Work Monitor Is Currently Having A Bad Day
My Supervisor's Response To Me Asking For A Raise
For context, I was told three months ago that in two months I would be moved to a different area in the company to begin working at a much higher pay rate. New employees started being hired at almost 40% more than what I make. After I found out I requested a raise and I’ve been waiting ever since. I have worked here for two years and have never had any performance issues. I told her recently that I am looking for other jobs and I’m not going to wait much longer and she promised me a raise in two weeks. Those couple weeks have passed and this is what I get. I hate my workplace.
Sewer Line Overflows Directly Underneath My Work Desk
City main line was backed up across the street and we were the first to experience this issue. Right under my desk!!! All of my personal belongings covered in sewage. Our boss did not let us leave. We stood there for hours and customers are walking inside. Like this is a health hazard?
For about two weeks, we kept getting this strange but rancid smell on and off. Didn’t last long, maybe only 2 min each time. No one could tell where it was coming from. My coworkers sometimes thought it was me that smelled because this sewer line is right beside my work desk.
Obviously do not work here any more. It was worse than the pictures shown. The entire first floor was covered in sewage. It was coming out faster than they could control. The smell was unbelievable.
My Coworker (Also A Dishwasher) Leaves Me Really Gross Dishes Overnight When I Never Do That To Him
This is unreasonable. He's around 50 and I’m 17. I should not be better at my job than him.
I Work Part Time At A Paint DC And My Boss Texts Me This
“Oh, and btw, there was a small spill - take care of this, would you? There’s a good chap.”
Coworkers Have Done This At Least 50 Times Now, It's 100ft Of Power Cord And Air Hose (100' Each), A Long Frozen Pressure Washer Hose And Another Cord
My Coworker Returned The Front Desk Stapler Like This. Told Me It Ran Out Of Staples
A Patient's Catheter Bag Leaked Over My Shoe When I Went To Move It. My Sock Is Wet, I Work Till 5 PM
Headed Out The Door After Work With The Garbage And The Bag Broke
How Customers Left The Fitting Rooms At My Job 3 Minutes Before We Closed
The Office I Was Assigned To Work In Today
I work as a clinician in underprivileged areas. I rotate between facilities, offering a scarce service to the areas I serve. It normally comes with challenges, which I’m fine with. But today I was placed in this office and told I “just have to get on with it”. I did just that.
In my country this would get the employer in trouble with at least 3 different government offices - the department regulating medical offices, the department regulating fire safety and the department regulating work safety.
I Took A Swig Of What I Thought Was Water But Was Actually Acetone/Alcohol
I work for a small shop that consistently stocks these water bottles in the fridge. This morning I grabbed what I thought was the same water bottle that I left in my work area the afternoon prior, took a drink and immediately tasted chemicals, which I immediately spat out and thankfully didn't swallow.
I guess someone decided to make a spraying apparatus out of one of the bottles laying around and didn't make any marks aside from the pinhole in the cap, which I didn't notice when I grabbed the bottle by the top.
This Knife Blade Was 15 Days Old. Still Factory Sharp, When I Handed It To A Coworker Who Wanted To Borrow My Pliers. He Had It For 15 Mins
Diamond Plating I Was Driving On Shot Out From Under My Tires And Sunk Me In The Dirt
I've been pushing to have this back area paved for years, but no. Bosses say it's not a priority and put diamond plating down instead. Myself and another coworker have been trying to yank it out from different angles, but it's just getting worse. I'm about ready to just go home and leave it here.
15 Minutes Cost Me 9 Hours And $180
I left for work on time, but hit some traffic on the final mile of my journey to work. I followed my works procedures, and called in, letting them know that I would be late. I arrived and clocked in 15 minutes late, all of which was lost to the last mile of traffic. My boss even commented on the Google Street maps having gone dark red right where I said I was in traffic.
When I get in, I'm reminded that since I am closing, and this is the end of the work week, I can't make up the time at the end of my shift, which means that I have to burn an hour of PTO. This is unfortunate, but not the end of the world. Until someone remembered that it's a holiday weekend.
Our policy states that if you don't work your full shift the day before the holiday, you don't get your paid holiday. Instead, in order to get paid my full 40 hours, I have to take 8 hours of vacation for my day off.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you turn 15 minutes into 9 hours.
Dumbest policies ever. It's like boses create headaches for themselves on purpose to feel like they actually earn their salaries.
I Accidentally Bumped Into And Knocked Over My Manager's Brand New $2,500 iMac
Someone At Work Labeled My Cheese As Theirs With A Sticky Note And Ate Half Of It
Helper Doesn’t Really Help, Causes Me More Problems Than He’s Worth
Doing some painting work around town. I tell my helper to get the paint cans ready to go since we have another job down the street with some touch up of the same paint we have now.
We’re good to go he says. While he was correct, he had not secured the lid to the paint can. 0/10 do not recommend.
This Is My 5 Year Work Anniversary Gift From My Fortune 500 Employer. 100% Not Joking
The description is where it's at folks. "3 clickable buttons", "Take your work on the go", "Contoured design that fits great in either hand".
Came Into Work On My Day Off Today And Was Left This To Clean Up
70 forklift tires to unload and throw away.
FREE CROSSFIT You should be thankful. Some coworkers gift their friends just a gym membership. Yours have also prepared the gym for you.
My 2 Coworkers Left 45 Minutes Early On A Holiday Weekend, Leaving Me With All These Dishes
I Work At A Kindergarten So I’m Playing In The Snow All Day. Suddenly I Got Very Cold
Went To Go Use The Restroom For A Few Minutes At Work Only To Come Back And Find Out Someone Had Snapped The Clip Off My Favorite Pen
One Of My Coworkers Dropped My Lunch Bag And Put It Back In The Fridge. There Goes A Meal Prep Container And A K**ler Bowl Of Curry
oh its glass.............. yeah i am still on plastic containers at 40
First Time In Office For A While And Got This Keyboard. What Sucks Is That I Have To Write Belgium A Lot Today
Somebody Had An "Office Space" Moment
Pulled into a spot and saw someone had some issues too.
Had This Drill Set For Exactly 8 Hours Before The Coworker I Share My Toolbox At Work Did This
Left My Pizza For A Few Minutes In My Office And Came Back To A Slice Bitten Into
Purchasing manager had some extra slices from feeding his staff and gave me a couple leftover slices. I left the box in my office for a few minutes and came back to this. No pizza for me I guess. Box even had my name on it.
Are sure that your coworkers arent actually mice disguised as humans? Seems like a micey thing to do..
Who Knew A Whole Office’s Fiscal Year Worth Of Hard Work Could Fit Into Only 8 Pizza Boxes? This Was Maybe 10 Minutes After It Was Brought In
Offices that still do this, managers that don't understand that this is tone-deaf and unacceptable, are in need of a complete leadership change.
I Dropped A Bottle Of Bleach On The Floor At Work Last Night. Ruined My Good Jeans
It Was My Turn To Do The Dishes At Work
First French Toast Of The Day
Apparently The Office Was Painted Over The Weekend. Came In And Found This. Oh And I Just Bough It A Couple Of Weeks
My Coworker Just Zip Tied My Pliers While I Was Gone For A Minute
The funny thing these are angle cutters, the thing you use to cut zip ties. But what cuts ties off the tie cutter?
Someone Must Have Found Out How To Lower The Temp On The Vending Machines At The Mall I Work At
It's one of those fancy "Coke and Go" machines. You need an app to use them. I guess someone figured out how to change the temp and set it way below freezing. No monster for me today.
Never in my life have I needed a Coke so bad that I'd be willing to download an app.
5 Minutes Before I Leave Work And My Machine's Oil Reserve Overflows
I Left My Lunch At My Desk For 10 Minutes And Came Back To This. Pretty Sure My Perpetually Drunk Coworker Is Responsible
My Coworker Somehow Mistook My Chocolate Raspberry Slice For Trash, And Threw It Away
I was looking forward to finishing that. I don't have the guts to confront her and a if it was on purpose.
I had been bringing in ham and asparagus left over from Easter for three days in a row. I went to get my lunch and it was gone. I immediately went to the boss because we've never had a food thief before. She told me it was one of the other employees who was told to clean the fridge out, but she hadn't waited until after lunch, and nobody told all of us. Then the boss started making excuses like "she's Mexican, she doesn't know what asparagus looks like. She misunderstood what I told her". Etc etc. How come only MY food got thrown in the garbage? I had to starve until dinner because I don't have a car to go get something. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was on purpose. And, she always made snide comments about me being thin. Thanks for helping me lose more weight beotch!
Somebody At Work Lost Their Pants Button Into The Urinal
I Was Working For An Hour
I Work At A Frozen Yogurt Store And My Coworker Just Sent Me This
Overslept, Forgot To Pick Up My Co-Worker, And Got To Work Half An Hour Late Just To Have My Boss Accidently Run Over My Lunch Within 5 Minutes Of Being There
Him and another guy were putting material in the bed of a work truck. I set my lunch down (not in an ideal location which was my fault) in a hurry to help them since I was late already. He jumped in the truck quick to back it up at an angle and caught and drug my lunchbox. If it was a personal truck it might have survived. But it was a 4500 dump bed truck.
I Swear It Had A Pull Tab This Morning
Normally I pack my lunch the night before but forgot, so I grabbed a can of soup this morning. Turns out I took the wrong can, and it didn't have a pull tab. This is why I can't pack a lunch before leaving for work.
This is why you, like me, should always carry a penknife. It's the most useful thing I own, and I make use of it literally every day for something.
Knocked A Bottle Of Bleach Onto My Concert T-Shirt At Work Today
My work usually doesn't entail any use of chemicals, I just had a clumsy moment near a few cleaning supplies. Figured it would be safe.
I Work At A Small Coffee Shop And Today Our Ticket Machine Malfunctioned
I dropped (and broke) a $3,000 projector the first year I worked at my current library. Utterly horrified, and very young, I brought it to my boss and offered to pay for it out of my earnings. She immediately said "No, that's why we have a 'miscellaneous' fund." God bless understanding bosses.
The worst thing that ever happened to me at work was getting the end of my Wil ly caught in my zip.
I dropped (and broke) a $3,000 projector the first year I worked at my current library. Utterly horrified, and very young, I brought it to my boss and offered to pay for it out of my earnings. She immediately said "No, that's why we have a 'miscellaneous' fund." God bless understanding bosses.
The worst thing that ever happened to me at work was getting the end of my Wil ly caught in my zip.
