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Getting fired on your first day is really something. I mean, how incompetent or just downright lazy do you have to be to lose your job just after you started it? To find out the answers to these questions, redditor Lo-Fi_Kuzco created a post, asking, “Managers of Reddit, what made you fire an employee on their first day?”

The call was immediately answered. The post has received over 16K upvotes and 5.6K comments, many of which were crazy stories that are hard to believe actually happened. One of them, however, was a little different.

Plumpuddingdog recalled a time they had to lay off an old guy before he kept falling asleep during work straight from the get-go. But what earned their response 32.4K upvotes and plenty of reddit awards wasn’t the firing. Rather, the wholesome re-hiring of the same man months later. Scroll down to learn how everything unfolded!

Plumpuddingdog said the old guy made a good first impression. “He was very experienced and confident, a good manner about him,” they told Bored Panda. “Very much at ease. I liked him. He was clearly infirm, which I simply attributed to age, but it was a little worrisome as our workplace does have a few stairs he would need to ascend. The denial of falling asleep was frustrating, as it was easily observable when he would nod off. His fellow trainees were seeing it happen too, and I was compelled to address it with him just hours into his first day, to let him know that it would be unacceptable if it continued.”

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The old guy has been back with the company for about six months now. “He sometimes seems a little drowsy, but he’s staying awake,” the manager said.

As an employee, he really seems to be a good fit. “[He has a] good sense of humor, shows empathy and understanding,” Plumpuddingdog explained. “[He] loves to help and be of assistance. Receptive to feedback. Performs generally well at his role, and is a positive presence overall. Some challenges with technology, but nothing that isn’t uncommon in that age bracket and is manageable.”

Plumpuddingdog added that the main reason why they gave him the second opportunity was the very open and humble way in which he approached them. “I’ve had many employees in the past try to bullshit their way through being managed, or try deception to get want they want or avoid responsibility. There’s no faster way for my staff to aggravate me or lose trust than trying to pull a fast one. And I think my awareness of that is pretty good after many years of managing people!”

Here’s what people said about the whole thing

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