Having a terrible day at work can be frustrating, overwhelming, and even demoralizing. Whether it's a challenging project, an annoying colleague, or just a series of misfortunes, sadly, there are plenty of reasons you might feel like you're a failure.
But as Sigrid and Bring Me The Horizon sang, "It's just a bad day / Not a bad life." And one of the ways to recover is by venting online. So we at Bored Panda decided to remind ourselves that the universe hasn't conspired against any of us. From time to time, everyone runs into some (undeserved) adversity.
Continue scrolling to see all the messed-up nonsense people have had to deal with on the job! And when you're done, see more fails previously posted here.
This post may include affiliate links.
I Work In Mosquito Control. Everyday I Go Into Vacant Lots, Holding Ponds Swamps, Low Areas, Woodlands And Onto Residence Properties. This Is Typical Of What I Find
I've lost my faith in humanity. What we do defines us and this is what we do. We are not stewards of the land or caretakers. We are a blight. We are just vultures picking at the carcass of a dying world.
I Work As A Valet And Make $3.85/Hour And I Received This As A Tip
Getting dealt a bad hand at work isn't the end of the world. Especially for content employees. According to Annie McKee, Ph.D., who is a best-selling business book author and advisor to top global leaders, from CEOs of Fortune 500 companies to government officials, those who are engaged with their jobs and colleagues work harder — and smarter. But that's quite rare.
"Far too many couldn’t care less about what’s happening around them," McKee wrote in Harvard Business Review. "For them, Wednesday is 'hump day' and they’re just working to get to Friday. And then there’s the other end of the bell curve — that nearly one out of five employees is actively disengaged. These people are sabotaging projects, backstabbing colleagues, and generally wreaking havoc in their workplaces."
Sorry Class, My Dog Ate Everyone's Homework
and this young boys and girls is the result of feeding your teachers' doggo all those treats ..well played :D
As A Practical Joke, Some Coworkers Wrapped My Office In Foil. In The Process, My 30" LCD Monitor Was Accidentally Turned On, And It Boiled Itself
Here's what it looked like when I unwrapped it.
I hope this came out of their paychecks and you were given compensation for this damage.
Got Fired For “Telling The Boss How To Do His Job” When All I Did Was Say “We Can’t Obstruct A Fire Escape”
"Disengaged, unhappy people aren’t any fun to work with, don’t add much value, and impact our organizations (and our economy) in profoundly negative ways," McKee explained.
"It’s even worse when leaders are disengaged because they infect others with their attitude. Their emotions and mindset impact others’ moods and performance tremendously. After all, how we feel is linked to what and how we think. In other words, thought influences emotion, and emotion influences thinking."
If You're A Parent And Let Your Kids Make A Mess Like This
Two Domino's Workers After Their Shift In San Antonio, Texas Today. All Food Gone In 4 Hours
The Gift That Keeps On Giving
Consequences Of Working In A -10°C Lab Where I Have To Wash My Hands 40 Times A Day
I feel so sorry for you. I guess a good hand cream won't quite do the job?
McKee thinks it’s time to finally blow up the myth that feelings don’t matter at work.
"Science is on our side: there are clear neurological links between feelings, thoughts, and actions. When we are in the grip of strong negative emotions, it’s like having blinders on," she said. "We focus mostly — sometimes only — on the source of the pain. We don’t process information as well, think creatively, or make good decisions. Frustration, anger, and stress cause an important part of us to shut down —the thinking, engaged part. Disengagement is a natural neurological and psychological response to pervasive negative emotions."
Two Teams Of Builders Was Building A Bike Lane "On The Right-Hand Side" (Mariupol, Ukraine)
2 Hours Into A 10-Hour Shift When A Passenger Asks If I Know About The Stowaway On My Bus
I Work In A Mall With An Indigo Book Store And Found This Yesterday, It Really Pissed Me Off
New Guy Tried To Empty The Fryer Grease Into A Plastic Bucket
However, it’s not just negative emotions we need to watch out for. "Extremely strong positive emotions have the same effect," McKee said.
"Some studies show that too much happiness can make you less creative and prone to engage in riskier behaviors (think about how we act like fools when we fall in love!). On the work front: I’ve seen groups of people worked up into a frenzy at sales conferences and corporate pep rallies. Little learning or innovation comes out of these meetings. Throw in a lot of alcohol and you’ve got a whole host of other problems."
So it sounds like having your suspenders stuck in your chair every once in a while can be actually quite beneficial.
They Can't Pay A Living Wage But I'll Waste Hundreds On Food Waste
Stayed At Work For The Storm. This Is The Road I Take Home
Got Laid Off Today With Zero Notice, Found All My Stuff Already In A Box When I Got To Work
Over 2,000 Pounds Of Fresh Pork Being Rejected By The Walmart Distribution Center Because The Sell By Dates Occur When Their Stores Are Closed For Thanksgiving
This product will still be safe to eat for the next 15 days but they won't even attempt to sell it. This will end up in a dumpster today.
Since nobody can prepare for the unexpected (just the way they can react to it), it isn't surprising that workers worry about other things.
"One could argue that today's employees are as equally stressed as their predecessors, but for different reasons," said Jodi Chavez, president of Atlanta-based Randstad Professionals, a segment of Randstad US, which provides finance, accounting, HR, sales, marketing, legal staffing and recruitment services. "They fear having their jobs outsourced to another country, have anxiety about how best to work alongside new technologies such as automation and robotics, have increased financial pressures with rising student loan debt and late retirement, and feel pressure to be 'on' and answering e-mails 24/7."
Absolutely Shattered
At The End Of Shifts, We Split The Tips Evenly. We Had More Than 50$ Of Tips And My Coworker Had To Leave About 10 Minutes Early She Ended Up Taking All But 2.50$
I'd call her out and then cut her out of the next tip split..give her only $2.50 in shares
I Collect Carts At Walmart. Please Stop Being Lazy And Return Your Cart To Where It Belongs
OMG I Won I Won I Won
In difficult times, you need to find an internal reserve of energy and hope to help you make your way through. In other words, you need to tap into your resilience.
"Like so many other human traits, resilience can be woven into the fabric of one’s being (nature) and/or it can be learned (nurture)," career and business coach Marjie Terry said.
"One’s natural disposition may lead them to always look on the bright side or to look for the silver lining. For others, with an accumulation of life experience, they develop a resilience perspective and realize that, as the old saying goes, what doesn’t break you makes you stronger. They develop an ability to recognize that it’s important to keep going even when life hands you challenge after challenge—they develop perspective."
Sometimes, there really isn't much else we can do but endure. And laugh!
Something Went Wrong With The Line Painting
Paint Truck Breaks Long-Standing Speed Record - Hits 88 MpH
Colleague Definitely Drew The Short Straw On Email Naming Conventions
We had a lot of foreign contractors work at my company at one time, we had a "last name first initial' email naming policy, I was always sure to ask them first if the naming was ok and not inappropriate for their language, and was always sure to check new names. We could also set up aliases if they wanted a 'personalized' favorite email name.
Sgt. Vanderheiden Got His Suspenders Stuck In A Chair Yesterday, But Some Helpful Friends Came To The Rescue
Well, could be worst..... It could have been his coleagues tapping him to the chair as a joke....some day Im gonna get my Revenge though....
Lol Appleton Wisconsin. I used to live in Appleton. Their police were pretty good.
Perhaps police ought not wear thinks that others, including chairs, can grab.
As a UK resident, I needed the explanation given in the comments, because I couldn't see what was happening in the picture, not because I didn't know about the language difference.
My second chance vest used to have a little sewn in loop on the back so you could hang it up. One of the other female officers got picked up and hung on a fence by some drunks. She got down by taking it off but yeah. We all cut them off after that.
That is funny took some twisting to get them untangled I bet.. maybe it best to take them off Sgt. first?
I got the ring on my right hand caught in a lacey sweater under my left arm. I had a hard time getting out of that.
And they laughed and laughed and laughed ... Maybe not the Sergeant ....
Guy At Work Dropped So Much Oil We Got Invaded By The US Government
Girlfriend Works At A Local Target And Had A Family Stroll In And Do All This
Ahh, retail. I worked in vitamins and supplements. Having flashbacks to families with undisciplined children who loved to hurl the glass vitamin bottles onto the floor.
Coworker Found A Surprise At The Bottom Of Their Cup This Morning
When You Have A Long, Active Day Surrounded By People, Then Get Home, Take Off Your Work Pants, And Just Stare At The 6" Tear Straight Down Your Back End
I was closing late one night and it was just me and the restaurant GM. I was getting ready yo leave and he notices a bar towel in my back pocket. Then he realizes I've just worked an 8hr shift with torn pants. He quietly hand the towl back and wishes me a good night.
Last Night Someone Tried To Steal A Car From The Dealership I Work At
I Finished Rolling My Silverware After An Eleven-Hour Shift, Only To Have The Drawer I Loaded It In The Break And Fall To The Floor. I'm So Done With Today
5 Minutes Into My Maintenance Shift I Get Called Up To The Public Bathroom, This Is What I Found
Can't Get Into Work This Morning Because The Closer Didn't Realize They Took Home The Core To The Door Lock
I'm A Night Custodian At A High School. This Is What The First Day Of School Looks Like
Colleague Stepping On A Wet Concrete
Yikes! Cement burns are a serious thing! Let’s hope he cleaned up thoroughly and quickly.
Coworker Drove A Forklift Over A Can Of Oil
Fresh Refurb At The Pub I Work At And Someone Decided To Write A Review Of The Paint Job
"You didn't sand or undercoat these doors!"
They’re right, though. The entire door is chipped and looks like c**p.
Bought Myself A Little Chair For When I Have To Program Robots For Long Hours At A Time At Work. Someone Over Capacity Borrowed It On The Off Shift
I Literally Just Got Home From My First Day Of Work
Scrolling thorough these posts do US citizens actually have any workers rights?
I Live In A Tiny Town (Less Than 10,000) And There's Only One Road In And Out. Whenever There's An Accident, Traffic Gets Jammed. It's My First Day At My New Job
First Day On The Job As A Pool Attendant And Some Lady Thought It Was A Good Idea To Dump An Entire Chocolate Fountain Into The Sink
Testing Out Our New Printer. Left The Room For 5 Minutes And Came Back To This
A Colleague Tipped Over 7 Crates Full Of Wine Bottles
My First Day As A Delivery Guy At Domino's
When You've Had A Bad Day At Work, Just Remember Someone Else's Work Day Is Probably Much Worse
This Is The "Black" Coffee I Just Ordered From The Vending Machine At My Work. Good Morning To Me
Spilled Half A Pot Of Hollandaise On The Floor At Work. The Majority Of It Went Underneath The Cooler
Well...c**p..I guess slide it out and start cleaning there is probably something else under there too
Cleaned My Glasses Too Hard. I Am At Work, Don't Have A Spare Pair
On My First Day As A Janitor Assigned To This Area Of My School, The Rain Flooded Everything
Key Broke Off Inside The Lock To A Very Important Work Door. Wonder How Much Trouble I Am In
Amazon Employees Who Worked Over 10 Hours On Easter Sunday Were 'Lucky Enough' To Potentially Win A $2 Snack Pack
"Thank you all for coming in on Easter Sunday! We are going to run a contest for P2. Anyone picking over a 310 rate will be entered in a raffle for a snack pack (water/soda and a candy or bag of chips of your choice). Good Luck everyone and THANK YOU!!!"
My Car Exploded On My Way To Work
I'm A Videographer And Today I'm Working At A Women's Conference. As There Are Only Women Here They Converted The Men's Bathroom Into A Second Women's Bathroom
The only problem is that there is one guy here. Me. And I really need to pee.
Had A Wardrobe Malfunction While At Work (Retail), Had To Improvise A Solution
My Coworker Put Straight Printer Ink In One Of My Gloves At Work. This Will Take A Week Or Two Minimum To Come Off
Complaining About A Place That Makes Donuts Smell Like Donuts. Has To Be The Work Of A Karen
Why are those idiots taken seriously? You don't like the smell, then walk away and MYOB.
This Happened On My First Day On The Job
Paint Disaster At Home Depot
When The Boss Thinks He's A Comedian
Oh, that just made me cringe. that's what you get from your best mate, not your boss! geesh.
My Work Doesn’t Allow You To Use A Toilet As A Toilet
I Came Into Work Today To Find One Of Our Office Shelves Collapsed
So I Was Heading To A Job Interview And Accidentally Spilled Coffee All Over Me Just Before Interview. Not The Best First Impression I Suppose
Just say you're so excited to work there that you couldn't contain yourself
Coworker Opened Pressurized Milk Line, Blew His Hat And Hairnet Off
Seen that one before, only it was wine. Dude walked away looking like a smurf.
Coworker Came Out Of Work Yesterday To Find This On His Car
Last Year Our Work Holiday Party Was Pushed Back Until The Last Day Of January On Zoom. Guess Who Was The Only One To Dress Up For The Costume Contest?
Finding This First Thing In The Morning As A Start To Your Work Day
Was Washing A (Very Sharp) Greasy Piping Tip At Work. Slipped Right Onto My Finger Before I Could Stop It
Dumped 17 Buckets Of Drywall Screws (25 Lbs Buckets) From About Fifteen Feet In The Air. I Was Told By My Coworkers It Looked Like Black Hail When It Fell
Up Late Working. My Cat Jumped Up On My Desk, Vomited On The Calculator I Need To Use, Then Jumped Back Down
And you’re taking a pic with a cell phone that has a perfectly good calculator app.
Dropped My Ravioli Taking It Out The Microwave At Work
We Were Supposed To Get Our Annual Raise But This Is What They Gave Us Instead - PB&J Day
I Just Walked In As A Taco Bell Cleaning Captain. Apparently, An Employee Brought In Her Kids On The Night Shift And Made A Mess
And THIS right here is why she couldn’t find anyone to watch them for her while she was at work.
I've Been At Work For About 10 Hours And I Haven't Eaten Anything Since I Got There, I Finally Got A Chance To Order Some Fries From A Nearby BBQ Shop... And I Dropped It
This Happened When I Tried To Leave My Office
My Friend Went To Get Into His Work Truck This Morning And Found That Someone Drilled A Hole In The Gas Tank And Stole All Of His Gas
The Bathroom Ceiling At My Work That Nobody Can Fix Till Tuesday
Well This Happened At Work Last Night
Coworker Left A Couple Shop Rags In The Engine Valley When Doing Intake Gaskets. Now He Gets To Replace The Engine
Coworker Was Driving Pizza Sauce To Another Store And Someone Cut Him Off
Note to self - always secure your load, and don't buy a car with a white interior....
Stop Putting These Stupid Stickers On My Pumps! I Don't Get Paid Enough To Remove Them
Shoelace Got Caught On Something At Work
At Work Wondering Why I Felt A Draft Down There. My Favorite Jeans Have Given Up The Ghost
5th Day Into My New Work At Home Job, And My Chair Breaks Like This
A Conveyor Belt Failed
Starbucks Is Over An Hour Late On The First Red Cup Day. These Are All Abandoned Drinks
Coworker Accidentally Breaks 40+ Plates
The Button Of My Trousers Fell In Toilet, While At Work
Getting Dressed In The Dark Only To Look Down Upon Getting To Work
Made An Enemy On My First Day Of Work
In California, lunch breaks MUST be taken no later than the end of the fifth hour of work. The person who started at 7 MUST take lunch no later than 12, regardless of "seniority privilege".
A New Vet Clinic Opened In My Town And Today His Parrot Escaped And He Tried To Bribe Her Down For 40+ Minutes
Came Into Work To Find That Someone Had Broken Into The Pizza Hut I Work At Last Night
Burglarize a Pizza Hut to steal lots of dough? Seriously, though, what the neck is there to steal? Is that literally the only store in town?!
I’m Never Pooping At My Job Ever Again
My Work Only Has Small Gloves
I HATE THAT! I'm an extra large and I can barely squeeze into a large.
When You Take The Wrong Leftovers Container To Work And All You Have For Lunch Is Baked Beans
2-Hour-Old Brand New Off The Shelf Red Wing Boots Disintegrated. Cost My Friend A Day Of Work
How does that even happen in 2h? Stepped into somme toxic liquid or what?
The Sink At My Work Randomly Exploded And Almost Killed One Of My Coworkers
School Has A Serious Leaking Problem, My Teacher Lives In The Fear That The Plastic Will Break And Spill On Her
My Coworker Came Out Of The Back Room Saying "Hey I Made A Dumb Mistake"
Drove To Work Only To Discover My Suit Was Dead. Drove Back To Change
Had a co-worker who kept having to go home because he ripped his pants. I threatened to buy him a track suit and keep it at work, just in case.
My Work Giving Us Now 2-Day-Old Hotdogs Instead Of Bonus Pay For Working 4th Of July And 4th Of July Weekend
This Just Happened
My Coworker Dropped A Pallet Of Eggs, And I Got Assigned To Go Trough Every Single Egg Box And Inspect Every Single Egg To Ensure They're Not Broken
Got This Wonderful Error 10 Minutes Before Starting My New Remote Job
I Work At A School. On My Lunch, A Parent Told Me That A Pine Cone Had Fallen From A Tree And Shattered Someone’s Windshield. That Someone Is Me
This reminds me of when I was at the supermarket and a woman came in shouting “someone’s left the handbrake off their Mini and it’s rolling across the parking lot!”. “What colour?” “Red.” “Phew, mine’s white.” “Oh, it’s just smashed into a white Mini.” *runs*
Someone Incorrectly Assembled The Shelves At The Store I Work In, And Now I'm Lost In The Sauce
Hell Of A Way To Start Off My Graveyard Shift Last Night
Amazon Driver Left This Big Tote With Our Packages In It On Our Porch
Coworkers Make Each Other Valentine's Day Cards And I’m The Only One In My 12-Person Office That Didn’t Have One Made For Them. Some People Even Have Multiple… Awkward
We had a cork board at work where employees could leave “compliments”/happy note cards about their fellow co-workers. Terrible idea for morale. There are employees who choose not to socialize, or cannot due to anxiety, shyness, or introverted nature, and it hurts them as other employees may see them as unfriendly when they aren’t. The people who don’t socialize/act friendly will never get compliment cards (or Valentines etc) and that sucks. IMO a stupid and unfair system as not everyone is the same levels of energy, friendliness, socialization, etc.
Trying To Finish Up A Last Minute Job. Don’t Forget To Latch Your Screw Boxes People
Someone Had A Bad Day At Work
At least, from the looks of it, it wasn't entirely bad...just a semi-bad day (I'm sorry, even I'm ashamed of me for that one)
My Boss's Dog, Which Doesn't Belong At Work To Begin With, Tore Up My Mango Plant, That I Grew From A Mango I Had Eaten
Boss wasn't present for this, so I texted him to let him know, and all he had to say was "How much do I owe you?"
What was the boss supposed to say? Couldn’t the employee just find out how much it would cost to replace the plant at that approximate size? Was there some emotional attachment because it grew from a mango they ate? I don’t understand the problem here.
My Boss Screwed The Only Window At Our Office Shut, So Now It’s Impossible To Get Fresh Air. I’m Boiling At Work
Had A Pen In My Pocket At Work, Looked Down To This
Started My Birthday Out By Spilling Two Gallons Of Unblended Soup Inside A Refrigerator Ten Minutes Into My Shift
60-Liter Oil Canister Exploded, At The Right Is A Freshly Painted Truck
It's a garbage truck, right? It was going to look like that sooner or later.
Broke My Finger At Work, Got Fired After The Drug Test. All At The End Of A 12-Hour Night Shift
Has anybody noticed that the majority of people being drug tested tend to be factory workers? None of the upper class people are subject to this. Congress, who passed this legislation, is exempt, also people like judges, CEOs, etc. I got in trouble with my company after being sent for a drug test after injuring my finger. When I got back, I told HR "I'll put my p**s up against management's any day." I got away with that because I was in a good union.
Rats Ate Their Way Into Our Work Fridge Over The Weekend
My Wife’s Coworker’s Phone Caught On Fire While Teaching
My Manager Made This Mess And Made Me Pick It Up. Meanwhile, She Was Sitting On A Counter Facetiming Someone And Blasting Music
I thought that looked like Little Caesers flooring! Also, I want to spank that dough for old times sake!
My Shirts For Work Finally Came In… Spelled Wrong. My Name Is Carter
Some Jerks Threw An Entire Jar Of Queso On The Menu Board At My Work And I Had To Scrape It Off With A Chisel
Someone Tried On All These Shoes And Left Them On The Floor
My Tooth Crown Fell Out While I Was Taking A Call At Work
At least you didn't swallow it; that's a completely different ball game.
My Lunch For 12-Hour Shift
The Order My Manager Made Me Make After I Clocked Out. I Missed My Bus
If I had clocked out, then it's on the manager. Unless he wanted me to clock back in and unless he was providing my transportation home. That was on him
Someone Ate My Food At Work So I Put It In The Middle Of The Lunch Room Table And Wrote In 3 Languages To Send My Message
My Bike Got Stolen While I Was At Work
I Baked A Cake For My Work Colleagues For My Birthday, And Nobody Took Any
What Happened On Your Worst Day In Trucking?
On Today's Episode Of Why I Wanna Quit My Job
Ffs, just buy a pint of ice cream, rather than telling everyone just how much you, "love coffee".
Day 3 Of Starting My New Job, I Managed To Slice My Hand Open With A Box Cutter Somehow
Today At Work, A Coworker Crashed A Trolley Full Of Plates Needed For A Function
When A Coworker Forgets To Deal With Pizza Dough He Made
The Office Provided My Favorite Expensive Mexican Food For Lunch. I Dumped It All Over Myself
I once worked in a call center where the head of the department would often provide a special lunch for us. We could also eat at our desks. One time when they bought pizza and wings, my manager, who had desk behind me, sat down with his food...and immediately spilled it all over his keyboard. I felt so bad for him, but I was glad it wasn't me!
It Was My Girlfriend's Limited Edition "Starlight" Flavor Coke
Manager Glued The Volume Button On The Phone So We Can’t Change It
Here's My Night Shift Dinner For Work At 2 AM. I Was Hungry, But I Guess The Floor Was Hungrier. 5 Second Rule?
How I Found My Bike When Leaving Work Today (I Only Have One U-Lock)
My Coworker Waited Weeks For A Used Transmission For A Hybrid Tahoe. It Finally Showed Up And He Tipped It Up And Water Ran Out Of It For A Solid 60 Seconds
Dropped My Pocket Knife At Work And The Grate Is Welded And Bolted Down
That Person Must Be Having A Very Bad Day
My Coworker’s Breakfast Today
I Got My Box Filled With Ketchup At Work Today
Thankfully still inside the packets; This prank could've gone to a much worse place
Wandalutz is on a downvote and negative reply rampage, petition to get them banned starts here. The reasoning for this is what is below me and what they did to Zara the Squid
Load More Replies...Nah, we've had a handful of these, not new, they're just less common
Load More Replies...I found the EXACT SAME pics in the same order on the fun post. Who got it first?
The person who was a cart returner at Wal-Mart. Was complaining that people were not returning their carts? I... Well.... If?.... umm...? Forget it. If I explain it to them, I would be doing the job of learning for them. If this is not enough information for sometime in that type of situation; life is going to continue to be a abundance of differing disappointing situations. Puppies can bring happiness. Get yourself a puppy. . . DO NOT get a puppy. My apologies. They are only going to last you about 1 year each. . . Bonzi Tree
Wandalutz is on a downvote and negative reply rampage, petition to get them banned starts here. The reasoning for this is what is below me and what they did to Zara the Squid
Load More Replies...Nah, we've had a handful of these, not new, they're just less common
Load More Replies...I found the EXACT SAME pics in the same order on the fun post. Who got it first?
The person who was a cart returner at Wal-Mart. Was complaining that people were not returning their carts? I... Well.... If?.... umm...? Forget it. If I explain it to them, I would be doing the job of learning for them. If this is not enough information for sometime in that type of situation; life is going to continue to be a abundance of differing disappointing situations. Puppies can bring happiness. Get yourself a puppy. . . DO NOT get a puppy. My apologies. They are only going to last you about 1 year each. . . Bonzi Tree