Man Shares A Fail Story From When He Hid Under The Pharmacy Counter At Work And Then The CEO Arrived
Interview With Author
No matter how confident and self-assured we might be, the vast majority of us still want to make a good impression on our bosses. Unfortunately, human beings tend to have problems with timing and not tripping on their own two feet when it comes to important moments.
Case in point, Christian A. Dumais shared a story on Twitter about how he was hiding inside a pharmacy counter when the CEO walked in. It’s a hilarious tale about embarrassment that, well, minor spoilers—has a surprising ending. Have a read below, dear Pandas, and share your thoughts about Dumais’ story in the comment section. We hope you have a good chuckle, just like I did. Oh, and before you ask, Dumais might be a comedian, but the story is 100% certified true.
Dumais told Bored Panda that while he can laugh about what happened now, he was mortified at the time. “I have a whole library of stories like this, where I start to do something ‘funny’ or ‘cool’ and it ends up turning into a ridiculous and/or humiliating experience.” Read on for more of Dumais’ insights into working as a pharmacy technician, how our bosses should be the ones impressing us, and what lies at the core of the writer’s storytelling.
More info: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | CADumais.com
Dumais shared a wholesomely hilarious story about the time he was hiding inside a pharmacy counter when the CEO walked in
Image credits: PuffChrissy
Image credits: PuffChrissy
Image credits: PuffChrissy
Image credits: PuffChrissy
Image credits: PuffChrissy
Image credits: PuffChrissy
Image credits: PuffChrissy
Image credits: PuffChrissy
Image credits: PuffChrissy
Image credits: PuffChrissy
“I was so lucky to work with such caring and diverse people”
Dumais revealed that working in a pharmacy is tough, emotionally draining, and can cause a lot of stress. “To see people on their worst day in need of medicine, or to see people breaking down when they realize the price of the medication—these were huge life lessons for someone like me who was in university at the time. I was so lucky to work with such caring and diverse people, and moments like the ones in my story were much-needed back then,” he shared.
A few years after that, Dumais was promoted to a pharmacy auditor. It was a huge step up for him and came with a lot of responsibility. “And I remember being at the company’s headquarters and passing the CEO in the hallway. He didn’t recognize me, but I remember thinking, ‘All right, it’s over. This job was fun while it lasted.'”
Unfortunately, Dumais also had some sad news for us. His former colleague, pharmacist Rick, passed away 8 years ago. “But he brought [the story] up the last time I saw him, along with a lot of other funny moments.”
We’re incredibly happy that the story is all true
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Image credits: PuffChrissy
“He heard me out and decided to laugh about it”
Bored Panda also wanted to get Dumais’ take on what employees should do to make a good impression on their bosses. However, he flipped the script on me and pointed out that, actually, things should actually work the other way around.
“I work with different clients that represent different companies. These companies have different work cultures and attitudes, different industries—some are even in different countries, as well. And what I’ve learned, especially in the last year, is that it’s more important for the boss to make a good impression. If they work hard, show off a positive attitude, etc. then it makes the employees want to work harder,” he said. “Life’s too short to work for terrible people.”
Dumais said that the CEO in his story had “every right to be annoyed or angry” and that if the boss had yelled at him or sent him home “for being an idiot,” he wouldn’t have had much to defend himself with. “I wasted an hour of the company’s time. There was plenty of work to be done. Instead, he heard me out and decided to laugh about it. That told me a lot about the kind of boss he was,” he highlighted how small stories like this one can tell you a lot about the people in charge.
“Everyone has had moments they’re ashamed or embarrassed of”
He also opened up about the importance that writing and storytelling have in his life and heart. “Storytelling is a big part of my life, both professionally (working in marketing and public speaking) and personally (writing, standup, idiot on social media),” Dumais quipped.
He explained that people respond to authenticity and honesty, no matter how embarrassing things might sound. It’s all about creating genuine connections and having a laugh, after all. “I tell a lot of funny true stories from my life in my stand up (and on Twitter) and the ones people respond to are the embarrassing ones. Everyone has had moments they’re ashamed or embarrassed of, and the instinct is to bury it—and when you hear someone else tell a humiliating story about their life, it gives you permission to forgive yourself.
“It’s me offering you an authentic piece of myself and hoping you can use it to put yourself back together again. And if not, at the very least, I hope it made you laugh and forget about things for a while. That’s what any story can hope to achieve.”
People had a lot of fun with Dumais’ tale and gave him lots of praise
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Dumais’ story made a few people laugh on Twitter, but it went absolutely viral on Imgur. At the time of writing, a post about his story has over 9k upvotes. People were absolutely delighted.
Some suggested that Dumais should have jumped out and scared the CEO. While others confessed that they’ve been in similar situations before. See, this is the type of fun, wholesome, and hilarious content the internet was made for.
Dumais isn’t just a comedian: he’s also a writer, digital marketer, and public speaker. I take my hat off to him because he’s published over 18 books, 300 stories, 500 articles, and 1k newsletters. While I’ve got him beat in the articles department, Dumais is lightyears ahead of me in terms of everything else.
Writing seems to be in his blood and we can clearly see that from the way he presents the humorous tale of how he got to meet the company’s CEO. Dumais shared some of his writing tips on his website.
For him, finishing a story is the important thing, not just starting it. He also recommends doing lots of reading, taking a walk whenever you get stuck, writing down all of the ideas that pop into your head (“you won’t remember the idea later), and getting off social media if you actually want to get any quality writing done.
What’s more, he says that it’s all right not to know where the story is going. Which is probably the exact thing he was worried about while stuck in the pharmacy counter, sweating with panic.
Back in the day, I was able to fall asleep everywhere. I woke up under a desk one day to four pairs of legs around me. I debated whether I should just make it my new home or make a quick exit. Yeah. Not so easy with my heavy books and short stature. One person yelled “woah!” but slid his chair back. Another gentleman held my hand and pulled me up. I scrammed out of there fast, never got to look at my Prince Charming. I got locked in the university library once, and had to call for someone to open the door. Fell asleep another time in a different university library. I was making a bed for myself another time (finals week, library open 24/7), the security guard looked at me and just told me to put the cushions back the next day and good luck.
Now I have insomnia and am so jealous of old me falling asleep everywhere and whenever. So epic fails can make for hilarious stories, but I was very lucky. Don’t fall asleep in strange places!
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I had a moment a bit like this. I have anxiety which very occasionally becomes quite bad, and usually I can just close my cubical door and sit under my desk for a while and that helps. But in this particular instance I'd been working closely with some clients for several weeks and was stationed in an office at the client's location. It was a shared office with a desk & wall in the middle, and the person on the side opposite the door was not in that day. So I sat under her desk. Nobody would see me unless they came all the way in and looked down. Well, it seemed like a good plan until the other office occupant came back in with the manager. I could hear them talking. No big deal. Then after about 10 or 15 minutes they got quieter and closed the door. I could still hear what they were saying - enough to know it ought to be confidential. At this point my anxiety was better but I wasn't keen on admitting I'd been under a desk the whole time. (1/2)
Well, I decided far far better to say something. "Uh, hey, so I'm in here," I called out as I tried to get out from under the desk. I did manage to get un-hidden before they peeked around the corner. For a moment I thought I might get away with it, but then the manager said, "We looked back here, where were you?" at which point I had to admit I'd been hiding under the desk. I had to explain about my anxiety. Scary as that was, in the end it ended up being good because it was nice to know they understood about my anxiety and wouldn't bother me if they found me hiding somewhere. Still... embarassing! (2/2)
Load More Replies...
Back in the day, I was able to fall asleep everywhere. I woke up under a desk one day to four pairs of legs around me. I debated whether I should just make it my new home or make a quick exit. Yeah. Not so easy with my heavy books and short stature. One person yelled “woah!” but slid his chair back. Another gentleman held my hand and pulled me up. I scrammed out of there fast, never got to look at my Prince Charming. I got locked in the university library once, and had to call for someone to open the door. Fell asleep another time in a different university library. I was making a bed for myself another time (finals week, library open 24/7), the security guard looked at me and just told me to put the cushions back the next day and good luck.
Now I have insomnia and am so jealous of old me falling asleep everywhere and whenever. So epic fails can make for hilarious stories, but I was very lucky. Don’t fall asleep in strange places!
Load More Replies... I had a moment a bit like this. I have anxiety which very occasionally becomes quite bad, and usually I can just close my cubical door and sit under my desk for a while and that helps. But in this particular instance I'd been working closely with some clients for several weeks and was stationed in an office at the client's location. It was a shared office with a desk & wall in the middle, and the person on the side opposite the door was not in that day. So I sat under her desk. Nobody would see me unless they came all the way in and looked down. Well, it seemed like a good plan until the other office occupant came back in with the manager. I could hear them talking. No big deal. Then after about 10 or 15 minutes they got quieter and closed the door. I could still hear what they were saying - enough to know it ought to be confidential. At this point my anxiety was better but I wasn't keen on admitting I'd been under a desk the whole time. (1/2)
Well, I decided far far better to say something. "Uh, hey, so I'm in here," I called out as I tried to get out from under the desk. I did manage to get un-hidden before they peeked around the corner. For a moment I thought I might get away with it, but then the manager said, "We looked back here, where were you?" at which point I had to admit I'd been hiding under the desk. I had to explain about my anxiety. Scary as that was, in the end it ended up being good because it was nice to know they understood about my anxiety and wouldn't bother me if they found me hiding somewhere. Still... embarassing! (2/2)
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