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Part of the enduring appeal of the iconic sitcom The Office has to do with how relatable people found it. From everyday characters to workplace drama, there’s something uncanny about watching the TV drama based on real, unstaged, mundane, often boring work life.

The truth is, if people would open up one day and decided to share their weirdest workplace stories, the chances are they’d make it to the directors cut. Because truth is often stranger than fiction…

This viral thread from Twitter gives us a glimpse into the craziest work stories from people who got into trouble while on duty, and it may well leave you speechless. “Sorry to do prompt Twitter, but what's the wildest reason you've ever gotten in trouble at work?” wondered Montucky Woodsnacks. Sorry not sorry, but Twitter was prompted indeed.

Image credits: tuckwoodstock

#2

Wild-Reasons-Trouble-At-Work

MegsBGood Report

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NsG
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Because it's always worth repeating: FAST - Face (has their mouth or skin dropped on one side); Arms (can they raise both arms to the same height and squeeze with the same strength on both sides); Speech (can they talk coherently and clearly); Time (to call the emergency services - stroke treatment is time crtitical)

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#3

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cordlessnick Report

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marsom1103 avatar
SCP 4666
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This Story really upsets me. Hope you found better Work

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Danniee Gyrl
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

from The Abstract Truth Twitter Account: (went on and found a better job) The Abstract Truth @cordlessnick · Jul 20 I do. Thank you. Life turned out pretty good for me. But I don't forget the hard times. Or how the world treats you when you struggle.

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Nicola Roberts
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

More than 20 years ago I worked for a chain of bakeries in the UK. It was very unsociable hours but as a perk I also lived in a property above the shop. As I was the last to leave one of my tasks was bin the out of date breads. cakes, pastries etc and record the waste, (I'm sure there was another name for it but can't quite remember). It was a very clear rule and condition of employment that everything that should be binned. The reason for this policy was to prevent theft. I'll leave it to your imagination if I ever bought a loaf of bread when I lived there. I mentioned how long ago it was because I'm pretty sure many of these establishments donate to hunger/poverty charities now because of the absurdity of people starving and throwing away food.

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glowingsun2002 avatar
BadCat
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So... do the trash collectors pay the grocery stores for taking the food in the trash?

benmatthew50 avatar
Ben
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No, it's more to stop people from throwing away good stuff. Then taking it from the trash where it is no longer "stealing". I get why the company would do this at first but as a bear minimum talk to the employees!

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bottomless.abyss.of.bordem
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Something similar happened to me. I worked at Subway. When we worked a full shift, we got a footlong. We could eat it, take it home, or whatever. One day, I planned to eat half and take half home. It was a hot sub so I only put veggies on the side I was gonna eat right away. Then I put some lettuce and olives in a cookie bag for the other half. I was fired for "stealing a bag of vegetables." Then the owner screwed around with my last check by not having it with everyone else's. He said I had to meet and get it from him. He no showed on me three times!!! I had to threaten to get the state involved. I ended up getting my check more than a week late and wasted gas driving out there repeatedly.

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Trisha Howson
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This right here is awful. Terribly awful I hope that place gets what it deserves that is just almost one the worst things I've heard

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Jason Marin
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

For that matter, why would anybody be crazy enough to eat put of the garbage considering the possibilities of germs.

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Someone Somewhere
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is the most Seinfeld post ever, its sad but still sounds like George Costanza

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Mikey Kliss
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Paying not even livable wages while sucking up billions I bet. This company sounds awful

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BG
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This happened to me working at a grocery store. Starving high school student trying to help my family. At midnight I was throwing out all of the deli foods wasted that day. I ate a chicken leg... under a camera. Manager called me into his office next day and asked, "how badly do you need this job?" The dude made me beg for my job before he fired me.

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Breezy
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Wow, sounds about right! Lets fire this extremely poor employee instead of maybe offering them a raise after seeing the lengths they will go to have some food.

bludragonfly63 avatar
Mika N
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They were probably worried about liability, thought that if OP got sick they might get sued :/ (if it took place in the US that is)

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Dawnieangel76
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I worked for a large, well known bookstore that had a well known coffee shop inside. At the end of the day all the unpurchased food went right into the dumpster...and worse? All bagged coffee beans were tossed, unopened into the dumpster as well. They had a security camera directed right at the dumpster to catch anyone, especially employees, stealing it! This was like 20+ years ago; it might be different now, but it still makes me so angry.

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GoGoPDX
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

WTF!?!? So, if the cleaning people took out the trash, and the garbage guys picked it up, is the company going to go after them for theft. It is amazing how stupid and illogical some people are!

sarradavtyan avatar
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

that’s sad… why throw away food past sell date, it can still be donated, especially when there are people who are starving and are too poor to afford food

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Michelle C
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

People who fail to have compassion on their employees that they know are experiencing personal difficulties are people for whom I don’t want to work, either. I’ve been very blessed to discover otherwise and I hope you found other employment with a compassionate boss!

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Rachel Benge
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If they refuse to allow people to not be hungry at work you needed a better job and it's a good thing you now can choose a better job

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MotherofGuineaPigs
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Walmart? Where they spend more time watching employees than shoplifters?

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Janet Graham
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oh, that is wrong on so many levels! There is help out there for the working poor. Usually, churches can help immediately. Often food banks can offer immediate help. In the same situation, ask the manager first.

greghanson112 avatar
Greg Hanson
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ask real people before you post "something I heard somewhere" types of statements.

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Getting into trouble at work is something we all have experienced, as long as we've had a job. Usually, it’s our mistake and then, we have to take responsibility and draw conclusions, but it can also be something completely different.

While each mistake has the potential for growth and learning, if the reason why you got into trouble is beyond crazy, then there’s probably not much to learn in the first place. It may be due to a toxic team member, a jerk boss, a weird work rule. In that case, you’re probably not living your dream job right now, and the chances are there’s a lot to change there.

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We've all heard of and completed an employee survey. These little questionnaires are designed to tell our employers how we really feel and what we really think, beyond our daily smiles and endless coffees.

There’s a common problem, however, with employee surveys. It’s that although they are made to find out the truth of how employees feel, they rarely do so. And when employers spend the money and go through the trouble of doing a survey, they want to believe that they’re getting the truth about what’s going on. So they don’t accept their workers can be doing something as simple as lying.

#8

Wild-Reasons-Trouble-At-Work

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Laura Gillette
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I once got chastised for sitting on the floor to stock a floor-level shelf, too. I was like... how else am I supposed to do this??

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In fact, even on customer surveys, some experts suggest that as many as 50% of people are less than truthful in their answers. Human nature is working against the employers. So in order to get the most accurate answers, the employer's mission is to minimize the amount of risk employees feel when they’re asked to take the survey.

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#12

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Ömer Kadir
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

you should quit after this conversation, this kind of boss should not presence around humans

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Things like never connecting survey scores to manager ratings or compensation, describing in detail what will happen with the results and doing what you promised to can work wonders. People can feel like they won’t get into trouble for ticking a box to show their motivation at work has been low recently, and that they don’t agree with management's approach to some things.

#13

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Peeka_Mimi
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I was fired for stealing. I didn't steal a damn thing. Their cute little blonde new accountant did. Fire the Chicana I guess.

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#17

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Kim Contreras
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I was 19, going to college,and had to work to stay in college. One night when we were closing the assistant manager at the convenience store I was working at trapped me against a wall and tried to force himself on me. I was prettified. Next day I told the manager what happened. He said he would take care of it. Found out next day I had been transferred to another store almost 20 miles away. Me - not the guy who attacked me.

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#18

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KJ
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

All managers should have to spend a month a year working on the shop floor, might make them see things from others perspective.

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#19

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#22

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YetAnotherSarah
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Fire alarm (lights and sound) in my section of the building didn't work, which I found out during an emergency when all the other alarms were going off but we (my employees and I) had no idea. Smelled the smoke from the roof, opened the door leading to rest of building, surprise alarms! Repeatedly told my boss, was ignored. Guess what I told the fire marshal during our next inspection?

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#26

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Skeeter
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Next time just let the patient code (just as long as no feelings are hurt, that is all that matters, ofc). Then when the family sues for millions, we can explain in court that the only reason they died was because you were told you are too mean the last time this happened.

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#27

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Na Schi
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Never understood this rightly labeled BS office dress codes. If you have no direct customer contact in a very stiff business you should be able to wear what you like... okay almost everything, bondage clothes or the tiny glitter bikini top might be a little too much/less/over the top.

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#29

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Linda Lee
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My boss would make fun of people who left on time. "Look who's leaving before the job is done". Thing is, the boss didn't pay overtime. He always fired every person for the same reason: insubordination, therefore not eligible for unemployment. Then he would say "nobody wants to work".

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#30

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Janet Graham
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Herding kids is a ton of work and it is all physical. Driving only hurts when you stop hard.

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#31

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Donkey boi
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I want a unicorn on my bill!! Why do I never get a unicorn on my bill????

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#32

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h_zurcher Report

#33

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maestraw Report

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Tobias Reaper
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

thats just bloody stupid let me guess good old USA ironic they call it land of the free when its anything but

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#35

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Khavrinen
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Four cents?!! You think a corporation can survive losses on that scale???

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#37

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rspanther
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I would get busted for that, one paper towel just isn't big enough to get your hands dry. How would you like too shake someones hand after they come out of the bathroom, and the hand isn't completly dry?

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#44

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KJ
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sure, when is your funeral, I will gladly attend with my tap dancing shoes on.

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#47

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Amanda Rose
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sounds like POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia). I have it (along with a whole host of other illnesses). It really sucks and it isn't well understood.

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#48

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Jo Johannsen
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sighing is my "regroup" default when facing a task I'm not sure how to handle. Has gotten me in trouble, too.

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#49

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Claire
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's like mine. Nursing Unit Manager spoke to me on the first day saying a flower hair clip was against the dress code. I looked up the dress code, it said nothing about hair clips. She had a massive big spiky hair clip herself. She was just trying to put me down a peg. For the next 3 years I wore as many large, bright and colourful hair ornaments as possible. It's a friggin hair clip, it's not going to interfere with me delivering a baby or helping a Mum breastfeed.

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#50

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Na Schi
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oh, had also the pleasure to experience that one - luckily without consequences (much to the frustration of the complaining office member, who btw had an annoying habit of breathing loudly 😂).

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