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
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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)
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.
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.
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??
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.
you should quit after this conversation, this kind of boss should not presence around humans
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.
I was fired for stealing. I didn't steal a damn thing. Their cute little blonde new accountant did. Fire the Chicana I guess.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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".
Herding kids is a ton of work and it is all physical. Driving only hurts when you stop hard.
I want a unicorn on my bill!! Why do I never get a unicorn on my bill????
I guess it depends which finger you're using to push up those glasses.
thats just bloody stupid let me guess good old USA ironic they call it land of the free when its anything but
I appreciate that they name and shame the offending employer.
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.
Sighing is my "regroup" default when facing a task I'm not sure how to handle. Has gotten me in trouble, too.
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.
Good. And if you could prove that was why you should think about a lawsuit. I will never understand hating gay people but more than that, why can't you just hate them privately? As crazy as that sounds, at this point I'd almost be okay with that because I'm so tired of this ridiculous, unproportioned and irrational hatred. You'll be talking to someone who seems normal and you mention you have a gay friend or something and they start swearing like sailors and saying they hope they die in the most horrific ways. These people should come with a notice on their foreheads so we know they're crazy and stay away. Like a quarantine around them. Why does your opinion have to be mine? Why do I have to follow some arbitrary rule of yours because it's what you want but I'm not afforded the same right? If she had a little trump 2024 pin or a confederate flag pin or something I wonder if she'd get the same warning?
they probably thought you were going to be out for 2 weeks not 2 months
Good. Glad to hear it. That sort of powerplay b******t is nothing short of disgusting.
So this person got fired... for having been fired. That's... you can't make that up, lol.
why do morons come out with stuff like this how can they speak for others saying it will distract them just because the person who told them was a nonce dont mean everyone else is
And yet more proof that HR does not exist to help employees, it exists to help the company.
Oh this would anger me. I do a lot of design work at my job and I HATE when coworkers have no respect for why I do the design things I do. (“Can you make the fine print smaller?” No. “These colours look weird” they’re literally the brand identity colours you chose. “Can we make this font more fun, like comic sans?” No, it’s not the right font for this project. And my personal favourite, “can you like, make it pop? Idk what it needs but just like, make it POP!” Etc etc all day every day.)
For goodness sake woman! This wonton hussy behaviour needs to be nipped in the bud! It start with the shoulders, next it will be the wrists, and before you know it well be seeing bare ankles all over the place!
We had a guy work in a hot restaurant with us who never wore deodorant and he....'stunk' isn't even the right word. It's was like a war crime, and we really needed our boss to talk to him about it. I understand some people have issues with using deodorant but maybe working in 100 degree heat on a grill with food isn't the job for you. But that wasn't even the issue for him; just didn't like to. Basic hygiene is and should be followed when you work around other people. I don't care what your customs or preferences are. You can't necessarily control a fart, lol, but if you have such a problem that you're farting away the day and your co-workers are dropping like flies behind you, maybe a doctor is necessary. Or those fart underwear they sell to block smells and noises.
its ironic that people who feel the need to actually state I'm more diverse or I'm not racist or I'm a nice person usually are i mean if you are a nice person you dont need to state it you show it with how you behave same with if you not racist or if you have a diverse work place
Ya, I kinda think this one is in rhe right. That's inappropriate, and can lead to the teacher having a relationship with the student that is not appropriate.
Why on earth would an employee call every day they are unable to work after illness/surgery? Give them a date you expect to be able to return to work, and if the date looks like it needs to change, then let the company know as soon as possible.
I think Wal Mart works by a point system, right? Like, it doesn't matter what you're out for (sickness, celebrations, etc) it counts as a point and you get 3 points per year or else you're fired (you can't use vacation time for call outs, I guess). At least, that's what someone told me. She said her mother died and she fought with the store manager about how our state allows up to 3 days for bereavement legally that doesn't count toward your points and you don't have to use your own vaca time. Her boss legit fought with her about so she spoke to HR and they had to talk to the boss who had no idea. She'd been deducting points from people for funerals. It was nuts. Part of me likes a point system because it takes away the manager letting things go for too long making others pick up the slack, and there's no favoritism--the pink slip comes from corporate after point 3 and that's it. But to have to fight because the manager doesn't understand her job is ridiculous.
It is. Yet funny. Will steal. Not everything has to look 109% professional as long as it does its job 100%.
Yeah the dress codes for clinicals is strict but they lay it out for you before hand. Shouldn't have worn the earrings.
I didn't realize that orange vests can stop bullets.. good to know 👍🏻
I don't think your boss should have made you do dental work for them. Implants are challenging even if the teeth aren't so large.
This happened to me while I was trying to clean up baby vomit at a table during a Mother’s Day brunch! I just pointed at the back of the restaurant and said “head that way, you can’t miss it” and the customer left a written complaint that I didn’t walk her 4 year old daughter to the bathroom for her so she wouldn’t miss the hockey game 🙃
Got to say, this guy is not the saint he thinks he is.You just can't have people using in shelters, no matter what. If they can use, they bring in their gear, and another addict steals it and people get killed. Tough to have to kick someone out, but there it is. OP is probably better suited to a less demanding environment.
Wouldn’t matter what colour you put in that sentence it’s still offensive
I got seriously yelled at once because supposedly the day before I didnt lower the blind in the window of the changing room. Not only I was not working that day but nowhere in my contract said that I was the only person in the entire company responsible for that blind. The woman was obsessed with me for some reason and kept looking for excuses to complain about me.
Another time in a dutch rescue centrum where I worked I got lectured because we run out of raisins to fill some toys that we used to give to our primates. So i used pop corn instead. We were allowed to give them popcorn, that was not the problem. The problem is that the "instructions" for that toy said specifically to use raisins so we werent allowed to use anything else. The "toy" was a log with holes drilled in it to put the food inside.
Load More Replies...Was fired from a HD in town because I found out they were manually adjusting payroll punches (cutting my hours), and taking money out of my check to pay for something someone else stole from a sealed package that was being shipped out. They were shipping. Opened the box. Stole from it. Sealed an sent to supplier. Since it was short and didn't match my invoice it was billed to the company. Who billed me. Luckily I had the duplicate and then called the state employment agency to refund my money. Only for stole item not payroll theft. Then was terminated next day. The emp agency guy was bribed to drop the payroll issue an close the case by getting a trike motorcycle. The day he picked it up in drove it right into the garage bay door an totaled it. Karma 1. Then a month later the bank came and locked the place down for bankruptcy. Karma 2. The owner was found to have been funneling money from the company to his mayor campaign in a diff city. Karma 3.
I got written up at work because I make really good meatloaf. Four of us were sitting around a table talking and one woman, who is not originally from America, said her husband wanted meatloaf and she had no idea how to cook one. I said that my family loved my meatloaf and I would share my recipe. This offended a woman at another lunch table, and she went her boss and said that I was being offensive in the lunchroom. When I asked how offering to share a recipe was offensive, I was told that I needed to be more sensitive to others around me - no other explanation was given. The offended person then went to the woman whom I shared my recipe with and gave her HER recipe stating that it was way better than mine, and I cannot go around saying that I made the best meatloaf anymore. I honestly didn't know I was in a meatloaf competition. I thought I was helping someone new make a nice American meal for her American husband.
That is some serious insecurity! And I would LOVE your meatloaf recipe!
Load More Replies...I got seriously yelled at once because supposedly the day before I didnt lower the blind in the window of the changing room. Not only I was not working that day but nowhere in my contract said that I was the only person in the entire company responsible for that blind. The woman was obsessed with me for some reason and kept looking for excuses to complain about me.
Another time in a dutch rescue centrum where I worked I got lectured because we run out of raisins to fill some toys that we used to give to our primates. So i used pop corn instead. We were allowed to give them popcorn, that was not the problem. The problem is that the "instructions" for that toy said specifically to use raisins so we werent allowed to use anything else. The "toy" was a log with holes drilled in it to put the food inside.
Load More Replies...Was fired from a HD in town because I found out they were manually adjusting payroll punches (cutting my hours), and taking money out of my check to pay for something someone else stole from a sealed package that was being shipped out. They were shipping. Opened the box. Stole from it. Sealed an sent to supplier. Since it was short and didn't match my invoice it was billed to the company. Who billed me. Luckily I had the duplicate and then called the state employment agency to refund my money. Only for stole item not payroll theft. Then was terminated next day. The emp agency guy was bribed to drop the payroll issue an close the case by getting a trike motorcycle. The day he picked it up in drove it right into the garage bay door an totaled it. Karma 1. Then a month later the bank came and locked the place down for bankruptcy. Karma 2. The owner was found to have been funneling money from the company to his mayor campaign in a diff city. Karma 3.
I got written up at work because I make really good meatloaf. Four of us were sitting around a table talking and one woman, who is not originally from America, said her husband wanted meatloaf and she had no idea how to cook one. I said that my family loved my meatloaf and I would share my recipe. This offended a woman at another lunch table, and she went her boss and said that I was being offensive in the lunchroom. When I asked how offering to share a recipe was offensive, I was told that I needed to be more sensitive to others around me - no other explanation was given. The offended person then went to the woman whom I shared my recipe with and gave her HER recipe stating that it was way better than mine, and I cannot go around saying that I made the best meatloaf anymore. I honestly didn't know I was in a meatloaf competition. I thought I was helping someone new make a nice American meal for her American husband.
That is some serious insecurity! And I would LOVE your meatloaf recipe!
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