Stupid things you have done at work and wont do again.

[John Doe]

Well, I thought I would give everyone a laugh at my expense and tell you about a learning experience I had at work many years ago.

Feel free to post a reply with some of the boneheaded things you have done over the years and if you took away anything from the experience or if your likely to make the same mistake again.


Ok, here is a little background on Ole JD. I work for a large company with over 1000 employees, I have been here for 26 years and when I started we had just over 400 employees. In my early days with the company I was a desktop support technician, doing hardware and software support, deploying equipment, solving problems and interacting directly with our customers.

The specific details of this story are a little fuzzy but the overall story is still intact, it was a valuable learning experience for me and to this day I have never ever made the same mistake.

So Mr. Doe was at a customers desk, I suspect I was replacing their PC or monitor or something like that as I needed to crawl under the desk to plug in cords. And while I was working in this persons cube I was making smalltalk, just being friendly, trying to keep her distracted while I did my work. Well, the customer was female and as I was about to crawl under her desk to plug something in I asked her when she was due (yes, I had assumed she was pregnant).

She replied to my question that she wasnt due.........and to this day I dont know how I managed to crawl out from under that desk, because I was so embarrassed for asking such a question and I felt very bad for her and for the situation I found myself in.

So the lesson I learned was simple, do not ask a woman when she is due, the answer may not be what you are expecting!

To this day, I have never asked that question of anyone, even if they are in the ward at the hospital, having contractions and fully dilated I will not ask, never ever ask, when she is due.


Ok, thats JD's boneheaded story of the day, please feel free to share one of yours.



JD

[The Domer]

So... when are you due?

[Cpt._Keyes]

back when i was in Hawaii in the Coast Guard I was talking to a Lieutenant Commander on the phone (Major...for you land types) and was all yes ma'am, no ma'am etc in explaining our flight status to them...right as we were about to conclude she said "By the way it is 'Sir"... i dont think there has ever been a longer silence on a phone before or since

[metacide]

So... when are you due?

inquiring minds want to know.

[Zork Nemesis]

I once told someone that, despite the fact that I thought they were wasting their money (on close to a hundred bucks worth of scratch tickets), I really can't say no to them because of that.

I ended up being seriously bummed for the rest of the night when I realized what I had just said.

back when i was in Hawaii in the Coast Guard I was talking to a Lieutenant Commander on the phone (Major...for you land types) and was all yes ma'am, no ma'am etc in explaining our flight status to them...right as we were about to conclude she said "By the way it is 'Sir"... i dont think there has ever been a longer silence on a phone before or since

Basic training, I was on "ship's staff duty" (front door watch at the barracks). I ended up reciting the script in front of me when I answered a phone call word for word. The script said something along the lines of "sir or ma'am" but by the time I was reading that part I already knew the gender of the person on the other end. Needless to say, the person on the other end was the Lieutenant of the barracks and she wasn't happy about my choice of words.

[BigBiker05]

I got some storys, nothing too embarrassing. Lots of the stupid stuff I simply won't share. Working at a bar/restaurant has a lot of stories that could get people in trouble and I won't share those.

This simple story involves me using company stuff. Our restaurant was attached to a gold course, where of course, there is a wash area for carts. At the time my car was really dirty, but I was working the brunch/lunch shifts. By the time I got home it would be dark and I couldn't wash my car. So one day I decide after I clock out (still 30 minutes light) that I would just wash my car in the cart area, I'm off the clock. It was only a one time deal, but within the next couple years there was several employees who got fired for doing the same exact thing.

[M's]

The worse thing I can think of that I did at work.

At the time I worked in the paint shop for the Arkansas National Guard as a paint worker, my new immediate supervisor*, walk into the paint booth with out any PPE#. I promptly turned and gave him a full coat of 383 green CARC** solvent based paint across the face.
I wasn't worried due to the fact I knew I was about to be retired out on medical.



* Guy couldn't tell you if you sprayed 3mil's or 1 mill of paint, let alone wipe his own butt.
# Personal Protective Equipment= full body suit with positive pressure air hood.
** Chemical Agent Resistant Coating. Only able to spray for 4 hours in an 8 hour period, before exceeding allowed upper limits Super bad stuff until replaced by water based stuff.

[Soltan]

I was the victim of someone's stupidest day at work.

In April of 2010 a coworker (desktop support) didn't notice me walking in the parking lot until I was "flying through the air" after being struck by his Jeep according to the police report (I was knocked unconscious and have no memory of the impact). I started my first day back from vacation in a level 1 trauma center and he was laid off about 9 months later (the accident was a factor). He'd been there 26 years.

I have permanent nerve damage around my right eye thanks to this (I was "lucky" and got the pins and needles type of nerve damage).

Apologies for slightly derailing the topic.

[Larry]

A coworker and I accidentally mixed bleach and ammonia (?) in a kitchen dishwashing machine and made chlorine gas(?). I don't think we mixed too much, but it was enough to be dangerous. Funny thing, I found out what he did after we both puked. We had to clear the place for a day but I still can't believe he did that. Apparently I was partly responsible because I should had been watching him.

3/10, wouldn't be gased again. I'm not sure what chemicals they were, they had like 5 or 6 different jugs for different things.

[Boss Llama]

Yikes! Yeah... that one could kill you. Best to know exactly what you're mixing before doing so!

[Larry]

Thinking back, I think he was wiping off a counter, and pushed the water into the large washing machine and the machine used a bunch of stuff.

Yeah, I don't miss working there at all. I got an allergic reaction to one of the chemicals and it covered both my arms so I quit. Later I think they hired a full other stuff.

[Checkm8]

I work as a civil servant for the navy at a base about an hour from my house. My organization employs 800+ people. So, every once and awhile I run into someone from my hometown. One day I was chatting with a lady and learned she grew up and lives about 15 minutes from me. When she told me the area, I replied that the only thing I knew unique about her location was that a young girl was run over by a bus there once. Turns out, that was her first born child. I felt horrible. I apologized and she told me not to worry about it since I had no idea. Still...

[John Doe]

Ouch Check.

[M's]

Another dumb move I had involved a Genie z45/22 & a fire hydrant. I'll let ya'll put the 2 together. Needless to say... it didn't look like a Hollywood movie; but it did cost about 2k to repair and move it the spot it was in.

[metacide]

Once I got a job working for AT&T. That's it. Never again!