As young students, many of us were navigating the social complexities of being a pre-adolescent.
Sometimes we got away with mischief. Other times we didn't. But the antics of our youth are usually the results of just trying to fit in and finding our people.
However, there was always that one classmate in the school who always took things too far and left us dumbfounded.
Some people just never grow out of that reckless phase and continue their hijinks in the professional world, which is simultaneously concerning and amusing.
Curious to hear from anonymous employees who've seen it all, Redditor competitive-guy_guy_ asked:
"What’s the dumbest thing a co-worker of yours ever did?"
These Redditors experienced incidences they'll never forget.
The Manager's Secret
"I had an auto insurance manager visit a body shop and leave his briefcase there. The shop called and told me someone left a brown briefcase and it has an adult video DVD in it. I just relayed that info to my other manager who then found out that it belonged to the other manager."
"That manager got mad at me and was so rude. He would say I wasn't emailing the weekly reports to him. The IT dept. confirmed that I did email them. So he wasn't allowed to speak to me directly after that."
– luckeegurrrl5683
Death Challenger
"My first shift in charge of site safety (rail worker), I had briefed everyone accordingly. We were working on the line, when we received warning that a train was coming we were to step clear and wait."
"Well, a train came so we stood clear. It was getting closer, closer...then f'kwit colleague decides he'd prefer to stand on the other side and walked straight across in front of it when it was about 5 seconds away."
"Not the greatest thing to experience when you're responsible for people's safety."
– SubstantialFly3316
Temperature Tester
"I used to work in an aquatics shop. We used to have halogen lights over the coral stock tanks. He had not long started working in the shop, so I told him to be real careful around the lights because those things got really hot."
"Literally, as soon as I said that, he stuck his hand on a light to see just how hot. He seared his fingertips to the bulb."
– Ulfgeirr88
Incompetent Machine Operator
"We're sitting in a meeting and all of a sudden the building shakes like an earthquake, we don't get earthquakes so we get up to see what happened thinking someone drove into the building. We have multiple loading docks separated on opposite sides of the building, an inbound side and an outbound side."
"To keep things getting mixed up you're not supposed to touch a truck load or unload anything until you check the paperwork. A outbound truck there for a pickup accidentally pulled in to the inbound side no problem a guy told him he had the wrong side. As he is pulling out a forklift driver turns the corner and tries to drive onto the truck."
"The front forks got caught on the rear of the truck as it was pulling out, which saved two dudes life. Otherwise, the forklift would have flipped, crushing him, but it basically fell straight down. The forklift weighs like a few tons and fell about 4 feet."
– o_MrBombastic_o
McMayhem
"When I was in high school, I worked at McDonalds. Many of the crew were people I knew from HS."
"Back then, as you transitioned from breakfast to lunch, there was a series of procedures to light the French fry machine. During breakfast, we would stack a case of orange juice singles on the flat surface over the fryer since it was right next to the drive-thru."
"At 10:30, someone fired up the fryer, but the guy working the drive trodden dropped a sealed, cold orange juice container into the liquid fryer. Maybe 10 minutes later, the fryer exploded, sending grease boiling out of the machine."
"Someone panicked and pulled the Halon fire suppression over the french fryer, blasting poisonous dust throughout the kitchen. Closed early and closed the next day for cleanup."
– wilburstiltskin
There were the occasional lawbreakers.
The Freeloader
"When I worked at Walgreens we had a store manager who was loading up the back of his car with everything and anything he wanted after the store closed. He somehow didnt think anyone would notice. He was fired."
– TraditionalTackle1
Cash Grab
"I worked retail and the story was (this was relayed by another manager who I was close to so idk the specifics) that a former manager would just take cash straight from the safe. Like, a lot."
"He was absent for 'back problems' for a while but I think it was the store filing legal proceedings."
"It makes a lot of sense why this store manager would just be buying Starbucks for all 15-20 openers every day and how he and his wife (just an employee of same store) could afford to move to a way bigger house."
"I'm honestly surprised it took them so long to catch him because it was like, at least over a year."
– Abradolf1948
Rocket's Red Glare
"Went to go party with mistress by setting off fireworks on top of an apartment building."
"Building burnt down. Got stuck with charges and maybe civil lawsuits. Had to resign from job where he had been working for almost 15 years. I'm assuming his wife found out about the mistress during this process as well."
– squirrel_eatin_pizza
The Private Loan
"I worked at a bank. I knew someone who took $3000 in cash home because he was too lazy to put it away and thought he could just bring it back in the morning, which he did. Then he was fired."
– elmatador12
Naivete is excusable but some workers just don't have enough brain cells to function as mature adults.
Flu Denier
"I was training a new hire at work, she was in her 40's. One day she comes in to work sniffling and coughing and I said to her, 'If you're sick, go home.' She says she's fine, I remind her that she has sick days and can use them anytime."
"She says no, its just a cold and nothing like the awful flu her nephew has. Then she tells me that she was visiting with him on the weekend and spent the whole time cuddling with him."
"I said, 'You have the flu. Go home now.' And she laughed! She said, 'No, don't be silly, adults can't catch the flu from kids!'"
– Bwoah_Its_Kimi
Amateur Parkourist
"A comrade during my stint with the army thought it was a brilliant idea, instead of running to Roll Call, to jump out of the window in the 2nd story of the building into a tree, climb down and so save the hustle of running down the stairs, etc."
"Long story short he missed the tree and slammed on the concrete path below.. broke a few bones in his pelvis … Till today the most stupid idea i ever witnessed."
– dermatthes
The Boss Approves
"I had a co-worker who thought it was ok to smoke whilst driving a gas-powered forklift. The gas bottle was directly behind the drivers seat."
"I did point this out to him but apparently the boss said it was ok so that made it alright."
– rabtj
Taste Test
"A fridge broke down and ran hot on the food. He decided to sample it to see if the food went bad. He was out for three days with food poisoning. What a goddamn idiot."
– oxford_serpentine
Loose Lips
"Revealed sensitive confidential health information about another member of staff.... This co-worker was a nurse and this place of employment was an HIV/AIDS center."
– YourMothersButtox
Harmless workplace antics are commonplace.
It can help pass the time of the repetitive nature of most jobs that can be agonizing to get through.
However one should be mindful of the consequences that can result in termination or serious injury.
Have you ever witnessed stunts executed by your brainless coworkers? What happened?
