Workplace accidents are no joke, especially when you live in a country where universal health care isn't a thing and most people are scrambling for benefits! (That's another, bothersome story we'll save for another article.)
You can thank Redditor fukhed69 for today's burning question, which is: "What's the worst workplace accident at your work?"
Warning: Sensitive and possibly triggering material ahead.
"Well, one guy..."
Well, one guy was working on a cell phone tower and a high-tension supporting line snapped, which cut off his arm and head. That wasn't cool.
"You decided which is worse."
You decide which is worse.
Worked for Cessna Aircraft, guy working a punch press didn't remove the slugs and eventually too many were there. Shot out like a bullet into his chest, little aluminum discs about 2 inch diameter. Think it actually hit his heart.
Some years after that I was a bowling alley mechanic. One of the other mechanics at one of the other alley's the company owned stayed late to clean the top of the decks that sets the pins down. Next morning, the Manager came in and saw his feet on a lane, like he was standing there. When he didn't answer she went back and found him dead. He didn't shut the machine all the way down and the deck tried to go back up with him between it and the upper parts of the machine. They guessed it took a couple hours for him to die.
"Some girl..."
Some girl didn't have her hair tied up per regulation and got too close to the conveyor belt. Scalped herself.
"My story is from manufacturing."
My story is from manufacturing. The tops of ovens are pressed out of steel with up to 10 tonne dies.
One day a man tried to retrieve something from the path of the press, safety failed and he was crushed flat, from the waist up.
"Working in a coin mint."
Working in a coin mint. A guy was running a proofing press (this one actually.puts the images on the coins) that was apparently on the fritz. They all have a laser fence that's supposed to stop the machine if anything breaks the beams. I was on the other side of the factory running a punch press, when I heard a terrible screaming from clear across this giant facility. My partner and I ran over there to a pretty f---ed up scene.
This dude was doing single stamps on his machine (where it only is supposed to strike the coin once), and when he reached in to grab the freshly minted coin, the machine bugged out and did a double strike.
His middle and ring finger were between the dies when it came down, and they literally made a coin out of his bone. I saw the coin, it was crazy, all the details were there from the die. Ambulance was called and, of course, he lost his fingers to the machine.
Worst part was the owner was trying to figure out a way to blame it on the guy, not his fucky machine, so he wouldn't have to pay him anything beyond workers comp. I left that job before the guy came back to work, but I imagine he sued the owner, and rightly so. The factory is closed now, which is a shame since it was so old it had original dies from some of the first Nobel prizes. I doubt it was related.
"The building I worked in was old."
Former work as of 2 months ago, but it answers the question "how the hell do you get injured working at a radio station?"
The building I worked in was old. Built in the 1930s. A piece of broadcasting history, and the birthplace of the career of the person who would go on to create the late night television talk show.
But while the interior of the building had been rebuilt and repurposed over the decades since, there were parts of it that were still sh!t. Most of the third floor was condemned due to pervasive asbestos, and there was an old roof access point that finally claimed a victim a few years back.
This guy was one of our engineers. A few years from retirement, and an absolute joy to work with. Funny, skilled, and genuinely a good guy. One day he was climbing up through the roof access, and the heavy door (kind of like a hatch) broke loose and came down on his head.
At first he seemed a bit dazed, but pretty soon it became apparent that he'd been badly hurt. He was rushed to the hospital, and while he survived, he was never the same. Never able to return to work. His plans to retire cut short and he wound up on disability and having to live in constant pain.
The company swept it under the rug. Only a few people knew the full extent of his injuries, and they kept it that way. Before I knew all this, I'd made a joke in the presence of the HR person about the worst injury that was possible at a radio station and her head snapped around and she looked at me like "if you only knew."
There was never any fundraiser to help pay for his care, or any celebration of his service to the company, or anything except silence. I'm sure he was taken care of financially as laid out in our (pretty decent) benefits, but they kept what happened really quiet, and that's a damned shame.
"Moral of both stories..."
I have two actually. Used to work in a supermarket deli. The first one, a girl opened the slicer blade while she was cleaning it, turned the slicer on, and then proceeded to slice the palm of her hand off when she wiped down the blade. Yep that was an instant termination and a trip to the hospital.
Next one, a guy stood on top of the fryer while it was on to clean the fryer vents, which were built into the wall above the fryers. He slipped and his leg went into 338° grease up to his knee. He was also instantly terminated and got a helicopter ride to Tallahassee to visit the burn unit.
Moral of both stories, use your brains and some common sense. It could save you a lot of pain and a job search.
"Worked as an on site medic..."
Worked as an on site medic with an oilfield company. Derrick hand (works at the top of the rig) didn't tie on with his harness. Not sure what happened, but they fell from the top of the Derrick all the way to the ground. They like. Exploded from the inside, but didn't die. Being the medic, it was my responsibility to keep them alive. Ever try giving mouth to mouth to someone that's just oozing blood? Would not recommend. Long story short, they died. And now I've got hemophobia.
"Worked at a trampoline park..."
Worked at a trampoline park and one of my fellow staff members did a flip to show off and snapped their leg like a twig. Now staff are not allowed to flip while on duty.
"I'm a vet tech."
I'm a vet tech. One of my coworkers got bit in the face by a very large terrier mix. It tore open her cheek, took off the tip of her nose, and tore her lip so bad her gums were exposed. She only narrowly avoided losing an eye.
I was bitten on three separate occasions by cats. Each time the bite got infected. All three cases involved unvaccinated animals with neurological symptoms and unknown histories. Prime rabies suspects, basically.
My own worst injury happened when I was trying to help a paralyzed dog out of kennel. We had large kennels that closed with a fence gate. She was a large German Shepherd and pulled away at just the wrong time. The force pulled me down face first into the top of the gate's supporting pole. I'm still not sure how I didn't bust a few teeth. I looked like a chipmunk for a few weeks
"I worked in a prison."
I worked in a prison. An officer was sitting at his desk doing computer work when an inmate walked up and slugged him in the head knocking him to the floor. The inmate then jumped on top of the officer and stabbed him multiple times with a homemade knife. Fortunately, the officer survived but he never returned to work. The reason for the assault; the inmate wanted to be transferred to another prison.
"He was wearing shorts..."
There was a 5" x 16" metal plate on top of a ladder, guy moved the ladder and the plate came flying down at an angle. He was wearing shorts, and the plate sliced his calve with the sharpest angle it could possible achieve. His skin was flabbing off his leg like how when you only peel one side of a banana, still attached but close to not. And so much blood.
"A guy cut his finger off..."
A guy cut his finger off on a band saw. I was off sick that day and didn't see that one, but another bad one I actually saw right in front of me was a guy getting his entire forearm sliced open by a steel plate that spun around while it was hanging from a crane.
"We hung kayaks..."
We hung kayaks off of a railing over the first level. One day another employee was hanging up a new one and it fell on a customer.
"I'm sure there's been plenty worse..."
I'm sure there's been plenty worse accidents, but one that stuck with me from my time with this company was a guy that got his hand caught in a roller press. Don't search images of degloving.
"Guy was asked..."
Guy was asked to turn the fryers off. Didn't know how. Pulled the lever that releases all the oil. 350 degree oil spills all over him. Third degree burns covered him from the torso down. He quit.
"I worked as a lifeguard..."
I worked as a lifeguard for a casino pool and one day during the summer this one guy snuck past a fence we have for our waterfall. He made his way to the top of it and we were all whistling for him to get down. He then jumped off of it 20 feet into 3 1/2 feet of water breaking his legs. His friends pulled him out of the water and out of the pool area. Security tried to call an ambulance for him but they said he didn't have insurance so they carried him into an Uber. I have no idea what happened to him after that.
"Not current job..."
Not current job, but I worked at a warehouse about 4 years ago in Florida that had a shitty forklift. The tilt cylinder was pissing hydraulic fluid like a mafka. The operations manager wanted to wait till the end of the fiscal year to get a new one though. Cheap bastard.
We had to call mechanics out to top it off (and "limp it along as long as we can") every 10 days like clockwork. Tried explaining to the Op manager that no problem ever got better by ignoring it. The fluid was leaking all over the warehouse floor and made it slippery as shit. The parking lot looked like a shitty Jackson Pollock painting any time we had to take it out to unload anything.
One day, an operator was having to get a pallet of something down from about 6-7 feet above the floor. Another associate was standing about 10 feet in front of the forklift. When the tilt cylinder breaks in half. Somebody yells out to the guy and he moves out of the way just fast enough to avoid the pallet slipping of the forks and onto his head. It does hit everything on the right side of his neck. Dislocates his shoulder, breaking his collar bone in 2 places, fracturing a couple ribs, his hip, and shin.
The operations manager refused to file the guy's workers comp claim, fired him, and the forklift was gone the next morning. Dude sued the company, but settled out of court for whatever reason.
"I'm a truck driver..."
I'm a truck driver and, a little over a year ago, there was a mechanic's helper who got killed while filling a truck tire up with air. We don't know if he got careless and wasn't paying attention or if there was some unseen damage to the tire--but--the tire (which packs about 110 psi at maximum) blew up. He was standing about 2 feet away from the tire when it exploded and the force knocked him several feet back into a concrete wall. That combined with the steel mesh from the inner tire and rubber flying around...it was pretty bad.
He was pronounced dead on the scene from a combination of massive head trauma, internal injuries, and blood loss.
When we're intoxicated, or even the slightest bit tipsy from having a little too much to drink, our immediate perspective on things is hazy.
But there's nothing like a bit of alarming news or a jarring incident to snap us out of the fog and focus on the moment.
Sometimes alcohol isn't always to blame for our impairment.
It can be a state of mind, like a perpetual numbness from being complacent in life, and all it takes is one shocking moment to rattle us back to our senses.
Curious to hear from strangers online about this type of scenario, Redditor Known_Challenge_7150 asked:
"What’s one thing that sobered you up real quick?"
These individuals were witness to shocking events that sobered them up right quick.
Bleeding Out
"Got out of a taxi and found a naked man profusely bleeding from his head crawling up the driveway in my condo. Called him an ambulance completely forgot I was absolutely wasted until 45 minutes later when I'd helped him translate and in to an amublance and stepped in my front door."
"Later a few days later learned he'd slipped in the tub and literally crawled out for help. Poor dude. He was fine but I genuinely thought he was going to die there."
– DongLaiCha
Tragic News
"At a bachelor party and we got a phone call that the groom’s father had suddenly passed."
– accountnameredacted
Bottom Of The Barrel
"I went to visit my parents back in July. I was homeless and deep into fentanyl addiction so I lost a lot of weight. My folks could see it. They knew something was up. Anyway, I spent the night and I was getting ready to leave in the morning and I looked at myself in the mirror for a good long time. I finally had enough and told them everything. They took me to detox, from there I went to rehab. Graduated in August and been living with them ever since then. I have 160 days clean and sober."
– Crotch-Monster
A reality check can be enough for some people to snap out of it.
Like Father, Like Son
"Was driving a drunk friend home, he had been on a bender again and was smart enough to call me for a lift rather than try and drive. As I helped in to his house his mother came down the stairs and said 'your as drunk as your father' and went back upstairs. I haven't seen him drunk since then, he still drinks but the thought of turning into his dad scared him out of hard drinking."
– psycospaz
Busted
"Flashing blue lights."
– FiddleOfGold
"This sobered me up just thinking about it."
– redmaple_syrup
Losing Sight
"Woke up to no sight in one eye. I had cataract surgery so just thought one of the lenses had slipped and it was an easy fix. Eye doc says nope, you had a stroke. I loved soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and salty food, which caused high blood pressure, which caused retina damage. Over six months was able to get most of my eyesight back with medication, and all back within a year. Trying to navigate life with one eye was very sobering. Started taking HBP much more seriously."
– MissHibernia
Quitting The Bottle
"Looked up someone I went to highschool with who was an awesome guy. Found out he had been dead for 3 years from alcoholism, at age 33. I made an overnight change. I hadn't started drinking that night yet, 10 months ago. Haven't touched it again since."
– omgtater
These disturbing moments were enough for Redditors to immediately come to their senses.
Unplanned House Guests
"Me and a buddy Woke up in someone’s living room, realized neither one of us knew the people, they were just nice and let 2 drunk guys sleep on their living room floor. We didn’t even say goodbye."
– Oneinsevenbillion75
Serious Health Warning
"Elevated liver enzymes."
"And the knowledge that this sh** was gonna kill me and I just couldn't orphan my family over it."
"So I opted for recovery, instead."
"Clean and sober since June 5, 2009."
– Far_Meal8674
The Joyride
"Grew up in a rural area. The little town hosted dances at the hockey arena, everyone (adults and kids) went and they overserved everyone, regardless of age. I was maybe 16 or 17 and was absolutely sh*tfaced, and jumped in the back of someone's truck with about 8 other people to go back to someone's cottage for after dance drinking. The driver (still don't know who it was) started racing one of his buddies and we whipped around small dirt roads, flying around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, going god knows how fast. It was basically a disaster waiting to happen. It was crazy scary and I was sober and thankful to be alive when we finally arrived."
– foxfood9116
The human psyche is a fascinating thing, isn't it?
How we can automatically focus on something urgent at a crucial time, even after getting buzzed from drinking too much alcohol.
But as we're in the thick of the holidays, it's a good reminder to drink responsibly and stay off the roads if you drive to your celebratory destination.
Cheers. Stay safe. And happy holidays.
We've all complained or vented about something in our lives which, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't exactly a problem, or is very easily solved.
Then there are those who complain about things that others almost hope will happen to them at some point in their lives.
These are known as "first world problems", as they are problems that pretty much only the world's one percent faces.
From having to fly business class instead of first class, or being served Roederer instead of Dom Pérignon, these complaints are often met with amusement, bewilderment, or even anger.
Redditor jennimackenzie was curious to hear the most absurd "first world problems" anyone ever complained about, leading them to ask:
"What’s the most ridiculous 'first world problem' you’ve seen people get worked up over?"
"Tale As Old As Time..."
"I once knew a mom who was legitimately devastated, to the point of tears/grief, because a doctor predicted her 8 year old daughter's final height to be around 5'2","
"Which wasn't tall enough to get cast as Belle at Disney World."
"That was the child's (and her mother's) only dream in life, apparently."
"Didn't appreciate my suggestion that she could be Minnie or Mickey."
"Lol!"
"Only a face character would do!"- TravelLovingMom
"Must Be Funny, In A Rich Man's World..."
"My boss from about a decade ago was this insanely rich dude who always went to the bank to get fresh and crisp currency."
"He'd call the bank in advance to make sure they had some on hand."
"I think he was a germaphobe."
"He had a trash can that he'd throw $1 and $5 bills in that he thought was 'dirty' and regularly just donated it vs spending it."
"I asked him why he did this and he said it was too much trouble and asked if I wanted it."
"I said f*ck yeah dumped it into my bag and when I got home it was close to $400 in singles and fives.
"Another time, he wanted to upgrade all the computers in his studio, so we went to a store and bought 10 PCs."
"They all had $150 mail in rebates and he wasn't bothered to go through the trouble of mailing them in."
"3 weeks later I received $1500 after spending a whole afternoon filling out all those goddamn forms."- azninvasion2000
Money Burn GIF by nog
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Who Wore It Better?
"When I was about 19 years old, I was at my boyfriends family BBQ."
"I was wearing this pretty floral sundress."
"His cousins girlfriend showed up in the same dress and she was SO mad that she went and changed."
"I will never understand being upset when someone is wearing the same thing as you.'
"Did you really think that your shirt you bought off the rack is going to be unique to you?"
"No."- mertsey627
Seeing Red! Or Blue In This Case...
"The blue of the balloons wasn't quite the same as the bridesmaid's sashes."
"Years ago my wife and I attended a wedding."
"It was very low key."
"The dinner was in the dining hall at the university where the couple met, cinder block walls and all."
"It was a Baptist wedding - no booze and very serious."
"The dark blue balloons attempting to liven up the hall were a slightly darker shade of blue than the sashes on the bridesmaid's dresses."
"The bride lost here sh*t and absolutely raved for nearly an hour."
"I can't remember how they finally managed to talk her down."- mechant_papa
south park wedding GIF
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See You In Court!
"Rich neighbors who end up in expensive court battles because they disagree about where a tree can be planted or whether the color of a fence fits in with the street’s 'amenity'."
'These disputes get really heated and rack up huge lawyers’ bills."
"The most pathetic part is after the judgement when they are arguing about who should pay the other party’s costs."
"Lots of affidavits filed citing the 'emotional distress' they had to endure, or painting themselves as brave warriors who were forced to take a stand to fight for 'justice'."
"Also lots of pompous litigants insisting that the judge refer to them by their 'Dr' title."
"An absolutely insane dumpster fire of entitled rich people problems."- ElectrocRaisin
It's Always People With Money Who Don't Want To Pay!
"I work in a public library."
"People will get so so mad if they have to be put on a wait list for a book."
"A popular book that just came out."
"Ok our services are not only free but so are the books."
"You’re welcome, a**holes."- Switchbladekitten
A Warm Butt Is A Happy Butt!
"My own."
"We have a bidet toilet seat (Fabulous! Everyone should have one!) and not only does it wash your bum and blow dry it, but the seat's heated!"
"It's shocking how much a heated toilet seat makes the whole process more agreeable."
"Except: We had a power outage and I went to use the toilet and the seat was cold!"
"Unacceptable!"
"This shall not stand!"
"I was really upset because it didn't feel good."
"Then I stopped and thought: This is the most first-world problem anyone's ever had."
"I was really pissed because my heiny was tepid."
"I got over it."- DeathGrover
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Holy Matrimony!
"Weddings are a gold mine for this question."
"People get so hyped up over their 'most important day of their life'."
"They'll destroy friendships, go into debt, and have crazy expectations."
"It's not always the couple who go crazy, either."
"Sometimes, it's the parents or another family member who feels entitled to control the wedding."
"It's just a party."
"Be considerate of guests, have plenty of food and drinks, and enjoy it."- magicrowantree
When Fast Food Isn't Fast Enough...
"Having to pull off to the side to wait for a drive-thru order to be brought out to you because your food isn't ready and there's a line building up behind you."- demanbmore
In Case You Don't Think Customer Service Employees Are Undervalued...
"I was working the return desk at a Target next to a military base so I have so many stories."
"One of my favorites was a lady who had her baby shower before revealing the gender and was livid that she had received floral newborn diapers when she’s having a boy."
"It was a huge box of super expensive, all organic diapers, that we didn’t carry and therefore could not return."
"I cannot accurately express her fury and disgust."
"How dare either suggest her boy could wear feminine diapers."
"I suggested she donate them if she didn’t want to use them and she instead threw away the entire box."
"When she left we pulled it out and threw it in our donate bin."
"There have also been multiple times where mom’s order massive toys and when we bring them out to the car they get furious that they aren’t wrapped."
"We don’t offer wrapping services."
"Here’s the thing, if you don’t want your kids to see the toys you got them for Christmas or their bit to day DON'T BRING THE CHILD WHEN YOU PICK IT UP."
'I’ve had multiple women scream and curse me out that I had ruined their kids Christmas by bringing the toys they ordered out to the car like they requested."- clever-mermaid-mae
Customer Service Waiting GIF by Juno Calypso
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Happiest Place On Earth!
"I used to work for Disney."
"That in itself should tell you everything."
"However for fun I'll give you two specific stories one form our tech department and one from my wife who worked bookings."
"I specifically worked for their call center to help with technical issues with magic band and the website."
"Suddenly got worse huh?"
"A right of passage call everyone has at least one story of is the 'Dome call'."
"Basically there is a subset of Disney Guest (TM) that believes if it rains at Walt Disney world there is someone that will push a button to encapsulate the whole of Disney property in a dome to keep out the rain."
"I'm not kidding."
"If this button is not pushed they call our tech department to angrily ask why."
"My wife worked booking."
"Pretty much everything including Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique and Pirate's league."
"These two things did roughly the same thing difference being price and theme."
"BBB was expensive did more and was focused on princesses, pirates league did a bit less and focused on mermaids and pirates."
"Lady called up my wife, and got pissed about BBB being booked up (It goes FAAAAST)."
"Karen: 'Im going to give the phone to my daughter and I want you to tell her how you are ruining her vacation by not letting her do BBB'."
"Wife proceeds to explain how pirate's league is so much cooler and how she can be a mermaid or pirate and basically gets the kid to start demanding to their parents about how they want to be a mermaid instead of a princess."- trollsong
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The horror!
Being booked into a junior suite at Disney World instead of an executive suite!
It's almost as bad as having no money for groceries, or no food to feed you children...
Said absolutely no one.