Let's be real, we've all broken rules at our place of employment at one point or another. Whether or not we've gotten caught, that's another story. Toeing the line with your job is not the smartest idea, but there are the rare occasions that we do, in fact, get away with it.
Sammy-J23 asked: What was a situation where you thought, "I'm going to be fired for sure" but it turned out completely fine?
A happy ending.
"A colleague who had just been told he was going to be made redundant sent out a f-you email to a wide slew of the customer base and staff then trashed our development AS/400 (yes, I'm an old guy). He did it by logging on remotely using my login details.
Two months of suspension, suspicion, investigation and me crapping myself until it was finally tracked it down to him. They apologized, gave me a pay rise and asked my not to seek recourse with him as it was in the hands of the police.
He and I discussed it about 2 years later. It was a short conversation."
Is this Flowers for Algernon?
"Worked as a Research Assistant while in college. My boss worked with mice brains and gave me a couple practice ones to learn how to slice and mount them onto microscope slides.
Eventually, she let me move onto the real thing. She literally said "this brain is really important, I've been working on experiments with this mouse for 6 months".
In my anxious state I dropped it down the drain with the water running... She was not happy in the slightest but didn't fire me at least."
Karma came to her.
"Kind of the opposite. I had booked a few "vacation days" to help my mom move to Florida. While in Florida, employer called me six days before I was scheduled to be home and said they needed me the next day, no exceptions. That was 1600 miles that they wanted me to drive nonstop for a 4 hour shift in the afternoon the next day.
I made the trip. I worked my shift. Then they fired me after my shift for no apparent reason (found out later that my boss did this on purpose to prove a point to some fresh blue-blood employees). I was livid, but there was nothing I could have done. However, the employer was a (now former) friend of my mom's and all of her retired Bridge-Club friends.
After the news got out that she had made me drive 24 hours at the drop of a hat simply to fire me (which incidentally cost my mom $500 in movers' fees to finish the move that I wasn't able to), she lost enough of her local patrons that she couldn't sustain the business and filed for bankruptcy less than a year later."
Bullet dodged.
"First day at my first job out of UNI: I pushed my code changes straight onto develop. I landed a great gig as a junior software developer at one of the very few studios in my city, and was loving it, but got distracted when pushing some code. Instead of my feature branch, develop suddenly had this untested bit of fresh graduate muck all over it.
I was freaking out thinking they were going to fire me and give me a fine or something, but they were really chill and understanding about it all. Never made another git mistake again though!"
We've all seen a teacher do this.
"I was a teacher, accidentally said the f word in front of the students since they were provoking me. None of the students bothered reporting it to the principal. I felt like I was pretty lucky."
That's a forgiving boss.
"I had a bad jaw infection because of a tooth. The doctor put me on antibiotics and gave me tylenol with codeine. I took two before I went into work and brought the bottle with me.
Well after an hour the pain was still killing me so I took another two. Repeat every hour for 3 hours. Let's just say I could not stand up straight and was really out of it. Someone noticed me wobbling and got the boss. He came over and asked me if I was alright and what was wrong so I told him. He asked me where the bottle was and then took it and locked it in his desk drawer.
He walked back over to my work station with a chair and asked if I was okay to keep working. I told him I was so he set me in the chair and let me continue. Never said a word to me about it after and gave me the bottle back at the end of the day."
Oops.
"I let a guy walk out with about $50 worth of food because it was my second day and I had no idea how to ring up phone orders.
Another time my drawer came up $10 short. I still don't know what happened but I never heard anything about it after that day."
Nice cover.
"Worked in the oil-field for a while.
One of the plant operators would sleep all day (for some reason) in his office chair, with his hands/head on the desk.
One day, some of the higher-ups walked into the room. I was pretty sure he was about to get fired.
Without skipping a beat, he said "In Jesus' name, amen" and then stood up to greet everybody. The boss nodded his approval and they all started talking about the plant.
The guy got caught sleeping on the job, and managed to look good doing it."
Speaking to the manager doesn't always work.
"I worked in a call centre for an internet provider and website host. I literally told one of our biggest customers (I believe it was actually the biggest, the dude had a website and 10 links with us) to find another provider, since he was being overbearing and even said it was generally better just to pressure us, the attendants, instead of sending their own technicians to solve internal problems.
Then, obviously, he said he wanted to talk with the manager, and I, very respectfully, denied this, since I was doing my part of the protocol. Then, he threatened to call the commercial sector and talk to their manager himself (a little context here: the commercial was crap. They're pretty much on the customer's side every single freaking time).
I thought it was the end for me... But here comes the plot twist.
The commercial indeed transferred the call to their manager, but he was busy and told them to just transfer to the C.E.O, and oh Lord, they actually did it.
The C.E.O himself told the guy to find another provider."
Yikes.
"I work at a radio station and one time accidentally deleted an entire commercial break and just played news room music on top of it and literally no one noticed."
Bad news, indeed.
"I deleted a production database once. It was very bad news. The reason I didn't get fired was because the DBA involved should have checked the request with my boss first. I basically specified the wrong server (I was fairly new) and gave them the production instance rather than the dev instance (dev would have required no authorisation).
The good news is it was backed up of course.
I was praised for owning up straight away and procedures were changed so it wouldn't happen again.
Made me feel sick as hell though!"
That reply-all button is nothing but trouble.
"Was doing work for a difficult customer. Customer emailed several people within my company and theirs, about all the stuff that went wrong in their perception, how it was all my fault, etc. They were actually unreasonable, many things were not my fault, and some things were utter lies.
I did a reply-all and took out all the customer addresses from the "to:"-field, and gave my view on the whole situation to my colleagues (without getting nasty, I stayed professional), etc. Immediately got a call from my superior, yelling at me.
Apparently I forgot to check out the "cc:"-field as well, so my email went to some people of their company.
Got called into the boss's office the next day. Was sure that I would be in trouble. Luckily he wasn't upset at all, agreed that this customer were total a**holes, but I do have to be a bit more careful with the reply-all button.
Lesson well learnt. Always check where your email is going to. When typing a new email, enter the recipients after writing the email."
That's stressful.
"I used to work with older adults with mental challenges. We would do chores together and cook together, you know give them a safe home and help them live in it.
One day I was taking my client to the laundry mat in her complex. She was a bit unsteady on her feet so I told her to wait at the stairs as I took the laundry up then I would help her. She didn't listen and fell straight backwards on the first step cracking her head. There was a lot of blood.
Everything was ok and my bosses understood I tried my best to keep her safe. I was terrified though, head wounds bleed a lot."
$3.50 an hour would've been a sweet deal.
"First week in on a business trip with my boss. At a hotel and she asks me to find out if we can use a private area for a conference call. I ask the front desk and the lady:
"We have a conference call we need to jump on. Is there a quiet space we can use?"
"Sure. We have conference rooms. How long would you need it?"
"Only a few hours."
"Sure. It's three fifty".
"Oh wow. Great. What if we used it the whole day?"
"Same price."
So we used that room for 2 days.
I'm checking out and notice a $900 charge. I, in my naivity, assumed she meant $3.50 per hour. No no. $350 per day. Plus $60 per day for water service. Plus tips and fees. The hotel rooms themselves werent even $300 a night.
I checked out at 4am so I couldn't talk to anyone. I tried calling before my flight to straighten it out but didn't get ahold of anyone. It was the only time I was on a plane that hit a lot of turbulence and thought "well maybe it's not so bad if we go down. Then I don't have to tell my boss."
It was fine in the end. We work for a multi-billion dollar company. But man oh man was I prepared to pay that out of my paycheck to keep my job."
Whoops.
"Accidentally broke an $1800 touch-screen POS terminal at the Home Depot I worked at. Even though I only cracked the glass, they had to replace the entire terminal.
Assistant store manager got super uppity and acted like I murdered his mother. I was young and he struck the fear of god into me. He had me quaking in my figurative boots.
The next day, the store manager called me into his office and I thought I was done for. He ended up laughing about it with me and said, "It's okay, it happens. It was $1800, but it happens." Could've been a LOT worse."
Are we being lazy or is it self-care?
That is what you should ask yourself first, before you judge.
Life is an arduous journey and a constant energy suck.
It was inevitable we'd find shortcuts to get by.
It's all about survival.
Redditor Batman_In_Peacetime wanted to hear about the times we just didn't care enough to try harder. They asked:
"What is a lazy thing you began doing when you realised you can live with it?"
I'm best when I'm at my laziest. Ok, that's a lie, but I don't care.
Zzzz...
"On weekends I sleep for 12-14 hours. I usually wake up a few times but I dream so much during those long sleeps that it’s basically become a recreation type thing and I love it."
HouseOfZenith
Warm it up...
"When I use the microwave, I’ll heat food for 1:11 or 2:22 because I can’t be bothered to move my lazy fingers."
fysicks
"I figured out that my microwave's turntable rotates once every 12 seconds. So, everything I cook is on a multiple of 12 seconds so that it always ends up at the front of the microwave when it's done cooking, and I don't have to reach all the way to the back of the microwave to get my food out."
unittwentyfive
Bang
"When I was a kid on a school day, I had this routine where I'd stick my legs out of the bed and bang around on the floor so it sounded like I got out of bed and then just lie there for a few more minutes."
bewarethechameleon
"Did you also get your toothbrush wet and squirt a wee bit of toothpaste in your mouth rather than actually brush your teeth? If so I may be your mom and you weren’t fooling me or the dentist and you sure weren’t fooling the plaque that attacked."
TigerLily98226
Pockets
"Whenever I clean the house I put on my housecoat with really big pockets. I just walk from room to room and put things in my pocket that don’t belong in that room. Once my pockets are full I go to each room and empty my pockets putting what is from each room in that room."
kindhearttbc
"That's not lazy... that's productive AF."
throwaway92715
Toss It
"I don’t fold the fitted sheet. Just ball it up and place it in the closet."
SpaghettiSquash33
I just see people human. Don't he so hard on yourselves.
12 Hours
"I once watched 12 hours of the golf Network because the batteries were dead in my remote control. I don't know if that's lazy or depressed."
sadbirdfox
I swear I was...
"I was taught to make a bed properly as a child, I swear I was. Hospital corners and everything. I even know how to fold a fitted sheet, thanks to my auntie, who's an Air Force nurse and therefore doesn't consider little problems like 'non-Euclidean geometry' to be a reason not to do it properly. The second I found out about duvet covers, that was over. Sure, it doesn't look as tidy, but five minutes a week plus 10 seconds in the morning instead of 10 minutes a day? I can live with that."
katie-kaboom
The System
"I don't fold laundry anymore. I have a system of laundry baskets like this where clothes gets sorted by type (pants, t-shirts, sweaters, etc). Most of my clothes is wrinkle free, and for the few pieces that aren't I just throw them on a hanger in the bathroom while I take a steamy shower."
User deleted
Genius!!
"Before I get out of bed in the morning, I will grab the top corners of my sheets with my hands and prop up the bottom two with my feet and move it into place. Then I slide out of bed without ruffling anything. Just like that, my bed is made."
Markymark142
"My sister has to do this before she goes to bed at night, even is she made the bed that morning. It's an odd little quirk and mostly harmless."
mel2mdl
Yummy
"Just eating food straight out of the pan."
refrshmts_N_narcotcs
None of that sounds so bad. That sounds... like my life. Don't judge!!
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Be it on a blind date, at a party where you don't know anyone, or sitting next to someone on an airplane, starting a conversation with a total stranger is difficult.
As much as we'd all like to be friendly, far too often we find ourselves at a loss for words.
It doesn't help that we generally have no idea of what these people's various interests are, making it anyone's guess how they'll respond.
But some have this problem solved, finding a go-to topic which is always guaranteed to get a response, no matter who you're talking to.
Redditor Blugged_Bunny was curious to hear what people thought was the best way to begin a conversation with strangers, leading them to ask:
"What is your go-to 'small talk' topic with strangers?"
Did you check the forecast?
"We sure are having a lot of weather"- r_Ju_Tacular.
"As a British person, the conversation usually starts like this:"
“'You alright?'"
”Yeah you?”'
“'Yeah not too bad, weathers a bit sh*t innit?'”
“'Yeah”'.
"The end."- chelstippins
Why beat around the bush?
"Straight to politics and religion."- Turd_Ferguson009.
Just let it happen.
"Make an observation."
"Literally anything."It helps if it’s something about them like an article of clothing that catches your eye, something they’re doing, anything that you can relate to or are interested in but it doesn’t have to be."
"It can be something in the environment that is drawing both of your attention."
"People bullsh*t about the weather all the time."
"Make a comment about it, gauge their willingness to talk about it to you and build off of what you get from the response."
"If all you get is 'haha yeah', leave it."
"No shame in silence."
"Some people just don’t want to talk."
I"f you’re talking about the weather, 'Man it’s a great day out today!'"
“'Yeah absolutely! I drove here with my windows down all the way here!'”
"Boom, you’ve got something to latch onto."
"They probably enjoy getting outside for some fresh air. "
"They probably enjoy driving."
"Ask about their car."
"Ask if they go on drives a lot."
"Ask if they do outdoor stuff."
"What kind of outdoor stuff?"
"Once you’ve got something to work with, the key is to ask."
"Let them do the talking."
"People love talking about themselves."
"You learn some light hearted things about the stranger, they feel more comfortable, and you can add bits and bobs of your own experiences in response so they get to know you too."
"It works in literally any situation."
"From an elevator ride to a first date."
"It’s so easy to personalize small talk and it makes it so much less uncomfortable."- 1arrocknroll.
"But enough about me, what do you think about me?"
"Usually people love to talk about themselves, so a few questions about them and some follow up questions to their answers usually does it."- I_can_see_the_music.
"Food, glorious food..."
"Food."
"People typically love food."
"I mention I’m new/newer to an area."
"And ask them what they like, where they eat out."
"Usually works and people have their choices validated and I always know where to find good local snacks."- TheProfWife.
Can you believe it?
"Did you see that ludicrous display last night?"- housemuncher.
Nothing!
"As a Norwegian - we leave strangers alone."
"No need to bother them."- neihuffda.
The sky's the limit.
"So, do you like stuff?"- Bwon669.
All of these seem like surefire ways to get a conversation started.
But use cautiously, as who knows how long it will take these conversations to end.
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Quality comes with price. That's a fact you can't escape. If you hire someone to fix your home, and want them to do the best job, you're going to have to pay above average prices. That's fine. Pay the people what they're worth for the great job they did. However, we live in a world where everyone is looking for their payout, even if what they've given you is less than ideal.
Don't overpay for any of these.
Reddit user, DrLizardLover, wanted to know what we're paying too much for when they asked:
"What is just stupidly overpriced?"
If you didn't know any better, you would think making office and school supplies was a lot like mining for diamonds in the center of the Earth.
Though, we also know diamonds are a rip-off so maybe that's not the argument we should be making.
Another Collegiate Payment
"College books"
Spooly_Boy
"Especially when they say you have to buy the newest copy every year"
disantiyesnt
Good Thing We're Going Paperless
"Printer cartridges."
DataPlenty
"Apparently it's because in order to make printers affordable to everyone, you must lower their prices. The cartridges are the upsell and is where the profit comes from."
AltaSavoia
We Carry Them Around On Our Phones
"TI-84"
"I could get an old cell phone from a dumpster that’s 10x as powerful. Why the f-ck they still charging $80 or more for these things?"
edgeblackbelt
If living in 2022 has taught us anything, it's that convenience has a price.
And it's high.
$50 For Twizzlers
"Foods and drinks at movie theaters or sporting events"
Icy-Company7718
"I can answer for the theaters. They don't actually get much, if any, of the ticket sales. A lot of their operating budget comes from the snack bar."
Head_Razzmatazz7174
Fees On Hidden Fees For Hidden Fees
"Concert tickets"
"(AKA Ticketmaster)"
Catilily_3141
"I thought I was on the school box office site when I was on one made to look like it. I bought two reasonably priced ncaa basketball tickets and when I went to check out it went up to $70 with fees. Found the school website and checked out for $26 total."
blackcatmystery
Costs A Lot To Be A Woman
"One bra is like…40 dollars"
Noliel_Laicaster
"except i have big honkers so i'm forced to pay upwards of $80 for a bra because the only place I can get them in my size is Lane Bryant or Torrid"
kelsiewest11
"Just women's clothes in general. If I'm paying $40 for a pair of dress slacks, they damn well better have pockets. I have to have black slacks for my delivery job and ended up buying 3 pair of men's pants for $20 each, just to have the pockets."
Head_Razzmatazz7174
What can hurt the most is the idea companies and people will charge you for things you need to have. It's almost as if they know you're willing to pay the price...
Awful.
History Has Funny Way Of Changing Perspectives
"Lobster. Was literally considered food for the peasants at one point in history. They used lobsters as bait on ships"
magoted
The Most Expensive Day Of Your Life
"Anything tied to a wedding"
nickp123456
"Friend of mine needed a generator for a wedding. He booked it as a "corporate event" to get cheaper hire."
"When the company arrived to setup and saw it was a wedding they demanded extra money, because it was a wedding. Same location, same generator, same rental period."
salmonlikethephish
Sipping The Last Bits Of Money Out Of The Dead
"Funerals"
Longjumping-Oil4497
"I definitely think that add-ons for funerals are sold like biggie sizing your happy meal. And the concept of memorializing a person for eternity has been sold as bare necessity. But I do know that the pomp and circumstance a lot of people need to lay somebody to rest, costs money."
"I want to see people honored in their death, but spending $5,000 on a pine box does not make sense to me"
444unsure
People Need Help? Charge Them.
"Mental health services. Blessings upon blessings to the mental health professionals who offer sliding scales."
AphelionEntity
America Gonna 'Murica
"Getting an IUD put in or taken out without insurance costs 1300. Takes 5 minutes to put in and it’s a piece of plastic."
m_hahn_solo
"Wow thats so much. I'm in Canada so having it inserted, removed, and follow up appointments are free. But I had to pay for the IUD. The first time I used the insurance from college so only paid $30. The second time I graduated and didn't have insurance so I went to planned parenthood where its cheaper and paid 230. The third time I had insurance from work and it was free. Honestly all birth control should be free."
Forever-25
Keep an eye on your wallet, since you know most of the world is keeping theirs firmly on it.
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Not everyone is going to believe what you believe. Our own experiences and values add up to make us who we are. Without them, we'd all be the same amorphous blob of consciousness covering the planet in bland beliefs. You hold something in high regard, and that might mean someone else disagrees with you.
Hold your ground, and be ready to die on that hill, kind of like these people.
Reddit user, realduckbutter, wanted to know what you will never let go of when they asked:
"What’s the smallest hill you’re willing to die on?"
What is it about this hill that makes it worthwhile to fight over? Is it something ingrained in your core or something that you can never let go?
This Is Good, Great, And Dandy
"Oxford commas are GOOD and should be EMPLOYED LIBERALLY."
CopsaLau
"I agree with this, I agree with this, and I agree with this."
ajt9104_
Squats All Day
"Nice butts are better than big butts."
Crockpot_gator_Snot
"Shape > Size"
"on that note, 99.9% of of people don’t give a damn about color imperfections or stretch marks. It’s completely irrelevant. The shape is what makes a nice butt."
"Edit: I admit that my statistic it totally made up. I made to say that MOST people don’t care."
bouchandre
Doesn't Hold Up
"KFC gravy isn't as good as it used to be."
AshySlashy902
"KFC isn't as good as it used to be. The biscuits are so hit or miss now."
SuperstitiousPigeon5
Me Am No Good With Words And Things
"It's "I couldn't care less," not "I could care less." If you could care less, you care a little!"
thedoginapound
"That’s what I’m saying!!! People make no sense sometimes"
Rebelsinblacktattoo
The workplace is somewhere you (possibly) go to every day. If there's something about it you like or don't like, don't let it go.
Proper Bathroom Ambience
"Bathrooms at the work place should all be required to play music to help drown out the sounds being made"
zerorush8
"THANK YOU. I’ve thought this for years. Just some simple elevator music. Anything."
"I’d rather hear 10 hours of Yiruma’s River Flows In You than 10 seconds of whatever is flowing out of the poor guy next to me."
jaylward
Better Be Some Money That Comes With That Title
"Don’t give me a “promotion” unless it comes with a pay raise. The only reason I would want a promotion is because I get paid more, not so I can flex my title on ppl"
traws06
"Flex that title into a raise somewhere else"
meanie_ants
So Grateful
"All companies regardless of what industry they're in do their best work and are the most consumer friendly when they're in second or third place in their industry. The 'leader' is almost never the best option."
Nayko214
"The best service and the most exciting food is at two star Michelin restaurants because they’re playing offense not defense."
gastro_gnome
"Cashiers should be allowed to sit down during their shifts, ex. Aldi. There should be no reason why they need to keep standing in place for an entire shift"
kdotismydad
"This is so f-cking American. I've never in my European life seen a cashier standing up."
PercussiveRussel
Whatever it is about these hills we're all supposedly dying, you cannot deny the fact it's super fascinating to see bodies dropping on them.
Do Any Of Us Know What We're Eating?
"When people say “it has chemicals in it”. Your mom is chemicals. Everything is chemicals."
nosmase2
"The whole "don't put it in your body if you can't pronounce it" nonsense is infuriating. An apple has things in it most people couldn't pronounce if you wrote out the chemical composition. And does my having taken organic chem and biochem classes mean I can eat things others can't?"
"Don't even get me started on the anti-GMO crap."
dude_logman
Diamond Eyeglasses? Diamond Cups? Why Stop There?
"Lab grown diamonds are real diamonds. Chemically. It’s purely marketing that makes you pay more for mined diamonds."
ScoobyTrue
"I believe you may be wrong. They are purer than mined diamonds."
"I'm looking forward to windshields made out of diamond."
ScottColvin
*tap, *tap, *tap
"Mobile gaming is better when it's simple games like Angry Birds or Fruit Ninja"
ofsquire
"Yeah I thought I wanted big impressive games on my phone but then I realized there’s no point. I’m never going to play on my phone over a console"
realduckbutter
Holding Up The Line With Your Niceness
"Pay-it-forward drive-through chains are pointless. They aren’t really helping anyone, they’re just making everything awkward."
lassie86
"Im a starbucks barista and like its a nice thing dont get me wrong, but the way our systems work things get confusing and orders or items get lost so people end up getting free but wrong orders :( it also puts the customer on the spot to make a decision to continue or not and i hate that it's so awkward. I always just say hey your order has been paid for have a great day!"
imasokas2percentmilk
It Hurts So Good
"If Q-Tips were not meant to go deep in your ear canal, then God would not have put the g-spot in there"
Virtual-Stranger
Meet lots of people, develop a set of values, then enact those values upon yourself as you engage with the world. Be the person you want to be.
Tell us how you won't let anything go in the comments below.
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