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.
Giphy
"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.
Giphy
"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.
Giphy
"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.
Giphy
"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."
For many childhood memories are overrun by living nightmares.
Yes, children are resilient, but that doesn't mean that the things we see as babes don't follow us forever.
The horrors of the world are no stranger to the young.
Redditor -2sweetcaramel- wanted to see who was willing to share about the worst things we've seen as kids, so they asked:
"What’s the creepiest thing you saw as a kid?"
Serious Danger
"Me and my best friend would explore the drainage tunnels under the Vegas area where we grew up. These were miles long and it was always really cool down there so it was a good way to escape the heat of our scorching hot summers. We went into this one that goes under the Fiesta casino and found a camp with a bunch of homeless people."
"Mind you we are like 11 years old lol. And we just kept going like it was nothing. It wasn’t scary then but when I look back at it we could have been in some serious danger. Our parents had no idea we did this or where we were and we had no cellphones. We could have been kidnapped and never have been found."
oofboof2020
Waiting for Food
"I was at a portillos once when I was 12 and I was waiting with my little brother at a booth while my parents got our food. This guy was standing with his tray kind of watching me then after a couple of minutes he started to walk over really fast not breaking eye contact with me."
"He was 2 feet from the table and my dad came out of nowhere and scared the s**t out of him. He looked so surprised and just said he wanted to see if I’d get scared or not. He left his tray full of food near the door and left. My folks reported him but we never went to that location again since we found a better one closer to home."
nowhereboy1964
Captain Hobo to the Rescue
"When I was a pretty young teen, my friends and I were horsing around in San Francisco and started hanging out to smoke with some homeless guys. Another homeless dude came up and began aggressively trying to shake us down for anything (money, smokes, a ride, drugs- all of it) and wouldn’t take no for an answer."
"We got in over our heads and could tell this guy was now riling the other 2 guys up and they were acting like they wanted to jump us. Some grandfather-looking old homeless man appeared out of nowhere and yelled at us to get the f**k out of here- nice kids like us don’t belong down here at this hour!!"
"Captain Hobo saved our lives that night. My parents sincerely thought we were at a mall all day lol."
FartAttack911
Survival
tsunami GIF
Giphy
"I was 7 and survived the 2004 tsunami in Thailand. Witnessed the wave rise way above the already massive palm trees (approx. 40ft?) and my family and I watched/heard the wave crash into the ground from a rooftop."
faithfulpoo
These Tsunami stories are just tragic.
On the Sand
Scared The Launch GIF by CTV
Giphy
"We were a group of kids who went to swim in a local lake. And there was a dead body on the beach with their hands raised and their legs bent unnaturally that local police just took out of the same lake. I've never put my foot in these waters again."
oyloff
Be Clever
"I was walking to school and I was about 5 or 6 years old and some guy pulled up beside me in his car and asked if I would get in. He also offered me sweets to do so. I said no. The creepy bit was when he calmly said ‘clever boy’ to me, then drove off. I’ve never even told my parents or anyone else about this as it would most likely freak them out."
OstneyPiz
Bad Jokes
"Dad's side of the family pranked me by burying a fake body on our back property and had me dig it up to find valuables. Was only allowed to use a lantern for light. They stuffed old clothes with chicken bones. Sheetrock mud where the head was... Random fake jewelry as the treasures... I was like maybe 10 or 11.. I remember digging up the boot first and started gagging because it became real at that point."
Alegan239
YOU
Who Are You Reaction GIF by MOODMAN
Giphy
"Woke up to find my little brother staring at me in the dark, asking, Are you really you?"
PrettyLola2004
Siblings can really be a bunch of creepers.
No one should talk to others in the dark though.
Not all pet owners have the same relationship with their pets.
While anyone who decides to become a pet owner, or pet parent as some say, love their pets equally, some never ever let them leave their side.
Taking their pet with them to work, running errands, even on vacations.
Many pet parents even allow their pets to share their bed with them when going to sleep.
For others though, this is where a line is finally drawn.
Redditor Piggythelavasurfer was curious to hear whether pet owners allowed their pets to share their bed with them, as well as the reasons why they do/don't, leading them to ask:
"Do you let your pet sleep in your bed? Why/why not?"
The Tiny Issue Of Water...
"Absolutely not."
"I have fish."- Senior-Meal3649
Everyone Gets Lonely Eventually...
"I adopted an eleven year old cat the day before Halloween."
"She has mostly lived in my closet since I got her, and she hasn’t been too interested in coming out."
"Last night, she came out of my closet and jumped up on my bed, and crawled under my covers and curled up by my feet to sleep."
"I was so happy!"- YellowBeastJeep
The Comforting Reminder That You're Not Alone...
"I recently lost my Greyhound but I used to let him sleep on my bed with me."
"The company was nice and he was no trouble to have on my bed."- HoodedMenace3
Hungry Cookie GIF by De Graafschap Dierenartsen
Giphy
What Do You Mean Allow?
"I have no choice."
"She is a cat, cats do whatever they want."- Small_cat1412
"He lets me sleep in my bed."- Poorly-Drawn-Beagle
Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way
"I carry my old boy upstairs to bed every night."- worst_in_show
Hug GIF by The BarkPost
Giphy
Who Needs An Alarm Clock?
"I let my two cats sleep with me."
"They're so full of love and just want cuddles all the time."
"And so do I."
"We've all developed a lil routine."
"Get to bed, oldest sleeps on my feet to keep them warm, youngest lies in my arm while I lie on my side (she the little spoon), then when I snooze my alarm for work in the morning the youngest paws at my face and meeps loudly to wake me up."- GhostofaFlea_
Whose Bed Is It Anyway?
"Yes."
"They're also kind enough to let me squeeze into whatever space they've left for me."
"Although I do get a few dirty looks off them."- Therealkaylor
"I found this tiny kitten screaming her head off under a car."
"Would not come out."
"Got some food and some water in dishes."
"I stood by the tire so she couldn't see my feet."
"She got curious about the food and water and started gobbling it down."
"I thought she would bolt when I squatted down."
"She was too busy eating."
"I grabbed her by the nape of the neck and all four legs went straight out and she tried to scratch me to death."
"I got her in the door and tossed her toward the couch."
"She ricocheted off the couch as if she was a ping pong off a table and I lost sight of her."
"I put out food and water and a sandbox and did not see that kitten for three days."
"On the third day, I came home and she was on my bed pillow."
"I thought she would bolt when I came near, but she didn't."
"I wanted to sleep so I tried to scoot her little butt off my pillow."
"She would not go."
"I put my head down to sleep and that is the way it was from then on."
"She ran the roost."- Logical_Cherry_7588
sleepy kitten GIF
Giphy
Sleeping Is A Prerequisite...
"No, he's a cat and he cannot keep still during the night."
"He walks across the headboard, opens the closet doors, jumps into the windows and rustles the blinds, etc."
"If he would sleep he could stay, but alas, he's a ramblin' man."- Spong_Durnflungle
Saying No Just Isn't An Option...
"'Let'."
"Lol."
"It's a cat's world and I'm happy to be on her good side."- milaren
Felines Only!
"The cat does, the dog doesn't and the horse certainly does not either."- Xcrowzz
Angry Tom And Jerry GIF by Boomerang Official
Giphy
Is That My Hair On That Pillow?
"My dog is perfect."
"She comes up, cuddles til we start to fall asleep, then gets down to sleep on her bed so she doesn't get too hot."
"Jumps back up in the early morning for wake up cuddles."
"The hair everywhere is the only downside but she is so cozy, what can you do."- HoodieWinchester
It is easy to understand how some people are able to fall asleep more easily knowing their friend and protector is there, in bed, with them.
Though we can't blame others who don't want to run the risk of being scratched or bitten in the middle of the night either...