Selfless People Share The Best "Take One For The Team" Stories

One of he most difficult actions in life is to take action. To be able to stand up and admit defeat or guilt takes hutzpah. But taking credit when you're innocent for the sake of others? That takes character you don't see very often. Maybe if that sort of valor or humanity was on display more often we wouldn't be as divided as we are currently.

Redditor DevinTryan wanted to know What's the biggest "take one for the team" moment you've seen? Now not every tale will be life saving or Nobel Prize worthy -and some people are still shady- but a lot of responses are worthy of a clap.

BREAK THE KNOB...

From one of my friends, I heard that there was a huge party in one of the dorm rooms at a boarding school. It was one of the last nights and the teachers were going around hoping to catch people doing stuff they weren't supposed to be doing.

Apparently, when a teacher tried their best to open a door, senior held it down and had everyone else escape through the backdoor. Needless to say, he got kicked out and nobody else did. What a legend.

SOME PEOPLE ARE SAINTS AMONG US...

I thought it was noble how older Japanese people volunteered to help clean up the Fukushima reactor because they knew the horrors of radiation and that they wouldn't live as long as the younger generation who would have to worry about long term effects like cancer and leukemia. That takes a very deep understanding of the finite nature of your own life, and a strong sense of duty.

YOU STINK!!

So in high school there was this group of friends who decided to bring stink bombs to mess around with. However, one of them dropped a bomb by accident right in the middle of Math class, prompting the classroom and hallway to smell like death. Obviously, the class got questioned about it immediately, so one dude from the group that brought the stink bombs, and who wasn't the one who dropped it, made up a story on the spot so his friends could avoid punishment.

He basically said that he had this really bad intestinal infection that made him pass really bad gas. He couldn't hold it anymore so he farted. Thing is the teacher and prefects were actually believing him to the point where they were gonna call an ambulance, but somewhere along the conversation he slipped up and got caught in the lie. He was still determined to take one for the team so he said he was the only one who brought the stink bombs. So he got punished for lying about the smell and for bringing stink bombs to school.

A MORAL WIN MEANS MORE! RIGHT?

Got fired for reporting my employer to the authorities because he was knowingly poisoning the entire office with lead fumes. I had tried to work with him to solve the problem for 6 months. When he started ripping strips off of Jr employees for things out of their control I knew things had gone too far and I had no choice, knowing that despite the authorities promises that they would protect my job the reality was they would do stuff and I would lose my job.

FOLLOW MY LEAD...

Where I work we get audited by auditors every few years just so they can see we're following compliance laws and policies set forth by the company. I just joined in to the company less than 7 months and all the staff were playing hide and seek when the auditor stepped into the room. They wanted to observe and shadow an employee and no one volunteered or had the balls to show up. I eventually said f--- it and elected myself just so we could wrap that it up and the auditor could leave. Passed with flying colors and company got a bonus. Was too early to ask for a raise sadly.

I AM SPARTACUS!

This is mild but once someone pulled the fire alarm in school after hours had ended (we had supplementary classes)

The crazed middle aged demon of a teacher held an entire class of 25 (including some kids who weren't even in the class) back for over 2 and a half hours just because no one wanted to confess.

So then, my quiet, never-been-in-trouble classmate decided to get it over with and just said he did it and let the yelling commence.

There was no yelling, but teacher only allowed us to leave in groups according to their vision of who were the most well-behaved students in their eyes.

WAKE UP!!

During my time in the Navy I volunteered for the graveyard shift 2x because no one else wanted to do it. We weren't allowed to sleep during the day either.

N.A.V.Y. Never Again Volunteer Yourself

Lesson learned.

BLESS YOU FRIEND...

When I worked at the golden arches we had a customer... paint the stall in the men's room with... you know. I was heavily pregnant so I noped the heck out of that. I offered an incentive to whatever poor soul went in to clean it. Debates on who would do it lasted about 15 minutes and one of my more troublesome crew members decided he really wanted an hour break, paid, so he volunteered. He spent 2 hours doing the task, with repeated trips outside to puke. After he was done, I called my boss and explained, with photos, what happened and sent the guy home 4 hours early and paid his entire shift. I had to replace his uniform, just so he could drive home. We torched the old one.

TOO SAD...

When I was pretty young, like between the ages of 5-12 or something, me and my best friend were basically inseparable. The two of us used to be pretty mischievous, and got into a lot of trouble, especially in school. We'd spend a lot more time at my house than at his, and whenever one of my parents would get mad about something that we did, he would try to take all the blame himself. He told me years later that his parents were physically abusive behind closed doors, and he assumed the same of every family. The reason he took the blame for everything was because he thought everyone's parents would beat them fairly regularly, but he knew that my parents would never touch him, because he wasn't their kid.

I'LL DO IT... I'M SPECIAL...

Told my dad I was the one who dropped my brother, who was bleeding, instead of my sister because I was liked better and would've received a less severe punishment.

THANK YOU FOR BEING A FRIEND...

When I was around 10 my friend and I were front flipping onto a mattress in my basement. My dad had just put wood panel on the walls to complete our basement renovation. My friend did a front flip and his foot went through the wall. My friend's dad was a big scary man who always yelled at him. So I told my dad it was me.

My dad ended up suuuuper pissed, went down the street to consult another Dad on what to do about the whole thing. I sat in my room bawling my eyes because I was so afraid of what was going to happen to me.

My dad came back, gave me a hug, and told me he loved me. He explained that people make mistakes, and turned it into a life lesson. In a way, it created a really good memory of my dad.

Heck, maybe my friends a-hole dad would've responded the same way, and created a bond with him, and I made him miss out on that.....probably not though.

SOUND THE TRUMPET!!

In high school I was the 1st Chair trumpet in band, along with one other experienced student, we had 2 new students one that transferred from a smaller school out of state and one who had been a suck up to the band teacher and got put in the advanced band class.

Our band teacher was an absolute witch, was to hard on every student and didn't properly lead the band, she was just there because we were a problem school and it looked good on her resume.

The student that had transferred from out of state was probably good at his old school but he didn't hold up to our standard, but he had 3 years of trumpet experience. But He made an effort every class to better him self, he would constantly ask for tips, help and practice sessions with me and the 2nd chair student.

But anytime he messed up during class practice the band teacher would slam her hands on the podium and scream at the trumpet section, she would ask who it was and even before he could answer the Kiss-butt would point him out. Me and 2nd chair student confronted the teacher about this problem and that the transfer student was doing so much to improve and that we felt the Kiss-ass should be sent back to beginning class as he had no prior experience with the trumpet and made no effort to improve himself.

She scoffed at us, brushed the problem off and didn't change a thing. So me and the 2nd chair knew what we had to do. Every time the Transfer student messed up we would immediately speak up and say that it was us. She never yelled at us like she did to the Transfer student but we didn't get off easy, but it was worth it.

She quit the next year, after I left Transfer student became first chair his Senior year and went on to join honor Band and then made it into college on his very impressive trumpet skills.

BRUNCH IS CUT THROAT!

It was a get-together with a bunch of coworkers on Friday night and we all decide to go to a nightclub. The bouncer denies the group and tells me the reason after I take him to the side. He thinks two of the women do not fit the club's ideal "image." He would let us in if we ditched the two girls.

One of the girls comes up to me and asks why they couldn't get in and half-jokingly accuses me. I say, "...umm yeah it's because of me." And then she proceeds to tell the group it's my fault they couldn't get in. I keep my mouth shut.

NO BEANS FOR YOU!

Very minor, but I found it funny.

I'm a nurse, and I was cleaning up a patient who had been incontinent of stool. Unfortunately, it was quite a significant amount and the smell in the room was very strong. The patient was super sweet, and I felt bad for how embarrassed they were.

As soon as I was done, the doctor and his group of residents came in. The younger ones couldn't hide the look on their faces as the smell hit them, and my poor patient looked absolutely mortified.

I piped up "I'm sorry guys, that was me, I've been farting all day. My god, the farting!." Everyone had a good laugh, the patient included.

SMOKE AND MIRRORS...

At my school somebody graffitied the boys bathrooms pretty badly and my teacher narrowed it down to a few people.

I asked her what the punishment was and i then made it obvious i was taking one for the team out of impatience. She decided i didn't do it and told me i was free to go, so i left.

And I was the one who graffitied the bathroom.

ANYTHING FOR FIDO...

My neighbor jumped in front of a bus because his dog got loose and ran onto the road where the bus was going to hit him. The dude is now paralyzed.

I GOT THIS ONE 'BUD'...

I took the blame for having weed at school. My friend who actually brought it was already in the care of child services and on the last line to go to juvi, the friend who was going to take the blame was in the same boat, then there was me, never so much as a detention. The school knew I was lying but couldn't prove it, had no choice but to expel me. The police didn't press charges because again, they knew it wasn't really me, I was the fall guy but nothing more. They felt bad for me I think, they could see I was a good person in with a crowd I had no business being with.

Looking back, I'm glad I did take the blame, not for my friends, they didn't deserve the fall I took for them, they just used me many many times over but because it got me away from those toxic friends and environment and I actually got to finish high school somewhere else with a much better outlook on life and actual true friends

WALK WITH ME...

In 7th grade we had a sub for last period. Someone did something right before the bell and the sub said he was going to keep the class there until whoever did it spoke up. I knew who did it, also knew he would not speak up. So I said I did it after sitting there 10 minutes after the bell rang. I needed to catch the bus and so did other people. She told the whole class to go except me. She said she was dissappointed because she knows I didn't do it and ask why I took blame. So I told her we all need to catch the bus. A lot of the kids caught the bus, about 10 kids waited for me to get out and we all missed the bus. We had to walk home, 5 mile walk for me.

I'LL KEEP SWINGIN'!!

I once took blame for a giant hole my older brother punched in a wall in our house on accident because I was already the black sheep and that kind of stuff was expected from me and my older brother was the perfect child.

TIME FOR SOME LONG OVERDUE PENANCE...

When I was in 3rd grade the teacher had walked out of the room to make some copies of worksheets. Of course, everyone took this as an opportunity to start talking and soon the class started to get louder and louder. For some reason I started making this "cackoo cackoo" noise like a bird. When the teacher got back to the room she was pissed because she could hear us down the hall in the copy room. She began reprimanding the people she could pick out from the crowd with no outside activities for the rest of the week. She asked who was making that loud squawking sound. I guess nobody knew it was me, and I sure as hell was not going to throw myself under the bus. She finally says "everyone will lose outside privileges if someone doesn't come forward." Everyone started blaming this other kid who denied it was him, but for some reason he admitted to it when the teacher warned again that everyone would lose outside time. Poor dude had to spend the rest of the week with no recess but was a class hero. I never told anyone it was me.