Flirting is always a delicate balance.
While an obvious way to get someone's attention, and let them know they find them attractive and (hopefully), are interested in dating them, it's not always appreciated.
As some people find flirting to be little more than thinly veiled sexual harassment, particularly when intentions are less than honorable.
Flirting is an even more dangerous game when in the office.
While some people flirt with colleagues for little more than harmless fun, others take flirting in the workspace much more seriously.
Whether they're the ones doing the flirting, or the ones being flirted to.
"What's your opinion on flirting with / hitting on co-workers at work?"
Avoid In Office... Free Reign Outside
"I dated a coworker."
"We were not flirty or anything at work (it was a very professional/corporate place) but we went out to lunch together most days."
"We actually started off working in separate offices across the country but went to business events almost monthly and hung out."
"We only worked together a few years but have been married going on 28 years."- ncconch
Just Remember, No Means No...
If you socialize with them outside of work, that's the right time to flirt. And if they tell you no, then make sure you forget all about them before you come in to work the next day.- Metal-Dog
Just Don't
"That can go south quickly and cause a lot of issues."- Material_Joke1324
Season 3 Flirting GIF by The OfficeGiphyAs long As It's Done With Care And Good Intentions
"20% of married couples meet at work."
"Can’t really get away from that."
"That’s why most companies train to distinguish between sexual harassment and flirting, which is totally allowed if it is done in a non-harassing way."
"I dated a coworker."
'I’m female and he’s male."
"Same department, same titles."
"I started flirting on messenger first."
"We dated for 3 years and were always professional at work."
"We 'came out' after one year, shocking everyone."
"Coworkers were very supportive."
"After 3 years we broke up amicably and worked together with no drama or issues."
'I understand that this is probably an outlier but it does happen."- typical_friday
season 8 jim and pam GIFGiphyJust Be Open To All Possibilities
"I admitted to a co-worker I had a huge crush on that I liked her on a staff night out."
"She didn’t reciprocate those feelings."
"She dealt with it really well at work but it absolutely ripped my heart out and made seeing her every day very difficult."
"It’s a real gamble, could work out for you as it has a few people in this thread but I’d never do it again."- knopparp
"Anything that could lead to you f*cking your coworkers is a risky move."
"Source: spent several years as a 'f*cks her coworkers' girlie."- glittertits09
What You Do On Your Own Time...
"F*ck it! "
"Do it on the boss's desk."
"Leave a souvenir."- justimus_maximus
excited episode 4 GIFGiphyToo Big A Risk To Be Worth It...
"You're playing with firecrackers, while checking the gas line."
"Because, you're not sure your oven is working."- K_Odena
As The Saying Goes...
"Don’t dip your pen in the company ink."- Agreeable_Stick_6484
"Never dip your pen in the company ink, as they say."
"If things go south, it can cause a lot of problems in the workplace."
"You don't want to be working with a vindictive ex, or have any kinds of personal issues with someone you have to work with regularly that might affect your work output."
"Plus, you run a very serious risk of losing your job due to sexual harassment, or fraternization rules."- SweetCosmicPope
renee zellweger comedy GIF by Bridget JonesGiphyWhat Will Other's Say?
"It’s fun, but I’ve been getting weird looks at the family business."- GroundbreakingFox833
Stay Away From Prying Eyes...
"If it's reciprocal, go for it."
"Just probably don't do it with other people around."
"Some people here are overreacting."- AReformedHuman
Just Be Careful, And Know Your Place
"Everyone here is overreacting."
"Don’t be a creep or a weirdo and also don’t presume to know somebody just because you work at the same place."
"The same rules that apply everywhere."
"But also don’t try and get with inferiors or superiors."
"Other than that go for it."- Pepsplayed
When at work, it's a generally acknowledged rule of thumb to always be on your best behavior.
So if you think flirting might get you into trouble, probably best to avoid it.
Job interviews are such a unique experience.
For a brief interval of time, we have to simultaneously try to impress someone with our qualifications, come off as casually pleasant, demonstrate passion for the role in question, and, somehow, be ourselves throughout that whole charade.
Not surprisingly, job interviews are daunting and tend to make us sweat. There's so much on the line, and it all hinges on how we act and talk in an hour or so.
But what if the motivation was flipped? What if we imagined how to do the very worst we possibly could in that situation.
It's an absurd exercise, but it sure takes the edge off.
regrettablycrushing asked, "You have 15 seconds to ruin a job interview. What do you do/say?"
Sleeping Giant
"I had a candidate tell me 'I have extreme anger problems and I can't help but get loud and hands on when's someone's doesn't get what I'm trying to say'...it was for an engineering internship." -- KeemstarsBlackFriend
"NOT A WHILE LOOP!! A DO WHILE LOOP!!! WE NEED IT TO RUN ONCE BEFORE CHECKING THE CONDITION!!!"
"* shaking the other person aggressively by the shoulders *" -- moistkinkajou
In it for the Short Haul
"Where will I be in 5 years? Hell if I know but in 5 months I better be out of this slop house." -- BroadcasterX
"I thought the right answer was 'celebrating the 5th year anniversary of you asking me this question'" -- biggulpshuhasyl
All Good
"Sorry I'm late I got pulled over, but I was under the legal limit so..." -- lil-miss-militia
"just under the legal limit." -- kindsoberfullydressed
"Keyword being 'was' amirite guys?" -- Poly--Meh
Cartoonishly Problematic
"Excuse me ma'am, can I talk to a man here? Like someone who would be capable enough to interview me? I can't listen and answer to a woman." -- ilikesarcasticpeople
"I wish this was a joke but I once interviewed a guy who asked me who his boss would be."
"When I explained it would be me, the person interviewing him, he laughed and said congratulations for 'getting so far' but that he could not be expected to just do what I asked him to, and also any woman being in charge of a man was 'disrespectful.'"
"He did not get the job." -- TheWaystone
Keep Belching to a Minimum
"Did this already! Was nervous and chugged the last of my coke before going inside. Went to shake the guys hand and say Hello but a very loud long burp came out instead."
"I just dropped his hand and left."
Tough to Schedule
"Do you have masturbation breaks?" -- katep2000
Gauging the Strictness
"Does your employee theft policy offer second chances or would you fire me right away?" -- SlapCracklePop
"Can I steal loo roll? Like, just 1 when it's nearly payday? Or enough that my extended family never need panic buy again?" -- JJY93
Way Ahead of Ya
"Bring a bottle of apple juice and proceed to tell the interviewer that you brought your own drug test sample whilst accidentally spilling it all over the table and their laps...." -- MatteBlack84
"Nah, if you're serious about it you'll use apple cider vinegar. They will never get that smell out." -- whiskeyweedwood
Optimal Performance
"I'm never on time for work as I sleep a lot but at least I'm not tired when I arrive" -- WhiskersCleveland
"In the 5 years I have been at my job I have slept through 3 alarms. As it turns out my natural wake up time is 10am.....2 hours after I start work." -- Ziogref
Pro Tip: Stay on Topic!
"Interview going well."
"Female Interviewer : Do you have any questions ?"
"Me : About you or the company ?"
"Female Interviewer : .............."
"Haunts my memory to this day"
-- ShreyasSodhe
Mid Shift Only
"I had a guy applying while completely stoned."
"He was like « don't worry, I only smoke in the evening. Well sometimes before breakfast too »"
All About Eye Contact
"I will noticeably slide my hands down my pants. Then, while maintaining eye contact, take a deep and drawn out sniff of my finger."
"I proceed with the interview as if nothing has happened."
That Was One Tough Year, Whichever It Was
"'Wait, what year is this?' I actually said that in an interview."
"I had been traveling a lot and got some years and dates mixes up. The interviewer questioned me on how long I had been working in Germany, and I mixed it up. And I actually said that."
"Needless to say I did not get the job."
-- someonesgoat
Suppose Lyme Disease Would Be Worse...
"Here's what I saw someone do to tank their interview in 15 seconds. She stopped mid answer to a question, ripped her pantyhose open, dug out a tick, and then asked for a Band-Aid."
"No, she did not get a call back."
So Much Work to Do
"Walk in."
"I'm black with a boring generic name. I've seen the light go out in many hiring managers' eyes the second they see me. Only takes about 10 seconds."
A Contemporary Offense
"I interviewed someone who rolled her eyes at me when I asked her to put a mask on before we got started."
"Spoiler: she did not get hired."
In and Out
"We have a guy come in and say 'so I actually exaggerated on my cv just to get my foot in the door, I've never actually done any of those things'...."
"ok, bye then."
-- Letheron88
Strengths-Based Culture
"As an interviewer let me say my favorite one."
"Me: What's your greatest strength? Candidate: uhhh well I guess free lifts.. I can do like 80 now..."
"I had to excuse myself and leave the room. Mind you this was some 16 year old interviewing for a grocery store but to this day I still think I should have hired him."
-- serenerdy
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Everyone has new ideas, and everyone wants to leave their mark on the world. But more often than not when some newbie manager is brought in to take over, all want to focus is a total overhaul of every possible thing. That is never a good idea folks. Yes, by all means, fine tune what's already great and search for what can be better. But let's not try and reinvent the wheel and dismantle what is working just for your ego.
Redditor u/detonatingorange wanted to hear some of the best stories about the newbies who made a mistake or two when coming into the office by asking....
What was the quickest way you've seen a new manager screw up a workplace?
The Classics.
By changing management styles - basically everyday.
The classic "my door is always open".
The "email me first before coming into my office - have you tried working this out with your peers together, first?".
The "why do you think I called you in here" after every time I tell you to come into my office
The "I don't eat lunch with any member of the team anymore as they are my subordinates now"
The "Why doesn't anyone on the team treat me the same anymore? Why don't they like me"
The "Come see me at the end of the day 'just to check in' before you leave"
The "no seriously, coming to see me is now mandatory before you leave for the day"
The "email me when you come in and when you leave everyday"
The "why'd you take a 45 minute lunch break" - whilst going to 'Walmart' for 3 hours this morning and coming back with a God Damn Chipotle cup. Moots_point
cuz why not....
My old 'new' manager jumped on the job. First manager position. Proceeded to demoralize the heck out of our entire department to the point where she literally had to call us into a team meeting to group apologize for being such a moron, in front of our GM. Then continued to be a moron cuz why not lol. Valentines450140
Hey Michael....
GiphyThe dumbest guy at my company was promoted to manager, until this day I don't know why and how. I was his direct subordinate among other colleagues. He was really fool, did no have the knowledge to work in the company. He started to arrive at 13:00 o'clock at the office, used to brag about how smart he was and how fast he become a manager.
The guy even started to use the company's vehicles which were destined for directors only. When the whole department collapsed he was just transferred to another area.
He was worst the Michael from "The Office" show. Never hated someone so much during my lifetime. Bored_npc
I was there 12 years by this point.
First time she met me she walked right past my desk and looked all over the work area to find something wrong. She started asking me if I knew how to do my job. I was there 12 years by this point. This was not an isolated incident and she acted this way to everyone. She never worked in the field but had been a manager previously. So it seemed like she was intimidated by people who knew their jobs. seriouslynothavingit
Chef Out.
GiphyI worked as a cook in a restaurant in a country setting. American food, burgers, fries, some simple seafood/steak specials. Nice food, but simple and easy to prepare and filling portions for the price.
They lost their head chef on short notice and we were chef-less for a month or two. The new guy they brought in wanted to change everything. He wanted to redesign the kitchen(which it did need and which was planned). But then he started talking about getting rid of the burgers on the menu, getting rid of the deep fryer.
Started trying to sell these little vegetarian ornately-plated small dishes for high prices. Ordering little flowery garnishes and telling the cooks they were all going to need to buy their own $50 pair of plating tweezers. Started hiring, one by one, employees from his old restaurants, creating this weird social divide between his cult followers and the existing employees who know that a hard-working farm hand will not pay $18 for some steamed beats with herb goat cheese smeared on the plate.
Not many people were very happy..
He didn't last long.
I feel a little bad for those employees who jumped ship to follow him only to be let go when he was, maybe a month later. bisteccafiorentina
"kiddo"
We had a new supervisor join us at the retail job I used to work at. His first impression on everyone wasn't great. He dressed up wayyy too much for what the job was (wearing a suit to a thrift store lol) and just kind of acted douchey. Bragged about the manager position that he had previously at a bar, which we all figured he must've been fired from. Immediately talked down to all the employees. The supervisor team lead felt iffy about him right off the bat, but the last straw was when he called her "kiddo." He didn't even last a week until we were all informed he had been let go. albertagenuinedraft
How Much?!
GiphyA former manager used their company phone as a hot spot to watch Netflix at home since they didn't have internet. This happened for their first month on the job, until the phone bill came in. Apparently, that one bill was for over $3k. MTSwagger
So, the plan was a go.
I had a manager named, we'll say Larry, when I worked for an airline. He only lasted a few months, but came in boasting about his prior experience with another company. Over time, he grew increasingly stubborn and it all culminated with one particular plan that he was convinced would "save" us by routing all of our baggage to a single conveyor belt line.
All of us supervisors--and I mean ALL of us-- explained to him that his plan was NOT going to work since we knew there were going to be 500+ bags for several flights in the span of a few hours coming down that line and we did not have the staff or the space to work on that belt and it was guaranteed to jam. We had the numbers, we had the on-the-ground experience, everything. I tried to talk him out of it in a last ditch effort since I was the one who had to physically make the change in the computer and he shut me down almost immediately.
So, the plan was a go.
It failed so spectacularly that not only did I immediately get a call and message from him on the morning of my day off (the "start" date), but his manager called me requesting that I make any necessary changes to remedy it, as well as several other high-up individuals. MegaPiglatin
Sold Out.
Worked for a company that was owned by 3 individuals who built up an incredible business over about 10 years and sold to a large national company. One of the owners was technically the manager as well and was absolutely awesome. Treated the employees very well and was probably the nicest man I've ever known.
In comes younger new corporate manager to oversee office operations. He was hired about a month before previously mentioned owner was due to leave and learn from him. On his last day as owner/manager, he went around hugging each employee and saying his goodbyes. People were legit crying over him leaving.
New manager couldn't comprehend how the employees were emotional over this. Was making awkward remarks about how silly it was. Didn't take long to realize we were now working for an insensitive corporate schill who had no soul. FlipFlopsNPorkChops
Who Fits?
The old CFO at my company worked from home, but gradually was convinced by the CEO to work more in the office. The guy was very traditional and very stern i.e. the workplace was not a place for idle chit chat, employees weren't to take many bathroom breaks, etc. We were told our attitudes were being observed.
In the span of 6 months, like 4 people had been let go for "not being a good fit". It got to the point where we felt if we didn't consciously smile and act with enthusiasm, we'd be fired. It felt like I was in a cult or something, and ended up leaving. jonahvsthewhale
Critical Fail.
GiphyCame in, took over a department, decided to get rid of people who were contractors, even if they'd been there for 3+ years. Didn't care what they did, just axed them. A month later, critical systems were failing and the people left there just shrugged. He'd axed the people who knew how those systems ran. Etgbdjkjf
The Code.
Company I used to work for got bought out a few months after I left and the new owners did something like that. "We already have the software, what do we need programmers for?" And laid off the lot of them. Middle management, who knew exactly what the code monkeys were needed for, flipped out. They were only able to rehire about half of them, and then with significant pay raises and benefits.
And worse, this place was running on this terribly antiquated architecture that nobody learns or uses anymore. People able and willing to code on it (I wasn't, which was why I left) are few and far between, and the system is so sprawling and arcane that it takes years for new hires to get the hang of it. Dyolf_Knip
Best of luck.....
I worked part time remote for a web design Bootcamp that got bought by a huge corporation. Corporation decides they don't like part timers and fires us all. I'm like "how are you gonna do all the work of like fifteen part timers with two full time staff?" I am told not to worry about it.
Six months later, I'm asked to take on ten hours of grading per week because they're hugely understaffed. Sure! I liked the job and it's easy money. But now the one full-time lecturer for this program needs time off, and they need someone to sub for him. Oops, we all have full time jobs now. Best of luck. clocksailor
Bye bye Benny....
We had a dude I'm going to here call Benny. Benny had been a corporate dude and decided he wanted to run a location instead. Corporate agreed and gave him the location I work at.
It was clear almost immediately that Benny was a helicopter manager. He would show up unexpectedly and hover. He'd nitpick. He'd ask weird questions. He'd send out lengthy rambling emails about goals he had for us as a team.
One morning as my overnight was ending, he arrived unexpectedly, pulled me into his private office, and had an hour long conversation with me where he revealed he'd been watching me and that he knew I did video editing. I was creeped the hell out, but admitted that yes, it was something I enjoyed doing periodically as a hobby, alongside a bunch of other creative pursuits. He replied that he wanted me to make a music video starring coworkers to lift the morale of the team. I replied that I'd think about it and got the heck out ASAP.
My direct supervisor revealed that she had overheard him talking about firing the entire staff and rehiring from scratch. I told my girlfriend that I was considering quitting based on how the next team meeting went.
That evening, I got an email to the tune that Benny had been forced by corporate to resign. He had been caught acting like a sociopath and that in his 1 month tenure employee morale had reached an all time low.
It's been a few years since Benny left, but I remain paranoid about him still to this day. mxmnull
Damn Disney.....
GiphyGuy gets hired as a supervisor, worked on a Disney cruise before so he thinks he knows how to run a bar. During his interview he points out to a few staff how they're doing minor things wrong.
Somehow he's hired and immediately starts making changes, getting mad whenever anyone does something other than his way. Meanwhile he's rarely seen on the floor, rather, he's in the office creating cocktail guidebooks while it's extremely busy at the bar.
Got into an argument one night where another supervisor who wasn't working at the time got a bit drunk and told him he never helps out and how everyone disliked him, he tries to get said supervisor fired. It backfires and everyone complains about him instead. This all took place in the span of a month. I quit shortly before he was fired. lockedlantern
People pushed back.
Had a manager get promoted who read a self help book about business communication and decided that is what we need. She hired them to give us a day long seminar at 8:30am-4:30pm on a Saturday. People pushed back. She responded by sending out an email that this is mandatory now and if you were going on vacation you have to show her proof of that. Then there was a couple of rambling emails about how she is trying to help us and can not believe no one would want to do this and that when her kids throw tantrums that they need guidance.
The day of the seminar the manager showed up in the morning to give us a pep talk. The person running the seminar asked if she was going to stick around today to see our progress. Manager said no because her weekends are family time with her and that is sacred to her. Then she said good bye and good luck and walked out the door.
Within weeks people were finding other jobs. In six months more than 70% of the people at that seminar were gone. Onid8870
Gone.
Worked for a brokerage/investment banking place that had sized up rapidly from the lean, mean start-up days. I was around the 100th employee. Shortly after I started they hired a full-time office manager for the first time. Her first official act was to eliminate the free Snapple in the break room to save money.
I never saw anyone become so despised so fast. EVERYONE refused to comply with her direction after that, ignored her in meetings, just generally froze her out. She was gone in a couple of months. Missus_Aitch_99
On a Break....
Our team had a 15 minute break at 10am, we always have done. Our new manager arrived and it turned out this break wasn't actually official, so he stopped it happening.
The place very quickly fell apart, it basically required people ignoring the rules to get things fixed, working into lunch was very common or staying behind a little bit late to get a job done. So when this break happened we stopped going above our job description and did it to the letter.
They had to spend a fortune calling in contractors to fix things that we had been fixing but weren't supposed to, jobs got delayed constantly because we would pack up and leave to go to our lunch breaks exactly on time, or drop a job half way through to go home exactly at finishing time. Dr_McKay
Pioneers.
We were a pioneer account. The account was a huge US telecommunications company that handed their department to be outsourced to our center, from another that screwed it up. We were excited.
For the first 6 months, we flourished, so much that the company thought it was a good idea to make our Operations Manager move to another location to get him to improve that.
So who replaced our OM? The old OM that handled the account at the other center who messed up. Basically ran the account to the ground. In less than 6 months.
Kept hiring more and more people. Only promoted people he liked. Job assignments weren't clear, people kept being reassigned. At the end we had over 500 employees, and he had to fire 300 of them because the account only needed 200.
The company suffered a lawsuit and lost the account. dambrucee810
Keep Rotating.
GiphyWe worked in teams of two on 8 hour rotating shifts. That meant there were 8 crew members in total. We split our duties between us to keep our workplace clean and properly provisioned. New manager decides to promote one in each team as a sort of supervisor. The obvious happened. The new supervisor says to his colleague that they should do x,y or z, colleague responds screw off that's what they're paying you the extra for. Ruined relationships for years. Gregormcc17
Professionals Share The Weirdest Thing They've Ever Seen Happen At Work
The workplace doesn't always have to be a burden. Sometimes the workplace can be a hot bed of crazy with soap opera antics. Often the things we witness at our jobs can haunt us forever. We try to be cool and professional but when you witness crazy, just embrace it. As long as everyone lives.... it's always gonna make for a great story later.
Redditor u/StayCrude wanted to know about the things we've all witnessed at our places of employment by asking.... What's the weirdest thing you've ever seen happen at work?
Along with the CEO...
The CEO and I entered the building early one morning and found a longtime, well-liked employee lying dead on the locker room floor.
His head was surrounded with blood from where it hit the ceramic tile floor and his face so swollen that we didn't recognize him at first.
The guy apparently suffered a major heart attack and died alone. Back2Bach
Watch your Co-workers...
I actually wrote up a whole encounter with my strange russian coworker the other day, but I can't get to tumblr on my work computer. My weirdest counter with him though was I had to go into the lab during lunch and he was in there:
- with all the lights off
- wearing nothing but an undershirt
- lifting a single weight
- with Let's Grove by Earth, Wind, and Fire at full volume playing from his computer.
Also his desk neighbor has had to make one of his monitors vertical because Igor will change at his desk in the middle of the office. StylishSuidae
There. Will. Be. GOOGLY EYES.
GiphyI work in an office and thought it would be funny to put googly eyes on my coworkers desk one day. Everyone had a good laugh over it and a couple weeks I found googly eyes on all my stuff. It became a game of who could arrange googlys on peoples desk in the most creative/funny manner. It was hilarious.. Then one of the adjacent departments caught wind of the good times we were having and started doing the same. Cue a month later and there are googly eyes EVERYWHERE. It was absurd.
On the drinking fountains, clocks, vending machines, garbage cans, toilets, you name it, there were googly eyes littered all over the damn place. The custodians started complaining that they couldn't keep up with the mess. Visiting customers would look around at the googly spectacle in disbelief of the unprofessionalism. The head managers had to hold team meetings to talk to all the teams about removing all googly eyes and of course since I started it, any time a rogue googly eye popped up months later, I got a stern look from my boss.
The day that I quit there (or get fired, more likely), there will be an unleashing of googly eyes that will be unrivaled. People will be swimming through piles of googly eyes just to get to their completely googly eye covered desks. The vents will be spitting out plastic eyeballs of all shapes and sizes. People will open their lunches they brought from home and gasp in shock as they find nothing but little beady shaky eyes looking up from their tupperware. There. Will. Be. GOOGLY EYES. Jaydeeem89
Those were the days.
This was in the '80s at a bad software company run entirely by men. Wonder of wonders, an extremely competent and popular woman programmer was appointed to a management position in Development.
The younger developers decided to have a parade. She was of Scandinavian descent, so they made for her a horned helmet and sword out of aluminum foil, and made for her a sedan chair out of a wooden chair with a couple of pieces of lumber under the arms for support.
Then they carried her outside on the chair while she waved her "sword," and paraded her around the parking lot at the head of a long column of programmers wearing fish hats and throwing firecrackers. I never understood the fish hats.
Edit: And kazoo music. I forgot that.
Those were the days. Tall_Mickey
Just Snapped....
I work in downtown Toronto. My job requires that I go to those high end consultancy firms every once and awhile. The big names. You'd know them.
One morning I was walking into the building for an all day meeting. Normal fall day. Cold.
The lobby was beautiful as always. Chandelier. Big glass windows. As I headed over the elevators I looked towards a commotion at the door.
A well groomed, middle aged, man was screaming at the top of his lungs by the revolving door. Naked. Totally. Naked. His suit was neatly folded on a bench and he had just lost it.
Apparently he was a partner at this firm and the stress got to him. He just... Snapped.
Edit: a letter. dried_up_waterparks
Hey Homer....
GiphyIt was a really slow day and I kept getting distracted from the Lord of the Rings fanfiction I was reading by the weird squeaky noises I kept hearing behind me. I finally turned around and there was my manager, a 35 year old man, about 3/4 of the way done with making a balloon animal crown for his life-sized Homer Simpson statue. I asked him to make me a doggie when I was done, and he did--a blue one. I kept it until I accidentally popped it, which scared the crap out of one of my other coworkers. ostentia
Just Dance.
I was visiting our warehouse which looked pretty standard as all things go. Tall shelves loaded with pallets, conveyor belts and forklifts going to and fro, burly men and women in high vis attire pottering about.
When all of a sudden a song broke out over the PA system and every single person started dancing. Their expressions didn't change, they didn't stop what they were doing or where they were going, they all just danced as they went about their business.
A few seconds later the music stopped and they resumed normal existence. It was so bizarre. Like they had been brainwashed to respond to the music and didn't recognize their own conditioning.
Turns out that's all part of their ergonomics program. Every so often the music starts up and they're meant to move about as a form of stretching. obscureferences
Look Out Below!
My old office had these giant floor to ceiling windows that would get washed every month or so. One month the window washer was outside the window I faced with a long pole to wash the second story windows. He let it fall away from the building too far and it hit a power line right in front of us. We all thought we had watched him die, but he ended up getting into the ambulance unassisted to go get checked out. taylaj
Don't Shoot!
GiphyCoworker came in and found a chunk of his desk missing. After investigating we found a bullet, and a bullet hole above his desk. I ended up on the roof patching the hole.
No idea who decided to shoot our building in the middle of the night. fievelm
Don't Scream....
I worked in a small office. There was a front lobby area with a conference room off to the side. It was separated by a door from the rest of the office. So I'm sitting at my desk, just working, and I hear screaming from the front lobby area, like straight up someone is being murdered screaming.
Everyone in the office area is freaking out, assuming there was a robbery or something horrible happening in the front. I hear someone shrieking for help, so I'm like okay this is clearly not a dangerous situation, it must be a medical emergency or something like that. I tell one of my coworkers to call 911. I proceed to open the door quietly and walk towards the lobby.
I do not see anyone, even the receptionist, but the screaming is still going on from inside the conference room. I slowly open the door and find about 8 people on top of the table, including the owners of the company and a couple clients. I'm just staring at them, seriously confused about what I just walked into.
I look down and see a tiny little field mouse hopping around in circles around the table. I picked the little guy up and became the hero of the day. 911 dispatched a couple of police officers over a tiny mouse. My raise that year was substantially higher than usual. raven_darkseid
"the manager asked me to rotate the eggs."
GiphyWhile working at a supermarket, I was walking through the dairy department and saw a fellow employee over by the eggs. As I got closer I could see him with a carton open and he seemed to be turning each egg. After doing the whole pack, I asked him what he was doing and he responded, "the manager asked me to rotate the eggs." I facepalmed and explained what they actually meant, to which he replied, "that makes a lot more sense."
For context, in the grocery world, to rotate means to make sure the earliest dates of expiration are towards the front of the shelf. reystreet21
Not with it....
In a creche/daycare. One of the moms dropped off her baby & when handing him to one of the staff she kissed the staff member on the face and said "love you" and went off to work. Phoned a couple hours later to say "I've just realized what I did this morning. I'm so sorry, I was half asleep and I guess I'm so used to handing him to my husband" we had a good laugh. Ajoc27
Mid-Cheat....
I watched the neighbor get caught by her husband mid-cheat. This was the last home hospice job I did. The clients bedroom was at the back of the house and had a large window that faced the front of the neighbors across a dirt road. We were sitting mid morning drinking a cups and watching the birds in the low hedge when we saw a naked man suddenly sprint across the side yard into the old garage followed by the just as naked wife and a few seconds later the husband.
Lot of screaming follows then the naked man took off across the field and disappeared into the orchard. Several minutes pass before we see the wife dash over to her car, still naked, get in and drive off.
My client, who was quite a spitfire of a lady her entire life, turned to me very deadpan and said "I'm glad I lived long enough to see that". We didn't stop laughing the rest of the day. DeadSheepLane
Not a Word.
When I had an internship in an office, the second highest boss opened the door without knocking, stared at us aggressively, walked towards us and offered a box of chocolate marshmallows. Then he went out. He didn't say one word. Early2000sRnB
WELL DAMN!!!!
GiphyOne guy did a spicy wing challenge at lunch. Later that afternoon he was on the floor of his cubicle moaning and crying and saying DAMN so many times (Very loudly) We tried to call an ambulance but he was adamant that he was going to be fine. DeeMountain
in the same hedge......
Worked at big outdoor activities center a few summers, there's lots of behind-the-scenes areas where the public can't see. Saw a new guy (who was definitely some friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend 'favor' hire from someone higher up) not know where the toilets were so just take a poop in a hedge behind scenes. He proceeded to makes really crude moves on all the women and I later found him receiving oral sex from a guy in the same hedge. He was asked to leave. XyloArch
Damn Frog....
One Monday morning, at 8AM, there was a frog in the lobby. Not a small frog either--a big frog. The front doors were still locked and it was Monday morning, so we had no idea how the little guy got into the lobby. He would've had to have hopped all the way from the back of the building to get to the lobby. justalurkerkthxbai
Death's Door.
A coworker (in a cotton mill) had a heart attack and died right there on the floor.
the supervisor roped off the area around him and worked continued.
EMT, Coroner, Police were all doing their job as we worked around them. Wrong_Answer_Willie
Sands of Time....
GiphyI work in a kindergarten for kids with special needs. One kid kept going for a quiet place few times a day, and we figured he just needed some time alone. This was outside in the playground where there was a little treehouse in the back behind some trees. On the third day of this happening I went to see what's up and encourage him to talk about why he needed time alone.
I found him sitting on the ground eating one big spoon full of sand after the other. We're not just talking baby eating sand here - more like a medium sized kid shoveling sand down his stomach like it was his favorite food. So yeah this little boy probably ate A LOT of sand during those three days and probably longer.
He's fine now - 2. Grader now - kicked me in the butt when I saw him in a grocery store a week ago. jac0bk
We See You.
I worked the cameras at a casino and there was a kid (old enough to drink) who was given a free room to stay in because he was about to drive drunk. Instead of taking the room, he checked in, walked out the back exit, ran down a hill, ran full speed along the highway, army crawled his way up to his car, got in, drove off the parking lot, and was pulled over immediately. Benjaminbuttcrack
Casual Friday is a gift, a blessing in a dull experience of droning meetings and angry clients.
It's something to look forward to all week long, even when the rest of the 9-5 days try their best to bring you down.
This makes it upsetting when people abuse that privilege, seemingly ruining it for everybody.
Reddit user, Logistics515, wanted to observe the worst outfits when they asked:
"What's the most NSFW outfit you've seen that someone actually wore to work?"
Dress To The 11s
Had a client coming in and the office Manager told everyone to please dress very nice. A girl came in dressed in her prom dress.
Showing His Patriotism...Question Mark?
A guy showed up to his sales job at a public event wearing a tank top that said F-CK ISIS.
Boss asked him to leave lol
Setting A Precedent Early On
I worked as receptionist for a government office. They were holding interviews for an important position which required lots of interaction with the public and a high degree of professionalism.
One candidate arrived wearing a low cut tank top and a short denim skirt, with frizzy 80s style hair. It was like she was trying to look 20 again (she was nowhere near 20).
They still gave her the benefit of the doubt and went ahead with the interview. I spoke to one of the interviewers later in the day and he told me she bombed it.
Seeing Too Much Of You, Jerry.
A male coworker who strolled through the atrium and through reception every morning in his red lycra bike shorts.
He might as well have been nude.
*cue "I Ripped My Pants" song
Guy at work split his pants and rather than go home for the day, took them off and duct taped them on the inside. Then split them again, gave up and went home. He was pretty good natured about it and nobody gave him any flack after they blew out each time.
Keep Them Up
I once went to a language tutor center with my wife. We were met with a young 20ish brunette wearing a see-through top. You could quite clearly see she wasn't wearing a bra underneath either.
She went through a 15 discussion about who they are and why we should pick them and considering my wife on my left, I had the longest and toughest 15 minutes of "my eyes are up here" that I've had in my life. I have no idea if she knew or just went with some random top braless and it just so happened to be see-through that day.
Comfy Is As Comfy Does
My dad works at a large company where they have trouble keeping employees. Girl shows up wearing PJ pants, slippers, tank top and, because it's cold outside, she "wears" a freakin' BLANKET. It was a big fluffy blanket that she kept wrapped around just shoulders all day. Worked her whole shift.
Don't Google It
Ahegao t shirt on casual clothes day at school (know school isn't work but we do work at school so I guess it counts.)
Woof...Just Bad Choices All Around, "Margaret."
Hopefully I'm not too late.
I used to work at a non profit part time through high school and college, sort of like the YMCA. I was super close to all the other recreation staff / counselors because we had all been in the program together too.
Anyways, Halloween comes around and I propose the idea to have a communal fall festival with the other local non profits, we all get together, play games, have a costume contest, the whole shabang. I show up the Saturday of the event about an hour and a half before anyone else to start setting up. Upon entering the office, let's call her Margaret (office admin lady), greets me in head to toe black face. Every inch of her body painted black with big pink lips smeared on. Mind you it was 6:30 AM, I wince to think about how early she must have gotten up to apply it all. She is also accompanying this with a bone necklace and straw skirt, bare feet, and black stockings hung from her chest with the nipples cut off baby bottles on the ends, hanging to her knees. She starts doing a dance and exclaims, "I'm a cannibal! Or a savage, however you want to interpret it."
I've never been so shocked in my life. It was way too damn early and I immediately panicked because a few dozen families were going to be arriving soon. A quick call to boss man more in shock than in anger and he dials her. I hear a few pleas: "oh no it's okay, my husband and I have worn this to all of our costume contests at temple and win every year, he dresses as an explorer too, then we kiss as part of the joke!"
She left for the day crying, and that is when I decided to leave that carnival of a job. Still close with all the guys I worked with though, chaos isn't too bad when you have a group of people to go through it with you and you can all laugh about it later.
Not Work, But, You Know, C'Mon Parents. Get It Together.
It wasn't technically their job, but once when I was in kindergarten somebody's mom showed up wearing a shirt that said 0-horny in 2.5 beers.
She was actually the reason the school had to release a dress code for parents and guardians when visiting the school.
Really? You REALLY Can't Tell Why We Brought You In Here?
One of the agents I was teaching in a call centre wore a dress so low cut and so short that when she moved the wrong way I saw /everything/.
Another girl liked wearing corsets to make her boobs spill out of her shirt and hoodies that said inappropriate things like "Blow me." She couldn't understand why HR kept pulling her in for meetings.
Well, I Already Got The Job, So...
The receptionist at a profesional office I worked at thought it was OK to wear an oversized Tupac t-[shirt] with no pants and slippers to the office for her first official day. Overall very confusing because she wore a beautiful outfit for her interview,
That's A New Kind Of Distraction
On Valentine's Day, a new hire dressed like "Cupid."
He wore a white shirt decorated with red hearts and a white tie with a large heart on the center of it.
Then, his pants were also white, but with angels going up and down the legs. Everyone loved it, especially the female employees. But his supervisor told him to go home and change because it was a "distraction."
London. France. Underpants.
I used to work in a call centre and there were way too many people dressed like it was Saturday night.
One girl in particular was wearing a short skirt one day. Her colleagues next to her kept insisting that it's too short and she kept insisting that it wasn't. One woman who's a little person (is that the right word?) walks by when that conversation is happening and says "It is too short. I can see your underwear, it's pink."
I May Not Play By Your Precious Rules, But I Get Results!
I used to work with a surgeon who once burst into an operating theatre in his pajamas and flip flops. He had gloves on but that's about it. No mask, no hat, no scrub.
To be fair, the patient was bleeding to death and he answered the call for help. Saved her life. Gave her loads of antibiotics though.
Doesn't Matter How Much You Walk
No t-ts and a-- here but many moons ago i worked for Royal mail as a postman. Had a new hire that came into work wearing high heel platform boots. She didnt come back the next day because she didn't seem to understand that those items of footwear are not conducive to the amount of walking posties do, and managed to knacker her ankle. Also complained that carrying bags and putting mail through letter boxes was damaging her nails.
Never saw her again.
Dead Set On Nabbing One
Hospice central office. Secretary is looking to catch some doctor.
Fish net stockings. Skirt that shows the bottom of her a--. No underwear, maybe a g-string.
MD comes in and states "What, is this a strip club now?"
I about fell outta my chair.
It Would've Made Heff Proud
Playboy bunny outfit.
I was a server at a semi-nice casual restaurant that was frequented by business people. It was Halloween and we were encouraged to wear costumes. One of our hostesses wore this and our manager didn't flinch until a customer complained.
GiphyWow, Everyone Really Misses Him...
I worked for an instrument supplier and was installing equipment at a customer site (pharmaceutical company.) It was around Halloween and Hugh Hefner had just died.
Lots of employees were going around (including in the lab space) dressed like playboy bunnies. Not that their outfits were that skimpy (especially those who were in labs) but it was still weird seeing a bunch of scientists at work in bunny ears, bowties, and cotton tails paying tribute to playboy
Bad Gifts
Not quite up to the standards here but the funniest one I have seen in the last few years was the day we had to sit through Ethics and Compliance training to be told about not accepting bribes and gifts and one of my team turned up wearing all branded gear that he been gifted from one of his suppliers.
Overkill
A girl in my masters biology degree course, brought a water bottle into the first lab and picked a lab coat that was too small, so it only buttoned at the top, kind of like a Cape with sleeves. The lab PhD student got her a new one when she noticed the next day, but she still intermittently buttons only the top, meaning most of her front is not covered by a lab coat. We've been working with E. coli for most of the last 2 weeks. She has to be reminded every couple of days to tuck her headscarf into her lab coat, to the point where she was at risk of it falling over a lit bunsen burner. She isn't the only person who wears a headscarf in my lab, and everyone else has had no issues.
Again, we are masters students. Her poor choices in lab coats are far from the worst thing she's done.
Danger Fool
Girl came into the lab with open toed shoes. Freaking psycho.
lab scientist GIF by Hronotop GraphicGiphyI See U!
A girl I knew wore a see through mesh top to work without a bra in a call center I once worked at... oddly enough she wore it about 3 times before she was eventually pulled up about it (can't think why).
Statement Wear
NSFW in a different way - I worked in a law firm with a fairly casual dress code - jeans and t-shirt were acceptable, but just barely. The legal assistants regularly took documents to the local county courthouse for filing. One legal assistant came in wearing a "F**k the Police" t-shirt. I wasn't his boss but I couldn't resist telling him he couldn't wear that shirt to the courthouse. He borrowed a sweater from someone.
The Center
I worked a call center years ago. No dress code. People would literally roll out of bed and come into work in what they had on. It wasn't until one of the employees decided to hold a joint in his ear the whole day that they decided to implement some rules/dress code. But slippers and pajamas were still ok.
Black & White
When I did retail we would often have meetings after hours to discuss new merch, changes in the company, renovations, etc. and since it was after hours dress code was never enforced. Well, one day we have a meeting and the manager decides everyone has to come in dress code (for men it's a suit and tie) so I decided to go dressed in full white tie: tuxedo with tails, waistcoat, wingtip shirt, white bow tie, tophat, the whole nine yards. It was actually a lot of fun pretending that was my everyday outfit.
Oh Stanley
It wasn't so much the outfit but the bow and arrows. One person in accounting dies from a heart tipped arrow and suddenly it's "Maybe you should go home and change Stanley!" "We have a no Cupid policy around here."
valentines day flirting GIFGiphyMinx
A female co-worker wore saucy outfits when she and I worked in a hospital. She was already sleeping with a surgeon and was using that outfit to lure more doctors. Another surgeon saw me shake my head to myself when I saw her outfit that day, and he was unable to contain his laughter.
Accidents with crazy....
Secondhand story from my husband, but a guy on another crew wore a two piece safety suit instead of the one piece like he was supposed to for the job. He slipped and fell on his butt in some caustic waste. Since it was a two piece suit, it was able to leak into his suit and he had to basically run out of the job, strip down naked, and have coworkers pour vinegar all over his lower half, including down his butt crack and on his junk.
So remember, if you work a safety job, don't ignore the required gear. Sometimes the required gear seems silly, but they require it for a reason. Accidents happen and in a worst case scenario, proper get should save you.
Even from a Distance
One girl wore a pair of black leggings that were so thin you could see the color and pattern of her underwear from 50 feet back.
Binoculars Watching GIF by OriginalsGiphyThe position has been filled.....
Wasn't a job but a job interview. I was doing a remote interview via Skype and the woman being interviewed was driving a car.
She propped her phone up against the speedometer so she could use both hands to drive. When she set up the phone it was clear that she was wearing a very large and loose tank top with no bra and big sunglasses.
At one point she asked me to wait and I said sure, until i realized she was ordering food in the Wendy's drive thru. when i called her out on it she tried to pic up her phone and dropped it between her legs. This is the moment my team lead and i saw her bare lady bits. I just hung up and threw her resume away.
Iron Man for the Save
When I was a medical student when this happened during a cat 1 C section I was watching. Was about 3am (in the UK consultants don't usually stay overnight when they're on call for most specialties), consultant was a ~40 year old guy that came in wearing Iron Man pajama bottoms and flip flops. no time to get changed. he saved the baby tho so fair enough.
Cover your bits....
Call centers on the weekends. There was one Saturday it was like all the girls on the team came straight from a lingerie party. One girl was wearing a lace teddy with lace boy shorts. I mean there was just enough pattern to keep the bits mostly covered. On the other end of the spectrum someone wore a bathrobe to work one day. We weren't sure if there was any thing under it.
Bad Teacher
When I was doing my teaching internship, the 2nd grade teacher next door wore a leather miniskirt with black fishnet stockings. It was... questionable, to say the least.
cameron diaz film GIFGiphy"why not both?"
I worked in a very stuffy, old, and famous law firm. Last year on Halloween a very attractive young female attorney came in wearing a skin-tight black cat suit with cat ears on. It didn't show any skin. But it didn't need to. She was clearly not wearing a bra and her nipples were VERY visible, so was the fact that she was wearing a lace thong underneath.
This was the kind of office where men wore ties every day and women wore skirt suits or pant suits at all times. Nobody said anything to her as far as I know, but it was whispered about for a while.
I try very hard not to sexualize my coworkers, who are all brilliant and accomplished lawyers and not objects of fantasy. But that costume made me ask "why not both?"
Wear Black
We had a human resources manager that would wear shear white dress shirts to work. Her nipples were dark as heck and you could see them across the room through the shirt. In the sun, you could almost see through the shirts. This started a few months after the sale of the company to another firm. They moved their own people in to top management positions.
A month or two into the wardrobe change, the General Manager made an inappropriate pass at her. She sued and was awarded close to 10 years worth of her salary.
Dodge ProMaster
Recently at work one of our vans decided it didn't want to start. It being a brand new Dodge ProMaster we decided it would be best for the dealership to figure it out. We called and a big flatbed tow truck was dispatched. The tow truck arrived and the driver hopped out wearing slip style sandals.
I would assume a job were you deal with heavy machinery all day would require boots but who knows.
Fast forward a month and I am getting gas at the gas station down the street from my office. I look over to the next pump and who do I see? That same tow truck driver filling up the tank on his tow truck. He was still wearing that same pair of sandals. I left in a hurry after watching him light a cigarette as he pumped his gas.
Rotate Out
Military O-5 (Army LTC) wearing thin spandex with no underwear and skin tight tankers top while on the job in a deployed location.
She didn't last the rotation.
Bless You
Girl where I worked came with a cut t-shirt, showing her side breasts and wearing no bra. Manager came and told her to go home and get change so she wouldn't catch a cold.
Billy Crystal Crying GIF by MOODMANGiphyThe Leader
One of the older men, getting near 60, wore short shorts, some women complained about his varicose veins being unsightly. He was asked to go home and change as knee-length shorts were ok, but not short shorts as stated in the terms of dress down day. His response was to comment about someone's Turban not being mentioned in the terms either. He was a team leader.
The Intern
The very attractive intern showed up on casual day wearing a sheer top. Wasn't too bad, but you could clearly see both nipple piercings.
Intern was a guy. A whole new group of people were suddenly interested in working with said intern.
Bejewel/Bedazzle...
We had a temp working at our donation bay (thrift store). The first week she was dressed appropriately- sneakers, jeans, t shirt- but was vocally concerned that the work was going to ruin her good clothes, and she was waiting on her paycheck to purchase work clothes. The day her cheque came, she was over the moon shopping for clothes, but as I was ringing her out, I noted they were all work inappropriate- filmy, low cut, rude slogans, etc.
Whatever, I thought, maybe these are her new good clothes and the jeans were now her work clothes. NOPE. Came in the next day in spangly short shorts, bejeweled flip flops, a gauzy shirt that was way WAY too tight, and a half shirt over it that said "I don't f@@@@@g care."
Clothes Optional
Topless. I'll explain: I walked in on the very attractive 19 year-old receptionist while she was examining her big breasts. They were completely out there as she had pulled her top to her waist. I told her to put those away and she giggled and apologized.
Was she in a private room, break area, or all-gender bathroom? Nope. This was at the front desk and a client could have walked in at any moment.
Before that job she was a stripper at a full nude strip club.
Tame the Leather
I used to work as an intern in a classic corporate office and one of the manager who used to wear tops with HUGE cleavages showed up with leather pants which front side and back side were pierced with 1 inch holes and tied together with ribbons.
Danger-Danger
I worked a fence building job and my moss hurt his toe so was supervising with one steel toe boot and one sandal.
Since he could barely walk he wasn't really doing much so he wasn't like in danger of anything but it's still weird to see a guy with sandal on at a job site with thousands of pounds of wood and concrete.
Bye Now
One time this temp wore leggings that were damn near see through, like idk if she knew but her stuff was all out there for people to see lol she was sent home that day and never came back.
See U GIFGiphyHi, Miss Kemp...
Newly qualified teacher (24 y/o, hot as hell) wore a Halloween-style 'stripper schoolgirl' outfit to my all-boys secondary school on 'Non-Uniform day' once.
It was utter chaos. 500 hormonal as hell teenagers literally howling and running out of classes to come and see. The head of department basically ended up locking her in an empty classroom and closing the blinds, leaving her on her own for the rest of the day as he couldn't get her safely to the carpark for her to drive home. She didn't come in for the rest of the week and left the following term.
Hi, Miss Kemp.
While Pregnant
I recently organized a conference with industry vendors. One of the vendors sales reps showed up, 7 months pregnant in a dress that would have already been too short had she not been pregnant. It looked like she forgot to put on pants. The look was completed with a weird shawl bolero and heels that were on the high side at the best of times, but must have been torture for her in the 3rd trimester. The woman was old enough to know better (i.e. mid 30s).
With Stupid
Not quite NSFW but I had a guy come in for his interview for a position that would require him to operate heavy machinery in a t-shirt that said "Caution : I do dumb things."
It seems this is an issue many people can relate to.
In the immortal words of The Office's Kelly Kapoor:
"Damn it, Meredith, where are your panties?!"
But no matter how bad that outfir is, keep your clothes on in the office people.
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