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We all make mistakes at our jobs from time to time, but most are quickly forgotten.
The big ones though? The ones that leave a scar on your brain? Those are the ones you’ll be talking about for years.
Or in this case, sharing with strangers on Twitter.
what’s the worst mistake you’ve ever made at work? after a long & stressful day speedwriting summaries i mixed up the names of (BBC director general) Tony Hall & (disgraced paedophile) Stuart Hall in a report i sent to… BBC DG Tony Hall, all the BBC top brass, the BBC trustees,
— Dan Douglas (@dandouglas) May 12, 2021
What are some other big blunders worth spreading? Let’s find out.
15. Good lord
Careful, he might just sue the pants off you.
Perhaps not the *worst* but certainly the most bizarre was finding out I’d taken, folded, and put up for sale the trousers of a customer in John Lewis’ menswear department while they tried something on. They still had his wallet in the pocket.
He also turned out to be a Lord.
— Joe Skrebels (@2plus2isjoe) May 13, 2021
14. Red alert
Must have looked like the aftermath of a Tarantino flick in there.
Not me, but a long reach fork truck driver in my workplace. Bring a pallet of red wine (roughly 80 boxes, 6 bottles per box) down from a high shelf (80ish ft up). The pallet slipped off the forks and fell to the ground. Not a bottle unbroken. Red wine everywhere.
— Liam (@liamjmellor80) May 13, 2021
13. Type O
Why would that be so…ah.
Missing the ‘O’ when typing ‘account’.
— Tommy (@TWOD87) May 13, 2021
12. The baby barrister
(It’s healthcare for the terminally ill.)
As a baby barrister I went to the Mags Court to ask for an adjournment ‘as the defendant is in a hospice’. They asked how long and I said “well 3 weeks and then hopefully he can join us”. The prosecutor whispered “do you know what a hospice is?” “Er not really?♂️?”
— Will Da Force (@WilberDaForce) May 13, 2021
11. The legend
Oh the chaos.
Someone in my company accidentally emailed all 25,000+ employees around the world on her first day, leading to hours of people replying ‘please stop replying all’ and ‘please remove me from this’ before IT sorted it. Her name is now legendary.
— Becca (@BeccaH88) May 13, 2021
10. Slate heavy, arms weak
A lot of red wine disasters in this thread.
Waitressing for a company that did catering for expensive weddings, had to carry drinks on a v stylish slate tray. Slate heavy, arms weak, eventually lost control, red wine exploded all over bride’s dress as she prepared for photoshoot in specially constructed Japanese tea garden
— Ruby Stockham (@stockham_ruby) May 13, 2021
9. Nightmare
Um, I sure hope the other waiter was also fired?
Oh god. Nightmare.
My cousin was waitressing in a posh restaurant. One of the waiters was baiting her for her accent, he threw pepper in her face as she was carrying soup out to some little old ladies. She shouted Fuck off ya cunt whilst dropping the tray.
Sacked on the spot.— Gallus Effie ? (@GallusEffie) May 13, 2021
8. A knock out
Don’t put metal in the science oven.
I knocked out the electrics in the whole of Canterbury high street by microwaving a soup which had metal on the rim.
— Mac (@Tweetgood_Mac) May 13, 2021
7. [Redacted]
And then when the balance sheet is off at the end of the day, guess who looks like a thief.
One day when I was a teen at [redacted large department store] I was just giving away money to everyone who bought a gift card. So they’d buy a gift card and I would also give them the cash amount. My brain was like “yes this is right”
— Beth McColl (@imteddybless) May 13, 2021
6. Broadcast news
WTF was on that stick?
I brought down an entire department of a national broadcaster for three hours by plugging in a USB stick without having it scanned for viruses first.
— Johnny Chiodini (@johnneh) May 13, 2021
5. Hide away
I can’t say you didn’t have this coming.
Driving back after lunch. Milton Keynes, the moronic driver’s (me) wet dream. Overtook some rich dude in his Aston Martin, giving him the “wanker” hand. Was going in & saw the car parking up next to mine. Shit. Turned out to be Steve Jackson to meet my boss. I hid in the toilet.
— Philip Bak (@niinegames) May 12, 2021
4. How grand
She’s nicer than me, I would demanded to keep it.
Accidentally put £40,000 in a child’s account instead of £40 while working for a bank. Thankfully his mum noticed, gave us a call and found the whole thing very funny.
— Lydi_A (@LydiaMizon) May 13, 2021
3. Merry Christmas!
Hope you like angry phone calls as gifts.
In my ill fated bank call center career, remember this was a long time ago so wasn’t as easy as “app” to fix it I accidentally transferred £100 instead on £10,000 between two customer accounts just before the call center closed for the day
On Christmas Eve
— Pink Elephant Suit (@ElephantSuitFan) May 12, 2021
2. Social Listening Tools
Yikes.
Slagged off one of the brands I worked with on Twitter, forgetting that they had the finest social listening tools that money could buy. Nothing more humiliating than being called to a meeting with HR where they’ve printed out a month’s worth of your tweets.
— Christina McMc (@ChristinaMcMc) May 12, 2021
1. The grueling tour
Oops.
Two months into a fairly grueling tour and it’s time to fly home. Got everyone up, checked the rooms, passport check, into the taxi, to the airport, an hour to spare, time to go home.
Turns out Brussels has two airports.
— Andrew Ellis (@Ellis_Samizdat) May 12, 2021
Man. Makes me glad the worst I can mess up with this job is seplling thngis worgn.
What’s your big work mistake?
Tell us in the comments.
