- Joined
- May 23, 2022
There are times when a person can lose their job through no fault of their own. The business or plant goes bankrupt, a turn in the economy forces management to issue layoffs, and in extreme cases, a person could be wrongly accused and let go based on little to no evidence.
And then there are times when a person is totally at fault and can blame no one but themselves. Sometimes it's for the dumbest of reasons, which coincidentally makes it really entertaining. This is what this thread is for.
Now, I wouldn't dream of starting a thread without some content of my own, so here are a couple of dumb reasons I've seen my fellow wage slaves fired.
Incident #1: The Napper in Plain Sight
So before I had my current job, I worked at a different factory. I could go go on about the various problems at this place but the long and short of it is that there was no official training program and management was hands-off to the point of worthlessness. They only got involved if something went wrong, with no steps taken to keep things from going wrong in the first place.
That said, even this incident could not be blamed on anyone but the employee in question. So there I was, trying to get through another monotonous day, when further down the line, some guy walked to a highly visible corner of the factory, sat down on some random junk, covered his upper body with his jacket like it was a blanket, and fell asleep on the spot. I've heard stories of people sneaking off to a closet to take a nap, but I've never seen anyone fall asleep on the job in plain sight. He must have gotten ten minutes at most because someone from management shook him awake, they exchanged some words, and the two walked away. Only the manager was seen again.
Incident #2: The Snack Thief
This one still puzzles me to this day; you'll understand when I finish.
So this took place at my current job, also a factory position. I've been there for about nine years at the time of this posting, so I've seen a lot of changes over the years, most of them for the better. One big change was the installation of a snack kiosk. Either through a credit card, cash, or use of the account card given to us to use with the kiosk, we can buy various snacks and drinks on our breaks for our convenience. I rarely use it myself but it's always nice to have the option of a pick-me-up or a plan B if something happens.
One person in particular, however, took advantage of this by taking drinks and never paying for them. That's bad enough, but what takes this from merely awful behavior and into the realms of abject stupidity is not only are there highly visible cameras in the break room in plain sight, but there's also a big sign near the food shelves and the drink refrigerators that very clearly state, in uncertain terms, that eating food and drink without paying for them is grounds for immediate termination. And he did this for several days in a row. Really, the surprising thing isn't that he got fired but that he didn't get fired almost immediately. The guy legit had some brain damage that made his short-term memory almost nil, so maybe they wanted to give him the benefit of a doubt, that maybe he was having trouble processing, but after a while, it became apparent that wasn't the case.
Incident #3: The Lunch Thief
I don't have too much to say about this one. One of my coworkers (let's just call him "Jeff" to keep things from getting confusing) came in with something he bought from a local restaurant and put it in the refrigerator. Personally, I can't stand the idea of getting hot food and not eating it right away, but whatever; it's a free country. Hours later at lunchtime, Jeff starts to lose his shit because someone had gotten into his take-out box and eaten half of his lunch. He lets management know about this and they told him they would look into it right away. Well, they weren't kidding, because a few minutes of skimming footage from the hidden cameras in the break room showed another coworker (Let's call him "Bob") had gone into the breakroom between breaks and ate part of the lunch right there at the refrigerator. Bob got fired right away.
What was really strange about this situation was that Bob was the son of the town's mayor, and I live in a pretty small town, so word of this could easily spread and make his dad look bad. Bob also did not have his own car, and at the time of this incident, I was assigned to the workstation closest to the employee entrance. So here I am, watching this guy having to call someone to explain why he got fired on his first day on the job and having to wait for at least a full hour to get picked up. One has to wonder what was going through his head
Incident #4: The Masturbater
Yes, you read that right. Yes, it is as gross as it sounds.
So we have a coworker named "Phil". Phil's a great guy; he's not the guy who got fired. But he was the witness to the guy who did get fired. Anyway, Phil works mostly behind the presses, keeping them running and making sure the plastic is always flowing. One day, as he's making his rounds, he notices one of his coworkers (let's call him "Todd") behind the filling stations, hunched over with his back turned to the walkway. This strikes Phil as very strange and, from the angle he saw the guy, it almost looked like Todd was hurt. Phil, being the standup guy that he is, decides to be a team player and make sure that Todd is okay and see if he needs help or not. After all, factory injuries are no laughing matter.
However, the closer Phil gets to Todd, it becomes more and more apparent that Todd isn't injured. In fact, Todd is in fact sitting strangely, almost in a squat. Once Phil gets close enough, he's horrified to see Todd is, in fact, watching pornography on his phone, cock out and pumping furiously with his hand. Phil talks to management and Todd is promptly fired.
Look, I know sexual frustration hits people differently and for some men, their only outlet is to squirt one out. But why he didn't just do this in a bathroom stall or even just wait until he got home, I have no idea.
Bonus entry: This is less "stupid" and more "horrifying", but one of my coworkers got arrested for possession of child pornography. This was particularly shocking because everyone liked the guy, he was happily married, and he looked like the last person who would be a pedo.
So, enough of my ramblings. What about you? What are some of the dumbest reasons a coworker or someone you know lost their job?
And then there are times when a person is totally at fault and can blame no one but themselves. Sometimes it's for the dumbest of reasons, which coincidentally makes it really entertaining. This is what this thread is for.
Now, I wouldn't dream of starting a thread without some content of my own, so here are a couple of dumb reasons I've seen my fellow wage slaves fired.
Incident #1: The Napper in Plain Sight
So before I had my current job, I worked at a different factory. I could go go on about the various problems at this place but the long and short of it is that there was no official training program and management was hands-off to the point of worthlessness. They only got involved if something went wrong, with no steps taken to keep things from going wrong in the first place.
That said, even this incident could not be blamed on anyone but the employee in question. So there I was, trying to get through another monotonous day, when further down the line, some guy walked to a highly visible corner of the factory, sat down on some random junk, covered his upper body with his jacket like it was a blanket, and fell asleep on the spot. I've heard stories of people sneaking off to a closet to take a nap, but I've never seen anyone fall asleep on the job in plain sight. He must have gotten ten minutes at most because someone from management shook him awake, they exchanged some words, and the two walked away. Only the manager was seen again.
Incident #2: The Snack Thief
This one still puzzles me to this day; you'll understand when I finish.
So this took place at my current job, also a factory position. I've been there for about nine years at the time of this posting, so I've seen a lot of changes over the years, most of them for the better. One big change was the installation of a snack kiosk. Either through a credit card, cash, or use of the account card given to us to use with the kiosk, we can buy various snacks and drinks on our breaks for our convenience. I rarely use it myself but it's always nice to have the option of a pick-me-up or a plan B if something happens.
One person in particular, however, took advantage of this by taking drinks and never paying for them. That's bad enough, but what takes this from merely awful behavior and into the realms of abject stupidity is not only are there highly visible cameras in the break room in plain sight, but there's also a big sign near the food shelves and the drink refrigerators that very clearly state, in uncertain terms, that eating food and drink without paying for them is grounds for immediate termination. And he did this for several days in a row. Really, the surprising thing isn't that he got fired but that he didn't get fired almost immediately. The guy legit had some brain damage that made his short-term memory almost nil, so maybe they wanted to give him the benefit of a doubt, that maybe he was having trouble processing, but after a while, it became apparent that wasn't the case.
Incident #3: The Lunch Thief
I don't have too much to say about this one. One of my coworkers (let's just call him "Jeff" to keep things from getting confusing) came in with something he bought from a local restaurant and put it in the refrigerator. Personally, I can't stand the idea of getting hot food and not eating it right away, but whatever; it's a free country. Hours later at lunchtime, Jeff starts to lose his shit because someone had gotten into his take-out box and eaten half of his lunch. He lets management know about this and they told him they would look into it right away. Well, they weren't kidding, because a few minutes of skimming footage from the hidden cameras in the break room showed another coworker (Let's call him "Bob") had gone into the breakroom between breaks and ate part of the lunch right there at the refrigerator. Bob got fired right away.
What was really strange about this situation was that Bob was the son of the town's mayor, and I live in a pretty small town, so word of this could easily spread and make his dad look bad. Bob also did not have his own car, and at the time of this incident, I was assigned to the workstation closest to the employee entrance. So here I am, watching this guy having to call someone to explain why he got fired on his first day on the job and having to wait for at least a full hour to get picked up. One has to wonder what was going through his head
Incident #4: The Masturbater
Yes, you read that right. Yes, it is as gross as it sounds.
So we have a coworker named "Phil". Phil's a great guy; he's not the guy who got fired. But he was the witness to the guy who did get fired. Anyway, Phil works mostly behind the presses, keeping them running and making sure the plastic is always flowing. One day, as he's making his rounds, he notices one of his coworkers (let's call him "Todd") behind the filling stations, hunched over with his back turned to the walkway. This strikes Phil as very strange and, from the angle he saw the guy, it almost looked like Todd was hurt. Phil, being the standup guy that he is, decides to be a team player and make sure that Todd is okay and see if he needs help or not. After all, factory injuries are no laughing matter.
However, the closer Phil gets to Todd, it becomes more and more apparent that Todd isn't injured. In fact, Todd is in fact sitting strangely, almost in a squat. Once Phil gets close enough, he's horrified to see Todd is, in fact, watching pornography on his phone, cock out and pumping furiously with his hand. Phil talks to management and Todd is promptly fired.
Look, I know sexual frustration hits people differently and for some men, their only outlet is to squirt one out. But why he didn't just do this in a bathroom stall or even just wait until he got home, I have no idea.
Bonus entry: This is less "stupid" and more "horrifying", but one of my coworkers got arrested for possession of child pornography. This was particularly shocking because everyone liked the guy, he was happily married, and he looked like the last person who would be a pedo.
So, enough of my ramblings. What about you? What are some of the dumbest reasons a coworker or someone you know lost their job?
