Embarrassing work moments
 

I just read ALL of the embarrassing work moments on the BBC America website for The Office (which I posted in the cool sites forum, but here's the link again), and I need more embarrassing stories to entertain me. I don't think I have one to start off with, but I promise to search my brain if people will start feeding me embarrassing work moments so I can laugh all afternoon.

Please please please? I know of at least a few people on GC who have SURELY made gigantic asses of themselves on multiple occasions. :)

Ok, I'll bite. I work at a local bookstore and one day (when I was still new to the job), I bent down to straighten a stack on the bottom shelf. Then, stood up quickly to rush off back to my desk and BAMMMM!!!! I cracked my head on the top bookshelf. It was an open shelf, so my face caught the corner of it, right in my temple. I swear, fireworks went off behind my eyelids, then everything started going black and I felt myself sinking to the floor, but something in me just snapped. A little voice said, "Don't you DARE pass out in front of all these people!" I force my legs to stiffen up, then stumbled to the back office to explain to my boss why I needed to go to Starbucks to get some ice...and why there was a bruised dent in my face.

I used to work at a YMCA as a Swim Lessons Coordinator, which meant a lot of running around on the pool deck while lessons were going on. I also was required to dress fairly nicely.

So one evening, lessons are going on. I was carrying a big tub of squeeze toys to one of my instructors. Mind you, I'm wearing high heels and a skirt. I slipped in a puddle next to the pool and fall flat on the ground. The toys went flying everywhere, my knee was bleeding, and I'm pretty sure every single parent got an awesome few of my ass.

I volunteer at an animal shelter and am training to work alone in the cat room. Before my mentors showed up, I decided to take initiative and start feeding and cleaning out the litter boxes. Part way through, one of the mentors asked who brought in and opened a can of dog food in the cattery.

Apparently I wasn't paying too much attention to what pictogram was on the can, just what the food was. It said beef and liver and figured it was fine. Apparently not. Luckily I had only fed one adult cat the dog food. And she had turned her nose up at it and sat in the corner of her kennel.

And my mentors kept reminding me that there was a can of dog food in the cattery and kept "wondering" who would ever feed dog food to cats.

So I work at a law firm, and one day I'm traveling down the elevator to the main lobby dowstairs (there are several firms in our building). So the elevator doors open and I walk out, only I don't get all the way out because the heel of my cute shoes gets caught in the elevator door tracks.....but I keep walking, right out of my shoe! Of course, a REALLY cute runner from one of the other firms had to be waiting on the elevator. He calmly bends down and picks up my shoe and hands it back to me. I politely thank him and hurry down the hallway, but I can hear him chuckling to himself. I've never wanted to melt into the floor so badly.....

I had been at my new job on the outpatient adolescent psych unit for about 3 weeks when I did my first cooking group with the kids. They each made their own batch of soft pretzel dough and got to shape their own pretzels however they wanted. I had about 4 cookie sheets and 8 kids so I as I took one set out of the oven, I put a new set on the same cookie sheet and put it back in the oven. As I was taking out one of the last batches, the fire alarms go off in the hospital. Code Red, 3A, Code Red, 3A. Well, 3 A was my area! I start moving the kids out to evacuate and maintenance guys from all over the hospital show up with fire extinguishers and tell me that the fire is in my OT room! I looked at the cookie sheet I had just pulled out of the oven and there was a small piece of batter that had obviously been cooked twice. The smoke alarm was directly over the stove in my room so that one little piece of burned pretzel dough set off the alarm!
I showed them the "fire" and within seconds, the city fire department was rushing into my OT room. I offered them pretzels...

I figured I'd better go tell my supervisor about all this once the firemen were convinced there was no fire. She was in the cafeteria with a group of social workers and RTs and I walked up to her and greeted her. She asked me how it was going and I said "I did my first cooking group today." She said "Great! How did it go?" I said "You heard that Code Red?". The whole table busted out laughing. Then they told me a story about a Rec Therapist who sprayed air freshener all over the hallway after an exercise group and set off the fire alarm on the inpatient that way!

They never let me live down the pretzel thing, but they did relocate my smoke alarm to the other end of the room!

Dee

I was just talking about this earlier!

One summer, I had this mindless political job; when someone's assessment was changed, the paperwork came to me and I would make the new tax bill. Of course, this assessment would have to go through three different offices before it hit mine.

Customer Jones got his assessment changed, and somehow got my telephone number to say that he'd be over to pick up the new bill. I explained that I did not have the correct paperwork to do this for him, but would soon. He called daily, morning and afternoon, to see if I had the paperwork yet for at least two weeks.

Finally, he got hot and starting really yelling about the bureaucracy and how unnecessary this nonsense was (true), and yelled, "Can't you find any way to cut through all this red tape?!"

I said back, "Sir, I don't cut red tape - I make it!"

He was quiet a moment, then we agreed that, the moment I heard it was on its way, I would call him so he could pick it up - which is how it worked out. The best part was when he took me to my boss and said what an asset I was to his office!

I went off on a server in front in of guests. It felt good while I did it, but a little later I felt like an asshat.

OH man, a few lifeguard stories here.

1) When I started working as a guard, I bought the required guard suit. Well it started smelling a little funky, so I wore my racing suit from swim team, which is about 2 sizes smaller than is "comfortable" to make hydrodynamics. So I'm chillin' up in my guards chair by the waterslide, and a kid goes under! So I leap off of my chair, grab the kid, and put him up on the side of the deck. Then the kid starts LAUGHING like crazy! I couldn't figure out what was so funny...the strap on my swimsuit (damn the spaghetti strap racing suit!) had broken, and not 1 but BOTH of my boobs were hanging out. I had to take my break in the middle of the day and go home and get a new suit.

2) During a rainstorm, we decided to have a bit of training/lifeguard fun. We practiced jumping off chairs into shallow water, rescues in clothing, spinal boarding, etc. Well..I could never quite get my jump off of this one chair. SO I sat up there, and my coworker faked a drowning. I jumped up and went to leap into the water...only to have my shorts get stuck on the chair! I did a bellysmacker into 4ft of water from my 7ft tall chair, and ripped my shorts from the leg to the butt. So embarassing.

I started a new job three weeks ago. After my first two days in the office I had to go to a sales meeting in Iowa with the two sales guys (that are cousins) and my boss (the father of one of the sales guys and uncle of the other). Anyway, they took me to mexican before we headed home. Our flight was delayed and once we finally made it on the plane my stomach was not happy. We were taking off and i realized I need to release some gas. Unfortunatly the take off was bumpy and we had to wait to use the bathroom. I was seated beside one of the sales guys and behind the other when I felt it-
Yes, I cut the cheese right then and there.
So there I am praying it isn't an SBD (silent but deadly) because you couldnt hear it come out.
And then the sales guy next to me hits the other sales guy in front of him in the head (remember they are cousins). He just whaps the shit out of him. The guy in front turns around and is hollering "WTF! What the hell was that fore you arsehole!?" and the other guys is going "Dude, that is nasty! That is just gross! I can't believe you! WHAT DIED IN YOU!". I started rolling laughing. The situation was too funny.
So they both knew it was me and I keep catching hell about it. Before they walk in my office they holler "Is it clear?".
Geeze!

i don't think i have an embarassing moment but if i do, i'll post. but the guy i work with always farts and for some reason he thinks its normal

Eww! One of the guys came in last week scratching his balls as he waslked into my office-
His crotch is right at the level of my head while I am sitting in this short chair! YUCK!

Don't hate on ball scratchers.

-Rudey

I work at a doctor's office that is two floors. I had to go upstairs to the filing room the other day to get a bunch of charts. On my way back down the stairs, I tripped and accidentally threw the whole stack of charts. I was putting those things back in order for a long while ...thank goodness no one actually saw me fall, because that really would have been embarassing! :p