Most Awkward Work-Related Moments

[TJones]

I haven't had an extremely awkward moment at work, but this happened to a good friend of mine.

She was talking with a male client about the project they were working on together. And at the end of the conversation, right before she hangs up with him, she says "I love you." I'm sure you all can relate to this automatic instinctive three-word sentence to your loved ones at the end of your phone conversation. It was hilarious! To this day, when I think about it, I laugh out loud.

I am laughing right now. It is kinda like telling people "Good Luck" after they have just told you "Good Luck." about something you were about to go do. Those automatic responses really can get you in trouble.

[Lowbrow]

In grad school, I was building some scientific instruments for my dissertation with an engineer at his workshop over the course of a week. On the final day I showed up to finish manufacturing our last microchip and there was ATF and Crimescene tape all over his workshop and home. All the doors were wipe open and there wasnt a soul around. I had to go find a newspaper to find out that he had been raided the night before and all his gear confiscated for allegedly growing, transporting and distributing hydroponic marijuana. That was kind of awkward.

They also confiscated all my phd gear as well. My grants were through the office of naval research, so they were trying to nail him with theft of federal property as well. Needless to say, I never saw my equipment again... and I never did finish that phd.

[Justin]

After Rita hit here in Beaumont I was working with my cousin building fences for a few months. The worst moment has to be the time that we were at Lowes picking up supplies for a project when I accidentally crashed a cart full of lumber into his truck.

I don't remember for sure, but I think he thanked me for adding some character to his old work truck.

[TheNiche]

Here's a little thing I thought would be interesting. Let's all share our most awkward work-related moments. To break the ice, I'll start:

My boss, without realizing it, hired my most recent ex-girlfriend as a temp. She starts tomorrow and will sit in a cube within earshot of mine. If I am not sufficiently productive through the holiday season or they do not hire a replacement for someone who left the firm recently, then I am almost certain that she will be retained to take on my excess work and that I'll be her project manager. She doesn't know that.

In telling me of our newest hire, my boss refered to her in my presence as an "odd little duck".

EDIT: SS, don't tell KD or CS. Thanks.

Update to my awkward moment: we fired her today.

She wasn't able to complete even 25% of the project she'd been assigned (although what she did, she did well), so now I have to do the remainder in addition to plenty of other work on my plate. I'll probably be working most nights for the next couple of weeks, which means less time to work on my Eastwood house. So...she walks with cash in hand and one less responsibility and I'm burdened with more responsibilities (for which I won't receive any additional compensation) and a high personal opportunity cost. Perhaps worst of all, I wasn't able to convert the ex- into a solid platonic friend. I take pride in my retention of ex's as friends, but failed with this one. The only one I've failed with before committed a murder-suicide.

[Niche buries head in hands with fingers interwoven in hair and sulks briefly.]

[CDeb]

The only one I've failed with before committed a murder-suicide.

Ooooo, nice work there, Nichie!

[Guest Marty]

Maybe your hair will grow back and them ulcer's will go away.

[TheNiche]

Ooooo, nice work there, Nichie!

Oh, shut up. I was a stabilizing force when I was around.

You can lead a horse to water...but if the horse adds twenty hits of LSD to the water before taking a drink, you can't be held responsible for the long-term consequences. You were just trying to prevent dehydration.

[CDeb]

Oh, shut up. I was a stabilizing force when I was around.

You can lead a horse to water...but if the horse adds twenty hits of LSD to the water before taking a drink, you can't be held responsible for the long-term consequences. You were just trying to prevent dehydration.

Just kidding with you. It was too good of an opportunity to pass up!

In all seriousness, I know what you mean.

[Vertigo58]

This ranks at the top of my list.

A few years ago when I worked for a popular energy company, I was also in the Christmas choir. When the week came that we had to sing in the lobby I was not feeling to well physically. The final most important day came for us to be in the main lobby and sing several melodies to many, many people passing through. It was lunch time and I had to stand on these bleachers next to the others so there were about 2 rows in front of me. Advice: Do not take Dayquil while at work. All of a sudden ....you guessed it. I exploded and hit the lady in front of me. I could die and almost passed out too. Luckily the two guys next to me walked me down indiscreetly and took me outside. Its bad enough talking about it years later but now you see it in type. I could only find the lady in the choir later and apologize my heart out and send her some kind of gift, anything, offer to pay for her cleaner bill! She was the most gracious and understanding person ever and would not accept a thing.

Fast forward about 3-4 months I was in Vegas with my brother at MGM Hotel playing slots when I turn around she and her husband and friends were in front of me. If I could curl up in a ball and disappear I would have. I thought for sure the intro was going to be like "This is the friend that got sick on me when we were singing" but she again was good enough to just say "we used to work together".

Still holding back tears after all these years. Sounds like a country song. Any way I think that tops the list of awkward work-related moments.

[marmer]

I work for the Rice music school. Every spring we host the Houston Symphony competition named for their benefactor, famed Houston grande dame and philanthropist Ima Hogg. Well, around the office we used to jokingly call that event "Ima Pig." One day I was coming up the stairs (our office is on the second floor) talking about "Ima Pig" with a co-worker and there were a couple of the event volunteers waiting in the lobby. These ladies were old enough to have known Miss Ima. One of them said, reproachfully, "She was a VERY NICE lady!" I'm sure she was. Oops!

marmer

[houstonmacbro]

How about using the restroom stall next to one of my upper management and hearing him make noise.

I can never look at him the same after hearing that symphony come out of his rear.

Eew.

Speaking of bathroom etiquette, I always try to use the most far away and incospicuous bathrooms as possibly, because I do not like the 'recognizing people by their shoes' routine.

[CDeb]

Speaking of bathroom etiquette, I always try to use the most far away and incospicuous bathrooms as possibly, because I do not like the 'recognizing people by their shoes' routine.

LOL! I know of which you speak!!

[Pumapayam]

Eew.

Speaking of bathroom etiquette, I always try to use the most far away and incospicuous bathrooms as possibly, because I do not like the 'recognizing people by their shoes' routine.

Er, think about you, you and everyone else think that way. That ends up being the most used and dirty stall.

Trick is, use the most likely stall people will never use.

Ironically, you will get the most privacy and the cleanest stall that way.

LOL! I know of which you speak!!

You know they are an old man if they have tassels on their dress shoes!

These are some ugly SOB's

[TheNiche]

Er, think about you, you and everyone else think that way. That ends up being the most used and dirty stall.

Trick is, use the most likely stall people will never use.

Ironically, you will get the most privacy and the cleanest stall that way.

This is usually true, unless your coworkers are also hypocondriac game theorists. Then you've got real problems.

[marmer]

In my building, the last stall in a row is the wheelchair one. For some reason most guys use the very first stall and the very first urinal in the row.

marmer

[houstonmacbro]

In my building, the last stall in a row is the wheelchair one. For some reason most guys use the very first stall and the very first urinal in the row.

marmer

The handicap stalls are NICE! They are roomy and far enough away from eyes that no one can see your shoes!

[Pumapayam]

In my building, the last stall in a row is the wheelchair one. For some reason most guys use the very first stall and the very first urinal in the row.

marmer

You don't need to sign your name on your posts btw, we can tell who is speaking.

[AJXterra]

You could invest in 'bathroom' shoes...and switch out before you go...no one will ever know it's you.

marmer

[Pumapayam]

You could invest in 'bathroom' shoes...and switch out before you go...no one will ever know it's you.

marmer

Now that you mention that, it is really a good reason to take off your shoes when you come home!

marmer

[houstonmacbro]

Now that you mention that, it is really a good reason to take off your shoes when you come home!

marmer

Yeah ... I always kick them off when I come home.

You could invest in 'bathroom' shoes...and switch out before you go...no one will ever know it's you.

Excellent idea! And hilarious to boot (no pun intended).

[AJXterra]

Even better, get some that look like your boss's (see: symphony) and you get two birds with one stone...

[marmer]

You don't need to sign your name on your posts btw, we can tell who is speaking.

Oh, right. Sorry. Most awkward non-work-related moment: forgetting which message board I am posting to and what if any sig to use. Oops.

The Real Marmer

[Vertigo58]

Here's a strange one.

I used to work at a company where we had a supervisor that was just too outspoken and loud. He would say bad (off color, offensive, sexist) jokes out loud and on the phone. He was quite repulsive to say the least. He was put in this position through sheer nepotism, you could get away with it in those days.

It got to the point that he was unapproachable as he would snap at you an humiliate you in front of the others. One day he and another regular employee go to have drinks at lunch mind you come back and he is visibly stoned & reeking of booze. Main boss found out and fired him right on the spot.

Awkward part was having to work near his wife after all this mess. She had to come to work and face everyone after his shameless display. She was quite obnoxious too so they made a perfect couple. The unusual thing about all this is it seemed as if she blamed all of us for his screw up? She finally left for greener pastures. Good riddance. Last we had heard was he was in AA but it was short lived. Happy I'm not at this frkg company any more.

[nativehou]

In one of my first jobs out of college I worked for a company that provided page-layout and design services. My boss was an on-the-job alcoholic, which provided its own set of awkward moments. But I still cringe when I think about this event.

I had been working with one of our clients (a man in his 50s) on a book he was producing himself. Everything was going fine for weeks; he was pleasant to be around. No problems. Then one day he called the office, spoke to my boss about what a lousy job I had been doing, and then asked my boss to put me on the phone. So I get on the phone while my boss stands there and listens. The client started to scream at me and call me horrific names that I can't print here. If I hadn't been as young and inexperienced as I was, I would have just hung up. But I stayed on the phone and took it and started to cry, very loudly. Then my boss, instead of intervening, left the room and closed the door behind him! The guy just verbally abused me for what must have been a half hour. Every few minutes my boss or one of the other employees would peek in the door to see if I was still on the phone and still crying, and then they would just go back to their work.

The didn't fire the client. They just put someone else on the job.

At the time, I felt like I caused the problem. Now that I look back, I realize the client was probably sitting on his bed in his apartment getting off to causing emotional pain to a 22-year-old girl. Yuk.

[Vertigo58]

This is an awkward moment not really work related but I have been wanting to release for some time.

I once had a family dentist that did a root canal on me many years ago. The root canal work never quite stopped the pain and it gave me problems until one day it finally shattered, etc. I was not happy and I had started paying what I could, whenever I could. I stopped after a while since I felt I got jilted out of the deal. I came out losing. The overdue letters started coming and I just ignored for a long time.

One day I go to the bank to cash a check and as I am standing in line I notice that the person directly in front of me is the dentist. I am wondering could he possibly remember me? If he does will he bring it up that I owe him in front of all of these people? All these thoughts are flying around. Here is the funny part. As he slightly turns to his left I also turn to the left. Again he turns to the right and I turn to the right. It was like a scene from an old 3 Stooges movie. This seemed to go on forever! I started to sweat and almost crumbled from the suspense. he finally walked away and didnt seem to know i was even there. Once I got to the teller I must have been white as a ghost. There is a moral to the story somewhere. lol

Now that was extremely awkward!

[TexasArchitect]

short, yet awkward.

at previous place of employment my boss and i were in a hurry trying to issue a set for construction. amongst the mayhem of grabbing papers, pulling papers, throwing things away her hand accidentall brushed up against my butt. and yes it was a total accident but still was pretty awkward

[Mr. Chenevert]

Back when I first graduated college and started my first job, I was only about three weeks into the job, sitting in a conference room during a meeting and I let one rip without even thinking about it. My etiquette hadnt changed from college yet I guess. I was so embarrassed... the guys were cool though and didnt say much other than "it happens..."

Then a few days later, I am looking at a recent design prototype, and comment that one of the storage bins was "gay"... the gentleman behind me says "its what?" and I said "its gay"... I then turned around to see an obviously homosexual co-worker. He was cool about it.

However, those two experiences quickly made me realize I had to change my ways a bit at the workplace.

[kristiw]

Y'all are sharing some great stories!

I'm sure I could write a book on mine, but one that comes to mind... not awkward for me, but was for the architect:

There was a serious hate/hate relationship between the architect and our GC team. E-mails always fly between all parties involved on our project, so hitting 'Reply All' is the norm. Well, this architect (obviously) meant to hit 'Forward' instead of 'Reply All', and sent EVERYONE an e-mail, which included but was not limited to curse words, claiming how out-of-line were were, and how sick of this *more cursing* he was, and endless erratic ranting.

Not much later, another e-mail was sent to all parties saying, "Sorry, that was intended for so-and-so only..."

What's funny is he's done this several times... once I replied and told him, "You've hit 'Reply All' again instead of 'Forward'..." To which I got another, "Sorry..."

[flyingman]

In 2005 I was in a co-op program working for Shell Chemical plant in Deer Park. I worked in a lab and across the hallway was the supervisor's office. Where he sat at his desk was directly across from our door so you could see him if you were walking by in the lab. One time I was walking by and did a quick glance out the door, to see him digging for gold up his nose. He was way in deep and I just kept on walking. Oh and there was eye contact at that moment too.

[Vertigo58]

Even though it happened a long time ago I can never forget it. There used to be a Disco in downtown called Rocky's Disco. It was quite popular and used to draw an older crowd (over 21) that was grown up to us High School kids. We used to get in even though we were underage. You could get away with it then sort of. Disco was all the talk and I had to go out of curiosity. This is where all the best looking girls from other schools were rumoured to go to so I figured why not. I dont recall whom I was there with but I did run into some others from school. One girl that was not well liked because she was popular was there and was dancing with just about every other guy. Other girls thought she was just full of herself and most of them were in these clubs. She and I started dancing and the floor was packed for a Saturday night. All of a sudden her skirt fell off and flew across the floor. It was like the Janet Jackson deal years later. I was like what! She freaked out and ran and grabbed the skirt and ran to the RR. It happened so quick. Some of the couples around us noticed and started laughing out loud. I just skooted to my table and acted as if nothing happened. It was quite awkward seeing her at school after that. She told me to never tell any one but everyone knew the next Monday. Word travels quick.