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Funny work stories

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myntik1:
Here's one of mine all time favorites.  I went from rapidly moving up the corporate chain to being labeled a joker literally overnight.

A couple of years ago I was in line for a good promotion.  In the previous 10 months I had received 2 spot bonuses as well as my normal yearly bonus.  Everything is rainbows, puppies and balloons.  On our intranet we have a classified board section that 7-9K people have access to.  In the past we've had people scalp XBox 360's and PS3's for a a grand.  We had a guy who posted ads for 5 different cars he was selling at the same time, which I'm sure is the equivalent to running a business from your cube. So the day before Thanksgiving I check the board to find that a department head in another area is selling a box of crayons for $100.  Obviously it's a joke.  So I write up an add to sell my college degree.  It went something like "since I no longer need my degree now that I have a job, here's your turn to reap the benefits.  Up for sale is that elusive B.A. in History you always wanted, but your parents made you get a degree in something useful. For 13,500/obo it can be yours.  I can also photoshop your picture into some of my spring break photos to complete the experience." 

I figure the worst case scenario is my boss telling me the joke is in bad taste and to remove the ad, which I was only going to post for one day.  Well my boss at the time wasn't amused.  Actually she brought hellfire and brimstone with her when she approached my desk.  When the dust settled she wrote me up for misuse of company resources (using the company computer to post the ad) and labeled it a behavior issue.  As a result of being on probation I was no longer a candidate for the promotion to senior training consultant as well catching the double 0 for the next year's bonus and raise. A bit harsh in my estimation, but I was on the receiving end of the career beating so I might be a little biased.  In the 4 yrs i was with the company I had gone from analyst, to specialist, to trainer, to training consultant.  I felt like I was the golden child. From that point on I had trouble moving up because during internal hr interviews I always had to disclose that I did have a write-up on file. "No, it's not for attendance or job performance, I had a behavior issue.  My golden glimmer started to fade.  Anyway,over the past 3 years I've collected about 2 dozen questionable/joke ads that the poster didn't catch the fallout that I had.  I don't think I'm going to make a return to this company, but I figure I have enough evidence of other cases to at least have the probation removed from my file during my exit interview.


Although the joke cost me a ton of cash and much grief I would do it again.  In a few years no one will remember 39632, but some will remember the mass communication that was sent out concerning acceptable use of the intranet prompted by the kid who tried to peddle his degree.

So if you have a funny work story post em.

shardian:
I think being the "golden child" was why you got busted. Odds are there were others in the company waiting for you to slip up.

whammoed:
At the job I had while in florida, there was a wildcat in the area that took to eating one or two of the stray cats that someone was feeding.  Someone posted flyers on the doors with a picture of a wildcat stating some kind of "BEWARE" message.  I thought it was comical that I should beware of such a tiny animal so on one of the flyers I drew a thought balloon above the picture of the wildcat with him thinking: "Kitties are yummy in my tummy".  The individual who posted the flyers was none too happy which made it even funnier to me. :P

SirPeale:

--- Quote from: myntik1 on April 11, 2008, 09:44:59 am ---Here's one of mine all time favorites.  I went from rapidly moving up the corporate chain to being labeled a joker literally overnight.

--- End quote ---

Dude, that has to be one of the most messed up stories I've ever heard.  In fact, I'm surprised you're not in JAIL for that kind of stunt.

I mean, seriously, what were you thinking?

If that's the kind of behavior you exhibit at work, what kind of human being are you?  Soulless freak.  See a shrink.  And a priest.

SavannahLion:
Most of my "funny" work stories as of late can't be revealed to a NDA. Don't ask me why, I have no idea.  ::)

I can share this one though. I got "Let go" for this one even though I really had nothing to do with it.

At one job, we had two different "classifications" of employees. We were tagged with Yellow (my class) and blue (the better class). The only major differences between the two, blue class usually had the option to transfer to a different department before getting fired. Yellow class was also under greater security scrutiny forcing us to go through two security checkpoints and a separate employee entrance even though both classes worked in the same areas.

Where we worked, there was a hot/cold water dispenser. One day someone painted the HOT/COLD knobs YELLOW and BLUE. The implication was pretty clear, yellow were to use the hot water dispenser and not the cold. Not realizing what the joke was or who did it, I mentioned it to a blue class employee... who happened to be African American.

She went ballistic. For weeks we were involved in an "investigation" to get to the bottom of who labeled the water cooler, sensitivity training, and all around wasted time. Eventually a group of about 25 employees were released from our duties, including myself who was "involved" in the incident. No blues were harmed in the incident.

Turns out a yellow class employee (who was NOT fired) was the one who did the joke as an example of the obviously painful disparity between the two employee classes.

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