We Asked People About Their Most Embarrassing First Days Of Work — Here's What They Said
A little while back, I asked the members of the BuzzFeed Community to share their embarrassing stories from their first days of work. As always, they were very generous in their responses. Here are 17 tales of food poisoning, broken equipment, and...love?
Submissions may have been edited for length and/or clarity.
1."I was on my first day working in a prison. I was there to run therapeutic groups, and on my first day, I was to be taken around all the departments and the prison wings to see how it worked. Before this, I went to my department. My new boss asked if I wouldn’t mind reaching up on top of a cupboard to get some materials, as I’m pretty tall. I stood on a box to get the extra height I needed, but when I jumped off, I split my trousers, from the belt right down through the crotch. Everyone laughed. I died a bit. As it was a prison, I couldn’t just go and sneak out to get more trousers. Instead, my new boss got me some prisoners jogging bottoms, which were very noticeable, and then made me do the tour with them on. Cue hilarity from every person in the prison as I wandered around. What made it worse was the looks I got leaving at the end of the day. I kept getting stopped as people thought I was a prisoner trying to make a break for it. I never lived it down."
—Anonymous, 38, England
2."My pants ripped right up the crotch. RIGHT up the crotch. I had to ask one of my new coworkers for a safety pin, and he asked what I needed it for. I don't even remember what answer I fumbled. That job ended up being a clusterfuck. That was probably an omen."
3."My first day, within the first hour, they gathered everyone (including me) in the conference room and held a surprise bridal shower for one of their coworkers. They were passing around a card, and I said, 'Oh! I'll sign it with some well wishes if you want, even though it's my first day and I'm not exactly sure who Ashley is just yet.' The lady holding it stared real hard and said, 'This is really only for those who contributed to the gift.' So, I just said, 'Oh okay, absolutely.' I spent the rest of the party in the corner trying to be extinct."
—Anonymous, 34, Germany
4."This just happened to me today, my first day at my new job! Last night, my operating manager sent around a message saying that Friday’s theme was Disney. Being the proper Disney adult that I am, I had my Mary Poppins Halloween costume ready to go. I marched into my new clinic — head held high, heart full of whimsy — to see a whole staff wearing business casual. I managed to ditch the hat and the umbrella, leaving me in an Edwardian blouse with a red bow tie and black bottoms. I spent my first day working in a clinic feeling like a catering waiter...an Edwardian catering waiter, but a waiter nonetheless."
5."I got hired for a position in the business office of a private school/church. I showed up for my first day of work to find out they hadn't fired my predecessor, and I had to sit in her office waiting to start my job while my boss fired her. She had to train me after that. It was super hard and awkward, especially because we were good acquaintances from when I worked in a different department at the school."
—Anonymous, 38, New Jersey
6."I had a horrible cold, so my coworker offered me a vitamin C packet. They figured I already knew what to do, which was drop the tablet in a cup of hot water and watch it dissolve before drinking. Well, never assume I know anything. I put the tablet in my mouth and drank a warm cup of water, leaving it to dissolve and profusely pour and foam out of my mouth, and all over myself and desk and floor, like I had a case of rabies. The whole office laughed so hard and was a staple of me being dubbed the atomic blonde at the office from there on out. I'm glad I can laugh about it and made them all laugh for the next two years of me working there."
—Anonymous, 40, California
Nickelodeon / Via giphy.com
7."It wasn’t my very first day but it was my first day back after a long illness (12 weeks). I decided I would change the lamination film in the laminator since the usual person was busy. Unfortunately, I put them in upside down, they adhered to the rollers, and the whole laminator was trash. Back then, it was a $1,500 mistake. On the upside, I will ALWAYS remember SHINY SIDE DOWN when loading a laminator."
—Anonymous, 51, Illinois
8."I was fresh out of law school starting work for a judge with a staff who’d been together for years. My first day, the guy who was training me took me to the cafeteria and was raving about the food. I got soup (guess I should have known). Fifteen minutes later, I excused myself to quietly projectile vomit in the bathroom located in the middle of everyone’s offices. Six trips to the bathroom and an insane amount of throwing up later, the judge sent me home. I managed to make it to my car but stopped and lost it in bathrooms in random office buildings along the highway home. Everyone let me in because I was in a suit and looked like I belonged (or because they could see how desperate I was)."
"The last time, I threw up in my driveway on the way into my house. My neighbor was outside and asked if I was drunk. I worried all night that my new distinguished co-workers thought I was drinking on the job! Luckily, they came to know I wasn’t, and I didn’t eat in that cafeteria for the entire time I worked there."
—Anonymous
9."My first ever job when I was 14 was working in a cafe, and I was asked to scrub the floors in the dishwashing area. Not only did I manage to flood the dishwashing area, but I also flooded the storeroom that was connected, the kitchen, and part of the cafe floor. All because I didn’t know that the drain in the ground had to be opened. Oops?"
10."I walked into a bar to inquire about a job and complained about the old guy in front of me on the way in was driving far too slow. In walks that guy — the owner! There were some awkward chuckles and 'ahems' from patrons at the bar. He may have overheard a bit. I put two and two together and instead of leaving with my tail between my legs, I introduced myself. I then told the owner that all of the customers were warning ME about his driving! Everyone had a good laugh, I had my interview, and got hired on the spot."
11."Not the first day, but the first month: I wasn't feeling well and thought I texted 'I am taking a SICK day' to my boss (texts are how we communicate regularly). She replied, 'Okay, no problem," and I went about my day. The next day I went to text her again and realized I had written 'I am taking a DICK day' in the first text! I was SO embarrassed and SO apologetic. Luckily she laughed it off and said she just thought I needed to get my rocks off and she was fine with that!"
—Anonymous, 32, Massachusetts
12."I worked at a banner company, and the guy training me found out that I didn't know what '12x8' meant. I SWEAR I WAS JUST SUPER NERVOUS THAT DAY."
13."My first job was as an office assistant. I was very young, naive, eager, and not used to formal clothing. I'd been given instructions and was kind of backing away to start doing it (keen!) while also still smiling and chatting with my manager (friendly!). I stepped back into a big crate full of files and fell backwards so that my ass landed in the crate and my legs were in the air."
14."I decided to go the extra mile and curl my hair for my first day of work at my first 'big girl job.' Unfortunately, I somehow managed to burn myself on my neck. I had to walk around for my first week with what looked like a hickey on my neck. I’ve learned to keep it simple and stick to my usual routine on first days now."
15."I worked at a Tim Hortons. We just ran out of cookies so my trainer told me to grab the ones cooling in the back. I went in and dropped the whole tray because I thought I saw a bug in one of the cookies. It was a raisin. Cookies are one of our best sellers and they take 18 minutes to bake and another 10 minutes to properly cool."
—Anonymous, Toronto
16."Not embarrassing but funny (to me, at least). I was a newly hired high school teacher and looked even younger than most my age (I was 22 at the time and should mention that I’m under 5’). Figuring I could only get away with it once, I took my pictures off the desk and walked in the front door with the rest of the class on the first day of school. I dressed the part (khakis, shirt, and backpack over the shoulder) and sat down next to one of my new students. 'Do you know anything about the new teacher? I hear she’s crazy!' I whispered to the 15-year-old next to me. She shook her head, terrified. Five minutes after the bell, the class started to get restless and I knew I needed to reveal myself when my 17-year-old teacher's assistant (who I’d never met) started rifling through my desk."
"Joke was on me. They didn’t believe this freckled shrimp of a woman was their new theatre teacher. It took me pulling out the framed pictures of me and my family that I’d stashed away before they believed me. That was 24 years ago. I’m still teaching there, still short…but the wrinkles give my age away now. No regrets from that first day, though."
17.And finally, this sweet tale: "I got a new job and relocated to California. On my first day, I got in a fender bender on the way to the office during my short commute from the hotel they put me up in. I had to call my new supervisor to say I’d be late. Later, I got posted to a desk and received my assignments. I was very nervous. I spilled an entire coffee on the keyboard and desk. I was mortified and so was the floor manager I just met. I was unfamiliar with the place and didn’t even know where to grab a paper towel. Tears were coming. Suddenly, a nice guy I hadn’t met yet hurried over with a roll of paper towels and asked me to slide aside as he cleaned it up for me. He kept saying it was okay and he had done it before, so not to worry. We have now been together for 15 years! It was not a bad day after all."
—Anonymous, 45, California
