It’s inevitable—sooner or later, you will have a bad day at work. Heck, you’ll have plenty of ‘em. Dealing with terrible things is a core part of life. However, no matter how tough you think you have it right now, it’s very likely that someone else is having a far worse day than you. And that’s an oddly comforting thought.
To make you feel better about your job, our team at Bored Panda has collected some of the most devastating fails that have happened at people’s workplaces. Scroll down to see just how bad things can get. But be warned—it hurts to look. Oh, and you should totally spam your colleagues with these pics… they definitely deserve a break.
Bored Panda reached out to Jodi Wellman, MAPP, for her thoughts on building resilience to stress and how to respond to bad luck in a healthy way. She was kind enough to answer our questions, and you'll find her insights as you read on. Wellman is the founder of Four Thousand Mondays and the author of You Only Die Once: How to Make It to the End with No Regrets.
#1 Boss Didn't Believe Me When I Said I Am Allergic To Latex And Cannot Use The New Gloves He Bought
He bought latex gloves in the new shipment and no nitrile, told me I couldn't be allergic to latex (that must be a myth) and demanded I just 'get back to work'. I was a food prep at a buffet restaurant. I must wear gloves. Well, I put them on, ten minutes in and my hands start to burn like fire. Another ten minutes and I'm ripping the gloves off, hives up to my elbows, hands double in size. I only put them on because I knew my reactions, knew that it's like getting into poison ivy and no anaphylaxis, I did this to prove a point.
Anways, I had to go to urgent for some cream and a strong dose of allergy meds/benadryl, and was out for five-ish days because my hives were so bad. Oh, and I got paid time and a half for the days I missed. Behold I come back and that manager was 'on leave', ultimately fired over other things staff complained about.
Image credits: Vestax_outpost
"Bad luck… it happens to the best of us. A healthy response is to reframe the experience—ask what you learned, not just what went wrong. Use self-compassion, not self-criticism, and focus on your strengths to regain momentum. Even bad days can build resilience and remind us we're more than one moment," Wellman shared with Bored Panda via email.
"Another tool is to celebrate the snafus—as odd as that sounds. Start a 'Book of Bad Calls' or a 'List of Bad Luck' and record the foibles; this isn’t to ruminate over what went wrong, but rather to look back later and laugh at the thing that was once so burdensome. It can help provide a healthy perspective that 'this bad luck, too, shall pass.'"
#2 What A Monday
Image credits: reddit.com
#3 Went To The Restroom At Work And The Toilet Roll Escaped Around A Corner
There’s no spare roll either.
Image credits: artistrycatastrophy
We were also interested to get Wellman's perspective about learning to handle chronic work-related stress better. "To build resilience to chronic work stress, the school of positive psychology encourages practices that boost well-being and mental agility," Wellman said.
"I know—it sounds easier to say than do. But there are a few tried and true tips:
- Start by identifying and using your signature strengths daily—they create a sense of competence and control. We like to feel smart and in the driver’s seat when things feel bananas.
- Cultivate positive emotions through gratitude, mindfulness, and moments of joy to buffer against burnout. Have you started that gratitude journal yet?
- Build strong relationships at work for support and perspective. How about being the one to arrange a happy hour with your colleagues, to blow off steam?
- And reframe stressors as challenges you can grow from, not threats you must avoid. Resilience, thankfully, grows with practice."
#4 Saw This After Hearing The Loudest Scream Of My Life
I was working and heard someone screaming at top of his lungs. Went to washroom and saw this. The poor guy was pooping while this happened.
Image credits: Revolutionary_Town21
#5 Got New Glasses Three Weeks Ago. Dents Are From A High-Speed Bottle Cap From My Co-Worker's Soda
On the plus side, I still have two eyes.
Image credits: doubleHsticks
#6 Coworker Started A Literal Dumpster Fire
Image credits: OkGroup4765
Chronic work stress, anxiety, burnout, and exhaustion have devastating effects on your physical, mental, and emotional well-being. According to the NHS, the main issues that might cause work-related stress, if left unmanaged properly, include:
- Lack of control over your workload
- Lack of clarity about responsibilities
- High demands on your time and energy
- Fear of redundancy and changes at work
- Lack of support and poor management
- Poor relationships with your colleagues
- Harassment or bullying at work
- Workplace discrimination
How susceptible you are to workplace stress, as well as how you deal with it, also depends on your upbringing, the experiences you’ve had in life, and your environment.
#7 Well, The Slide Works
Image credits: Adsykong
#8 My Supervisor's Response To Me Asking For A Raise
For context, I was told three months ago that in two months I would be moved to a different area in the company to begin working at a much higher pay rate. New employees started being hired at almost 40% more than what I make. After I found out I requested a raise and I’ve been waiting ever since. I have worked here for two years and have never had any performance issues. I told her recently that I am looking for other jobs and I’m not going to wait much longer and she promised me a raise in two weeks. Those couple weeks have passed and this is what I get. I hate my workplace.
Image credits: Living_Variation316
#9 This Knife Blade Was 15 Days Old. Still Factory Sharp, When I Handed It To A Coworker Who Wanted To Borrow My Pliers. He Had It For 15 Mins
Image credits: theitguy52
There are lots of small ways to reduce the stress you feel. Most of them are either related to getting the basics right (i.e., taking better care of your health) or shifting your perspective.
How you perceive tough situations can make a huge difference to how you feel, as can getting lots of proper rest, eating nutritious food, moving lots, spending time with your loved ones, being out in nature, meditating, practicing gratitude, etc.
The NHS suggests first identifying specifically what it is that’s making you stressed at work. Once you’ve done that, focus on the things that you can actually change.
The reality is that many things, like your company’s layoffs and reorganizations, are completely out of our control. And it’s up to you to recognize what’s what.
Do what you can to improve your odds of success, and try to embrace flexibility to weather everything else.
#10 Pizza Party At Work
14 hour shifts frequently, but the boss put together a pizza party. It's days like this that makes it all the worthwhile! (Everyone gets one slice)
Image credits: Hokeypokey1466
#11 Had Some Trouble With The Ketchup Dispenser At Work
Image credits: TandoriChicken
#12 Landed A Great Job! But This Is The Chair And Cubicle I Was Assigned
Image credits: fresh-spinach
It’s also essential that you find some way of managing your stress in your daily life. You could try breathing slowly and deeply. Or you could try meditating to move past your anxiety.
Having someone trustworthy to turn to when things get tough is also a lifesaver. You can reach out to your family and friends to share some of your worries. Or you can talk to your colleagues and superiors to actually get to the root of the problem.
#13 The Day Before My Vacation, And I Cut Through My Client's Internet Cable
I'm an HVAC technician and was installing an split. He wanted it very close to the corner and I was prepared to hit little bit of the stud but then I would angle it away form the stud to go to the outside unit. I was thinking about it could be electric cables behind it, and should have brought my cable scanner. Client told me that he was very sure it's nothing behind right there except for the stud.
Lesson learned to not trust clients and double check.
Image credits: BulldogKongen
#14 How I Found Out I Was Losing My Job
This happened last December, but it's still makes my blood boil thinking about it. I was out shopping for Christmas presents when my former director accidentally sent a message to a Teams group chat that included me and another manager. It clearly wasn’t meant for me to see.
The next day was supposed to be the company Christmas party, and I had been asked to help out with planning and running some of the events. Even though I didn’t normally work in the office on Fridays, I wanted to make the effort. I had only started the job a couple months earlier and was looking forward to bonding with my new coworkers since we were all never really in the office at the same times.
This all came after I had already helped them automate a lot of their CRM processes and clean up a massive database. In hindsight, that probably led to me automating myself out of a job. I had just left a company I’d been with for nine years, and now this? I went straight home, drafted an email to HR, and thankfully managed to hold onto the job for another week while they tried to sort things out.
Shortly after I was fired. There was huge layoff, with around 800 people across different departments losing their jobs. The company ended up outsourcing all of those positions to a firm in India. In the end, I only had about a week of downtime before a contracting agency helped me land another job. Still, the whole experience made it really hard to trust the people I work with.
Stay safe and stay sane out there. Wishing you all the best in this messed up world.
Image credits: Substanzz
#15 My Work Monitor Is Currently Having A Bad Day
Image credits: shrunkentesties
In small doses, stress can be beneficial because it makes you more alert. It’s when stress becomes chronic that it’s an issue. The NHS suggests building up your resilience, shifting your perspective, and setting boundaries to deal with work-related stress.
“Making a conscious effort to change the way you view an issue or feel about a problem at work could help ease some of the pressure you feel. For instance, if something at work is worrying you, is there a way to look at it that makes more sense? If you really cannot change it, is there a way you can at least accept it and find something you can learn from it?”
#16 I Accidentally Set Off A Mounted Fire Extinguisher At Work
Image credits: iore-bos
#17 Sewer Line Overflows Directly Underneath My Work Desk
City main line was backed up across the street and we were the first to experience this issue. Right under my desk!!! All of my personal belongings covered in sewage. Our boss did not let us leave. We stood there for hours and customers are walking inside. Like this is a health hazard?
For about two weeks, we kept getting this strange but rancid smell on and off. Didn’t last long, maybe only 2 min each time. No one could tell where it was coming from. My coworkers sometimes thought it was me that smelled because this sewer line is right beside my work desk.
Obviously do not work here any more. It was worse than the pictures shown. The entire first floor was covered in sewage. It was coming out faster than they could control. The smell was unbelievable.
Image credits: Cute-Pressure8540
#18 I'm A Plumber. I Had To Open Up A Customer's Wall To Do Some Work And Found This
House is 50 years old. Builder must have had a fun sense of humor.
Image credits: Bfizzle62
Having a job, even a stressful one, feels like a luxury in some industries. It seems like the spread of AI tools continues to worry many white-collar workers. As reported by Futurism, Microsoft has just fired around 9,000 employees.
As bad as it is, the tone-deaf response from Microsoft-owned Xbox executive producer Matt Turnbull recently made headlines. He suggested that laid-off workers should use chatbots to feel better about what happened.
"These are really challenging times, and if you’re navigating a layoff or even quietly preparing for one, you’re not alone and you don’t have to go it alone. No AI tool is a replacement for your voice or your lived experience. But at a time when mental energy is scarce, these tools can help get you unstuck faster, calmer, and with more clarity,” he said.
“I know these types of tools engender strong feelings in people, but l'd be remiss in not trying to offer the best advice I can under the circumstances. I've been experimenting with ways to use [large language model] Al tools (like ChatGPT or Copilot) to help reduce the emotional and cognitive load that comes with job loss."
#19 A Patient's Catheter Bag Leaked Over My Shoe When I Went To Move It. My Sock Is Wet, I Work Till 5 PM
Image credits: Fit-Abrocoma547
#20 Helper Doesn’t Really Help, Causes Me More Problems Than He’s Worth
Doing some painting work around town. I tell my helper to get the paint cans ready to go since we have another job down the street with some touch up of the same paint we have now.
We’re good to go he says. While he was correct, he had not secured the lid to the paint can. 0/10 do not recommend.
Image credits: Shizastamphetamine
#21 Coworkers Have Done This At Least 50 Times Now, It's 100ft Of Power Cord And Air Hose (100' Each), A Long Frozen Pressure Washer Hose And Another Cord
Image credits: Future-Draft6511
Meanwhile, in a recent article, The New York Times wonders whether the spread of AI tools is making experienced or fresh employees more vulnerable.
There are arguments for both sides.
On the one hand, new employees’ work is easier to automate. On the other hand, older employees might be so stuck in their ways that newer workers are quicker to embrace AI tools.
#22 I Accidentally Bumped Into And Knocked Over My Manager's Brand New $2,500 iMac
Image credits: iam__lethal
#23 I Work At A Kindergarten So I’m Playing In The Snow All Day. Suddenly I Got Very Cold
Image credits: Ving96
#24 I May Or May Not Had A Little Accident At Work
That's a 10 liter can of white oil based paint, my suit trousers and my leather shoes.
Image credits: feitfisk
MIT economist Danielle Li, who studies the use of AI in the workplace, told The New York Times that AI could potentially undermine higher-skilled workers more than entry-level workers.
“The reason is that it can, in effect, untether valuable skills from the humans who have traditionally possessed them. For instance, you may no longer have to be an engineer to code, or a lawyer to write a legal brief.”
#25 Headed Out The Door After Work With The Garbage And The Bag Broke
Image credits: e925
#26 How Customers Left The Fitting Rooms At My Job 3 Minutes Before We Closed
Image credits: RustyShackleford1213
#27 My Coworker Returned The Front Desk Stapler Like This. Told Me It Ran Out Of Staples
Image credits: Stupid_Genious
According to Li, experienced workers are at a disadvantage. “You’re being paid for the rarity of your skill, and what happens is that A.I. allows the skill to live outside of people.”
Meanwhile, equity analyst Gil Luria told The New York Times that big tech companies like Microsoft and Google were cutting costs to increase their profit margins while investing in chips and data centers to develop AI. Another reason is that software engineers are “susceptible to replacement by AI at all skill levels.”
According to Luria, companies like Microsoft “can do math quickly—see who’s adding value, who’s overpaid, who’s not overpaid, who’s adapting well. There are senior people who have figured out how to get leverage out of A.I. and senior people who are insistent that A.I. can’t write code.”
#28 This Is My 5 Year Work Anniversary Gift From My Fortune 500 Employer. 100% Not Joking
The description is where it's at folks. "3 clickable buttons", "Take your work on the go", "Contoured design that fits great in either hand".
Image credits: apollei
#29 My 2 Coworkers Left 45 Minutes Early On A Holiday Weekend, Leaving Me With All These Dishes
Image credits: Ima_nerd_and_proud
#30 I Work Part Time At A Paint DC And My Boss Texts Me This
Image credits: kennnnpachi
What do you think, Pandas? Which of these workplace fail pics made you wince and cringe the most? What is the very worst day that you’ve ever had at work? How did you deal with it?
Generally speaking, what advice would you give someone who’s new to the work industry to help them deal with chronic stress? Are you at all worried about being replaced by AI? Let us know in the comments below!
#31 Someone At Work Labeled My Cheese As Theirs With A Sticky Note And Ate Half Of It
Image credits: fighter_rabbit
#32 My Coworker (Also A Dishwasher) Leaves Me Really Gross Dishes Overnight When I Never Do That To Him
This is unreasonable. He's around 50 and I’m 17. I should not be better at my job than him.
Image credits: 0Sweet_Shark0
#33 Came Into Work On My Day Off Today And Was Left This To Clean Up
70 forklift tires to unload and throw away.
Image credits: CortezD-ISA
#34 One Of My Coworkers Dropped My Lunch Bag And Put It Back In The Fridge. There Goes A Meal Prep Container And A K**ler Bowl Of Curry
Image credits: lysdis
#35 Diamond Plating I Was Driving On Shot Out From Under My Tires And Sunk Me In The Dirt
I've been pushing to have this back area paved for years, but no. Bosses say it's not a priority and put diamond plating down instead. Myself and another coworker have been trying to yank it out from different angles, but it's just getting worse. I'm about ready to just go home and leave it here.
Image credits: EmmeCakes0318
#36 Went To Go Use The Restroom For A Few Minutes At Work Only To Come Back And Find Out Someone Had Snapped The Clip Off My Favorite Pen
Image credits: GuardingxCross
#37 Had This Drill Set For Exactly 8 Hours Before The Coworker I Share My Toolbox At Work Did This
Image credits: Evilmoon75
#38 It Was My Turn To Do The Dishes At Work
Image credits: CyraxSputnik
#39 I Dropped A Bottle Of Bleach On The Floor At Work Last Night. Ruined My Good Jeans
Image credits: astro_lynn
#40 I Took A Swig Of What I Thought Was Water But Was Actually Acetone/Alcohol
I work for a small shop that consistently stocks these water bottles in the fridge. This morning I grabbed what I thought was the same water bottle that I left in my work area the afternoon prior, took a drink and immediately tasted chemicals, which I immediately spat out and thankfully didn't swallow.
I guess someone decided to make a spraying apparatus out of one of the bottles laying around and didn't make any marks aside from the pinhole in the cap, which I didn't notice when I grabbed the bottle by the top.
Image credits: TG1312
#41 The Office I Was Assigned To Work In Today
I work as a clinician in underprivileged areas. I rotate between facilities, offering a scarce service to the areas I serve. It normally comes with challenges, which I’m fine with. But today I was placed in this office and told I “just have to get on with it”. I did just that.
Image credits: Dramatic-Avocado4687
#42 First Time In Office For A While And Got This Keyboard. What Sucks Is That I Have To Write Belgium A Lot Today
Image credits: kanskeingetvettigt
#43 Apparently The Office Was Painted Over The Weekend. Came In And Found This. Oh And I Just Bough It A Couple Of Weeks
Image credits: Mr-Mando
#44 Who Knew A Whole Office’s Fiscal Year Worth Of Hard Work Could Fit Into Only 8 Pizza Boxes? This Was Maybe 10 Minutes After It Was Brought In
Image credits: Magi_Cole
#45 First French Toast Of The Day
Image credits: Artistic-Standard-42
#46 15 Minutes Cost Me 9 Hours And $180
I left for work on time, but hit some traffic on the final mile of my journey to work. I followed my works procedures, and called in, letting them know that I would be late. I arrived and clocked in 15 minutes late, all of which was lost to the last mile of traffic. My boss even commented on the Google Street maps having gone dark red right where I said I was in traffic.
When I get in, I'm reminded that since I am closing, and this is the end of the work week, I can't make up the time at the end of my shift, which means that I have to burn an hour of PTO. This is unfortunate, but not the end of the world. Until someone remembered that it's a holiday weekend.
Our policy states that if you don't work your full shift the day before the holiday, you don't get your paid holiday. Instead, in order to get paid my full 40 hours, I have to take 8 hours of vacation for my day off.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you turn 15 minutes into 9 hours.
Image credits: w021wjs
#47 My Coworker Just Zip Tied My Pliers While I Was Gone For A Minute
Image credits: Gutami
#48 Left My Pizza For A Few Minutes In My Office And Came Back To A Slice Bitten Into
Purchasing manager had some extra slices from feeding his staff and gave me a couple leftover slices. I left the box in my office for a few minutes and came back to this. No pizza for me I guess. Box even had my name on it.
Image credits: meowington-uwu
#49 I Was Working For An Hour
Image credits: IronmanX75
#50 I Left My Lunch At My Desk For 10 Minutes And Came Back To This. Pretty Sure My Perpetually Drunk Coworker Is Responsible
Image credits: reddit.com
#51 I Work At A Frozen Yogurt Store And My Coworker Just Sent Me This
Image credits: xoxomadeline
#52 5 Minutes Before I Leave Work And My Machine's Oil Reserve Overflows
Image credits: TheMrTGaming
#53 Overslept, Forgot To Pick Up My Co-Worker, And Got To Work Half An Hour Late Just To Have My Boss Accidently Run Over My Lunch Within 5 Minutes Of Being There
Him and another guy were putting material in the bed of a work truck. I set my lunch down (not in an ideal location which was my fault) in a hurry to help them since I was late already. He jumped in the truck quick to back it up at an angle and caught and drug my lunchbox. If it was a personal truck it might have survived. But it was a 4500 dump bed truck.
Image credits: ChungBuii
#54 I Work At A Small Coffee Shop And Today Our Ticket Machine Malfunctioned
Image credits: Kagimoto3
#55 Someone Must Have Found Out How To Lower The Temp On The Vending Machines At The Mall I Work At
It's one of those fancy "Coke and Go" machines. You need an app to use them. I guess someone figured out how to change the temp and set it way below freezing. No monster for me today.
Image credits: zaner69
#56 Somebody At Work Lost Their Pants Button Into The Urinal
Image credits: duckduckpajamas
#57 My Coworker Somehow Mistook My Chocolate Raspberry Slice For Trash, And Threw It Away
I was looking forward to finishing that. I don't have the guts to confront her and a if it was on purpose.
Image credits: cantsayididnttryyy
#58 Knocked A Bottle Of Bleach Onto My Concert T-Shirt At Work Today
My work usually doesn't entail any use of chemicals, I just had a clumsy moment near a few cleaning supplies. Figured it would be safe.
Image credits: amrfallen
#59 Somebody Had An "Office Space" Moment
Pulled into a spot and saw someone had some issues too.
Image credits: biggyskittle
#60 I Swear It Had A Pull Tab This Morning
Normally I pack my lunch the night before but forgot, so I grabbed a can of soup this morning. Turns out I took the wrong can, and it didn't have a pull tab. This is why I can't pack a lunch before leaving for work.
Image credits: OkDate7197
