20 Unbelievable Workplace Stories People Have Shared

One of the strangest things I’ve ever witnessed in the workplace was when a colleague decided to trim his nose hairs on a shared office table. But that wasn’t even the weirdest part. The real shock came when HR reprimanded him, and our immediate supervisor protested by dramatically dropping his pants in front of the CCTV cameras. To this day, I have no idea what point he was trying to make—I just chalk it up as one of those completely absurd workplace moments that defy all logic.

Let’s be honest, we’ve all had those experiences where we witness something so bizarre at work that it feels like a scene straight out of a sitcom. And while the daily grind can be mundane, these unexpected moments definitely add some entertainment to an otherwise routine day. So, when one Redditor asked users to share the most unhinged things they’ve seen on the job, the responses came flooding in. We’ve sifted through them to bring you the most outrageous and inappropriate workplace stories—check them out in the gallery below!

Image source: discostud1515, FoToArtist_1

I work 9-5, but in a building with plenty of 24-hour workers. Outside my office, there’s a small first aid room equipped with some medical supplies, a sink, and a small bed. Shortly after I started here, I walked into the room and noticed a post-it note on the bed that said:

Image source: ButterscotchFog, anastasya_1995

A guy brought his kid to work yesterday, which was fine—until it wasn’t. Our boss was in the middle of an important meeting with some bigwigs in his office when this dude suddenly barged in, completely unbothered, and interrupted everything. To top it off, he casually lifted his kid onto his shoulders like it was the most normal thing in the world. No explanation. No hesitation. Just pure, unfiltered confidence.

Image source: Kiwikeeper, renatahamuda

I have a colleague who always walks around with some papers in his hands, looking busy—but I’ve never actually seen him do any work. He just kind of drifts from one conversation to another, takes endless coffee breaks, smokes a few cigarettes, then repeats the cycle. It’s like he’s mastered the art of looking productive without ever lifting a finger. Honestly? A legend.

Image source: MalevolentMaddy, Evonne Yuwen Teoh

There was a woman working at a supermarket I managed who had a unique approach to getting through her shifts—she’d steal bottles of cola and vodka, mix them under the checkout, and chug the concoction right then and there. When I finally caught on, I spent months combing through CCTV footage as evidence before bringing HR into the situation.

But before she could get officially sacked, she worked one last shift—where she dramatically sprinted off the checkout and, in a moment none of us will ever forget, completely shat herself in the back office. 😭

To make things even worse, we later found out that on her lunch breaks, she’d go to her car and keep drinking. She must have been absolutely wasted by the time she drove home—honestly, it’s a miracle she didn’t cause an accident.

Image source: Just-Brilliant-7815, davidpereiras

Our receptionist had to pick up her sick kids from school yesterday, which—fair enough. But instead of taking them home, she brought them straight to work, laid out a full-on blanket in the front lobby, and set up all three of her kids with tablets to watch movies. So now, instead of a professional office entrance, we basically had a makeshift daycare right by the front door.

Image source: cucumberholster, Rawpixel

There was a drywaller in my area who was retiring, and his crew decided to throw him a legendary send-off. They held the party in an unfinished townhouse, complete with a stripper, booze, and a generous supply of blow. Seemed like a wild but harmless night—until a younger guy pulled out his phone, recorded the whole thing, and posted it online.

The fallout was brutal. Everyone involved lost their jobs, and the retiree—who was supposed to be celebrating—ended up losing his union membership and pension. To make things even sadder, he passed away from a heart attack just a year later.

Image source: SlipperyPickle6969, DC_Studio

A new coworker started on their first day and somehow managed to fall asleep during our morning meeting—with our boss. Not even a little head nod or a subtle doze-off. Full-on, out-cold, first-day snooze fest. Bold move.

Image source: voivoivoi183, leszekglasner

One of my first jobs as a teenager was at Toys R Us, and I worked with this metalhead dude who was probably five years older than me. He regularly showed up either drunk, stoned, or catastrophically hungover—yet somehow, he was in charge of supervising the warehouse, operating the forklift, and running the compactor. Management didn’t want to sack him because, despite everything, he was one of the only people who actually knew what they were doing.

Oh, and he was also hooking up with his co-worker girlfriend in the customer toilets. Absolute menace. But honestly? Funny as hell and a cool guy. We lost touch over the years, as you do. Last I heard, he was working as a Captain Jack Sparrow impersonator.

Image source: MermaiddSapph, Handy Wicaksono

I spent a few years as a freight delivery driver, hauling everything from Amazon flatscreens to, uh… human cadavers. All in the same truck.

One day, I was making a routine stop at a medical school’s ear, nose, and throat department. We often delivered smaller boxes there, and while every cadaver shipment was labeled vaguely as “human tissue,” it was pretty obvious that some of these boxes contained, well… heads.

Normally, I’d hand them off to the usual woman in charge, but she was out that day, and her understudy was also sick. So instead, a student worker was assigned to guide me. That’s where things went sideways.

Somehow, instead of heading to the storage room with the freezers, my paperwork had a classroom listed as the delivery location.

#10

Image source: Xtina1680, wichayada69

A fully grown man just napping his way through corporate life. This guy slept everywhere—at his desk, on the toilet, in the lunchroom, in his car. You name it, he’s dozed off there.

Eight-person meetings? Out cold. Town halls? Asleep. And the best part? He was the producer of these events, yet there he was, front row, head back, mouth open, snoring, as the company president spoke.

And yes, he got startled awake more than once. It was truly something to witness.

#11

Image source: Omniball3000, DC_Studio

Back in 2005, I worked in a call center where one of the employees—along with a manager—decided to use company computers and work hours to build a full-on sex toy website. Just casually running their side hustle between customer calls.

Shockingly, management didn’t appreciate the entrepreneurial spirit. Both were promptly fired.

#12

Image source: steffie-flies, nd3000

This happened in a different city, but two coworkers who were having an affair decided the cash room was the perfect place for a quickie. You know, the cash room—with ten cameras recording from every possible angle.

Unsurprisingly, they got caught. But the real kicker? Someone leaked the footage to offices across the entire country. So, instead of just HR dealing with it, we all got front-row seats to their extremely poor decision-making.

#13

Image source: brownbutterfinger, GaudiLab

Just today, my 80+ year old coworker was casually watching a video—on full volume—about how to keep an erection. In the office. You could hear it down the hall. No shame, no headphones, just pure confidence.

#14

Image source: NeutralTarget, YuriArcursPeopleimages

They laid off almost everyone over 50, then immediately rewrote their job descriptions and hired younger employees to do the exact same work—for less pay.

During exit interviews, employees were handed a paper stating they wouldn’t sue. If they refused to sign? No severance. And since this all went down in a U.S. state with almost no employee protections, they pretty much got away with it.

#15

Image source: langecrew, YuriArcursPeopleimages

At a previous office job, we had a super relaxed dress code—almost anything went. Almost. Because for some reason, the one specifically banned item was Speedos.

When asked, management simply said, “Yes, there’s a story behind this.” But that was it. No details. No context. Just the lingering mystery of who ruined business-casual for everyone. I didn’t ask further. Some things are better left unknown.

#16

Image source: punkwalrus, YuriArcursPeopleimages

At one job, a woman a few cubicles over had an absolutely tragic weekend—her husband died suddenly while napping on the couch. By Monday morning, she was at work, making endless calls and sobbing hysterically—funeral homes, family members, insurance companies, the hospital, the morgue. All the awful logistics that come with an unexpected loss.

A few of us reported it to management, thinking surely they’d do something. Instead, her manager coldly responded:

#17

Image source: joesighugh, anonymous

We had this engineer who was always complaining about being totally swamped—low bandwidth, overwhelmed with tickets, just absolutely drowning in work. Any time someone asked for help, he made it sound like he was carrying the entire company on his back.

Turns out, dude was playing World of Warcraft for 10 hours a day on his company laptop. HR found out and fired him immediately. Guess his real workload finally caught up to him.

#18

Image source: rojeli, osbmxhouse

I landed my first IT manager job and was hyped. I was ready to lead, mentor, and inspire. I had taken business management classes, conflict resolution workshops—I even had binders. I was ready.

Day one. First task:

“Jimmy is one of your direct reports. You need to get him to stop cutting his toenails at his desk.”

Not exactly what I envisioned, but hey—leadership is all about tackling the tough conversations.

#19

Image source: trey3rd, Pressmaster

My job actually let me take two hours out of my workday once a week—for weeks—to play D&D with coworkers. And it wasn’t just a small thing—around 40 people participated across all the different groups.

Most people I tell about it can’t believe management allowed it, but honestly? Best workplace perk ever.

#20

Image source: staticzapper, Tiger Lily

I used to work at a bank, and every morning, the same 9–10 businesses would come in to drop off their deposit bags. Since I saw the same employees every day, we’d make small talk while I counted their deposits.

One of these businesses was a tile shop—a massive warehouse full of kitchen and bathroom tiles. One day, the regular guy I usually joked around with was gone. Instead, a backup guy came in, looking somber and nervous. The next day, he was gone too, replaced by a completely new person.

After about a month of chatting with the new guy, we got friendly enough that I finally asked what happened to the others.