10 Times Office Workers Went Above and Beyond

Behind every cubicle wall and printer jam lies a story. From emails gone hilariously wrong to coffee machine conspiracies, we’ve gathered some of the most entertaining, awkward, and delightfully weird moments that make office life anything but boring.
If you’ve ever worked in an office, these tales will hit close to home and leave you laughing at your own workplace memories.

• My first day as an intern, a system glitch made me the new project manager for a day! I was still half-asleep, juggling two iced lattes (one for my supervisor, one for emotional support) when the office doors whooshed open and the receptionist stood up like I was a person who knew what was going on. And then it started... I was immediately bombarded with a ton of notifications and calls. I had to clarify that it was an error. 10 minutes later, my boss found out. He stormed into the office like a man who had just realized the intern had been given budget approval rights. He stared at me and said, “Give me your badge. The HR made a mistake.” Then he came back and took the coffee from my hand and winked. What a weird day!

• On my first day at work, June, the receptionist offered me a strawberry cookie. Now, here’s the thing: I hate strawberries. Always have. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, so I lied and said I was allergic. She smiled, nodded, and then handed me an allergy medicine. I had to take the medicine and then eat the cookie. What should I have done? It was my first day at the office! For the next three weeks, I had to “forget” my allergy meds and eat one strawberry cookie. I even faked a coughing fit once. It was a dark time. Eventually, I confessed to my coworker Sarah. She laughed for 10 minutes straight, then told June. The next day, June handed me a cookie, chocolate chip this time. She smiled.

• Our manager took us to the company box for a basketball game on a Saturday. On Monday, I had a friend in accounting to mock up an “official” invoice from the arena for damage to the private box. Destroyed TVs, torn upholstery, repainting services, etc. The relief on the manager’s face when I said “April Fools” after an awkward emergency team meeting was priceless. © kryyzz / Reddit

• A buddy of mine at work would put fake people in all the bathroom stalls. Shoes, clothing, and the printed faces of people. He locked the stalls after everything was set up one evening. About an hour into the morning the next day, several ladies were gathered outside the restroom, whispering about the homeless people in the bathroom. They ended up getting our tall CFO to go in and check it out. He came out laughing. The whole company laughed after we discovered the prank. © ***shy_southerner / Reddit

• My coworker eats a banana almost every day in the afternoon. He leaves it out on his desk all day until he is ready to eat it. One morning, I swapped it out with one of those baby bananas. He didn’t notice it for a few hours, but when he did, he asked me to give him back his banana before going to the office kitchen. I then swapped the baby banana out with a banana squash he didn’t notice until he picked it up and tried peeling it for a brief moment. I gave him his banana back right after that and let him keep the squash.
  A year later, I convinced a few co-workers to bring a bunch of bananas to cover his desk before he came in that day. One co-worker went so far as to print out pictures of bananas and cover his framed photos with it. At least, he has a great sense of humor, thankfully. © kittybeanzz / Reddit

• Our former director had a standard clothing rotation, including always wearing the same sweater on our casual Fridays. The rest of the outfit was pretty standard: tan slacks and brown dress shoes. I was the team lead with around 25-30 team members. I found a wholesale company that would sell us a nearly identical sweater for $10 each. The next casual Friday, there were 30-something directors walking around wearing the exact same outfit. He brought me a gift the following Monday. © *****InMySaltStream / Reddit

• My office had a terrible year. Sales were down, morale was low, and turnover was looming. Instead of listening to the employees’ concerns, management held a “funeral” in our warehouse. We were instructed to air our grievances on paper, and then we ceremoniously marched up to the front and put our papers in a shredder. The shredded paper was then put into a cardboard casket and carried out to the dumpster by pallbearers and followed by a manager dressed as the grim reaper. The CEO proceeded to give a eulogy on a PowerPoint presentation that included a lot of Kid Rock musical interludes. It was the most awkward experience of my career. Also, it didn’t work. © littlemeah / Reddit

• One time, the office fish tank (there were trendy floor-to-ceiling ones on each floor) burst, flooding the floor void to the server room, taking down all network services. But to cap it all, the receptionist saved most of the fish in a bucket and poured them into the tank in the offices above. There was a piranha feeding frenzy, and fish skeletons kept floating to the surface for the rest of the year. © RustyDiamonds / Reddit

• Taped a small picture of myself to the bottom of their mouse, covering the optical eye. They tried to use it, but it would not work, so they flipped it over, and there I was, making a silly face. They looked up at me, making the same silly face. We both died laughing. © TheGuyFromYonkers / Reddit

• Worked at an outdoor activity centre, and we hid a load of pinecones around the centre manager’s office. In folders, in drawers, behind and under chairs, taped to the back of the computer monitors, taped under shelves. Everywhere that could hold a pinecone had a pinecone. She was finding them for months. They were dry, so they didn’t rot. They didn’t find the last few until they were redecorating. © NarrativeScorpion / Reddit

Ever had one of those days at work where everything went hilariously wrong, but somehow no one got fired? We want to hear all about it! Drop your funniest office moments in the comments below.
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