16 Stories That Prove Working From Home Is Not Void of Surprises

Many people dream of working from home, because it’s the perfect combination of comfort and peace of mind. It might seem that nothing can go wrong. However, even in this peaceful atmosphere, life is full of surprises. An ordinary working day can easily turn into a comedy, or even a drama. In this article, we will tell you about people who faced unpredictable situations right during their “remote” everyday life.

• My husband had to move his desk into our bedroom. In the morning, I started changing clothes in the middle of his Skype meeting. As soon as I realized what had happened, I fell to the floor and army crawled out of the room. Later I found out that he realized what was happening and closed the camera, but I didn’t know this until the meeting was over. © lovinglaurel / Reddit
• I was working as a call center agent and always spoke loudly on the phone. I was working in the kitchen, and I muted my microphone, so the customer couldn’t hear me, but I could hear them. I started singing very loudly, and very badly.
  My fiancée shouted to me, “Why are you always so loud when you’re on the phone?” to which I replied, “Because if I don’t, then they can’t hear me!” at which point the customer said, “Oh, I can hear you fine.”
  Cue cringe into oblivion. Turns out the mute button didn’t work with the software we used to take calls. Luckily that call was never listened to by anyone, otherwise I’d have been up for an extremely stern conversation at best and sacking at worst. © _DeanRiding / Reddit
• Forgetting where I was, and answering a conference video call from my boss, while I was sat on the toilet. © eltegs / Reddit
• I set my alarm for 7 a.m. because I had an important work call in the morning, and I couldn’t miss it. I wake up, look at the clock, and it’s already 9 a.m.! In a panic, I run to the kitchen, shouting at my husband, “Why didn’t you wake me up?! Are you out of your mind?”
  He looks at me with a stone face and begins to calmly recount, “You turned off the alarm clock at 6:30. Then you elbowed me when I tried to wake you up and sent me away. I tried to pull the duvet off you, and you wrapped yourself in it like a cocoon. And when I called your phone, you picked it up and mumbled that the Minister of Magic who stole your crab stick was waiting for you.”
  Time to do something about my sleep schedule. © Caramel / VK

• Wife was on her first Zoom meeting last March in the kitchen. I asked if I could be off-screen cooking breakfast quietly, and she said yes, as long as I’m quiet and not distracting.
  I wound up burning what I was cooking, causing lots of smoke. Then, when I was trying my best to get the situation under control, my robe that I was wearing laid on the burner (electric stove) and started smoking. So basically my wife told me to not be distracting, and I wound up lighting myself on fire.
  To her credit, she maintained poise and completely ignored my situation. We still laugh about it a year later. © Unknown author / Reddit
• My IT team were working on my laptop remotely trying to fix some software bug. I was on a Teams call with the technician so he could relay info to me and explain what he was doing. My partner walks into the room, so I mute myself.
  We have a fairly boring conversation, but our cat came in and we both were just pet-talking to our cat and being generally goofy about our cat. For like 5 solid minutes, just stuff like, “Who’s our cutie pie? Who’s our murderous cutie pie? Is it you? Yes, it’s our cutie pie cat Mochi-moo.”
  I turn back to my laptop and see that I am unmuted. Because of course, the IT guy is remotely accessing my laptop so he can just unmute me. He goes, “Um sorry, I unmuted you because I thought you muted yourself by mistake, but just so you know, I also love cats.” © destria / Reddit
• It’s a mild one. Annual general meeting over Teams, a fairly new member of staff let out the loudest yawn I’ve ever heard, just as the CEO was talking. Of course, Teams immediately highlighted her name, so everyone knew who it was. She was mortified. © VxDeva80 / Reddit
• The other day I was on a call, and one of my dogs got into the recycling and dragged the entire bin around our apartment, so I kept panicking, ducking out of the room to try and contain them and get it cleaned up. But as soon as I got back on the call, they would find some empty can or piece of foil or something and shred it all over the place. Meanwhile, my coworkers couldn’t see anything, all they could hear was random loud crashing sounds and me cussing. © otokoyaku / Reddit

• The daycare center closed, and my son is now at home and I work remotely. He loves to sneak up behind me, grab the mouse and switch windows on the screen. When I’m busy, I usually say, “Kenny, I’m working! Don’t disturb me, please don’t touch it!”
  Recently, during a video conference, I stepped away, and my son was right there — he grabbed the mouse and started clicking on all the windows. Suddenly, my boss says in a stern voice, “Kenny, dad is working! Don’t touch the mouse!” You should have heard this cry of offense and surprise! © Nurmann / Pikabu
• During a group meeting, of over 200 people, I was unknowingly unmuted and my spouse caught a mouse. I started yelling (thinking I was muted), “Are you serious?! A mouse?! What do we do? Are you sure it’s a mouse?!”
  And when I looked at my screen, people were laughing and posting gifs of Jerry from Tom and Jerry and other similar things. The person hosting the call had to say, “Let’s all please make sure to be muted.” It was beyond embarrassing. © FOMOS1 / Reddit
• My husband and I met through work. I worked in an office and he worked remotely. Our tasks overlapped, and we worked closely together, but I never met him. I could only see his doodled avatar in a work chat room.
  But I knew that he had an amazing, simply magical voice, which I first heard on a work call. After the first call, I jokingly told my coworkers, “For this voice, I will definitely start dating him!” And what do you think? 6 months later, I kept my word. © Chamber 6 / VK
• I was on a company-wide call and one of the first logged in, along with the CEO of the company. He said something to me that I kind of misheard, then asked, “Where are you?” I responded awkwardly, “My...bedroom?”
  It was 20 mins into the call when I realized his first comment was complimenting my Zoom background (the Cliffs of Moher), and he was asking where the picture was, not where my butt was sitting at that exact moment. © tweedancer / Reddit

• I forgot it was a day off and “went out” to work. Since I’m a remote worker, I got up with the alarm, sat down at my laptop and got down to business. When 6 coworkers ignored my email, I went to the calendar to see if it was Tuesday. © Unknown author / Pikabu
• I was interviewing for a remote role, and I felt dumb as hell when I reassured the interviewer that my apartment was quiet and private for the job’s phone calls.
  Not even a minute later, someone ran the doorbell as my Google home is screaming saying, “Someone’s at the back door” as I apologize and get up revealing my pajama pants and I answered the door because I was right next to the door.
  My neighbor literally only goes to our door once or twice a year. I tried to reassure the interviewer that this never happens, but his response was, “I thought you said your place was a quiet, undisturbed place?” © xxmidnight_cookiexx / Reddit
• Monday started off perfectly: I was working from home, the sun was shining outside my window, my coffee was invigorating. But after noon, my mum burst into the kitchen with a shriek “Ahhhh,” and the pungent smell of burning plastic and rubber hit my nose.
  It turned out that she decided to sterilize manicure tools, got distracted, and burned the pot, tools and almost ruined the stove. The pot and tools were thrown out, the stove was cleaned, but the stench was infernal: my head was splitting, and I couldn’t breathe. The wide open windows didn’t help, and there was nowhere to move the workplace.
  I had to put on my father’s respirator for working with paint — breathing became easier and my mood lifted. I’m sitting in a respirator and huge headphones, and there’s an online meeting. I decided not to turn on the camera, but my voice sounded like Darth Vader. I had to turn on the video: my coworkers laughed and suggested that I update my avatar.
  By the next call with my superiors, the story had reached the head of the department. He asked if we often burn manicure tools at home. One kind soul advised ozonization, if the smell doesn’t go away.
  Bottom line: home mini-apocalypse, no one was hurt, we laugh. Don’t get distracted at the stove, and good luck everyone! © Ililalloya / Pikabu
• On meetings, my team usually doesn’t put a camera on. But today it was the new boss’s first day, so it was all introductions and camera on. I remembered I asked my husband to bring me a coffee.
  So I turned my camera off and shouted, “I am on a video!” to warn him to not come in or, worse, to avoid coming in with only his boxer shorts on! I was oblivious to the fact that I had the mic on. It was too late to realize, and then he came in, luckily with a onesie on! © adav123123 / Reddit

And here are some more stories about remote jobs that require nerves of steel.