Weirdest thing to happen at work?

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BenWickes
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Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by BenWickes » Thu Aug 13, 2020 8:34 am

I bet there are lots of tales.
I have a number myself. One being when I took two weeks well earned holiday off work. I went back to work after my holiday to find the building closed. This was pre-mobile phone times. So I went home to find the owner had left a message. I called him and he said 'Where are you?' I said 'Never mind where am I, where are you?'
There was a pause... 'Oh sh*t! We've moved premises. I forgot to tell you we were moving'
I replied 'So, let me get this right. I'm your Production Manager. At no point in the past few months have you thought to tell me we're moving. Your Production Manager?!'
Another pause...
'Err I forgot. Can you come in please. We don't know what we're doing'.
Me: 'You can say that again'. :roll:
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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by NottsClaret » Thu Aug 13, 2020 8:59 am

We had a lad called Steve who came in one Monday as Katy. I'm very much in the live and let live camp, but a bit of warning might have helped. This was in Huddersfield and way before popping your preferred gender in your bio was a thing. Mind blowing at the time.

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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by Burnley1989 » Thu Aug 13, 2020 9:05 am

NottsClaret wrote:
Thu Aug 13, 2020 8:59 am
We had a lad called Steve who came in one Monday as Katy. I'm very much in the live and let live camp, but a bit of warning might have helped. This was in Huddersfield and way before popping your preferred gender in your bio was a thing. Mind blowing at the time.
Similar thing happened with a company I worked at, she walked down the shop floor in a blonde wig, took a few weeks to stop the odd looks but eventually everyone got over it

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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by SammyBoy » Thu Aug 13, 2020 9:14 am

One day a bunch of plain clothed police entered our office in the sleepy Ribble Valley out of the blue and marched the recently hired website manager off the premises on suspicion of data theft from his previous employer. He ended up being cleared of everything but it was so bizarre, no management were in the building at the time and I couldn't tell from a distance if they were police or some organised crime gang :lol:

At another place a lad from Russia or maybe somewhere else in Eastern Europe just stopped turning up for his shifts and after a few days we discovered he'd been deported, though he ended up reappearing after a few months.

Finally, at another place a person from the company next door to us on the industrial estate arrived saying their CCTV had spotted a big 4x4 losing control on the icy road, crashing into about three of their employees parked cars before driving off and into our car park .. and it was our Buying Director of all people who was the culprit.

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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by BenWickes » Thu Aug 13, 2020 9:42 am

More annoying than anything. Getting a shipment from Torquay in the summer of 1991. Every single item was wrapped in the match reports from their local paper of their 2-0 play off win over us. More depressing was it was a very large shipment of about 60,000 items so we saw those match reports every day for about a week. :evil:
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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by Steve-Harpers-perm » Thu Aug 13, 2020 9:48 am

Used to work with a bloke who locked himself in the bog each day to eat his lunch.
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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by BenWickes » Thu Aug 13, 2020 9:51 am

Steve-Harpers-perm wrote:
Thu Aug 13, 2020 9:48 am
Used to work with a bloke who locked himself in the bog each day to eat his lunch.
I daren't ask what he was eating :shock:
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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by Spike » Thu Aug 13, 2020 9:56 am

I caught my boss stealing! It was a massive amount and was front page of all the local rags

He was a Rovers fan ! Don’t trust em

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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by BenWickes » Thu Aug 13, 2020 10:15 am

Prior to moving without telling me. Our previous premises had a shared toilets with an adjacent factory. It was down a long, dingy, dark corridor. At first I never paid attention to what was in the toilet. Get in and out as quick as you could. Then a couple of young lads kept disappearing at regular intervals. It turned out there were some hardcore porn magazines stuffed down the side of the toilet. So they got a bit of reputation for....shall we say, pleasuring themselves.
One day we got a new part-time receptionist. Absolutely stunning looking and everyone fancied her. Anyway. On her first day. She had to use the loo and had already headed off to it when I realised one of the young lads was missing. Turns out nobody had told her about the lads or the porn stash.
The look on the lads face as she caught him in the act was priceless. The look on her face and the language when she came out! :o
Probably have half the employees up on some sort of sex discrimination charge these days but watching it unfold back then was hilarious.

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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by claptrappers_union » Thu Aug 13, 2020 10:31 am

A couple of years ago, I had a two-hour meeting in my office with someone who wanted me to help raise £40m to fund some documentaries.

Some of them were about how the public is being controlled by the government and that Rolf Harris and Stuart Hall were innocent of their sex crimes and we are all being manipulated. His plan was to buy a mansion from some eccentric aristocrat and use it as a film studio to make the films.

His inspiration for the project comes from him being the illegitimate son of Prince Charles and vividly remembers being adopted by his 'biological' parents. As a young adult, he was involved in a near-fatal road accident while sat on the back of his friend's motorbike and during the surgery, the establishment chipped his brain in an attempt to make him forget his past.

Knowing that'll be difficult to raise £40m entirely by rich backers (who would definitely contribute if I made the teaser-trailers and a PowerPoint presentation), he was also going was to extort money from the mother of his friend, who was also part of the conspiracy. Then, he was going to frame a local MP with a gay sex scandal and overthrow the local council with the assumption that the constituency will vote for him because he's a member of the Royal Family.

I said I'd email him in a few weeks.
Last edited by claptrappers_union on Thu Aug 13, 2020 10:39 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by Wellsy1882 » Thu Aug 13, 2020 10:32 am

A lad out ours once turned up with a sock in his pocket from the previous night

Make of that what you will

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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by GodIsADeeJay81 » Thu Aug 13, 2020 10:48 am

Car mechanic.

Seen a dead mouse in someone's brakes, yes we made the required jokes about squeaky brakes to the customer.

Deer head under the front of someone's car, they knew they'd hit something but weren't sure what.

Boss came ragging into the workshop once and smashed the car into a battery stand and then proceeded to blame everyone apart from himself :roll:
Thankfully it was his own car.

Dead frog sat on top of an engine, gone there because it was warm, guessing it got stuck and when the car next moved it got cooked.


Factory I used to work at in Burnley, they had a lad working there and one day someone else turned up, turns out the first lad had sold his job to the new lad :lol:
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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by jdrobbo » Thu Aug 13, 2020 10:57 am

Got into my classroom at 7am, opened the blinds....a nice day. Went to make a coffee...

Came back, started to prep and heard a huge thud. Went to window where I’d opened the blinds....a man lay dead having fallen from the tenth floor of his tower block. Spent the rest of the day with a blue tent over him.

As it turned out, he lived next door to a good friend and rather than ‘knock on’ they just used to step across each other’s balcony and enter through the balcony doors. He lost his footing. Weird though, having a bloke landing on the other side of the railings, barely 10m from the classroom.

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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by Roger Mellie » Thu Aug 13, 2020 11:05 am

I worked in a Manchester tower block in '96 which was unfortunately in the blast zone of the IRA bomb. Windows went in and much damage, notably the Marketing Director's desk which was blown open to reveal his hardcore stash to one and all !

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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by Herts Clarets » Thu Aug 13, 2020 11:25 am

A lad who I worked with cut his hand quite badly and had to go to Burnley General (back in the day when there was an A&E department) for stitches. I said you will probably have a tetanus jab too - I had one before I went to Thailand, and I had forgotten how much it hurt, as I rubbed the top of my thigh/buttock. We get him into a car and a few hours later he reappears. Called me all sorts of names, including one normally associated with our lower league rivals at the wrong end of the M65. He said he was in a cubicle being treated and the nurse told him she would give him a tetanus jab and as she fills the syringe, Lee proceeds to drop his trousers. No need for that sir, just roll up your sleeve. Apparently before he left he was in the toilets and washed his arse in the sink in preparation for having to drop his trousers :D
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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by TommyJohnson » Thu Aug 13, 2020 11:30 am

My old job at a place on the industrial estate up Rossendale Road.

We had a delivery from Bulgaria. So me and a colleague was unloading the lorry and I noticed empty packets of crisps and empty bottles of drinks. Then a bit of rustling. A second later two foreign lads jumped up from behind a pallet and run off out of the lorry.

Illegal immigrants that had been in there for probably about 4 days.

Poor lads imagine doing all that to only arrive in England and end up in the Stoops Estate. Bet they wanted to get back on and sent back.

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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by Vintage Claret » Thu Aug 13, 2020 11:41 am

Many years ago when I was an office manager I was interviewing for a new member of staff to join our team.

The first applicant arrived and turned out to be a very pretty blonde girl in her mid twenties with a stunning figure.

For the interview she was sat with her back to the large window in my office that looked out onto the main office.

Halfway through the interview, 4 of the lads in the main office appeared at the window each holding a piece of paper with one word on it in large bold letters that spelt out

WHEN DOES SHE START?


Was very difficult to keep a straight face after that but I did manage to finish the interview.

(She did get the job by the way but only because she actually was the best candidate - honest!)

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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by Herts Clarets » Thu Aug 13, 2020 11:47 am

I had an interview about 12 years ago for a job in Enfield, North London. I was invited for a second interview, this time at a sister site in Nottingham. Second interview was with the guy who did my first plus the Operations Director. After an hour of grilling, I am invited to go on a tour of the site. As I stand up to begin the tour, the Ops Director says "before you go, answer me one question". I am expecting some kind of deal breaking question, so was a little taken aback when the question was "Andy Payton or Billy Hamilton?" Why do you ask? Well I know where you went to school, I know you are a football fan, so you must support Burnley. Am I right? You are indeed and my choice would be Billy Hamilton, he was a boyhood hero. Turns out the guy lives in Fence! If you are ever asked that question in an interview, I gave to correct answer as I was offered the job within half an hour of leaving the interview.

Didn't stop him making me redundant 4 years later though......
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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by BenWickes » Thu Aug 13, 2020 12:41 pm

Speaking of interviews. In early 2010. I sailed through the first interview for manager at Pontins Blackpool, though it's bordering Lytham St Annes; or was.
Got invited to a second interview. Where I had an interview with a man and woman at the same time.
Was going swimmingly well but I'd forgot to put my mobile on silent. I had a fart noise as a text notification sound at the time (my girlfriend of the time had changed it without me knowing the day before, it was usually a simple ping notification). Mid way through said interview, there was an almighty loud fart emanating from my back pocket. She burst out laughing but he was not amused at all.
Suffice to say I didn't get the job.

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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by FactualFrank » Thu Aug 13, 2020 1:20 pm

This wasn't with my work but with my Dad. He was a fire officer at Burnley although would sometimes act as station officer at places such as Blackburn and surrounding areas.

I think it was Calderstones (not 100% sure) where they went to do a fire safety check.
Anyway, they get there and they're in the fire engine reversing into the car park when a chap comes out in a white coat, pens in pocket etc, waving his hands as if to say, "Keep going, you're alright".

They keep reversing, more hand waving, more reversing, then suddenly, bang!

My dad is like, "What the f..." - they all get out and walk to the back of the engine, to find it's crashed into the wall.

It's only then that another person walks out of the building, looks at the damage, apologises before saying, "Ah, don't listen to him he's an inpatient".
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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by claptrappers_union » Thu Aug 13, 2020 2:36 pm

Over the years, I've made independent films with an artist. 'The Artist' is much older than me and we've travelled around the world making his vanity films. What started as an ordinary professional relationship, we've have grown to become good friends over the years and he doesn't pay me a lot of money for the work I do, he just 'bungs a contribution' into my bank account to 'grease the wheels' because his projects often tend to blend into something bigger. But I'm ok with that.

We travelled to the Middle East on a Christian Missionary ship (don't ask) from Cyprus, the film crew on this trip is made of seven people, including the Artist, me and my friend (and work colleague) as cameramen with the Artist's father-in-law playing a starring role as a Sea Captain.

To describe the father-in-law (who the purpose of this thread I'll call 'Bill') is an 80-odd Yorkshireman - your typical hardworking, no-nonsense, 'spade is a spade' type Yorkshireman with an accent so thick it even took me a few days to 'tune in' to it. It was my unofficial job to be an interpreter to the American Bible-bashers who we were sharing the ship with.

Other than making a film, we all had to muck in - prepare food, clean the decks, scrub the toilets take shifts as night watchman etc - it was hard graft to someone like me to be fair. Not for Bill though, he was first up every morning, no complaining, he got stuck in. He was the hardest working person on the vessel, performing all the tasks wearing his full 'period-drama' costume... Bill also had terminal cancer. "It is what it is" he used to say. That's where we all bonded.

He had stories to tell about everything, puts this thread to shame - he was hilarious, friendly, generous and inspiring... I didn't know him very long, but he was a friend.

A few months after our adventures, we went to visit him with the Artist. He was bed-ridden, weak, but in high spirits - he was a shell of the man he was at sea. He knew his time was up, but he was comfortable with that. When we left, we knew it was the last time we would see him. Bill died a couple of days later, surrounded by the Artist and his family.

Between Bill's passing and his funeral, my friend and I were doing some video work with a youth organisation in Rochdale, it was our job to film young people presenting their ideas for a Youth-driven political manifesto. I picked up my friend from his home and he seemed 'off'. I asked him what was wrong.

He smiled and said, "Oh, nothing...I've just seen Bill, he's dead"

The Artist asked him to back-up his mobile phone onto a harddrive. It's something he does for him on a regular occurrence. Never anything ropey on there, mainly just pictures from the work we do together and he'll then arrange them into folders and stuff. While checking if everything had been copied over, he clicks one of the recent files... its a dark, grainy, close-up photograph of Bill's corpse-face.

It was just a glimpse, he closed it straight away, but the image was already burned into his retina. Bill's yellow face tilted upwards, his eyes rolled to the back of his head with a wide-open toothless mouth. It said it was traumatic because he didn't expect it. We agreed that if the Artist wants (for whatever reason) to take pictures of his father-in-law's dead face, then that's his prerogative... but the Artist should've warned him.

We both have a dark sense of humour so we'd make light of it. I poked a bit of fun at every opportunity when we were alone together during the filming - so for example, while there was a change of subject, I'll bring the dark topic back to the forefront of conversation just to remind him of the picture. I was being a bit mean. But we were both OK with it really, but I had the upper hand because my final memory of our friend was quite a nice one... for him, it was horrific!

When we got back, it was my job to edit the 8 video manifestos by the young people, my friend said he'll edit the pictures we took of the candidates. When he finished them, he asked me to jump on his computer to double-check all the candidates were there.

I should've seen it coming...

I opened file 0001.jpg, good, 0002.jpg, good, 0003.jpg, good, 0004.jpg, good, 0005.jpg..... he got me... the sick ******* got me. He slipped in Bill in with all the smiley, happy fresh-faced teenagers. I stood up and walked away slamming the door behind me. I was devastated, I was angry... but I deserved it... I was also annoyed at myself that I fell into the trap too! Also, how could he utterly disrespect our friend like that?! But it was darkly-funny... I had a mixture of feelings. What a *******.

Don't know if I should've shared that story...
Last edited by claptrappers_union on Thu Aug 13, 2020 5:45 pm, edited 15 times in total.

Burnley1989
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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by Burnley1989 » Thu Aug 13, 2020 2:40 pm

claptrappers_union wrote:
Thu Aug 13, 2020 10:31 am
A couple of years ago, I had a two-hour meeting in my office with someone who wanted me to help raise £40m to fund some documentaries.

Some of them were about how the public is being controlled by the government and that Rolf Harris and Stuart Hall were innocent of their sex crimes and we are all being manipulated. His plan was to buy a mansion from some eccentric aristocrat and use it as a film studio to make the films.

His inspiration for the project comes from him being the illegitimate son of Prince Charles and vividly remembers being adopted by his 'biological' parents. As a young adult, he was involved in a near-fatal road accident while sat on the back of his friend's motorbike and during the surgery, the establishment chipped his brain in an attempt to make him forget his past.

Knowing that'll be difficult to raise £40m entirely by rich backers (who would definitely contribute if I made the teaser-trailers and a PowerPoint presentation), he was also going was to extort money from the mother of his friend, who was also part of the conspiracy. Then, he was going to frame a local MP with a gay sex scandal and overthrow the local council with the assumption that the constituency will vote for him because he's a member of the Royal Family.

I said I'd email him in a few weeks.
My Grandad once had a breakdown and got sectioned and was telling stories like that. :lol:

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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by Volvoclaret » Thu Aug 13, 2020 5:09 pm

Still waiting for your email CtU.
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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by huw.Y.WattfromWare » Thu Aug 13, 2020 5:31 pm

Rawtenstall Fire Station yard wall had a goal painted on it.
One of the guys had been working on his brakes and tested them by driving up the yard. He should have bled them. Straight into the wall/goal at a decent lick.
He shoots, he scores was the cry that rang out.

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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by ClaretTony » Thu Aug 13, 2020 5:33 pm

Not so much weird but the worst time I ever had at work.

I'd gone to get a brew and when I got back to my desk I was told by a colleague that a Mr Simpson (personnel then, now HR) wanted to see me. Now he was a standing joke at work in that no one knew what he looked like because you only ever saw him once to get your cards, he was known as Sacker Simpson.

When I realised that my colleague was serious, I went down and Sacker Simpson told me two police officers were there to interview me about a crime but not to worry. I was then grilled for some two hours by these two coppers and it wasn't pleasant I can tell you. This was in Jan or Feb 1986 and said crime, which was the rape and murder of a young boy, had taken place on 11th July in the previous year. Thankfully I was able to piece things together, my ability to remember dates had helped, but it turned out they were interviewing me because of the car I had at the time and on the evening of the date in question I'd been in the locality of Avenham Park in Preston at a works leaving do and that's where the murder had taken place.

Before anyone asks, I didn't do it but it was some considerable years later before a man, who was already dead, was found to be the murderer. I was thankful they'd found out who it was and I have to say relieved even though the police never returned to speak to me again.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/sep ... y-24-years

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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by BenWickes » Thu Aug 13, 2020 5:38 pm

ClaretTony wrote:
Thu Aug 13, 2020 5:33 pm
Not so much weird but the worst time I ever had at work.

I'd gone to get a brew and when I got back to my desk I was told by a colleague that a Mr Simpson (personnel then, now HR) wanted to see me. Now he was a standing joke at work in that no one knew what he looked like because you only ever saw him once to get your cards, he was known as Sacker Simpson.

When I realised that my colleague was serious, I went down and Sacker Simpson told me two police officers were there to interview me about a crime but not to worry. I was then grilled for some two hours by these two coppers and it wasn't pleasant I can tell you. This was in Jan or Feb 1986 and said crime, which was the rape and murder of a young boy, had taken place on 11th July in the previous year. Thankfully I was able to piece things together, my ability to remember dates had helped, but it turned out they were interviewing me because of the car I had at the time and on the evening of the date in question I'd been in the locality of Avenham Park in Preston at a works leaving do and that's where the murder had taken place.

Before anyone asks, I didn't do it but it was some considerable years later before a man, who was already dead, was found to be the murderer. I was thankful they'd found out who it was and I have to say relieved even though the police never returned to speak to me again.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/sep ... y-24-years
Crikey! Must have played on your mind a bit despite you clearly being innocent.

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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by BenWickes » Thu Aug 13, 2020 5:40 pm

In my line of work 97-03 I was involved in the media and entertainment. More the TV production/Theatre side but some films and the promotion side of things. Got friendly with a well known actor, same age as me, so we got on. We worked in collaboration more than together if that makes sense? No name dropping but got a phone call one day from him out of the blue. Complaining about the Paparazzi sat outside his home. He said they were hiding in his bushes. He was proper freaking out as news was out about his marriage in the media.
Apart from the fact I wasn't his manager or therapist. I found the whole thing bizarre. The longer the conversation went on the higher the pitch of his voice got and I found myself stifling laughter.
Still one of the strangest conversations I have ever had. I can't go into too much detail and they did end up getting a divorce. He just dropped his whole life story on me in that call, including the bits about affairs and such. Thankfully for him. I'm not one to break confidence in the sense that I'd name him or sell it to the papers. It was common knowledge amongst family and friends though that he and I were friendly.
Not spoken to him for a while now but I do remind him of that conversation.
It's like someone from a different department at work who you have on your WhatsApp or for emergencies calling you and giving you their life story.

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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by ClaretTony » Thu Aug 13, 2020 5:43 pm

BenWickes wrote:
Thu Aug 13, 2020 5:38 pm
Crikey! Must have played on your mind a bit despite you clearly being innocent.
Can't even begin to tell you how bad it was and it really left me shaken up at the time.

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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by Zom Zom » Thu Aug 13, 2020 5:46 pm

BenWickes wrote:
Thu Aug 13, 2020 9:42 am
More annoying than anything. Getting a shipment from Torquay in the summer of 1991. Every single item was wrapped in the match reports from their local paper of their 2-0 play off win over us. More depressing was it was a very large shipment of about 60,000 items so we saw those match reports every day for about a week. :evil:
Nah, good on 'em. They'd have been wetting themselves wrapping that lot. Brilliant.

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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by BenWickes » Thu Aug 13, 2020 5:56 pm

Zom Zom wrote:
Thu Aug 13, 2020 5:46 pm
Nah, good on 'em. They'd have been wetting themselves wrapping that lot. Brilliant.
Oh definitely. If the tables had been turned and we'd won. I'd have done the same thing. :)

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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by claptrappers_union » Thu Aug 13, 2020 6:07 pm

Zom Zom wrote:
Thu Aug 13, 2020 5:46 pm
Nah, good on 'em. They'd have been wetting themselves wrapping that lot. Brilliant.
I agree, fantastic banter. I occasionally get newspaper cuttings posted to my work address 'c/o cricketfieldclaret' (who I don't work with) after a viral video we made together years ago. Obviously mailed by some anonymous Rovers fan, they are basically back page articles with childish obscenities scrawled in ballpoint pen. The most recent was mocking Burnley getting knocked out the Europa League.

Its the lack of imagination though that makes it funny.

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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by claptrappers_union » Thu Aug 13, 2020 6:39 pm

Volvoclaret wrote:
Thu Aug 13, 2020 5:09 pm
Still waiting for your email CtU.
He did email me back actually two months later. It was a very, very long-winded email about him now being an accredited investigative journalist with NUJ.

Unfortunately, he'd been sectioned to keep him incommunicado because of his investigations into police corruption, London bombings, Princess Diana's death, money laundering by established local businessmen... and 'Tubs' from the League of Gentlemen.

I was CC'ed in with staff from various local solicitors, health professionals at NHS, Mohammed Al Fayed and the BBC Shop.
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Claret Toni
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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by Claret Toni » Thu Aug 13, 2020 6:50 pm

Having lunch in the canteen with a mate and we'd been sharing gossip about certain, shall we say, inappropriate goings on when we were interrupted and introduced to someone who was to join the project for a short period....

... at which point I broke off the conversation and I pointed out the young lady we'd been gossiping about, with something along the lines of, "That's the bird who's sleeping with her boss and they're going away for the the week-end, work related (wink-wink). The guy who'd just been introduced to us stammered, "That's my wife".

Weird, yes, embarrassing doesn't come close, just please let the ground open up and swallow me.

superdimitri
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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by superdimitri » Thu Aug 13, 2020 7:34 pm

ClaretTony wrote:
Thu Aug 13, 2020 5:43 pm
Can't even begin to tell you how bad it was and it really left me shaken up at the time.
And to think, there's innocent people who've spent life sentences behind bars because they've been forced by police to confess for a crime they never committed. Scary stuff.

Burnley1989
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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by Burnley1989 » Thu Aug 13, 2020 7:39 pm

ClaretTony wrote:
Thu Aug 13, 2020 5:33 pm
Not so much weird but the worst time I ever had at work.

I'd gone to get a brew and when I got back to my desk I was told by a colleague that a Mr Simpson (personnel then, now HR) wanted to see me. Now he was a standing joke at work in that no one knew what he looked like because you only ever saw him once to get your cards, he was known as Sacker Simpson.

When I realised that my colleague was serious, I went down and Sacker Simpson told me two police officers were there to interview me about a crime but not to worry. I was then grilled for some two hours by these two coppers and it wasn't pleasant I can tell you. This was in Jan or Feb 1986 and said crime, which was the rape and murder of a young boy, had taken place on 11th July in the previous year. Thankfully I was able to piece things together, my ability to remember dates had helped, but it turned out they were interviewing me because of the car I had at the time and on the evening of the date in question I'd been in the locality of Avenham Park in Preston at a works leaving do and that's where the murder had taken place.

Before anyone asks, I didn't do it but it was some considerable years later before a man, who was already dead, was found to be the murderer. I was thankful they'd found out who it was and I have to say relieved even though the police never returned to speak to me again.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/sep ... y-24-years
Jeeeeez, scary is that mate

Tribesmen
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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by Tribesmen » Thu Aug 13, 2020 8:50 pm

I recall the Brighton Bombings , anyway lived in Hove and always walked to work in Brighton , i remember walking up the town and saw loads of fire engines down near the seas front , all i said to myself there must have been a fire .
Anyway got to work and the first thing my boss said to me as i walked in the door was " where were you last night " at home why do you ask .
Anyway was told to say nothing if the cops ask you anything as we have snipers on our roof .
Have to admit i did go home by the beach that night and had a look what was left of the grand hotel .
I still think the most chilling comment from the IRA was " we were unlucky this time but we only need to be lucky once "

WadingInDeeper
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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by WadingInDeeper » Thu Aug 13, 2020 10:28 pm

Too many weird things.

We once had a job to investigate a mining issue which came about because the grave digger had been digging and fallen through the bottom of the grave, as had several nearby coffins. After several unsuccessful techniques, we had a sub-contractor drilling across the bottom of the cemetery. Their equipment got stuck, and the diesel they used to loosen it got hot and started smoking. Bizarrely, this accidentally solved the problem because what we thought were a few separate mine entries was a series of connected pits and we ended up with smoke coming out of all these holes across the bottom of the cemetery. On the same project, one day I'd just got back off holiday after a rather long journey, after lunch that day I found myself fast asleep on top of a grave, propped against the headstone.

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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by HunterST_BFC » Thu Aug 13, 2020 11:02 pm

Being asked if I could take Noddy home with me and drop him off on the way...

...after this nothing seemed unreasonable really. :lol:

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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by WadingInDeeper » Thu Aug 13, 2020 11:06 pm

Walking into a packed working men's club to inspect a crack in the wall when my colleague innocently shouts across to the barmaid "We've come to look at your crack luv". At this point, you could have heard a pin drop.
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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by tim_noone » Thu Aug 13, 2020 11:50 pm

Not weird but funny as Fcuk... an Elderly Lady on Browsing the colour chart ....in all innocence excitedly on deciding the colour told us "I really do like Muffin" she Looked a little/lot bemused on me and my mate P!ssing ourselves laughing uncontrollably. Another occasion around the same time we were on a long contract for a nice woman and me and a couple of mates were idling in one of the rooms when she came in had a chat for a while and she offered us a brew and left the room on leaving my mates rolled around the room p!ssing themselves.... shh wtf up I said...and there on my shoe was the biggest pile of dog sh!t ever seen on a Boot!!!

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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by strayclaret » Fri Aug 14, 2020 12:18 am

Took a “right hander” whilst breaking up a fight between 2 ladies in my team, when I worked in Leeds.
The reason for the fight was that one found out the other was having an affair with her husband.
When their weeks suspensions came to an end, both realised he was a **** and their friendship returned and he was told to “take his hook” and I received a case of lager for my trouble. :lol:

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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by Woodleyclaret » Fri Aug 14, 2020 7:16 am

When teaching in Bootle the police arrived in my class to question one of my students about an alleged tda offence.
He tried to jump out of the first floor window which was barred.It transpired he missed the school bus and knicked a car, which he had driven to school in.

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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by BenWickes » Fri Aug 14, 2020 7:18 am

Woodleyclaret wrote:
Fri Aug 14, 2020 7:16 am
When teaching in Bootle the police arrived in my class to question one of my students about an alleged tda offence.
He tried to jump out of the first floor window which was barred.It transpired he missed the school bus and knicked a car, which he had driven to school in.
That's dedication for you :lol:
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harpers_perm
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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by harpers_perm » Fri Aug 14, 2020 8:12 am

ClaretTony wrote:
Thu Aug 13, 2020 5:33 pm
Not so much weird but the worst time I ever had at work.

I'd gone to get a brew and when I got back to my desk I was told by a colleague that a Mr Simpson (personnel then, now HR) wanted to see me. Now he was a standing joke at work in that no one knew what he looked like because you only ever saw him once to get your cards, he was known as Sacker Simpson.

When I realised that my colleague was serious, I went down and Sacker Simpson told me two police officers were there to interview me about a crime but not to worry. I was then grilled for some two hours by these two coppers and it wasn't pleasant I can tell you. This was in Jan or Feb 1986 and said crime, which was the rape and murder of a young boy, had taken place on 11th July in the previous year. Thankfully I was able to piece things together, my ability to remember dates had helped, but it turned out they were interviewing me because of the car I had at the time and on the evening of the date in question I'd been in the locality of Avenham Park in Preston at a works leaving do and that's where the murder had taken place.

Before anyone asks, I didn't do it but it was some considerable years later before a man, who was already dead, was found to be the murderer. I was thankful they'd found out who it was and I have to say relieved even though the police never returned to speak to me again.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/sep ... y-24-years

My Dad was a detective on that case. As a young lad i remember opening the boot of his car to see an evidence bag with the poor lads clothes in it, I remember seeing a brown coat and it freaking me out a bit as it was all over the news and the lads clothes were at my house!

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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by BenWickes » Fri Aug 14, 2020 5:25 pm

Remember working on an assembly and had an apprentice shadowing me. I needed a screwdriver but my hands were otherwise engaged. I spotted a reversible one and asked him to get it. Noticing it was in the flathead position, I wanted the Phillips.
My hands were still fiddling with the casing so asked him to turn it around for me.
'Turn it around?' He asked.
'Yes please, (motioning in a circular movement with my head) just turn it around to the other head'


He literally turned the whole screwdriver around like a baton.

Same lad a few weeks later was washing the company van. I said. 'You know you can get a lovely gleam off those windows if you rub them with newspaper. It'll give it a nice shine'.
Walked off for a few moments and came back to see him shaking his head. By this point I am shaking my head in disbelief but crying laughing as he picks out a soggy mess from the bucket and places it in a pile of mush by the side. He says 'I don't think this is working'

strayclaret
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Re: Weirdest thing to happen at work?

Post by strayclaret » Fri Aug 14, 2020 6:13 pm

strayclaret wrote:
Fri Aug 14, 2020 12:18 am
Took a “right hander” whilst breaking up a fight between 2 ladies in my team, when I worked in Leeds.
The reason for the fight was that one found out the other was having an affair with her husband.
When their weeks suspensions came to an end, both realised he was a **** and their friendship returned and he was told to “take his hook” and I received a case of lager for my trouble. :lol:
Several years later. I’d jumpEd into a far more senior position and I appointed one of the two and she was an excellent appointment and now is a senior civil servant Happy days and she still likes a drink 🤓
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