With a 2023 survey of 5,902 Americans, the Pew Research Center reinforced the idea that workplace relationships play a major role in our overall satisfaction with our jobs.
That means even if employees aren't entirely happy with their salary, workload, or career opportunities, the people around them can still make their days at the office worthwhile.
At the same time, however, unnecessary drama, lack of support, and just poor communication in general can overshadow all the positive aspects of the job and significantly reduce employee happiness.
So in an attempt to remind ourselves to stay aware of each other, let's take a look at a recent online discussion. It started when Reddit user Puzzleheaded_Eye8358 asked everyone on the platform to share the craziest and most inappropriate things a colleague has said to them in the workplace.
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#1
I started a new job and I told my hiring manager that I preferred the men’s uniform shirts to the women’s (polo style)
I didn’t give my reasoning but for the sake of any readers this was because; there were buttons on the placket for the mens whereas the women’s were open not even just the normal placket without buttons either, it was a ‘V’ neckline on a polo shirt that was deep enough to show an uncomfortable amount of cleavage (my chest could be described as bountiful) and the length if the men’s were reasonable and didn’t have unnecessary princess seams to make it tighter or a cropped bottom that prevented tucking (I prefer to tuck my work shirts)
The hiring manager responded “you lesbians get crazier and crazier, already wearing pants now you can’t even wear the shirts designed for you??”
I thanked him for his time and walked down to HR (where I had just received my office access card) insisted that I do an exit interview with the lovely lady in the office and then I dropped my shiny new access card and walked away. I had received another job offer the day prior thankfully that I hadn’t responded to yet. Best snap decision I have ever made. I have worked with that company and an amazing team of people for the past seven years now.
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161points
#2
A coworker tried to compliment me on being “one of the good immigrants who did it correctly” … I was born and raised in the US.
129points
We got in touch with Puzzleheaded_Eye8358 and they were kind enough to tell us more about their now-viral post.
"I came up with the idea to ask Reddit this question when I was speaking with my husband about my past work incident," they told Bored Panda. "I wanted to see what others had to say about their own experiences."
#3
"Girl Scouts is a faith-based organization."
It absolutely is f*****g NOT. Girl Scouts is for everyone. Religion is not involved and should not be involved. Literally anyone who has ever worked for any Girl Scout council for more than two minutes should know that.
Long story short, this is how she tried to justify having us pray to Jesus Christ Our Lord And Savior IN STAFF MEETINGS. And then *that* is how the vice president of HR had to drive across the state of Georgia to physically visit every council office and have a meeting about how you really, really cannot do that. Because I dimed that s**t immediately. Don't f**k with my Girl Scouts.
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118points
#4
“You shouldn’t wear that lipstick, it makes me want to kiss you. You shouldn’t wear that dress.”
Then, when he caught me in the stairwell “can I kiss you?”
He was in his 50s. I was in my 20s. I wanted to vomit.
Then, when he caught me in the stairwell “can I kiss you?”
He was in his 50s. I was in my 20s. I wanted to vomit.
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116points
Puzzleheaded_Eye8358 said that, after going through the thread, the main recurring theme they've noticed was, unfortunately, sexual harassment.
This is a stark reminder that despite advancements in creating a more inclusive professional culture, some issues continue to persist. In fact, recruitment company CareerWallet found in a recent survey that 24% of women experience inappropriate comments in the workplace (or remotely) from managers and colleagues — more than double the figure for men.
#5
I was 28 or 29, and a man commented on how I should get married and have kids soon because I was “running out of time”
I f*****g hated that guy.
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103points
#6
During a staff meeting my boss told me that we could all be replaced by trained monkeys. It was one of those meetings where one person had royally fu##ked up, but they chose to punish everyone. I told my boss that if she could find a monkey with a Masters Degree in microbiology, so that she could meet regulatory requirements, to go right ahead. She shut the f#ck up.
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101points
"I believe that having a filter is very important, especially at work," Puzzleheaded_Eye8358 added. "Just because something pops into your mind does not mean you should say it."
"We are all adults and professionals. Let's act like that and treat each other with respect. We never know what people are going through, so work should be a safe space for everyone."
#7
I was all of 18 and working at a STATE AGENCY. After months of sexual harassment, I resigned. In my last couple of weeks, one of the officers said, “You know we’re going to make love at least once before you leave, right?”.
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93points
#8
Dispatched for a towing company for almost as a decade. Had a particularly useless driver come in and describe his last customer as a “fat n***er b***h.” Told him to never talk to me again and reported him to management.
Wasn’t even the last time a driver used that word in front of me. I knew I was out of place as a liberal, but goddamn.
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90points
Amy Gallo, who is a contributing editor at Harvard Business Review, cohost of the Women at Work podcast, and the author of the book Getting Along: How to Work with Anyone (Even Difficult People), said that regardless of whether the person meant to be rude, our emotional reaction in these situations is valid.
When we're deciding how to react, it's important to remember that "we often focus on the risks of actions, our minds going directly to the worst-case scenario, rather than the downsides of not doing something," Gallo said. "So take time to consider the risks of not speaking up as well."
Perhaps not addressing the behavior would violate our personal values or the cultural norms we stand for. We might inadvertently condone the comment if we let it pass or miss an opportunity to help the person understand how their words impact others.
#9
Spent a lot of time communicating with clients over the phone. I was also the only woman in the office, and the youngest by about 20 years. Never saw clients in person. Boss met up with said clients at dinner, then reported back the next day, in front of several coworkers, that they said I had a "sexy voice" and that they wanted to know if I was "hot".
I'm pretty sure my Boomer boss thought I'd be flattered. When I replied with "oh, and what did you tell them?" he realised that he was in trouble. Whether it was because he realised that it was inappropriate, or because I am very overweight (i.e. not hot) and he may have said that I wasn't, I don't know. But he immediately dropped the conversation.
(My coworkers had my back, at least two of them tore shreds off him for being "gross").
89points
#10
Older guy that I had trained. He was a complainer, but mostly competent so we tuned it out. He grew up in a local neighborhood and was proud of it.
A new company doctor was introduced, and I went to the presentation, talked a bit to her. Nice lady, seemed competent. Asian heritage.
And old dude, upon hearing her name, said “Oh no. I bet she has a terrible accent.”
Looking him in the eyes, I said “Yeah, it’s really hard to understand her. She grew up in your neighborhood.”
Old guy blushed and suddenly went to get coffee. Our other team member was dying trying to suppress his laughter….
86points
#11
At my last job I had a co-worker tell me she thought she had herpes. Then proceeded to show me pictures of her bits with the symptoms. This was while we were on our lunch break…eating our lunch.
81points
#12
I used to have a federal job and my supervisor thought it was a good idea to ask me who I voted for in the general election. When I refused, she said she deserved to know, and then I hung up on her. I immediately called a colleague, and there would be a record of her wildly inappropriate question. The next day, she called me in a panic, claiming that her foot hurt, and that was the reason why she asked.
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77points
#13
“Wow, you lost a lot of weight, but at least you kept your tits!”
My two bosses (male and female) laughed when I told them.
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75points
#14
I’m black (West Indian black. Not African. There’s a difference) and I was sitting in my office minding my business one day. Our chief financial officer came in during December and screeched “Happy Kwanzaa!!!” I pretended not to hear her. In an effort to make her uncomfortable, which it did. She then said my name, and I was like…what do you mean? She said, “don’t you celebrate Kwanzaa?” I replied, “I never have…didn’t even know that was going on.” And she turned super red and said “oh my gosh I’m sorry!”
I was like, “ok…I’m gonna get back to work now.”.
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69points
#15
In 1987 I worked as a receptionist and word processor ~ yes that was what secretary was called at the time ~ for a title company that employed 4/5 guys that were a few years older than me. I answered phones and typed up contracts and made copies of legal documents, The owners were 3 middle aged men with wives and children and the rest of the employees were single men in their late 20’s.
Within 6 weeks of working there I was groped, “joked with”, hit on, talked lewd too, told I smelled like I just had sex, told I could make extra money as a stripper at at well known strip club if I lost some weight first, followed into the bathroom and asked to cover for each of them when their side girls called. They would openly talk about their sexual conquests and discuss who had herpes which at the time was a major big deal and topic of conversation.
I finally got the guts to complain in tears to one of the bosses who seemed horrified of the things I was telling him at the time. He assured me he would do something about it and apologized profusely. That was a Friday, he told me to take off the rest of the day and Monday since I was so upset and he would handle it. I was so hopeful and relieved I remember thinking that I would be able to come to work the next week and not worry about what I was going to have to deal with.
On the following Tuesday I came in to the office eager to get on the right foot and found my desk empty. My stuff was in a box in the break room. Seems I was temporarily reassigned. Also I found out that on after I left on Friday he had called in the jerks all together and they as a group did not deny their behavior but claimed that because I had laughed at the time and not complained when it the events happened that I was as much to blame and therefore couldn’t work with them. By the next day I was replaced and by Friday, my position had been eliminated.
Within 6 weeks of working there I was groped, “joked with”, hit on, talked lewd too, told I smelled like I just had sex, told I could make extra money as a stripper at at well known strip club if I lost some weight first, followed into the bathroom and asked to cover for each of them when their side girls called. They would openly talk about their sexual conquests and discuss who had herpes which at the time was a major big deal and topic of conversation.
I finally got the guts to complain in tears to one of the bosses who seemed horrified of the things I was telling him at the time. He assured me he would do something about it and apologized profusely. That was a Friday, he told me to take off the rest of the day and Monday since I was so upset and he would handle it. I was so hopeful and relieved I remember thinking that I would be able to come to work the next week and not worry about what I was going to have to deal with.
On the following Tuesday I came in to the office eager to get on the right foot and found my desk empty. My stuff was in a box in the break room. Seems I was temporarily reassigned. Also I found out that on after I left on Friday he had called in the jerks all together and they as a group did not deny their behavior but claimed that because I had laughed at the time and not complained when it the events happened that I was as much to blame and therefore couldn’t work with them. By the next day I was replaced and by Friday, my position had been eliminated.
66points
#16
I was once partnered with a colleague one shift and this was a day after me and my ex had broken up rather messily. It came up in conversation and then he decided it was appropriate to ask if he could buy nudes off me since I'm single now.
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64points
#17
A coworker sent me an unsolicited picture of her hemorrhoid that was causing her to miss work. We didn’t work in the same office. I had no idea she was missing work.
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63points
#18
When ordering uniforms, I told the assistant FOH mgr I needed a size 8 pants. He said he didn’t know they made sizes that big. I felt great after that one.
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61points
#19
I used to work out in the chemical plants so the "worst" thing said to me was sexual harassment.
Dude offered to help me in the restroom. He was more graphic but I'll let you use your imagination.
The good thing that came from that was I saw how many people I worked with and around that said it was unacceptable. They helped me file complaints and protected me till he was run off.
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60points
#20
Former Director of the Lake Erie Research Center told me I was stupid and crazy for being pregnant. Then she regaled me with her stories of when she did research while she was pregnant. But that was different because it was her and she’s special.
Did I mention she is no longer the director?
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59points