'[He] showed up 4 hours late because he "overslept"': 25+ Workers reveal the reasons everyone at their workplace dislikes 'that one colleague'

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
May 16, 2024 11:00 AM EDT

Every workplace has at least one person who is somehow employed there, leaving everyone else baffled as to how that could've happened.

You'll know exactly how this feels if you've ever had to work with someone who doesn't take care of their hygiene. When a coworker comes to the office and reeks, it's hard not to take notice. Maybe it's that one person who insists on biking to work on the hottest days of the year, showing up drenched in sweat. Other people seem like they just never brush their teeth (the horror!). Regardless of what the issue is, it's always a touchy subject, and usually one that the HR folks have to deal with.

Some people shared the stories of what happened with that one nightmare colleague. Let's face it, being a little smelly is one thing. But your peer acting like they're your boss, trying to claim they know how to do your job better than you do, is equally as grating. And then there are cases of theft, like one worker who stole her coworker's tips!

Clearly, people had to vent about their most detestable coworkers, because when u/Wackydetective asked to hear about them, more than 7700 people replied. Check out some of the best ones below.

Next up, this postal worker got some petty revenge on the boss who punishes them, but not their coworkers. 

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  • 01
    Cheezburger Image 9922873088
    via rivage on Unsplash
  • 02
    Who is the most hated person in your workplace and why?
    via u/Wackydetective
  • 03
    a_spoop... The woman who would use money from our pooled tip jar to fix her pricing mistakes. Literally stealing money from her coworkers to cover her . We all hated her.
    via u/a_spoopy_ghost
  • 04
    sniffphilis We have this goober of a guy who works probably one full day a week. I actually get surprised if I don't have an email in my inbox in the morning of him saying he won't be in. Worst of all though, he sits nearest to the bathroom and makes comments like "WOW you were in there a long time! Must've been a number 2?!" when people come out.
    via u/sniffphilis
  • 05
    stafekrieger You know those "rows" of staples you put in a stapler? He takes 2 of those, faces them against each other and rubs them between his fingers all day. It may be worse than nails on a chalk board, and he will not stop for anyone.
    via u/stafekrieger
  • 06
    superiorspiderman I work in a small chiropractic clinic. Three chiropractors, four receptionists (two per shift). One of the receptionists literally does nothing but check patients in. We are supposed to work on billing and other tasks to do with insurance. She always leaves her Facebook logged in into the communal computers so I "like" a bunch of dank meme Facebook pages for her.
    via u/superiorspiderman
  • 07
    thecountessofdevon My boss's wife has been given a position of authority over my department, despite having no experience or expertise in the area. But the worst part is, she is an older lady and by all accounts seems to be suffering from dementia/alzheimers. Every single e-mail you send her or e-mail chain she's included on, she will respond without having any understanding of what was written to her. So then you have to spend the time explaining the whole content of the chain or e-
    via u/thecountessofdevon
  • 08
    mail to her. We have to attend meetings with her where she will spend a lot of time rambling about things that have nothing to do with our work. We have to remind her or re-explain things we talked about at the last meeting that are relevant because she doesn't remember or understand. Then the whole thing happens all over again in the next interaction with her like it's "Groundhog Day" for her.
    via u/thecountessofdevon
  • 09
    Fernmefern The chick that runs everywhere (inside an office building) for exercise.
    via u/Fernmefern
  • 10
    OllyDee George the joiner. Minimal number of fingers, bad personal hygiene, unintelligibly thick accent (farmer / pirate etc). This is not a man you want operating a forklift, operating machinery, or driving. If he carries something through the workshop, it's a safe bet he will utterly destroy something with his own brand of half-blind ignorance. But what a man. Mysterious and enigmatic. Who is he? Where did he come from? When will he go back???
    via u/OllyDee
  • 11
    numbr2wo Far and away the most hated person in my carpentry shop is the deaf guy. I've only been working there a year and everyone thinks he is the most vindictive, hateful, selfish, paranoid to walk the earth. He's easily the hardest worker there. I can tell you with confidence that he has generated the most money for the company of anyone there. He absolutely OWNS his portion of the shop. He has it down like clockwork and doesn't waste a second.
    via u/numbr2wo
  • 12
    All that being said, he throws an absolute rabid fit whenever anything out of routine happens and he won't look anyone in the eye and he calls everyone lazy After a month of working there I started to learn ASL (American Sign Language). I learned a few things at home and would say anything that I could to him. "Happy Monday" "how are you" etc. I learned how to ask about words, how to spell things, how to sign numbers. Pretty soon he's
    via u/numbr2wo
  • 13
    teaching me a word a day, then it speeds up to 3-5 words a day. Fast-forward a year and we talk constantly. What I learned is that he gets mad because he's been passed up for promotions because he's deaf. People don't tell him when overtime is available which he wants. He sees people coming in late and still taking breaks and he NEVER breaks those rules. He gets mad that no one ever tells him about new machines being
    via u/numbr2wo
  • 14
    bought or new jobs coming in or the gossip. I unknowingly became his liaison. He stopped fighting with people. He's able to get all of the jokes we tell at lunch because I can translate. He can joke back through me. Other people are learning sign language as time goes on too.
    via u/numbr2wo
  • 15
    What I don't get is why no ever gave him the benefit of the doubt. It would to be deaf and never know what was going on. Some people have worked with him for 15+ years and no one ever learned any ASL. He thanked me recently for being a good friend. He said things are a lot better now.
    via u/numbr2wo
  • 16
    sergeant_flem Not working there anymore but I had one coworker (call him Roy) who was a POS. We worked in IT support and Roy was considered the "expert" for a certain system our team managed. He was supposed to train me but he only taught me the very basic stuff. He never told me about the plethora of problems that can occur with the system. When alerts did happen (which I had no idea what they were or how to respond to) he
    via u/sergeant_flem
  • 17
    would chastise me and throw me under the bus. There was another incident where the boss didn't trust him to come in for an overtime shift, so I was asked to come in at a certain time to cover. I called Roy first thing in the morning and asked if he would come in, he said he would so I went in at my normal time. Roy doesn't show and I'm forced to work 10 hours that day to cover his lazy Surprisingly the incident didnt get him fired, but he did proudly
    via u/sergeant_flem
  • 18
    announce he found a new job a month later. The new job rescinded their offer and he went into survival mode. He deliberately continued to train me poorly to make himself "unreplaceable", but the company refused to let him stay and that was the end of that.
    via u/sergeant_flem
  • 19
    deedubya139 Coworker who talks way too much. I can make conversation with my coworkers, but we all have a sense of when it's appropriate. She's the kind of person who bombards me with chatter as soon as I walk in, before I've even taken my jacket off. She tries to make conversation out of everything, to the point where it gets really annoying because it happens so frequently. I was really swamped with stuff the other day, and she
    via u/deedubya139
  • 20
    stopped me just to point out that a customer's last name was one letter different from her own maiden name. "Isn't it amazing?" No Carol, it's not.
    via u/deedubya139
  • 21
    Chakobsa S constantly eats throughout the day, but to do this he must take several trips to the canteen to acquire food. But on the way to the canteen it starts with at least a 20 minute cigarette break. Complains heavily if anyone asks him to do anything as he is always too busy. We have flexitime at work, so he gets in early, and on the odd time I have turned up early the office lights are always off, apparently prefers working in the dark. Becomes deeply
    via u/Chakobsa
  • 22
    offended at any change in the office, and the temperature must be kept cold as he can't work if it's too warm. Can't stand the coffee addicts in the office as they need caffeine but drinks several bottles of coke cola everyday. I have been in the office now for nearly two years still yet to work out what he actually does. He smells, he's sweaty and when he sneezes he wipes his nose with his hand and the cleans it off on the desk. I hate S and so do the rest of us.
    via u/Chakobsa
  • 23
    Edit:I have no problem with working in the dark, but as an IT department I feel it is better to do work with eyes open and the PC on, and not having the office door locked. I don't mind wearing my coat all year round in the office, gloves in winter but I do feel a compromise could be met, I am not asking for a sauna.
    via u/Chakobsa
  • 24
    Ephemeris7 Let me tell those of you who scrolled down this far about supervisor chef "Bob". We all hated Bob. Bob wasn't a team player, you see. When we were swamped, everyone would skip breaks, except for Bob. We would all help whoever was falling behind, except Bob. Bob did his own thing and left you to the wolves. Bob always pointed out what you did wrong or what you'd lazily.
    via u/Ephemeris7
  • 25
    Eventually Bob started helping me a little when I would fall behind. I thanked him once for grilling a steak for one of my orders, and I made the mistake of telling him that steaks are my weak spot, I had trouble overcooking them. For weeks after that he arranged it so I cooked every steak. Time passes and I become, not to brag, one of the competent employees. I noticed one night that Bob was jumping in to help me whenever I fell behind. He would even ask what I wanted him to cover. Once I was w
    via u/Ephemeris7
  • 26
    him and I noticed Brenda was falling behind. Brenda is always falling behind. I was clear for a minute and told Bob that I was going to go help Brenda for a minute. Bob said no, Brenda has to learn how to do her job. She won't learn if we always do it for her. And I saw Bob in a whole new light. He wasn't lazy, he just wanted us all to know our jobs.
    via u/Ephemeris7
  • 27
    Once he knew anyone could handle anything, then he was quick to help out. He was, he admitted to me once, very bad at remembering who had taken. breaks. He had no problem covering for a break, we just had to ask him instead of waiting forever for him to tell us to go. Now, Bob is gone. I was genuinely sad to see him go. Standards have fallen, and Brenda still is incapable of doing her job.
    via u/Ephemeris7
  • 28
    [deleted] The guy isn't hated... it just astounds all of us how he can continue to be employed here after each and every f-up he has had. Stuff that any one of us would get fired for (most likely) but he continues to clock in each day. Examples: took a customer car that was in storage and put about 100 miles on the car. He had no permission from us or the customer to take it. The customer was not told and we hoped they didn't notice when the car came out of storage. We normally don't
    via u/[deleted]
  • 29
    store cars but this was a personal favor granted by the CEO, who is this customer's friend (or something like that). He almost set the whole one side of our workshop on fire because he decided to overload the circuits on an outlet and smoke started pouring out of it. He has detailed customers cars for cash deals from them all while using our shop space and supplies. He has been seen skateboarding (and failing with epic falls) in the workshop where guys are working on customer cars. This is all o
    via u/[deleted]
  • 30
    this little side office that the detail guys use and smokes , and the smell is so strong I have walked past and wondered how customers haven't noticed. There are loads more things but this is an idea. The only thing we can come up with is that he has something on someone higher up and will blab if not kept working here.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 31
    AsianHa... This old woman who, at first glance, looks like the sweetest lady with a big heart but she's actually a massive nark for management. She'll hide behind ropaks, pillars, around corners just to catch you on some petty Everyone hates her but pretends to be nice to her because she's been there for 30 years and one of the managers is her niece or something.
    via u/AsianHawke
  • 32
    patattacka He is no longer working with us, but he is still legendary to this day. Since he is most likely on reddit, I will refer to him as Magoo. Magoo and I both started at the same time in a science based company, but in different departments. He looked really good on paper, well qualified, and interviewed fairly well (from what I was told). I sat next to him and we began chatting. It became pretty apparent that something was off on him. He would giggle to himself during the conversation,
    via u/patattacka
  • 33
    and immediately began one upping me in the conversation, saying how he had something better or knew more about what we were talking about. Not a big deal, I work with scientists and engineers, being one myself, and odd personalities are the norm. Within a day or two, I knew that I was not going to enjoy my time with Magoo. Our office has a tradition of getting bagels and cream cheese every Friday as a sort of reward for a long week. I get in at 8:30, Magoo is already munching happily on a loaded
    via u/patattacka
  • 34
    bagel and giggling to himself. Not a big deal either. I get my bagel, start working (redditing) and head to the bathroom an hour later. I can see as I'm walking that Magoo is eating another bagel. Not cool, but I've gotten two myself from time to time if there are plenty left. Fifteen minutes later, I see Magoo eating ANOTHER bagel, and trying to sneak off with it. I confront him and tell him you can't eat 3 bagels before some people have had one. He brushes it off and tries to pretend like he d
    via u/patattacka
  • 35
    Magoo's interests were wide and varied, think being apart of esoteric clubs, makes his own gaming computers and brags about it. The worst part of being around him is that he takes over EVERY conversation he is in, and he is in EVERY conversation. He will literally walk up to a group of people, no matter what they are talking about, laughing like he heard something funny, and then interject with how he knows more about it or is a expert at it. It got to the point that we would avoid him at all co
    via u/patattacka
  • 36
    matter to Magoo, he would follow you and talk about his knowledge anyway. Magoo is also a closed eye talker. You know who I am talking about, the kind of person who will smugly assume he knows more about what you are saying and will close his eyes and turn his head away in an exasperated measure of "I can't believe I have to explain this," manner. He began to get on everyone's nerves, but began getting bolder with his interjections. He interrupted the CEO of our company during an
    via u/patattacka
  • 37
    important meeting to correct him on a detail that didn't matter. The on this guy. He also began changing login details, since he knew a good bit on computers, for shared machines for sequencing and changing protocols without getting approval. He ordered over $10,000 in materials for an experiment that wasn't authorized to answer something he had been wondering about, not even related to what we were doing. The last straw is when he started insulting people if they disagreed with him, including h
    via u/patattacka
  • 38
    this point, most people wouldn't even respond to him when he spoke to them, and most people just left when he came around, even in mid-sentence. How he lasted 3 months is beyond me, but the day he was fired, we were told to stay out of the offices in case he did anything drastic. After he was gone, he asked his boss for a reference. I still like to check up on Magoo every now and then. He is still unemployed and probably has no idea why.
    via u/patattacka
  • 39
    [deleted] So, just from today. This showed up 4 hours late because he "overslept." He started a 1,000 word piece he had to write at 2 and only has 114 words in the document currently. A few hours in, he went into the backroom and just chilled on reddit for an hour.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 40
    He has 8 things on his to-do list and he's barely started the first one. This is a normal occurrence at least once or twice a week and then he scrambles on the other days to try and catch up so he can slack off later. He always makes his deadlines, but the non-deadline items can be put off for months. I'd fire him, but I'm self-employed and I need the money.
    via u/[deleted]

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