'I was once ordered to rake up pine needles...[at] a camp named "Pinewoods"': 25+ Employees who couldn't believe their boss's ridiculous requests

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Aug 15, 2024 3:00 PM EDT

Every now and then, bosses will ask their employees to do something that gives them pause. Something so strange or out of their ordinary purview that the employee has to consider if they should just walk out of the room and pretend the conversation never happened. 

Some of the people replying to u/RobSenner's query had menial tasks thrust upon them. One person was forced to mop the freezer. If you immediately know why that's a dumb idea, good for you! You're smarter than their boss, who disagreed when that person told them that the water would freeze to the floor. That manager didn't seem to care at all, and sure enough, the mop froze to the floor. I wonder if or how they ever got the mop off the floor again!

More than 14,400 people replied to this r/AskReddit post, and there was a wide variety of dumb tasks assigned. One person's boss told them to spend a slow day picking grapes! And another dude's boss thought that they could tell them to "be in two places at once." 

Up next, these hotel gaffes left customers steaming mad, like one person who discovered a note of horrors that said, "If you're reading this note, they didn't change the sheets." 

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  • 01
    'I was once "asked" not to go to my uncles funeral. I was told, and I quote, "Well, he won't know you're not there." Quit very shortly thereafter'
    via Michael Gusev on Unsplash
  • 02
    What is the most unreasonable thing you've been asked to do at work? Asked by a manager or customer.
    via u/RobSenner
  • 03
    dianasaurusmex I was once "asked" not to go to my uncles funeral. I was told, and I quote, "Well, he won't know you're not there." Quit very shortly thereafter and reported the "manager" to executive management.
    via u/dianasaurusmex
  • 04
    squidtooth Got asked by my boss to go to the building site next door and ask the builders to stop construction as they were being too loud. Not for a specific length of time, just to stop working. I had to ask him what he thought that would actually achieve.
    via u/squidtooth
  • 05
    dainty_flower I was asked to layoff a group of employees for another manager. She begged me to do it, and I initially refused. This manager selected and approved the list of people being let go - and was 100% responsible for even needing a layoff. She over hired in her area because she
    via u/dainty_flower
  • 06
    misrepresented her projected needs and let her group's performance fall below standard. No one wants to be part of a layoff on the receiving or giving side (unless you're a total ) - AND I really believe if you are laying your people off you need to have the to do it
    via u/dainty_flower
  • 07
    yourself. period. I wound up doing it, because everyone in the building already figured out something was happening based on her behavior and it seemed excessively cruel to postpone things since everyone was on edge. I felt like the Angel of Death that day, people
    via u/dainty_flower
  • 08
    couldn't even make eye contact with me as I walked the halls because if I stopped at someone's desk they knew they were losing their job. My people were terrified, and I still feel terrible about how that day went down because I couldn't say anything until it was done. :(
    via u/dainty_flower
  • 09
    Layoffs are horrible, and this manager hiding from their responsibility made it even worse. Fortunately my boss agreed and he fired her for it.
    via u/dainty_flower
  • 10
    smellyluser Back when I was the manager of a movie theatre I had just got done working 14 hours because someone called in sick, tried to submit payroll to accounting, the fax wouldn't go through, asked the accountant to go to the office (about 2 blocks from her home) and see if she could fix it.
    via u/smellyluser
  • 11
    She said she was too tired, and that I should instead drive the 50 miles to hand deliver it. I ended up doing it, because if I didn't then my staff wouldn't get paid, but there were about 8 nasty e-mails I sent afterwards to
    via u/smellyluser
  • 12
    various higher ups. A few weeks later I quit that job to become a bus boy. Single best career move I've ever made.
    via u/smellyluser
  • 13
    [deleted] Not as horrifying as some of the others, but in the early 90s I worked at [a well-known US depot for office supplies]. One time, for reasons I never understood, an edict came down that a certain class of inventory was to be destroyed and discarded.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 14
    That meant that perfectly good merchandise including office furniture, lamps, computers, printers, copiers, fax machines, and some other random bits were to be taken out back and literally smashed to pieces with a hammer, then thrown in the bin.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 15
    The most amazing part was that under no circumstances was this stuff allowed to be given away, sold, or otherwise allowed to survive and benefit anyone. Several employees begged and pleaded to be allowed to buy some of the things
    via u/[deleted]
  • 16
    but nope. Better to destroy it and get nothing in return. It wasn't a huge number of items, but it was easily $10,000 worth of stuff.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 17
    faithfuljohn I was asked to do this QA thing before the weeks ends. When I asked if she wanted me to wait until next week because otherwise I get into overtime, she responded by saying "Do it this week, but put it in next weeks payroll".
    via u/faithfuljohn
  • 18
    Ummm... no. It made me so angry. EDIT: wow, this hit more than my nerve. To clarify, in my situation, I wasn't required to provide notice. I was simply being nice (I don't care too much about the cash). I figure what's good for the
    via u/faithfuljohn
  • 19
    work place, is good for me. So this is why it angered me so much. (also she did these kind of things a lot) EDIT2: Added "don't" before "care" (should be "I don't care...")
    via u/faithfuljohn
  • 20
    [deleted] I was once ordered to rake up pine needles. "All the pine needles". At a camp. A camp named 'Pinewoods'. Aptly named.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 21
    Elestin I was working as a Deskside technician for an IT company a couple of years back and when one day it was quiet and we didn't have much to do, my boss had me pick grapes from his plant at his house.
    via u/Elestin
  • 22
    wh1skeyk1ng I used to work in a food processing plant when I was in high school. The job sucked, it was hot on the lines, and the place smelled horrible. I got told by my boss that I had to go outside and pick up cigarette butts from the sidewalk where the other workers went outside
    via u/wh1skeyk1ng
  • 23
    during breaks to smoke. I wasn't a smoker, and I was pretty at first, but being outside picking up nasty cigarette butts was actually more enjoyable than working inside on the lines. I had a serious self re- evaluation of my job that day.
    via u/wh1skeyk1ng
  • 24
    MsRinne To not have to go to the bathroom. Dead serious here. My boss recently told all the employees there will be no more bathroom breaks. Considering we already don't get a second break, and some of us don't get a lunch either.
    via u/MsRinne
  • 25
    Lasiorhinus To work for two months without being paid, as a "trial" to "see what kind of an employee I would be", before he decided if he was going to offer me a paid job or not. He was somewhat surprised when I declined the offer.
    via u/Lasiorhinus
  • 26
    EDIT: For everyone who forgets to read the last line, I did not take the job. Also, it was a commercial aeroplane pilot job, not an entry level position, and for the love of all things chocolate, this was not an internship!
    via u/Lasiorhinus
  • 27
    thatoneguywitalook. I'm in the navy and I had to sweep water off of the pier as it was raining..
    via u/thatoneguywitalook
  • 28
    [deleted] Worked at a grocery chain as a courtesy/utility clerk. The vendor for 7up and Dr. Pepper screwed up stacking their pallets, so they all fell over, creating a nice pile of broken glass, sticky soda, and wet, messy cardboard.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 29
    Boss made me clean it all up and told me not to leave it even for a second. Got it all cleaned up in about two hours. Not bad save for me nearly getting shanked by some large glass shards on the floor. But where it became unreasonable was the very next day, I got called into the office and written up. By the same boss.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 30
    Why? I had failed to do floor inspections. He expected me to be able to be in two places at once. That was fun to contest...
    via u/[deleted]
  • 31
    ElizaberryLoL Told to get onto a forklift. that had a piece of plywood thrown on the forks, without a harness, and an airhose put into my hand, and then lifted about 20 feet into the air and told to clean the rafters of the woodshop up. After about 5 seconds of spraying, the dust cloud got so thick you could barely see.
    via u/ElizaberryLoL
  • 32
    vanessow I saved up for a trip to France/England. I had two weeks of vacation that I had planned for months. My boss called and wanted me to come home early to work someone's shift. When told "she's on vacation in Europe" the boss was like. .. Can't she just catch a flight?"
    via u/vanessow
  • 33
    Lol for $11/hour that I would have been paid anyway on vacation pay? ** Edit, I no longer work at this company. I got fired for bad attitude, and used my time out to go back to school and get a job I love, making more money and with better management.
    via u/vanessow
  • 34
    lookitskeith I was asked to skip an immigration meeting I needed to have to stay in the country, for a one hour meeting with a client, even though I told them about it weeks in advance. I informed my boss that if I skipped the meeting I would be
    via u/lookitskeith
  • 35
    ineligible to work in the country in 2 weeks. Still harassed me to try and reschedule my federal ridiculous. gov meeting. Its was just
    via u/lookitskeith
  • 36
    dewdude I was once asked to take a pay cut so i could work more hours. Yes, they wanted to tack on an extra 16 hours (saturday and sunday) to the work week, while reducing pay so i would have the same amount of money for more work.
    via u/dewdude
  • 37
    They were angry when i said no, then told me i had no choice. When intold them i quit, they tried to tell me i couldnt. They were insistant that I was going to work for them.
    via u/dewdude
  • 38
    Shaydie When I was 16 I worked at Carl's Jr. One day there was literally nothing to do (no customers, everything was clean as a whistle) so the manager made me stand there and count the disposable cups, over and over, because we weren't allowed to do nothing.
    via u/Shaydie
  • 39
    lachlanrawr I had been offered a job from an old friend that was triple the weekly wage I was earning at a camera store, for the same hours - and it didn't require me to serve customers. I handed in my letter of resignation and the manager looked me dead in the eye and requested I
    via u/lachlanrawr
  • 40
    didn't quit otherwise the owners would be DEPORTED. He was 100% serious and maintained direct eye contact whilst I was trying my best not to laugh at the concept of store owners being deported over a casual employee resigning.
    via u/lachlanrawr
  • 41
    [deleted] Had an officer on patrol once tell me to trace and follow some wire we found leading to a foot path crossing. Wire went into the ground and he told me to tug on it. I told him he was a idiot and he should pull on it (I was I to begin with because all counter IED
    via u/[deleted]
  • 42
    training said not to even trace a wire) and jogged back to the rear of the formation. Guess he realized how stupid he was because I never heard anything about it.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 43
    DACDEC I was once asked to Mop the walk in freezer at the McDonald's I worked in. I raised my concerns with the manager, and i was told to do it anyway. The floor promptly froze, and the mop got stuck to it.
    via u/DACDEC
  • 44
    Dennaldo I worked in my job for 6 years and due to a union dispute saying that my job should be a union position, I was going to be let go and my position. was to be back filled with an existing union member. I was asked to train him before they let me go. You have no idea how humiliating this is.
    via u/Dennaldo
  • 45
    PrimalMusk Train a guy, who was making more than I was, to be my boss.
    via u/PrimalMusk
  • 46
    jdpatric I had a customer ask me to fill their propane tank in a thunderstorm...with no power. They were absolutely perplexed when I politely told them that I could not. They got mad and told my manager, who looked at
    via u/jdpatric
  • 47
    them like they had three heads and a death wish (they met one of these criteria), and after much arguing promptly told them to leave. He was awesome.
    via u/jdpatric
  • 48
    queenie886 Once a week my boss makes me to go Carvel and get an ice cream cake and sit and eat it with her. She says she can't fit into her clothes. I guess she wants me to not fit into my clothes either...
    via u/queenie886
  • 49
    danrennt98 When working overtime or even a regular 8 hour day, our break is still 15 minutes, which is timed, and we are expected to use the bathroom during our timed breaks. Running back and forth to the bathroom isn't a break!
    via u/danrennt98
  • 50
    machzel08 My OWN review. My boss was too lazy to do my department's reviews so he told me to do all of them. I told him to off. He said he would take me to HR. I told him I would bring the email where he asked me to review my coworkers, which was his job.
    via u/machzel08
  • 51
    I got a great review and he bought me lunch. :) Edit: for clarity - he caved and wrote the reviews
    via u/machzel08
  • 52
    anonymuse I was asked to teach an ESL class in the closet of the library. The librarian did not clean out the closet; the custodian merely shoved a few desks into it. When there was another class in the library proper, I had to close the closet door. We could hardly breathe with all the dust and lack of ventilation. I
    via u/an0nymuse
  • 53
    quit shortly thereafter and reported the school to the Office for Civil Rights for discriminating against non English-speaking students.
    via u/an0nymuse
  • 54
    Dan_Torrance At work, I am a minority partner (20%). My partner (80%), asked me for a loan to do payroll. We are the only two employees.
    via u/Dan_Torrance

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