20+ People who are having an awkward week at work: 'I accidentally called my boss "Mom"'

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Mar 28, 2025 11:00 AM EDT

When you spend 40 hours per week with the same crew of people, you're bound to make a fool of yourself every now and then. 

To err is human, which you certainly know if you've ever worked with other people. We are constantly messing things up, even when we're trying our very best. We drop things, we misspell words, we text the wrong person, we forget to send out an important email. It's so embarrassing when you think you're on mute in a conference call, so you eat something or take a loud slurp of coffee, only to hear your own sounds echo through the meeting. The bigger the meeting, the more awkward it is! 

Sometimes your brain is just running on autopilot, and instead of answering a phone call with "[Boss's name]'s office, Lisa speaking," you just blank out and say "Hello?" instead. That might leave your cheeks burning for a moment. But trust me, these people below have had some much more awkward encounters with their bosses, coworkers, customers, and clients. 

After that, read a story of "parking justice": this CFO got his expensive car towed after repeatedly ignoring the business owner's pleas to move his Corvette ASAP. 

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  • 01
    STO '[I] told a customer, "Bye, I love you!" as she was leaving the store'
    via Clay Banks on Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 02
    Today I accidentally called my boss "Mom". What's your most embarrassing work story? It's morning. I'm a little tired but halfway through my first cup of coffee. I walk over to my boss's desk to ask her a question about a project, when suddenly: "Mom- -OH GOD I MEAN PAM, uh, ahm..."
    via u/[deleted]
  • 03
    I also once choked on an appetizer in front of the CEO and everyone in the company and an intern had to give me the heimlich. I don't know why I still have a job. Reddit, what is the most embarrassing thing to happen to you at work?
    via u/[deleted]

    That's the kind of embarrassment you can never recover from, because your story will instantly become a company legend!

  • 04
    Meitachi I walked into a meeting I wasn't supposed to be part of. There was an awkward silence as I sat down and one of the managers kindly told me to leave as everyone else stared.
    via u/Meitachi
  • 05
    sleeplyss I was rummaging through some drawers in the office, looking to find something for one of the newer employees. I found a hair dryer and without thinking or looking up, jokingly asked if maybe a hair dryer would be useful to him instead. He was bald.
    via u/sleeplyss
  • 06
    a_munch_reborn I'm sure I'm going to be on a work call, and end it with, "| love you". I've pretty much come to terms with that happening in the future.
    via u/a**_munch_reborn
  • 07
    4wesomes4uce Was working at a cafeteria as a line server. I hated the job something terrible, dreaded going into work every day because of my supervisor, would always harass me about nonsense stuff. Anyways, customer comes through the line, I asked him what he would like, he told me, and after I handed him the plate of food, he said thank you; to
    via u/4wesomes4uce
  • 08
    which I, without thinking and hesitation, replied with "I love you." We both stopped, stared at each other, I told him I was sorry and that I meant to say he was welcome, he walked away, fast.
    via u/4wesomes4uce
  • 09
    RedFromKanto Well, a few months ago I had a toe infection. And yeah, gross, I know. But anyways. It hurt so much that I limped when I walked, and I'd been taking orders all morning. A man comes up to me and asks, "Is breakfast over?" But, I thought he asked, "Did you break your toe?" So, instead of answering what he actually asked, I began to
    via u/RedFromKanto
  • 10
    tell him a story about how my toe was infected and how I needed to go to the doctor soon. He just kind of nodded, and listened to my story before walking away, very confused, I'm sure.
    via u/RedFromKanto
  • 11
    [deleted] I was carrying an iced latte to a customer, slipped on the badly mopped floor, and threw the latte up in the air. Thank god it was iced. We wore white shirts and I had to work 8 more hours covered in espresso, chocolate, and whipped cream.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 12
    bigface614 Told a customer "By Mom, I love you." as she was leaving the store.
    via u/bigface614
  • 13
    synrose I was sitting in a desk chair, and instead of standing up to pick up a pile of folders. off the floor, I leaned forward in my chair to pick them up. Suddenly I fall forward sprawling on the floor. The other guy there said "Oh my gosh are you okay???"
    via u/synrose
  • 14
    Cheezburger Image 10486547712
    via Kelli McClintock on Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 15
    N_Chokit Was walking by one of the photogs in the hall and he held his hand down for a high five and moved his hand at the last second and I leaned and hit him in the crotch. I have also walked in on someone going to the bathroom because they didn't lock the door. Karma got me once, a co-worker and I were iChatting about another advertising rep, well
    via u/N_Chokit
  • 16
    I was printing my invoices at the same time and accidentally printed the chat. Another co-worker came over to me, set the printout down, and said "whose the cow". All that printed was my name and what I said, "All I hear when she talks is mooo"
    via u/N_Chokit

    This person must have wanted the floor to swallow them up after calling their coworker a "cow." It's impolite and  unprofessional, and they really should never be saying that kind of thing in a proper office setting. 

  • 17
    andrewsmith1986 I just told my boss "I don't think I could pull off those pants"
    via u/andrewsmith1986
  • 18
    meltedlaundry I really, really hate being in front of large crowds. I avoided classes in college altogether that included speeches. So of course, my first week on the job I'm still at, I find out we were hosting a market wide meeting, and that I'd be one of the associates (along with the other new hires - 3 or 4 of us) modeling some new apparel we were about to
    via u/meltedlaundry
  • 19
    begin selling to our students (I work at a college). 300 people were at this "meeting", and during it, specifically during the 'fashion show' part, I had to snake through all the tables. modeling a ball cap, and post-it notes. How the sh do you model post-it notes?? I was pretty mortified and could feel, the whole time, my face turning progressively darker shades
    via u/meltedlaundry
  • 20
    of red. I can still remember seeing peoples' shocked faces once they saw how embarrassed mine was. If I had to do it again, I'd probably quit.
    via u/meltedlaundry
  • 21
    pillowfightmistress Maybe slightly less embarrassing cause there were a few of us but when I worked at a summer camp one day all the counsellors and staff were jumping into the water with their clothes on. Me and a couple of my colleagues started chanting the name of the camp co- ordinator, and got all the
    via u/pillowfightmistress
  • 22
    other children to chant it too, yelling at him to jump in the water with us. After about five minutes of him not budging, we remembered that he doesn't know how to swim. So awkward
    via u/pillowfightmistress
  • 23
    scaredasyou At my old job we dealt in wholesale and would occasionally send orders by courier, and had one guy who'd stop in once a day to check if there was anything going out. We also had a delivery driver for orders in the city, and when coming in the store, the driver and the courier would use the same door, which you had to turn
    via u/scaredasyou
  • 24
    a corner to come out to the store area. Anyway, one day I'm playing. with a bouncy ball and hear the back door. Thinking it was the driver I have a genius idea to whip it at him when he comes around the corner. Well, it wasn't the driver and I whipped the ball
    via u/scaredasyou
  • 25
    hard. Except it hit the floor first, bounced up and hit the brim of our courier's hat and it flew off his head. I sat there mortified but thankfully he laughed it off and from then on would always come timidly around the corner. I think I would have d of embarrassment had I actually hit him it the face...and I came very close.
    via u/scaredasyou
  • 26
    [deleted] Relevant: In second grade after we got pizza delivered I accidently told the delivery guy "bye, love you" as I shut the door.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 27
    Awaken3568 I work as entrance security for a large company and some days I'll open the door for the employees as they come to work in the morning, trying to brighten their day a little first thing in the morning.
    via u/Awaken3568
  • 28
    They either thank me, to which I say, "You're welcome", or they start small talk like, "How are you today?". I got sick of saying, "Good thanks how are you?" so one day I started saying, "Wonderful, how are you today?".
    via u/Awaken3568
  • 29
    Well long story short, someone said thank you and my response was, "You're wonderful"
    via u/Awaken3568
  • 30
    Loserskwarl My boss at an old job once informed me that a friend of mine would be transferring to my team in the store and asked how I felt about it. God knows why, but what came out of my mouth was, "That rubs me awesome!". As a female employee speaking to her male boss, that was great. Just fantastic.
    via u/Loserskwarl
  • 31
    monsterluv This wasn't at work but my teacher was collecting assignments during class today while I was sleeping and when he came by me I jolted up and shook his hand lol
    via u/monsterluv
  • 32
    MikeSpader Happened to a coworker of mine but no less hilarious. Over one spring break, I decided to go home and work for some extra coin. The only work available from my summer job was overnight stuff so I begrudgingly agreed. Well Thursday night/Friday morning rolls around (the last night of work) and my
    via u/MikeSpader
  • 33
    boss pulls our 30-40 person team aside for a brief pep talk. "You guys have been doing great all week," "Last night before the weekend," all that nonsense. That moment he finishes talking, from within the audience we hear, in the loudest voice possible, "I don't give a F !" It was one guy's cell phone. That was his email notification noise. Everyone starts
    via u/MikeSpader
  • 34
    cracking up and after a moment, my boss stops his half-hearted laugh and asks what was so funny. He hadn't heard so the guy whose phone went off had to explain that it was his phone. Boss: Well what did it say? Guy: ...I don't give a f Boss: What was it?
    via u/MikeSpader
  • 35
    Guy: It said "I don't give a f... And everyone started laughing again. It's the only time I've ever seen a black man turn red. - TL;DR Coworker's phone didn't give a f about no pep talks.
    via u/MikeSpader
  • 36
    purplelephant Waitress here, accidentally spilt coffee all over my boss and owner of the cafe. A couple hours later a food critic and TV crew came by to do a story on her restaurant. Worst day for a spill, ever.
    via u/purplelephant
  • 37
    Cheezburger Image 10486546944
    via Jan Antonin Kolar on Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 38
    tlease181 I once left my then girlfriend (now wife) a very sappy and romantic voicemail and proceeded to send it out to everyone on a company phone list. No one immediately told me what I had done, and I had to slowly piece it together on my own.
    via u/tlease181
  • 39
    guavainindia I do the opposite, I used to have the problem of picking up my home phone and instinctively answering 'Good afternoon, this is the museum, how may I help you?'
    via u/guavainindia
  • 40
    ShinraXO My problem was that I sat with my back to the door in my office. Several times my boss was standing behind me at the shelf with the foldes, while I was laughing my a off about something stupid or using inappropriate words towards some customers. I always noticed that he is probably standing behind me when my collegues gave me that look.
    via u/ShinraXO

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