'He has no idea what he's talking about': 30+ Workers who were mortified by their workplace mistakes

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Apr 19, 2025 11:00 AM EDT

Some of you are way too comfortable with the "mute" button on your video calls. Even if I was muted on a call, I don't think I'd ever start yapping about how dumb my boss is, or send snarky DMs about my coworkers during the meeting. It's just too risky! But a lot of people feel the boredom of a 90-minute meeting weighing them down, and they feel like they need to commiserate with their coworkers. 

Other people took a different approach to mid-meeting boredom. Instead of listening to your boss's boss drone on about quarterly figures, you could be searching for your next gig. It seems ill-advised to do that on a work laptop in the first place… but one person had an embarrassing moment when they shared their screen during a meeting, showing off their job search to the entire group!

Up next, read the stunning tale of a couple who were invited to a wedding in Hawaii, only to arrive and realize they weren't invited to either the ceremony or the reception. 

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  • 01

    Oh no!

    غوثیہ • Ghausia @GhausiaSpeaks Once, years ago, I didn't realise my colleague was sharing her whole screen on a call so I messaged her while someone was speaking saying "he has no idea what he's talking about" and the message popped up on her screen
    via @GhausiaSpeaks
  • 02

    Was this a power move?

    Nathan @OIuwatosin The most embarrassing work-related thing I've witnessed, is someone who forgot to stop sharing their screen on a call and was reading through the offer letter they just received from another company.
    via @OIuwatosin
  • 03
    TunjiTunez @salamibasit A colleague slept off & kept snoring on a Teams due to working late into the midnight. The lead allowed him sleep & snore for like 1hr before removing him on the call. He didn't believe it the next morning.
    via @salamibasit
  • 04
    Adeoluwa Gbaja @Gbaja Adeoluwa During the CO ID period in 2020, my teammate forgot to mute himself during our company-wide Zoom call. He took a phone call during our Monday morning virtual meeting and said to the person on the other end, "Bro, I go call you back; I dey inside one very stupid meeting."
    via @Gbaja_Adeoluwa
  • 05
    DuchessOfBizana... @Living_Ancestor Lmao. Mna it was my friend who sent me *her* offer letter while I was presenting. That email notification pop up with Offer Letter made for a very awkward conclusion to the meeting. Not something you can even explain because no one asked!
    via @Living_Ancestor
  • 06
    Cozi Summer @ForeverBlunt Mine is a co-working IMing another coworker to b about our manager and she was sharing her screen the entire time
    via @ForeverBlunt
  • 07
    Dani @DaniDreamy_ My old supervisor forgot to stop sharing his screen & pulled up an email thread requesting termination of an employee who was in the meeting...watching him share his screen...
    via @DaniDreamy_
  • 08
    Muscle Momm... @paymusclemommy We were on a call with a client, they were sharing their screen, the discussion was getting heated (the usual "why can't you do this" "because the software literally isn't built for that purpose" argument) while they're sharing they pull up their internal group chat where they start talking sh about us Screenshots got sent to VPs, it was incredible
    via @paymusclemommy
  • 09
    Annalisa Fernandez ❤ @BecauseCulture At our finance conference a guy went to the urinal with the wireless mic still clipped to his lapel and ON
    via @BecauseCulture
  • 10
    Skill of Life @skill_of_life Brutal moment. Mid-meeting, they clicked over to compare salary details-while still screen-sharing. A whole team witnessed their escape plans in real time. No need for an exit interview when your resignation plays out like a live-streamed plot twist.
    via @skill_of_life
  • 11
    aree @arediworld In an in person meeting I was in, my colleague was sharing her screen to the client. I slacked her something about the client, then mouthed to say look at your screen. THANK GOD SHE HAD NOTIFICATIONS PAUSED!!!!!!!!! I didn't say anything bad, it was about a point she forgot to mention but still
    via @arediworld
  • 12
    Brian Murray @intheblueyonder My favorite was when a coworker had a mouse jiggler program running. She pretended like she didn't know why she was having a hard time clicking on the, despite mousejiggler.exe clearly running in the task bar.
    via @intheblueyonder
  • 13
    Nemo @theoremipsum During co id a classmate of mine was screen sharing. She had imessage up in the background and the she had some pics that were not very sfw
    via @theoremipsum
  • 14
    B1G JENN CONFERENCE @realdeJennhours so my boss didn't realize that all of her open tabs were visible during this mornings meeting a Θ 85 Take control Pop out Chat People Raise React SPR/SUM X a Amazon.jobs ion/d/1DnQw-ZTm7AbDqkubbeysb_bod X G senior vendor manager a X SJwCawkotoo/edit?slide-id.g3 Out File -... 1 OneLogin MICRO +PDR AGENDA DTC BUSINESS REC... WK 4 G +2 3 range Tools Extensions Help TT Calibri 6 TT 3 to LY, WOS 37 vs LY 29 2 LY. Stores -4% to PL (-$11k), Ecom -38% (-$43K). Wth al
    via @realdeJennhours
  • 15
    Oluwarantimi @Super Akerele This one was not muted and she was negotiating another job after she only just resumed. Talmbout: "...but you just resumed at your current work place, right? Yes, but for the right reasons and price, I'll leave!" Thankfully, I was the only one that'd joined the call.
    via @Super Akerele
  • 16
    Cheezburger Image 10495565824
    via Alyssa Jane For Unsplash+

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

  • 17
    MapleDonut @mapledonut I didn't witness it but he told us about it right after it happened. Attorney thought he was on mute during a depo. A question gets asked and he says to himself, "What a dumb him. question" and... everyone... heard...
    via @mapledonut
  • 18
    Alexander Williams @carvel4444 ed I once saw a man get locked in the dis toilets (he wasn't dis ed). Facilities team then had to cut a 'cat flap' in the door and he crawled out in front of the entire office
    via @carvel4444
  • 19
    Brandon #SilverSqu... @brjXRP17 I have a friend who worked in a real estate department at a big utility in the US. He watched someone send their resume to the wrong printer, and the resume printed off on the engineering blueprints printer (3 feet x 4 feet). It was hung on the wall in the kitchen by coworkers.
    via @brjXRP17
  • 20
    Ikenna Uchenna @ikenna_uchenna During co id i was on a zoom interview and my grandma walked in and said o wo Shirt ati tie, lori boxers The company never got back to me sha
    via @ikenna_uchenna
  • 21
    K @fuchsture Once worked for a company who recorded a C-Suite meeting about layoffs
    via @fuchsture
  • 22
    Garando™ @Fourtrivks fuckkk i was in a meeting with clients, shared my screen for some drawings and i completely forgot to stop. i was reading my contract negotiations mail update when one of them reminded me that I'm still sharing my screen . my bumbum in the open
    via @Fourtrivks
  • 23
    nooir @nnnooiir Once stopped mid meeting to talk sh about my immediate supervisor to my roommate and my mic was still live.
    via @nnnooiir
  • 24
    SEK-C (**) @SueTee22 Kinda like when an old boss of mine meant to share the resume of a new hire and instead shared the offer letter with their salary. Which was more than what we were all making and this person didn't have a degree we all got raises after lol or experience
    via @SueTee22
  • 25
    Nadin @NadinP85 Not quite the same but we hired a new person recently and I was the one sending out rejection emails. And then I by accident sent an introduction email to one of the rejected people because she had the same first name as the new person and Outlook autofilled her email.
    via @NadinP85
  • 26
    Jacob @Perrid13 A coworker shared his screen right as I sent him a Teams message saying the other guy on the call "sure can talk, can't he❞ Imao. The other guy didn't see it (I'm almost sure), he just kept rolling along.
    via @Perrid13
  • 27
    Cheezburger Image 10495566336
    via Alyssa Jane For Unsplash+

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

  • 28
    DAZ @DazTheStampede Had a situation where a meeting had a coffee break but our director didn't mute mic. New senior manager came into his office and started slagging off another manager (who was also on the call). Everyone heard it. He was gone by end of week lol.
    via @DazTheStampede
  • 29

    This is mortifying!

    Anchel Labena @Anchel I'll one you up. In a call with Leads and Directors, an artist was sharing their work on call. Afterwards we kept discussing. The artist, forgetting they were still sharing, opened a private DM with a friend and wrote: "This meeting is so they shut up!" boring, why won't
    via @Anchel
  • 30
    Mat CT @matchristiantho A social worker I know took her laptop into the bathroom during a teams meeting thinking the camera was off. It wasn't and the whole group was watching her feet with her pants around her ankles. Legendary.
    via @matchristiantho
  • 31
    Ye Olde Philologer C... @PhiloCrocodile We had an analyst that would happily browse for jobs, reply to recruiters etc whilst having her laptop connected to the big screen. Absolute icon. RIP.
    via @ PhiloCrocodile
  • 32
    Coach Benjamin Y... @BenjaminYeezus Someone flushed the toilet then proceeded to wash their hands in the middle of an old fashioned conference call - the dial in one's - so no video camera available on those ones. You couldn't tell who it was as unlike Teams it wouldn't tell you who was generating noise. Funny.
    via @BenjaminYeezus
  • 33
    Renagle Bagel ❤ @renaglebagel Had a guy walking with his laptop on zoom call camera down as he went to his desk at home showing everyone he was in his underwear. 30 colleagues online. Mortifying.
    via @renaglebagel
  • 34
    Aemond Targaryen @AmeondTargaryen Here's what my friend did : Bro was screen sharing and presenting a group project to the Professor and other students In order to show a pdf, he opened the whatsapp group where his team members were abusing the same professor Bro did all this with a straight face
    via @AmeondTargaryen

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zoom call boss workplace-stories jobs employee work stories job meeting bosses work coworkers working employees workplace coworker
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