'Let the place burn': Warehouse worker refuses to fix a malfunctioning machine after his protocol-obsessed supervisor forbids employees from touching equipment outside of their job description; machine bursts into flames

Author image for Jesse Kessenheimer
Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Jul 31, 2025 1:00 PM EDT

This protocol-obsessed manager lost the plot in the workplace after following the rules a little too closely. While I'm a huge supporter of abiding by safety protocols, especially in a warehouse environment, some rules make a lot of sense on paper but don't hold up in the real world. When a machine started smoking and malfunctioning on the warehouse floor, this packing employee had to remind himself of his supervisor's threats, refusing to touch the machine because it didn't explicitly fall under his job description. 

However, even after being informed of its imminent demise, the supervisor decided to leave the machine unattended, which resulted in a total factory meltdown like they'd never seen before.

Advertisement
  • Cheezburger Image 10535709184
    via Robert Kneschke

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

  • They said "don't touch it unless it's your job." So I didn't. And it caught fire. S I work in a warehouse, and a while back we got a new supervisor who was all about "following protocol." His big thing was that no one should touch anything unless it was their exact job to do it. One
    via PotatoPoweredFan
  • morning I noticed one of the older machines starting to smoke. I've worked with it before and I knew what was happening, but I remembered the rule. So I let the supervisor know. He barely looked up and said, "Don't touch it unless it's your job." Alright then. I went
    via PotatoPoweredFan
  • back to packing. Ten minutes later, the thing actually caught fire. We had a clear out the whole floor. Maintenance took their sweet time showing up. The machine was toast. Production was shut down for the rest of the day. They quietly dropped the "don't touch anything" rule after that. I just did what I was told.
    via PotatoPoweredFan

  • Rebellion in the workplace is actually pretty fun when you know you're right. This employee turned his rebellious acts into malicious compliance after getting scolded by his boss for working outside his job description. Okay, if you don't want an extra set of capable eyes monitoring your equipment, by all means, set us free to do our tasks, and our tasks only. 

  • Cheezburger Image 10535709696
    via Thirawatana

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

  • tris_majestis ⚫ I'm less worried about the don't touch it rule and more concerned that you told a supervisor that a machine was smoking, and he didn't bother to investigate it. I'd be making it very clear to anyone and everyone that you raised an immediate safety concern and he ignored you.
    via tris_majestis
  • jdlech I once had a supervisor that, if you didn't have at least 2 witnesses watching you report it, he would have claimed you did not report it. In fact, he would have claimed you deliberately did not report it and just watched it burn. He would throw you under the bus just to protect his own and his policy.
    via jdlech
  • Why didn't one witness suffice? Because he would have claimed it was you and your friend trying to make him look bad to his supervisors. He would try to get you both fired.
    via jdlech
  • I didn't waste much time there once I realized what kind of person this supervisor was. He already had a high turnover rate because this was his favorite tactic for covering his
    via jdlech
  • Cheezburger Image 10535710464
    via swilmor

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

  • Arrasor ⚫ Just because they drop the rule doesn't mean you should now touch shes not part of your job, especially about to break/broken sh_s. If sh stay broken or break after you touch it, it gonna be on you for unauthorized handling of equipment. Don't turn their problem into your problem.
    via Arrasor
  • atombomb1945. Had a boss like this. Suddenly he's very upset that I'm taking tickets and working so many issues. He decided I wasn't the management he was looking for and promoted someone in my team to my position. He was very straight with me that I was not allowed to work
    via atombomb1945
  • tickets without the new supervisors approval. So I let tickets sit. Tickets that were literally time sensitive and needed resolved immediately would sit in the queue for hours or even days. I didn't touch them. Just sat back and let the place burn.
    via atombomb1945
  • RigorousMortality ⚫ Told a coworker, a maintenance person, that something they were working on smelled smokey. They laughed it off, even though I told them I was serious. It didn't catch fire but they did inform me that I
    via RigorousMortality
  • was correct as a panel started to smoke later. Dude wasn't stupid either, but a lot of people are smart in a small amount of areas and just as dumb in everything else. Some people only think of fire when they see fire.
    via RigorousMortality

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

boss worker maintenance employee manager job malicious compliance work coworkers working ceo employees supervisor workplace warehouse company blue collar coworker business machine
Scroll Down For The Next Article