Employee gets boss fired by successfully taking care of a last-minute product shipment to Europe that boss had neglected: ‘He had no one else to blame for his mess-ups’

Author image for Bar Mor Hazut
Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Dec 5, 2025 6:00 PM EST

Procrastination is a side effect of life we all deal with daily. We all have tasks on our to-do list, at work or in our private lives, that constantly get pushed further and further down until we have no choice but to deal with them. 

Here's the thing: as long as the procrastination doesn't affect anybody else, go ahead and push it as far down as you want to. But if your inability to get things done gets in the way of someone else doing their work successfully, then you should be put in your place and face the consequences of your procrastination.

The boss in the story below, whether it was due to procrastination or general malice, decided to drop a last-minute task on his employee. He demanded that the employee take care of a shipment to Europe in less than two days and refused to help them in any way. This led the employee to take the most expensive route to complete this task, and they succeeded so thoroughly that they even got promoted, to the boss's dismay.

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  • After the employee got promoted, the boss had no one to blame for his procrastinations any longer, which eventually got him fired.

    Scroll down to read the full story.

  • MC on boss lead to new job and him being fired

    Nearly 30 years ago I worked for the US National Sales company for a major automotive brand.
    via D90man
  • Cheezburger Image 10582701824
    via Kzenon

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • I was in product planning working on the launch of new model vehicles but was junior level at the time.
    via D90man
  • My boss was a real hard ass on things and was the type that when he did something wrong then it was someone else's fault or if it was a good thing that happened, he would take all the credit.
    via D90man
  • One Friday he dumped in my lap that a shipment of wheels and tires had to be sent to Europe for following Monday as part of a photoshoot.
    via D90man
  • This was the same trip that he had previously denied my travel request to support the event.
    via D90man
  • Also, he knew about these wheels and tires a week or more prior and I think he was trying to make me look bad by dumping it on me last minute.
    via D90man
  • When i asked him about how I was supposed to get these packed and shipped for arrival in 2-days he told me to just get it done and not to bother him with the detail.
    via D90man
  • Further, he wanted the wheels and tires back ASAP after the photoshoot. Trigger MC on this.
    via D90man
  • So I booked a flight to Europe and took the wheels and tires as over-sized luggage.
    via D90man
  • I then rented a van, collected the wheels and tires, and took them to the photoshoot.
    via D90man
  • I took care of business, hung around for the next two days and then took the wheels and tires back with me on return flight on Tuesday morning.
    via D90man
  • Cheezburger Image 10582702080
    via shironosov

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • What was so sweet was that the executives on site were very impressed by my dedication to make the photoshoot a success.
    via D90man
  • Apparently, one of the executives sent a note to my boss, praising my support in making the event work.
    via D90man
  • To say my boss was pissed at me was understatement. However, what could he do but take the credit as
    via D90man
  • Shortly after this I was offered the role of as Vehicle Manager in Corporate Communications group which I gladly took, even though my boss tried to prevent it.
    via D90man
  • My former boss was let go about 4 months later. Apparently, he had no one else to blame for his mess ups.
    via D90man
  • D dMoneyDrew I'm betting that the cost of flying yourself plus the wheels and equipment as oversized luggage wasn't that much more expensive than shipping the equipment overnight. Next day air is freaking expensive and for good reason.
    via D**dMoneyDrew
  • tsian The only thing that could have made this better is if there were only first-class tickets left.
    via tsian
  • NoLUTsGuy I love a happy ending.
    via NoLUTsGuy
  • lapsteelguitar I got to ask: What was the bill for that weekend?
    via lapsteelguitar
  • imhereforthevotes Well, s. That's seriously just about the best way to do it, too. Imagine paying for shipping on all that, it just wouldn't work, so you chaperone it all yourself.
    via imhereforthevotes
  • Ditka85 Nice. I bet that was a pretty hefty price tag too.
    via Ditka85

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promotion boss workplace-stories employee fired manager job malicious compliance tales-from-the-workplace overworked-employees Travel workplace company business funny
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