Episode 6
Zoom Gone Wild, Breakfast Shift Breakdown, Shared Death Experience
Episode 6 of I Used To Work There is complete workplace chaos from start to finish. This week’s Day Shift brings the lighter insanity, including a Valentine’s prank email that somehow ends in HR, a wildly inappropriate duck call video accidentally sent to the wrong company, a first-year teacher whose classroom movie causes a student to pass out cold, a shutdown engineer who becomes the victim of a fart machine prank during an oil and gas turnover meeting, a firing that spirals into someone threatening to press charges for “assault on my boots,” and a Zoom classroom disaster that goes completely off the rails during the COVID era.
Then Night Shift takes things into darker and stranger territory with a legendary Vancouver breakfast shift that ends with a waitress completely snapping and throwing a fistful of wet rice at a customer, a journalist nearly crushed by a falling light inside a building connected to tragedy, and one of the most emotional stories we’ve ever featured on the show: a deeply personal shared death experience that changed one man’s understanding of grief, connection, and life itself. From hilarious workplace disasters to moments that genuinely challenge how we understand the world around us, Episode 6 may be the most unforgettable episode yet.
And to all of our new listeners discovering the show this week, welcome to I Used To Work There. Make sure to hit follow on Apple Podcasts so you never miss a future episode. We release brand new episodes every two weeks, and trust us, we have a lot more stories coming.
Got a story of your own? We can't wait to hear it! Pull out your phone, open your voice recorder app, record your story as a voice memo, and send it to HR@iusedtoworkthere.com. Funny, wild, awkward, scary, dark, or completely unexplainable, if it happened at work, we want to hear it.
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Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/i-used-to-work-there/id1885381849
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Transcript
Could it be that the more that we're connected to ourselves, the more that we could better connect to others?
Speaker A:Is that a possibility?
Speaker A:I would have always said no until something happened to me that transformed my life and changed the way I view things.
Speaker B:Welcome to episode six of I Used to Work There.
Speaker B:Before we get into today's stories, I just want to say thank you.
Speaker B:This week has been absolutely unbelievable.
Speaker B:Over the last few days, this show hit the top 100 charts in the United States, crossed over 20,000 downloads, and somehow ended up charting beside shows that I have listened to for years.
Speaker B:And the craziest part is, most of you listening right now are brand new to the show.
Speaker B:So welcome.
Speaker B:Around here, we tell wild, funny, awkward, unbelievable, and sometimes completely unexplainable stories from working life.
Speaker B:If you've enjoyed the show, hit follow on Apple podcasts because we release new episodes every two weeks, and trust me, we have a lot more stories coming for our new listeners.
Speaker B:Our show is broken up into two parts, Day shift and night shift.
Speaker B:Day shift for all the funnier, wilder stories, and night shift for the darker, scarier, more unexplainable situations.
Speaker B:It is time to kick today's show off with the day shift.
Speaker A:Here we go.
Speaker B:It is my pleasure to welcome back to the show Mike from Alberta.
Speaker B:He had a wild story on our last episode about a bachelor party at work, and today he wants to talk all about a Valentine's Day gone wrong.
Speaker B:Mike, welcome to the show.
Speaker B:Tell us what happened.
Speaker C:Yeah, so I worked for a company.
Speaker C:I was back in the in 20 years ago when I used to wear a suit and tie and be in an office tower.
Speaker C:And I remember those days.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Yeah, I don't miss them, but.
Speaker C:So the company I worked for was just taken over by another company.
Speaker C:So we had a whole bunch of new bosses, basically, and they obviously came to Edmonton and we met them and they're all good guys and really good to work for.
Speaker C:And my office manager, she was a tough one.
Speaker C:She was a tough one to work for.
Speaker C:And I was always trying to play practical jokes on her and everyone else in the office.
Speaker C:But this particular day, February 14th, I waited for her to leave her office and then I jumped on her computer and I sent an email to the new boss, basically, will you be my valentine?
Speaker B:Oh, no.
Speaker C:And then I left.
Speaker C:I obviously got out of the email and went somewhere and then waited and waited.
Speaker D:Oh, boy.
Speaker C:Oh, this is going to be good, right?
Speaker C:I can hardly wait.
Speaker C:And then, sure enough, Nelly Nels comes out and she's like, right to me.
Speaker C:Right away.
Speaker C:And I'm like, what are you talking about?
Speaker C:So eventually I had to come clean.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:And she wasn't extremely happy.
Speaker C:Everyone else in the office thought it was quite funny.
Speaker E:Okay.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:So a week later, I'm in front of HR.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker B:That sounds about accurate, even 20 years ago.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:You know, there was HR, and I didn't get in trouble.
Speaker C:I did not get in trouble.
Speaker C:They say, mike, do you understand, you know, the.
Speaker C:The circumstances and how inappropriate this was?
Speaker C:And I'm like, yeah, I understand.
Speaker C:I said, you know, the boss, he.
Speaker C:He didn't.
Speaker C:He didn't get mad or anything.
Speaker C:Like, he's like, okay.
Speaker C:That was actually.
Speaker C:He actually said to me afterwards, that was pretty good joke.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:He said, but don't do it again.
Speaker C:So have I.
Speaker C:Have I done it since?
Speaker C:Absolutely.
Speaker C:If you leave your laptop sitting there, there you go.
Speaker B:Everyone leaving your laptop open is fair game.
Speaker B:Mike, that was incredible.
Speaker B:Just out of curiosity, did you end up staying working for that company for a long period of time?
Speaker C:For a long time, yeah.
Speaker C:For at least another eight years.
Speaker F:Oh, wow.
Speaker C:A lot more.
Speaker C:A lot more practical jokes, just not so personal.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Fair enough.
Speaker B:That was incredible.
Speaker B:Thank you, Mike, for the story.
Speaker B:And make sure that you keep your laptops closed when Mike is around.
Speaker C:Yes, I suggest you do.
Speaker B:We'll see you on the next one.
Speaker B:Mike, thank you.
Speaker B:From a practical joke gone wrong to an email sent to the wrong person, it is my pleasure to welcome Colin from Alberta to the show.
Speaker B:Colin, tell us what happened.
Speaker E:All right, I've got a good one.
Speaker E:It's a bit embarrassing, but I'm a little bit of a jokester.
Speaker E:I like to send jokes.
Speaker E:Just friendly nature, nothing crazy, nothing profane, just the odd thing to the odd people.
Speaker E:So this one day, I'm working for a public company, and I get this joke, and it's American Thanksgiving.
Speaker E:And these commentators are.
Speaker E:They have duck callers.
Speaker E:If anybody knows what Duck Dynasty was, they have these duck callers, and they're making these noises, and they keep doing it.
Speaker E:And the female commentator says, well, let me try.
Speaker E:And so she does it, and as she's making the hand movement, the other two fellas are landing.
Speaker E:They're just saying, stop, stop.
Speaker E:If you can envision your hand in your head, what this looks like, they're just, please stop.
Speaker E:And they're busting a gut.
Speaker E:So anyway, it goes on, and in the replay, they're playing a little Marvin Gaye in the background, and it actually just looks ridiculous, but it's hilarious at the same time.
Speaker E:So this is where the story changes.
Speaker E:I see this video and I'm like, hey, what a great idea.
Speaker E:I'm going to send this to a few friends that'll find this really funny.
Speaker E:Well, maybe not so.
Speaker E:So I go into my computer and I go forward and I'm going to send it to my friend Wes.
Speaker E:So I type in the letters W, E, S, hit send.
Speaker E:I don't know.
Speaker E:A couple hours later, I'm like, boy, oh boy, like something must be wrong.
Speaker E:I must have offended him.
Speaker E:I haven't heard from him.
Speaker E:He didn't reply.
Speaker E:Usually he's pretty quick, quick on the draw.
Speaker E:So I go into my scent items and at that point I realized I might get fired.
Speaker E:I have sent it to a third party payroll company we deal with called Westpay.
Speaker E:So I phoned my controller and I'm like, hey, I think this might be my last day.
Speaker E:And he says, what did you do now?
Speaker E:And I tell him the story and he says, oh my God, like you, you actually did that?
Speaker E:I said, I did.
Speaker E:I sent it right to West Bay.
Speaker E:And he says, you're going to have to call there and explain yourself or you're going to get fired.
Speaker D:All right.
Speaker E:So I get the phone number and I dial the number and this lady answers.
Speaker E:And I'm going to call her Patty.
Speaker E:And she says, hey, it's Patty speaking, Westpay.
Speaker E:And I introduced myself and before I could say any more, I've never spoken to this person ever in my life.
Speaker E:She says, are you calling about the video?
Speaker E:And I just kind of, I was sweating, you know, my emotions were changing.
Speaker E:I said, yeah, I'm really sorry.
Speaker E:And before I could say anymore, she says, oh, don't worry about it.
Speaker E:I've already forwarded it to at least 40 people.
Speaker E:And you know what?
Speaker E:I never got fired.
Speaker E:But I also never heard about it again.
Speaker E:And the rule of thumb is I always check before I hit send.
Speaker B:Well, there you have it, people.
Speaker B:Check before you hit send.
Speaker B:Wow, you probably made Patty's day on that day, Colin.
Speaker B:So congratulations, and I'm happy that you didn't get fired.
Speaker B:From an email gone wrong to the wonderful profession of teaching, it is my pleasure to welcome an anonymous teacher calling from an undisclosed break room somewhere in the world.
Speaker B:Tell us what happened.
Speaker D:Hey, Kelly.
Speaker D:So this story takes place probably a good 15 years ago or so when I was a teacher who was new to the profession and, you know, as you might, as you might guess, you know, first year teachers, well, you know, filled with lots of enthusiasm and new ideas and excitement.
Speaker D:Not always, you know, the, the best teachers, you know, there's some things that just come with experience and you just, you figure things out as you go along.
Speaker D:So this is my, what I would consider, you know, failure, failure as a first year teacher story.
Speaker D:So I am, you know, it's, it's probably, I would say may around of that year and I, I am probably in like full, full burnout phase at that moment, you know, feeling pretty exhausted by the year and don't have the greatest lesson plans for that, that particular day.
Speaker D:So I'm kind of looking ahead at the plans and feeling like, oh man, I need, I just need some time to sit at my desk and figure out what the rest of this day is going to look like.
Speaker D:So we had just gotten a new kind of like early, early version of like a streaming service at the time for education and it had, you know, just some different videos on it.
Speaker D:So I decided, okay, I'm just going to throw on, throw in a video.
Speaker D:So I search up Bill Nye and unfortunately they don't have like the classic Bill Nye the Science Guy movies that we all probably remember from our childhood.
Speaker D:But there is some other sort of more like adult version of Bill, Bill Nye on there.
Speaker D:But I'm thinking, well, it's Bill Nye.
Speaker D:How, how bad can it be?
Speaker D:So without previewing it, like the total amateur that I was just, you know, throw it on.
Speaker D:Hey guys, we're going to watch this.
Speaker D:And I'm thinking this will buy me, you know, the, the 30 minutes that I need to get my lesson plans ready.
Speaker D:So I throw in the video things.
Speaker D:Things are fine.
Speaker D:Like nothing, nothing crazy is going on in the screen.
Speaker D:And the, the particular topic is like medicine throughout history.
Speaker D:So Bill starts talking about early medieval surgeries.
Speaker D:And then in the background while he's kind of talking about this is like a little kind of like vignette scene of someone doing a surgery without anesthetic.
Speaker D:And so the guy on the table is just like screaming, you can see some blood.
Speaker D:It's like kind of this like, ooh, this is maybe a bit much for the kids in the.
Speaker D:I think it was a grade five class that I was teaching at the time.
Speaker D:But I'm still kind of not overly worried.
Speaker D:I'm just like, haha, yeah, that's kind of crazy.
Speaker D:Hey guys.
Speaker D:And then all of a sudden we hear a bang towards the back of the classroom.
Speaker D:And I look over and see that a student has just slumped out of her seat and is laying on the ground passed out.
Speaker D:And yeah, it turns out that she really has a problem with anything to do with surgery, blood, that kind of thing.
Speaker D:And this just grossed her out enough that she totally passed out and fully was laying on the floor.
Speaker D:So I'm, you know, immediately going to oh, geez mode and pause the video, go over, get her, get her up and.
Speaker D:And she's, she's okay.
Speaker D:Thankfully, you know, didn't hit her head or anything.
Speaker D:They got to get her down to the office.
Speaker D:And then the most awkward part, of course, is trying to explain to my principal, to her parents, to, you know, the other people in the office, you know, what exactly was going on at that time, you know, why.
Speaker D:Why this Bill Dye movie was relevant at all to the studies that we were doing.
Speaker D:And, you know, luckily made it, made it through unscathed.
Speaker D:Am still a teacher to this day, but have learned my lesson about previewing the material that I show my students before.
Speaker C:Before.
Speaker D:Yeah, before showing it to them.
Speaker D:So that is my failure as a first year teacher.
Speaker D:Story.
Speaker B:I absolutely loved Bill Nye as a kid.
Speaker B:There was nothing better than when your teacher rolled in the TV in the VCR and threw in a Bill Nye tape.
Speaker B:Yes, I'm aging myself, but for old times sake.
Speaker B:Bill, Bill, Bill, Bill, Bill.
Speaker B:For our next story, it is my pleasure to welcome repeat caller Darrell from Alberta back to the show.
Speaker B:And he has another wild oil and gas story for us.
Speaker B:Darrell, tell us what happened.
Speaker F:Well, this was during shutdown season.
Speaker F:So I worked shutdowns for a number of years and this particular shutdown, I was on night shift and we needed some help engineering wise.
Speaker F:So they, they had decided they'd hire this engineer.
Speaker F:And he came out and he had worked in a refinery for 15 years and he came out to the shutdown, his first shutdown type environment.
Speaker F:So it was kind of interesting.
Speaker F:He was, he was kind of an odd duck.
Speaker F:Hard to get the.
Speaker F:Hard to get a read on him and stuff.
Speaker F:Very quiet, very reserved.
Speaker F:But as I got to know him and he started, you know, getting.
Speaker F:Getting used to everything, he started talking about himself and, you know, he's like 42 years old and he lives with his mom.
Speaker F:And he, you know, I said, oh, w. Was that just like a temporary thing and.
Speaker F:No, no, that's where I live.
Speaker F:That's where I was, you know, since.
Speaker A:I was a kid.
Speaker F:And I'm like, oh, cool.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, so cool.
Speaker B:And then I said, that's going to be very common here for the next generation, Darrell.
Speaker F:And then he's.
Speaker F:Then, you know, I'm like, oh.
Speaker F:So, you know, are you Married.
Speaker F:Does your wife live there, too?
Speaker F:Or whatever.
Speaker F:And he's like, no, no, I don't.
Speaker F:I never had a girlfriend.
Speaker F:I'm like, pardon me, I never had a girlfriend.
Speaker F:I'm like, whatever.
Speaker F:Yeah, hey, no worries, right?
Speaker F:So anyways, as we go along, we start to shut down.
Speaker F:And his first job was kind of messy.
Speaker F:He was going in a coker, and it was a little bit dirty.
Speaker F:So he came out and his coveralls were black and his gloves were black and his face was black.
Speaker F:Everything was black.
Speaker F:So we'd have a turnover meeting at the end of the shift to just let everybody know what happened on the night shift.
Speaker F:And so day shift could carry on and do their thing.
Speaker F:So he'd come to the meeting with me.
Speaker F:And when you go to a meeting, everybody seems to pick a spot, and that's the spot.
Speaker F:They sit for the next forever, right?
Speaker F:Everybody gets their spot.
Speaker F:If you change it up, it just throws the vibe right off for the meeting, right?
Speaker F:So anyway, see, he had a spot, but he'd never take his coveralls off before he sat down.
Speaker F:So his spot was like.
Speaker F:His chair was dirty and his armchair was all dirty from black soot, and his desk was greasy and.
Speaker F:Black soot.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker F:His notepad was all dirty that he'd bring.
Speaker F:Like, it was just a mess.
Speaker F:It was like.
Speaker F:It was like pig pen from Charlie Brown, you know, he walked around with that blanket.
Speaker F:And then.
Speaker A:I don't.
Speaker F:I don't think he ever, like, he.
Speaker F:I don't think he changed those coveralls for the whole time.
Speaker F:Like, I think he just liked to show that he was in it and he was in it and he was working, right?
Speaker F:So.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker F:So anyways, he come to the meeting and this had become kind of a, you know, ongoing kind of.
Speaker F:We'd laugh about how dirty a spot was, and when he'd come in and he'd be all dirty, it was this.
Speaker F:Like.
Speaker F:Everybody was just waiting to see him, you know, see what would happen.
Speaker F:So anyways, this one guy from that.
Speaker F:From the owner from the plant there, he had this fart machine, and he put it under this guy's seat.
Speaker F:His name was Ed, but put it under his seat.
Speaker F:And, you know, we started the meeting, and I didn't know what he was going to do, right?
Speaker F:I knew something was happening, but I was like.
Speaker F:I didn't know what his plan was.
Speaker F:So we start the meeting, and he's like, okay.
Speaker F:He says, let's just go around the table.
Speaker F:And then everybody says, there's spiel and then it comes up to Ed and he says, ed, what'd you do today?
Speaker F:And then he hits the fart button and goes, Now this really threw him off, right?
Speaker F:Like, I mean, this.
Speaker F:He had a spear plan, but this threw him right off, right?
Speaker F:Like, he just.
Speaker F:He just was a loss for words.
Speaker F:He's sitting there, like, he's just.
Speaker F:It just took him, like, three minutes to compose himself and get back.
Speaker F:And then he started talking and yelling.
Speaker F:Like, yeah, you know, I went and I explored this vessel and I inspected this.
Speaker F:And then they had to repair this valve.
Speaker F:And then this guy pushed the button a little bit again.
Speaker F:And now he's kind of suspicious, you know, like, he's looking around, but he hears the noise coming from under his chair, right?
Speaker A:And.
Speaker F:And we're all looking.
Speaker F:We're all looking at him.
Speaker F:So he's like, oh, my God, they think it's me, right?
Speaker F:He's thinking, right?
Speaker F:Yeah, go ahead and go around the table a little bit more.
Speaker F:And then all of a sudden, the guy hits the button for, like, probably a five second, and it's like.
Speaker F:And that ads looked around the room.
Speaker F:And then he goes, excuse me.
Speaker F:After everybody looking at him for so long, he gave up and just said, it's gotta be me.
Speaker F:He's like, what is my body doing?
Speaker F:It came from my chair.
Speaker F:My ass is on the chair.
Speaker F:I have no other.
Speaker F:I can't deny it.
Speaker D:Oh, goodness.
Speaker D:Goodness.
Speaker B:That's hilarious.
Speaker B:That's so funny.
Speaker B:That must have been in, like, the early days where, like, it wasn't common, because when I was a kid, those were super common.
Speaker F:Yeah, this was this.
Speaker D:This.
Speaker F:Yeah, this wasn't a whoopie bag or anything.
Speaker F:Like, it was one of those little electric.
Speaker B:You used to be able to get them in West Edmonton Mall.
Speaker B:They used to have a store called San Francisco and they sold stuff like that, and it was hilarious.
Speaker F:Oh, yeah, they sold all kinds of stuff.
Speaker F:Get a guy in trouble.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:My gosh, I miss that store.
Speaker B:My kids would have loved it, but.
Speaker F:They might have been in detention a lot.
Speaker B:Totally, totally.
Speaker B:We were.
Speaker B:Another incredible story, Daryl.
Speaker B:I appreciate it greatly.
Speaker B:Thanks so much for coming on and making us all laugh.
Speaker F:All right, thanks, Kelly.
Speaker B:Well, from some playful office fun to a firing, that does not go so well, it is my pleasure to welcome Colin from Alberta back to the show.
Speaker B:Colin, tell us what happened.
Speaker E:Okay, so it all went down like this.
Speaker E:I was working for a garbage recycling company.
Speaker E:I've been there for a number of years, like, probably more than a dozen.
Speaker E:And we had this fella I'm going to call Bob.
Speaker E:He used to come in and apply for a job, had a horrible reputation, and we did not want to hire him.
Speaker E:So let's fast forward two years from when he kept applying.
Speaker E:We went and we acquired another recycling company, and lo and behold, Bob works there.
Speaker E:So when we do the introductions, he's there.
Speaker E:He knows we've been avoiding him, he knows we don't want to hire him, and so he's going to be a pain in our ass.
Speaker E:That's what it's going to be anyway, so he starts working, and true to self, he's not a great employee.
Speaker E:So I think it was about a year, a year and a half he made it through.
Speaker E:And we had reason, we had cause to terminate his employment.
Speaker E:So I got my operations manager and we got everything prepared.
Speaker E:We had written up everything.
Speaker E:We dotted the I's, we crossed the T's, and.
Speaker E:And we went to terminate him, and he went ballistic.
Speaker E:We brought him down to his locker, said, get everything out of your locker and we'll walk you out.
Speaker E:Well, he opened his locker and he grabbed a clipboard and his jacket, and I said, you can leave those there.
Speaker E:And he said, no, you gave those to me.
Speaker E:And I said, we didn't give them to you as a gift.
Speaker E:We gave them to you as a tool.
Speaker E:Right then I remember bending down and I went to grab his boots, and he said, I'm going to charge you with assault on my boots.
Speaker E:I said, assault on your boots?
Speaker E:He said, yeah, you touched my boots.
Speaker E:I'm charging you with assault on my boots.
Speaker E:And I just said, get the hell out.
Speaker E:And he started screaming and swinging.
Speaker E:And we did get him outside the building, and he said, I'm going to phone the police.
Speaker E:And I said, well, not before I do.
Speaker E:That'd be a great idea.
Speaker E:So we got him outside the building.
Speaker E:He stood in front of the building with two middle fingers pointed at my office and just screaming at the top of his lungs.
Speaker E:So we kind of sat there and said, oh, this is probably a dangerous situation, and I don't know if I should phone the police or what I should do.
Speaker E:So I just left it.
Speaker E:And then about 10 minutes later, I went into the front office and I just said to everybody, hey, I'm going to call it a day.
Speaker E:I'm going to head home and I'll see you tomorrow.
Speaker E:And they said, oh, are you not feeling good?
Speaker E:And I said, no, if he comes back with a gun, he's going to shoot everybody else, but I won't be here.
Speaker E:And I didn't mean it that way, but I kind of did.
Speaker E:Anyway, he kind of went away.
Speaker E:And then I get a phone call, and it's from the labor board and the province we live in.
Speaker E:They kind of dictate some of the things you can and cannot do.
Speaker E:We were not union.
Speaker E:We're public company or publicly traded company, but we were private when it came to employment.
Speaker E:So I get called to a thing called the board of referees.
Speaker E:I guess I have to go online kind of.
Speaker E:It was Skype back at the time, and I have to Skype in.
Speaker E:We're going to be sitting there.
Speaker E:He's going to be sitting on his end with the board of referees, and they're going to decide whether he.
Speaker E:He comes back as an employee or what happens.
Speaker E:So we get into it, and they start telling the story, and he said he's wrongfully dismissed.
Speaker E:And it gets to the point of the assault on the boots.
Speaker E:And they said, no, that's not a real thing.
Speaker E:And then they said, hey, Bob, did you or did you not stand in front of his office with both middle fingers at his window?
Speaker E:His answer was, if I did, I've chosen to remove it from my memory.
Speaker B:I kind of feel like if there were so many things that we could choose to not remember, psychiatrists and psychologists might be out of the job.
Speaker B:So that's a good one.
Speaker B:Colin, thanks for calling it in.
Speaker B:For our next story, it is my pleasure to welcome the anonymous teacher back to the show for another awesome story.
Speaker B:This one is all about the crazy things that happened to teachers during COVID Welcome back to the show.
Speaker B:Tell us what happened.
Speaker D: y takes place during March of: Speaker D:So I was teaching Grade 6 at the time, and of course, as most people know that during that time, if you're a teacher, your teaching got moved to Zoom or some other sort of online video format, which at the time was very new for everybody.
Speaker D:It's kind of like old hat now, but at that time, we were all kind of learning a new thing.
Speaker D:And so everybody kind of has a story of, you know, a zoom call gone wrong or a Zoom meeting gone wrong.
Speaker D:And this is my tale of a zoom call gone wrong.
Speaker D:So I was, like I said, teaching Grade 6 at the time, and we were.
Speaker D:We had done a lesson, and then it was kind of just like group, group work time.
Speaker D:So everybody was just in the.
Speaker D:In the zoom call from the class.
Speaker D:Most kids had their.
Speaker D:Had their screens on, but their.
Speaker D:Their Microphones muted and they were just kind of working, but I was there, so it was an opportunity for them to ask questions if they needed it while they were working through the lesson.
Speaker D:And so one, one student in particular left his.
Speaker D:Left his camera on, but then kind of walked away from his computer.
Speaker D:So, you know, doesn't really seem like a big deal.
Speaker D:Everything.
Speaker D:Everything seems fine.
Speaker D:I kind of glance up at one point and notice that who I assume to be his mom has walked into the frame and is, unfortunately for her and the rest of the.
Speaker D:Of us, only wearing a bra and some shorts.
Speaker D:And so I noticed this and immediately like, oh, no, this is not good.
Speaker D:And see that, you know, the other students in my class start to take notice of this as well too, and are all trying to suppress their laughter and just general being.
Speaker D:Being horrified in general being horrified by.
Speaker D:By the situation and not.
Speaker D:Not totally sure what to do.
Speaker D:And so I think on the other student's end, if I had to guess, this other student had maybe thought he was muting himself, but had just turned off the volume on his speakers.
Speaker D:So at this point now it's still mom in the frame with, with her bra and son in there.
Speaker D:And I am trying my very best to get their attention.
Speaker D:So I am just yelling at my computer screen, trying to.
Speaker D:To get this kid to realize that, you know, you gotta, you gotta turn your camera off and.
Speaker D:But nothing to know, to no avail.
Speaker D:And they start kind of bickering back and forth, one with one another, and we can hear every, every word of this conversation.
Speaker D:She's on him about something that, that he hasn't done, and they're just arguing back and forth.
Speaker D:And this goes on for a couple of minutes and I just kind of like, you know, look at the rest of my class and I'm like, ah, I don't know, guys, I am.
Speaker D:I'm sorry, I don't know.
Speaker D:I don't know what else to do here.
Speaker D:And eventually mom looks over at.
Speaker D:At the screen and we hear, we all, the whole class hears her say, is this thing on?
Speaker D:And.
Speaker D:And the kid sheepishly looks at the computer and it's like they both have this oh, crap moment.
Speaker D:And immediately she rushes to the screen and slams it shut.
Speaker D:And the rest of the class has a good laugh.
Speaker D:And to be honest, I don't know that we ever even addressed it with the other student the next time he was in the zoom room because no one, no one knew what to say.
Speaker D:So that's my story of a zoom call gone wrong.
Speaker B:That is absolutely hilarious.
Speaker B:And so fitting for this modern world that we all live in.
Speaker B:It's so funny, it's almost hard to believe now how many of us work from home that I get to produce this incredible show from my home, which is absolutely amazing.
Speaker B:But thank you so much, teachers, for sending in your stories.
Speaker B:I can't wait to hear more of them.
Speaker B:If you have more teacher stories, send them in.
Speaker B:HR used to work there.com and we will get you on the show.
Speaker B:And with that, it is time to shift gears because we're heading into the Night Shift where the darker, stranger, wilder stories lie.
Speaker B:We are kicking off today's Night Shift with Jen from Vancouver, who has a story from her time as a waitress.
Speaker B:I can't wait to hear more server stories.
Speaker B:I for one, was a server back in my college days and I'm looking forward to hearing more of them.
Speaker B:Tell us what happened.
Speaker G:I don't know if you've ever been a waiter or a waitress, but if you haven't, there's basically, there's a point in every customer service job where your soul kind of leaves your body and you're forced to smile through something impossible.
Speaker G:And every now and then the mask cracks.
Speaker G:People are being super rude to you and most days you can handle it, but some days, for whatever reason, you just can't take it anymore.
Speaker G:So my, my break, my.
Speaker G:The point where I cracked happened at a restaurant called the NOM in Vancouver, Canada.
Speaker G: in the morning, roughly: Speaker G:So allow me to explain how this transpired.
Speaker G:So back then, the NOM was Vancouver's very legendary 24 hour vegetarian restaurant.
Speaker G:It still is, actually still open.
Speaker G:This was before Kitsilino, which is the neighborhood where it is, became one of the most expensive neighborhoods in Canada.
Speaker G:And like back in those days, the area had more students and artists and hippies and activists, like people left over from the 60s who still lived there, kind of just, you know, people drifting around, a lot more young people.
Speaker G:The restaurant itself had been there since the late 60s and had developed this ecosystem of vegetarians, you know, regular customers, quite a number of whom were quite eccentric.
Speaker G:So anyways, I worked the breakfast shift while I was a student at the University of British Columbia just up the street.
Speaker G:So my mornings in this restaurant were basically like, it was a busy place.
Speaker G:I would be running pancakes back and forth, tofu scramble, very strong coffee, like industrial strength coffee and like the very controversial, you know, vegetarian controversial in A vegetarian restaurant.
Speaker G:Eggs, plates of eggs back and forth through the.
Speaker G:Through a packed room, often with a lineup out the door.
Speaker G:Okay, just so you can picture it, you know, usually coated in maple syrup and muffin crumbs, you know, and fueled by caffeine.
Speaker G:So the customers there were quite unforgettable.
Speaker G:Like, there's a number of them that still stick in my mind.
Speaker G:There was the man who would sit at a table all night long, chainsaw smoking and staring into space, occasionally getting up to play like, ragtime piano and then going and sitting back down.
Speaker G:I mean, he.
Speaker G:He chain smoked outside the restaurant, to be clear, but he would go out, have a cigarette, come in, play some ragtime, sit down for a little while, drink some coffee, get up and go, like, rinse and repeat.
Speaker G:And then there was another woman who liked to come in and sculpt elaborate shapes out of wet napkins and leave them behind on the table like these little monuments.
Speaker G:And there was another woman who used to come in all the time who believed firmly that the salad dressing was poisonous.
Speaker G:And she would quietly empty the bottles into the toilet whenever nobody was watching.
Speaker G:So.
Speaker G:Oh, and then there was the woman who used to come in and offer to clean and sparkle the salad bar for free, you know, if you would give her like a meal or something like that.
Speaker G:And like, none of this bothered me.
Speaker G:There were a lot of halfway houses in the neighborhood.
Speaker G:There were a lot of eccentrics, and these were known friendly weirdos, kind of, and you just kind of, as a waitress, you just kind of gave them a wide berth.
Speaker G:The nom definitely had this wide tolerance for human oddness, and so did I.
Speaker G:And that was something I liked about the place.
Speaker G:It actually made me feel comfortable.
Speaker G:Sort of a bit of an anything goes attitude.
Speaker G:So anyways, the kitchen there was very small and permanently overwhelmed, like, always backed up with orders.
Speaker G:And the restaurant therefore had a reputation for slow service because everything took forever and nobody seemed particularly interested in rushing, you know.
Speaker G:And I must admit there was one incident I recall didn't involve me, but where the person who said supplied whipped cream canisters, you know, those little gas canisters that power whipped cream containers in restaurants.
Speaker G:The person who sold those gas canisters came in and said that our little restaurant was going through more of these gas canisters than the.
Speaker G:Than the giant kitchen at the Hotel Vancouver.
Speaker G:And it turned out because they were full of nitrous oxide.
Speaker G:So, like, the midnight staff were inhaling the whipped cream gas canisters.
Speaker G:So this is the sort of place it was.
Speaker G:It has to be admitted.
Speaker G:Anyways, on this particular morning, the breakfast rush was in full swing.
Speaker G:The coffee was flowing, the orders were piling up.
Speaker G:The cook had already been there all night and looked like she gave absolutely zero shits, right?
Speaker G:She just didn't care.
Speaker G:She didn't care about you, she didn't care about your customers.
Speaker G:She didn't care about breakfast.
Speaker G:So right around, like, sort of the height of this breakfast rush, this.
Speaker G:This man came in who I'd never seen before, and he sits down in the middle of my section, and I'm like, okay, here we go.
Speaker G:So I hand him a menu, and he says kind of rudely, he goes, I don't want anything on this menu.
Speaker G:And I explained, you know, politely that he was under no obligation if nothing appealed to him.
Speaker G:And like, for reasons I still do not fully understand, something about me deeply offended him, and he started accusing me of being rude.
Speaker G:And so I sort of.
Speaker G:I remember I tried again.
Speaker G:Like, I apologized and said, like, if there's nothing to your liking, I understand.
Speaker G:That's okay.
Speaker G:There's other choices in the neighborhood kind of thing, Like.
Speaker G:And finally he just came out with it.
Speaker G:He's like, well, I want a bowl of cheese and milk with rice.
Speaker G:And so I kind of paused for a second, like, trying to.
Speaker G:Trying to, like, mentally put together this culinary vision.
Speaker G:Like, what is he actually asking me for?
Speaker G:And then at this point, he's like, I know the owners.
Speaker G:I've been coming here for years.
Speaker G:I'd never seen him before, but he claimed to be a regular.
Speaker G:He claimed to know the owners.
Speaker G:So eventually I was like, whatever, I'm not paid to argue.
Speaker G:I'm not paid enough to argue with this guy.
Speaker G:So I walked back into the kitchen and I asked the cook whether she could make this weird off menu request happen.
Speaker G:And like, without even looking up, she just.
Speaker G:She kind of like, reached to the side into a pot of leftover cold, gloppy rice, scooped a lump of it into a bowl, sprinkled some cheese from, like, the omelette prep area on.
Speaker G:On top of the rice, and threw the whole bowl under the broiler for a minute and then sort of shoved it towards me with this, like, exhausting fury, you know, whatever.
Speaker G:It was the end of a long shift for her.
Speaker G:So anyways, I take this little warm bowl of rice and cheese and I go back out to the gentleman and I say, here you go, sir.
Speaker G:Here's your cheese and rice.
Speaker G:How would you like the milk?
Speaker G:Because he had said, a bowl of cheese and rice and milk and he goes, what do you mean, how would I like the milk?
Speaker G:And I was quite confused.
Speaker G:I sort of said, well, I stammered like, I just mean like, do you want it poured on top?
Speaker G:Do you want it heated?
Speaker G:Do you want it on the side?
Speaker G:And then something about my manner or the way I positioned the question just made him completely unravel.
Speaker G:And he started, he started swearing at me.
Speaker G:He accused me of trying to ruin his breakfast with my disgusting terminology, quote unquote.
Speaker G:He started shouting in the middle of the busy section and I had other customers to deal with.
Speaker G:And he declared that he wasn't going to pay for this slop, right?
Speaker G:And he threatened to complain to the owners about my rudeness and stuff.
Speaker G:So then, like, I think that's when the tiny little string that keeps your sanity together when you're a waitress and allows you to plaster on a smile just fricking snapped.
Speaker G:I just lost it.
Speaker G:And I reached into the bowl with my bare hand and scooped out this wet, warm cheese covered rice and hurled it down onto the table in front of him and was like, there you go.
Speaker G:And walked away because I was like, you know, look, dude, like, you've ordered this food.
Speaker G:I've gone out of my way to deliver you something that's not on the menu.
Speaker G:I've been as polite as possible and accommodating as possible, and you're verbally abusing me.
Speaker G:And I, it's not okay.
Speaker G:It's not okay.
Speaker G:Like, for anyone listening, it's not okay to yell at waiters.
Speaker G:Anyways, the entire restaurant went silent, you know, and I went out back, sat by the cold freezer out in the, out in the back alley.
Speaker G:And eventually my manager, who was another young woman my age, managed to calm this guy down because he was railing in the restaurant.
Speaker G:And she came out back and she informed me that I would need to apologize, which at first I refused to do on Princess, but then eventually, just out of pity for her and to get this idiot out of the restaurant, I reluctantly did go and say, I'm sorry that I lost my temper, sir, and that we had no food to your liking or something.
Speaker G:I'm sure I can sort of remember the feeling of speaking through gritted teeth.
Speaker G:Anyways, like, in retrospect, there's probably some kind of a lesson in this story about what I could have done differently to de escalate and exhibit professionalism.
Speaker G:But I swear to God, if I'm being honest with you, I have never once regretted throwing that rice.
Speaker G:The end.
Speaker B:My gosh, that is absolutely incredible.
Speaker B:And it sure Brings me back to my serving days.
Speaker B:I did, Jen.
Speaker B:I did spend time.
Speaker B:You know, I served through college.
Speaker B:And I remember.
Speaker B:I remember the incredibly hard days and insanely long shifts.
Speaker B:I always said, you know, after serving, that serving was the hardest I ever worked for the least amount of money in my life, and I'm sticking with it.
Speaker B:Thank you for an incredible, incredible story.
Speaker B:And from there, things are about to get spooky.
Speaker B:It is my pleasure to welcome Joel from Edmonton to the show.
Speaker B:Joel, tell us what happened.
Speaker H:Hi, Kelly.
Speaker H:My name's Joel, and I want to tell you a story that I'm not sure if it's supernatural or maybe just life in an old building.
Speaker H:So from conversations that you and I have had, you probably know that I used to be a working journalist and I ran a small community newspaper.
Speaker H: we worked out of was from the: Speaker H:This old brick building, gorgeous on the inside.
Speaker H:It actually used to be a film studio, of all things.
Speaker H:So one day I'm working and we were on the first floor of this building.
Speaker H:The ceilings were high up, probably about 20ft.
Speaker H:It was a really wide open space.
Speaker H:And hanging from the ceiling of this building were these big globe lights, probably about a foot, foot and a half in diameter.
Speaker H:I don't know, when they went up, they looked like they were a RELIC from the 60s, something like that.
Speaker H:So one day I'm sitting at my desk working, and all of a sudden one of those globe lights crashes right next to me.
Speaker H:If I had been sitting one foot over, it would have totally taken me out, gotten me right on the head.
Speaker H:So that part's strange, but here's where it gets a little more strange.
Speaker H:A few years before, the building had been the site of an active shooter.
Speaker H:Someone who I was friends with was actually killed in that attack.
Speaker H:So the thing that occurred to me after this big light fell was, was this person mad about something I wrote?
Speaker B:Wow, Joel, what an incredible story.
Speaker B:And let me just start out by saying I'm terribly sorry about the loss of your friend.
Speaker B:That is horribly tragic.
Speaker B:The other side of this for me is I think it's very possible that you had a haunted office.
Speaker B:And for those of you who are just getting to know me, you will realize I love the strange and the unexplained stories.
Speaker B:The paranormal, the cryptids, the scenarios that still have you questioning what the hell happened.
Speaker B:I want more stories like Joel's.
Speaker B:If you have a story like this, let me know.
Speaker B:H R used to work there.
Speaker B:Dot com.
Speaker B:And we will get you on the show for our Final night shift story of the evening.
Speaker B:It is my absolute pleasure to welcome Mike from Edmonton to the show.
Speaker B:Mike, tell us what happened.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Kelly, have you ever thought of somebody, maybe somebody that you haven't heard from in months or even years, and all of a sudden they text you, email you?
Speaker A:Could it be that we all have this connection to each other and like the Internet?
Speaker A:Could it be that we're like dial up or maybe we're like cellular 3G, 4G LTE or maybe even fiber, lightning fast?
Speaker A:Could it be that the more that we're connected to ourselves, the more that we could better connect to others?
Speaker A:Is that a possibility?
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker A:I would have always said no until something happened to me that transformed my life and changed the way I view things.
Speaker A: ,: Speaker A:And I'm a technician, I'm a doer, so I go in and I fix.
Speaker A:At that point, we had physical telephones.
Speaker A:There was none of this VoIP stuff.
Speaker A:And you had to go into the customer sites and physically do the work.
Speaker A:So I'm going into my last job of the day.
Speaker A:It's like 4 o' clock in the afternoon and I'm walking up to the telephone room.
Speaker A:It's McCoy Brothers in Edmonton.
Speaker A:And I'll never forget it.
Speaker A:I can still even smell the.
Speaker A:The metal in the air and see the dirt on the vinyl floor that hadn't been washed in 25 years and the dust in the corner and this old telephone room that I used to have in all the buildings.
Speaker A:And as I'm about to put the key in the door, something happened that transformed me forever.
Speaker A:And I had this feeling wash over me, this pain that came out of nowhere, a pain in my chest, a shortness of breath and nausea.
Speaker A:And it was just like, boom.
Speaker A:And I had no idea where this was coming from.
Speaker A:And it literally knocked me to the floor.
Speaker A:And so I had to sit leaning against that wall on that dirty floor and I just.
Speaker A:Just focused on breathing because that's all I could do, wondering, like, is this how I'm going to end?
Speaker C:Is this.
Speaker A:You know, there was this incredible pain that came out of nowhere.
Speaker A:I didn't know if I was having a heart attack or what.
Speaker A:And then all of a sudden, as quickly as it came, it went away.
Speaker A:And I think this was like maybe a minute, maybe two minutes.
Speaker A:You lose all track of time when you're in that.
Speaker A:In that moment.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I felt 100% normal again.
Speaker A:But there was something that just felt off, something that was not right, but I didn't know what it was.
Speaker A:And so I finished the job, very thankful that it was the last job of the day.
Speaker A:And I got in my truck and I drove home.
Speaker A:And as I'm pulling into the garage in my house, that feeling intensified.
Speaker A:And I open up the door to my.
Speaker A:My van, and I'm getting out, and I hear the phone ringing.
Speaker A:And I ran into the house to answer the phone, and I knew before I picked it up that something was drastically wrong.
Speaker A:And it was my aunt and my father, who was, you know, my mentor, my coach, my.
Speaker A:Everything had passed away of a massive heart attack.
Speaker D:Wow.
Speaker A:And at that moment, my life changed.
Speaker A:And, you know, this could be like a story of loss and, you know, move on and heal, but there was more.
Speaker A:More to it.
Speaker A:My dad and I were really close, you know, from the age of 17 when I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life.
Speaker A:He was there to.
Speaker A:To put me to work, to.
Speaker A:To teach me what it was to, you know, literally be a man and.
Speaker A:And learn how to work and work ethic and how to be successful in business and all the different things in business.
Speaker A: Sold the business to me in: Speaker A:So we were very close, and we had a very solid connection.
Speaker A:And so I went through life and I continued to work on my business.
Speaker A:And, you know, I had this pain and this suffering that I locked away in this box, and this box was locked up tight.
Speaker A:I took.
Speaker A:I thought I put multiple pod docks on it, and I threw away the key over my shoulder that never found again because that belongs there.
Speaker A:And so every time when we'd have company events, I'd get asked about my dad, and he was part of our story.
Speaker A:I would tear up and get emotional, but there was lots that I couldn't say, and people would, oh, that vulnerability is great.
Speaker A:And vulnerability creates connection, which it does.
Speaker A:But I couldn't watch videos of my dad.
Speaker A:I couldn't really think of my dad.
Speaker A:I had trouble looking at pictures.
Speaker A:That part I truly kept locked away.
Speaker A:And then something really cool.
Speaker A:And this is where the cool part of the story happens.
Speaker A: ,: Speaker A:So it was 19 years and one day later.
Speaker A: ,: Speaker A:I'm at the Banff Springs Hotel at an entrepreneur's organization, EO Worldwide.
Speaker A:Peer to Peer Learning, where you challenge yourself to be a better leader.
Speaker A:And I was at a transition point in my life where my business was successful, but I Was kind of getting tired of doing the same thing.
Speaker A:It'd been, you know, 22 years in business and I was thinking, what's next?
Speaker A:And I was trying to figure that out and thinking that I want to retire and go into coaching.
Speaker A:So I find myself, it's cold day again, minus 35 and a beautiful blue sky day once again.
Speaker A:But this time I'm inside a hotel and I'm by these two double doors in Bam Springs, who've never been there.
Speaker A:It's a very beautiful hotel, Fairmont Hotel.
Speaker A:And this sign outside the door that says, EO Wim HOF Breathing.
Speaker A:And I open up the door and there's these two big screen TVs, there's this huge face of this guy from Australia.
Speaker A:And then 30 yoga mats on the floor.
Speaker A:And EO tells you that, you know, work on becoming a better human.
Speaker A:Just say yes and just do the things and don't, don't judge it.
Speaker A:Just lean in.
Speaker A:So I'm like, okay, I'll lean in.
Speaker A:So I find my place on the floor.
Speaker A:I get my blanket.
Speaker A:And the instructor, who is from Australia, proceeds to tell us that we're going to do some Wim Hof breathing.
Speaker A:And for an hour we're going to do continuous breath.
Speaker A:And he's like, it's probably going to be uncomfortable.
Speaker A:Your mouth is probably going to be dry.
Speaker A:You could feel emotion, you could feel things come up in your body.
Speaker A:You could get really tight, all of these things.
Speaker A:But just trust it, just roll with it and just go with it.
Speaker A:So you know, let's begin.
Speaker A:And so it's like you're just laying on the floor, your eyes closed, and you're just like.
Speaker A:Hyper oxygenating your body and you continue to grow.
Speaker A:And I'm like, yeah, dry mouth check.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, my body's getting tighter.
Speaker A:But, but then it, then it got really extreme where like my body was totally locked up and like it was like paralyzed and it was uncomfortable because everything was so incredibly tight.
Speaker A:And then I started crying uncontrollably.
Speaker A:But then this is where the magic happened.
Speaker A:It was this moment of sudden calm and peace.
Speaker A:And I get chills even just thinking about it, where a voice in my head, that was my dad and it was like, you are worthy.
Speaker A:You're enough.
Speaker A:You don't have to prove yourself to anyone.
Speaker A:And I love you.
Speaker A:And it was like that key came flying into my hand.
Speaker A:But it wasn't necessary.
Speaker A:The box just blew up.
Speaker A:And I had this feeling of euphoria that has since transformed my life since that moment.
Speaker A:And it Showed me the power.
Speaker A:Like, what was in wasn't pain, wasn't suffering, but it was true love.
Speaker A:And it opened up my heart and it made me feel like I wasn't alone and showed me what the power of true connection is.
Speaker A:And since that moment, I've leaned into what don't I know, what can't I explain?
Speaker A:How can I unlock more of that?
Speaker A:And so it's, you know, I meditate daily.
Speaker A:I, you know, practice something called a 10, 10, 10.
Speaker A:10 Minutes of mind, you know, mindfulness meditation, 10 minutes of gratitude reading, 10 minutes of journaling.
Speaker A:It's expanded to 30 minutes of meditation a day.
Speaker A:And when I used to live in a world of chaos, meaning it was fully functioning.
Speaker A:I had a great world and a great life and great relationships, but everything was go, go, go, and my ability to be in the present moment was affected.
Speaker A:Today I live in a moment of cause, and I like to explain it that my life used to be like I was in a waterfall and the water was.
Speaker A:Was always running over me, and I was reacting from all the stuff coming, zillion things at once.
Speaker A:And now I can stand on a cliff, looking at the beauty of the world, seeing the waterfall, and choosing which path I want to take to get down to it.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker B:I have, you know, a bit of an unfair advantage on this one, as I've heard this story once before.
Speaker B:And the reason that I wanted to chat with you about this particular story is it touches on something that's really interesting to me, which is a concept called shared death experience.
Speaker B:And actually, I've heard stories similar to this many, many, many times on shows I've listened to, like Jim Harold's Campfire or Astonishing Legends and things like that.
Speaker B:And so I find this really, really interesting.
Speaker B:Why do you think you were able to tap into that shared death experience?
Speaker A:Yeah, it's a really great question.
Speaker A:And I think it's just a matter of that connection that my dad and I had to each other.
Speaker A:And so a lot of times you hear it from twin siblings, from brother, sister, from, you know, people with strong connections.
Speaker A:And that's why I always equate it to how strong is your inner signal to self.
Speaker A:And what I've really discovered is the more that we connect within, the more that we love ourselves, the stronger that connection is with other people.
Speaker A:And if you can have that strong an experience in a shared death experience, what is possible in a shared life.
Speaker B:Experience, what is possible in a shared life experience?
Speaker B:That is an absolute perfect place to end off.
Speaker B:Today's episode of.
Speaker B:I used to work there.
Speaker B:If you have enjoyed this show, if you you just found us this week on Apple, give us a follow, leave us a rating, help us to reach far and wide because there are millions of work stories out there and we want to share them.
Speaker B:If you have a story that fits this show, send it to me, hristoworkthere.com, pull out your phone, record a voice memo and email it over and we will work to get you on a future episode.
Speaker B:Thank you so much for listening and we'll see you all on the next shift.
