• Question: What is the most embarrassing thing that happened to you in your job/career?

    Asked by anon-249785 on 4 Mar 2020.
    • Photo: Paige Chandler

      Paige Chandler answered on 4 Mar 2020:

      Too many things to count. I think the worse time though is when I fainted, because someone showed me a little vial of blood. I just hit the deck! I’ve never done it since, it was just an odd moment for me.

    • Photo: Sophie Arthur

      Sophie Arthur answered on 4 Mar 2020:

      I don’t know if it is embarrassing more like stupid.
      When I was doing my PhD I often had to spend time in the dark room to develop some images. Exactly like In the films when you see photographers developing photos in those dark rooms with red light and letting them dry. I once managed to spill all the liquid to develop the images over my lab coat and clothes because it was dark in the room, but when you turn the light back on there was a huge brown stain over my lab coat and more

    • Photo: Jennifer Roe

      Jennifer Roe answered on 4 Mar 2020:

      I once thought it a good idea to do a few star jumps in the microscope room. Unfortunately during one of these star jumps I accidently let loose an escapage of wind! My friend was very amused at my trump.

    • Photo: Katrina Wesencraft

      Katrina Wesencraft answered on 4 Mar 2020: last edited 4 Mar 2020 7:07 pm

      My trousers ripped at our work Christmas party and everyone saw my pants!

    • Photo: Andrea Kusec

      Andrea Kusec answered on 4 Mar 2020:

      I slept in past my alarm in the morning, and was running super late – I cycled so fast that I arrived at a very important meeting with a very red face and probably looking sweaty – yikes!! I set myself multiple alarms these days 🙂

    • Photo: Sarah Carter

      Sarah Carter answered on 5 Mar 2020:

      I’m from the US and am constantly embarrassing myself in social situations. In the US, every holiday throughout the year is a big deal, so when I first moved over here and saw a colleague wearing a white, red, and pink striped jumper on Valentine’s Day, I was really excited to see someone celebrating a holiday and said, “Happy Valentine’s Day!” to him in a room full of people. I quickly learned that that is *not* the done thing here and had to explain to everyone that I was not interested in my colleague. I had, in fact, just gotten married to someone else.

    • Photo: Nuru Noor

      Nuru Noor answered on 5 Mar 2020:

      I’m sure there are lots but I can’t think of too many at the moment.

      I used to get a bit embarassed meeting the “superstars” in my field when I go to a conference or have to present my research. But as you meet more people, you realise that everybody is just a normal person and just the same as you or I. 👍

    • Photo: Sarah Clarke

      Sarah Clarke answered on 5 Mar 2020:

      I seem to be one of those people who ends up doing lots of little embarrassing things – walking into the door, tripping when I walk up onto a stage etc. I generally spend a lot of time with a red face.

    • Photo: Nadine Mirza

      Nadine Mirza answered on 5 Mar 2020:

      I think the most embarassing would have to be when I had to give a presentation at a conference and it was the first time I’d ever done something like that. I got so nervous I forgot everything I’d prepared to say and broke out into hives from the anxiety!
      Thankfully thought that’s never happened again!

    • Photo: Ricardo Sanchez

      Ricardo Sanchez answered on 5 Mar 2020:

      I called my boss “dad”. Fortunatly I think he didnt hear me…

    • Photo: M S

      M S answered on 5 Mar 2020:

      I think I have had a small few things but I once left a meeting and instead of saying bye I said love you to my supervisor. It was confusing

    • Photo: Robyn Kiy

      Robyn Kiy answered on 6 Mar 2020:

      Once I was giving a presentation to a fairly big audience, and accidentally knocked a cup of coffee all over myself when I was pointing at my slides!

    • Photo: Beth Bartlett

      Beth Bartlett answered on 6 Mar 2020:

      Yesterday when I accidentally put my cells in the wrong type of ice and they all froze which messed up my experiment. My supervisor then told me the experiment had cost the lab £1200. Oops!

    • Photo: Samir Hopestone

      Samir Hopestone answered on 6 Mar 2020:

      I have fallen asleep at my desk several times, until someone walked in and yelled “Wake up” and I nearly wet my self with fear!

    • Photo: Ioana Grigoras

      Ioana Grigoras answered on 6 Mar 2020: last edited 6 Mar 2020 3:31 pm

      My pen got stuck in my hair during a meeting with my supervisor. I tried to pretend for a few seconds like I was just gesturing, but then figured I can’t get it out without help. My supervisor ended up having to untangle the pen from my hair…

    • Photo: Kate Mitchell

      Kate Mitchell answered on 8 Mar 2020:

      I’ve said some really stupid things in job interviews because I get nervous under that sort of pressure!

    • Photo: Sarah Brown

      Sarah Brown answered on 12 Mar 2020:

      I broke a piece of equipment in the lab and cried because I was so worried that it was expensive and people would be annoyed with me! Turns out it was pretty common and no-one was too bothered!

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