We work with heavy machinery, some of it pretty hazardous. The whole shop floor requires safety boots and chemical-resistant overalls, and some areas also need earplugs and safety glasses.

The company has decided that, because people walk between these areas and a sister site recently had a bad eye accident, the whole site will now require safety glasses.

I don’t think it’s a big deal — it’s clearly for our safety — so I wear mine without complaint. 

Some people, however, have taken massive issue with it and routinely don’t wear them or wear them on top of their head.

It has gotten so bad that anyone who “forgets” their glasses at home more than once has to go home unpaid. Anyone who refuses to wear them gets written up. Repeat offenders get escalated through the discipline process.

Most people comply. Of those that don’t, most only get told off once, but one guy constantly complains, constantly takes his glasses off when he isn’t being watched, and ridicules everyone for wearing them.

One day, [Coworker] gets caught again wearing his glasses on top of his head, this time with his head inside the machine he is cleaning, where there’s a massive risk of getting something blown into an eye.

He storms back out of the office and throws his safety glasses across the workshop. The manager sees this and follows him out, shouting after him. [Coworker] shouts back, pausing only to wipe something from the side of his eye.

But he does it with greasy hands not washed since he cleaned the machine. He gets tiny splinters of metal in his eye. Everyone thinks he is joking, but when he starts to scream in pain, they get him to hospital to pick out the metal.

I don’t think he got written up for not wearing his glasses, but I think he learnt his lesson either way.

I’m not usually a complaining person, but when these two things happened on the same day, I must have had some time on my hands.

Thing #1: We ordered takeaway from [Restaurant]. At the bottom of our loaded fries, we found a large shard of broken glass. I called the restaurant immediately. The manager was apologetic but only just. Not a massive deal: I just wanted them to know so they could investigate and prevent further food endangering anyone. End result, we got sent a voucher for a free [signature entree dish that no one really likes] for our “next order”.

Thing #2: I had a special cleaning product in my cupboard and discovered that one of them had leached up out of the upright bottle and spilled all through the cupboard. As that was the second time that had happened with that brand of product, I emailed them to inform them and see if there had been a reported fault with the bottle. End result: I was sent a MASSIVE box of the company’s full range of cleaning products, skincare products, and cosmetics. 

Moral of the story: complain about a serious food safety issue, get a weird onion thing; complain about a minor packaging fault, get given a huge box of freebies.

I am a railroad worker. I get a call on the radio from a train that just passed by, saying they almost hit a guy and asking me to talk to him about safety on the tracks.

I go talk to him.

Guy: “If you don’t want people riding their bicycles down the middle of the tracks, then you should put up a sign!”

Some people’s kids.

I am starting the highest rope courses in camp. Being a rope course, there are many safety procedures, one of them being a partner system. There is one key fact: you must call to your partner each time you finish a course and switch to the next. This is where problems come in as I pair up with [Annoying Classmate]. As I climb up, I clip my safety connectors to the rope. First red flag:

Me: “Connecting!”

There is a response, but it is delayed and I can already see them talking to someone else.

Annoying Classmate: “Continue!”

I continue to climb through the sections, forgetting to call the second and third transitions. Finally, I remember to do so.

Me: “Connecting!”

Silence. I look down and where do I find them? Nowhere in sight. As there is only one area blocked from my view, I rightly assume that my classmate has gone under into the shade. I curse them in my mind and continue in the hopes that they’ll come out. Stupid, I know. As I reach the fifth one, I look down and see the exact same thing: no [Annoying Classmate].

Me: “Connecting!”

I pause.

Me: “CONNECTING!”

Still silence. I am very frustrated at this point.

Me: “CONNECTING, YOU FEMALE DOG!”

As this is the first time I’ve sworn in any capacity, this should be enough to get their attention even though it isn’t an actual swear. I know people down there can hear me because they look up with shocked faces, but no one emerges from the shade. At this point, someone else comes along with his own partner, [Classmate].

Classmate: “Continue, [My Name]!”

He continues to serve as my de-facto partner until the end, which I will be forever grateful for. Finally, as I descend, [Annoying Classmate] comes out of the shade towards me.

Annoying Classmate: “So, how was it?”

Thankfully, a murder did not happen that day.

I am at a train station trying to get home from school. A tech issue has arisen and the trains on my line are delayed by quite a bit. There are many people on my platform and lots of them are standing over the yellow line at the edge of the platform.

Loudspeaker: “For your own safety, please step back over the yellow line.”

Only a few people move back. This repeats twice more, and everyone is now back over the line, except one middle-aged man whose bag even sticks out over the tracks.

Worker From Another Platform: “Hey, sir?! Can you please step back over the line? It’s for your own safety.”

Man: “WHY DON’T YOU JUST WORRY ABOUT THE F****** TRAINS, INSTEAD?!”

We were all horrified by this because the train was coming and if he didn’t move, it would hit him. He thankfully moved, just in time. Everyone near him pushed past him to get on and he was left standing the whole trip to the other end of the line. It had me chuckling the whole way home.