Rules are meant to keep things running smoothly, but occasionally, they backfire in the worst ways.
What would you do if a strict policy threatened to destroy something worth nearly a million dollars? Would you stick to the rules? Or would you step in to save the day?
In the following story, one worker faces this very dilemma. Here’s what happened.
I work in an industrial setting, and there’s a big electrical box in one particular area that the electricians need to get into frequently and with urgency.
It goes all the way down to the floor so anything in the way will prevent access, so one of our particularly reactionary supervisors posted a notice to prevent people from leaving pallets in the way.
The phrasing was a bit extreme but since most people could be expected to react in a rational manner should an issue come up, nobody thought it was a big deal.
Someone parked an expensive crate in front of the electrical box.
Well, somebody parked a pallet there with a big crate on it around the size of a coffin.
I don’t know what’s in it, but it’s addressed to the head of the lab and has customs paperwork sitting on top of it, valuing it at just shy of three-quarters of a million dollars.
About an hour ago, the electrician called the supervisors’ office on an open channel on the radio, so about ten or fifteen people heard the exchange when he asked what to do about this pallet in the way.
Everyone reading this has already guessed the answer.
We also all heard him try at least twice to talk him out of it, but he was just talked over.
Our big trash bin is attached to a permanent compactor, so anything that goes in there can be expected to be crushed within a few minutes.
This person saved the item from being destroyed.
I took the liberty of turning it off and pocketing the key to it, which I’m going to give to a supervisor with a more level head at shift change.
In the meantime the garbage is going to just pile up because the crate is indeed upended into the compactor.
I’d say obediently throwing away an expensive piece of equipment qualifies as MC, and he’ll have a ton of corroboration when the **** hits the fan.
Wow! Sure, the notice was there, but that’s a lot of money to destroy.
Let’s see what the fine folks over at Reddit have to say about this issue.
Here’s someone who just likes the entertainment.
Hilarious! This person would’ve taken it home.
Exactly. The other person should be written up.
This takes a lot of nerve.
Considering it’s a very expensive piece of company equipment, hopefully, this person got fired.
If you liked that post, check out this post about a woman who tracked down a contractor who tried to vanish without a trace.
