People are sharing their worst work cock-ups to make an intern feel better – 17 hilarious howlers
It all started when HBO’s on-demand service sent this email to its subscribers by mistake.
Integration Test Email #1.
Anyone else get this from HBO Max 🧐 pic.twitter.com/NuYAVvKjnI
— Eduardo Cuevas (@EduardoCuevas) June 18, 2021
HBO later explained what happened (and who made the mistake).
We mistakenly sent out an empty test email to a portion of our HBO Max mailing list this evening. We apologize for the inconvenience, and as the jokes pile in, yes, it was the intern. No, really. And we’re helping them through it. ❤️
— HBOMaxHelp (@HBOMaxHelp) June 18, 2021
Which was either a cute little joke or an absolutely rotten thing to do to the poor intern, depending on your point of view.
It prompted lots and lots of people to respond with their own work foul-ups just to make the (mercifully anonymous) intern feel better.
And it wasn’t only the intern who they cheered up. Here are our 17 favourites.
1.
Dear Intern, when I was 25 I made a PDF assigning each employee to the Muppet they reminded me of the most. I meant to send it to my work friend, but I accidentally sent it to the entire company. My supervisor (Beaker) wanted to fire me, but the owners (Bert & Ernie) intervened. https://t.co/zMKvQ6nxjj
— aerin. (@AerinChevyFord) June 18, 2021
2.
Dear Intern, I was using my desktop calendar to make a monthly note of when I started my menstrual period, but after several months I realized I was making that note on a calendar I shared with all of my colleagues company wide. I was 37 years old.
— Caissie (@Caissie) June 18, 2021
3.
Dear Intern, as a baby prosecutor I was in charge of subpoenaing witnesses. I sent a subpoena to Officer Dakota to testify. Officer Dakota was a dog. He did not testify but was a very good boy.
— Caroline Bundy Fichter (@MyFranLawyer) June 18, 2021
4.
Dear intern, it could have been worse! pic.twitter.com/IBC0tqjz7g
— Holly Nicole (@Celynnen) June 18, 2021
5.
Dear Intern, as a young lawyer I proof read a legal brief and filed it with the court. I caught a typo and blindly used the global find and replace function. Pro tip: don’t do that. My brief argued for the rights of “the panties.” Not “the parties.” All 50 pages of it. 🤦🏻♀️🩲🩲 https://t.co/PDJYMXuOlw
— Suzanne Lovett (@sdtlovett) June 18, 2021
6.
Dear Intern:
Once, when I was a junior copywriter, I applied to my dream job at @TheAtlantic and wrote “copyrighter” on my résumé. Like, I misspelled the job I wanted, which was a job for good spellers.
You’re doing great, okay?
— Angela Mayfield (@pinkrocktopus) June 18, 2021
7.
Dear intern,
I once sent out a 1-900 sex hotline as a conference call number for the Women’s National Democratic Club, the average age of membership was about 78.
Shit happens.
— Rae Pickett (@RaeRoca) June 18, 2021
8.
Dear Intern,
I once didn’t recognize then-VP George HW Bush and almost didn’t let him into a meeting…in the Cabinet Room. Of The White House. Where he worked. 🤷🏼♀️
He was actually as gracious as HBO Max Help appears to be being…you’ll be fine.— ͏Postcards4USA (@postcards4USA) June 18, 2021
9.
Dear Intern,
In the first month of my new HR job with a major defense contractor, I sent out an email about shirt orders that included the division president and several corporate leaders.
Title of email: Your Shit is in the HR Office – Please Pick Up by COB
— Hannah Holloway (@hholloway2010) June 18, 2021