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Nobody’s ever entirely sure why these things happen, but they do and it’s both annoying and hilarious. Annoying for those who have to suffer the direct consequences (or those who empathize with said consequences) and hilarious for everyone else.

By that, we do of course mean instances when people had just one single job to do and they managed to blunder it up in the worst ways imaginable. And of course it was all documented online because the internet. You know what to do.

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So, why are folks seemingly deliberately bad at their job? There are a number of reasons behind this.

The most clear-cut explanation is that the person is completely incompetent and is thinking with anything else other than their brain. And, sometimes, training and onboarding as well as meetings don’t really help. Because there is no cure for stupid. Well, education is, but you gotta consider the cost-benefit ratio.

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Frank
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10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Technical issue, in fact. The curved lines are stick-on lines to move the lanes during road works. They only stick for a short time (surely during summer), but are sometimes used for months. With the result shown in the picture.

A B C the Fourth (QUIT CENSORING BP)
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10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Also, they have to be applied correctly. I think they're heat-activated, so basically similar to ironing a sticker on a shirt. If you apply the heat for too short a time, if it's not hot enough or if the street is dirty or wet, it won't stick.

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williamszita
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10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

literally see when this person was chased by a bee whilst painting the road

Burnt Chonk
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10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

*SWERVE SWERVE SWERVE* Cop: excuse me why are you swerving Person who was swerving: look at the road! it's curving and so i'm only following the rules.

Linda Riebel
Community Member
10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Maybe the paint truck swerved to avoid a staggering drunkard.

AnkleByter
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10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Someone did something similar to this in a town I lived in once. Not only did they paint lines to go around massive potholes (so they were ridiculous looking, lol), but they also planted flowers in many of them. Eventually, the town had to fix the issue, but not before some of those plants started to grow. Some of them were put into new pots and planted elsewhere.

Cee Grant
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10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The crooked ones are stick-down stripes which probably they applied when the ground was too cold so they smushed around. Still incompetent.

Willem Andries Oosterhof
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10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

These are temporary strips that tend wonder off somehow. I'm 100% sure these lines were correctly laid once.

UN FAMILIA
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10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The man that painted those lines is my soulmate. We should give up, society isn't worth it. We're all sick self centered nothings, it doesn't matter. It never did.

Riley Quinn
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's about time someone took the plight of drunk drivers into consideration.

Catherine Maven
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"I TOLD you, Stop! You're DRUNK!" ...." No, no, I c'n DO it! Wash'me!"

KrisandBrandie Kaz
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

yes, went through thick fog right before Christmas and a new highway had this problem

Tom Hardeveld
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10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"right, time to paint ... aAAAACHOOO! ... *snrf* this road..."

Nope
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10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The squiggly line is not paint. It is tape used for temporary lines. It has peeled.

Keisha
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10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I believe the line crew was still wasted from the night before. Not sure how anyone could do this bad of a job.

Angry Panda
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10 months ago

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Spikey Spikes
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10 months ago

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Jack Smith
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10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

if i remember correctly, i saw someone say this was actually planned as a joke

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Another thing that makes someone a bad employee is their tendency to do a no-show. What is worse is when they are also unreachable. Calling in, not picking up the phone, not responding to communication—all of these mean that the worker is irresponsible and not committed to the job they’ve been hired to do. Sometimes, things like addiction might complicate things further.

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Cat Chat
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10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ok, I give the Non-US Pandas permission to complain about the stall gap here

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Some folks are also compulsive or habitual liars. Either that, or they always have an excuse up their sleeves. Regardless, someone who’d rather lie or make excuses instead of doing a job right, doing it at all, or learning to do it and making something of themselves is a time-waster from a business perspective.

People like this don’t take responsibility for their actions, but work is something that demands taking ownership, so this is another incompatibility that leads to poor results.

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Jack Smith
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10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

is the son three? because tbh, if I were a three-year-old, i'd love that cake. i have low standards, though.

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Jack Smith
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10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

thirst? thirsty for what? water? juice? something else that'll get censored here?

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Sometimes, people might be careless by nature and fail to follow directions right from the get-go. Now, it might be a simple case of “I didn’t read it” and doing so might resolve the issue, but some might not have the aptitude to internalize it and would continue to make the same mistakes. In turn, their lack of consideration, ignoring protocol and taking shortcuts leads to headaches for everyone else.

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Spikey Spikes
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10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The one place where we actually want the food product to be smaller

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And, sometimes, it’s just the case of a bad attitude. They don’t give a gaw-giggity about the customers, the merchandise, the quality, nothing. This often means they are unwilling to collaborate, let alone to do a good job, and even more so when their arrogance and asocialism doesn’t allow them to draw the right conclusions and to become better employees.

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Frank
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10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Most roads in my Belgian town: the grills or covers are nicely aligned with the road during construction, but as they are supported by a whole structure under them, they don't sink, whereas the tarmac sinks with the load of the cars. Only solution is set them 2-3 cm lower than the tarmac during construction, but that does not look nice to the politicians who have to cut the ribbon to open the road. "Luckily" normally a crack appears around these height differences and the water seeps into the underground. Where it creates other problems.

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Besides being innately bad, there might also be external factors for why someone is bad at their job.

Being poorly paid is at the top of the list, but it becomes worse when the employee also feels like they are stuck there having to suffer the bad paycheck without any exit strategy.

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Having a bad boss, being overly managed and underappreciated do not help in the quality of the work being done. Why do a good job if the boss isn’t going to be happy about it anyway? Either that, or it’s about quantity, not quality that pushes employees to assume different work priorities. That also likely kills the passion for work somewhere along the way.

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There might also be other factors at play—factors like being stuck with poor job security or not being able to sort out your work-life balance.

An employee will never be a good one if their needs aren’t met to a sufficient degree, and that means reassuring them that their job is not at stake and encouraging self-care rather than min-maxing how things are done.

And if it’s none of the above, chances are it’s laziness.

While laziness breeds more laziness and it can become a habit, habits can also be broken. It’s not something people are born with, but rather a behavior that can be phased out. The idea is to learn to be industrious: do things that energize you (sleep, exercise, etc.), work first and reward yourself later, and visualize productiveness (make it tangible and reflect upon it). That’s at least a good start.

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Whatever the case, you still have one more job to do (hopefully that goes well), and that is to share your stories of that guy who had one job in the comment section below!

And if the only job you have today is reading more Bored Panda, why not check out another article of ours on the same topic.

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Jack Smith
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10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

hmmm. are you sure about that, box? are you *absolutely* sure about that? 'cause I think you might be a little off. you know, just a bit

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Jack Smith
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10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

perfect! i was looking to put in some new windows to let in some more light! really brightens up the space, don't you think?

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Jack Smith
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10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

i also appreciate that this gate has a spot for a lock. like yeah, that'll *definitely* help

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Jack Smith
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10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

i think the "women" and "men" mean, like, maybe the cuts\styles of the shirts? could be wrong, feel free to correct me

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Liz Clarke
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10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Probably for wheelchair users, how do so many people forget we exist and need stuff like this?

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Cat Chat
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10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"I know. I'll save money by tricking thieves I have security when I don't, just like the corner convenience store down the street" 🤦‍♀️

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Jack Smith
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10 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

colour them in and make one of them a different colour, then circle that one. boom, problem solved

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