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I made a twat of myself yesterday..

33 replies

JustAnotherTwat · 15/03/2019 08:15

At work. I thought I had made a really bad mistake at work, so I had to report it.. I wasn't full on crying but I had tears in my eyes and my face was doing the trying not to cry twitching thing. Boss was trying to reassure me that it was ok, if it had happened it had happened, I wasn't going to be sacked, and I wasn't to worry.. but I was upset. He wouldn't let me go home worried, so went and checked with the relevant office to see if I had actually made the mistake. I hadn't. Felt like a total and utter twat. Pretty sure boss thought I was too. I promised never to be so ridiculous again. Please tell me it's not just me who gets so scared and upset about making a huge mistake at work.

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Lovestonap · 15/03/2019 08:21

Oh god no it's not just you. Even on quite minor mistakes I get that awful feeling in my tummy like I'm a 9 year old about to be shouted at.

Crying is a natural (if bloody annoying) reaction to all different kinds of stressful feelings.

Your boss won't think you're an idiot, just that you care about getting things right.

If you're getting severe stress reactions to minor things then cbt can help with that, but you're certainly not alone.

WithAllIntenseAndPurposes · 15/03/2019 08:22

I think you are overreacting a little. Your boss sounds lovely and understanding and prob thought wtf at your reaction. Draw a line under it

WeeDangerousSpike · 15/03/2019 08:22

Oh, poor you

My colleagues convinced they'd made a monumental fuck up while I was on holiday, they reported it and were trying to fix it but getting in a right muddle. When I canlme back they told me and I went thru it with them. No mistake. I had to tell boss they'd made a mistake about the mistake, I felt so awful, like I was saying they couldn't do the job. But it had to be done, the fix would have cost 15k and then been wrong.

Look at it this way. Boss now knows for certain you are honest, responsible and won't cover up if you think there are issues. You've proved your moral character.

Hadalifeonce · 15/03/2019 08:23

I think anyone would be worried.

But, I have to applaud you to owning up when you thought you had made the mistake.
I have worked with loads of people who would just cover their arses and make the whole situation a lot worse than if they had just had the balls to stand up.

Well done you.

shinyNewPound · 15/03/2019 08:26

Your boss may be relieved to know that you are the sort of person that quickly owns up to mistakes. Unless you have a tendency to over analyse/worry about your work in a way that is out of the ordinary, just move on. I'm sure you'll feel differently about this by this time next week.

Nancy74 · 15/03/2019 08:26

I don't think you made a twat if yourself at all. I imagine your boss is delighted you didn't actually make the mistake, but now knows you would own up if you had. You're giving yourself a hard time.

JustAnotherTwat · 15/03/2019 08:32

Thank you. I am a work worrier (and I am not proud of that). I'm trying to overcome that. I just want to do a good job as I love my job. Ironically I had an excellent work review the day before.

OP posts:

Nancy74 · 15/03/2019 08:33

Every time you think of this incident, refocus back to that review.

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Palominoo · 15/03/2019 08:33

Your boss sounds lovely. They will be more pleased that they don't have to shoulder the responsibility of a mistake in their department and having to sort it out than thinking youre a twat!

If you still feel you were in any way being silly then say to your boss that you were feeling a bit emotional that day (no need to say why) and that everything is now OK.

gamerchick · 15/03/2019 08:35

Your boss won't think you're an idiot, just that you care about getting things right.

This absolutely, please let it go OP. Even if you had made a mistake, you owned it straight away. That isn't a bad thing

RunSweatLaughAndLatte · 15/03/2019 08:38

I got offered a promotion, the next day I made a big mistake and I was so scared my new boss would find out about it and retract my job offer, I took my manager into a room and cried about how worried I was. She was like bloody hell RunSweat you are not going to lose your job offer over that! I’m such a worrier!

JustAnotherTwat · 15/03/2019 08:43

Thank you. I just don't want everyone at work to think I'm an idiot. I want them to like me and like working with me.

OP posts:

FemalePersonator · 15/03/2019 08:45

I'm sorry to hear that you had a scare, OP, but I'm glad that it was unfounded.

BlindAssassin1 · 15/03/2019 08:52

A few weeks ago I was left a note to sort out someone else's cock up. I managed to make the cock up worse, allocating money in the wrong places. FFS. Oh that terrible sinking feeling. I had to tell my manager. She was good about it. Still felt like an incompetent twat though.

Years ago a team leader did that terrible thing were you send confidential information about a client, (stuff that was related to a court case iirc) to everybody on your contact list. She sat with her head in her hands for about 2 minutes, saying fuck fuck fuck.

In both instances it was because people were over worked, trying to rush stuff because they have so much to do. I try not to let it get to me, but still wake up in a sweat at 3am sometimes.

diddl · 15/03/2019 08:54

Surely rather that than think you've made a mistake & ignore it until it comes to light?

Could anything have been done though?

If o, seems odd to me that he didn't check immediately.

missbattenburg · 15/03/2019 08:56

Look at it this way. Boss now knows for certain you are honest, responsible and won't cover up if you think there are issues. You've proved your moral character.

This. Now your boss knows that even when you feel absolutely awful about a mistake, you will own up and do the right thing.

I am thinking it is a very good career tactic on your part, OP

rainingonmyfireworks · 15/03/2019 09:17

poor dd [19] came home early from work yesterday in floods, it's her first job as a couple of women including her line manager have been ganging up on her, the head person is useful as a chocolate frying pan and does sweet fa, dd is looking another job but it's crushed her a lot

Onceuponatime21 · 15/03/2019 09:53

My new favourite mantra is, "forget the mistake, remember the lesson". I hate making mistakes and get upset, but this really helps me.

Hoppinggreen · 15/03/2019 09:59

I’m sorry you had a crappy time OP BUT if I was your boss I might have been a bit pissed off that you didn’t double and triple check that you HAD made the mistake before you came to “confess”. You put both yourself and him/her through unnecessary stress for at least a short while. Also, if you do mess up the best way to deal with it in future is to go to your boss and say “I’m really sorry I’ve done x but if we do Y it can be fixed” rather than almost cry about it and then want to go home
I’m not sticking the boot in and maybe it was something you couldn’t double check without their help but in future if you do mess up it’s better to bring a solution along with the problem (oh, and call it an issue rather than a problem)

Justheretogiveaviewfrommyworld · 15/03/2019 10:00

You wouldn't have been the first and you won't be the last to either make a mistake or get upset at work OP, so don't beat yourself up anymore! By the sound of your post you will ensure it never happens again, the mistake, so you have 'done' all you can.

Ohyesiam · 15/03/2019 10:03

No way just you. The idea of a boss pouring opprobrium on me....... cringe.
By if I were your boss I’d think it showed you in a good light as a conscientious worker

Needallthesleep · 15/03/2019 10:06

Oh I’m sure they won’t think badly of you.

Having said that, I’m sat (working from home) crying because I’ve made a mistake. It will only cost us £500 ish (huge huge blue chip company so really very tiny in the grand scheme) but I’m mortified.

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JustAnotherTwat · 15/03/2019 10:09

@HoppingGreen I was upset, but I didn't actually fully cry. It was NOT something I could check or rectify myself, it had to be checked by the appropriate dept (which isn't even the dept I work in), so I only had two options - tell the boss I thought it had happened, or say nothing and hope that it hadn't. I take your point though about my way of approaching it.

OP posts:

JustAnotherTwat · 15/03/2019 10:10

Also, just for the record, I did not and would not ask to go home..it was at the end of my shift, and I waited behind to speak to my boss.

OP posts:

Rainbowsandsnowdrops · 15/03/2019 10:10

No big deal. You obviously care about your work and that’s a good thing.

Your boss sounds really nice, don’t be so hard on yourself.

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