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What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?

957 replies

shehardlysleeps · 20/04/2026 17:18

I’m in a reflective mood, and it’s got me thinking about something I did a few years ago which is probably the thing I’m most deeply ashamed of.

There was a coworker who really rubbed me up the wrong way. I was very unhappy at the time, and going through an awful time personally. She would make snide comments about me, do things with my family members (who were colleagues too) which really got my back up, I felt like she judged me harshly and was pretty rude. Along with another colleague they made three or four very nasty comments which still stick with me.

Instead of raising a grievance, which I should have done, I took to posting about her on another website (along the lines of Mumsnet), not realising she used it too. She saw the posts and reported me, and I ended up facing a meeting with HR and a senior partner of the firm I was working in. It damaged my reputation within the firm forever and I ended up leaving after not being offered a promotion. I still feel ashamed of it now, nearly half a decade on, and feel like it’s tarred me forever.

Whats the worst thing you’ve ever done?

OP posts:
Lararoft · 20/04/2026 18:12

I had a short affair with a married man who I was good mates with at work, I was actually in love with him, his wife was not in the country & i knew he’d had other affairs. But in all conscience i couldn’t stop thinking about his wife so i stopped it.
Anyway, his wife moved here & they had another child, he’s still a Facebook friend but lives elsewhere in the UK.

But thats not the shittiest thing I’ve done that i really regret. There are a couple of things I can’t even talk about really but I deserve bad karma.

DomesticArchaeologist · 20/04/2026 18:12

Thehandinthecookiejar · 20/04/2026 18:06

geez I though you were going to say you got her fired not yourself 😂

Yeah I think it’s quite telling that the worst thing OP can think of is that she didn’t handle a bullying situation as well as she might have.

OP, you’re not perfect, and that’s ok 💐

Thehandinthecookiejar · 20/04/2026 18:06

geez I though you were going to say you got her fired not yourself 😂

LapisBlue · 20/04/2026 18:05

SabrinaThwaite · 20/04/2026 18:03

I put fish in parsley sauce, mashed potato and peas into DH’s posh shoes.

Probably not the worst thing, but it was memorable.

Marvellous.

shehardlysleeps · 20/04/2026 18:05

Keepgettingolder81 · 20/04/2026 17:41

I have been with my Husband, since I was 19, now 45 and I have a really good marriage.

In my 20s when I was pregnant, and a bit psychotic! We had a great big row and I dipped his toothbrush in the toilet! He is a right germophobe and even though I didn’t tell him at the time I was hugely smug with myself!

I did confess a few years ago, and he was absolutely horrified!! I don’t regret it though, I think it’s absolutely hilarious. My younger adult children looked at me like I was absolutely insane at the confession time.

Reminds me of the story told by my nanna, a stay at home mum to 4 under 6, got confronted by my granddad who asked why some tiny little household chore hadn’t been done. She launched his plated dinner straight at his head! She left the stain there for two months to remind him not to try that again 😂

OP posts:
LapisBlue · 20/04/2026 18:04

Nollie · 20/04/2026 17:59

I see your 2 men and raise you one man and one woman (separately) on the same day. I wish that was the worst thing I'd done in my life...

Well, I also surprised my awful grandmother with a loud "Goodnight, Granny!", deliberately making her jump.

She died 10 days later.

So that was pretty bad. Sorry not sorry, she made our lives a misery.

brunettemic · 20/04/2026 18:04

Nollie · 20/04/2026 17:26

Funnily enough, I've been thinking lately about some of the things I did when I was younger and they don't reflect very well on me at all. Ultimately I only have myself to blame but I do wish I had been given more attention and moral guidance when I was growing up.

When it comes to a lot of things I’m very much an advocate of not judging things from the by the standards of today…so really if you lacked that moral guidance in the past something you did then is arguably ok.

SabrinaThwaite · 20/04/2026 18:03

I put fish in parsley sauce, mashed potato and peas into DH’s posh shoes.

Probably not the worst thing, but it was memorable.

Squirrelchops1 · 20/04/2026 18:02

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Nollie · 20/04/2026 18:00

Ok, off to name change...

Nollie · 20/04/2026 17:59

LapisBlue · 20/04/2026 17:44

I slept with two men on one day. On two separate occasions, four guys in total, as it were.

I see your 2 men and raise you one man and one woman (separately) on the same day. I wish that was the worst thing I'd done in my life...

PullingOutHair123 · 20/04/2026 17:58

Elanol · 20/04/2026 17:56

I had a neighbour who slammed his front door. I jumped out of my skin every time. They are heavy fire doors and really loud. Sometimes the vibration ran across my floor.

I made numerous complaints to the management company but he didn't give a shit. Lockdown was awful, he was home all day and never went back to work. One day after 22 (yes 22 not a typo) slams I lost my shit.

I bought a huge pair of trainers in a charity shop so they looked worn. I put them outside my door. Suddenly he could close the door properly. Funny that....

It's a shame it took a threat of violence from the man who fits into those huge trainers to behave decently.

I think that's a very intelligent thing to have done! Although shouldn't have been necessary...

Definitely not a worse!

Elanol · 20/04/2026 17:56

purpleheartsandroses · 20/04/2026 17:23

If I told you, I'd have to kill you 😜

Then that would become the worst thing you've ever done 😁

Elanol · 20/04/2026 17:56

I had a neighbour who slammed his front door. I jumped out of my skin every time. They are heavy fire doors and really loud. Sometimes the vibration ran across my floor.

I made numerous complaints to the management company but he didn't give a shit. Lockdown was awful, he was home all day and never went back to work. One day after 22 (yes 22 not a typo) slams I lost my shit.

I bought a huge pair of trainers in a charity shop so they looked worn. I put them outside my door. Suddenly he could close the door properly. Funny that....

It's a shame it took a threat of violence from the man who fits into those huge trainers to behave decently.

TheApollasMrCreatorNSOL · 20/04/2026 17:52

Washed a managers cup regularly with flushed toilet water(I was 17)
Took amphetamine 20 + years and only damaged myself mentally ..akin to torture and paid to get like that.

paradisecircus · 20/04/2026 17:52

I've driven away after reversing into someone's car in a car park, knowing I'd damaged their car. I did get caught on cctv, so there was karma for them.

LapisBlue · 20/04/2026 17:44

I slept with two men on one day. On two separate occasions, four guys in total, as it were.

Keepgettingolder81 · 20/04/2026 17:41

paulhollywoodshairgel · 20/04/2026 17:33

I had a horrible housemate. He had this mug that only he was allowed to use. I dipped it in the toilet, let it air dry and put it back in his cupboard. I’m my defense he was an awful person.

I have been with my Husband, since I was 19, now 45 and I have a really good marriage.

In my 20s when I was pregnant, and a bit psychotic! We had a great big row and I dipped his toothbrush in the toilet! He is a right germophobe and even though I didn’t tell him at the time I was hugely smug with myself!

I did confess a few years ago, and he was absolutely horrified!! I don’t regret it though, I think it’s absolutely hilarious. My younger adult children looked at me like I was absolutely insane at the confession time.

NobodysChildNow · 20/04/2026 17:35

I ghosted a friend. I can’t really explain why. It was an absolutely awful thing to do; she needed me.

Arcadia · 20/04/2026 17:34

A lot of cheating in my late teens/early twenties, still have guilty dreams about one of them even though it’s all 25+ years ago!

nothappyatschool · 20/04/2026 17:33

Aged 16 lied about having a terminal illness. Took it too far. Hurt a lot of people. I was being abused by someone who told me nobody would miss me if I died and stupidly I wanted to test the theory out without obviously dying and in my immature mind it was the only way. It was awful and I got in severe trouble

paulhollywoodshairgel · 20/04/2026 17:33

I had a horrible housemate. He had this mug that only he was allowed to use. I dipped it in the toilet, let it air dry and put it back in his cupboard. I’m my defense he was an awful person.

Bristolandlazy · 20/04/2026 17:32

shehardlysleeps · 20/04/2026 17:18

I’m in a reflective mood, and it’s got me thinking about something I did a few years ago which is probably the thing I’m most deeply ashamed of.

There was a coworker who really rubbed me up the wrong way. I was very unhappy at the time, and going through an awful time personally. She would make snide comments about me, do things with my family members (who were colleagues too) which really got my back up, I felt like she judged me harshly and was pretty rude. Along with another colleague they made three or four very nasty comments which still stick with me.

Instead of raising a grievance, which I should have done, I took to posting about her on another website (along the lines of Mumsnet), not realising she used it too. She saw the posts and reported me, and I ended up facing a meeting with HR and a senior partner of the firm I was working in. It damaged my reputation within the firm forever and I ended up leaving after not being offered a promotion. I still feel ashamed of it now, nearly half a decade on, and feel like it’s tarred me forever.

Whats the worst thing you’ve ever done?

That sounds very reasonable considering what she did to you. I think you should try harder if you want to be shocking.

Worst things I've done is kissed someone else whilst working away in a relationship. Shop lifting as a teenager, got caught, was mortified and embarrassed, didn't tell anyone fit years including partner of nearly twenty years.

Lost my temper with my children, shouted at them and shook my daughters bed telling her to shut up and go to sleep (felt scared of how angry I was, single parent so I couldn't go for a walk etc)

GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 20/04/2026 17:31

Didn’t spot when our guinea pig had a medical problem and needed to be put to sleep.

Said something really awful to an ex boyfriend in public as he was really winding me up - I have actually apologised to him a few years back (well I know - 2.5 years to be precise) when I saw him at an event. He didn’t even remember it! Broadly he was the one who behaved badly in the relationship but I shouldn’t have said what I said.

shehardlysleeps · 20/04/2026 17:30

KeeleyJ · 20/04/2026 17:29

This wasn't me but i didn't discourage it either...

Computers were a new thing when I was at school - total of about 5 computers for the whole year.

Everyone was allocated a computer terminal, I was e.g computer number 3 and roughly 8 people were to share the same one that year. No logins or passwords, just a folder each for us to save Higher English essays on.

Coincidentally I used the same one as the nastiest bully in the whole school. (Verbal and physical violence, even put her own Mother in hospital).

'Someone' accidentally deleted all of her essays just at the point she was due to submit her stuff to the exam board.

Maybe I’m a bad person, but I think ‘someone’ did a very good thing

OP posts: