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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:
ShakyBake · 22/04/2026 21:34

Angela

Karen

Emily Thornburry

Yvonne Couper

ForQuirkyFawn · 22/04/2026 21:29

I never had any problems with the DBS check, the authorities are looking for issues in a person's background concerning abuse etc..my travails were seen as 'high spirits' , also they were considered 'spent' under the law, rehabilitation act

Ashamedmuch · 22/04/2026 21:23

ForQuirkyFawn · 22/04/2026 21:10

When I was eighteen I was a bit of a tearaway, drinking cider and smoking weed, hanging about with a bunch of people who all did the same, anyhow ended up in jail for my eighteenth birthday, for about nine months, the scary part was, looking back, it didn't bother me, but it did upset my mum, when I got out I still carried on with my reckless lifestyle, but never went back in the nick, and now I'm a teacher....wait I'm not sure which part is the worst....

How did you pass a DBS check?

ForWittyTealOP · 22/04/2026 21:22

I'm really embarrassed about this because I don't know why I did it, it's very unlike me but I was just overcome with rage... One day I was walking past Reform's constituency office and I spat in the doorway. 😳 I'm a respectable middle aged woman who has never spat in public before or since!

ChristmasCwtch · 22/04/2026 21:21

Mine is awful 😂 I had my 2-year old and newborn with me and we were heading back to my car in a multi-storey car park. A guy reverse parked his car in the space behind mine just as I got to my car. His wheels were touching the line and his boot/bumper was over into my space. I politely asked him to pull forward so I could open my boot and put my pram in. He said “nah, not my problem” and walked away…

I played jenga with getting toddler and baby into the car and then had to leave the pram to the side whilst I got in and pulled forward enough to open my boot. The exact same moment, my baby did an explosive poo… I used the open boot to change his nappy and babygro and when I turned round to look for a bin, I decided to rub the open nappy all over his rear reg plate 😂 I hope he got a ticket for concealing his registration and I hope he cleaned it himself. I’ve never done anything like that before but it made me happy at the time.

anxiousbiscuit99 · 22/04/2026 21:20

Flushed cocaine & weed down the toilet as armed police were trying to bash my door in.
They found nothing.
Many, many years clean & sober now, thank god.

Dollymylove · 22/04/2026 21:20

mambojambodothetango · 22/04/2026 18:05

I joined in and encouraged teasing a boy at school (we were 7ish) because he had bad excema. I really wish I could say sorry now.

There was a boy in my class who had very bad eczema. The boys were really awful to him. I never participated and I dont remember any of the other girls doing so. I was in a detention with him once and he was the only person I knew in the classroom so we chatted a while. He just seemed so happy that someone actually talked to him without taking the piss. He was actually a nice lad . I felt so sorry for him x

Greenandyellowday · 22/04/2026 21:13

DeathBanana · 21/04/2026 17:05

I told a new group of friends I knew someone who’d had their arm broken by a swan (I don’t). 36 years later we’re still friends and I live in constant terror one of them will ask me about it.

😂😂

ForQuirkyFawn · 22/04/2026 21:10

When I was eighteen I was a bit of a tearaway, drinking cider and smoking weed, hanging about with a bunch of people who all did the same, anyhow ended up in jail for my eighteenth birthday, for about nine months, the scary part was, looking back, it didn't bother me, but it did upset my mum, when I got out I still carried on with my reckless lifestyle, but never went back in the nick, and now I'm a teacher....wait I'm not sure which part is the worst....

Myli1 · 22/04/2026 21:06

Probably not the worst thing anyone’s ever done, but not really advisable - last year whilst on holiday one night I walked back from a cocktail bar totally naked all the way through town and back to the hotel. To be fair we were staying in a naturist hotel, but the bar and town are not within the naturist urbanisation.

Ginnnny · 22/04/2026 20:59

An old friend of mine, maybe 20 years ago, sat telling me how she was filling out her DLA or ILA forms and trying to milk it for as much as she could. She got the top amounts of disability support - but guess what? She was perfectly healthy. So I reported her. And she lost it all. I never felt bad for that if I’m honest

frecklejuice · 22/04/2026 20:36

The worst thing I have ever done which only me and one other person know about is that I committed fraud, I was young and very stupid and I would have definitely been given a criminal record if I had been caught. I feel sick when I think about it, pretty much zero chance it would ever come back on me now but I still feel rubbish about it.

Other things include definitely sleeping around a bit too much when I was younger and not being there for my stepmum when she died. I was a shitty person. I’m nicer now that I’m actually happy and settled.

Reallyneedsaholiday · 22/04/2026 20:27

Had a brief “fling” (wouldn’t even afford it the dignity of an “affair”) with a married man. Found out I was pregnant after I ended it. I caused his wife “hurt” because I was a thoughtless, selfish idiot. I will never forgive myself for that.

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 22/04/2026 20:23

theworldisadarkplace · 21/04/2026 17:01

My mum was dying and I'd been at her bedside all day. I went to my DS's school play that evening instead of being with her and she died whilst I was at the play. I rationalised my decision by thinking that she was past the point of knowing anyone was there and that my son (who was around 7) would remember me not being there. But the truth is that I didn't want to go back into the hospital. The nurse told me she'd had someone with her as she passed, but I don't believe that. I think she died alone and I'll never forgive myself.

I've done other things such as cheating on partners and been a bit of a bully at various times of my life. However, I've worked on myself and moved on from these episodes (and apologised to those affected). But I don't think I can move on from my mum.

@theworldisadarkplace - people often wait until they are alone, or until their loved ones aren’t there, before they die. In some way they don’t feel like they can let go whilst the people,they love are there.

So I’d say you did the best thing for your mum and your son.

As a mum and grandma myself, I would rather my kids were there for their children, not sitting at my deathbed.

Greenandyellowday · 22/04/2026 20:15

tommyhoundmum · 21/04/2026 13:30

Always carry a doggy bag

My first thought was "How do you aim accurately into a doggy bag so you can catch the crap?" Oh dear.

APC303 · 22/04/2026 20:08

Spilled ketamine over a carpet and scuffed it up with a card to sniff it.

Jessicoolaa · 22/04/2026 20:04

Elanol · 20/04/2026 17:56

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

Not necessarily, if its the same crime 🤔

hellomylov3 · 22/04/2026 20:02

I smashed a lamp my husband bought in a rage , he really pissed me off that day. Told him the cat knocked it over 😆

Grapewrath · 22/04/2026 19:55

A popular kid was mean to my DD at school in reception. Really mean, lots of times.
Another child was having a party and told DD she couldn’t come and was also mean.
It was a small type party in a chocolate making place so they only invite a couple of guests but have to pay for all 4 when booking
Anyway mean party girl brought in an invite for meaner friend. The mean girls name is similar to DD ( think Eliza and Elisha eg) so their drawers were next to each other
DD ended up with mean girls’ invitation and I popped it in my pocket to give to her Mum. As I approached the mum the next day saying hi was very unfriendly and snobby…. sooooooo I made up some BS question about the Christmas fair and threw the invite in the bin
Mum put a post in the fb group about how devastated her dd was not to go and blamed the school for not passing out the invites properly
I am a bad person because I dint feel bad at all lol

Beyondamountainandoverthesea · 22/04/2026 19:54

LouiseK93 · 22/04/2026 19:53

Tbh this isnt even bad! Its justice.

He was such a prick it was a wonderful fall from grace!!

LouiseK93 · 22/04/2026 19:53

Tbh this isnt even bad! Its justice.

Beyondamountainandoverthesea · 22/04/2026 19:51

I set up a fake FB profile and emailed my colleagues wife to tell her he was having an affair. He was an absolute prick - shit at his job, gobby about his affair and turned all of the teams stomach with his audacity of being so open about shagging his OW, this was also his 2nd affair. His wife threw him out and his life unravelled. He had a good idea it was one of us but no idea who which was wonderful. He left not long after and hated us all, I have never regretted it but know it was a bad thing to do.

LouiseK93 · 22/04/2026 19:51

Was sleeping with a guy who had a GF for ages. And when I came back from my maternity leave a couple of years after, there she was now working at my work. It was a small place, would talk daily and I would mentor her too.

TheDehumidifierNeedsEmptying · 22/04/2026 19:50

ThatCyanCat · 22/04/2026 19:46

Then my guess is that she was all right and, assuming you weren't driving illegally in any way or without due care and attention, they didn't consider there to have been any crime. It's possible she was known to them and/or might have stepped out into the road when she shouldn't have.

That was my thought process as well, every week for 4 months I went into the police station, purchased every newspaper available and joined every local FB page looking for information but nothing.

Forgot to add, the area it happened is a major tourist attraction so lots of CCTV.

LouiseK93 · 22/04/2026 19:49

If im ever a manager im going to be REALLLLLLYYYY nice to everyone so this doesnt happen to me 🤣