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Original poster

F*cked up massively - work related. Perspective needed

628 replies

Stupidworkgirl · 01/05/2023 22:16

I have an important business trip abroad tomorrow which myself and several other colleagues are going on. It is a major event in our industry and we have been planning it for a while. I have done the majority of the planning and have enjoyed it and was excited to attend. Our company director is going along with my boss and several coworkers, one of which reports to me.

I have lost my passport. I only realised this at 4pm today when packing. I am meant to fly out on an early morning flight. We have a very tidy minimalist home and have searched everywhere, it is definitely not here. I last travelled a few months ago and can only think I dropped it somewhere between security and my car.

I have called my boss who has told the MD. My boss was understanding and kind about it, I don’t know what the MDs reaction was. I’m absolutely gutted. Missing out on the event is a horrible feeling but is actually the least of it, that will wear off once it is over at the end of this week. It is more the damage to my reputation and how people might think of me going forward. I’m honestly considering leaving and finding a new job, as I don’t know how I will mentally bounce back from it.

Looking for reassurance or perhaps any similar tales or fucking up at work.

OP posts:
Bunnyannesummers · 01/05/2023 23:06

You’re better than me OP I’d have lied instead of admitting I’d lost it - said a dog chewed it up or something.

Original poster
Stupidworkgirl · 01/05/2023 23:06

katmarie · 01/05/2023 22:46

Don't hand your notice in, it will be forgotten in a few weeks.

One question though, did you not have to provide your passport number when the flights were booked for you, most airlines requir this don't they? If so, did you have your passport then?

@katmarie The travel was booked by the company and they already had my passport details in file from the previous trips I have been on. I didn’t need to check in online so hadn’t needed to get the passport out until today.

OP posts:
flippyfloppy · 01/05/2023 23:07

Sorry you are going through this. We once 'lost' a passport for hours, awful feeling. We eventually found it flush on the inside side of the safe! I'm sure you have checked thoroughly but just incase it's worth another look.

MrsJackRackham · 01/05/2023 23:08

CornishTiger · 01/05/2023 22:25

Did you take a book or magazine on last trip. Could it be in there.

This. I used my passport as a bookmark. Only realised after I couldn't find it, got a new one and thought Oh, I never finished that book I took on last trip. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

JupiterFortified · 01/05/2023 23:08

Why on earth would you consider resigning over a lost passport OP?

I’d barely give it a moment’s though if a colleague told me they couldn’t attend a business trip because they’d lost their passport. It’s just one of those things.

However - if a colleague resigned because they’d lost their passport I would think they were extremely melodramatic and maybe not cut out for a high pressure job. It would be very strange to quit your job over this.

Original poster
Stupidworkgirl · 01/05/2023 23:08

PotatoSoufle · 01/05/2023 22:49

Are you due to fly out of the same airport you arrived at last time? If so, could you phone them and see if it was lost there last time and handed in? (no idea if airports have a lost & found but worth a try).

I hadn’t thought this, it is the same airport. I’ve no idea who I would call though?

OP posts:
deepspace9 · 01/05/2023 23:09

Been there myself with looking everywhere for a passport. So frustrating. Found it in an old book in the end but missed the original flight.

Fingers crossed you find it OP!

Plinkle · 01/05/2023 23:09

I lost my passport for months and it turned up inside a paperback book… did you bring a book or a kindle on your last flight?

Guineasrule · 01/05/2023 23:09

I had this once, left it in my desk drawer at work.

just think back to the the last time you had it in your hand, was it at the airport, car, home?

Plinkle · 01/05/2023 23:10

deepspace9 · 01/05/2023 23:09

Been there myself with looking everywhere for a passport. So frustrating. Found it in an old book in the end but missed the original flight.

Fingers crossed you find it OP!

Cross posted! Snap!

dickdarstardlymuttley · 01/05/2023 23:10

AMuser · 01/05/2023 22:22

Pray to St Anthony. Even if you’re not Catholic.

❤️

MildlyMiserable · 01/05/2023 23:11

i know you have looked, but pockets of laptop bags have other pockets inside, worth a quick feel?

Yayasisterhood · 01/05/2023 23:11

Mine was in the cover of a book on the shelf I had kept it
on. I missed the entire holiday.

Dont resign. No one cares. Honestly no one cares whether you’re there or not. I recently went away on business. If the woman who was organising had not been able to come, as much as I like her, It would have had no impact on me.

Original poster
Stupidworkgirl · 01/05/2023 23:12

Whatthetrolley · 01/05/2023 22:58

Have you checked your office at work??

@Whatthetrolley I haven’t been there yet but will be going in the morning. I’ll definitely search but it’s unlikely. I don’t understand how it would have ended up there after my last trip as I came straight home.

OP posts:
Justathrowawaycomment · 01/05/2023 23:12

If I makes you feel any better, I once shredded my brand new passport, instead of my old one - the day before I was due to travel for work.

Oh and other time, I was setting off for the USA for work, thinking I had an ESTA (US visitor visa) in place as I'd done the same journey only a couple of months prior - then realised that I'd renewed my passport between trips and my ESTA was assigned to my old passport.

The first time I just had to lump it - people laughed, it wasn't a big deal (I was mid-ranked at the time), the second time by some utter miracle, I applied for a new ESTA and had it approved within 20 minutes (it's an up-to 72 hour turnaround).

All in all, it's annoying, upsetting, it sends a chill down my spine thinking about it, but as a PP said, "no one died".

tolerable · 01/05/2023 23:12

under bed.lift it up

PotatoSoufle · 01/05/2023 23:13

Stupidworkgirl · 01/05/2023 23:08

I hadn’t thought this, it is the same airport. I’ve no idea who I would call though?

Show quote history

Google the airport name and “lost property”, most airports seem to have contact details for lost property on their website.

Spinninggyro · 01/05/2023 23:13

You haven’t taken it in to work and left it in a drawer or locker there?

Iknowthis1 · 01/05/2023 23:14

You're being way too hard on yourself. This could happen to anyone. People understand.

Original poster
Stupidworkgirl · 01/05/2023 23:14

CaloriecountMay2023 · 01/05/2023 23:03

Check your credit file you can do a lot with a valid passport.

@CaloriecountMay2023 Thanks for mentioning this, I hadn’t got that far ahead yet but it’s a very valid point and I will check this. I’ll need something to keep me distracted this week.

OP posts:
PoolorPolls · 01/05/2023 23:15

The fact that you really wanted to go is a good thing - you will have given off that vibe so people will know it was just unlucky and not because you're trying to get out of it.

I do a similar job and I know I'd be horrified In this situation too but really everyone is busy with their own lives, they will forget about it in to time and will certainly not hold it against you if you're otherwise a reliable employee.

It happened to someone on my team many years ago, she said that it was stolen from her car overnight. Everyone actually worried about her as her husband was controlling and they suspected she'd been told not to go anymore :(

Your house definitely sounds like a dream!

#LifeGoals 😀

FinallyHere · 01/05/2023 23:16

All humans sometimes make mistakes. It's what happens.

What defines you is not making the mistake, but how you deal with it.

You have done the right thing in accepting responsibility and letting the right people know. Good, you are ahead of the game.

Now, if you now resign, it will look like running away. Don't do that.

Accept that there might be some teasing. Practice looking rueful gracefully. And be ready to tell anyone what you have learned from this.

You may actually find a pleasant side effect will be that you discover how kind people are and how you are valued, that your mistake is brushed off because you are valued and you are human.

All the best.

HerNameIsIncontinentiaButtocks · 01/05/2023 23:16

MrsJackRackham · 01/05/2023 23:08

This. I used my passport as a bookmark. Only realised after I couldn't find it, got a new one and thought Oh, I never finished that book I took on last trip. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

Show quote history

I also once used my passport as the bookmark in the book I was reading on the plane - and then I left the book and passport in the seat pocket. Staff chased me down before I got to security :) Wonderful folks.

The only place I've ever lost my passport for long was in my dressing gown pocket - I'd used the passport to book the flight while wearing it, then gone upstairs and dressed. Unfortunately it was the winter dressing gown and spring had warmed up so I'd later taken it off the door and hung it away in the winter-clothes store... took three days to find.

AMuser · 01/05/2023 23:18

What about towels Op? Have you discounted this lead???

ohnonowwhat · 01/05/2023 23:18

Might it be somewhere near your computer? If I've lost mine it's usually there as I've had to scan it or get the number for ID and then not put it back where it belongs.

Also a while ago I used to lose it a lot as I moved its home and forgot - it used to live in a mini chest of drawers and then I bought a wallet that was big enough for it and money, cards etc so decided that would be my travel wallet and that my passport could live in there permanently in future... then had many a panic for about a year because I forgot and couldn't find it in my little chest of drawers! Is there anywhere you might have decided would be its new home?