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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to feel a bit sorry for chris reid (the old trafford security firm boss)

69 replies

scarednoob · 17/05/2016 14:50

yes it was a stupid mistake, but who can hold their hand up and say they have never ever made a mistake at work? doubtless the club will go after the little guy for £3,000,000, when they pay that to has-been wayne rooney in just a few weeks...

OP posts:

Oysterbabe · 17/05/2016 14:52

I feel sorry for him too. I've ballsed up at work loads of times.

TheWitTank · 17/05/2016 14:53

Yes, I do feel sorry for him. It's no doubt ruined his business completely and he has held his hands up to it and not made excuses. It was a bloody stupid mistake to make but it was a mistake.

ThisShitIsBananas · 17/05/2016 14:54

I feel sorry for him. I think he seems like a decent guy and no doubt he's going to be scapegoated.

namechangeparents · 17/05/2016 14:54

I do too. I think the other people involved were to blame too. Why did nobody check with the security firm that they hadn't left anything behind before they went into panic mode? Why did nobody check the area earlier? There are plenty of whys. But ultimately no real harm was done and they've had a good practice evacuation. There are positives, though I'd be annoyed if I'd lost out financially and couldn't make the revised fixture. But I think people need to see the bigger picture.

LonnyVonnyWilsonFrickett · 17/05/2016 14:55

Totally agree, DH and I were just saying this last night while watching the news. Terrible, terrible mistake but really a mistake that's in the realms of possibility for most people, no?

God that's really badly put - I mean, within the realms of our own jobs, probably most people could imagine making a similar 'size' of mistake. It's just that it wouldn't cost £3 mill and trash the company's reputation along the way.

MrsTerryPratchett · 17/05/2016 14:55

There are people in jobs from whom I would expect less fucking up; helicopter mechanic; bridge builder; that bloke.

Blimmincheek · 17/05/2016 14:56

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ApocalypseSlough · 17/05/2016 14:57

Me too. I really pray that he's got a great support network and can see that this really isn't a big deal.

Euripidesralph · 17/05/2016 15:00

I'm not entirely convinced it was personally him. ...I've taken the rap at work for someone who worked for me because they were genuine mistakes really genuine and frankly if I took the rap my reputation was far more stable and able to withstand a hit than theirs

Where I've done it they got a flea in the ear and watched carefully and without fail I was proved right they didn't do it again and we're extra careful

I wonder if he's protecting someone else he doesn't want put through the media ringer

Mouthfulofquiz · 17/05/2016 15:00

I feel sorry for him too. There's not a single person who hasn't made a balls up at work from time to time. Surely though, like counting swabs in and out of a patient, you would count your fake bombs out of a scenario training exercise?

FlaviaAnsell · 17/05/2016 15:02

Yes, I agree. I think there's been a massive overreaction in some quarters, with talk of need for enquiries and so on. It was a cockup and caused a lot of inconvenience, but nobody was injured or died and it gave everyone a chance to practice their emergency procedures.

From what I read this morning, he wasn't the only one at fault. Apparently it was clearly labelled as a training device and had a phone number on it. Didn't anyone check it out before calling in the bomb squad?

I hope he had good legal advice before making that statement.

Original poster

scarednoob · 17/05/2016 15:02

and he probably employs people - their jobs would go down with the ship, if utd sink it.

I completely agree that some jobs have a greater degree of responsibility, eg surgeon, and those fuck-ups can have a much bigger impact. the skill required to do those jobs well is why they are usually well paid.

but whilst I think this guy dropped a massive clanger, I don't think he deserves to be crucified for it. I guess even if he's covered by insurance, would his reputation be so damaged that he might as well give up anyway?

OP posts:

theknackster · 17/05/2016 15:03

I can't believe that he was surprised that no-one was prepared to phone the number on the side of the 'mobile phone-triggered pipebomb', however.

MiffleTheIntrovert · 17/05/2016 15:06

As someone who very nearly burnt down one my workplaces , I had a slight feeling of sympathy for such ineptitude.

ChazsBrilliantAttitude · 17/05/2016 15:10

Yes, it was a huge cock up and has cost money. However, nobody was harmed.
Like a previous poster, I did think that they have inadvertently staged the most realistic training exercise for a terrorist attack on a major sporting venue ever held.

ProfYaffle · 17/05/2016 15:12

I feel really bad for him. As a pp said, he held his hands up straight away, hasn't fudge the issue or blame other people. Now his business is ruined and I guess people will lose their jobs. Sad really.

Original poster

scarednoob · 17/05/2016 15:13

I did like the fans' response. thousands of people singing:

"you can stick your fucking isis up your arse."

not elegant, not polite, but pretty clear!

OP posts:

wasonthelist · 17/05/2016 15:15

Yanbu I feel a bit sorry for him. Someone mentioned helicopter mechanics - but heli pilots are high on that list and we've had a couple of recent heli disasters in Glasgow and London that were at least partially down to the pilots - no-one is perfect. At least this bloke held up his hands which seems sadly all too rare.

ConferencePear · 17/05/2016 15:21

I feel sorry for him too. He did accept that the mistake was his and said so quickly and publicly this is such a rarity these days. As several other posters have said we've all made mistakes. I was pleased he didn't blame his employees so well done him.

Tiggeryoubastard · 17/05/2016 15:25

I don't feel sorry for him. What if the companies ineptitude had done the opposite and let a bomb through? This is one of those areas where errors are serious. Just luck it was what it was.
I do, however, admire him for coming out so quickly and holding his hands up.

PoohBearsHole · 17/05/2016 15:29

Who else is relieved that major incidents are played out in a test situation.

A cock up is a cock up, quite frankly WHAT if the bomb had been real and placed there in the hope that security staff would think it was a fake left behind from the training exercise.

Everyone was given an alternative date asap, or a refund. He cocked up. It could have been far worse AND it proved that a major stadium could be evacuated efficiently without loss of life in a panic.

But then I hate football so.........

MatildaTheCat · 17/05/2016 15:31

Also, Old Traffird have their own security staff and nobody at all had noticed the device on the back of a toilet door for all that time. He has taken responsibility but others are also to blame.

Nobody was hurt and yes,mi feel sorry for him.

Original poster

scarednoob · 17/05/2016 15:31

I don't think he was responsible for checking for bombs before the match, I think he was hired as a subcontractor by the dog sniffer security firm to do a training exercise ? from what I read, the sniffer dogs then went in before the game, but of course they didn't pick it up because it didn't contain any explosives. so he made a dumbass mistake, but the club wasn't perfect either.

DF was there, he said that the stand he was in didn't get evacuated or told anything other than to stay put, and they only knew what was going on when his partner texted him and said, "er, what's this about a bomb at old Trafford!?"

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shovetheholly · 17/05/2016 15:36

I saw him on the news last night and went from thinking 'The fella that did this was a bit of a knob' to thinking 'Oh God, that could happen to ANYONE' in about 2 minutes flat. He seemed so genuinely devastated and so very, very sorry. And I wouldn't be at all surprised if he were covering for someone else either.

GrimmauldPlace · 17/05/2016 15:42

I understand them maybe not wanting to phone the number on the device. But surely at least one person there would have known there had been a training exercise that week? Why did they not put 2 and 2 together? I also can't believe that not one person went in that toilet between Wednesday and Sunday. Surely they have cleaners, security checks etc?

Although, I'm not 100% sold on the official line anyway. Not in to conspiracy theories at all usually but this one just makes no sense to me.

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