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Original poster

I did something terrible at work

38 replies

LMonkey · 09/03/2017 21:59

First of all I need to say how utterly ashamed I am of myself and I know I won't be getting any sympathy.

I've felt very stressed at work the last couple of days, which is unusual as I see work as a welcome break from the stress at home looking after the kids. This morning when I was in the office on my own things were really getting to me as I had so much to do and was late to go on to my next place (I move round the building a lot). In a fit of stress over something I was trying to do and couldn't, having no time and being late, I threw down my computer mouse which then hit the screen of my laptop and broke it internally. Obviously I immediately regretted doing that. Didn't know what to do so when I got to my next place I just made out that the laptop had been fine and the internal crack had just appeared there.

I have notified the IT person who no doubt when he sees this will absolutely know that this was damage from impact. I don't know what will happen now. Worst case scenario, I guess I could get the sack. Bad enough I could get in trouble. Best case is that I get a replacement laptop which will not be nearly as good as the one I had because obviously there isn't money to just throw around, and I have therefore made my own life more stressful because another laptop may not be as efficient and I'll probably be waiting ages to get it making it very difficult to do my work in the interim. Obviously this is all my own fault and this one moment of stupidity has made my own life even more stressful. I don't think my laptop is repairable.

I HATE myself for doing this. I've never been so destructive or careless of work property before. Does anyone have any ideas of how I could rectify this? 'Fessing up is not an option....I keep thinking what if I lose my job? We need the money as a family....I would be letting my kids down. Again I KNOW this is totally my own fault and I deserve whatever I have coming to me. I just don't know what to do other than denying all knowledge of how the damage occurred. Any advice/ideas anyone?

OP posts:

Wickedstepmum67 · 09/03/2017 22:49

What everyone else has said. Dropped something on it covers all bases. But to feel that stressed at work might suggest looking at how you feel about your job generally?

CurlieSue · 09/03/2017 22:49

Just say you dropped your laptop on the floor. It happened to me once and it was fine. These things happen so don't worry, you won't lose your job.

ActuallyThatsSUPREMECommander · 09/03/2017 22:49

Cordelia has nailed it. Cost of a new laptop - 500 quid. Cost of recruiting a new employee through an agency, maybe 5 grand.

Foureyesarebetterthantwo · 09/03/2017 22:54

One of my children picked off some keys of my work computer, I just took it in and said 'the keys have come off' (not a lie).

I tend not to lie, just state the truth 'the screen is broken'. Then leave them to fix it.

If forced, I would lie and say I accidentally dropped it.

I've been through a couple of laptops through accidents which were perhaps preventable over the years, just write it off in your mind, it's no big deal to them.

Bumpsadaisie · 09/03/2017 22:58

Bless you but you do sound a little bonkers. "So disappointed with myself". "A terrible thing" ...

I thought you were going to say you had embezzled 100k or maliciously contrived to get an innocent colleague sacked. Or used a position of power to get some young male intern to sleep with you. I really don't think that cracking a laptop in a fit of pique is up there in the category of grave sins!

I do think you need to find ways to manage the stress though, it can't be good for you. And a all if your work is putting you under that amount of stress that you chuck a mouse at your screen, then work deserves to have to shell out for a new laptop.

Original poster

LMonkey · 09/03/2017 23:02

I've already said to my colleagues and IT that I have no idea how it happened.....Maybe I could say "on thinking about it, I did knock my hole punch over near it when it was shut......I didn't THINK it had touched the laptop but maybe it did"..?

Wickedstepmum I generally don't feel too stressed at work, I love my job. But I am a major stress-head generally and need to find a way to manage it. I tend to feel more stressed at home than at work. But that would be another post

OP posts:

StrangeLookingParasite · 09/03/2017 23:02

I smacked my laptop in frustration so hard the screen went fuzzy and smoke came out.

Congratulations! It failed the smoke test: the smoke that makes it work came out and now it's broken.

I've worked in IT for far too long, and several keyboards have lost keys over the years. My h the programmer gives his kb a good smacking from time to time.
He also had the last straw with a phone, and threw it on the floor in the hallway, then jumped up and down on it. In rollerblades. (It had been incredibly flaky for a very long time, and this was just the last straw - bit like in Fawlty Towers when Basil beats up his car.He is normally extremely placid).

ShotsFired · 09/03/2017 23:05

I was once using some home grown software that was spectacularly shit in comparison to the one we'd been using before.

I caused an entire office to turn and look at me when I totally lost my temper with it, swearing like a navvy and slammed the lid down so hard it pretty much came off its hinge.

In this case, everyone could sympathise, from IT to my manager and not a thing happened out of it.

OP don't worry so much, you will be fine. I sit near IT where I am now and the amount of people who lose/drop/drive over their kit is astonishing.your incident is minor and just one of those things.

NomNomNominativeDeterminism · 09/03/2017 23:10

Resist the urge to give 'might have' details! If no-one is pressing you for a fuller account, keep schtum.

This has really upset you and it sounds like you need a bit of a breather. Any chance of some time off to re-balance?

It will all be ok.

LBOCS2 · 09/03/2017 23:14

The MD of a company I worked for a while ago accidentally reversed over his laptop in the work car park. He drove forward, picked it up and took it to IT, and asked them to fix it 😂.

I genuinely wouldn't say anything OP. You don't need to. You might have accidentally knocked it against something in your bag, you might have dropped your bag and caught the corner, you might even have leant on your bag and 'flexed' the screen. All you know is that you opened it up and it was broken. Their IT replacement budget will have a cushion in it for accidental damage, I would suspect.

BitOutOfPractice · 09/03/2017 23:17

I agree. Don't elaborate. Just say "it's broken". You narna!

Original poster

LMonkey · 09/03/2017 23:40

nomnom I am due some time off, haven't had a proper week off since Christmas and feel I really need it now. But hmmm.....annual leave is applied for via the intranet lol

Bitoutofpractice I think 'narna' really sums me up!!!

OP posts:

NomNomNominativeDeterminism · 10/03/2017 00:08

Do you by any chance tell yourself you're going to get an early night most nights? If you're still up ... wind down and think about what you're going to do with the time off you're booking out as soon as you can find a working laptop. Quality stuff like sleeping, reading, watching TV, time on mumsnet, pottering about, and not thinking about work.

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