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Many people have that one coworker who leaves a mess and assumes someone else will clean it up.

A hotel employee found this out the hard way when he smelled something burning near the breakfast area.

Whoever had run the pancake machine the day before had left a charred pancake stuck inside and said nothing, leaving him to discover it.

He unplugged the machine and carried on, though he forgot to put up an Out of Order sign until a coworker asked about it.

By then, an oblivious hotel guest had plugged it right back in.

Keep reading for the full story.

Pancake machine woes

This isn’t a big deal, but it kind of annoyed me after a long night.

Whoever took care of the pancake machine yesterday morning left a burnt, stuck pancake in the machine and did not tell anyone or clean it out, leaving it for me to find.

This put this employee’s shift off to a pretty chaotic start.

I didn’t even notice until I started smelling burning coming from that way. I hurried to unplug the machine just in case, then finished making breakfast.

The smell definitely lessened but wasn’t quite gone.

In all the drama, the employee missed an important step.

Honestly, I kind of forgot to put an Out of Order sign out until the morning person got there and asked if I did, so this is probably my fault…

But leave it to a guest to mess it all up even more.

But I went back over there to the smell of burning again, only to find that some guest had plugged the machine back in.

Why, when you see an off machine with a charcoal pancake inside that smells like burning, would you plug it back in? Even without the OOO sign, I can’t understand how they’d miss the warnings.

Even if there had been a sign, the guest likely wouldn’t have read it.

What did Reddit think?

Sometimes people aren’t that bright.

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This user doesn’t have much hope a guest would have used their reading skills.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a cashier who got annoyed with a group of friends who insisted on returning their items separately.

This user is a big fan of pancakes.

A good breakfast shift runs on small courtesies, but this one was missing two big ones.

The first was a coworker who left a burnt pancake behind and said nothing, and the second was a guest who ignored every clue and plugged the machine back in.

He doesn’t see how anyone could miss the burning smell, the dead machine, and the blackened pancake, but leave it to a guest to still be stuck with their head in the clouds.

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Author

Benjamin Cottrell

Benjamin Cottrell | Assistant Editor, Internet Culture

Benjamin Cottrell is an Assistant Editor and contributing writer at TwistedSifter, specializing in internet culture, viral social dynamics, and the moral complexities of online communities. He brings a highly analytical, editorial voice to his reporting on workplace conflicts, malicious compliance, and interpersonal drama, with a specific focus on nuanced stories that lack an obvious villain.

As a published author of rhetorical criticism, Benjamin leverages his academic background in human communication to dissect and elevate viral social media threads. Instead of simply summarizing events, he provides readers with balanced, deep-dive commentary into why the internet reacts the way it does. In addition to his cultural reporting, he is an experienced fine art photography essayist and video game reviewer.

When he isn’t analyzing the latest viral debates, Benjamin is usually chipping away at his extensive video game backlog, hunting down the best new restaurants, or out exploring the city with a camera in hand.

Connect with Benjamin on Instagram and read more of his essays on Substack.