Attempting to navigate the bureaucratic process that accompanies receiving governmental assistance is a headache for pretty much anyone. The systems are archaic and often intentionally confusing, and most folks need all the help they can get.

What would you do if your child wasn’t receiving the benefits they were rightfully owed? One guy recently shared a cringeworthy story about this from his job center with Reddit, causing much second-hand embarrassment. Here’s what happened.

Dad complaining about his sons work in the totally wrong place to do so.

I used to work in Information, Advice and Guidance – the company I worked for had a contract to give employment advice to the unemployed.

In order to deliver this, part of my job had me go into Jobcentres as a guest to advise the jobseekers.

Which meant the job centre staff could pass them on rather than have to do it themselves.

Seems like an efficient enough system.

Then they could focus on the people who had to attend to sign on to claim their benefits.

One day, I’m sitting there at a desk in a highly un-jobcentre brightly coloured shirt, with my company’s branding on posters and leaflets around the desk.

In walks a older guy who comes up to me and starts telling me that his son is working as a labourer on a building site, but the bosses keep making him work extra hours and they aren’t paying him the going rate.

Unfortunate situation, but not this guy’s problem.

He kept on with the story without giving me a chance to say that I couldn’t advise him, although I was going to give him the details to the local Citizens Advice.

But before I could say anything he drops in the fact that he was kept so late yesterday that he nearly missed his signing on time at the Jobcentre.

Yep he was late at work and nearly missed his designated time to sign for unemployment benefits.

Foot. In. Mouth.

I told him that I didn’t actually work for the Jobcentre but if he went upstairs and spoke with the guys at the back desk they would now what to do next.

Upstairs at the bask desk was the Fraud Investigation Team.

I don’t think he went, I saw him leave a couple of minutes later – but imagine the reaction when he told his son that he went there to complain.

That’s peak second-hand embarrassment right there. Let’s see how the good people of Reddit reacted to this in the comments.

Some were fully on the OP’s side.

Others provided some potential context.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a researcher who complained about being excluded from a trip only to watch the university cancel the whole thing.

One person jumped to the son’s defense.

And another dropped some geographical knowledge.

He’s about to need the benefit of the doubt more than anything.