The history of humanity knows many cases when literally one person ruined everything good for all other people. Whether it's a traitor opening a hidden gate in a besieged impregnable castle, a coward who abandons formation, rallying against a cavalry charge, or a kicker who misses a decisive field goal in the final seconds of the Super Bowl...

A distinctive feature of such situations is that they are remembered, cut into the public memory no less than a cavalry wedge bursting into a gap in the infantry monolith of Roman legionnaires, or, for example, the desperate commentator’s cry: "It goes wide!" And then in threads like this one by the user u/KeanKho, netizens eagerly bring up this and many other similar stories. And we, Bored Panda, then collect for you a selection of the best...

More info: Reddit

#1

The guy who claimed vaccines caused autism has some serious blood on his hands.

Image credits: TabularConferta

#2

My primary school used to do relatively frequent trips to a local zoo, until one boy decided to vault the fence and punch a penguin.

I wish I was joking.

Image credits: eighttesticles

#3

That executive at HP who said, "You know, people love our printers. They are tough and reliable and work for decades. We should make them suck, break constantly, license the ink, make it all internet-linked so the printer won't even work when the wifi is down."

Image credits: Ignorad

In fact, traditions and precedents play a big role in such stories. After all, if something unpleasant happened once, then it definitely can happen again and then over and over. And if so, it should be prevented. And it is not in vain that they say that every line of the army charter is written in blood - this is absolutely true, just to ensure that one person does not later ruin everything this exact way. And it actually works... or that guy ruins everything in another way. That happens as well, you know.

#4

The religious fruitcake mother who said that Halloween was satanic so that ended the kindergarten costume parade.

Image credits: franceandmain

#5

Maybe this isnt a single persons fault. But, i feel like for those of us with chronic pain from major accidents (or syndromes or diseases), the people who abused opioid use has made it hard for everyone with legit problems.

I broke my neck, hip, and 20 other bones in a car accident. My drugs are so tightly regulated, that if theres a hang up of even 12 hours, i can run out of meds. And im not even taking heavy pain meds just enough to work. I feel like im the lucky one vs stories i hear of cancer patients, people with longer term issues, or diseases. Between the pill mills and the pharmacies, those with real issues were f****d.

Image credits: djbeaker

#6

The guy who attempted to smuggle a bomb in his shoe in 2001

Now we all have to suffer taking our shoes off at airport security every damn time we fly

Image credits: Plus-Statistician80

What can I say, after all, we all know one story about two people who ruined everything for literally everyone on Earth. As Paul Anka sang, “there was a story I'm sure you all know, I'm sure you remember and I know you believe - the story of Adam and Eve!” And if the whole of human history, at least according to one of the common versions, began with something like this, what can we expect from the humble and imperfect descendants of Adam and Eve?

#7

I worked at an office that had casual Fridays. One day a lady came to work on casual Friday in her gym clothes, and management was uptight and appalled by it. Instead of telling her that she couldn’t wear gym clothes to work, they abolished casual Friday for everyone. It pisses me off to this day.

Image credits: VolumniaDedlock

#8

The American bastard who said “all cashiers must stand for their entire shift because that’s good customer service”

Because OBVIOUSLY when you’ve got a s****y worker that treats customers like c**p, you blame the damn seat. Now get back out to the front of your register Samantha, I don’t care that you’re recovering from foot surgery, if I gave you a chair, I’d have to give everyone a chair and that’s not good customer service.

Image credits: Rhaynebow

#9

Other firefighters constantly ruin any sort of appreciation restaurants give out. We had a BBQ restaurant that would give a flat 10$ off your meal. If you didn't spend 10$ it was basically free. One guy ruined it on an 8$ order by demanded the 2$ be given to him as well.


Had people going in uniform on days they didn't work. Had one guy have a family reunion at a local restaurant then made a big issue they wouldn't give his entire party the discount.


I don't understand how out of touch people can be.

Image credits: wehrmann_tx

“Probably, each of us has a similar story behind us, and sometimes we ourselves act as such a weak link,” says Valery Bolgan, a historian and editor-in-chief of Intent news agency from Ukraine, whom Bored Panda asked for a comment. “In any case, when we are in a hurry to stigmatize the guy who suddenly made everything bad, we need to try to put ourselves in their place. After all, in the end, it is they who often feel the worst of all, desperately trying to overcome such a burden on their soul."

“A classic example can be cited from sports. In 1994, the FIFA soccer World Cup was held in the USA, and it was marked by two dramatic stories. In the match between the Colombian and the USA national teams, the Colombian defender Andres Escobar, by coincidence, sent the ball into his own goal. Colombia lost - and a few weeks later, Escobar was shot dead in his hometown, and with each shot, the attacker hysterically shouted: 'Goal! Goal! Goal!'"

“But in the final match, another tragedy broke out, though not fatal. In the penalty shootout that determined the world champion, the best player on the planet and that tournament, the Italian Roberto Baggio, missed at the decisive moment. He was subjected to devastating criticism, but he managed to cope with nerves - and at the next World Cup, when he went out to shoot a penalty (and this happened several times), he scored every time. Therefore, when we accuse someone of causing us inconvenience - just think, how do they themselves feel at that moment?" Valery ponders.

#10

Previous job I had used to be hybrid twice a week. One person, on their hybrid day, decided to slack off work and go out. They got a call from their manager because they were late for a virtual meeting and the manager heard a lot of background noise like they were at the mall or something. Said person eventually admitted they were not home working, got fired, and now everyone had to be in the office 5 days a week.

Image credits: Shiekh_Bodi

#11

At a previous job, we got full uniforms. Shirts, pants, hats, hoodies, winter coveralls, winter coats, gloves. But we dont get shoes or boots.

Turns out a couple of years before I was hired on, they used to give boots. But one guy would take his boots and sell them, then request a replacement, then sell those. He did this about 20 times before anybody caught on because of municipal bureaucracy being slow to notice. When they caught on, they stopped giving out boots to their employees.

Edit: I worked as a park maintenance groundskeeper for Parks & Recreation


edit edit: No it is not like the show.

Image credits: Corgiboom2

#12

The name Adolf has gotta be up there

Image credits: anon

Be that as it may, among the stories that are collected in this list, there are both small and completely epic, global scale, sad and funny, great and petty... So please feel free now to scroll and read this selection to the very end, comment on your favorite submissions and perhaps add your own stories of how anyone ruined everything - even if it was you yourself... After all, self-irony is a great feeling inherent in truly outstanding people!

#13

This is going to be buried but I have to share it in hopes someone sees this and laughs.

I used to work for state government in Alaska. I was reviewing some department policies to update and I noticed a particular statement in the employee behavioral policy about adhering to basic hygiene (expected) and wearing clothes at work (not expected). I went to my boss to ask him about that and the look on his face told me I was in for a good story.

Our department had satellite offices all over the state and in some very rural, very isolated areas, these were nothing but glorified shacks. Local fire brigade shows up to one of our shacks in middle-of-nowhere to find a department employee standing outside the burnt building, in the nude. In February. Turned out that the guy, who was the only on-site employee, happened to be a nudist. Now, no one can work naked for the state of Alaska. What a bummer. ?

Image credits: puritycontrol

#14

My third grade bully got mad because I didn’t want to include her in my version of tag game. She went to the teacher and told on me and then it had to be announced in front of the class that my game was officially banned. F**k you and your big onion head, Rayna.

Image credits: croustashun

#15

The Tylenol poisoner—I figure he’s directly responsible for the ridiculous amount of overpackaging in otc drugs, vitamins, etc. Plastic lid wrap seal, cap, sealed bottle, cotton…all inside another box or (shudder!) clamshell package. What a jerk.

Image credits: SM1955

#16

Kanye West was ruined by Kanye West

Image credits: RubberEyeBall

#17

The elementary school I went to let 6th graders go on an overnight trip to a lodge where we could go skiing and snow tubing. My dad volunteered as a parent and was “supervising” by letting me and 5 other girls pile on top of one tube down a steep hill and we all went flying. Two of the girls busted their arms when we all landed in a pile. It looked like a cartoon. Anyway, after that no more sleep overs at the lodge and tale has it 30 years later everyone at the school still blames my dad lol.

Image credits: Carol_Pilbasian

#18

I'm going to go with red baseball caps. It's tough being a KC Chiefs or even a Limp Bizkit fan these days if you are not a conservative.

Edit to add: I should have specified MAGAt instead of conservative in general. I do know quite a few conservatives that would love to go back to supporting a sane political party. They don't wear the hats.

Image credits: kingfisher_42

#19

That one kid in the classroom that can't just leave their f*****g phone alone. Now they're all in a box at the front of the class.

Image credits: carolathome

#20

The person who apparently choked on a lollipop at my bank and now we don't get lollipops anymore.

Image credits: neoprenewedgie

#21

At one of my previous workplaces, management played music as a way of promoting good mood. They played all sorts of genres so everyone got a chance to listen to something they liked. *One* person complained that *sometimes* they had to listen to music they didn't like, so they stopped playing music altogether.

Image credits: Dynasuarez-Wrecks

#22

Lately, artists who are performing on stage are not having fun anymore.. why?
Because One clown threw an object that actually hurt the artist and suddenly it started happening over and over again, along with making more artists reluctant to perform or interact with the crowd...

Edit: I guess I need to clarify, I mean throwing phones, ashes and other objects directly at the artist to hurt them, not harmless things that used to be thrown like panties and bras...

Image credits: sunfilled_flitters

#23

Every policy at every company I've ever worked at or owned was because of one person abusing something. So whenever you wonder "why the hell do we have to do this?", it's because of one a*****e who ruined it for everyone else.

Image credits: oldasshit

#24

Back around the mid 2000s I was around 10 years old and I used to go to this place after school called “the Boys and Girls club”. They had an area with multiple basketball hoops on a court which we used to play all kinds of games in; one of those games being dodgeball. These were not those big rubber balls but instead the styrofoam filled balls with kind of a thin layer of plastic so otherwise… harmless. One of the kids thought it would be a good idea to shove a rock into one of the balls and throw it at someone he didn’t like; well he ended up throwing it right into that kids face and broke two of his front teeth. We never played dodgeball again.

Image credits: Mi_trees

#25

The guy who [cut] the most isolated tree on Earth. Same with that woman who burned down the oldest tree. Imagine the history the trees lived through.

Image credits: kavalejava

#26

Had a job where as a dialysis nurse where we added a position to pick up add ons and emergency cases that came in later in the day. In this role we worked noon to midnight which helped us cut down from needing a nurse on call every night to maybe once or twice a week. Whoever took this role didn’t have to take call and had weekends off. We loved rotating through this role and enjoyed taking a break from having to be on call and enjoyed having weekends off.

Then there came the nurse who went out at 7 am instead of noon, and finished at 5 pm. When there was an add-on or an emergency case she wouldn’t answer her phone, which meant which meant everyone had to go back to picking up extra patients and being on call again.

She did this every time it was her turn to go through the rotation so they eliminated the position and we went back to having to be on call all the time.

Image credits: Otto_Correction

#27

At a certain point in US Army basic training, your platoon is givin the "opportunity" to sit and eat without having to wait for the entire company, AND with that comes the fact that if one person is finished eating, we're all finished eating.

This one trainee who happend to sit early finished his dinner before the other side of the table even got to start. He stood up, the the DS promptly made everyone else get up too, eaten or not.

This same trainee did the exact same thing the next day, except now it was breakfast, so a few people didnt get dinner OR breakfast.

I'll never forget the nasty s**t they did to his bunk and locker dude. Couldnt really feel bad for him, and you best believe NOBODY stood up early for the rest of BCT.


Edit: Wow this blew up overnight! Im gonna try to answer a couple questions I've read.

What'd they do to his bunk?

They took the used/dirty mop bucket water, pissed in it, and dumped over his bunk and foot locker. This happened on a Sunday morning which is the one day the DS will leave u alone till noon. The perpetrator was at church lol

Was it intentional?

No. The first time was a genuine mistake as it was a brand new rule. I actually watched him the second time. He started to stand and realized his mistake, but the grumpiest DS saw him do that awkward stand-sit movement and that was it for the table. Luckily I wasn't on the table that lost the breakfast, but I still felt no sympathy for him. No dinner + "whatever you can eat out the door" breakfast woulda had me join in too.

Was he stupid?

Yes.

Image credits: Spartan_Fruits

#28

That influencer who jumped into the alligator habitat at Busch Gardens, now there's a big chain link fence and you can't see the alligators anymore

Image credits: spaghettihax763

#29

I'm a contractor and I work in different kinds of plants and mills. In one mill I worked at, we had a gravy job, two hours of easy work, and get paid for twelve hours. Well, one guy decided he was going to charge them for sixteen, and now we get two hours for the job.

Image credits: Juggalo13XIII

#30

Not one person but two people ruined my work’s break room. I work at a YMCA as a swim instructor, so two people decided to [make love] in their break room at a different Y in another city. Apparently the higher ups decided that every other YMCA in the area or state should lose their break rooms because “it could happen again.” Like yeah, it could happen again but don’t take our break rooms away, at least get rid of theirs and not ours! It’s so frustrating, now when we’re all cold and damp in between lessons, and after lessons are done, we can sit in the lobby, or sit somewhere on the pool deck which takes away spots for kids or parents. Thanks Milcreek YMCA, you guys suck, go somewhere else and have sex but don’t do it at the Y!

Image credits: Sufficient_Gain_1164

#31

whoever decided to add Youtube Kids on youtube, now everything is demonitizable

Image credits: heyyou_user2341

#32

The guy in Texas (I think?) Who ordered a huge meal for his last meal on death row and refused to eat it. They no longer offer a last meal request because of him.

Image credits: seashell_eyes_

#33

Airport security... I remember waiting for my mom to come off a plane at the gate.

#34

Remember that stupid woman that held up a sign in front of the Tour de France riders?

#35

The first hotel I worked at allowed employees to become patrons and have drinks in the hotel bar after their shifts. My coworker and I noticed the security guy giving us the stink eye from the lobby while we chatted up two young ladies who were guests of the hotel.

Insulted that he would assume we might try and get frisky with these women, we called it a night and headed out. We went out the back employees-only door, and in passing the security officer’s office, we decided spitting all over his door was a justifiable response.

Turns out the security guy had followed us out, stealthfully beating us to the exit by way of the hotel’s second floor. He stood silently in the shadows of the 2nd floor stairwell and watched as we defiled his office door.

That’s why since 1996, employees can no longer grab after work drinks in that hotel’s lobby bar. Because of me. I’m sorry…

#36

That stupid baseball player that took like ten ephedra and died of a heart attack. My mom and I used to take one and clean the whole house! Why can’t people be responsible with their drugs.

Image credits: Shaydie

#37

That time outside of the Cage at UMass Amherst when there was a looong line to get into the basketball game, and me and my friend tried to slickly cut with a friend who was closer up in line, but another friend saw us quietly moving and frantically ran to catch up to us, and this caused EVERYONE to start running toward the front and it turned into a near riot, with people trying to squeeze through the doors. Eventually everyone made it in okay, but it did make the evening news as a ‘riot’…

So, thanks Jeff ?

Image credits: beigereige

#38

In the 80s we had this game called British Bulldog, it was fun and a laugh for all involved. Then Barry had to clothesline a skinny kid and collapsed his wind pipe and all of sudden Bulldog got banned and we couldn't choke each other out anymore.

Thanks Barry.

Image credits: Mysterious-Slice-591

#39

The guy who flew the plane into the Twin Towers ruined airport security for everyone in America.