u/Helpful_Dog1779

The company owner wants to meet with everyone next week. What should I expect / how do I not make things worse? The gist of it is the title.

I destroyed a machine because I ran it the wrong way. I've been at this place for 4 months, and I have about 14 months of experience doing this exact kind of work. I have 6 years in very closely related fields, but I'm still the newest person on this team (26 years old). They showed me how to operate this thing during my first week. And apparently I've been running it wrong pretty much the whole time since then.

The part that's making me not know how to deal with this is that I wasn't 100% sure I was doing it right, so I asked about it more than once. And the answer I was given was basically: "Yeah, technically that's not the correct way, but everyone does it that way sometimes, don't worry about it."

Well, running it that way, plus a few unlucky things happening at the same time that weren't entirely under my control, caused the machine to be completely destroyed. As in total loss, no repair, it's done. Thankfully nobody got hurt, but the sound/violence of what happened was strong enough that everyone in the shop afterward had that adrenaline crash and shakiness.

Now the company owner wants to meet the whole team face to face. Not a single one of us has met him before. All I know is that he's in his late sixties, has been doing this work for about 45 years, and people here talk about him like he's half genius and half thunderstorm. Supposedly he's calmed down a lot compared to the old days, but that is not making me feel reassured at all right now.

I'm honestly very scared about what's coming. I really don't want to lose this job. It's easily the best job I've had so far. I'm trying to figure out what I'm supposed to say in this meeting, so that I take responsibility without looking like I'm throwing the rest of the team under the bus. Any advice on how to handle this or what to prepare would be appreciated.

He was completely in the wrong in this situation. The accusation made no sense at all, and my manager was genuinely just as confused as I was. I had done everything I could to help him, answer his questions, and make sure he had everything he needed to get the work done. He realized he was probably going to miss an important deadline, so instead of admitting that, he tried to get ahead of it and pin it on me.

The exact details honestly aren't that important. The part I'm stuck on is how obvious and blatant it was. This was someone I had never had any issues with before. I genuinely thought we had a pretty good working relationship! And then suddenly, little office cobra behavior.

Now am I supposed to just carry on like nothing happened? Sit in meetings and mentor him and give him feedback while knowing this person quietly shifts blame onto others and might throw me under the nearest bus if it benefits him??? I understand that I'm the more experienced person here, so I need to be professional and fair, and not let my personal feelings turn into revenge. I also need to document everything and stay alert so he can't do it again. But good lord, I'm still human. I don't like him anymore. The treacherous little creature.

Has anyone dealt with something like this without letting it ruin the whole working relationship? I'd be grateful for any advice on how to handle this gracefully and take the high road, while also making sure I don't get burned twice.

I had an interview for a maintenance tech job at a condo complex and asked them if they provided on-site housing or any kind of rent break.

The interviewer got really excited and told me that after 5 months of working there, I'd be allowed to apply for one of their units, and they could also deduct the rent directly from my checks, as if that were some amazing perk.

I couldn't help myself and laughed. I told her that's not a benefit, that's just me paying you rent with extra steps.