Today, I was at work in a lab. I spent all day growing a large bacterial culture. I went to retrieve it, only to find that someone had turned the incubation shaker up too high, and my flask had flown off and shattered. Not only did I lose all my work, but now the whole room is a biohazard. FML
Collection
Halloween
A failed costume, stolen candy and a very real scare: Halloween, the one night when fear is allowed.
Today, at the microbiology lab, I discovered that the guy who took the shift before me didn't sterilize the work space very well. I am now blowing chunks from both ends from a very nasty strain of E. Coli. My company blames me. FML
Today, I woke up earlier to food prep for lunch later. Just as I was preparing the ingredients, I dropped a thick glass saucer on the kitchen counter and it shattered like a hail storm - everywhere in the kitchen. I ended up spending more time cleaning it out and obviously logged in to work later than usual. FML
Today, I was teaching my microbiology lab class as a graduate TA. Some dumbass frat boy dared his friend to drink a tube of E. coli and the idiot did it. Now everything in the lab is contaminated with vomit. FML
Today, I was at work, nonchalantly spinning my keys around my finger when they flew off and hit a glass cabinet. Broken glass showered passing customers. I don't think I'll have a job to go to tomorrow. FML
Today, I was making a shake at work when the cup fell off the blender. I went to catch it, and instead caught the teeth of the still-spinning mixer. When my hand was still bleeding five minutes later, my supervisor told me to clock out until it stopped. I lost money for getting hurt on the job. FML
Today, I tried to open my water bottle, which is like trying to open a pickle jar, and after several seconds, it exploded all over my desk and clothes. Then, when I was going to get paper towels and a change of clothes, I slipped on the puddle and hit my head on my desk as I came crashing down. FML
Today, I started to make a protein shake to have a healthy breakfast. It exploded. Turns out, my mom lost the rubber gasket and put the blender back, so it looked ready to use. By the time I cleaned it all up, it was time for me to leave for work. I'm now eating chips from the vending machine. FML
Today, I started a new job and wanted to seem organized, so I brought a homemade lunch in a container. I went to heat it up, but forgot to remove the lid completely. The container exploded in the microwave, covering the inside with sauce. I spent my lunch break cleaning it while my coworkers smirked. FML
Today, I reheated leftover pasta at work. I forgot to crack a vent on the container and it exploded in the microwave. Sauce coated the inside, so I spent my lunch break scrubbing while coworkers waited awkwardly to heat their food. The smell is still hanging in the office air. FML
Today, I found out how acidic some of the chemicals I work with are. After a chemical shower, minor burns, and having to throw away my clothes due to a biohazard, I had the pleasure of running across the parking lot to my car, wearing only a lab coat around my waist. FML
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Top comments
cpc1233 0
and thus resident evil 6 begins.
darkwar4ever 0
Oh wow, that really sucks. FYL. :/ This happened to my dad once, but it was for something else, and not with bacteria.
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Comments (89)
Laci_Laine 0
Fyl, that sucks :(
Imawhalerider 0
What a lab noob, i hate it when underclassmen mess up all of my lab work. slap a bitsch?
thecrazed7 0
YDI for working.
9az00 0
Thank you for posting this as something similar happened to me yesterday (and i was going to post); except i work with brain cancer. someone had the bright idea to give me cultured cells in a petri dish...but what they didnt realize is that petri dishes leak when you move them-even slightly. there was cancerous media everywhere.
bexox 0
What kind of petri dishes are you working with, may I ask? The agar shouldn't leak.
Vitamin_C 0
9az00 I'm going to be an ass and take offence to your terminology. Tissue culture is not done on petri dishes, it is done in tissue culture plates. I know you know this, but it annoys me when people say it wrong. And spilling media + cells doesn't matter much since the cells are going to die anyway outside the dish. OP: For your flask to have launched and shattered all over the room, the flask would have had to not be secured in the coily things and the incubator door would have had to be open - which means that the incubator would NOT be rotating. Unless you have a seriously shady 1970's incubator that shakes with the door open, I'm pretty sure your flask was chucked on purpose. Kill the ****** who sabotaged your work, though I don't think the speed did it.
toongirl 4
You can get shaking platforms which sit inside bigger, room sized incubators. These don't have lids and therefore the incubator could now be covered in bacteria.
9az00 0
that was the problem. we use media (DMEM) not agar. they should have given the cells to me in a flask.
darkmis1 18
that sux-you need to find out who did that and register a complaint and make them re-do your whole project-you shouldnt have to clean up somebody elses mess.
11bellacasey 0
ouch. this 1 lol
9az00 0
no vitamin c, my terminology is correct. they gave me the cells in a PETRI DISH. if they would have given them to me in a tissue culture plate (welled plate) or a flask (which I prefer) the incident would not have occured....why do you think I was so pissed but kudos on the rest of your post. lol 1970s shaker. I agree, op someone was out to sabatoge your experiment. you should find out who they are and yeast their incubator...then stab them in the eye with a pipet.
evilscientistme 0
If you spent any appreciable time in a life science lab doing this kind of work, you would (1) learn how to handle dishes of any kind properly and (2) learn the difference between a "petri dish" and a "tissue culture" anything, (3) realize that a "plate" can also apply to the thing shaped just like a petri dish, and (4) wear gloves. Petri dishes are not coated with anything special on the bottom. If you asked someone for a petri dish and tried to grow your adherent cells in it, they'd float right off (and probably die). TIssue culture flasks/plates/dishes are treated on the inside surface to ensure that your cells stick to the bottom and stay there. Hence, they're more expensive and used SPECIFICALLY for tissue culture. If you try to grow your cells in plain ol' petri dishes, your supervisor will not be happy with you. If you try to pour agar plates in the pricey TC plates, your supervisor will not be pleased either.
Vitamin_C 0
thanks evilscientistme!!!.. proper science prevails!
kyleinsane 0
stfu nerds fuken annoying
Cazzybum 11
You idiots. He wasn't saying he asked fir them in a petri dish, he said he was GIVEN them when they should have been in something else, hence he was pissed. Learn to read. OT, FYL OP :(
0___0 9
WTF I didn't know people on FML were this smart.
bexox 0
Some of them... :/
evilscientistme 0
FML rocks. we read them out loud to each other at lab.
Microbiologist 0
I read them to people at work too :-) there seems to be one for every tea break situation.
superswagbro 7
Dont worry idiots make up for it.
dumbguy 0
can't you just redo it tomorrow? you said you spent "all day" stop whining
sacredpoppy 0
I love it when user names fit the user so well.
dolphingirl 0
bacterial cultures don't take that long to grow, but they are usually used for only part of a lengthier protocol, like a transfection. If that were the case, losing one day can have a domino effect. Science isn't the kind of job where you do what you can/want in a day and pick it back up the next. Don't be mean and tell them to stop whining. There's nothing worse than having your entire experiment ****** up because of something stupid, especially when it's not you're fault.