Sometimes in life, you just gotta take one for the team.
It might be at work, it might be at home, or it might be in some social situation.
But when the time comes, you gotta do what you gotta do!
Take a look at these stories from folks who definitely took one for the team.
1. Wow.
“My ex girlfriend and I worked at a bar in Montreal. she was a waitress and I was Bartender.
One in a while a bunch of rich dudes from the states would come up and flaunt their money to the girls we worked with. Buying champagne and such.
One night she was serving them and I got cut early and was waiting until she was done and those dude insisted on giving her drinks. She was coming down with a cold and didn’t want to drink so she kept feeding me drinks intended for her.
Long story short there ended being roofies in the drink and I blacked out and I woke up on my apartment floor and my gf on the couch.
I’m glad I took that one for her.”
2. Family matters.
“When my loving and dear mother went to the hospital last month due to terminal brain cancer.
Only two people could visit for her entire stay due to covid security. My father was one of the two and the last spot was between my sister and me. I let my sister have the last spot without debating or arguing.
After two days of not being able to visit, they were able to convince the hospital management to make an amendment and let me in. Unfortunately I missed out on two of the last five days she had left.”
3. I did it.
“I had a junior developer on my team that made a mistake. He had only been there a few months and although the mistake was easy to make, it would end up costing the company $40k.
I was a senior dev and relatively untouchable due to a lot of fixed mistakes that others had made. For two days management was talking about who made the mistake and what they would need to do. As soon as I realized who it was (he was unaware at that point that he had done it wrong) I said I did it.
Nobody said another word about it except me who quietly explained the correct way to push code changes to the junior dev.”
4. Uh oh…
“My friend picked out terrible bridesmaid dresses.
If you can picture it: Structured goldenrod cheap transparent chiffon with a body clinging tank top slip the size of a napkin underneath. Sort of that twee shabby chic prairie style that was en vogue a decade ago. My husband called me an, and I quote, “Amish slut”.
All the bridesmaids h**ed them but bride friend was type A and no one wanted to complain. I fell on my sword and begged her to let me pick something different because of my weight, as I was the chonkiest one in the party. I absolutely refused to stand in front of people in that handkerchief.
She wanted everyone to match so she switched to a much more flattering one. I got a group hug from all the bridesmaids in secret. It’s been a decade and she still brings it up occasionally that the first dress was fine and everyone else liked it.”
5. That’s nice.
“Took a class in college that I didn’t want to take but if I didn’t, the class couldn’t be run and two other people would not be able to graduate.”
6. You got it, buddy.
“Buddy was married with two young children, who was unable to get away from his job, wife and kids.
His wife is also a bit of a helicopter wife if that makes sense. My buddy and I have a bond over baseball, hadn’t seen him in a long time so we went to a Blue Jays game. During the game his wife constantly texted him reminding he had to come straight home, when was the game going to be over.
My buddy stated “it’s a Saturday afternoon, i haven’t seen you in ages or been out in a while, I want to go to a pub after for drinks but need an excuse that will give me an extra hour or two.
On Saturdays, the Jays would have Jr. Jays Saturdays, where 45 minutes after the game , if you were 12 and under, you could wait in a long line and run the bases. I told my buddy to tell his wife that I was trying to hit on a hot single mom who had a baby but also a 4 year old who wanted to the run bases and offered to take the 4 year old around the bases with the intent to get her number.
Mission accomplished as we headed after the game for a couple beers. A month later I was at his house and the first thing his wife says to me, “you are such a pathetic f#%k’n sleezeball!””
7. In Alaska…
“This past summer, on a trail crew in Alaska. Our crew was flown out to remote airstrips for maintenance.
We were sent to one particularly remote area the week that a serious storm system was to roll in. Six of us out there, two full time USFS staff and us four on the trail crew spending all of our time in separate tents. It rained over a foot while we were there and on the day we were to be extracted we were told that the conditions were too bad for the small plane to retrieve us so we spent an extra day in the field.
The next day comes and we are told the weather has calmed enough for the pilot to arrive that morning with only enough room for four passengers and our gear. I volunteered to stay behind and wait for what we were informed would be another eight hours before the plane could return for us, if the weather stayed stable enough, if not the next day.
I stayed behind with one of the FS workers freezing in the rain while the rest of my team returned to the warm dry compound. Luckily we were evacuated later that same day but it was a few hours delayed from the initial estimate. I found the trip to be pretty fun still.”
8. Hard times.
“I work for a small mental health charity when lockdown hit in 2020 I stopped being paid and took on all the administration as we had to make the admin furloughed.
Hard times but we managed to continue supporting people for free during the hardest of times.”
9. Nailed it.
“I was on a cruise, and they were doing auditions for the “end of trip” show where you’re impersonating a well known performer/song.
We were over an hour into the karaoke time and no one had auditioned yet. I’d had a few drinks and figured “what’s the worst that could happen?”
That’s how I found myself performing on stage as Ricky Martin with backup dancers.”
10. It was a hot day…
“I was at Universal in FL with my best friend and our two boyfriends, waiting in the line for the hulk roller coaster. It was 97 degrees Fahrenheit and the air was like soup, and we had already waited in line for an hour.
I was feeling a little overheated but was ready to wait it out when I took a look at my best friend who looked white as a sheet, like she was about to faint. I finally called it and said “hey guys I’m not feeling it, Steph do you want to go grab food and shop in that store with the good HP stuff?”
I could sense the immediate relief from her as we walked out of the line. Her bf is a Florida native and she was trying to put on a brave face, but I knew two more minutes and that chick would have passed the heck out.
We ate ice cream and shopped while we waited ANOTHER HOUR for the guys to get through the line to ride the 2 minute roller coaster. Totally worth it to take the “weak” title for myself to bail.”
11. Grandma.
“My grandmother was getting older & struggling to get to the bathroom every time.
Well one time she didn’t make it & someone had to help her take a bath. I jumped at the opportunity. Got her all cleaned & pretty & smelling great, brushed her hair just before bed too.
Why ?
Because she raised me from 2-5. The learning years, the potty training, the reading/ writing, teaching me to tie my shoes, add & subtract, letters & numbers …. all her. She was patient & kind & understanding & loving & immensely wise. So me giving her a bath ….. I’d do it again tomorrow. I miss her.”
Do you have any stories like this?
Share them with us in the comments.
Thanks a lot!
