A Malaysian office worker has shared an incident involving an intern who was scolded by a senior staff member after attempting to help fix a faulty printer.
According to a post on Threads, the situation unfolded on Monday when the main office printer suddenly broke down, disrupting several employees who were rushing to complete important reports. Panic quickly spread as the machine refused to work.
Intern quietly steps in to help
Amid the chaos, the male intern stood up and calmly went to the back of the printer to inspect it.
The intern quietly got up, opened the back panel and pulled out the paper that was jammed. Before he could press ‘reset’, the senior staff member shouted,” she wrote.
Eh, don’t touch it. You will make it worse. This is not your job.”
The intern froze and slowly pulled his hand back.
Boss arrives and asks what happened
Moments later, their boss walked in after sensing the commotion and asked what was going on.
The senior immediately answered, ‘Boss, the printer is spoiled. The intern simply touched it. Luckily I saw.’”
The boss then walked over to inspect the machine and noticed the opened back panel.
He asked the intern, “Do you know how to fix this?”
The intern hesitated for a moment before replying, ‘A little bit, boss. I used to work part-time at a photocopy shop.’”
Boss gives permission to proceed
After receiving the green light from his employer, the intern continued his attempt to repair the machine. He pressed the reset button, and the printer instantly restarted. Sheets of paper began sliding out one by one.
The boss raised his eyebrows and looked at the senior staff member. ‘Sometimes, experience does not come from rank,’ he said. The office went silent.”
The boss then praised the intern for his initiative and bravery, reminding everyone that knowledge and expertise can come from anywhere, not just from seniority.
Netizens: “This happens in every office”
The story quickly attracted attention online, with many netizens saying it reflects a common workplace issue, senior staff feeling threatened when juniors show competence.
“That’s what happens when they’re not millennials but baby boomers. They don’t even know how to handle a printer.”
“Don’t act arrogant just because of your rank, because there are many people out there who can do things we don’t know how to do.”
“What error code came out? Just follow the troubleshooting steps lah.”
