# Famous example of "You had ONE job!" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 5, 2014, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-example-of-you-had-one-job/697549 "2014-09-05T03:54:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-example-of-you-had-one-job/697549/61 "2014-09-09T20:32:08Z")
> [@susan](#): > > Guys don’t make passes at girls with molasses. Eh… not a show stopper. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-example-of-you-had-one-job/697549/62 "2014-09-09T21:25:56Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Whoever was responsible for the great [Boston Molasses Disaster](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Molasses_Disaster). Wikipedia is of two minds about whether this was one person’s fault. > [@](#): > > **Several factors that occurred on that day and the previous days might have contributed to the disaster. . . . An inquiry after the disaster revealed that Arthur Jell** , who oversaw the construction, neglected basic safety tests, such as filling the tank with water to check for leaks. [6] I’d say it was a group effort. It was poorly constructed yet, knowing that, the company used it for “a few years”, even painting the tank brown to hide the fact that it was leaking. Over those years, it had been completely filled eight times. I think continuing to use a tank that was known to be problematic counts as contributing to the disaster. ---
**Author:** ![Spiny\_Norman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Spiny\_Norman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiny_Norman)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-example-of-you-had-one-job/697549/63 "2014-09-09T21:47:50Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > Chernobyl Guy… He only had to know that if you do a fast shut down, you must wait for many hours before restarting… it made the test unsafe to do. In all fairness, the weird behavior of the RBMK under the circumstances wasn’t very well documented, if at all. The chief designer appeared surprised that the reactor would - ehm - react like it did. ---
**Author:** ![kk\_fusion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kk_fusion/32/15276_2.png) [@kk\_fusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kk_fusion)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-example-of-you-had-one-job/697549/64 "2014-09-10T13:38:20Z")
Judge Neithardt, whose job was to sentence Hitler for high treason in 1924. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-example-of-you-had-one-job/697549/65 "2014-09-10T13:44:23Z")
The guy who was the iceberg lookout on the Titanic? ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-example-of-you-had-one-job/697549/66 "2014-09-10T16:19:45Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > The single best example I can think of here is when Armando Galarraga pitched a nearly perfect game - that was ruined by a bad call by the umpire. That guy literally had one job - to determine whether the runner was safe or not. And he screwed it up. Same thing happened to Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers. He got screwed out of a No Hitter because of an umpire’s bad call. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-example-of-you-had-one-job/697549/67 "2014-09-12T00:04:53Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > If you are serious about that, it refers to FEMA director Michael Brown and the poor job he did with Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. The “hekuva job” assessment was given by George W Bush. I was serious, but, I’m still not connecting the dots. Thanks anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-example-of-you-had-one-job/697549/68 "2014-09-12T00:11:05Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > But what happened to Buckner is fairly typical of famous scapegoats in other sporting and other disasters. A string of mistakes and screw-ups by a series of people creates a situation where one more will be fatal. The guy who makes the final mistake ends up being saddled with the entire blame. Look at poor Scott Norwood. Sure, he missed a field goal kick. But he wasn’t the person responsible for the Bills being down one point with eight seconds left in the game. ---
**Author:** ![tonyfop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@tonyfop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonyfop)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-example-of-you-had-one-job/697549/69 "2014-09-12T01:11:14Z")
Michael Jackson’s personal physician, Conrad Murray? ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-example-of-you-had-one-job/697549/70 "2014-09-12T02:43:29Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > The single best example I can think of here is when Armando Galarraga pitched a nearly perfect game - that was ruined by a bad call by the umpire. That guy literally had one job - to determine whether the runner was safe or not. And he screwed it up. > > I am terribly heartened to hear how gracious Galarraga was about it though. > > (This may or may not qualify as a historical disaster, depending on how you feel about baseball.) I’m still not convinced that Joyce’s call wasn’t correct. The ball was bouncing inside Galarraga’s glove. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-example-of-you-had-one-job/697549/71 "2014-09-12T13:01:54Z")
If any one of a few people didn’t mess up, the Gimli Glider would’ve never happened ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-example-of-you-had-one-job/697549/72 "2014-09-12T14:21:09Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Look at poor Scott Norwood. Sure, he missed a field goal kick. But he wasn’t the person responsible for the Bills being down one point with eight seconds left in the game. Nor did the Bills’ hurry-up offene get him into chip shot range. A 48 yard field goal is certainly do-able, but it’s far from automatic. That’s one that even the best kickers get just a little more than half the time. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-example-of-you-had-one-job/697549/73 "2014-09-12T16:50:46Z")
Whatever Texaco employee did the positioning calculations at [Lake Peigneur, Louisiana](http://urlm.in/szmn). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-example-of-you-had-one-job/697549.md?page=3)