Bring Your Kid to Work Day. What Could Go Wrong?

I'll keep this one short because sometimes a story tells itself.

A few years back I brought my son into the office for bring your kid to work day. At the time I had two office suites in an industrial complex — a front office where my admin worked, a back office where I worked, a small kitchenette, and a bathroom. Nothing fancy. Functional.

I got him set up in the back with some schoolwork, told him to stay put, asked my admin to keep an eye on him, and headed out to meet with a client.

Simple enough.

I came back to the sound of screaming.

I walked through the door and followed the noise straight to the bathroom where I found my son with his mouth essentially attached to the faucet, running cold water directly into it as fast as he could. Between gasps he was screaming "Pepper! Hot! Hot pepper! Hot!"

I figured out what happened pretty quickly.

I couldn't stop laughing.

I'll be honest — I'm that kind of father. When my kids do something stupid I enjoy a good laugh. I'm not proud of it. Actually yes I am.

My admin was right behind me.

"Please don't fire me. Please don't fire me. Please don't fire me."

I said I'm not firing you. He's a boy. What happened?

Apparently while I was gone my son decided to explore behind the building. And behind the building, one of the employees from a neighboring company had been growing pepper plants in pots.

Not just any peppers.

Carolina Reapers.

For those who don't know — the Carolina Reaper is one of the hottest peppers on the planet. My son found one, picked it, and ate it. The full thing. Because that's what boys do.

His mouth was on fire in a way that cold water was never going to fix. But bless his heart he was trying.

I never fired my admin. She's a wonderful person and we still laugh about it to this day.

And as for the neighbor whose pepper got stolen — I walked my son over to their office to apologize. They thought it was one of the funniest things they'd ever heard. I got to meet the whole team next door and we had a great laugh together.

My son learned two lessons that day.

Don't eat things you find behind buildings.

And always ask before you pick someone's pepper.

Philip Lamb is Managing Partner of PRL International — a retained executive search firm with 30+ years of experience placing leadership talent in manufacturing, energy, aerospace, technology, and financial services.

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