Surviving 9/11, Princess Diana’s Motorcade, Haunted Bristol Pub
Surviving 9/11, Princess Diana’s Motorcade, Haunted Bristol PubWhat happens when an ordinary commute puts a man across the street from the World Trade Center on September 11, a lunch break takes an unexpected turn into Princess Diana’s motorcade, and the visitors in an old Bristol pub refuse to leave after closing time?On Episode 18 of I Used To Work There, Kelly Kennedy brings you seven true workplace stories featuring a disastrous first-day lunch, an accidental royal encounter, outrageous workplace rules, a pay raise with a catch, unexplained visitors and two deeply personal accounts of survival.We start on the Day Shift and get progressively darker as the episode unfolds. Every story you hear happened to someone just like you. Stay until the end for Marty’s firsthand account of September 11, the night he spent helping first responders, and the consequences that surfaced fourteen years later.Day Shift opens with Katelyn, calling from Meridian, Idaho. Lunch with her new coworkers should be a chance to settle in and make a good impression. Then she eats something she probably should have left on her plate. What follows is a desperate attempt to keep her composure while her first day gets increasingly uncomfortable.Karin takes us to England, where a routine lunch break becomes an encounter with Princess Diana. With her music playing and her sunglasses on, she drives into a situation she has completely misread. The police are waving, the road is unusually clear, and she is about to discover why.Our next caller is staying anonymous, and her workplace has taken monitoring employees to another level. Even a trip to the bathroom means clocking out. It is a short story about a rule that says a great deal about the people running the company.Then Palmer, calling from Denver, Colorado, shares what happened when a promised raise appeared to double his pay. The excitement does not last. A payroll mistake becomes his problem, and his boss’s solution is to have him work without pay until the money is recovered. What started as a reason to celebrate becomes a workplace lesson he will never forget.Before we begin our Night Shift stories, Chris Yeung from Edmonton Destination Marketing Hotels, the organization behind Edmonton’s Best Hotels, joins Kelly to announce the winner of our Employee of the Month Night Shift Story Competition and its $1,000 USD cash prize.Karin returns to open the Night Shift with a very different story from Bristol. Living above an old pub means getting used to the sounds of the building, but some of these sounds are harder to explain. A quiet evening watching The Fog is interrupted by something at the door. Then there are footsteps, a familiar voice coming from the wrong place, and other encounters that suggest the pub’s occupants are not all paying customers.Alan Newey, calling from Melbourne, Australia, kissed his wife Cathy goodbye and headed to work expecting an ordinary day. Five minutes into his shift, a conveyor accident tore off his arm. Alan shares the immediate aftermath, the long fight to return to work and the life he and Cathy rebuilt together. With candid humour and painful honesty, he also speaks about losing Cathy and why helping other workers get home safely matters so much to him.Finally, Marty, calling from New Jersey, takes us back to September 11, 2001. He was driving to work across the street from the World Trade Center when an ordinary morning became something he could barely comprehend. He witnessed the second plane hit, sheltered as the towers fell and stayed through the night helping exhausted first responders.Getting home was only part of his story.Fourteen years later, severe back pain led to a cancer diagnosis that his doctors attributed to his exposure on September 11. Marty shares the treatment that followed, his remission and the support he now offers others facing cancer. His conversation with Kelly closes the episode with a personal exchange about illness, family and being there for someone who needs help.Episode Chapters00:00:00 Cold Open00:00:53 Welcome to the Day Shift00:02:01 Katelyn: First-Day Lunch Disaster00:07:11 Karin: Princess Diana’s Motorcade00:12:32 Anonymous: Clock Out for Bathroom Breaks00:15:54 Palmer: The Raise That Backfired00:19:41 Entering the Night Shift00:20:32 Chris Yeung: Night Shift Competition Winner00:26:52 Karin: Haunted Bristol Pub00:32:48 Alan Newey: Five Minutes into His Shift00:45:29 Marty: Surviving 9/1101:11:42 Clocking OutFeatured StorytellersAlan Newey | Workplace Safety SpeakerAlan shares his experience of a life-changing workplace accident to help organizations understand the human consequences of workplace injuries. His presentations explore safety culture, recovery and the lasting impact on workers and their families.Learn more about Alan’s work, watch his showreel or enquire about booking him for your team.Explore Alan Newey’s speaker profile and booking information.Follow and Share the ShowListen and follow on your favourite podcast app.I Used To Work There has now crossed 200,000 downloads since our first episode launched on March 17, 2026. Thank you to every storyteller, listener and supporter who has helped these stories travel so far in less than eight months.Follow on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode. New episodes drop every two weeks, and our back catalogue is full of unforgettable true workplace stories.If you’re enjoying the show, leave us a five-star rating and a written review on Apple Podcasts. Your support helps us reach more listeners and find more incredible stories.Know someone who appreciates a great story? Text them this episode.Which story will stick with you the longest? Tell us in the episode comments or email [email protected] NextHear our competition winner’s extraordinary story in Episode 14: Held Hostage for 31 Months, Revenge on a Magician, Haunted Hospital.Or discover Trapped in a Car Vending Machine, Haunted Hotel, Runaway CEO.Have a Story? You Can Submit It Two Ways.I Used To Work There is your show, your stories. Wild, funny, terrifying or unexplainable, if it happened at work and it’s true, we want to hear it.Pull out your phone, open the Voice Memos app, tell us what happened, and email your recording to [email protected] to be interviewed? Complete our guest intake form.You can share your story openly or remain completely anonymous.Know someone with an unforgettable workplace story? Send them our way. Some of our best stories begin with a listener saying, “You need to talk to this person.”Employee of the Month Night Shift Story Competition WinnerCongratulations to Peter Moore, winner of our $1,000 USD Night Shift Story Competition, presented by Edmonton’s Best Hotels.Peter’s six-week IT assignment in Iraq became 31 months in captivity. His account of being taken from his workplace at gunpoint, surviving years of uncertainty and remembering the men who did not make it home was featured in Episode 14.Thank you to Peter for trusting us with his story, to everyone who submitted and recorded a story for the competition, and to Chris and the team at Edmonton’s Best Hotels for listening and selecting our winner.Peter welcomes questions about his story. Connect with Peter Moore on X.Night Shift Story Competition SponsorThe Employee of the Month Night Shift Story Competition was proudly presented by Edmonton’s Best Hotels.Their support helped us celebrate the people behind these stories and award our winning storyteller $1,000 USD.In this episode, Chris also shares a look at Edmonton’s winter experiences and reasons to plan a visit to Alberta’s capital.Discover things to do, explore hotel offers and book your stay through Edmonton’s Best Hotels.Support Foxx’s FightIf you have been looking for a way to support...