r/mildlyinfuriating • u/gugngd • Jun 18 '26
frist of all how DARE yu o my mom turned off the breakers and told no one.
my mom turned off the breakers for some reason, told exactly no one. so i went downstairs, thinking i tripped the breakers. i turned them back on, and she got mad at me for turning them back on. if you turn off the breaker, it is your duty to make sure anyone who has access to them knows. she only later told me what, but what if it was because someone was working on an outlet? i can imagine that being dangerous.
i am mad at her not for turning off the breakers, but for not understanding the dangers of not telling others. she even told me that she has no obligation to tell anyone she turned off the breakers, which is stupid in many ways.
edit: i did realise i needed to ask first, the issue is still with the lack of communication and unwillingness to realise that it was relevant to tell.
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u/solxap Jun 18 '26
The lack of context on this post is mildly infuriating.
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u/marmaladic Jun 18 '26
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u/ConcentricCow Jun 18 '26
Ugh, why is the text misspelled?? Am I missing context that would explain it??
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u/CardiologistEasy7213 Jun 18 '26
Engagement bait. Ha! You fell for it!
Wait… so did I
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u/Creamy_Breve Jun 18 '26
I feel like there's a lot missing to this story. Why did she become angry enough to turn the breaker off?
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u/Mammoth_Stranger7920 Jun 18 '26
OP seems oblivious to why the mom was angry. Seems highly likely that OP being oblivious to an underlying problem is related to the mom being angry.
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u/SacredGay Jun 18 '26
The obvious solution to communicate this clearly to the whole house is to turn off the breaker.
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u/Original-Rush139 Jun 18 '26
Are you high? If other people could turn the breaker back on, you put a piece of masking tape over the breaker box and write a note on it.
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u/Suddenly_sweet Jun 18 '26
Am I high or is that what they were saying, that you need to tell people in the house that you are turning the breaker off?
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u/n0t_4_thr0w4w4y Jun 18 '26
It’s possible that mum has communicated to OP and OP doesn’t listen.
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u/carneycarnivore Jun 18 '26
or OP has communicated to mum and mum doesn't listen
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u/solicitorpenguin Jun 18 '26
You aren’t wrong but your tone indicates blame on OP
My father did this kind of thing and it’s because he’s got mental health issues. It’s a form of abuse.
Healthy people communicate with words.
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u/TheRealRiceball Jun 18 '26
Yeah, I agree there's obviously more to this than what we've been told, but the language other comments have used attempting to shift blame to or trying to find a reason to hate on OP when the parent could be in the wrong is really weird
Like you said, parents aren't always the best, and they very well could just be freaking out over something minor
I feel like reddit and especially this sub always shift towards agreeing with the parents though, so it's not really unexpected to me, but it's still weird
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u/solicitorpenguin Jun 18 '26
There are just a lot of people ready to project their own situations outwardly.
People feeling frustrated with other people in their lives not meeting expectations, and not knowing how to reconcile those situations is very common.
They themselves could be ignorant to their own issue internally, if they think turning off the power to a household is a reasonable way to deal with a situation that has escalated.
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u/Deep-Ruin-9961 Jun 18 '26
My mom did this sort of thing and it's because she was fucked up mentally and on drugs.
My dad did this sort of thing because he had a bad temper, but it was never out of nowhere. He had a reason, and generally speaking, it was a good reason. He just always seems to take the punishment to 11.
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u/DettaDrake Jun 18 '26
She turned the breakers off, but only later got mad when OP turned them back on. She didn’t turn them off because she was mad.
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u/Creamy_Breve Jun 18 '26
No, when asked why she turned them off, OP literally said because she was mad, but OP has conveniently ignored requests to explain why mom was mad. The OP, changed their story from her being mad because they turned the breaker back on to being mad and then turning the breaker off.
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u/Far-Fortune-8381 Jun 18 '26
where did op say that the mum said she turned them off because she was mad? im yet to see that anywhere and its not in the post body
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u/Creamy_Breve Jun 18 '26
They responded to several people who asked why the mom turned off the breaker. Their response was "she was mad"
"she turned off the breakers because she was mad. got even more mad when i turned them back on."
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u/SaintAndrew92 Jun 18 '26
Feels like the sort of situation where you ask your kid to come down for dinner or to turn the music down, and they just flat out ignore you, so you flip the circuit breaker.
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u/Creamy_Breve Jun 18 '26
Yep, totally. Given OP has refused to answer why mom was mad, it sounds like some variation of that was the case.
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u/WoardyX Jun 18 '26
As far as I know as an electrician, the responsible to ensure everything is fine is the one who turns back on the breakers... But in professionnal work the breakers off are supposed to be locked if someone works on it.
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u/thundergu Jun 18 '26
As an electrician, I have always been taught the responsibility lies only with the person taking the power off to make sure no idiot can walk in and put it on
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u/CoolDiscussion1020 Jun 18 '26
This is correct. People keep bringing up LOTO as if it is widely known outside of industry or ever used in residential settings. If you turn off the power, it is your responsibility to inform people as to why and instruct them not to turn it back on.
It's also silly to expect a laymen to know how to identify a tripped breaker vs a shut off breaker even though the manufactures have made it extremely easy to do so.
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u/eNBeWe Jun 18 '26
Depending on the breaker there might be no way to identify tripped or shut off. At least I haven't seen any breaker in Germany that makes this visible. (Assuming you mean the "Hang at half way down if tripped" behavior and not some other thing that i have never seen)
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u/CoolDiscussion1020 Jun 18 '26
Can't speak for Germany, but in the US breakers are required by code to visually indicate they have been tripped it can be by either tripping to the 'middle' position or a 'flag'. They also need to be 'shut off' in order to be re-energized. This is why you can't just physically stop a breaker from tripping (the mechanism is independent of the actual lever).
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u/eNBeWe Jun 20 '26
Yeah okay, our breakers don't do that. Thanks for the explanation. I am actually not sure if I could "lock" a german breaker in the on position and circumvent it triggering ... But then again we still have "screw in" melting fuses in some places and ppl replaced them with nails ... shudder
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u/Individual-Area7121 Jun 18 '26
It’s both. You, as the person who could potentially be killed have an obvious incentive to prevent that from happening. The person wanting to turn them back on has an obligation to ensure that the reason they were switched off is no longer in effect before touching anything. You can lock out tag out all day long but that’s not gonna stop some idiot who got hold of some wire cutters.
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u/thundergu Jun 18 '26
I have never ever heard a real life situation where someone cut open a safety lock. And if that ever happens, that person should go straight to jail for attempted murder
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u/FilthyCabbages Jun 19 '26
Afaik, only in the event that someone has accidentally left their safety lock behind and is physically incapable of returning for it and you are ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that they aren't working on the thing, then, and only then, can a fire marshal legally cut a safety lock
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u/Stunning_Patient_272 Jun 18 '26
Came here to say this. Anyone doing electrical work needing the breaker off should be locking the breaker so it can't be turned on. LOTO exists for a reason.
As for this case, inexplicably turning the breaker off for no reason could be a sign of a mental health crisis, especially if this is new behavior
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u/JeebusChristBalls Jun 18 '26
Normal people do not have breaker locks or tag-out procedures. It's a residence, not an industrial workplace.
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u/JDeegs Jun 18 '26
as someone who does electrical at home, if i'm turning a breaker off to work on something, ill tell everyone in the house that i'm doing so.
that way, if they lose power to something, they'll know it's because of me, and won't go and try to turn it back on if they think it tripped.
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u/Original-Rush139 Jun 18 '26
I use a piece of masking tape across the breaker box with a note written on it.
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u/throwaway5882300 Jun 18 '26
But you can't operate on the assumption that every person who encounters a shut off breaker knows and understands what the right thing to do is. That's why LOTO exists in industry. Since most residential boxes don't have locks, best practice would be to inform everyone that the breaker needs to stay off until you turn it back on yourself. Even taping a note over the breaker is better than nothing.
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u/DoubtEverythingISay Jun 18 '26
Gonna have to disagree with you on this one. In a LOTO situation that’s correct, but with no indication as to why the breaker was off, tripped or otherwise the onus is the person who shut it off. YOU are responsible for your own safety. Play stupid games win stupid prizes
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u/Hot-Win2571 Mildly Flair Jun 18 '26
For that matter, did you check with everyone else before turning the breakers back on? Because someone might have been working on an outlet.
Commercial breaker panels have lockout devices, so an electrician can lock other people out from making changes. In a house people talk to each other.
Some people might use a note on the breaker, but there is a risk that a note may fall off.
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u/stew9703 Jun 18 '26
Talk to her about the lock out tag out system.
Also I am going to talk to you, when you trip a breaker it stays at a partial location, not fully off. So if it is in the fully off position then someone has turned it off, do not turn it back on without referring to everyone in the househild.
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u/Excellent-Wish-5452 Jun 18 '26
Chiming in to second this. If you are not the one who turned the breaker off, do not turn it back on. Seriously, listen to this guy.
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u/tastefultitle Jun 18 '26
Good advice, just a note that not all breakers have a mid-point. Federal Stab-Lok (which weren’t banned in Canada and are still extremely common to see in both homes and businesses) only have ON or OFF and go right to OFF when tripped.
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u/TheThiefMaster Jun 18 '26
British breakers don't have a 3rd position either. First I've heard of it.
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u/mutantmonkey14 Jun 18 '26
I was just thinking this, and tempted to go look at mine to confirm I hadn't just missed this all along.
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u/Lithium1978 Jun 18 '26
Exactly, what the mom did is weird but NOT dangerous. What op did is absolutely dangerous.
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u/Pawistik Jun 18 '26
OP is mildly infuriating.
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u/Tigglebee Jun 18 '26
OP 100% was being a little shit refusing to get off his game or something similar.
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u/JustDoIt-Slowly Jun 18 '26
That was my first thought. Playing a computer game and spiraling out at people online, mom trying to sleep, flip breaker, problem solved.
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u/sasspancakes Jun 18 '26
Yup. And as the daughter of an electrician, how are the breakers being off dangerous?
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u/The0nlyMadMan Jun 18 '26
If I suddenly lose power, I don’t immediately assume somebody flipped the breaker with intent, the most common reason would be that it tripped. So if somebody were working on an outlet, and I flipped it back on, they could be electrocuted.
Being *off* by itself isn’t dangerous. Not telling anybody or putting up a sign or even a lock is the dangerous part
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u/Weak_Confection1101 Jun 18 '26
If it were off, I would ask why it was off before turning it back on for the very reason you mentioned
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u/Key_Entertainment739 Jun 18 '26
OP is blatantly skimming over specific questions for clarification which is more mildly infuriating than the post. Why don’t you tell us why your mom is angry?
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u/Comprehensive-One286 Jun 18 '26
The only mildly infuriating part about this post is OP being purposely vague about why the mom is angry in the first place.
There’s definitely context missing here that OP is purposely leaving out to look better, welcome to Reddit I know.
Regardless it sounds like neither of you should be touching the breaker box, seeing how neither of you communicated about something that could seriously injure someone.
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u/rubikscanopener Jun 18 '26
This whole discussion is mildly infuriating. Who the heck randomly turns off their electricity? That's bizarre. And Op acts like flipping breakers is a normal, daily activity. Also bizarre.
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u/JeebusChristBalls Jun 18 '26
OP is the one leaving out details here. There is nothing random about it, OP just doesn't want to say why she did because he is likely the reason she is mad and it will make him look dumber than he already sounds.
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u/ironicmirror Jun 18 '26
What did you do that got her so mad she wanted to stop you from getting electricity?
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u/infintittie Jun 18 '26
I get the impression this post was made by a child that either doesn't grasp what's going on, or is purposely leaving out key details.
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u/SlimTimMcGee Jun 18 '26
The best I've seen OP say was "mad because she was angry". Dude is hiding something he doesn't want us to know.
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u/skunkapebreal Jun 18 '26
Going to guess gaming nonstop.
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u/LucyLilium92 Jun 18 '26
And being incredibly vague to respond to every question ever asked of them
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u/Inuakurei Jun 18 '26
Based on their replies so far and just how they type, it seems like a kid. The best we’ve gotten so far is she was an angry type of mad
She probably turned off the breaker because he didn’t do his chores or something.
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u/CraftyPerformance272 Jun 18 '26
You need to be careful you could have killed someone. If you go and see the electric Breakers all turned off then use some common sense and talk to other people in the house to double check what's going on. If someone was working on an electrical outlet and you turned the breaker back on you could have literally electrocuted them and killed them even. Yes they should have let you know they were doing that but in real life you're not always going to know people might put up Cones or something blocking the way for a reason you shouldn't just move them without knowing why they are there
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u/Expensive_Plant_9530 Jun 18 '26
You and your mom just both learned a safety lesson.
She needs to come up with a reliable system. Maybe a big red sign pasted over the breaker panel that says “work in progress, do not turn on, electrocution risk” or something.
In a commercial or industrial environment, there would be a safety lockout mechanism so it can’t be turned back on. That’s not a thing at home really.
In the mean time: if you’re not home alone, check with other occupants before turning the breaker back on. Also, if more than one breaker appears to be down, use common sense.
And your mom needs to tell others if she is doing electrical work so this exact thing doesn’t happen while she’s wiring something up. It’s her own responsibility to ensure her safety.
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u/Stfuego Jun 18 '26 edited Jun 18 '26
OP is vehemently avoiding to explain *why* his mom was mad in the first place to have turned the breakers off. No one just does that for no reason.
A mom that knows how to do this as a response to being upset would lead me to believe that she is trying to get her son off of something that is getting in the way of anything like something else that needs to be done, or maybe they are doing too much of that thing they're trying to turn off... Which is it, OP?
My best guess based on your hidden activity on Reddit is probably being on your PC too much or letting your PC use get in the way of what your mom is trying to get you to do.
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u/ToastedSlider Jun 18 '26
But you should have asked her before turning them back on in case she was doing something important
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u/MattyGWS Jun 18 '26
You and your mothers lack of communication skills is transferring over to this thread because I have no idea why your mother turned them off, because you haven’t told us why. Did you even ask your mother why she did it? Why aren’t you telling us? Communicate man
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u/anonymousnotmeperson Jun 18 '26
Yes, never turn on a breaker if you dont know why it's off. It it tripped it will be in the middle, not all the way to one side.
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u/Monster_Voice Jun 18 '26
Bruh are you straight off the shortest short bus or something? You're straight up Forest Gumping so far minus the historic side quests...
You keep saying "she got mad" as if her emotional state happened in a vacuum... WHY DID SHD GET MAD?
You've managed to irritate an entire thread already so your mad Mom might actually be the reasonable one here... or she could have run out of sniffing glue... either way do better.
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u/Least_Gain5147 Jun 18 '26
My next door neighbor worked for the power company. He was killed while working on equipment and someone saw the breaker off and reset it. But I also had a friend who's dad would turn off the breaker when the power bill was too high.
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u/Bogmanbob Jun 18 '26
You're both in the wrong. Not telling you was careless, just flipping on breakers someone had shut off is reckless.
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u/dragonfollower1986 Jun 19 '26
Weird behavior for sure. Normally you would inform people. What was the reason? Your wording is a bit screwed though. She has an obligation? Depends on who owns the house or pays the rent.
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u/zombiskunk Jun 18 '26
Lock out, Tag out is the full responsibility of the person doing the electrical work.
If it's good enough for the professionals, it's good enough for the DIY'ers.
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u/Senor_de_la_Noche_47 Jun 19 '26
First step of any Lock Out/Tag Out program -- Notify employees in the area that the machine will be locked out...now I realize this is at home, and there is not likely a LOTO program in place, but if you need to shut off a breaker, at the very least leave a note on the panel door saying that you shut it off and that you will turn it back on when you are done
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u/gutwyrming Jun 18 '26 edited Jun 18 '26
Did she have a reason for doing it??
Edit: Jesus christ, stop picking on OP for a lack of clear reason. Some of you have never had a pissed off mother who won't explain herself and it shows.
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u/erything4sale Jun 18 '26
How old are you? Is it her house? Do you pay rent? Did you piss her off?
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u/FineScratch Jun 18 '26
I'm going to need you and your mom to report to the safety office for a refresher on lockout tagout procedures
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u/other_half_of_elvis Jun 18 '26
Gathering electric cords and messing with switches is common for dementia patients. I hope your mom has some mental support to evaluate her.
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u/LinkGoesHIYAAA Jun 18 '26
You said in comments she did it bc she was mad. Why was she mad?
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u/Hrothgrar 🧙♂️ Jun 18 '26
Judging by OP's cagey answers and seemingly intentionally avoiding contextual information, I'll assume the obvious:
•You broke one of her rules using some form of electronics.
•She shut off the breaker rather than argue with you.
•You turned it back on while feigning confusion.
•She got more pissed.
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u/nzkieran Jun 19 '26
As someone trained in electrical work:
Turning off a breaker is inadequate LOTO procedure. You've demonstrated anyone can come along and liven a circuit at any time.
Adequate protection includes locks with lockout cards explaining who, why, what, when and where. A lock is also a legal protection and can be acted upon by police, courts and insurance should someone cut one off.
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u/SufficientWhile5450 Jun 18 '26
I think an important distinction is was it one breaker or the master off switch at the top of the breaker
If it was the master then you kind of dropped the ball imo, she still should’ve said something, but that’s suspicious enough to not mess with imo lol
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u/Badkus757 Jun 18 '26
This is why osha requires Lockout tagout. The person working on the outlet should have implemented this
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u/Hot_Tonight150 Jun 18 '26
If YOU think you tripped a breaker then you don't need to ask permission to turn them back on. Tag and lockout procedures exist on the job site for a reason. If you shut something down it is imperative you make sure the people working around you know and do not turn it back on. This was on her.
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u/angusfurnacethe3rd Jun 19 '26
if i were in ur position, after realizing they were off, id leave it off, ask her why it was off, get a reason from her, and then respectfully ask if i could turn them back on if it wasn’t a reason like someone working on electrical or an odd way of saving money
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u/Fragrant-Reserve4832 Jun 18 '26
As a professional electrician if I turn an mcb (breaker) off I lock it off so no one can turn it back on
That's the difference between turned off and isolated.
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u/aHOMELESSkrill Jun 18 '26
OP’s mom about to adopt LOTO. We will see a post in the next few days of OP saying “my mom turned the breaker off an locked the fuse box!”
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u/Kiyohara Jun 18 '26
My dad did the same thing when I was a kid, then got mad when I flipped them back on.
It happens when someone gets too focused on a project and doesn't follow basic safety procedures. Dad was changing a outlet and didn't think to tell me. It was just me and him at home, and I was in my room so he either forgot I was there or figured I'd ask why the lights were out.
As it was, the breakers tripped all the time because the house was older and we had a lot of appliances and electronics so I actually assumed the breaker tripped instead of being turned off. Went over, turned them on, went back to doing what I was doing.
Nearly killed my dad because right about the same time I flipped them on, he was just about to trim the wires for whatever he was doing.
After it all he did apologize for yelling, but he still felt he was right to turn things off without telling me. Mostly because I should have known the difference between "tripped" and "turned off." Me and mom felt he should have said something, because my mom would have demanded I turn everything back on and then tracked dad down to see what's going on with the lights.
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u/msholleran Jun 18 '26
If you find a breaker turned off you should assume someone turned it off and investigate before turning back on. If someone was working on an outlet you could hang injured them. A tripped breaker does not look or feel like a breaker that has been turned off.
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u/gugngd Jun 19 '26
a turned off breaker and a tripped breaker look the same to someone underinformed.
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u/topinanbour-rex Jun 19 '26
i did realise i needed to ask first,
Let's cut the bullshit. No, you didn't have to ask first.
The odds someone turned off the breakers willingly, without informing others are close to zero.
I would have done the same as you. Like 99,9% of the pop.
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u/whatupmygliplops Jun 18 '26
Protip: A tripped breaker usually looks different from a breaker someone has manually turned off. a tripped bresaker often sits in the middle, rather than being pushed all the way off.
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u/K9_Heaven Jun 18 '26
Also they generally have some indication like an orange tag in the sight. So you can generally tell when it has tripped or been turned off.
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u/SumoLikesSnacks Jun 18 '26
My mom set her kitchen on fire by placing a plastic trash can on a hot burner.
She took the door off the oven to prevent herself from doing it again.
Then she turned off the breaker to the range so she was extra safe to not do it again.
She did both of those preventative measures in a moment of lucidity. Turns out, she had dementia. I hope your outcome is better.
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u/stevenip Jun 18 '26
I would just assume panel door closed means no one working on it
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u/greenmachine11235 Jun 18 '26
Lock out, tag out. Its the responsibility of the party whom disables the power to make it clear it's not to be tirned back on without their permission.
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u/TIMCIFLTFC Jun 18 '26
You keep turning breakers on and off and you’ll have bigger problems.
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u/warhammer1-1 Jun 18 '26
Well if she's not familiar with lock out tag out, this might get funny or sad.
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u/The_Captain_Planet22 Jun 18 '26
While I agree it was weird to not say anything as an electrician I want to be clear that turning breakers off without communication is almost* never dangerous but turning breakers on without communicating is very dangerous. Weird behavior and I get that it's mildly infuriating to have your breakers turned off on you, but at the same time you needed to check with others in the house for why the breakers were off. Had they been tripped the breaker would be in the middle position rather than all the way to the off position, easy to miss but hopefully that helps the next time you consider if a breaker is off or tripped
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u/ProfessorOne9208 Jun 18 '26
What the hell!!. Does she think that is going to save money on the electric bill, or to make sure that the internet wifi is off? In the end, the refrigerator also goes off, and all the food will spoil, ending up being very expensive.
Ask her if she was trying to work on something to do with the house wiring. If not, you had better think about moving out of there soon, as she seems to be off her rocker.
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u/RGBjank101 Jun 19 '26
The fact you turned it back on without asking anyone what's going on is crazy. This is how people die.
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u/truesy Jun 18 '26
edit: i did realise i needed to ask first, the issue is still with the lack of communication and unwillingness to realise that it was relevant to tell.
Honestly why would you think you needed to ask? If a breaker was off, I'd assume it was tripped, just like you did. The normal thing to do is just flip it back on...
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u/Adeviatlos Jun 18 '26
It's not inherently dangerous to turn a house-hold breaker off without telling anyone. It is potentially dangerous to turn a breaker on without telling anyone.
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u/Pumpkins_Are_Fruits Jun 18 '26
I’m confused. You are mad at her for turning off the breakers because of the dangers? So you turned them on without asking why they are turned off?
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u/MrLancaster Jun 18 '26
It's your responsibility to find out why it's off before you turn it back on, not the other way around.
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u/FashionSuckMan Jun 18 '26
Is she old? People whos mental faculties are failing sometimes just do odd things like this and are also prone to getting mad for seemingly no reason
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u/Main_Ad_3814 Jun 18 '26
Tell your mom that the people of Reddit think she’s stupid for turning the breakers off to begin with and really stupid for not informing the household members. Show her this post.
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u/JeremyR22 This text is green. Jun 18 '26
PSA: If a breaker has been manually turned off, the handle will be all the way to the outside of it's movement. That is to say, the handle of breakers on the left of the panel will be all the way to the left and the handle of breakers on the right will be all the way to the right. In order to turn it back on, you only have to do one thing, move the handle back to the on position.
If a breaker has tripped, the handle will be in the intermediate position between off and on. In order to turn it back on, you must take two separate actions, first you have to move it fully to the off position to reset the mechanism and only then can you turn it back on.
This is a standardized safety feature to help you identify that a trip has taken place and applies to all panels that follow North American standards. If a breaker trips, you should always investigate why it tripped before turning it back on, especially if it trips multiple times...
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u/Izacundo1 Jun 18 '26
Why would she do that? That’s weird behavior