Thomas Edison, an American inventor, got fired twice. "The first time was when I was a telegraph operator," he said. "It was my fault, all right, but I got so interested in the machine and its workings that I began to see how I could improve it. But I forgot all about the messages that were coming over the wire, and I left a lot of messages unsent and undelivered. Of course, they discharged me, and I didn't blame them.
"Then I got a job in an office, and there were a fearful lot of rats; terribly old office, you know. I got up a thing that killed them like flies ─ the same with cockroaches. The floor used to be covered with dead roaches, and they fired me for that!"
美國發明家愛迪生曾經兩次被炒魷魚。他說：「第一次，我任電報收發員。錯的一方是我。我對電報機及其操作深感興趣，想到怎樣可以改良，想得入神，把傳來的電報都忽畧了，很多電報也沒有發出。當然，我因此被解雇，也不怨恨。
「其後，我獲一辦公室聘用。那辦公室殘舊得很，很多老鼠。我就炮製了一種東西，殺鼠如麻，同時也殺蟑螂。辦公室地板上一時滿是蟑螂屍體。他們因此把我炒了魷魚。」