On my first day working alone as a garde manger/pantry cook, after training, at the dessert/salad station of a very nice restaurant I made my worst mistake in all of my cooking career. I served a salad with a grasshopper in it.
The sever who was alerted to this error burst into the kitchen and demanded to know what the fuck was going on. The chef asked what she was talking about and she showed him the cricket. At this point I recall backing into a corner and doing the human equivalent of putting your tail between your legs.
But the chef had been watching and he had heard how hard I worked so he defended me. I didn't even know his name at that point but the way I remember it is he stood between me and the angry server and told her that they buy the "organic", "non-pesticides", "fully natural" salads and that none of it was my/"his" fault.
The server left and I stood amazed I wasn't fired right there. As the chef passed by he slapped my shoulder and said, "Hey kid, look for crickets."