As a consultant I can empathize with this guy quite a bit. He was starting his new job, and needed directions on how to get there. Pretty reasonable. Stopped at a convenience store to ask the clerk how to get there, and made a simple comment as he was leaving.  The clerk heard what he thought was him basically admitting he “came to blow up the place”.

Needless to say if he was asking for directions to the balloon factory there would not have been any issue.  However, this hapless gent had asked for directions to the local nuclear power plant.

So, the police and FBI were called and the plant was evacuated of 500 people for four hours while a search was conducted of the premises.

Apparently what he did say was:

He told FBI agents he was a contractor reporting for his first day at the plant, and said that what he told the clerk was that he “hoped he wouldn’t blow up the place” because of his inexperience, police said.

Oh man, there’s a good first impression to make on the new boss eh?  At least there’s lots of time to get to know your new coworkers while you are standing around outside the building, waiting to see if it will blow up or not.