The magic is in telling the difference.
This was a Sunday!
And it didn’t seem to have been tested, so where was the Dev/UAT/Prod separation?
So many red flags, and I think anyone who has been in development for a while has had some product owner try to break procedures to force whatever pet project that is falling behind to hit some target to get their bonus/gain brownie points. It almost never goes well. But by this time the PO has a scapegoat because it’s no longer their fault it’s not working, it’s production’s fault. (Also it’s not always a PO, it can be a developer or anyone up to c-suite level)
Sigh
That would be a very bad, very cliche joke if it weren't a true war story (2005, good times). Turns out the 15 y.o. had convinced his father that I was "lame" at my job because I didn't tweak regedit. Important lessons were learned by the three of us that day!