911 Operators Share The Most Annoying Calls They've Ever Received
Ok Karen, let me transfer you....
People! 911 is a very busy hotline. It is for emergencies only! In fact there is a law saying you cannot call for any superfluous reasons. This is not the time to be calling over every little thing that just makes you aggravated. The dispatchers have enough on their plate to deal with without our glorified prank calls. Now think before you dial. Are you bleeding? Then call 311 instead.
Redditor u/Parakeetman280 wanted to hear from the Emergency dispatch workers out there. We were hoping they'd share a tale or two about those on the other end of the line by asking.... 911 operators of reddit, what was your stupidest/most annoying call yet?You're a Nurse?
school monkey GIFGiphyI had a nurse (she told me twice she was a nurse before we confirmed the address)... anywho, the nurse tells me she's babysitting an infant. So I'm starting to get into baby CPR mode... again, tells me she's a nurse. I ask her what she's reporting: "Well, like I said, I'm babysitting this infant and cutting his finger nails.
I accidentally cut one Tom short and it's bleeding" Did you cut a part of the finger off? "No. It's just bleeding". At this point, I can give some basic bleeding instructions. But we literally sent an ambulance to help a "nurse" apply a bandage.
In Transit
My boyfriend and I used to work at an operating theatre at the guest counter and we'd get calls for directions all the time.
My boyfriend fielded one of these calls one time and was just getting more and more annoyed because the person wanted directions but refused to tell him where they were coming from.
I think they wound up hanging up on him and calling back to complain about him... To him.
Some say they're still in transit today.
Services Not Rendered.
I used to volunteer with my local PD and was helping deliver some goodies to the county dispatch center (figure that's a better introduction then "I'm not a dispatcher, but...") While I was chatting with one of the dispatchers who was taking 911 calls, they received a call from a man who immediately starts yelling at the operator.
Once the man calms down, he explains the situation. Apparently, he had hired a sex worker and brought her to his place. After her services were preformed, he refused to pay her due to him not feeling that she did a good enough job to deserve any financial compensation.
Because she was not reviewing her payment, the sex worker refused to leave the house until she had her money and the man was calling to have her removed from the premises. Long story short, the police were sent to the house and both individuals were arrested after admitting to engaging in their activities. If there is a lesson to be learned here, it's to not call 911 on your hooker.
The Howl
Basketball Howling GIF by Worcester WolvesGiphyI got an emergency roadside call about 11pm. Im getting some information and I ask where she's located..."I'm directly beneath the moon. They'll see me." And she hung up.
Just hang up....
The list of stupidity is ridiculous. A few of my favorites:
- Female caller is screaming her absolute head off on picking up the phone. It sounded like her house was on fire and everyone she ever loved was being murdered in front of her eyes. The issue? She had never been in a hailstorm before and it was scary.
- Male 911 caller says he has a question and no emergency. Ok, go ahead. "Yeah so if I'm driving and the speed limit sign says 40 and I'm going 42, is that like....speeding?" ....Yes. "Ok that makes sense, thanks."
- Male caller says his friend accidentally shot himself in the leg in the car. After getting a bunch of info, we go down the medical side of things and I get to the question "is the bleeding serious?" - male, "I can't tell." - ok, is it spurting or pouring out? - "I can't see, I need to take his pants off...BRO DON'T MOVE I NEED TO TAKE OFF YOUR PANTS!" - me, what? No, no with his pants ON, I need you to tell me if he is bleeding! Only time I openly laughed on a 911 call.
I have more!
"hey there's this car on fire!"
I work with a lot of police officers. I got ragged shamelessly for calling in a panic one day and yelling incoherently about a car in a parking lot.
I was driving home and there was an SUV that was on fire at an abandoned gas station but somehow I forgot to tell the dispatcher that the CAR WAS ON FIRE and just kept yelling that the car was dangerous and someone could be killed by this parked car....
...they finally calmed me down enough to ask why it was so dangerous and I was like "what? It's on fire! It could blow up! Or cause a forest fire!" I could hear the dispatcher rolling his eyes as he told me I should've started with "hey there's this car on fire!" versus "I'm at a gas station and there's this parked car." I was 17 or 18, I know better now.
Thaw it Out
I was once called to a woman's house who said she was trapped inside in the middle of winter. I showed up at her home to find that there was a 3 quarter inch of ice stopping her screen door from opening. I opened the door mildly hard and broke the ice to open the screen door.
Not my Issue
smh GIFGiphyThe most recent one was a woman requesting someone respond to adjust her air mattress because she was having difficulty falling asleep.
I had a kid call once on Christmas Eve, upset because his dad wouldn't let him open his gifts early. That one was pretty cute, the dad was embarrassed but it was one of my favorite calls.
Runaway
A woman called from the big city in our area that was about 11 miles away and complained that her 18 year old daughter wouldn't go to school. The operator explained that her daughter was an adult and couldn't be forced to go to school. The mom called back two more times to complain about and and called back a fourth time to say that her daughter had now run away.
EMERGENCY!!
Teen Titans GIF by DC ComicsGiphyWhen I was 3 I called 911 because my toy ball was stolen.
It was awkward when the police came and my parents had to explain the situation.
Lost Faith
My wife has the story of the woman who called because her baby wasn't breathing.
"Ma'am", she says, "How many children are in the house"
"1", the caller replies, "WHY ARE YOU ASKING ME THAT MY BABY ISN'T BREATHING"
"Ma'am, is that crying I hear on the line your baby?"
"YES MY BABY IS CRYING BECAUSE SHE CANNOT BREATHE!!!"
My wife of course had already dispatched the ambulance, but apparently the baby had just been crying for an hour and this woman was convinced the baby could not cry and breath at the same time.
Also, the amount of people who called with an upset stomach was boggling. Like, go take a crap guys.
Her stories about that job really did a number on my faith in humanity.
When you gotta go....
Screaming Season 8 GIF by RuPaul's Drag RaceGiphyOne time my sister and I were in an argument and I wasn't talking to her. She came home late at night and I happened to be in the bathroom with the door open. All she could see was my feet sticking out as our toilet was sectioned off.
She ended up calling 911, scared as hell that someone had broken into our house and decided to use the bathroom. I went into my room without saying a word. She figured it out moments before the cops arrived. Needless to say, one of the most embarrassing moments of her life.
Thanks OnStar
My mom used to work at the emergency line for OnStar and would often receive reports of suspicious cars, & OnStar would have too notify the police whenever someone would call about that, which makes sense.
However a lot of people would call, "Theres a green car on the highway and it looks suspicious."
No other details than that, and she would have to call the police, too tell them "We got a call about a suspicious green car.
The Scarf
Im not a first responder but i was a security guard at a hospital and we got called in to stop a woman from hanging herself with her scarf. When we got there she was on the floor and the scarf tied onto the seat of a chair.
School is a 911
This is a true store, a kid calling so he could get help on his home work lol.
Lol heard that call. The dispatcher was so nice, he asked him what he needed help with, lol. The mom yelled the kids name in anger when she heard what he was doing. I bet he got a huge lecture. The kid remembered if he needed help to call 911, just forgot the emergency part, lol.
Halloween
jamie lee curtis halloween GIF by Entertainment WeeklyGiphyWhere do I begin? Halloween night some lady called 911 because she lost her car keys, said she "wasn't sure if she was calling the right number." We've had people call asking for directions, reporting a black teen walking down the street; that person got hung up on. Someone called to report a suspicious vehicle on their street and it turned out to be our police car... which was marked.
I know you....
Not a 911 operator but I have called quite a few times for one stupid reason (it's 999 in the UK but whatever). My phone has a feature where I double tap the lock screen button and it calls 999, and a single tap happens to be snooze for the alarm. Just like anyone else I set an alarm to wake to for my Uni classes everyday and a BUNCH of times I ended up double tapping somehow and the same lady would pickup and I'd tell her it was a mistake. Once she even recognized my voice cuz it happened so often and she cut me off and asked if it was a mistake lol. Luckily she was nice and the calls didn't affect anyone because they lasted only a few seconds.
The Leaves of Evil....
Former 911 operator and the STUPIDEST calls I would get were people complaint about leaf blowers. Yes. I worked in an affluent city and it was always the same pretentious people that called to complain about landscapers their neighbors hired using leaf blowers too early in the morning. It got so bad the city was forced to pass an ordinance restricting the use of leaf blowers before a certain time in the morning.
"frequent flyers"
Most annoying today? Or overall? We routinely deal with the worst side of people and deal with daily/hourly annoying calls.
Some of the worst are the "frequent flyers". Multiple alcoholics in town call regularly for rides home. People calling on their neighbors for literally everything. People treating us like information and being fools when we tell them we aren't.
Think about the worst, most annoying tattle tail you remember from school.... They are worse now that they grew up and they rarely call about actual emergencies.
Madame President
over it eye roll GIFGiphyNot a dispatcher but i work in a jail. This is what we saw on the call notes for a call that came into dispatch recently.
RP lives in insert super expensive neighborhood name
RP saw police car drive by, wants to know whats happening with her people
RP stating she is president of HOA and has legal right to know
RP transferred to deputy.
Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Weird Jobs Almost No One Knows About That Pay Surprisingly Well
Reddit user Rynoop asked: 'What are weird jobs nobody knows about but they pay well?'
Growing up, kids talk about the jobs they want as adults.
Once they become adults, they select career paths or cycle through a variety of jobs.
Most people find mainstream jobs, but some luck into really unique professions.
Reddit user Rynoop asked:
"What are weird jobs nobody knows about but they pay well?"
Pinecone Harvester
"I was once a pinecone harvester. A helicopter would cut off the tops of trees and bring them to us to pick off the pinecones, which would then go to tree planters to germinate and plant."
"$35 to fill a 5 gallon bucket, experienced pickers would fill 2½ buckets an hour, but the sap getting all over your clothes, skin, and hair is very annoying and a big deterrent for most."
~ ChronicZombie86
Hand Pollinators
"My Aunt and her daughter both do seasonal work as Hand pollinators, harvesters."
"Certain types of plants (saffron, vanilla orchids) have very small windows of time when you can pollinate or harvest from them (a couple of hours to a half day) so the growers need people who can work fast and delicately to hand pollinate or harvest whatever plant they are growing."
"Plus if the plant is small and they grow in the ground its a lot of bending to get down and do whatever has to be done, especially if they have a whole field of tiny flowers and you are using tweezers or a tiny paint brush."
"My Aunty and cousin have been doing it for years now, they always get called back and make a lot of money for 1-2 days work."
~ solarblack
Greensperson
"I’m a greensperson in the film industry."
"I’m responsible for building and maintaining the plants and trees on a set."
~ Prospector_Steve
Touring Broadway Musician
"I play trumpet for a touring Broadway show."
"Not that weird but it’s amazing how few people know there are real musicians playing live below the stage."
~ Dizzy__Atmosphere
Cardiovascular Perfusionist
"Cardiovascular Perfusionist."
"Can’t have open heart surgery without us, but almost no one knows we exist!"
"We stop the heart, protect it, monitor and modify cerebral blood flow, protect kidney function, warm and cool patients sometimes as cold as 18° C to change their metabolism, take over anesthetic control, and generally puppeteer everything that’s automatic in a conscious person."
~ MECHASCHMECK
Celebrity Flight Crew
"I worked on Oprah’s plane, it was just sitting at Midway airport with the other planes, nothing special."
"The only weird thing was we had to pop a bunch of popcorn in the hanger when she came so she didn’t have to smell airline fuel."
"I have several Xmas bonus checks signed by Oprah herself."
~ Marsupialize
Car Sitter
"I don’t even know the name for this, but a friend takes care of rich people's cars for a living."
"Pick up the car for maintenance, takes the car from a to b, etc... He doesn’t actually work on the cars, just works for rich people that don’t have time to take care of the car."
"He's super well paid, is on first name basis with some of the richest people in the country."
"Apparently it isn’t easy to find trustworthy people to take care of your cars (plus have access to your properties and so on)."
~ hecho2
Picture Hanger
"An old neighbor of mine was a picture hanging specialist contracted by many museums."
"He made $75K a year at the time (about $150K adjusted for inflation)."
~ Schwarzes__Loch
SCIF Escort
"When you work as a government employee or contractor with a top secret clearance, after you retire or get laid off, you can work as an escort within classified facilities called SCIFs."
"Escorts are needed when an uncleared person needs to work in the SCIF. For example, it might be a top secret data center that needs an air conditioner repair."
"All the escort has to do is watch the repairman and stay with them throughout the visit. They usually just drag a chair over and sit there while getting paid damn good money."
~ BaconReceptacle
Trash Investigation
"I had a boyfriend in Oklahoma who got state wages for going into the backwoods, and down dirt roads to find trash people dumped."
"His job was to report the trash for others to clean up, but most importantly, he had to sift through the trash to find anything that would identify who dumped the trash."
"I went with him a few times and I felt like a detective, it was quite fun."
~ Granny_knows_best
Master Flavorist
"My dad was a master flavorist."
"He made artificial flavors for candy, beverages and lots of other things."
"He made a LOT of money during his career."
~ Whoru87
Scent Tester
"My sister-in-law is 'the nose' for Yankee Candle."
"When a vat of scented wax is ready, she sniffs it."
~ Loreo1964
Beer Taster
"I used to be friends with one of Heineken's official tasters."
"She literally drank every day for work. Don't know how the pay was but she didn't seem broke."
~ curiousvegetables
Dental Prosthetics
"I make teeth on a computer."
"I use a cadcam program to design crowns and bridges for dental laboratories."
"I work remotely and do pretty well."
~ totssecretotheracct
Ice Sculptor
"I once met a professional ice sculptor who made a killing at corporate events and weddings."
"It's a niche skill, but the pay is pretty impressive!"
~ IndependenceNo2060
So, have you seen your new career?
Or do you have another suggestion?
Share it in the comments.
We've all made our fair share of mistakes; it's in our nature, honestly.
Sometimes we mess up so badly, it can ruin other things in our lives, like important relationships or our jobs.
But some people have messed up so badly at work that they lost their jobs in record time.
Ready to hear the tea, Redditor mango-chocolate asked:
"What's the quickest way you saw a coworker get fired?"
Check Your Pride
"In my old law office, a firm-wide email was sent out announcing the arrival of a new employee. We will call him Paul."
"So Paul decided to reply-all to let all of us know that he was aware of our recent legal defeats, that many people should be fired for these failures, and that his hiring was the first good thing our firm had done in years."
"The dude was a legal assistant right out of college with no experience."
"A minute after the email went out, I heard a crazy shout and then watched one of the senior partners run past my office towards HR (Human Resources)."
"And five minutes later Paul walked past with the HR manager and a security escort. He lasted less than 45 minutes."
- Left_Apparently
Lotto Fraud
"I worked at a lotteries company. A guy working in testing got access to production data and printed off some test tickets with some unclaimed winning numbers."
"He only did low amounts, like 500 dollars, and claimed three of them in three completely different locations around town."
"Of course, the company was interested in the story of someone who found a six-month-old lottery ticket and claimed it, but they were even more interested to find it was the same person going to three locations."
"Needless to say, when they realized the guy actually worked in the company, he got pulled into a room with cops a-waiting him."
- ThroughTheHoops
Weird Brag
"I worked at a bank, we were robbed at gunpoint. One of the tellers was quick to tweet out, 'Woooo, got the rest of the day off!! Feel free to visit me at work with a gun and ski mask anytime!'"
"They were fired upon walking in the next morning."
- seastrat
Totally Stopped Production
"An id**t pressed the emergency stop for fun on his second day at work."
"The emergency stop that he hit switches off all drives on the 100-meter-long paper machine. This means there is a loss of production for three to four hours for the entire paper mill."
"He was immediately escorted from the factory premises by two colleagues."
- daHawkGR
No Point Taking That Test
"I had a coworker get picked for a random drug test. She went back to her desk to grab her purse, and just left the building, never to return."
- brytewolf
Yes, That's What We Meant
"The boss sat her down to talk about her recent behavior at work."
"She whipped out her phone and started taking a video, saying that it was her right to record for 'when it goes to court.'"
"The boss said, 'Okay, this is the kind of stuff I’m talking about, you’re fired.'"
"This was at a Domino’s Pizza."
- kenb99
New Definition for "Side Hustle"
"Evidently, they robbed a bank on their lunch break."
"They came back like nothing happened, and then the cops showed up and took him down. It was crazy."
- Bob_the_Brewer
Quite the First Impression
"Pulling into the parking lot on the first day, she ran into a light pole that took out electricity to the whole site."
"She wasn't wearing a seat belt and was thrown into the front window."
"When we went out to see what had happened, she reeked of booze and there were empty liquor bottles in the back of the car."
"She never even made it to the front door, got a guest badge, or started her orientation training."
- LowBudgetViking
Haunting Upcharges
"When I was in high school, I used to do seasonal work at haunted houses which I did for four years."
"A new guy that they hired was supposed to help with parking. Now, in the three years that I worked at this haunted house, they never once charged people for parking (it was a very dark parking lot off of a cliff so had to make sure no one drove off of it trying to park)."
"This cheeky son of b***h started charging people five dollars to park."
"It was only found out after someone complained because they didn't have the money to go in with their friends because they had to pay for parking. I think the guy was only there a couple of hours before he got fired."
- rpgmomma8404
Missed the Training
"They got hired and then fell asleep during a meeting their first day and were asked not to come back."
- Snowstorm-3
"Same here. At a tech company, they hired a new developer, and the owner caught him napping at a desk on day one when he was supposed to be reviewing training materials."
"The owner had a chat with him, and told him whatever the reason, it was really bad form to fall asleep on the job on the first day."
"The new hire apologized, understood, and went back to the training materials. Not 20 minutes later, the owner walks by again and the guy is passed out once again, so he walked over, woke him up, and told him he was fired and to get out."
"I don't even think he made it to his fourth hour of employment."
- badtz-maru
Highly Questionable Explorations
"Early in my career I was an engineer at a refinery in the UK, and I was in charge of the QC lab. By law, we had to have external independent testing on the refinery fuel products to confirm they complied with government regulations."
"It seemed getting a job for the testing company was that you had to be an adult and had a driving license. The lab had a lot of very nasty chemicals either being tested or used in the testing or cleaning of the oil products."
"A new young girl turned up for the testing company and was dipping her finger into a chemical called phenol and stating that 'it makes your hand and arm go numb.' Phenol is a severe muscle relaxant (including your heart) and can kill you at very low concentrations."
"One hour into her employment we had paramedics on the scene monitoring her vitals and was released after eight hours. She didn't last the first hour of the first day and the testing company was fined pretty heavily."
- Nerdymcbutthead
AKA: Paid to Advertise
"A guy got hired in the first firm I ever worked for. He turned up for his first morning at work, and within an hour he had emailed the entire company (6,000 people) about his band and their availability for birthdays, weddings, etc."
"He was dismissed by lunchtime."
- BDATriangle001
"So he got paid half a day's wage to advertise his band to 6,000 people?"
"Man's a freaking genius."
- Oakcamp
Not-So-Quiet Quitting
"One day, Tim announced that he wasn’t paid enough and was going to basically sit at his desk doing nothing until he was paid what he wanted."
"20 minutes later, the boss walked in and asked Tim if he could have a word with him."
"Five minutes later, the boss walked back in and announced that Tim no longer worked there and if there were any questions."
"There were no questions."
- Few_Horse4000
Don't Be That Guy
"Interviewed a guy that was replacing someone who was leaving. Offered the job and was supposed to start the next day."
"Just so happened that we were having a going away party for the leaving dude that night so new guy was invited as a chance to 'get to know the team.'"
"The new guy shows up and proceeds to get absolutely s**t-faced and asked the head of HR if she wanted to go back to his place because he 'got a vibe' during the interview process."
"Next day, the new guy was a no-show so we were thinking bullet dodged. He showed up just before lunch clearly hung over making up some excuse for being late."
"The big boss came out and told the guy to get the f**k out."
- tizod
Optional Hours? Optional Employment.
"I fired someone who decided her second day that she was going to go out to lunch and not come back. The next morning she told everyone all about the shopping she did. She seemed confused about the expectations."
- dunwerking
Some of these stories are absolutely worth shaking our heads over, while others are truly shocking.
It's crazy the lengths people will go to in the workplace, despite the expectations that had already been clearly set.
If you view the rules as optional, your boss might view your employment as optional, too.
Medical Professionals Share The Worst Mental Conditions They Know About
We all have our bad days that can be completely debilitating.
Some days are worse than others and can lead to mental breakdowns.
For most of us, these moments are fleeting, and we can greet the next day with a fresh start and mindset.
But that luxury doesn't always apply to everyone.
Imagine those who perpetually experience such an extreme frequently, maybe even daily.
Curious to hear of various diagnoses of the mind, Redditor MeepingBad6699 asked:
"Mental professionals of reddit, what is the worst mental condition that you know of?"
There are patients who are convinced they are no longer with us but are still able to articulate it.
Dead But Alive
"Cotard delusion. I'm a nurse and had to take care of a huge man with this condition. He came in with some odd behavior and escalated to Cotard. The delusion makes you think you are actually dead. He would scream he was dead all day and night. Lived in constant terror. He was such a sweetheart, but became so worn down and terrified over time he got quite dangerous and punched a nurse in the face."
– bbourke0626
Unalive Patient
"I had a patient check into the ER with this once but I didn’t know the name, she just kept claiming she was dead. She got baker acted and transferred."
– Dimwit00
Rude Awakening
"Also a nurse. I had a couple patients get ICU delirium that presented with them believing they were dead. Definitely not a fun time."
"I mean it sorta makes sense. Being in the ICU can be comparable to torture with the sleep deprivation, constant beeping and other noises, lots of pain and other physical discomfort, the thirst and hunger (thirst and hunger are very psychological so even if we give someone nutrition through a feeding tube or IV, your brain still freaks out because you're not eating or drinking). And so for some people, if you wake up, don't know where you are and you feel like you're being tortured, reasonable enough to assume you are in hell."
– PaxonGoat
Statistics Say
"Wow. So according to the DSM 5 there have only been 200 cases since this condition was identified (how long ago, I want to say 1800s). Anyway, I just found a new study from 2022 that says that about 1% of patients with schizophrenia are now reporting this delusion. Which, as the authors point out, is a significant increase. I wonder what has changed in the decade since the DSM 5 was published that is driving this uptick?"
"It is especially odd when you consider that people actually used to believe that dead people could come back to life, even designing coffins and burial practices around this belief because it was so commonplace. You’d think if anything the condition would be becoming less frequent and not more. Interesting."
– DarthMomma_PhD
Severe memory loss is one of life's cruelest symptoms.
Losing A Sense Of Self
"Dementias."
"Watching a person, their memories, their personality die but their body remain living and confused, is horrifying..."
– Sacu_Shi_again
"Terrifying Prospect"
"My grandma has dementia (she can barely talk right now, but she's still physically healthy, somewhat) and a lot of my closely related family died due to Alzheimer's. Granted they acquired it / started showing severe symptoms when already quite old (early to late 80s), but it's still a terrifying prospect to know that I'll probably die in such a way. I hope that when the time comes, and it starts to affect me in a significant way, my wishes will be respected and I'll be euthanized. Both to spare me the horrors of it, and to not be a depressing burden to those around me."
– pale_sand
Warning Signs
"My grandma had it and now my dad is constantly complaining that he's forgetting things/can't remember anything. He's not even 60 yet."
– antisocialarmadillo1
Eating disorder was another horrific mental condition Redditors mentioned.
Hosting A Non-Existent Parasite
"Delusional parasitosis comes to mind with this prompt. I’ve watched a patient go to well over a dozen doctors trying to get confirmation that they’re parasite ridden. After countless stool samples, blood work, labs, scans, biopsies, etc., she clearly didn’t have any but remains convinced."
– Blahaj_shonk_lover
Side Effect
"A friend of my mom's ended up with something like this after getting into the wrong kinds of drugs."
"She was convinced that there were little bugs in her face. Absolutely convinced. She'd pick at her face day and night."
"She got clean for a little while, came to her senses, and stopped picking. But the damage was done, her entire face was scarred."
– ShiraCheshire
Alzheimer's hits too close to home.
I've known so many people related to or knowing someone with mental illnesses resulting in severe memory loss and it is heartbreaking.
Now a family member was just diagnosed and it's a lot for me to process it. It's not just the individual suffering. Their loved ones truly suffer too.
What I am learning, however, is to not take the present for granted. It's all we have.
Whenever we go out to eat, be it at a fine dining establishment or a quick service window, some of us tend to wonder what the journey was for the food that we are looking at on our plates or in our take-out bags.
Many have similar thoughts when buying frozen or pre-packaged dinners at supermarkets.
The answers aren't always readily available, often because the food service industry will go to great lengths to keep them under lock and key. Well aware, most of the time, that current or former employees will spill the beans at one point or another.
Redditor Lilyxrx was curious to hear some of the most well guarded secrets of the food industry, leading them to ask:
"What’s a secret the food industry don’t want you to know?"
Next Time Your Craving Bananas Foster...
"The 'natural flavors' are just big jugs of glycerin with hyper concentrated flavoring in it."
"Banana flavoring is fairly flammable."
"Source: Worked in food manufacturing."- irony_in_the_UK·
Cholesterol Be Darned!
"Chef here."
"It’s salt and fat."
"If you have a question about anything it’s salt and fat."- LongRest
For Efficiency's Sake...
"Olive Garden makes all their necessary pastas for the whole day from 8-10am every morning."
"Partially cooked."
"So when an order comes through, they grab a serving of the needed pasta style and flash cook them in hot water."
"Also, it’s just the brand, Barilla."- Deerhunter86
Justin Bieber Food GIFGiphyBefore You Pay The Extra Money...
"Beekeeper checking in."
"There is no such thing as organic honey."
"I do not treat my bees with chemicals, but I have no idea where they get their nectar."
"A bee can fly up to three miles from a hive to get nectar."
"It is virtually impossible to guarantee they have not gotten nectar from a chemically treated source."- toad__warrior·
If You Ever Wonder What Makes It Taste So Good...
"Unless it’s a health conscious food joint you’re eating at, the food we serve is designed for maximum taste."
"It’s either dense with fat and sugar, or fat and salt "
"E.G. Those mashed potatoes you like?"
"Made with cream, butter, and salt."
"The quiche?"
"Made on cream, not milk."
"Etc, etc."- petuniasweetpea
Before You Start Bragging...
"Dragon fruit isn’t an exotic Asian fruit."
"It’s a cactus fruit, and as such are native to the Americas and can even be grown in the US."- ferretmonkey
dragon fruit GIF by Feliks Tomasz KonczakowskiGiphyIn Case You're Wondering why That Taste Is So Familiar...
"A lot of the processed cheese and cream cheese is all the same recipe we just switch the labels and packaging for the different brands we run."
"Source: I work in a cheese factory in a company that services 75% of America's domestic market."- anon5678903276
Another Reason To Have No Guilt Over Take Out...
"Well."
"I work at Dominos, and we are kept afloat by the people who don't coupon and pay full menu price."
"You people are the unsung heroes of labor."- LoweeLL
Unlike Any Chocolate...
"When I worked at a mass production bakery the chocolate for the chocolate covered doughnuts came in giant frozen blocks of 4x4 pieces and contained no actual chocolate what so over."
"When unfrozen it was like some sort of nasty smelling paraffin wax that I would break up with a hammer and place into a melter that would then pour over the doughnuts."- gil_beard
Chocolate Dessert GIF by HuffPostGiphyWhat Do Orange Juice And Whiskey Have In Common?
"The reason orange juice tastes consistently the same year round, even though it's a crop harvested once a year, is because citrus oils and citrus flavor are added back to different batches and blended all together."
"Similar to how whiskey is blended from multiple barrels to make it consistent."
"The difference is that even though extra stuff is added back into the OJ, it doesn't need to be labeled because the flavors contain all ingredients from oranges (FTNF-from the named fruit) so the FDA doesn't mandate labeling additional ingredients."- PensiveDoughnut
Does That Explain Their Shape?
"Pringles (and baked Lays/similar) are made of rehydrated and compressed rejected/excess parts of potatoes that go into regular chips."
"I learned that from my dietician at work and thought that was odd."
"I still like them over regular chips."- bluesasaurusrex
A Secret Better Not Known...
"The 11 herbs and spices secret recipe."- NemoTheOneTrueGod
Food Pouring GIF by Great Big StoryGiphyJust Pop It In The Fryer...
"I was a young lad working at Church's Fried Chicken during the summer, many years ago."
"The owner refused to throw out chicken that had already gone bad; to the point where you'd gag if you smell them."
"Apparently if you batter them bad boys up and deep fry them, the rancid smell goes away."
"His customers never knew they were eating spoiled chicken."- Dirt_E_Harry·
Sweet... But Safe!
"The amount of sugar that goes into Costco bakery products is absurd, especially the apple pie."
"That being said; Costco does not f*ck around when it comes to food safety."
"Every area that is responsible for producing food is most likely cleaner than a white room for producing computer parts."
"There are virtually zero roaches, we found one in the bakery once and shut it down until the exterminator did his thing that very night."
"Someone returned a package of dinner rolls because their child had bit into one and a sharp piece of metal was in it, within less than 2 minutes every manager in the building was doing an investigation that led all the way up to the regional manager and his boss for several hours and determined that it had come off of a piece of machinery before it reached our location."
"We throw away rotisserie chickens if they have left (even for a few minutes) the shelf and someone tries to put it back."- Deathnachos
Costco GIF by hero0fwarGiphyWe'd like to think that everyone who works in the food industry shares the same high standards.
But, as in any industry, there are those out there who will cut corners for speedier results.
On the bright side, it does save you the trouble when deciding what cream cheese to buy...