Bilinguals Share Their Craziest "They Didn't Know I Could Understand Their Language" Stories
Say what?
The ability to speak two languages should be celebrated. Think twice before you judge someone who speaks any broken language, we know the people in these stories will.
Here are 30 stories from people who didn't realize someone could understand what they were saying.
The Underground Doctor
My grandparents were Romanian Jews living in Europe during WWII. Post-war they fled to America via Italy, and lived in Italy for several years. Now, they largely spoke Romanian, but my grandpa could understand Italian as well. My grandma had a variety of serious health issues throughout her life and at this point (they were probably in their twenties) she had to be taken to an Italian doctor. Thinking they spoke only Romanian, the doctor told his nurse (about my grandma) 'she's a Jew, let her die'. Well my grandpa understood this and was able to seek out a more underground doctor to save my grandmas life. She lived into her 80s.
awesomeness0232
How Rude?!
Not me but my moms friend. Her and her aunt were on a bus. A very sickly looking woman sat in front of them. They just started talking between themselves and said something along the lines of 'that lady looks like death'. She turned around and in Polish said 'I have cancer'.
weetek
Girl Talk
I speak french, but not fluently, although I am a french/american citizen. At my first girlfriends house for the first time eating dinner with them. We go upstairs afterwards and her little sister (2 grades below us) comes in as we are selecting a movie to watch. Well they are Canadian and speak french at home a lot. The girl comes in and starts talking about how I am cute and so forth to her sister. Then her sister banters back about how she agrees and then turns to me and asks me in french if I agree. I responded in french that I appreciated it. Cue bashful run up to her room. I lived off that high all year.
Bobbled_It
Excuse Me I Speak German
I was touring some old dungeons in Germany. It was just me and my family, and an older German couple. They were kinda dissing my country the whole time, thinking we couldn't understand them. We got to a room where they locked people by their feet and the German man said to his wife and the tour guide in German 'This is where you should go if you can't speak German'. I turned to him and in perfect German replied 'then it's a good thing I can speak German'. The look on his face was priceless.
hey_look1
Embarrassingggg
I was waiting in line with my sister to take a boat tour in California and ahead of us was a group of 5-6 German-speaking people. The wait to board the boat was long and they got to talking. At first, it was about how nice the weather was, and then it turned to how annoying Americans can be, especially fat, dumb, tourist Americans. They cracked a couple of jokes having to do with American stereotypes. While this was happening, the line started moving and people started boarding the boat. But the group was too wrapped up in their own jokes to realize it. So I finally turned around to them, and in fluent German asked if they were part of the tour and if they were getting on the boat. They stopped dead in their joking tracks and said yes. So I replied that they had better get a move on, because the dumb, fat, American tourist standing right behind them wanted to get on the boat too. They all looked really embarrassed.
teknogeek78
Only If You Don't Ask
Happened to me actually, really funny in hindsight. I was in Poland for a holiday with 2 friends. We went outside a bar to smoke, and I said to my friend (in Dutch): 'Those girls over there are really hot, should we ask them to join us?' One of the girls turned around, and said in almost perfect Dutch: 'You won't find out, if you don't ask.' Que my friends laughing and me standing there flabbergasted.
vallie24
I'm Hungry
Working at a front desk with two co-workers who were related. They are speaking Spanish and one of them is talking about how she thinks I'm weird/act too professional all the time. She then asks 'where is the stapler?' in Spanish. I picked up the stapler and without looking at her I extend my arm to pass it. She then asks if I speak Spanish and understood the whole conversation. I told her I speak fluent Italian and took Spanish classes in school. Another story. At the mall eating McDonald's when I was a teenager. Bunch of old Italian guys hanging around the food court and one asks 'how can he eat that?' In Italian, while looking at me. I look up and stare at him. I say 'because I'm really hungry' in Italian. All his buddies started laughing.
thats_relevant
You Never Know Who's Listening
I was on a subway car in Toronto when a French couple were chatting about innocuous crap when the husband starts chatting to his wife about what he wants to do to her. It's graphic. He's going into details about moves, holes, smells. She had a toque in her hand, but unknowingly dropped it. So, I saw my chance. I pick up her hat and tell her that she lost it. Both of their faces went white. She just meekly thanked me. I stood up, got off the subway and felt a sense of glee at having ruined their evening.
PippenRedux
Speechless
I'm Mexican but I studied my college degrees in the US. When I was studying abroad in Germany I only spoke English to my German classmates. One time we were waiting for a train at a station and a group of young South American tourists were being loud and just waiting beside us. I could understand every word they're saying (except for some slang) and they suddenly start talking about our group. I don't blame them at all they were just bored at the train station trying to pass time but I smile and look at them. One of the guys looks back and says in Spanish: 'Do you not like what I'm saying a--hole?' I respond in Spanish: 'It's been a long time since someone insulted me in my language' The guy has a speechless look on his face and all his friends look at me. We have a laugh and soon after that both our groups sat together and had a nice time talking, their English was good enough to have small chat with.
jmo_joker
Is That Right?
I was in South America, and had made friends with a guy who was living in Paraguay, but was originally from Jordan. He spoke like 5 different languages. I asked him if he could help me out buying a cell phone. So we are shopping around, we stop at one place with 2 middle eastern guys selling cell phones. They say some things in Spanish, then some things in Arabic, and then my friend just says, 'lets go'. I asked him what happened and he said the guys said something in Arabic along the lines of 'ohh we'll screw these guys over' To which my friend responded, in arabic 'is that right? you're gonna screw us over?' I thought it was really funny.
thruthewindowBN
I Don't Understand English
Wasn't me but my dad. We, as good Canadians do, went on a ski vacation to Quebec. While my dad was parking his car a tour bus backed into our van. After seeing the damage, my dad marches on to this tour bus and starts talking with the driver. The driver apologizes profusely to my enraged dad, but when my dad starts asking for his name, employee number, and insurance information, he starts pretending that he doesn't understand English. My dad is fluent in French so without skipping a beat he continues questioning the driver en francais. The driver was super shaken up by this turn of events and his face turned red but surrendered his information in the end.
DarthPun
OMG!
I (African American teenager) went to a Chinese restaurant and immediately the lady behind the counter looks up, and back at her husband and shouts in mandarin '1 Ape in the door! Go serve it'. Took me a minute to realize I hadn't translated that incorrectly. When the husband asked what I wanted and I responded in Chinese 'this ape doesn't want to give any money to your establishment' and left. Won't ever forget the look of terror, shock, and stupidity that left.
I Flipped Her Off
Canadian - with an English group in a very french town in Northern Quebec. Waitress talked about us, being anglophones, the whole night to her coworkers and the bartender. She was doing it fairly loudly, which I found weird in a bilingual country. When she came around with the bills I put on my best Qubcois accent and said in French 'I hope you aren't expecting a tip from these stupid English people, because you sure as hell aren't getting one' and told the group we were leaving. She chased us out of the restaurant screaming at us in French, I flipped her off and we left.
MackingtheKnife
I Don't Speak English That Well
I'm an American who is fluent in German. This past fall I was studying abroad in Bologna, Italy. I was shopping for food and a German tourist comes up to me and asks if I speak English, I say yes I'm American. He asks 'do you know if I can drink a beer in the street, or are there laws against it?' 'I'm not sure, I drink outside all of the time and have never had an issue but to tell you the truth I don't know if it's illegal.' He says thanks, then turns to his friend and says in German 'I have no idea what she just said.' So then I say, in German 'I can explain it to you in German if you think you'd understand it better.' He was surprised but we laughed and had a good conversation in German after that!
Can't Con Us
Two English teens on holiday in France started calling people wankers, and many other interesting words. I asked them to start respecting people and they turned red. In Prague, I asked a lady something in English and her English was too poor for her to understand. I cannot speak Russian but have learned a bit of it and Czech is pretty close. Her gran was with her and the lady I was talking to said I was an idiot asking stupid questions so I said in rough Russian 'I'm not an idiot, I'm sorry I cannot speak Czech'. She went red too. In Catalunya, on a market, a seller spotted us as tourists immediately and tried to sell us his dried sausages more expensive than to the Catalan person before. I told him in Catalan that it is not fair to ask us French people to pay more.
elvagabundotonto
Tacky
My grandma could speak Arabic fluently. One time we are out and some women behind us in line are mocking her calling her tacky, making fun of her bad dye job. She turned around and said in Arabic 'I may be tacky, but at least I'm not stupid enough to assume nobody can understand me'. They were so mortified.
lameio69
Merry Christmas
I speak fluent Hungarian, and the thing about the language is it's so obscure that Hungarians will always assume when abroad that no one else can understand them. As you can imagine, this can backfire spectacularly- I grew up in the USA, and I've heard marital spats at Walmart that frankly never should have left the living room, serious goodbyes between lovers that were awkward to hear, all sorts of things like that. The best story in this genre though is my mother's, when she and my dad were enjoying their first Christmas together. They were in a small village in Austria in the early 80s, and for Christmas Eve when they went out to dinner there was a man in the restaurant with a dog sitting at the table (like, guy putting food on the plate in front of his dog, dog eating it, etc). My mom proceeded to spend a lot of time telling my dad how disgusting and unsanitary this was of the guy to do etc, and when guy and dog finished their meal he just went up to my parents' table, said 'kellemes karacsonyi unnepeket kivanok,' and left. In Hungarian, this is the polite way of telling a stranger you wish them a Merry Christmas.
Andromeda321
Multilingual Mom
I'm not the multilingual in this story, but my friend's mom is from Vietnam, but her dad is from the States and is white. For whatever, reason my friend looks like a typical white brunette girl, but speaks Vietnamese with her mom's side of the family all the time and is fluent. So, one day we got off school. We went to a Catholic high school and walked over to a nail salon a few blocks away to get our nails done. The ladies running the salon were speaking Vietnamese, and according to my friend were talking badly about us the entire time we were there. They were talking about how rich we must be and how, 'These little white girls can probably sleep with whoever they want and get ahead.' I was completely oblivious to this the entire time, but as we were about to pay, my friend told me all the terrible things they were saying, so we didn't tip them. We started to leave and one of the workers said something about how the rich white girls couldn't even afford to tip. My friend turned around and yelled at them in perfect Vietnamese about how if they expect their business to stay open, they shouldn't talk badly about their customers in front of their face. I didn't understand a word of it, but the workers were in utter shock and sheepishly apologized to the both of us.
antonjad
Fat American
When I lived in China I went to an international school so would frequently use English with my classmates even though I spoke/understood Chinese. One day, I was walking with a classmate when I overheard these old Chinese ladies talking about how it was obvious we were American because we were so fat. We were both average sized--neither fat nor thin. My friend doesn't understand Chinese so I decided to ignore it since we were just passing by. Later, we were at the fruit stand and the ladies come around looking to buy fruit. I'm standing in front of whatever they were trying to look at and any time they'd try to move around me I'd shift subtly so they couldn't. I hear one of them start huffing about how she can't get by, and in Chinese I respond with 'I'd move but as a fat American it'd do no good'. The ladies just looked at me then started laughing and were like 'Ooh, the fat American has good Chinese!' No shame.
rulerofgummybears
Priceless
This actually just happened a couple of days ago. I'm an American traveling abroad in the Middle East, and went on a date with an Arab guy. He asked me if I spoke Arabic, but since I'm not comfortable speaking it, I just said no. I can understand most things, though, and can speak if pressed. Dinner was great, we got along well, and then went to smoke shisha at a local cafe. The owner, who was my date's buddy, asked who I was in Arabic. He smiled at me sweetly, squeezed my hand, and told his friend in Arabic, 'An American woman who I'm going to sleep with later'. I kept a stupid, docile smile on my face. When the owner took my order, I told him in Arabic 'and one tea for the American whore who he will not sleep with later'. The look on both of their faces was priceless. Needless to say I ended up taking a cab home.
pizza-khaleesi
Impressive
So. I'm an American, living in the United States, fluent English. I did take Spanish in high school and while I didn't really retain much, I can still take a pretty decent gander if I want to. I work in a landscape supply store and most of my customers happen to be Hispanic. Sometimes, they will talk to each other in Spanish while buying materials and I can kind of get the gist of what they're saying. One time, two guys came in and started discussing what materials they were getting and how much. By the time they came up to me, I had already rung them up for what they had been talking about getting. They were really surprised that I understood them and tried talking to me in Spanish. I had to tell them my Spanish was limited so they tried teaching me a few new words while they finished their transaction. It was a nice time.
rosiering
The City Of Detroit
I speak Dari, one of the two official language of Afghanistan. On a trip I overheard two Afghans. One was telling the other to be careful, Detroit was more dangerous than Kabul.
Ajftbl
It Was Worth It
I was at a party a couple years ago and there were these two really good looking Asian girls. I started chatting one of them up and we seem to be having a good time. Anyways, the party keeps going and we split momentarily (I grabbed myself a beer and her friend came over to talk to her). I hear them speaking in Korean and the one I was talking to was explaining how she thought I was really cute. Her friend starts talking in Korean 'that's not a good idea. Don't go after him. He's not that good looking. He just wants to sleep with you. Blah blah blah' (the usual protecting your friends line, which I have no problems with minus the not good looking part). Now at this point, I'm OK with that and I just try to enjoy the party. However, later on I overhear the same girl again speaking in Korean how much of a lowlife I am and I'm a horrible person with some added vulgar swear words (remember, this person has never met me before today). She was basically describing me as if I was the enemy of all women, how I live in poverty, and trying to label me with as many negative things she could think of. Obviously the girl I was talking to is listening to her friend and is clearly no longer looking at me with interest. Before leaving the party I go over to them and I try asking for her number, which she politely refuses to. I turn to her friend and speak in perfect Korean 'Thanks so much for telling your friend about me. It was really nice getting to know you and I'm glad you know so much about me, even though we've never met before'. Look on her face was worth not getting laid.
minal187
The Turkish Jeweler
I speak Turkish. We visit Turkey every summer to see my family, but I don't look Turkish, so people are often shocked when they find out I can speak the language. Last year, I went to the markets. In most tourist-y places, the stallholders will try to sell things at a higher price to foreigners. So, I'm looking at some jewellery in this market and the two stallholders are chatting to a customer. They mention to the customer that everything is 10 lira. After that customer leaves, the stall holder looks at what I'm about to buy and tells me in broken English that its 20 lira. I nod, realizing whats going on and spend a few more minutes looking at everything before telling the stallholder in perfect Turkish 'you should really figure out whether someone knows the language before trying to scam them,' The look on her face was great. Things like that are way too common and I feel bad for the people that don't know whats happening.
trendyalien
Go Back Home To America
I'm Japanese and live in Japan, but I went to college and law school in the States so I'd like to think I speak fluent English. It's always pretty funny when foreigners realize I speak English because there are so many bilinguals in Tokyo that you'd think they'd learn by now. Anyways, I have two stories. First is when I was drinking in a pretty small town in Niigata prefecture. It's not known to get too many foreign visitors except in the winters when ski/snowboard season picks up, but this was in the spring so I was actually quite surprised when I walk in to an izakaya and a foreign couple is sitting at one of the tables. I was alone so they seat me at the counter and I order a couple of yakitori and a sake. As I was waiting I could hear the couple behind talking about how none of the things that came were what they ordered/expected and that its so difficult since none seemed to speak English. Now the Izakaya we were at was like a hole in the wall, no pictures and the menu was handwritten in Japanese so I could understand how difficult it would have been. Anyways, I come over and to their delight I translate the menu for them and help them with their order. I ended up sitting and drinking with them that night and still message each other on facebook! Second time isn't the same type of feel good story. Anyways, I'm in a small city outside the 23 ward which has a pretty prominent language school so there are a lot of foreigners in the area. I used to bartend when I was younger and one of my coworkers from that time had opened a small bbq restaurant in the area so I decided to stop by and congratulate him. There was a couple of American guys, probably in their early 20s just completely trashing this place saying its not authentic and that they did it better in Texas. So after I had finished talking with my ex-coworker I turn around and tell the two American men that if they wanted authentic bbq they should just go back home to America, no one is subjecting you to this restaurant.
IntlHastings
The Secret Code
We did this but fortunately it wasn't mean! My husband is American born and raised but grew up speaking German with his family. He wanted our kids to be bilingual so speaks only German with them. My kids and I were at Chincoteague Island in Virginia where a lot of Amish people like to vacation. We were in line at an ice cream parlor behind a group of about 20 Amish, including 7-8 teen girls. My daughter is used to speaking German to me as if it's a secret code, and said, 'Look at what they're wearing, those dresses and bonnets. And look at their hair, so thick and shiny! They all look pretty.' The girls turned en masse and looked at her in surprise, which in turn surprised her, and I told her, 'They clearly understood everything you just said!' She looked embarrassed, then shrugged and answered that she didn't say anything she wouldn't have said to their faces. It was still a new experience for her.
MrsTurtlebones
Folding Sweaters
I'm a white American. I speak Spanish almost fluently. So I used to work in retail at the local shopping mall, and I noticed this couple and their grown daughter shopping in my section. The parents didn't speak English and their daughter was acting as their interpreter in the store. So after a while of them being on my radar, I noticed that the daughter was gone, and from the way the parents were talking I gathered that she'd gone to the bathroom. The wife was looking at sweaters and couldn't decide between the green one or the white one, and the husband was ready to leave, but wanted to wait on the daughter to do the transaction at the cash register. He was looking pretty impatient, so I went over and told them (in Spanish) that I spoke Spanish and could help them if they needed it. I then helped the wife pick out her sweater, took them to the register, and conducted the entire transaction in Spanish. They were extremely grateful and really friendly people. The daughter finally returned and tried to apologize, but I told her everything was fine. They left and my manager came over and said she'd seen what I'd done, very surprised. I said, 'I told you I spoke Spanish when I was hired, did you not believe me?' And she said, 'No, I thought you were lying to get the job!' We laughed and I went back to folding sweaters.
mightymeek
Traveling Abroad
I'm Brazilian, but extremely white and I do look like an american when travelling abroad. I speak Portuguese, english, Spanish and I can understand some french. The most memorable moment of understanding what people are saying when they believe you don't, happened to me in Portland (OR) when I lived there. With all that rain, I've became even more white, and I was wearing my Pittsburgh Steelers cap. There was these 2 Brazilian girls speaking Portuguese in front of me in a line of a Blazers game, and they were being extremely rude to everyone, saying that everyone in america was fat, ugly and full of themselves. So, one of them looked at me and said to the other one "bom, esse aqui no gordo nem feio, mas aposto que se acha com esse bon" (well, this one is not fat or ugly, but probably is full of himself with this cap), I just replied "obrigado pelos elogios, e cuidado com o que vocs falam" (thank you for your compliments, and watch what you're saying). They apologized and got out of the line.
rayofthx
Thank You
Was walking with my Polish friend and all of a sudden we see this gorgeous girl walking through the hallway. I say to my friend, 'Wow, she's beautiful' in Polish to my friend and the girl turns around and responds with 'thank you' in Polish.
simonrozal
People With Disabilities Are People Too
I'm an American but my Dad and his family are from Switzerland so I've had to learn some languages other than English if I want to keep up with my grandparents and cousins conversations. I've got pretty poor with my French but good enough that I can still listen in on other people's conversations. But, I was never expecting to be able to use this skill or surprise anybody's secret conversation since I live in Texas. But lo and behold, one day I was out shopping with a couple friends - one who also speaks French and German. I'm disabled from an accident that deformed my left leg - it's pretty obvious and people do tend to stare but that doesn't mean I'm going to go around covered up in pants all the time. It's too damn hot here! At lunch we overheard a mom talking with her son at the table next to us. The boy was about 7 or 8 years old and was totally fixated on my leg and the leg brace I wear - just typical kid curiosity and I was probably one of the few disabled people he's seen. The little boy was asking his mom what happened, why that girl's leg all messed up, why does she have to wear that brace. The Mom then starts talking badly about Americans and tells the boy I probably lost it in the war while killing a bunch of helpless people. She then goes on about how Americans are unhealthy, dumb, and should stay out of other people's business. My friend had gotten up to go to the restroom and came back and just casually asked how the meal was - in French. I answered her back and the mom looked mortified as it dawned on her I had heard the whole conversation. I wasn't rude but I did take the opportunity to tell the boy - who was legitimately concerned. I explained that I was injured in an accident but I'd be okay. So, I got to surprise someone being a jerk and got to show a little boy that people with disabilities are just regular people, so win-win.
calypso_cane
Even in a strong economy, or after making billions of dollars in profits, all businesses try to look for ways to save money.
Sadly, one very common solution is to lower the numbers in their workforce, resulting in layoffs for those whose departments they deem unnecessary.
Others look for slightly more unusual solutions.
However, sometimes these solutions are made without a great deal of thought, and these presidents and CEOs soon discover what they thought would be a cost-cutting measure ended up costing them even more money.
Sending them racing back to the drawing board.
"What did your company do to “save money” but ended up costing the company lots of money instead?"
You May Get A Little Hot...
"Shut off the HVAC system to save on electricity costs during the summer."
"Had to pay over half a million in mold remediation costs."
"F*cking morons."- dinosore
Never View People As An Expense
"Lay off a bunch of veteran people so they can bring in newer workers for cheaper."
"They find they couldn't bring in newer people for cheaper so they hire newer people at close to the same price as the veteran workers."
"Veteran workers are mad they have to train somebody making almost the same as they are with no experience and start leaving."
"Company has to pay fewer remaining veteran workers even more to get them to stay while paying inexperienced workers close to what the workers they just laid off were making."
"To my knowledge, prior to the lay offs, the veteran workers weren't even complaining about pay."
"Now the department is at a worse state and more expensive than what it was prior to their plan to save money."- Frankie__Spankie
Simply Illogical
"The roof of our building was leaking bad."
"Got quotes for doing just a third of the roof and for doing a whole new roof."
"They choose to do third of the roof."
"All it did was move the leak."
"A month later they did the whole roof."
"They would have paid a lot less had they done it right the first time."- sonsonmcnugget
Location, Location, Location! Or Not...
"Business travelers must fly to the closest airport to the destination."
"Is Airport A one mile closer to the destination than Airport B?"
"Yes."
"Are the airline tickets 2x as expensive?"
"Also yes." - Reddit
A Hospital Is Nothing Without Its Nurses!
"Underpaying the nurses so they quit and had to pay agency 3x the going rate."- junotinychonk
The Dangers Of Outsourcing
"Moved 'corporate' phone support from UK to India for a very large fizzy drinks company, despite the contract saying guaranteed UK support."
"Over 50k phones canceled and moved to their rival."- WimbleWimble
"Someone I know worked for the 'oldest American' hoist company."
"They decided to outsource production to china."
"The cost of transport, losses, customs, etc made the Chinese hoists just as expensive as their American-made ones and then the Chinese company stole the plan to make and sell themselves for less."- Diabetesh
You Never Know When You're Going To Need Them...
"Company ran a campaign for 'outside the box' ideas in cost cutting, with stock awards for proven savings."
"Our facility maintenance manager claimed a $300k savings by eliminating unnecessary capital spare parts in the warehouse and received a $30k award."
"Six months later a critical compressor failed resulting in the plant reducing to half capacity at a $500k per day profit loss."
"It would only take two days to repair, however, the parts were no longer in the warehouse."
"They were among those eliminated and sold for scrap."
"It took 90 days to receive replacements."
"Total loss to our company was just over $50 MILLION."- eron6000ad
God Forbid People Are Rewarded For Good Work
"I used to work at a place with a sizable distribution center and thousands of SKUs."
"The warehouse's team of pickers was a great group of folks."
"They were fast, extremely accurate, and very good at their jobs."
'I brought them cookies on a regular basis and made sure to take good care of them."
"One day, some f*cking walnut decided that they were 'making too much money' in incentive pay (they got a bonus for accuracy and for picking above and beyond their normal quota of items) so they canceled the picker incentive plan and bumped up their quota, saying 'it's their job, we're getting robbed paying them extra to do what they should be doing anyway!'"
"Pick rates began falling sharply within the first week or two, because the incentive pay for being an outstandingly fast and accurate picker made the otherwise crappy base pay for that job turn into a living wage."
"Warehouse staff was enraged by having their pay jacked with and now being unable to pay their bills while still being expected to perform as well as they did before, so they started performing to the old quota."
"Management did much finger wagging and tried to write up a couple of the top pickers for 'deliberately underperforming and hurting the company'."
"Those top tier workers refused to sign the writeups, walked out of our warehouse, walked into the warehouse of our direct competitor, and had new jobs that same day."
"The rest of the high performers followed over the next couple of weeks."
"Delivery routes got delayed because of the short staffing and loss of the best workers, customers got upset because they were receiving the wrong items or not getting them at all, and the sales team, which wasn't paid enough to get screamed at by angry customers, was furious."
"Cue a meeting with the sales team and the f*cking walnut, who proceeded to lecture everybody about how 'picking is an entry level job' and 'anybody could do it' and how they're going to bring in a bunch of temp labor 'because they will actually appreciate the opportunity'."
"Fast forward a few months and it turns out the temps are idiots and caused the number of pick and 'not on pallet' errors to increase, customers are now leaving in droves, and sales people are bailing out too."
"The company lost millions of dollars in business and had to lay off half the staff because they were going to go bankrupt otherwise."
"All this because some f*cking walnut thought they could squeeze the people at the bottom of the pile who actually did the work that made the company money."- nancybell_crewman
From $75 Max, To A $75 Steak...
"We used to get a travel per diem for our meals."
"Most people would eat cheap like get a free breakfast at the hotel and get a $5 footlong and split it for lunch and dinner and bank the rest."
"I traveled a lot so it was like a nice perk."
'The company got wind of this and changed their policy to we had to buy and expense all our meals."
"The problem was they had to have the same policy for all employees so they couldn’t put a cap on meals due to the sales guys having to take out clients and stuff."
"We took full advantage of it and ate like kings."
"My meals expenses were twice what they were paying in per diem."- velvet_satan
Safety First
"I used to be the head of security for a club that had the most tight-fisted owners I’ve ever heard of."
"I kept telling them that we were dangerously understaffed."
"The police told them the same."
"So did the fire brigade, they said there wasn’t enough of us to evacuate the venue if we had to, they were right too."
"The owners wouldn’t listen."
"The club was taking around 45k per week but they wouldn’t pay for radios for us to least be able to communicate."
"We had so many incidents there that it was just insane."
"There just wasn’t enough of us to actually watch the whole club and even when we did see something we couldn’t call for back up."
"I found a set of second hand radios for under £200 but they refused to buy them I ended up buying whistles for the team to at least give us something to use to get each others attention."
"They also wouldn’t pay to get CCTV installed which upset the local police."
"One night a bartender came out to the door and told me there was a fight inside, there was no security inside just 2 of us on the door."
"When we went in there was around 60 people brawling on the dance floor."
"We did what we could but it was beyond our control."
"Eventually the police arrived but wouldn’t come inside they stood outside and essentially instructed us to kick everyone out and they would keep them out."
"We spent 45 minutes dragging people out of there."
"Many people were injured and after the fight one of the guys who had been fighting came back and stabbed a guy he had fought with."
"The police decided enough was enough and approached the council who as expected revoked the premises license."
"They lost the club altogether."- operative87
Gig Economy...
"Not giving the guy doing 2.5 full-time jobs a slight raise, instead letting them walk and paying 3 new people (combined) at least twice what they were paying him to do all the same work at like 65 percent the quality level."- BigPZ
Experience Matters...
"Consolidated the sales departments and made salespeople stop selling the stuff they knew how to sell and forced them to try to sell products they weren't familiar with to customers they had no history with."
"Company almost went out of business in a matter of months, and this was not a small company."- MostBotsAreBad
Needless to say, a business needs money to operate.
But money should never be the driving force behind the decision.
At least not over quality, practicality, and the well being of your employees.
While it's important to eat healthy, it's not uncommon to sometimes crave something greasy and fattening.
Since everything is good in moderation, it's not a bad thing to want a meal of burgers, fries, and a milkshake. However, it is important to find out where to get the best.
There are countless fast food restaurants in the world. There are about seven located two minutes from my house! That's why it's no surprise that everyone has a different opinion on which place is the best.
Redditors have differing opinions on what the "right answer" is, and they're ready to share.
It all started when Redditor the_idea_ asked:
"What is the BEST fast food restaurant?"
No Substitute
"I’m here as an ex manager of a Taco Bell to say the food is garbage. Nothing fresh whatsoever. But I’d still eat there every day if I could. Solid f*cking garbage. Lived off of those five layer burritos."
– N1lb0g001
"Nobody going to Taco Bell goes there because the food is good, or even because they want Mexican food. They're going because they want Taco Bell, and there is no substitute."
"I do well enough avoiding fast food aside from the occasional CFA breakfast sandwich, but when I do have a craving, it's for Taco Bell every time."
– duffman13jws
Quality Over All
"Worked at Wendy’s and the food quality was surprisingly fresh. Salads were made to order and management was strict about food timers. All of the ground beef was delivered 3-4 times a week and never frozen. Would say their food quality makes them a favorite in my mind"
– RoombaRUs
"Honestly, that's such a glowing review."
"If an ex-employee of a fast food place speaks this highly of it, you know it's good."
"I learned the secrets of McDonald's 12 years ago and still have nightmares about the food safety I witnessed."
– JaydedGaming
The Right Ingredients
"I worked at a wide variety of fast food restaurants about 15 years ago (Wendy’s, Jack in the Box and Sonic) and honestly, Sonic was leagues ahead of the others. We used actual cream, not powdered dairy product in all ice cream/deserts. Onion rings were cut fresh in house and there was a real dedication to cleanliness and food safety. To this day Sonic is my go to fast food."
– Dendritic1
"Their commitment to a beverage is unmatched and I love that about them. I don’t even need food, I have all my daily calories in this route 44 cherry limeade."
– PossumJenkinsSoles
It's All About The People
"I know this is kind of a non-answer but honestly the staff at any given restaurant can make or break the quality. I'm a fan of the Burger King near me because they train and treat their staff exceptionally well, and it shows in the quality of the food, but I've been to plenty of other locations that are just gross. So I'm sure there are cities where Wendy's or McDonalds are the best locally, and I'm sure that the reason for that is because of good management and happy employees."
– scojo12345
I'll Drive If I Have To
"As a Californian I feel obligated to say In N Out, but honestly I like Dairy Queen. I don't really see them here. Like at all. But they're in Oregon everywhere so close enough."
– KingOfTheLifeNewbs
"Dairy Queen has pretty solid burgers and aren't super expensive. And Blizzards are the best. I'd pick them over McD's and BK any day."
– ReflexImprov
Only One Coast
"How is In N Out this low on the list? I guess because it's regional?"
"It's the ONLY fast food that looks EXACTLY like the advertisement. It tastes amazing, and 2 double-doubles is like $11 - animal style, add chili's."
"The fries are trash though - complete garbage. Some people think otherwise, and it's ok to be wrong."
– Observationistic
"I looked up why In N Out never expanded. Apparently they only have west coast beef farms. Refused to freeze and ship to expand. Also they donate to all manners of non profits. In N Out for the win."
– NorCal130
Only One Answer
"Bojangles. No further questions at this time."
– OkActive448
"Mmmm. Bojangles biscuits. Nothing short of amazing."
– HangrySkeptic
That Sailor Man
"Popeyes"
– Much_Committee_9355
"Oh lawd... that chicken sandwich...so good."
– Goblue5891x2
"Their red bean and rice- yes please"
– Junior-Lie4342
A Good Burger
"Goodburger"
– fruitpony
"Welcome to goodburger home of the goodburger! Can I take your order?"
– Mobile-Dragonfly5123
My Body Is No Temple Anymore
"five guys. cheeseburguer with mustard and hot sauce and all the coca cola you can down. it's artery poison but worth every bite"
– madkeepz
"Plus a small Cajun fry that includes 10% of a potato crop yield"
– jcrewjr
That's A Rave!
"Try Arby's sandwiches. The best."
– It_Could_Be_True
"i'm like 200 comments in before I found Arby's. Man, they deliver so much good stuff! i've been loving the spicy roast beef they have out right now."
"I just don't know any other restaurant where you can get a gyro, a reuban, or a french dip, and they all just slap. not to mention the sauces... totally underappreciated restaurant."
– HighlightFun8419
Behind These Castle Walls
"White castle. I'll fight you on this"
– Pleasant-Package-745
It's The Same In Every Country
"McDonald's is always there for you, it doesn't matter what city you're in."
– han7nah
"And definitely not the best food, but the most iconic. Both in flavor and smells.😌😌😌"
– PrincessHootHoot
All The Choices
"A place that a lot of people don't have, which is Cookout. Unbelievable amount of choices and sides. And some of the best milkshake flavors known to man(kind)"
– BaconFlavoredToast
"the first time i went to one the fact that i could order a corndog with a side of corndog made me lose it, we were all deliriously tired and that was hilarious"
– Melbuf
"I think the pricing sets it apart. Even if the food isn’t great in a vacuum, knowing that I got a huge meal for less than 10$ makes it taste better"
– clout-trout
Hunger
"This thread gave me like a hundred different food cravings all at once"
– Beatrixkiddobangbang
Me too! I've got to go order some food now!
Did we leave any of your favorites off the list? Let us know in the comments below.
Sandwiches are a pinnacle of food.
Who doesn't love a roll with meat?
Sandwiches are the reason why delis are so massively popular.
And the improvements on this simple menu staple have taken food in general to another level.
So what are the small changes and additions that make it all that much better?
Who has the secrets?
Redditor arisal3 wanted to chat about how to improve the sandwich, so they asked:
"What makes a sandwich go from boring to amazing?"
I say mayo. Mayo. MAYO! More and always.
That's the key improvement.
Elevation
"Seasoning and toasting the bread can seriously elevate a sandwich."
lovelyteaparty
"I like boring sandwiches, but toasting the bread 100% improves them. Especially if there is cheese on the sandwich."
Hawntir
Additions
"At the best sandwich places, all the vegetables are basically prepared like side dishes. Marinated, seasoned, grilled, or something."
han7nah
"Vinegar, whether its a dressing, mustard, brined pickles olives or anything else. Vinegar is king. Its also why i use hot sauce on everything."
eggsaladrightnow
"Gonna sound weird but banana peppers in mayo with hot relish. Got delivered someone else's order once and been addicted since."
Johnnyocean
You Do It
"Someone else making it."
unclebobsplayground
"I actually saw an article years ago about some study where they basically confirmed this. Smelling and handling the ingredients before eating the sandwich reduced cravings for and appreciation of the finished product, similar to how the fourth or fifth bite is less exciting than the first because you've gotten used to it."
Palazzo505
Pointed Issues
"Cutting it in half, diagonally."
grantnel2002
"Chef John from the fantastic https://youtube.com/@foodwishes YouTube channel often says 'It's a scientifically proven fact: people like pointy food.'"
shaggydogg
"All the fancy kids at school always had theirs cut diagonally. But our lunch tubbies were square so if it was cut diagonally, it won't fit in. My mom refused to buy new lunch tubbies just because I wanted my bread cut differently. Now that I am all grown up I ALWAYS cut mine diagonally and it is just wonderful. Simply wonderful."
magic7ball
A little touch...
"Salt and pepper on the veggies."
beyd1
"Especially tomatoes. Always season your tomatoes before sandwiching."
BigShoots
Those small changes go a long way.
Starving
"Hunger. It's amazing how amazing even a boring sandwich can taste when you're famished."
Somnif
The Spice
"Sweet 'n spicy mustard."
Cab8675
"Came to say basically any type of good sauce. Depending on the sandwich, chipotle or herb aioli, spicy mustard, pesto, or even just olive oil (infused is better) and vinegar."
wxmanify
"Philly cheesesteaks are my favorite sandwich, and there’s this local restaurant that makes the best one I’ve ever had."
"The main thing is that the add creole mustard to it. The bread, meat, and everything else is also really good, but that mustard takes it too another level. I never would’ve thought to put a spicy sauce on a cheesesteak (though I don’t know much about cooking)."
Frosty_Analysis_4912
The Feel
"Wrap it tightly in butcher paper after making. The compression marries all the ingredients together and pushes condiments into the crevices of the bread. Even if you're just going to eat it right after making it, a little time wrapped up seriously improves the flavor and feel of the sandwich."
LemFliggity
Just a Touch
"r/EatSandwiches assemble! In my opinion, dressing your greens is critical to a sandwich getting to that next level."
"Typically, for cold cuts, this is a vinaigrette dressing for me. But in hot sandwiches (e.g. the roast pork at DiNic’s in Philly) the greens are braised and thereby dressed as well."
"A touch of olive oil or butter and some fresh salt and pepper will never fail you either."
bpd52
It all changes...
"Caramelized onion jam. It's a freaking game changer. Sourdough with Comté and BellaVitano expresso rubbed cheese, as a grilled cheese."
TheLivingShit
Now let's go make some sandwiches.
Do you have any other hacks to share? Let us know in the comments.
Humans are annoying.
Our attention spans are limited, our attitudes really need adjusting, and we make dating torture on ourselves.
So losing interest in a person should be more of a given than a surprise.
But it is fascinating to learn about what can change a person's mind about another so quickly.
Redditor lixxie_lx wanted to hear about all the big and minuscule things that have us running for the hills, so they asked:
"What instantly makes you lose interest in a person?"
This is a major issue for me.
I lose interest at the speed of light.
Not Cute
"Superiority complex. It’s fine to be confident, but if you need to put others down to feel that way you’re just insecure and it’s not cute."
CarlosTentacule
Growning Apart
"The moment I can tell that they aren’t trying. Either they aren’t all that interested in me or they expect me to do all of the 'work' so to speak. Either reason is a good enough one to step away."
Ok_Button1932
"I’m going through this as well. 5 year relationship, no kids thankfully and not married. We’ve had to do long distance the last few months and she’s essentially radio silent. Never calls and only texts back if I chase her."
"We trust each other implicitly and even share location but the lack of interest in even checking in with me or being affectionate unless I initiate it has me feeling so gaslit. I fear it’s something as simple as growing apart but neither person wanting to end it."
SavetheFollys
The Tease
"When I tell them I don't like something, or something makes me uncomfortable and they continue to do it intentionally as if it's flirting."
mtotheija
"Hardest breakup I ever had was because of a person's inability to stop f**king with me... it's not funny when someone says that it bothers them and you continue to do it."
"Everything else was really good it gave me huge self doubt that I was just being a whimp and she had a point that it was just teasing. Even got to the point that I thought that's just the way this give and take is gonna go in this relationship. Glad I decided to get out... I would have been miserable."
phreedumb21nyc21
Be Quiet
"Constantly talking sh*t about others and trying to boost their own ego."
uncultured_swine2099
"Yup, I thought I met a good person at first, but then she started talking sh*t about everyone, not to mention if I got something I wanted, instead of being happy for me, she becomes extremely jealous."
"The last straw was when she left me in the middle of the street and left without me for university even though she told me she was picking me up. Sadly, she's still friends with my sister, and she kinda has to be because they share so many classes, but I'm still trying to find a way to cut off all contact, which is harder than I thought would be."
The_Phantom_Soldier
I See You
"Few things are 'instant' dealbreakers, but blatant displays of rudeness or condescension toward strangers when under stress is a big red flag. Like, I get that you are frustrated, but there is no need to be a d*ck."
MissBitsy
Why is kindness so arduous for some people?
Kindness First
"If they mistreat others, especially those who are in the service industries."
funtime2000
Stay in the moment...
"When they can't stop checking their mobile phones every few seconds while we are talking. I went out with a woman who would do that. After the 4th date I stopped going out with her and dated another woman. The former was surprised to know that."
"I said 'But girl, you're always on the phone while I talk to you, it makes me feel ignored you know' and she was angry/sad. But I'm not exaggerating when I say she was staring on that screen and sending voice messages and all that to other friends of her while we were dating."
GabrielOmarCY
Look Further
"Lack of curiosity/intellectual laziness. lack of empathy, excessively judgemental attitude, narcissism, treating others as subhuman, spewing hatred, excessive victim behavior, and/or unnecessary combativeness. Maybe I'm just picky."
SawgrassSteve
"Assuming that if they don't know it it isn't worth knowing/can't be interesting. Also adults - well into adulthood, whose excuse for not knowing something is that they weren't taught about it at school. If they taught you to read you can keep learning on your own, you know."
zeugma888
Hard No!
"It definitely (for me i’m talking friendships) depends on a couple things. how they respond to emotional situations (example is are they caring/comforting or being dismissive and not really trying to put anything into it?)... how they respond to boundaries, if they’re mean or judgmental of others, like if we were talking and walking and they randomly look at another person walking and insult them, that’s DEFINITELY a hard no."
chaoticwitchbrr
Tropes
"The 'hard to get' trope. like its one thing if there actually isn't mutual interest but when there is and someone makes you feel like you're working for their time and consideration, forget it."
cherrycreams0da
Coin Chat
"Talking about money. Pitching me business ideas. Speaking ill of people they view as lesser. Always comparing things they associate with prestige, and never speaking about anything of real substance."
FoldedaMillionTimes
Have any of these things ever happened to you? Let us know in the comments below.