Financial Experts Break Down The Worst Financial Decisions They've Ever Seen A Client Make
Bottoming out!
The world of finance is a constant gamble. Algorithms change, dows drops, stocks pivot.... it's a never ending game, more intense and bloody than Game of Thrones and a 007 film. That's why its so important to find and listen to the people who become experts in this field. So why do so many of us gamble with our coins based on our own thoughts? Or intuitions? Especially since most of us never got past Algebra II.
Redditor u/weekendbrainsurgeon wanted to hear from those in finance field about bad decisions they've witnessed that we all should never try by asking.... Bankers, Accountants, Financial Professionals, and Insurance Agents of reddit, What's the worst financial decision you've seen a client make?Tilray Down
mickey mouse smh GIF by ABC NetworkGiphyI had a client in her 70s put her whole savings in Tilray stock.
Tilray at the time was trading above 150 per share. I told her it was a terrible idea to put all of her savings in one investment but she told me I was wrong. She argued with me for a good 15 minutes until I relented and said okay, it's your money. So she put 300k into Tilray.
Couple weeks later it starts dropping, I call her and get no answer. It's sitting at 6 dollars a share now, her account is down to about 12k. Last time I spoke with her I took no pleasure in telling her she's no longer my client.
The Truth is Out
Had a client who was extremely wealthy about eight years ago tell us he was no longer going to use our services. Last year we get an extremely angry phone call from his wife asking us why we haven't been filing their taxes. We showed her the paperwork where her husband said he was no longer going to use our services. And then crap hit the fan. This dude apparently just decided he wasn't going to pay taxes anymore and didn't file a return for eight years and had been lying to his wife.
They were rich and owed almost 1.4 million dollars in taxes not including interest and penalties. And oh yeah they got absolutely fried by the IRS. If you are in a relationship with someone you need to be involved in financial decisions. Never let one party handle all of the money and make all of the decisions. That is how bad things happen in both business and in relationships.
Worthless
I had a client Buy numismatic gold coins with an entire retirement account. She bought 266k worth of coins at almost double the price of bullion. I got the gold salesman on the phone and asked him to justify the reasoning and I he said it was because the dollar was paper money and worth nothing and that gold was going to go to 10000 a coin. I asked him what he exchanged this gold for and he said "well she paid me dollars". Then I said "why would you accept a worthless currency for your rapidly appreciating gold currency?" He cursed at me and hung up and said I didn't know what I was talking about.
I still haven't met a gold salesman that can answer this. Their whole pitch is that the dollar isn't worth anything but they happily take them in exchange for gold coins. The whole thing is crap. Poor lady. She can't sell them now even with gold bullion as high as it is for anything close to what she bought them for.
I am a fully registered advisor just to disclose.
600 Down
Tea Smh GIF by moodmanGiphyNot my client.
Saw a guy invest about 600k in a start-up. He confirmed in the 1.5 pages agreement that he was fully informed about everything going on.
Please if you invest in that size, ask a lawyer to at least review the agreement.
Needless to say, said guy's net worth is 600k less now.
The Accountants Know
Accountant here.
If you're a small business owner and your business provides you with even a remotely significant amount of income, then get a separate bank account for your business income and expenses and never, never, never commingle your accounts. If you find that you need to make a business payment and you don't have that money in your business account but you do in your personal, then write it down in your books as money that you give the business that then gets spent on the business expense. Likewise, if you want to use your business income, pay yourself a wage or a 'dividend'. The moment you cross your accounts is the moment that you put yourself into tremendous financial paperwork frustrations.
The Lotto Scam
Former manager at a credit union. One seemingly smart lady in her 70s got one of those lottery scam letters saying she won, but needed to send them money to process her winnings. They kept getting her to send more and more money. We were telling her it was a scam from day 1, but we couldn't stop her.
She burned through her IRA which had about 200k. Took out a loan against her paid off house for another 200k. Sold her jewelry. Probably paid out 500k total before finally realizing.
We truly did everything we could. Got her family involved. Several of us would confront her every time she came in and would plead with her to stop.
It was sad but at some point you have to cut your losses and realize it's a scam.
Edit: I was the assistant manager at that point. We brought our risk management department and other higher ups in but they wouldn't close her account.
The whole 500k was not with us. We had no idea about the loan, jewelry and some money in other accounts that she gave out until after it was all over.
She even thanked us later on and wishes she listened to us.
100% Gone
I've made money with both stocks and options but I get on r/wallstreetbets sometimes to see how tf someone can go tits up so easily and omg.... "I have $50,000 in my account, let me throw 100% of that on Amazon puts that expire Friday." Ive also seen people who pull in $1m in their first year and try to tell everyone else how to trade. That's like me hitting it big on a slot machine and then pretending to be an expert.
Chose HULU
cindy brady smh GIF by HULUGiphyUsing ALL of his "retirement" and daughters college tuition to short Netflix. He lost over a million dollars.
"sovereign citizen"
Best friend is a CPA, and when he had his own practice, he had some pretty big-name clients (Senators, musicians, pro athletes, etc.) One of the biggest mistakes people made were thinking they were smarter than an accountant. His biggest challenge were the people who heard about the "sovereign citizen" nonsense. To no one's surprise, a random guy on YouTube doesn't know more than an actual CPA with 40+ years experience. At least a few of these new-found "sovereign citizens" ended up doing time for tax evasion.
Just Exercise
working out richard simmons GIFGiphyA private company announced a special dividend to all shareholders as of date of record one-month in the future. $1.30/share dividend.
There was an option holder with 300,000 options at a $0.10 strike price.
He did not exercise them. Had he exercised his options for $30,000, he would have been paid $390,000 the following month.
Wordless
Not an accountant but I used to do Social Work that included some budget coaching. I was going over one family's monthly budget and trying to figure out how they were going to rearrange so they could pay the subsidized $10 copay for court ordered counseling that would make or break them keeping custody of their children. Now, budget was a little tight because only the dad worked. But he was making just under double what I made for helping them with the budget. And they were living in a gross trailer park where they paid next to nothing for rent.
And this was a step up from the gross motel room they had been living in before. And when I was nicely chewing them out for missing a counseling session, they were all too happy to explain the problem. Which, of course, was dad got paid on Thursdays (weekly) and the Counselor had them scheduled for Tuesdays (weekly.) So, there was no way they would have the $10 left to pay the Counselor on Tuesday.
The solution to this was they had to start driving across town to pay the Counselor on payday, and then drive to their (already paid for) session 5 days later. I was just getting my mind wrapped around this concept, when the mom called me all excited. She had fixed their financial problems. She refinanced their (POS 12+ year old) car. And she was so excited to tell me that instead of paying $385 a month, their new payments were only $115 a week. I still have no words.
Send in the Cars
I've seen people finance cars at over 30% interest. paying $500/mo for a 8-year old mustang, and will end up paying well over 2x the cars value, assuming they pay the loan off.
Edit: since this kinda blew up, here's a PSA for all the active duty (American) military people - any loan you took out prior to either enlistment or deployment is eligible to have the rate reduced to either 6.99 or 7.99% (google it before you call your bank, as it's been a couple years and laws change.) all you have to do is call your creditor and provide them with your orders and they have to reduce the rate, even retroactively, to the date you deployed (or enlisted.. again, google it).
Idiots.
idiots GIFGiphy- The client who joined an MLM and racked up half a million dollars worth of losses before finally listening to us and quitting.
- The client who spent $40k on Farmville over 3 months.
- The clients who give their adult children allowances that exceed my salary, fancy cars, and houses without expecting them to ever hold down a job themselves. vwh808
The Shoo-In....
Payroll accountant. I used to work for a company with an actuarial Department. There was a lovely young woman working in the call center with a masters degree in data science. She was constantly talking about how frustrated she was with making $16/hour in a call center when she had a masters degree in data science, yet no matter how many times I told her to apply to the actuarial team she wouldn't do so.
The actuarial team was HUGE about promoting within. I saw many people who wanted to learn more about what they do who had no experience whatsoever get excepted into the team because they wanted to learn. This girl was a shoo-in. And yet she never even tried despite the fact that there were always openings. She also shared with me that she was $180k in debt for that master's degree. Last time I checked in with her she had left the job completely and is now in school for art. (Insert facepalm emoji here.)
But my favorite was before I was even an accountant. I worked for a small CPA firm as a receptionist during tax time. I saw a full-grown woman sit down on the floor and start crying because she owed $900 in taxes that year when she had made about $150k that year. I rolled my eyes so hard that I hurt myself. Later that day I had a guy who owed $750k to the IRS and said "woohoo! That's way less than last year!"
The Lost Seat
Watched a client walk out of my office after I explained the risk in liquidating his 401K to start his own business. He started it with no management experience or business model, real "fly by the seat of his pants" kinda guy. Wanted to start a career flipping houses in a college town, turn them into upscale rentals. Did it in a bad neighborhood and lost EVERYTHING.
The Background
I'm a CPA and had a client whose business was going under. He started taking out payday loans on his own salary to pay his staff. When it gets this bad with no end in sight, time to reduce staff.
Also in r/accounting someone posted about wanting to file bankruptcy over $900 in credit card debt. This person was about to graduate college with an accounting degree and would have been making $50k starting out.
We all thought he was trolling us, but somehow ended up coming off as a legitimate situation. Who wants to hire a bankrupt accountant which shows up in background searches?!?!
Simple....
Feeling Dumb Jim Carrey GIFGiphyProbably not the worst, but one of the more perplexingly common...
Making over $250k (sometimes WELL over), no withholding, not paying estimated taxes throughout the year, can't afford the tax bill with the return EVERY YEAR, then complaining because they can't afford the installment payments on the taxes they owe from two years ago.
Moron, sell your gaudy, gross McMansion, take your teenage daughter's credit card away, let your drunk driving son stay in jail and get a public defender, and tell your horrible wife to stop spending all day at the tennis courts sipping mimosas. Get your mess together and pay taxes throughout the year like the rest of us. You aren't being persecuted by the IRS, you're just an idiot.
Don't Spend It!
I work for a bank. One of our branches had a customer who was basically homeless. Then, he wins the lottery! Over the next few months, the staff watched him come in to withdraw thousands of dollars every day to spend on extravagances. Everyone tried to convince him to sit with a financial advisor to help him make the most of his money. Less than a year later, he's in slightly better shape than when he started; he's at least able to live in the car he bought.
Countless Screw-ups....
What I've seen, countless times, is someone who started a business with ZERO research, no understanding of what running a business involves. (Here's a hint: practically every business involves paperwork and deadlines.). The business models come in waves... for awhile it was Barbecue shacks, then it was cupcakes, then house flippers, then food trucks. I think they see it being done on TV shows that make it look fun. It isn't fun when they come to me with debt, tax levies and lawsuits.
IRS and state labor department and health department on their backs, and suppliers taking them to court for unpaid bills. Some of them cashed out their retirement account to buy a business; others put their house up as collateral for an SBA loan. it's a nightmare. If they had come to an accountant first, we might be able to help them (or even better, dissuade then). I usually see them after 18-24 months of screw-ups and by then it's usually too late to rescue them.
ATM Issues
make it rain loop GIF by Chris TimmonsGiphyBanker. Banks charge fees for using other bank's ATMs.
I had a customer that would check his balance and then do withdrawals daily at a foreign ATM. Guy did not have a lot of money to begin with and because he did this, would overdraw his account and get slapped with an overdraft fee which put him in the hole further. We ended up taking away his ability to overdraw his account. Dude was pissed, but it helped right the ship a little.
Professional Secrets From Customer Service Employees
"Reddit user Psychological-Name15 asked: 'Customer service workers of Reddit, what secret can you reveal from your former company?'"
Customer service jobs are not for the faint of heart.
Dealing with people at their angriest and rudest does not breed a positive work environment.
Customer service can be a downright toxic job.
And if it's not the customers setting your spirit on fire, it's the companies themselves.
Some companies seem to revel in creating discontent.
That's why these types of jobs have such high turnover.
Redditor Psychological-Name15 wanted the customer service reps out there to give us some truths, so they asked:
"Customer service workers of Reddit, what secret can you reveal from your former company?"
I want to know about the inner workings of Comcast!!
I loathe them!
Oh Dear
Jennifer Lopez Smh GIF by American IdolGiphyI used to work in tech support for Citi Bank. The people working there are not intelligent. My favorite interaction went like this..."
"Banker - How do I type the upside down I?"
"Me - Ma'am, that's an exclamation point."
slappy_mcslapenstein
The Crappy People
"In every CS job I’ve ever had: we will bend over backward to help a nice person. We will expedite any complaint, give maximum compensation, and harass other areas of the business for you."
"We will do the absolute bare minimum to help a shi**y person and if you’re really bad, we will do everything in our power to make sure you get nothing but what you’re legally entitled to and it will be a process to get that."
11catsinahumansuit
"I don’t work in CS but 100% the same for us in IT a nice person will get new stuff while a shi**y person will get questionable secondhand crap that will take 12 months to fix! I will make sure that you wait as long as humanely possible to have anything fixed!"
Sharp-Demand-6614
Go to Holiday Inn
"If you ask for a supervisor calling Marriott you will just get another person who is not a supervisor, but say they are."
cryptnificent
"Yep. I've seen this done numerous times across multiple industries. Usually, it only involves an actual sup if it's a genuine problem or if they want to make a point."
"The last job I had was in towing junk cars. Two of the inside buyers, one male, and one female, would bounce that sup card around constantly. Idk how no one ever put it together. We'd get repeat callers and repeat sellers so I don't know."
ItsBobFromLumbridge
Heartless
"Worked at a contracted call center for Centrelink. The manager told us to deny as many emergency payments as possible and they would back us no matter what. They were actively working towards a culture that despised the callers and churned staff to get heartless right-wingers who hated the poor."
Rizza1122
"I feel ya. My best mate is a quadriplegic. Centrelink denied his disability pension because he wasn’t disabled enough."
Less-Storage
Go to Home Depot
You Are Dumb Patrick Star GIF by SpongeBob SquarePantsGiphy"I worked at Lowes. I didn't know anything about anything in the electrical department yet that's where they put me without any training."
Eattherich187
Not training people is not just a Lowes thing.
There are too many unqualified people doing too many things.
Switcharoo
Drag Race What GIF by TAZOGiphy"Can confirm it's an unwritten policy for deli departments in Coles Supermarkets to change the written expiry dates on their tickets so they can sell out-of-code products at full price."
A Little Sunshine
"I worked at a call center for the billing department of a major internet and cable service provider. We were authorized to give up to $90 credit per customer on their bill but only as a last resort. Always remember to be nice to all customer service workers. You never know just how much they can help with a friendly attitude."
Axel_Dunce
"Former call center employee here. Highly accurate. Use your manners, and well fix your issue. Anything else, just makes us want to take longer, and you won't get a credit. Just because we are authorized, doesn't mean you'll get the credit for being an a**hat. haha. I've been verbally abused a few times for asking them not to swear at me. Lol."
Ok-Ad-7247
LELU
"I worked for a major telco company for many years in something called a ‘LELU’ which stands for Law Enforcement Liaison Unit. This 'unit' is pretty self-explanatory, but it essentially is a team who worked directly with the police/FEDS to monitor people's information for things such as obtaining communications history of call logs, SMS loss, etc."
"However, most importantly, the software we used, we as agents could directly see all your SMS texts, including MMS and their explicit imagery of whatever you were sending. This would include sexting, naked images, family photos, and everything. There were instances where people abused this position by stalking or 'monitoring' their SO’s comings and going’s."
MidniteMischief
Cookies!!
"I worked at a cafe chain called 'The Cookie Man,' 95% of their cookies arrived in cardboard boxes layered with bubble wrap. The last 5% arrived as pre-made dough that we would bake on-site to make the place smell like fresh cookies."
"I also worked at a cupcake shop. It's literally just packet mix that you add eggs and oil to before baking/piping pre-made icing onto. Don't waste your money on these places, 90% of these chain shops are the same and most are severely underpaying their workers (this is for Australia btw). Just purchase some packet mix from the supermarket and call it a day."
Frequent-Selection91
Look in the Back
"I was a Store Manager for a very large grocery chain and I can tell you that 95% of the time when customers complain to the manager, we may be professional and show empathy, and even resolve the problem."
"But then we usually just make fun of or talk crap about the person who complained to the other employees. And when a customer is really rude when we go 'look in the back' for something, we legit just stand around and talk to other employees, and make zero effort to look for the item."
A_Womans_Thoughts
From the Box
Kaitlin Olson Brunch GIF by The MickGiphy"I once worked at 'the area's premiere day spa'; the mimosas were made with Sunny D and not real orange juice, and the wines came out of a box."
SailorVenus23
Sunny D and champagne?!?!
What in the name of Lucifer?
Who does that?!
Do you have anything to add? Let us know in the comments below.
For anyone who has attempted to adopt a new habit, like rising earlier or exercising or eating healthier, they've likely heard the advice to make the change a little at a time, rather than trying to do it all at once.
Because truly, sometimes it's those smaller choices that make all the difference.
Redditor robbbala asked:
"What life hack changed your life?"
Alcohol Elimination Diet
"If you’re trying to lose weight, eliminate alcohol from your diet."
- dem4life71
"Uggghhhhhhhhh. F**k you, man. I know. I KNOW."
- r_u_ferserious
The Importance of Good Sleep
"When I was 16, I made the life-changing discovery that if I sleep eight or more hours before school, it will suck less. I've been doing it ever since."
- Princessss5
"I keep the same sleep schedule every day no matter if I work or not."
"I fall asleep right away and get better sleep from it."
- chaedog
Be a Good Example
"'Just because someone is doing it wrong shouldn't stop you from doing it right."
- in-a-microbus
"I'm a building inspector and I regularly run into guys who are doing something wrong and when I explain to them how it's supposed to be done according to the code, they always say, 'I've been doing it that way for over 20 years.'"
"I always respond, 'Well, I guess you've been doing it wrong for over 20 years.'"
- lukewwilson
Be One with the Sim
"When you're stuck in a rut of not being able to take care of yourself, I pretend I'm a Sim and someone is controlling me to fill all my bars back to green."
"For some reason, it works. It even works with cooking and doing the dishes. It's kinda fun to feel like you're leveling up in cooking or writing or something, too."
- Tired_tall
"This is how I’ve gotten by as an adult so far. Learned how to turn off the fear response sort of in order to get things done. Go into it mechanically, and deal with my anxiety later."
"Pretending to be confident does wonders. It doesn’t teach you how to handle personal struggles on your own, though. Still gotta figure that one out."
- TinyChaco
Become a Social Media Influencer
"Lol (laughing out loud), when I don’t feel like doing something, like a household chore, I’ll say, 'Hey guys, welcome back to my channel' like a blogger and pretend I’m showing people. It's stupid but sometimes it works."
- Ok-Mechanic9136
"Directions unclear. I used a meme as a model, and now my kitchen is on fire."
- jlp120145
Helpful Apps
"For fellow gamers: I've been using this app called Habitica. You have a little pixel avatar with health and experience bars and completing tasks will raise your experience while continuing bad habits will affect your health."
- WitherWithout
"It works when trying to make friends, too. You have to actually do stuff with people to fill your friendship bar. You have to compliment and say nice things and do your best to actually connect with them. And three to five interactions and activities really do help a friendship solidify."
- HarrisonRyeGraham
A Capsule Closet in the Laundry Room
"Buying one color of socks and undershirts saves so much time on laundry."
- kukukele
"Even better, buy also the same model of socks, so you don't even have to sort them."
- FireBone62
Pick Your Battles
"Care less."
"It leads to less stress and generally makes you better at what you’re doing. Also, caring less tends to help set boundaries, you’ll say yes to less nonsense when you don’t care."
- TurboEthan
"My friend and I always say we only have so many f**ks to give in this lifetime so choose wisely."
- starcielizabeth
The Importance of Exercise
"Exercise. Oddly enough this gets a lot of crap on Reddit sometimes, but it is an excellent depression treatment. Numerous studies have shown this and it's been shown to be just as effective at treating mild to moderate depression as medication is but without any side effects."
"People are not made to sit in front of screens all day. Just get out and walk for 30 to 45 minutes a day and it's super helpful. If you do weight training on top of that, it's a bonus."
- throwaway_4733
An Effective Evening Routine
"This is super basic, but preparing my kids' lunches and outfits in the evenings for the next day has massively reduced my morning stress level."
- mejok
"Setting out my next day's clothes at night is so great. Whether I wake up fresh as a daisy or groggy, I don’t have to make a decision, because it’s already made."
- ccx941
Useful Automation
"Automate everything you can. Bill pay, calendar reminders for taking the garbage out, schedule the dentist a year out etc. Not having to spend mental energy remembering to do stuff makes life WAY better."
- brycebgood
Clean Space, Clean Mind
"Not really a hack, but carving out a couple of hours on the weekend to clean out my car and place. Cleaning it all. Really made me feel better about myself."
- JMT2492
"It is surprising how some self-discipline helps mental health, at least in my experience. Helps my mind feel less cluttered if that makes any sense."
- B3TST3R
Understanding Anxiety
"Understanding most of my anger issues were actually caused by anxiety. Lack of control of a situation doesn't mean I need to mentally produce a solution, and act out emotionally when the situation doesn't go the way I expect."
"Shrugging and saying, 'I guess we're just going do it the dumb way today,' is so much less stressful than freaking out because I'm not in control. I just go with the plan unless it's going to get someone hurt. It's been years since I remember being angry at work, I still get disappointed but it doesn't ruin my day."
- Dizzy-Particular-258
Keep Reminding Them
"Go to the Dollar store. Buy three or four cards you can write 'I love you' in. Randomly give your partner one every once in and a while. Bonus points if you put them somewhere they’ll easily find them when you’re not there."
"It’s the little things."
- Chicagostupid
Gratitude Before Remorse
"Express gratitude instead of remorse, whenever possible. People enjoy gratitude and generally don't know what to do with remorse (and kind of feel like they're now responsible for making you feel better)."
"I.e. don't say, 'Sorry I'm late,' say 'Thanks for your patience,' and don't say, 'Sorry for bothering you,' say 'Thanks for your time.'"
- AWildRapBattle
Though each of these tasks are seemingly simple in and of themselves, it's clear from these Redditor's accounts that they've made a serious change in their lives.
Sometimes it's truly the smallest stone that makes the biggest ripple!
When we were much younger, we thought we could get away with anything.
To cover up something we did that we as children inherently knew was wrong, we may have said something that wasn't true to make us seem more innocent than we actually are.
It doesn't always go as planned, however, and hopefully, that was a good lesson to learn while the consequences are less harsh and people are more forgiving.
Curious to hear from strangers online, Redditor Drizzho asked:
"What is a 'little' lie that backfired on you when you were younger?"
These young students who thought they could get away with lying got schooled for their dishonesty.
Scholastic Setback
"Not sure if it's a lie, but in a big state-wide exam day in the 3rd grade the teachers said if you finished your test you go to recess for the rest of the day. I filled in random answers so fast and had the best day ever."
"The test results came back and I was put into special needs classes for 4th and 5th grade before anyone realized I wasn't developmentally disabled."
– hamletreset
Skipping Homework
"In fifth grade I wasn’t doing my homework and I got home from school one day to my mom and mamaw sitting in the living room with serious looks on their face. My mom told me to sit down and said that the school called and told them that I hadn’t been turning in my work. I instantly started crying and said that I had been turning in my work, just not my homework."
"They would always ask if I was doing my homework and I’d say yes even thought I wasn’t."
"My mom said, 'Okay, well you better start doing it.' And then proceeded to tell me that the school never called, she just knew I hadn’t been doing my work."
"Another time when I was fifteen my mom told me to fold the fitted sheets and I said that I would. I thought she was on the back porch so I just shoved them into the storage container and she was sitting right behind me watching me lol."
– RandomLurker04
Fake Pregnancy
"Told my kindergarten teacher that my mom was 'going to have a baby.' Not sure why. My mom volunteered at the school so when she came in a few days later, my teacher hugged her all excitedly and went "congratulations!" She had even gotten my mom a card and everything."
"It was really awkward when my mom was super confused and then had to explain to my teacher that she wasn't really pregnant."
– princessedaisy
Failing To See It Through
"I had an eye appointment in grade 2 and I told my teacher my vision was so amazing that the eye doctor said I had 40/40 vision. It was actually 20/20, but I fibbed and thought 40/40 sounded better."
"She made me read the next chapter of the book in front of the whole class because I had excellent vision."
– 19VWGTI
You can't always fool your parents.
Tongue Clicker
"My parents told me I clicked my tongue in my sleep so that when I pretended to be asleep I would click my tongue and they’d know I was awake."
– AcademicNose7
Leaving A Mark
"I wrote my sister’s name on the closet wall in crayon. I told Mom and tried to frame her. She said my sister can’t write yet. I still remember how stupid I felt for pulling that stunt. But it makes me smile, remembering. I will have to ask Mom if she remembered that. I noticed years later, she never painted over it."
– Ok-Essay-2352
Bad Liar
"In 6th grade, we had weekly behavior reports or something like that. It was weird. Had to get them signed and turned in every Monday morning. I was horrible at remembering to get my parents to sign it."
"One Monday morning, I realized I forgot to get it signed before my parents left for work, so I thought I could get away with forging my mother's signature. After the 10th try with a pencil, I was proud of how similar it looked! Turned it in that morning not thinking about all of the eraser marks left behind from my previous attempts."
"That night during a conversation with my mother, she looked at me and said, 'I'm really glad you got that report turned in on time today. It's funny how I don't remember signing it.' And then she left it at that. I immediately knew I was caught and the guilt ate me alive until I slipped a note under my mom's pillow confessing to my crime. Never heard anything about it, but I quickly learned I'm bad at lying."
– ComplexWest8790
Authorities had to get involved in order for the truth to come out.
No Mickey D's For You
"When I was young, was at a daycare for the summer, along with younger sister and brother. One day, early afternoon, I'm hungry after mom picks us up and ask if we can get McD's. Mom says no, I can wait for dinner. I insisted, 'but I'm hungry...' and then lied and said 'they forgot to feed me.' I claimed I was in the bathroom or something during lunch so I didn't get any.
"My mom went ballistic. She called the daycare right then, sitting in the car (early days of cellphones) and gave them hell. After she hung up - just as I was thinking I won - she declared we were not going to McD's, and I'd just gotten myself grounded for lying, to boot, and how embarassed she was at having just yelled at staff who had been good to us just because I wanted McD's, and that I owed them an apology the next morning."
"Not only did the daycare staff know they gave me lunch, they knew which of the 2 sandwich options I had eaten and exactly how many pieces (quarter-of-a-sandwich sized) I had eaten."
"Lesson learned, kids: don't lie. The truth will always come out and bite you in the @$."
– TellMeRUThatSomebody
Hard Evidence
"I forgot my keys and got locked out of the house in like seventh grade, Usually I'd just wait on the porch, read and do my homework because locked myself out at least twice a month, but it was a long day and I was tired, so I donkey kicked the door."
"When my mom and stepdad came home they asked why the door was broken and I said I didn't know, it was like that when I got home..So they called the police and the police matched my shoe to the shoe print."
"luckily I was generally a good kid and wasn't one for lying, so I just got yelled at a bit."
– MarshmallowFloofs85
Foul Ball
"Holy sh*t my story was incredibly similar! I broke a window playing soccer and lied that a burglar broke in. Police showed up and found the ball in the living room and put two and two together."
– Martini_b13
Prank Gone Wrong
"When I was elementary school age, my parents left me home alone while they went to pick up my sister from a school event. I thought it would be funny to prank 911. I called and said “There’s an escaped murderer in my house!” and hung up, laughing at my funny joke. I got an immediate call back. I panicked and answered the phone and hung up. They called back. So I tried to unplug the landline."
"Just as the police were pulling up, my parents pulled up too. The police pulled a gun on my dad and made him prove he lived there. I was so scared of getting in trouble, I made up a story that a man knocked on the door and tried to force his way in. I told them it was a white man with a dark beard and he ran off in the cornfield. I don’t think my parents ever knew I made it all up."
"The next day, the Oklahoma City bombing happened and I thought it was God punishing people because he was mad at what I did."
– Skr000
Of course the one time I fibbed in fifth grade, my teacher who knew about my deception right away shamed me in front of the whole class.
When she asked us who read the assigned short story, I raised my hand even though I didn't read it.
She called on me and asked me what I thought of the ending and how the character's situation might relate to me.
My blank stare said it all, and she singled me out in front of everyone and I had to write standards on the chalkboard, writing, "I will not lie to my teacher and I will do my homework."
I still haven't read the short story, but I never lied to my teachers ever since.
Many people prefer to know as little about what they're eating as possible, while others will do copious research about their food, namely how safe and hygienic what they just ate was.
Sometimes going down that rabbit hole of research, you might learn something about a product you just purchased or a restaurant that you wish you hadn't.
Then too, some of what you may read is purely urban legend and has absolutely no basis in fact.
Unfortunately, some information is merely the surface of shocking, disgusting secrets.
"What dark facts do you know about food industry?"
Unwanted Extra Ingredients...
"Sometimes the salads aren't bug free."
"There were times where I received crap for taking too long washing lettuce."
"Staff would wash a large container of lettuce like once or twice."
'I did it 3 or 4 times."
"I didn't stop until the water was clear and had no bugs."
"The others had a 'who cares' attitude."
"One time my boss needed my help and said to me frustrated, 'The lettuce is already washed, unpack it in salads quickly'."
"The lettuce looked dirty so I said to myself 'I can't sell this to people'."
"I washed it and guess what the water looked like."
"Dark brown from soil, 50+ dead gnats, a living and swimming spider the size of a penny."- FightStageYouTube
The Contaminants Will Not, Though...
"Worse I participated in as kitchen staff in a rather top-flight restaurant."
"On a slow summer Sunday afternoon, the boss sent us down to the walk-in meat coolers to spray paint the rusted walls."
"We were instructed to not remove the contents of cooler first; rather just shift the meat from one side of cooler to other."
"The coat of silver spray paint will come off during cooking."- Zealousideal_Lie_383
Season 11 Cooking GIF by MasterchefGiphyYou Have No Idea What's Been In There...
"The deep fryer grease is long overdue for a change; but it’s expensive to do so nightly."- Zealousideal_Lie_383
And People Go To Bed Hungry...
"The amount of waste thrown away every single day by grocery stores."
"I worked in the meat department of a decently sized grocery store and the waste their was nauseating."
"I sh*t you not, we would throw away an industrial sized garbage bin worth of meat, fish, and poultry every single day."
"The expiration dates dictated everything which is obviously a sensible policy to have, but they wouldn't do anything about it."
"They wouldn't donate it, let employees take it home, or make adjustments to the orders so we wouldn't have to throw so much away."
"The reasoning was always 'better have to much than not enough' which I guess makes a little sense, but when I am throwing away dozens of pounds of tenderloins, center cut fish and shellfish per night, its to much."
"Mind you, this is one department of one grocery store."
"Sorry for the rant but I feel like it needed to be said."- Zastrow_Studios
Waste Management Food GIF by UC DavisGiphyThere's A Reason They're "All You Can Eat..."
"In my country, buffets often sell spoiled food, like if the employees see mold on top of the sour cream, they just scrape it down and continue selling it."
"Also, if they sell cooked meat, they often leave them on the counter for days and add some oil to it every morning to look fresh."- Wooden_Potential_699
Don't Believe Everything You Hear... (But Remember, This One Was In Canada...)
"So odd to see all of the comments that chain places are dirty!"
"On the weekends I work as a server in the lounge of Boston Pizza (Canadian chain—not sure if there are any in the states) and when I started working there I was seriously impressed with the cleanliness procedures!"
"For one example, parmesan and chilli containers are emptied and cleaned every night, as well as salt and pepper shakers!"
"Kitchen protocols are very clean and organized as well!"- noobishpineapple
Happy Season 17 GIF by The SimpsonsGiphyNot Exactly "Haute Cuisine"...
"You'd never want to eat at a restaurant again once you saw how much of your $70 meal for two came frozen and pre-prepared in plastic bags."- PhilipLiptonSchrute
It's Not Just The Greens That Need Washing...
"Grocery distribution warehouses are often extremely filthy and rarely cleaned."
"Wash anything canned, bottled or jarred!"
"They're filthy as hell, covered in microplastics, rotten food, mouse pee, bird sh*t, etc etc."
"I used to do maintenance on conveyor systems for a major US chain and they just send sh*t flying down the conveyors so fast that, its fairly common for glass to shatter because of the vibrations, food to fall off, etc etc."
"I saw Bats, Birds and Mice in that facility, but it was within tolerance of their health policy."
"Also saw people that were sick sneezing and coughing on products."
"Never saw a floor scrubber go through the warehouse the entire 3mo I worked there and I was doing alternating double shifts!"
"The only time I saw a broom was if there was shattered glass."- -Plunder-Bunny-
mice GIFGiphyRemember, All These Incidents Are Case By Case...
"As a former chef, I've got to say that I've never seen any of the horrible stuff mentioned here over my career (mostly higher end and fine dining establishments)."
"We on ocassion would have things like frozen airline chicken breasts brought in, but other than that we did all prep and cooking by hand with fresh ingredients from mostly local purveyors when possible."
"We also broke down and deep cleaned every night from the ranges to the floors to the wells to the vents."
"Every night."
"Myself and staff have always taken this sh*t very seriously, and it's always disappointing when you hear of this kind of behavior."
"Do better, people."- iamtehryan
They Trick You With The Language
"It’s more like misleading labeling."
"No sugar."
"Right?"
"Wrong if you read ingredients on a lot of these packaging it will say things like maltodextrin and dextrose."
"That’s actually a sugar."
"Because of regulation they only have to label it no sugar and people think it’s healthy, etc."- SavemebabyK
Maybe Just Stick With Sausage...
"Worked in a pepperoni factory 20+ years ago as an accountant."
"Found that the more MSP in the bill of materials, the lower quality and cheaper the product."
"Looking at the stuff, it looked kind of like an old square crumbly eraser if you remember those."
"So I asked what MSP was."
"It's 'mechanically separated pork'."
"When I asked what that means, they told me that after all the good meat is cut off of a pig, a power washer is used to blast the remaining flesh off the carcass."
"That's scooped up, dried out and packaged as MSP."
"Enjoy your next cheap pepperoni pizza."- Lahk74
Catering Happy Birthday GIF by Feliks Tomasz KonczakowskiGiphyIt's very easy to decide not to eat at a certain restaurant, or dine at a certain grocery store owing to a less-than-appealing appearance.
That being said, many people might be surprised to discover that conditions at the "higher end" options might be as bad or worse.
Then too... if the food is delicious, and has yet to make you sick, then perhaps ignorance is, in fact, bliss.