
Food Industry Experts Reveal The Biggest Menu Ripoffs To Avoid
[rebelmouse-image 18349469 is_animated_gif=We've all had it. That nagging thought, popping up in the back of our brains, as we're looking down at the menu, at the side order of french fries that costs $8. We all think, "I could just bake my own at home! Why am I here?" Well, as it turns out, you're not the only one having those doubts about the food industry and what you should avoid on the menu. Reddit user, u/Sanscosmic, wanted to know what specifically when they asked:
People who work in the food industry, what food item is a complete rip-off yet people still buy?
Drink Up. It's Your Money.
[rebelmouse-image 18349470 is_animated_gif=The profit margins on drinks is usually ludicrously high no matter where you go.
PM--
The Massive Popcorn Conglomerate
[rebelmouse-image 18349471 is_animated_gif=The margin on popcorn is ridiculous.
Where The Real Movie Theater Money Is
[rebelmouse-image 18349472 is_animated_gif=If you're specifically referencing movie theaters, all of it is. 5.49 for a small soda, at least half of which is frozen water? But it's where they actually make their money, not much meat on the bone if any from box office sales.
I once heard a movie theater owner say he was not in the movie business, he was in the snack business. The movie was just to get and keep customers around for a couple of hours.
For Our Friends Overseas
[rebelmouse-image 18349473 is_animated_gif=Really irks me when a fish and chip shop charges $2 for tomato sauce put in a container.
Make an effort to avoid those places.
Just Do The Math
[rebelmouse-image 18349474 is_animated_gif=Soda.
In order to get your money's worth of a McDonald's medium soda, you would have to fill your cup up 16 times.
We All Know It, But We Still Do It
[rebelmouse-image 18349475 is_animated_gif=Bottles of water.
I deliver pizzas where water is 100% fine to drink out of taps, yet people still buy them.
They are ridiculously overpriced as well.
600% Markup
[rebelmouse-image 18349476 is_animated_gif=i used to work at a chicken restaurant. biggest rip off was the green beans.
theyre just the jumbo sized canned green beans with onion seasoning, microwaved. it was almost $3 for a pint. you can buy a can of green beans for like 50 cents.
But It's SO Good
[rebelmouse-image 18349478 is_animated_gif=Garlic Bread.
In most restaurants the Gbread is just yesterdays bread slathered in garlic butter and passed through a toaster. Costs maybe 50c a serve but we'll sell it for $5. If the restaurant doesn't sell or provide fresh bread, it's yesterdays bread from the bakery down the road.
It IS really good though, toasts better if you use day old bread.
Ice. It's Ice. You're Paying For Ice.
[rebelmouse-image 18349479 is_animated_gif=A medium flavored coolatta (slushee drink) is 5 dollars.
Five dollars for 3 squirts of flavoring then mixed with shaved ice.
Just Don't Add Sweet n' Low
[rebelmouse-image 18348095 is_animated_gif=Tea.
You can buy 100 teabags for the same price as a cup of tea. Also boiling water is free at most coffee shops if you ask.
A Good Set Of Guidelines To Follow
[rebelmouse-image 18349480 is_animated_gif=General rules at a sit-down restaurant:
Soda costs them 8c, including washing the glass, but costs you $2 to $3. Alcohol is always highly marked up. Sides and apps are marked up much more than entrees.
It's All The Same
[rebelmouse-image 18349481 is_animated_gif=Long time since I worked in the food industry so I don't know if this still holds true, but around 2005 every uk supermarket (except Morrisons) had their salmon encroute produced by the same company on the same line by the same people. One of my jobs was literally stopping the line and changing the sleeve to a different supermarkets one. Same fish, same sauce, same pastry, same lattice, even the same plastic tray just a different sleeve.
Naturally this never stops people insisting the Tesco one was sh-te and the M&S one was just better somehow because it was double the price.
This extended to 90% of non fresh fish products but brand loyalty still reigned supreme.
Flying Too Close To The Sun
[rebelmouse-image 18349482 is_animated_gif=...Chicken Wings are costly as a raw material, need refrigeration/freezing to store and preparing them properly requires trained manpower (which is costly as hell nowadays)
Compare that with a Coke or say Lemon soda: Hardly any preparation, no special skills needed by the person making it plus the Raw material is cheap af.
Restaurants don't fleece you on food...they fleece you on the drinks.
Source: I'm a restaurant owner :P
But, Again, It's All Soo Good
[rebelmouse-image 18349483 is_animated_gif=Most cereal has no nutritional value and its unclear whether 'fortifying' them with vitamins has any actual benefits. Yet hugely expensive and well liked although I think as a market it's slowly fading.
A High Price For Mediocre Cheese
[rebelmouse-image 18349485 is_animated_gif=Extra cheese on pizza.
Name vs. Value
[rebelmouse-image 18349486 is_animated_gif=Used to work in a chip factory when we ran plain chips all the same chips went into the "name brand" on one line then right next to it would be the "value chips" with 2/$1 stickers on them
Listen To The Bread Experts
[rebelmouse-image 18349488 is_animated_gif=A lot of things are like this.
Generic sliced bread is basically the same as the name brand, made in the same place, with a different package. For example in Shop Rite stores in PA the shop rite brand white bread is actually Stroehmann bread. The generic is $1 and the name brand is $3.99.
Fruit Comes To Overthrow
[rebelmouse-image 18349489 is_animated_gif=In Austria; I find fresh fruits and veggies quite highly marked up. Just the other day I spent 6€ for one kilo of cherries. In the middle of the season! Strawberries - around 2,5€ per half of kilogram - also in the season now.
Not even "organic" ones. Plain market prices.
Don't let me even start on other, more exotic produce.
strawberries grow great in 1/4 day direct light, and medium dry soil of any kind(esp higher altitudes!). we planted 4 strawberry plants 2 years ago(5'x5' bed on the shaded east side of our house), and now we literally cant pick and eat them as fast as they grow.(colorado high plains, similar latitude and altitude as austria, but we're a bit drier.)
it looks like the movie 'The Ruins' out there now only strawberry plants..
THey'll also outcompete most pest plants, so you can plant strawberries to kill off bindweed, thistle and dandelion(they outcompete swiftly if you trim the weeds back) before long strawberries becomes the weeds in your lawn and paths.
the only real 'downside' is the birds, squirrels, and slugs they attract.
KNEW We Couldn't Trust
[rebelmouse-image 18349490 is_animated_gif=When I worked for popular pizza restaurant we would charge something like $5 dollars for a box of breadsticks. My boss told me one day how much of a rip off it was since the dough, cost of labor, and even the box they came in only totaled around $1.25.
The Hidden Secret
[rebelmouse-image 18349491 is_animated_gif=...When you buy food/drinks at a restaurant, you aren't simply paying for the food. You are paying for the experience. That restaurant pays for building rent, utilities, supplies, and employees to actually make the food/serve the food/clean the place.
Of course they aren't going to sell at value. Sure, some items are blatantly overpriced even considering, but selling you a coffee for $3 instead of 15 cents so you can hang out in the cafe on your laptop for four hours isn't exactly capitalistic greed.
"Homecooked" = Store Bought
[rebelmouse-image 18349492 is_animated_gif=Not me, but my dad. He goes to Starbucks and orders a pastry or something I don't remember the name of. He starts asking the lady behind the counter what it was and all that jazz and then she mentions that he could get an entire box of them for like, $20 across the street at Costco while he was here paying $5 for a single one.
Reminder that everything "gourmet" and "homecooked" is probably still mass produced in a factory.
H/T: Reddit
Not all television and movies are loved by all.
A story and its characters have to appeal to you in order for you to be engaged.
It can take next to nothing for us to lose interest and let the screen go black.
Redditor BarooTangClan wanted to compare notes on all the entertainment we've said "that's enough" to.
"What will make you instantly stop watching a movie or show and why?"
I hate bad acting, writing, storytelling... I hate bad anything.
Stop Jumping
"Fight scenes with a million visual cuts. Gives me motion sickness. Contrast the absolutely masterful work in John Wick. long cuts, realistic use of weapons (mostly), 100% skill."
StabbyPants
Louder
"When the actors whisper the whole movie and you have to crank the volume to hear what's being said - but the soundtrack or some other misc noise starts blaring at a higher volume directly after."
Blaze*itch
"I basically had to watch Stranger Things up in my attic with the windows and doors closed. I was worried the neighbors would think something was wrong or be annoyed if I watched it downstairs in my single family home. It was ridiculous."
ForecastForFourCats
"spice things up"
"Love triangles out of no where in a second or third season to 'spice things up' because studio writers are hacks and their idea of relationship drama is 'potential infidelity' at all times. It's the most tired trope on the go**amn planet and the second I see it rear its head I dip right the hell out."
amalgamas
"The whole concept of a love triangle to begin with an incredibly juvenile. Any healthy functioning adult who found themselves in a love triangle would soon choose to find themselves single."
Ouch_i_fell_down
Save your lips...
"When couples in a movie/show have a fight and one of them instantly goes to a friend and end up kissing her/him after talking for 5 minutes. I cringe so hard i turn it off and never watch it again."
Dry-Mycologist3966
"This pissed me off so much in Manifest. Girl is desperate to get back her ex-fiancé, he finally breaks up with his wife to get back with her and she's like 'nah, it's not fair to your wife, let me do this other dude I just met through a calling and be pissed at you for being jealous.' Michaela was the worst and everyone acted as if she were a saint the entire time."
gingerisla
Talk to Me
"Shows where a single polite conversation could fix everything."
Horror_Librarian_133
We are going overboard with the witty repartee. Talk normal...
Shut Up
"Annoying main character, especially if it's a kid."
abananation
"Kids who have a quippy, sassy retort to everything, and everyone just kind of crumbles before their wit."
CarpetPure7924
Speak Good
"Shows where kids in high school talk like they are 30 years olds who have done everything, been everywhere, know it all and use a ridiculously flowery and extensive vocabulary in every conversation. Like, have any of these writers ever been to high school? Literally no one talks like that. Even worse is when, in addition to this, all the adults talk normal or are just plain stupid, like so weird parallel universe."
StretchArmstrong74
Nonsense
"If the movie is too dark. Not graphic, just literally dark. I lose all sense of intensity in dark scenes and I'm not straining my damn eyes trying to figure out what the hell is going on."
TheShadowOfKaos
"I've seen about 10 percent of all DC movies recently. I've seen all of the individual films in full, just actually saw 10% of each of them."
Mortlach78
"Movies in the late 80s had a lot of dark but you could see the depth because of different shooting techniques. Now you cant see crap because its a CGI fest drowned in black color so you can't see crap because you have no depth in a scene. Compare night scenes in dark alleys in 80's movies and movies now. Utter crap show in the new ones."
Bombzey
Pay Attention Storytellers
"Bad editing would be a big one. A lot of modern horror movies can't help but edit the movies like they're trailers, with added noises to scare the audience because they are afraid the script alone isn't enough to keep people watching."
ThisIsCreation
"I remember this is where the first transformers movie lost me. When the transformers are fighting at the end, it's all a big, jumbled mess of metal and I can barely tell what's going on or who is who."
1840_NO
Drama
"When they go straight to relationship drama right away when it wasn't the selling point of the show."
LightInthewater
Do better, Hollywood. It's not that hard.
I fear death.
I wake up in cold sweats dreaming about it.
I think about it in my waking hours.
It's an obsession and clearly, I'm not alone.
But there are more preferred ways to exit.
All we can do is hope to be lucky enough to skip the mercilessly awful.
Please just let me go quick and in my sleep.
RedditorCallMehRiverwanted to hear about all the ways none of us what to leave this life.
"What Do You Think Would Be The Worst Death Imaginable?"
My list of the worst deaths is long. My imagination runs amok.
Trapped
"For me? Being trapped in a small tube or cave (like the ones you have to wiggle through) and getting stuck to where you can’t move your arms. And all you can do is wait to die. I’m getting chills just thinking about it."
Stuck
"The more I hear about cavers that get stuck, the more I think that's a crap way to go."
- braydenmaine
"There’s a great YouTube channel called Ask a Mortician and this was her #1 worse way to die. I can’t remember the exact details or their names, but two well-known divers went into an underwater cave."
"One of them became entangled and died. Years later, his friend dives back down there to try and retrieve his body, the body itself is rotten and his head comes off and the other guy also becomes tangled and dies. Really sad."
- melancholybuzzard
A Long Process
"Believed to be in a coma but coherent through the whole 20 year process until they pull the plug."
weebeardedman
"Oh man this just reminded me of a story I read on here about a guy who lost the ability to move and speak but was completely conscious. Had to just lay there and be awake but trapped in a useless body. His family thought he was brain dead or something and he couldn’t communicate to them that he was 'all there.' Crazy"
habeeb51
Slow & Steady
"Being slowly impaled by a growing bamboo. It was a form of torture probably used by the japanese during WW2 against Allied prisoners."
JazzySocrate
"My uncle who served back in the day said that people would have the bamboo slipped under their fingernails because it would continue to grow still. It would just continue growing into the body."
Payness0826
Excruciating
"Rabies."
Santolmo
"The scariest part is that once you have symptoms, you 100% will die. A 100% mortality rate has to be a psychological torture in itself."
RonaldRawdog
"Not only that, you feel irrational fear. Your brain is literally being eaten apart by the virus and it fu*ks up everything on it. You can't drink water because it hurts you. You feel dizzy, present a fever, excessively salivate, everything hurts and it only gets worse. I'd rather take a bullet and die when the symptoms are still tolerable."
Santolmo
Why can't we all just go engulfed in calm and quiet?
Suspended
"Some pulpy sci-fi book I read a while back had one of the best deaths of this real piece of crap bad guy. Left to die in a drowning sea lab under the Antarctic ice, he freezes himself in a state of the art suspended animation pod with some kind cold fusion power source that would keep it running for millions of years."
"But he forgot to inject himself with the drug that would put him to sleep. So basically he is in suspended animation at the bottom of the Antarctic ocean while his mind is perfectly awake and conscious in a near unbreakable machine that won't run out of power for millions of years and nobody knows about it."
DubiousAlibi
No Cure
"As an RN I have always thought that the worst way to die (natural process) is ALS. Lou Gehrig's Disease."
randymn1963
"My mom and grandmother have Huntington's disease, which is essentially ALS, Alzheimer's, and Dementia combined into one really messed up genetic disease. I have a 50% chance of inheriting it and if I hit 40 and there's still no cure I can't promise I'll feel like continuing on with my life because that disease is absolutely freaking miserable."
DevTheDummy
Agony...
"Radiation poisoning."
binhan123ad
"The fact your chromosomes can be so destroyed your body basically lost it's genetic code and with it the ability to make any new cells. It's literally a 'dead man walking' and you slowly rot away in agony. Stuff is so unimaginably f**ked up."
yea_nah448
"What's also bad about radiation is that it affects your nerves and brain cells last, so you have everything in place to feel all the pain of the rest of your cells being destroyed."
nosmelc
Goo
"I want to believe anything that slowly kills you painfully to be the worst. Such as slowly being crushed or something where the pain is beyond compare and yet not enough to throw you into shock or unconsciousness."
Beardless_Man
"Alternatively, being rapidly crushed into goo would probably be the least painful. I'm talking one of those massive industrial hammers they use for large steel work. Basically smooshed before the nerve signals make it to the brain."
Bannon9k
Now I'll never sleep again without nightmares of death.
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/
Foreigners Explain Which Stereotypically American Things They've Always Wanted To Try
Most Americans think nothing of their humdrum daily activities or amenities available to them.
However, others with a different perspective might romanticize the things that are otherwise commonplace ideas and concepts for US citizens, like going to a diner or riding the school bus.
One Redditor looked to foreigners to hear of their American desires to respond to the following:
"Non-Americans of Reddit: what is an American thing you have always wanted to try?"
The things depicted in film really captivated foreign audiences.
Casual Dining
"To visit a diner like in the movies. In the middle of the night, it’s raining and just a few people there with great music from a jukebox."
– TotalAd6225
Iconic Student Transport
"Ride a yellow school bus even if I'm too old. Growing up I always loved seeing them on TV."
– infiresemo
Just Like The Ones We Used To Know
"A white Christmas."
"Living in an Australian state where I've never even seen snow in our winter, let alone experiencing that classic Hallmark movie moment of waking up to a street full of it and sitting around a fireplace while opening gifts/preparing a feast."
"Guess it's not strictly American, but the imagery and trope is something I've only really seen from American Films."
– Stoibs
They may be ubiquitous for us, but they sure seem to be novel ideas to foreigners.
Let's Be Frank
"One of the hotdogs from those little street cart things."
– Who_is_lost
Kitchen Marvel
"A friend of mine from Indonesia said, 'the food chewer in the sink.'"
"Garbage disposal."
– Mnemonic22
American Pie
"Apple Pie made by white-haired grandma, placed near window, who says 'oh dear...' as I levitate towards it."
– MegaJoltik
Pre-Game Ritual
"Proper tailgating before a ball game, the kind where there's ribs and stuff."
– SpiralToNowhere
Fried Delicacies
"Deep fried foods at a state fair. I'm from Scotland and we love to deep fry everything and I wanna know if it's just as good or better."
– fenrisulfr94
There are places to see!
Places To See
"National parks."
– nhungoc1508
"America’s greatest invention!"
– nhungoc1508
Backpacking In Nature
"I always wanted to hike The Appalachian Trail if that counts. Or see Yellowstone."
– EphemeralRemedy
New Chapters
"Being able to start a whole new life 'elsewhere' without having to leave my country and going through an arduous immigration process."
– Gmtfoegy
My cousin told me she looks forward to visiting a Trader Joe's someday when she visits America for the first time.
Her bucket list option was hardly surprising. My parents used to bring treats from TJs as a novelty souvenir gift item, and my relatives ate it up. Literally.
Let's face it. The snacks at TJs rocks.
Even store locations in New York City would have ridiculously long lines during busy hours because the West-coast-based grocer was a novelty on the East Coast.
Many people work hard from the moment they are on the clock until their respective shifts are over at the end of a long day.
For many of those in the workforce, the wages barely sustain a comfortable living, especially for those who are raising a family.
Yet, there are jobs that are known to pay a higher salary without requiring extreme physical labor, or the requirement of higher education.
Curious to hear what those jobs might be, Redditor ImAMasterBayter asked:
"People Break Down Which Professions Are Completely Overpaid"
Extensive training requirements are not a thing, apparently, with these professions.
Daily Dairy Duty
"I watch milk powder go into a bag and out on a conveyor and get paid $37 an hour."
– Stacwe3
Eyeing Dirt In Motion
"Mine? I get paid $20.50 a hr to watch dirt go by on a belt all day."
– trudmer
The Handy Man Is Happy To Help
"I am a handy man that charges $50/hr with a 3hr minimum, a couple months ago I got a call for service that consisted of changing 9 smoke detector batteries, 2 light bulbs, and rehanging a picture. I felt bad taking the money but the guy couldn’t have been happier to have that stuff finally done. He asked for my card and is now a very good client."
– iznmehra
Words From An Appraiser
"I make about 40 an hour after tax in the US as a real estate appraiser. You just need a college degree and a year of training and there is a huge shortage of appraisers right now."
"Edit because this post blew up: I only perceive this job as being overpaid because I used spent most of my 20's making pizza for minimum wage and imposter syndrome is a thing. Also, OP said he was looking for a possible career, and I felt like my job post was better than a troll post."
"Appraisers are not real estate agents or brokers. I do not buy or sell property."
"I do not, 'look at zillow and copy the number' and I don't just, 'make the number' in valuation. While I agree there are some appraisers who may lie or exaggerate, the same could be said of nearly any job. However, if I were to intentionally try hit some goal and got caught fudging the numbers, I'm looking at permanently losing my license and possible jail time depending on the severity. It's actually pretty common for me to, 'tank a deal' if someone is paying too much. This isn't the wild west of valuation anymore; FIRREA is a thing now. Appraisal reports aren't just 3 pages of photos with a cover page anymore; my typical appraisal is 30-50 pages with long boring typed pages of market data that I type and research myself."
"Let's talk about the appraisal gap. In most of the US, we are experiencing a, 'sellers market' meaning houses are selling for higher than what they normally sell for. A lot of people at this thread are blaming appraisers for driving housing prices up. Let me be perfectly clear about this: appraiser's valuations are based off of past data. That is it; we look at closed sales from the past. Realtors and brokers speculate on future markets, because they are motivated by profit. If anyone is driving this current market trend, it is the people buying properties over listing price, local government/laws willingness to allow foreign investors, the people who are raising rents, and the people who are making big risky developments. The appraisers have little to nothing to do with market perception of value; in my area at least many market participants are paying over 30% of listing price. Trust me when I say these people are not satisfied when my appraised value comes in less than that."
"The hardest part of the job is definitely the occasional angry phone call. Let's look at an example. Say someone lists their house at 100k, and they accept an offer for 150k, or 50% over listing. Well the appraisal is based off of past closed sales. The bank will only finance up to the appraised value. So if the appraisal comes in at 110k, meaning the subject in relation to comparable sales from the past year in the subject neighborhood equate to roughly 110k, they will either need to renegotiate the price, or be willing to put up 40k of their own money."
"In a sellers market, it's often better to accept a deal with better financing than a higher price. Let's say in this situation instead of taking the 150k offer with a mortgage, you take a smaller offer for 140k that is all cash, no financing. Well if there is no financing involved, meaning no bank, than no appraisal is needed."
– f4gmo
Landing work in software seems to be like hitting the jackpot of success.
High Commissions
"I’m in software sales, software sales. Coworker got 100k commission on a deal."
– The_GOATest1
So-Called Analysts
"There are an incredible amount of 'analysts' who just 'own' automated excel sheets they received from developer teams."
"Low to mid six figures is common in HCOL areas."
– Shoddy_Bus4679
The Successful Client
"I do the tax returns for a guy who paid 20k for demographic research software and made something like 40M over the last 3 years. His costs are almost nothing and admitted he does like 5 hours of work a week on it."
"I got more likes and comments than I thought I would, and wanted to add some more detail. The guy himself is super nice and easy to work with. It's hard not to feel jealous even though I make good money myself. His business and personal returns are super simple so we don't even charge him that much for them."
"The software is something proprietary he paid a third party for, and I don't know the name of that developer. The data output is sold to political campaigns and he's compensated more if the campaign wins. He did have some clients on both sides but now exclusively works on one side of the aisle."
– Todders8787
Salaries in the world of academics got a closer inspection.
The Administrators
"University administrators and board members."
– MayBeckByDay
A Stark Contrast
"I'm a professor. I love it. But the 'president's office' contains a staff of 5 people with a total payroll of just under $500k/year. Meanwhile, all the PhDs, MFAs, and DMAs who teach all the classes, advise all the students, and serve on all the committees bring home a whopping $50k-$65k/year, dependent on rank, tenure, etc. It's real fun...
– LPHaddleburg
Unfair Privileges
"The president of my institution makes a approximately $500k/year and is provided a house on campus alongside reserved parking if he so chooses to use it. He also gets a country club membership. Meanwhile I have to pay $200 to park at the school where I TA and do research, and I get paid maybe 1/20th of what he does. I genuinely do not understand why the f'k the dude who makes six figures doesn't pay for parking, but I do."
"Edit: that should be half a million."
– DADPATROL
Some of the cushiest jobs that require less time actively toiling away seem to be paying significantly more than the average livable wage offered in the US.
Perhaps the biggest indicator of what that might be was summed up best by Redditor iadasr, who said:
"Whatever you guys are all doing that lets you browse Reddit all day..."
Word.