
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
The world is a beautiful place. From natural scenery like the Himalayan Mountains in Asia to the appearance of the Aurora Borealis at various times, awe-inspiring sights are never too hard to find.
Every country can boast a few different areas of jaw-dropping beauty. Some offer more gorgeous scenery than others. It makes us wonder, what makes one country more beautiful than another?
Is it the variety and sheer number of beautiful sights or is it the magnificence of one area? And what is the prettiest country in the world?
Curious to find out, Redditor Dream4Cats asked:
"In your opinion, whats the prettiest country?"
Switzerland
"Since I moved to Switzerland, I've always found the amount of beauty in this country to be borderline upsetting"
– Hour_Prune_225
"Prettiest country I've ever seen is Switzerland. Taking a train through that country is like traveling through a bunch of postcards that have been stitched together. It's f*cking beautiful."
– The_Mikest
Norway
"I was in norway 3 years ago. It was just... Beautiful. Definitly it is my fav. Country with france (corisca)"
– Dream4Cats
"I was playing Geoguessr with a group and this guy from Norway was very much not impressed by a beautiful landscape we found somewhere, because it just looked normal to him. Like what? Do you even see these trees and this lake and the mountains in the distance? Does it mean nothing to you xD"
– Roozyj
"Norway is so beautiful you can't take it..."
– EnvironmentOk5183
Japan
"Japan in springtime"
– PhantomFartz76
"Japan in the fall is equally as stunning. The changing of the leaves is picturesque anywhere you go here."
– thespicyroot
"Japan, cherry blossoms"
– plscallmeRain
The United States (Talk About Diversity)
"If you're talking about any whole country, I would have to say the United States. Every conceivable type of landscape is here. Grasslands, mountain ranges, canyons, deserts, huge cityscapes, Arctic, massive forests, lakes and so much more."
– DARKxASSASSIN29
"USA- the diversity of natural beauty is hard to match anywhere else."
"Yes there are more spectacular wetlands, beaches, snowy peaks, deserts, ancient forests, rivers and natural springs - but there are not many countries which have all of these"
– GoodAndBluts
"The United States. Name a biome or a natural feature and we have it, plus things no where else has."
– twitch_delta_blues
Greece
"All of the Mediterranean countries from all 3 continents ( Asia, Europe and Africa) so diverse and rich, so many different cultures and languages in such a small area. Croatia, Lebanon, Turkey, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Malta, France"
– User Deleted
"I completely agree. I went on a cruise that visited Greece and Italy. It was absolutely gorgeous. Favorite places I’ve ever been."
– bustylusciouslady
"love all those greek islands with the beautiful sea around!"
– Flunderpudding
Italy
"I would say Italy (if we're talking about European countries that I've been too). The villages, landscape, the Tirol, the coastlines, historical ruins... every type of gorgeous (not to mention the people, food and even dare I say it, clothes)."
– TIL_eulenspiegel
"Italy is the most beautiful country by far. It combines alps and mediterranean and it contains multiple layers of historical civilizations."
– Redararis
"Italy—so much ecological diversity"
– pconti279
Scotland
"I have only been to Scotland once but it was really beautiful and I enjoyed it. Love the green, the lochs and all the layers of clouds in the Highlands."
– soline
"The fact I went to a city in Scotland and there was just casually a mountain/possibly just huge hill basically right next to it blew my gd mind."
– EllieC130
"To me it’s got to be Scotland. I went to Edinburgh for vacation once and the natures that surrounds you is so amazing. The small towns were quite and nice and the main city was so beautiful when it rained."
– Koolaidbutasolid
New Zealand
"New Zealand"
– 14kee
"This is the only correct answer"
– Azonic
"New Zealand. Maybe this is just me coming from Australia where most of our native flora is dry, but NZ is the complete opposite. So luscious and green in many areas."
– ThrowRARAw
"We spent a couple of weeks driving around New Zealand’s South Island. It was absolutely stunning."
– mateoRH
Ireland
"Ireland, by far. So green. As someone who loves just driving around in a car with the family, some of the scenery is truly beautiful. You don't even need to go to those hot tourist spots like Giant's Causeway."
– Northiree
"Northern Ireland. Go outside Belfast and you have Giant's Causeway, beaches, Mourne mountains, beautiful green fields, some amazing forestry."
– User Deleted
"Ireland is fantastic. My borther in law lives in county cork and we visited him a few years ago. Rented a car in dublin airport and first off saw the highest waterfall in ireland on the way to cc. Then next day saw the cliffs on the south coast and kinsale. Such a great place to visit! We hope to visit end of the year again."
– Adayuus
Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder
"Every country has a beauty of its own in some way shape or form. I don’t think there is one that is better than another."
– Ranos131
"This is a tough one. Every country has beautiful places."
– SwordfishNo4689
"Every country has beauty to it, you just have to know where to look"
– signaturefox2013
Obviously, the responses to this question were plentiful and diverse. However, all of the answers were valid.
In the end, it doesn't really matter what the prettiest country is. We can all be happy knowing that there is seemingly endless beauty in this world.
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There are just some people who always trigger the spidey senses.
The problem is that we don't trust our instincts enough.
How many people have just left you feeling... ill at ease?
Probably more than we care to admit.
We don't want to be wrong about someone.
That is the main problem. Then we'd be embarrassed.
That feeling changes to relief when we see them on the news or a Dateline NBC episode.
Redditor Lucky_Solution7999 wanted to hear about the people who inexplicably rubbed us the wrong way. They asked:
"Hey reddit, what is one time you knew something was off about someone but couldn't prove it?"
When I was doing online "love" browsing a bunch, I was always good about being in tune to my icky feelings.
the guitarist...
"My buddy and the guitarist in my band started dating this girl we were on the same forum with. I raised concerns based on some red flags she posted, but everybody in my band said I was overreacting."
"Cut to about a year later. The girlfriend cheats on him and gets pregnant. When my friend goes to confront her about it, she has the baby’s daddy and five of his friends jump him and beat him into hospitalization. Hate to say I told you so, but…"
gothdaddi
A Guy
"I hired a guy a long time ago and worked with him for years. Very talented and smart, plus a nice guy. At some point, he started making super strange decisions. Kinda impulsive, very odd stuff (asking if he can invite his girlfriend to a staff meeting, for instance). A lot of crap that didn’t make any sense. He got hired to a better job and I lost touch."
"A few months later, he died of a large number of brain tumors. The timeline his girlfriend-turned-wife offered matched up with what we’d been noticing for years. I look back in the arguments and realize there’s no way I could have known. At the same time, that’s kinda the point: you really can’t know what’s going on with someone, so act accordingly."
patricksaurus
psycho
"My parents had a close friend when I was pretty young, maybe between 8 and 10 years old? He came over a lot, to drink or shoot guns with my dad, but I didn’t like him one bit. He just gave me a bad feeling. I remember sticking my tongue out at him every time his back was to me. Never said anything to my parents though, I just stayed away when he was over."
"My mom ended up hiring him to work at the pawn shop she ran, and after he started things went missing. I don’t remember how they figured out he was stealing but he had a gallon ziplock FILLED with jewelry. The cops tried to convince the owner not to press charges (since he got the jewelry back) but the owner went through with it."
"As soon as they booked him, his finger prints came back from an unsolved double homicide- he had brutally murdered an elderly couple when they came home mid-robbery. After he killed him, he drank their milk, leaving his prints on the jug on the counter."
AlwxWrites
“too comfortable”
"My mom used to have this friend years ago when we lived in a pretty nice looking house, and she would often show up uninvited and act 'too comfortable' in our house. my mom would always just say that it’s probably just because that lady comes from a different culture but i was suspicious of the lady stealing some stuff from our house. one day the lady invites my mom to the beach."
"My mom has a huge fear of water and can’t swim at all so she avoids it, but she tends to be overly polite, so she decides to go. at the beach, the lady pressures my mom to go swim assuring her that they’ll stay close to the shore and what not. the lady ended up shoving my mom in and standing back to watch as my mom had a difficult time keeping herself up and trying to swim back to shore."
4bunny44
2 Days...
"My best friend at the time worked with a guy who I had met a few times as I'd join them for afterwork drinks, clubbing, etc. I always felt uncomfortable being around him but didn't know why. He was nice enough and quite funny but something just seemed... off. Anyway, we were out one night and he seemed extra off and ended up disappearing from the club. We found out 2 days later that he had gone home, killed his gf, dismembered her body and put her in the bin out the front of his house."
lilpinaylander
What in the world? Talk about nightmares.
The Former
"A former friend's husband. He always tried just that bit too hard to fit into the group and be involved in everything. Always had to be the smartest guy in the room. I don’t know what it was but I disliked him from the moment we met and there’s not that many people I dislike."
"Long story short, he turned out to be a controlling, emotionally abusive sack of crap who hated me because I kept encouraging my friend to be independent and my husband and I encourage each other to have a life outside of each other."
Yanigan
“too comfortable”
"My mom used to have this friend years ago when we lived in a pretty nice looking house, and she would often show up uninvited and act 'too comfortable' in our house. My mom would always just say that it’s probably just because that lady comes from a different culture but I was suspicious of the lady stealing some stuff from our house. One day the lady invites my mom to the beach, my mom has a huge fear of water and can’t swim at all so she avoids it."
"But she tends to be overly polite, so she decides to go. at the beach, the lady pressures my mom to go swim assuring her that they’ll stay close to the shore and what not. the lady ended up shoving my mom in and standing back to watch as my mom had a diffcult time keeping herself up and trying to swim back to shore."
4bunny44
he's weird...
"I was friends with this kid for awhile and he was always weird. he always made some sort of sexual joke or comment about you or something he wanted to do to you, although the comments were weird everyone brushed them off as if they were a joke."
"Me and him were really close at one point and decided that we would get drunk, at first I felt uneasy as i do not drink and i wasn’t really comfortable with the idea of being around him and getting drunk as i know his personality. eventually he persuaded me to drink with him and after a few shots we were pretty drunk."
"After that we headed over to his place and had to act completely sober in front of his parents. After awhile it had been quite awhile since we had drank i was starting to feel/act more sober than a few hours before and from my point of view, he did too."
"After awhile he was starting to act his usual self and make the sexual comments but out of nowhere he started acting upon it too. The friendship had ended shortly after that experience."
BitLimp5448
This is a lot. This is why I avoid people. People are crazy.
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When you have no money, you have no other choice than finding ways to survive.
It can be sort of like a club.
Only people who understand being poor will recognize other poor people.
There are things you learn about stretching every penny that some will never be able to comprehend.
Of course right now in the throws of this ridiculous inflation problem, pennies are useless.
But that is a different conversation.
Let's make some notes about lacking funds.
Redditor cannonstotheleftofus wanted to hear from people who have struggled with the coin. They asked:
"What’s something people don’t know unless they’ve been poor?"
Rewashing clothes and reusing the same clothes for months. You ignore the fade.
Noodle Away
"How to make $20 last a week."
whattayagonnadew
"The magic word is Ramen."
cannonstotheleftofus
“pay us now”
"You have a couple of months from when you get those 'pay us now' letters until they actually care enough to get bailiffs involved."
Nitrosquid212
"I am currently in that stage and boy if that doesn't just make the next payment even worse. It's and endless cycle of higher and higher catch-up payments till you die or someone finally helps you."
AnnBelleBot
Reading is Fundamental
"Poor people know the importance of a good library. They are one of the few remaining public places where you can simply exist without the expectation of buying something. Books are free to check out and provided entertainment when my family couldn't afford internet/cable. The library in my town is a safe, well-lit, air conditioned/heated space that has clean water, free access to bathrooms, and free wifi."
"Not everyone has all those resources at home. Some people have no home at all. It's a valuable resource for homeless people and it's a safe space for poor kids to do homework or hang around while parents are busy working. Nowadays libraries even offer free passes to museums and zoos, free adult education classes, and have tools or sewing machines you can borrow. Libraries are great."
aimlessly_scrolling
Transportation
"That everything takes twice as long to do because you have to take public transportation, and have to go to the laundromat; many things are a huge hassle like limiting how many things you can get at the store because you have to lug it all on the bus; basically things that many take for granted require a load of planning and time."
EspressoBooksCats
Good Night
"Sleeping not because you're tired but because you're hungry and can't grab a bite because whatever might be left in the fridge gotta last till the 15th."
VtecKickedInYooo
Food is always the biggest issue. Making food last is a skill.
Budgets
"How expensive being poor can be. When you're living paycheck-to-paycheck, you can't often plan/save/budget as well as you could if you had some money to fall back on."
NoCelery1168
The taste...
"How a black bean and rice burrito tastes when it's all you've been able to afford for the better part of the past year. No cheese, just beans and rice and tortilla, sometimes with Lowry's Seasoned Salt or peanut butter when available. Cheese is the most expensive part of a burrito."
CedarWolf
Cheap parts...
"Being poor is expensive. You’re forced to buy low quality s**t that needs to be replaced constantly, which in the long run causes you to spend more money. This is why poverty is so hard to escape. For example, when I was poor as s**t, I was forced to learn how to fix my own old a** car and buy cheap parts, because I just couldn’t afford to take it in, buy quality parts, and/or get something more reliable."
"Because of this, sometimes I didn’t know what I was doing and created other issues therefore causing me to spend more money. Cheap parts need to replaced way more often causing me to spend more money in the long run as opposed to buying a quality, long lasting part initially. And the car itself just broke down way more frequently, causing me to spend money more than I would with a more reliable vehicle."
"But the problem is when you’re poor, you don’t have the option to buy that quality starter that will last years. You have to buy the cheap piece of s**t one and replace it yearly because you literally don’t have the money for the quality one as a one time expense. Although I do love working on cars now as a result of this, so in a weird way I’m grateful, but the point still stands."
Mirraco323
Pain in the A...
"Medicaid is a pain in the a** to understand and sign up for. It's like the state actively fights you trying to sign up."
MrPuzzleMan
"I remember the one time I was briefly on Medicaid. It was such a pain in the a** to get going and the end result was that there was no point in having bothered because nobody took Medicaid and Medicaid didn't cover any of my diabetic supplies. The healthcare system needs a major overhaul and anybody who says otherwise can go suck a lemon."
BeneejSpoor
reuse...
"You can infuse your tea more than once. It goes well with two times and it's acceptable with three. More than that... You can't afford tea."
25_-a
"My grandma wasn't poor by a long shot, but she made those teabags last at least 5 times!!! They would be standing in the kitchen, all dried up on a little plate, ready to be reused!"
Th3_Accountant
How do you use tea that many times? I love it anyway.
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The world's richest person in the world, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, is planning to take over the social media app of all social media apps–Twitter.
But let's say we're there already. An unnamed Redditor asked:
"Elon Musk just bought Twitter. What happens next?"
People on social media could follow a trend.
Following A Trend
"People pretend to leave but don't actually leave."
– MrBananaStorm
The Other Platform
"Also: people declaring they're leaving for Instagram without realizing that's owned by Zucc."
– majima__goro
Owned
"next Elon buys Reddit."
– sanman
On To The Next
"Paperwork. Then checks cut to the stockholders to buy them out."
– User Deleted
The potential buyout might not cause any mayhem at all.
Life Goes On
"For me, nothing. Continue with my daily life without twitter, that sh*ts toxic."
– itsMondaybackwards
Ignorance Is Bliss
"Yea why are people so angry about this? I'm genuinely asking, I don't know anything about twitter and Elon Musk."
– doggrimoire
Pet-opia
"Cats and dogs living together."
– tewnewt
Some Things Never Change
"Nothing, Twitter stays the same hellhole lmao."
– ilovecatfish
No New Customer
"I'm not sure I care. Don't use it now, won't use it when he owns it."
– bh0
Some people are just bracing themselves.
Lies Resume
"The return of Donald Trump on twitter."
– laja7
Indication Of Damages Done
"Musk is wanting to boot the bots, which should undermine tons of election interference, but I fear they've already created a self-perpetuating monster. Twitter may be unable to distinguish between extremist and algorithm. Regardless of his success, it is a job that needs to be done."
– borg286
It's Conditional
"If he succeeds in removing 'unauthentic' content, it could be good for discourse. If he turns it into a misinformation free for all, I’m out."
– pallentx
No one knows for sure what's in store for us in a world of Musk ruling over the Twitterverse.
But let's focus on and help fast-track autonomous vehicles for safe public transportation before Twitter begins a potential crash-and-burn trajectory.
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