The mid-2000s were defined by a number of clothing brands, all of which conflicted with each other.
But none had such a pervasive presence as Hot Topic, which nearly defined the "emo" movement as much as emo music itself. However, we were all collectively the worst in the mid-2000s and a lot of poor Hot Topic employees had to deal with us.
These are their stories.
u/TheCrowsNestTV asked:
Hot Topic Employees of Reddit, what are your horror stories?
Here are the tales.
The 'Twilight' Zone
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I worked at Hot Topic about 8 years ago. For the most part, the gig was the best part-time job I ever had. Great managers, great coworkers, great customers. Only 2 instances stand out in my mind.
- This was around when Twilight was big. Middle-aged women would come in and ask where the Edward/Jacob merch was and then just start fawning over them in the most uncomfortable way.
- My actual interview. It was a group interview. One of the questions was something about either a difficult customer service moment or something. This one guy (obvious HT scene type) proudly talks about the time he worked at a bookstore and sucker-punched a female customer in the face for calling his style weird/freaky/something.
I never saw that guy again so I don't think he got the job.
Improvised Problem Solving
I worked for 2 years at my local Hot Topic and the worst stories both involved the fitting room.
Our fitting room used to be a self-service room in the back of the store with a red curtain in front of it. An employee noticed 4 feet in the room and opened it to find two people having sex in it and had to clean up the remnants.
A second incident came when a smell wafted from the same room. It was later discovered that someone had actually taken a dump in the room when they went in to "try on clothes".
We ended up fitted the room with a galvanized piece of chain and a master lock to keep the curtain open. Luckily, shortly thereafter, we got a full store overhaul that put in ACTUAL fitting rooms.
It Was Creative
My current boss was a former store manager at a Hot Topic and he told me that he caught one of his employees stealing a shirt he had stuffed into a Sonic cup. From then on out everyone had to check bags AND beverages for merchandise.
You Had Ample Warning
Not a horror story but a ridiculous short one. I had a woman come in with her sleeping infant and screamed at me to turn off the music while she strolled around the store. I mean if your baby is sleeping and you want them to continue, maybe dont come to browse the store that you can hear music blasting from the other side of the mall, idk what to tell ya haha.
There Is Fanfiction!!!!
Thursday is actually my last day with Hot Topic after 4 years! In general the company is amazing to its employees and I've met some incredible people. But boy do i have stories!!
- I once found a condom on our anime section. It was open and filled with...something.
- We had a girl who I am positive had some mental issue because she would get into the fitting room and try to lure ANYONE in there to "help" her then try and seduce them. She was actually pretty but young and filled to the brim with crazy.
- Alice Cooper came into the store once. Totally unannounced and brought a teacup pig. Absolutely wonderful person. Gave our metalhead associate tickets to his show and this dude about lost it.
- Also met Machine Gun Kelly, Mayday Parade, We the Kings, and Max Green of Escape the Fate. MGK and the vocalist for WtK were *ssholes.
- We had a guy get thrown against the front gate on the morning of a Funko Pop release. In general the job has taught me some Pop collectors are grade A *ssholes.
- Had a woman ask me if she should go back to stripping after her C section, then lifted her shirt to show me the scar.
- We found out there was a group of mallrats who wrote fan fiction about the staff at our store. I never got to see any and I'm glad for that.
...But Why?
Former employee. I worked a whole 3 months in Summer, so all the kids were out and about. I was stocking Disney merchandise and I couldn't help but notice a kid underneath one of our clearance racks. I heard some strange noise coming from there too so I crouch under and look at the kid. He had a button, needle and all, in his mouth. I asked him where his parents were and before I knew it he swallowed the pin and ran out of the store. I couldn't leave and go search for the child so I let security know about the button kid. Never knew what happened after that. I can't seem to forget button kid though.
Peaches, Meet Your Maker
Spent almost 5 years working at one in the early 2000's. Being in the midwest, we had a ton of Juggalos but they were actually pretty nice people in general. I had a group of kids ask what I would do if they "set some clothes on fire" and flicked a lighter multiple times. We mostly got weirdos who wanted to bang in the dressing room or lifted up their shirts to ask me what gauge their nipple ring is. We had this one girl who came in weekly and I dont think she was all there. She would sit at the listening station for way too long and then leave.
One day she sat down and put the headphones on. She had a plastic bag with her filled with empty glass bottles and peaches (yes, the fruit). We noticed it was leaking onto the floor but just let her do her thing. She put the headphones back and looked at her leaking bag. She had a mildly disappointed look on her face but immediately looked at her watch and yelled "I'm going to miss my bus!". She ran out of the store and up to a trash can outside the store. She held the bag up high and yelled "PEACHES MEET YOUR FATE!!!", threw the bag in the trash, and sprinted off. That job was weird.
When Hygiene Doesn't Come To Work
I worked for Hot Topic for about 7 years. My store was apparently THE juggalo store of the district, and I think the state. Working for that company as long as I did, I was pretty used to ignoring people's crappy taste, but the juggalos were different.
This is in central Florida, so it's on average about 90 degrees most days and always humid as hell. These kids were always very overweight, wearing a massive black ICP tee, those ridiculous 30 pound black Tripp pants with huge pockets and all the hardware (chains and straps) hanging from them, and they were drenched in sweat (their hygiene was almost always AWFUL). They always seemed to show whenever a new ICP shirt or collectible would arrive, and would smell up the store and pay in wadded up, sweat soaked money. It was just all around unpleasant.
The smell would linger for a bit after they left... it was not pleasant.
Was It Worth It?
My sister worked at one for a little while. One day two grown men were fighting over a Pop (it's like a collectible figure). Like a legit fight. She said it was like the Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons fighting another Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons. My sister called mall security and noped the hell out of their way. Neither one of them got the Pop. My sister had to put all the stuff back that they knocked over.
Who Is The Real Devil Here
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I worked in a Hot Topic in a small town where it was really controversial for the store to be moving in. I worked there about 6 months after it opened and we saw a lot of older folks eyeing us and they store as they walked by. One time this high school girl was in buying a band tee and as she was checking out her grandma came in yelling something about devil worship then proceeded to fall to the floor speaking in "tongues". Security was called.
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When we're intoxicated, or even the slightest bit tipsy from having a little too much to drink, our immediate perspective on things is hazy.
But there's nothing like a bit of alarming news or a jarring incident to snap us out of the fog and focus on the moment.
Sometimes alcohol isn't always to blame for our impairment.
It can be a state of mind, like a perpetual numbness from being complacent in life, and all it takes is one shocking moment to rattle us back to our senses.
Curious to hear from strangers online about this type of scenario, Redditor Known_Challenge_7150 asked:
"What’s one thing that sobered you up real quick?"
These individuals were witness to shocking events that sobered them up right quick.
Bleeding Out
"Got out of a taxi and found a naked man profusely bleeding from his head crawling up the driveway in my condo. Called him an ambulance completely forgot I was absolutely wasted until 45 minutes later when I'd helped him translate and in to an amublance and stepped in my front door."
"Later a few days later learned he'd slipped in the tub and literally crawled out for help. Poor dude. He was fine but I genuinely thought he was going to die there."
– DongLaiCha
Tragic News
"At a bachelor party and we got a phone call that the groom’s father had suddenly passed."
– accountnameredacted
Bottom Of The Barrel
"I went to visit my parents back in July. I was homeless and deep into fentanyl addiction so I lost a lot of weight. My folks could see it. They knew something was up. Anyway, I spent the night and I was getting ready to leave in the morning and I looked at myself in the mirror for a good long time. I finally had enough and told them everything. They took me to detox, from there I went to rehab. Graduated in August and been living with them ever since then. I have 160 days clean and sober."
– Crotch-Monster
A reality check can be enough for some people to snap out of it.
Like Father, Like Son
"Was driving a drunk friend home, he had been on a bender again and was smart enough to call me for a lift rather than try and drive. As I helped in to his house his mother came down the stairs and said 'your as drunk as your father' and went back upstairs. I haven't seen him drunk since then, he still drinks but the thought of turning into his dad scared him out of hard drinking."
– psycospaz
Busted
"Flashing blue lights."
– FiddleOfGold
"This sobered me up just thinking about it."
– redmaple_syrup
Losing Sight
"Woke up to no sight in one eye. I had cataract surgery so just thought one of the lenses had slipped and it was an easy fix. Eye doc says nope, you had a stroke. I loved soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and salty food, which caused high blood pressure, which caused retina damage. Over six months was able to get most of my eyesight back with medication, and all back within a year. Trying to navigate life with one eye was very sobering. Started taking HBP much more seriously."
– MissHibernia
Quitting The Bottle
"Looked up someone I went to highschool with who was an awesome guy. Found out he had been dead for 3 years from alcoholism, at age 33. I made an overnight change. I hadn't started drinking that night yet, 10 months ago. Haven't touched it again since."
– omgtater
These disturbing moments were enough for Redditors to immediately come to their senses.
Unplanned House Guests
"Me and a buddy Woke up in someone’s living room, realized neither one of us knew the people, they were just nice and let 2 drunk guys sleep on their living room floor. We didn’t even say goodbye."
– Oneinsevenbillion75
Serious Health Warning
"Elevated liver enzymes."
"And the knowledge that this sh** was gonna kill me and I just couldn't orphan my family over it."
"So I opted for recovery, instead."
"Clean and sober since June 5, 2009."
– Far_Meal8674
The Joyride
"Grew up in a rural area. The little town hosted dances at the hockey arena, everyone (adults and kids) went and they overserved everyone, regardless of age. I was maybe 16 or 17 and was absolutely sh*tfaced, and jumped in the back of someone's truck with about 8 other people to go back to someone's cottage for after dance drinking. The driver (still don't know who it was) started racing one of his buddies and we whipped around small dirt roads, flying around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, going god knows how fast. It was basically a disaster waiting to happen. It was crazy scary and I was sober and thankful to be alive when we finally arrived."
– foxfood9116
The human psyche is a fascinating thing, isn't it?
How we can automatically focus on something urgent at a crucial time, even after getting buzzed from drinking too much alcohol.
But as we're in the thick of the holidays, it's a good reminder to drink responsibly and stay off the roads if you drive to your celebratory destination.
Cheers. Stay safe. And happy holidays.
We've all complained or vented about something in our lives which, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't exactly a problem, or is very easily solved.
Then there are those who complain about things that others almost hope will happen to them at some point in their lives.
These are known as "first world problems", as they are problems that pretty much only the world's one percent faces.
From having to fly business class instead of first class, or being served Roederer instead of Dom Pérignon, these complaints are often met with amusement, bewilderment, or even anger.
Redditor jennimackenzie was curious to hear the most absurd "first world problems" anyone ever complained about, leading them to ask:
"What’s the most ridiculous 'first world problem' you’ve seen people get worked up over?"
"Tale As Old As Time..."
"I once knew a mom who was legitimately devastated, to the point of tears/grief, because a doctor predicted her 8 year old daughter's final height to be around 5'2","
"Which wasn't tall enough to get cast as Belle at Disney World."
"That was the child's (and her mother's) only dream in life, apparently."
"Didn't appreciate my suggestion that she could be Minnie or Mickey."
"Lol!"
"Only a face character would do!"- TravelLovingMom
"Must Be Funny, In A Rich Man's World..."
"My boss from about a decade ago was this insanely rich dude who always went to the bank to get fresh and crisp currency."
"He'd call the bank in advance to make sure they had some on hand."
"I think he was a germaphobe."
"He had a trash can that he'd throw $1 and $5 bills in that he thought was 'dirty' and regularly just donated it vs spending it."
"I asked him why he did this and he said it was too much trouble and asked if I wanted it."
"I said f*ck yeah dumped it into my bag and when I got home it was close to $400 in singles and fives.
"Another time, he wanted to upgrade all the computers in his studio, so we went to a store and bought 10 PCs."
"They all had $150 mail in rebates and he wasn't bothered to go through the trouble of mailing them in."
"3 weeks later I received $1500 after spending a whole afternoon filling out all those goddamn forms."- azninvasion2000
Money Burn GIF by nog
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Who Wore It Better?
"When I was about 19 years old, I was at my boyfriends family BBQ."
"I was wearing this pretty floral sundress."
"His cousins girlfriend showed up in the same dress and she was SO mad that she went and changed."
"I will never understand being upset when someone is wearing the same thing as you.'
"Did you really think that your shirt you bought off the rack is going to be unique to you?"
"No."- mertsey627
Seeing Red! Or Blue In This Case...
"The blue of the balloons wasn't quite the same as the bridesmaid's sashes."
"Years ago my wife and I attended a wedding."
"It was very low key."
"The dinner was in the dining hall at the university where the couple met, cinder block walls and all."
"It was a Baptist wedding - no booze and very serious."
"The dark blue balloons attempting to liven up the hall were a slightly darker shade of blue than the sashes on the bridesmaid's dresses."
"The bride lost here sh*t and absolutely raved for nearly an hour."
"I can't remember how they finally managed to talk her down."- mechant_papa
south park wedding GIF
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See You In Court!
"Rich neighbors who end up in expensive court battles because they disagree about where a tree can be planted or whether the color of a fence fits in with the street’s 'amenity'."
'These disputes get really heated and rack up huge lawyers’ bills."
"The most pathetic part is after the judgement when they are arguing about who should pay the other party’s costs."
"Lots of affidavits filed citing the 'emotional distress' they had to endure, or painting themselves as brave warriors who were forced to take a stand to fight for 'justice'."
"Also lots of pompous litigants insisting that the judge refer to them by their 'Dr' title."
"An absolutely insane dumpster fire of entitled rich people problems."- ElectrocRaisin
It's Always People With Money Who Don't Want To Pay!
"I work in a public library."
"People will get so so mad if they have to be put on a wait list for a book."
"A popular book that just came out."
"Ok our services are not only free but so are the books."
"You’re welcome, a**holes."- Switchbladekitten
A Warm Butt Is A Happy Butt!
"My own."
"We have a bidet toilet seat (Fabulous! Everyone should have one!) and not only does it wash your bum and blow dry it, but the seat's heated!"
"It's shocking how much a heated toilet seat makes the whole process more agreeable."
"Except: We had a power outage and I went to use the toilet and the seat was cold!"
"Unacceptable!"
"This shall not stand!"
"I was really upset because it didn't feel good."
"Then I stopped and thought: This is the most first-world problem anyone's ever had."
"I was really pissed because my heiny was tepid."
"I got over it."- DeathGrover
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Holy Matrimony!
"Weddings are a gold mine for this question."
"People get so hyped up over their 'most important day of their life'."
"They'll destroy friendships, go into debt, and have crazy expectations."
"It's not always the couple who go crazy, either."
"Sometimes, it's the parents or another family member who feels entitled to control the wedding."
"It's just a party."
"Be considerate of guests, have plenty of food and drinks, and enjoy it."- magicrowantree
When Fast Food Isn't Fast Enough...
"Having to pull off to the side to wait for a drive-thru order to be brought out to you because your food isn't ready and there's a line building up behind you."- demanbmore
In Case You Don't Think Customer Service Employees Are Undervalued...
"I was working the return desk at a Target next to a military base so I have so many stories."
"One of my favorites was a lady who had her baby shower before revealing the gender and was livid that she had received floral newborn diapers when she’s having a boy."
"It was a huge box of super expensive, all organic diapers, that we didn’t carry and therefore could not return."
"I cannot accurately express her fury and disgust."
"How dare either suggest her boy could wear feminine diapers."
"I suggested she donate them if she didn’t want to use them and she instead threw away the entire box."
"When she left we pulled it out and threw it in our donate bin."
"There have also been multiple times where mom’s order massive toys and when we bring them out to the car they get furious that they aren’t wrapped."
"We don’t offer wrapping services."
"Here’s the thing, if you don’t want your kids to see the toys you got them for Christmas or their bit to day DON'T BRING THE CHILD WHEN YOU PICK IT UP."
'I’ve had multiple women scream and curse me out that I had ruined their kids Christmas by bringing the toys they ordered out to the car like they requested."- clever-mermaid-mae
Customer Service Waiting GIF by Juno Calypso
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Happiest Place On Earth!
"I used to work for Disney."
"That in itself should tell you everything."
"However for fun I'll give you two specific stories one form our tech department and one from my wife who worked bookings."
"I specifically worked for their call center to help with technical issues with magic band and the website."
"Suddenly got worse huh?"
"A right of passage call everyone has at least one story of is the 'Dome call'."
"Basically there is a subset of Disney Guest (TM) that believes if it rains at Walt Disney world there is someone that will push a button to encapsulate the whole of Disney property in a dome to keep out the rain."
"I'm not kidding."
"If this button is not pushed they call our tech department to angrily ask why."
"My wife worked booking."
"Pretty much everything including Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique and Pirate's league."
"These two things did roughly the same thing difference being price and theme."
"BBB was expensive did more and was focused on princesses, pirates league did a bit less and focused on mermaids and pirates."
"Lady called up my wife, and got pissed about BBB being booked up (It goes FAAAAST)."
"Karen: 'Im going to give the phone to my daughter and I want you to tell her how you are ruining her vacation by not letting her do BBB'."
"Wife proceeds to explain how pirate's league is so much cooler and how she can be a mermaid or pirate and basically gets the kid to start demanding to their parents about how they want to be a mermaid instead of a princess."- trollsong
Disney World GIF
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The horror!
Being booked into a junior suite at Disney World instead of an executive suite!
It's almost as bad as having no money for groceries, or no food to feed you children...
Said absolutely no one.