Bad jobs are essential to growing as a person, right there next to your first heartbreak or having a teacher who won't listen to you. It happens to everyone so don't feel bad when you start working only to then realize this job is awful and you need to get the heck out. Everyone's limit may be different, but the reaction is the same:
I. Quit.
Reddit user, u/TheStrangestOfKings, wanted to know what caused you to quit Day One when they asked:
What job did you work at that was so bad, you quit on the same day you were hired?
Not Quite The Holy Ground
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When I was 14 I got a job at one of the few fast food places in town that hired kids under 16. I went to orientation, where they explained the positions different age groups could fill.
My job would be to take people's orders out to their cars. I wasn't allowed to touch money or work the fryer. I showed up on the first [day] and was told my whole shift would be on the fryer.
I told them I was 14 and not allowed to, plus I hadn't been trained on it. The guy basically said tough sh-t and tried to hand me a hair net. I just left.
Companies, Let's Up Our Production Costs! Come On, Now!
This was about 15 years ago. I got hired to be a host at IHOP, and went in for my first day of training. It sucked so bad, I was so bored watching all their cheesy videos.
On a break, Panera called me and asked me for an interview, so I left and went there immediately. Worked there for 5 years.
Coffee Is Kind Of Breakfast Staple
I got hired as the "breakfast girl" at a historic hotel in my town. Now I don't know if this was due to management, or laziness, or what, it that kitchen where I was to prepare breakfast was REPULSIVE. Everything was old, they saved batter for pastries for WEEKS, eggs were damn near spoiled, and they kind of just threw me into it with no warning at all as to what they wanted from me. Didn't really even show me where the coffee was. I quit at the end of the first shift.
No Pay Is Worth No Training
Zaxby's when I was 18. F-ck that place.
It was my first job. I hadn't had any before because of my anxiety problems.
The first red flag was when they asked me to come in the same day I was interviewed. I worked a 6 hour shift, but only about an hour and a half of it was me being trained. I was only taught how to bread & fry chicken and make grilled cheeses.
Then they threw me in the dish pit for 4 and a half hours. No one really came back there to check on me. The dishes kept piling up faster than I could clean them, and it made me really anxious. I called and quit the next day. They even offered to up my pay but I said no, it wasn't for me.
This Sounds...Truly Awful.
I was 17. It was for a small restaurant in a central area of my city where there were a lot of tourists. I had to stand on a busy street handing out flyers and trying to convince people to come eat at the restaurant even at hours where literally nobody would want to go to a restaurant. We got paid like an extra 50 cents for each person that we brought, and in the entire day I only managed to get one group of 4 to come for lunch.
I got there at 8am, and sometime in the afternoon I was told that I could either leave at 4pm and earn a ridiculous sum, or stay until 8pm and earn a ridiculous sum plus a few extra euros. We're talking something like 5€ for 8 hours of working on my feet, in the summer heat, being either ignored or insulted by the people that I had to stop. I was shy as hell and going up to strangers like that was awful. Oh, and at one point the owner passed by in a motorcycle and yelled at me because "I wasn't working" (I was taking a minute to recover from the heat).
I left shortly after because I couldn't take it anymore, I was bored as hell and people were more annoyed than interested by me. I went home and called them to quit. I also googled the restaurant and found reviews complaining about the food and prices, all basically saying that it was a tourist scam. I kinda felt bad for the nice Spanish family that I had convinced to go and eat there.
Oh, and they didn't even pay me. I was told that I'd only get paid after working there for a week, and I had no intention of ever going back so I was like f-ck it, they can keep their small change.
Falling Nails!
Retrieving used formwork. Ten guys throwing 20kg pieces of nail-infested timber down from five floors up. My job was to dodge the falling bits of timber and avoid stepping on nails while I did it for ten hours a day.
F-ck that.
No first aid guy on site, got a nail through each foot on my first day which I disinfected, bandaged and went back to work.
Deathly Peanuts
I was 18 and it was as a waitress for a fancy retirement home, where they made meals to order for the residents who all ate in a communal facility. Somehow we were responsible for knowing a person's dietary restrictions but there was no list of people with dietary restrictions as it's protected health info - we were just supposed to "figure it out." For example, if Grandma was allergic to peanuts, forgot and ordered a dish with peanuts, we were held responsible.
The men keep smacking my butt with their napkins and making inappropriate comments, which was fine with management because they were old/senile. My first shift was supposed to be covering breakfast/lunch (8 hrs) but because so many people quit mid-shift it became a mandated double. I lasted one day. Of the 15 people I trained with, only 1 made it 2 weeks.
Check The Eyes
Away at college, needed a job. Got hired on at a national pizza chain, with a table involved. Anyway, show up the first day and quickly notice every single person working there is tweaking. Everyone. No way I was going to deal with a bunch of tweakers, and quit after my first shift.
Manger asked why, and I told him because everyone here is tweaking. His response: How did you know?! Maybe it was the dialated eyes, the fact everyone here is sweating like it's 113 degrees out, yet I need a long sleeve shirt to stay warm?
Don't Want To Be Misled
As a teen, I applied for a standard teenage summer job picking berries on a farm. Thought id be with other people but turns out I was the only one hired and half of the first 12h day was also construction/helping the farm renovate their barn. Not worth it for minimum wage.
Nubs.
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Got a job at a sawmill right out of high school. It was probably opened in the 40's - dangerous as hell. First day One of the guys that worked there was bragging about how good the owner was to work for, held up his 2 fingered hand, touched the two nubs one at a time and said "I got $500 each when that happened!"
About an hour in I went to my car under the auspices of grabbing my thermos. Left and never went back.
Kids See Through Your Lies Pretty Quickly
Child playworker.
I mean, I don't like kids and I never plan on having any, but "how hard can be playing for 7 hours be?" I was a fool to think children were easy.
Yeah, no. I can't fake enthusiasm, or run around a table for 2 hours, or made a kid eat their lunch (which consists entirely of chocolate?), or stop a child from biting my ankle.
A Government Service That Was Ill-Maintained? You Don't Say...
I have two. The first was at a bpysenberry picking place where you got paid per container. $7 for 8I hours work.
Second was a place that tried to find employment for disabled people. If you were considered "unemployable " by their standards they would employ you in "sheltered employment" which was actually factory work. Some sold packaging to businesses, the area I was in refurbished headphones for a large airline for in flight entertainment.
This was all factory work and they had about 20-30 working on these headphones. They paid $50NZD (around 35USD) a week for 40 hours work. This worked out to be around $1.11/h. They also lied to the disabled people claiming that $40 a week was all they could have before it affected their benefit entitlement. This is a lie because you can earn up to $100 before tax. Then they take 30 cents to each dollar earned over that.
So yeah. Told then where to shove that. This service was also funded by the govt....
Seriously, Guys. Train Your New Employees! It's Not That Hard!
Cumberland Farms, a northeast convenience store/gas station chain. They trained me on everything but how to do anything having to do with lotto, and the manager kept leaving and said "you'll be fine." I was 17 and they left me alone in the store, only having started two hours before. I felt like I knew nothing, so of course you know what's next: every customer wants to buy lottery tickets. When I took my break, I got in my car and left.
Cotton Puff Joe
Being a weaver at an old textile mill, using old machines. My main function was to tie knots in the threads if they broke, and start the machine back up. I was too tall for the machine, and my back was killing me after one day. I wouldn't have stayed anyway. Too repetitive and mind-numbing. People were walking around with cotton puffs stuck in their hair.
...Nope. Got Nothing For This One.
A couple years ago I got hired at 1-800-GOT-JUNK, to be one of the truck loaders. The first training session I went to they explained for about 20 minutes, with an accompanying video, how to scrape dead rats off your boots after leaving the junkyard.
I quit at lunch time.
Maybe Not Day 1, But Not Long After.
I didn't but it was not uncommon at all to see new Amazon delivery drivers quit after 1-3 days. They picture it as driving and just sitting on their butt was my theory. Delivering 250 packages to 180 stops is hard work. Loading the van + walking some stupid a-- driveways/stairs with heavy packages + traffic can be overwhelming.
Don't Leave Until After The Shift Meal
it was a "brew house": code for independently owned applebee's with more beer options, usually local. the cooks smoked on the line, trash was thrown on the floor ankle-deep until the end of the night, the "confetti" in the ceiling light covers were bugs, the ceiling tiles were brown from having never been cleaned, the floor even with non-slip shoes felt like I was walking on ice from the oil and whatever else, the chimney of the fryer caught on fire and I was told that happened every 2-3 days.
I worked 4 hours, got my shift meal, told them I couldn't do it because I didn't want to be there the day they got a less lenient health inspector.
Do Your Own Research
I applied for a call center in my local area, interview went well, hired on the spot and introduced to coworkers (small rented space, less than 20 employees). Was left by manager to chat with future coworkers while I waited for my mom to pick me up (I was still 17 at the time, 3 months shy of 18) when one coworker let's slip some mumble about how he hopes "this young girl doesn't leave like the rest."
I couldn't get the guys words out of my head so when I got home I did some more research on this business and found out they've been hiring for months and constantly losing people, but primarily hiring females who then left the company pretty quickly after. Found a forum of such employees talking about being sexually harassed while working there, how they never got paid what they were promised, etc. Just really shady things, but immediately after learning about the sexual harrasment claims I called and said I would not be taking the position after all. They didn't even ask for a reason.
Yeah...No.
Worked at a recycling plant for medical supplies. My job was to get inside the compressing machines and clean them. The machines were filled with blood needles.
It was absolutely disgusting.
Plus the place was infested with rats.
...Yeah, You Need To Go.
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I was working at a restaurant.
- A co-worker told me the boss asked him if he would sell him his passport.
- Different co-worker said the boss asked him to be a guarantor in a totally blank passport application.
- Some customers came up to me to say they overheard some men on the patio talking about trafficking people. Like, in the way that they were discussing plans to do it. Unbeknownst to them, one of these men was the owner.
Owner was from Albania by the way. Not trying to generalize but they are known to be a one of the Human Trafficking hotspots.
I quit that day and called the RCMP. (Sort of like Canada's FBI)
When you know, you just gotta go! These folks saw the red flags for what they were.
Do you have anything to add? Let us know in the comments below.
The old wives' tales.
They are the stories of legend.
I think we all need a big DEEP Google dive though.
Where did they originate?
WHO ARE THE OLD WIVES!
You don't hear about them as much anymore.
It's like science and logic are suddenly a thing.
But they sure are a good way to keep your kids and their behavior in line.
Redditor the_spring_goddess wanted to discuss the tall tales we've all been fed through life, so they asked:
"What is an old wives tale that people still believe?"
"Wait an hour to swim after eating."
What a crock!
So many summer hours wasted.
I want revenge for that one.
Say Nothing
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"An undercover cop has to tell you he's a cop if you ask him."
LonelyMail5115
"Pretty much most advice when it comes to cops are old wives tales. I’m not even a cop but most of the advice you hear is pretty off."
I_AM_AN_A**HOLE_AMA
Say Something
"That you have to wait 24 hours to report someone missing."
Severe_Airport1426
"I really think this one is important and should be the top regardless. As it’s a piece of advice that needs to be relearned and the only way to do that is through awareness."
crappycurtains
"This used to be true. I think they changed it after some guy named Brandon went missing back in the '80s or '70s. You used to have to wait 24 hours if the missing person was an adult because they had 'a right to be missing' and then everyone realized that was stupid and stopped doing it."
AlbinoShavedGorilla
Body Temps
"That drinking ice cold water after eating oily foods will solidify the oil and permanently remain in your body. I informed my coworker that if your body temperature ever reached that point, you’d have bigger problems than weight gain."
chriseo22
"Oh, I have a cousin who 100% believed this. One of those guys who believed every early 2000s internet rumor and old wives tale. One night I chugged a big glass of ice water after dinner and he started freaking out and saying my guts were gonna harden."
"I sarcastically told him to drive me to the hospital if that happened. Obviously, nothing happened and the next morning I said something like 'Thanks for being on standby in case my guts filled with hardened oil.' He just walked off muttering under his breath."
apocalypticradish
Arms Down
"When I was pregnant, I was told by young and old alike that I should NOT raise my arms above my head or exert myself in such a manner because it could cause cord strangulation to my unborn sons and daughters."
Fatmouse84
10 Years Actually
Unimpressed Uh Huh GIF by Brooklyn Nine-Nine
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"Chewing gum stays in your stomach for 7 years."
"I remember accidentally swallowing a piece of gum when I was a kid in like 1995 and just accepting my fate like welp, gonna have this in my stomach til high school I guess."
Gecko-911
I was so afraid to sallow my gum when I was young.
This tale is haunting.
High/Low
Hungry Debra Messing GIF by Will & Grace
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"You can tell the sex of the baby by how you carry."
LeastFormal9366
"Pregnancy certainly wins awards for the most old wives tales. So much absolute BS was repeated to us by everyone we talked to."
IllIIIlIllIlIIlIllI
The Cursed
"If you’re a woman and you wear opal jewelry but opal is not your birthstone (October), you’ll never be able to have children, or will be widowed, or just generally have bad luck or something. You can counteract this by having a diamond in the same piece of jewelry as the opal, though."
"I have a nice opal ring that my parents gave me years ago, and I’ve had other women give me this 'advice' unprompted more than once when I’ve worn it. I have absolutely no idea where it started, but I’m pretty sure this little chunk of silicate rock has no concept of what month I was born in, let alone of how my reproductive organs work."
SmoreOfBabylon
Stay In
"Going outside with wet hair will make you get pneumonia. Or an earache. Or maybe arthritis. Depends on which old wife you listen to."
"Jokes on them - I haven't blow-dried my hair in decades and usually leave the house with wet hair in the morning. On winter mornings, the tips of my hair get frozen. No ear infections or pneumonia or arthritis yet."
worldbound0514
Dreams and Facts
"You never make anyone up in your dreams you've seen everyone in your dreams somewhere else before and never make anyone up entirely."
"How would you possibly prove that to be true? My partner adamantly believes this and tells me this 'fact' whenever I have a dream about someone I've never met before."
mattshonestreddit
"My late wife used to tell me that before she met me she would have dreams of standing at an alter on her wedding day but could never see the guy's face, no matter how hard she tried. After meeting me the face was filled in with mine. Don't know if it's true but one of those things I like thinking of every now and then when I miss her."
Darthdemented
Cracked
Getting Ready Episode 2 GIF by The Office
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"Some people still believe cracking knuckles causes arthritis."
Choice-Grapefruit-44
"There's a doctor (Donald Unger) that cracked his knuckles a couple of times a day for 60 years, but only on one hand, just to prove it. Both hands remained exactly the same."
MacyTmcterry
I love my knuckles.
Do you have any tall tales to add to the list? Let us know in the comments below.
