
Image by Lukas Bieri from Pixabay |
I once was a restaurant worker and though the money was good, that period was definitely one of the more stressful ones of my entire life. I will never forget going to work at one restaurant... getting caught in traffic and arriving 45 minutes late (and then thinking I would be fired on day one), only to be thrown into a busy late shift with six tables at once. I wasn't even fully versed on the menu yet! Somehow I survived.
After Redditor JPetty97 asked the online community, "What is your worst or most memorable 'first day on the job' story?" people shared their stories and we have to say... we don't envy some of them.
"It wasn't a big learning curve..."
Most memorable: Interviewed at Subway for a summer job. Manager shook my hand, handed me an apron, and put me on the line because a regional school board convention was happening at the nearby high school. I was allowed to wear shorts as a one-time dress code exception that day as there was no time to go home and change. I at least got a shirt from the back room.
It wasn't a big learning curve because I ate at the Subway on campus so much that I already had most sandwiches memorized. We had a line out the door for hours. The manager was so grateful that I was allowed to make as many sandwiches as I could carry to take home for family dinner.
"Thankfully it was just a summer job..."
Got hired on Friday... showed up on Monday and the place was literally out of business and the building boarded up.
Thankfully it was just a summer job, but it was pretty confusing, to say the least.
"That was the day I decided..."
I went in to ask my former boss something about how he prefers client correspondence to be addressed. He starts telling me what to do. I pull out a pen and paper to take notes. He tilts his head to the side, looks at me, and condescendingly says, "if you need to take notes for this, we need to get you professional help."
That was the day I decided I wasn't going to last there for much longer. I ended up quitting a month thereafter.
"When I started my first internship..."
When I started my first internship I went to lunch with some women from my team. At lunch we found out that someone's mom passed away and here I was, a new intern, sitting at a table with four grown women that were all crying.
"I work at a hotel..."
Where I work now. I work at a hotel, been there over a dozen years. My very first day, my very first check out I remember this well: the gentleman's total was $800. I ran his card for $8,000. So the first thing I learned how to do wasn't a check-out, it was a refund (for $7200). I did wonder my first few days if I was cut out for this place, but a dozen years later here I am as night manager.
"My first ever job..."
So this was stupidly awkward of me. My first ever job was at a Safeway grocery store as a courtesy clerk. The store grunt basically. Showed up in the morning for the shift, it was quiet with nothing really going on. They told me to just man the bagging for awhile.
I somehow misheard that and thought they were telling me to go home. Don't know why that made sense to me, but it just did. So I left. About an hour later I got a call asking where I was. There was no harm done, but I got made fun of for awhile after that. Very embarrassing...
"He was deceased..."
First day was Thanksgiving. First call of the day (or first call ever for me) was an 18-year-old cardiac arrest. He was deceased for several hours. Parents did not want to believe so. Completely lost their minds. Blamed us for his death. Dad swept the entire Thanksgiving table set up on the floor with one huge arm sweep. Dishes and glasses flying and crashing everywhere.
"I began working at a supermarket..."
I began working at a supermarket in the bakery department. The majority of people I was working with were females a year or two older than me. Wanting to fit in, I wanted to say something funny and crude to join in their comments so far. So I decide to say "I may be vegetarian, but I still eat d***." Safe to say, that got me in their funny books.
It's been 4 years since I left that job to go to uni, and I still keep in contact with them.
"Spilled orange juice..."
Spilled orange juice all over an unpleasant woman on my first day as a flight attendant.
"Another guy and I..."
Another guy and I had the same start date. We arrived in the lobby, and while I checked in with the desk, sat down and waited to be taken back into the office area, the other guy went on back on his own (unescorted) and started to chat up the staff.
When the boss arrived, he took us both into the conference room and delivered the most red-faced, Tony Soprano @ss-reaming to the other guy that you can imagine, while I looked on. I spent six years there. The other guy, six months.
"Mouse Whisperer"
While I was waiting for my HOD on my first day in a new school, alone in the staff room, a mouse came out from under a shelf. It seemed to be looking for a way out, so I grabbed a mug and caught the poor thing to take it outside. The HOD came in while I was trying to calm the mouse down and that's how the department came to know me as the Mouse Whisperer.
ETA Definitely most memorable, not worst.
"But the first day was really awkward"
I was a maintenance supervisor at a hospital. And when they sold the hospital I did not like the new owner company and was sniffing around for a new job. One day I get a call from a big church and conference center and they are looking for a maintenance supervisor and said my name had come up as a possible candidate, so i meet for a lunch interview with the guy that does their hiring and firing.
We chit chat for about an hour and then he says "ok I appreciate you time , I gotta get back for a meeting " I'm thinking this didn't go well because he didn't ask anything about my background or experience and I mentioned that as we were walking out .
He says I'm not concerned about that, I need good attitude and honesty, as you know we are a non profit and exist totally on donations, you gotta be nice to everyone , and if there's something you don't know , we will pay for whatever training you need , and you're working for mr smith at the hospital, and he only hires the best.
So a few days later they offer me the job and I agree to start on a certain date .
So I show up on that date and walk in and tell the receptionist I'm the new maintenance guy and I'm here to see mr Jones .
"He's not here, he's in China for a month, I have all the paperwork for you to fill out"
So I do that and then ask : " uh, wheres the maintenance office ?"
"Oh there's not one, he's said you'd need to find some place to use as an office" "And you would need to buy some tools"
So she calls the two custodians to the office and I have to introduce myself to them as their new boss and neither one speaks English except a few words.
And then I have to wander around and find a big closet to turn into my office and then go buy some basic tools to fix the doors that won't close and to troubleshoot the Air conditioners that don't work etc .
I wound up working there nine years , but the first day was really awkward.
"Horror flick"
I once ended up on what turned out to be an accident plagued set of a horror flick. "The Room" Tommy Wiseau level bad leadership meets Final Destination style injuries everywhere. Everyone's day was bad and one guy almost lost his balls.
"Left me alone"
I taught horse lessons. When I arrived the barn the owner showed me around and asked about my experience for all of 5 minutes. Then she introduced me to two people on horseback, said have a nice lesson, and left me alone with them in the arena. It went okay, but it was just the first indicator of shoddy management and I only stuck around a few more months.
"Elementary Level Math"
Mine is a little different. I worked at a burger place in a mall food court all throughout high school and in to college. I quit after 4 years and came back the year after to help during the holidays. My first day back, I was on the register helping a customer. I wasn't familiar with it yet because they had upgraded from the ancient ones they'd had when I worked there before, so I looked at the wrong amount to give him change back.
I noticed before I finished giving it to him and apologized. I said I had accidentally told him the subtotal instead of what it was with tax. He asked me how I could make such a stupid mistake, and proceeded to yell at me, telling me that it was "Elementary Level" math, and I shouldn't have told him the wrong total. Called me stupid a couple more times, then left.
"Suddenly this alarm goes off"
This isnt mine, but a friends and I was there during the whole thing.
So a friend of mine had gotten hired on at my work, and I was set to train him on his second day. I clock in and he shows up about an hour later, business as usual. I feel like I need to say here that we work in foodservice. So, around 5 pm, we get a really bad rush when people want their dinners. So, him and I are cooking and suddenly this alarm goes off in the back. It's loud and piercing. No one there knew what to do.
So, our manager walked into the back and shut it off. 2 minutes later, it's back. Manager goes back again to shut it off. We continue like this for about half an hour. Mind you, we were extremely busy at this time. Well, lo and behold, after 30 minutes of fighting the alarm to shut up, the fire department shows up. I saw one of them walk into the back with a detector and next thing we know, our manager is telling us to shut everything off and is ushering us all out the door.
As it turns out, one of the cookers we had in the back was having a carbon monoxide leak, and that's what the alarm was for. We basically got told to wait two hours for the air to clear out, then go in and quickly close then hurry out.
And yes. There were Karens who still demanded us to make their food
"One of the most memorable"
One of the most memorable... probably in my first job in retail for a grocery store. My department manager in the meat department was showing me around the store. We saw the assistant store manager and he said to my manager "she's not going to last" and chuckles. My manager told him don't say that, laughed it off, and continued to show me the recycling compactor.
We went to cooler (like a giant walk in refrigerator) in my department.
He lifted a half-filled box of raw meat and put it on the ground. Told me to try lifting it. The astonishment on his face when I lifted it up and put it back down. Then he told me to put it back on the shelf. I did so, and his astonished reaction again. He seemed to have high hopes for me after I showed him what I could do. He continues to show me around but I definitely proved those guys wrong especially that rude comment the assistant store manager said on my first day, I was there for 1.5y before I moved to another job. The store manager, my dept colleagues and most of the front end all loved me. Never underestimate people. Most my colleagues in all my workplaces still underestimate what I can do all the time, I am use to it.
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"I'm too old for this sh*t"
The iconic words of Roger Murtaugh, portrayed by Danny Glover, in the Lethal Weapon movies.
A thought that all of us have with each passing year, both about things we're now tired of doing, and things we once loved, but don't find as much joy in any more.
After hitting the big 3-0, we find ourselves increasingly surprised by the things we used to find fun, but now might find almost intolerable.
Redditor nonchalannt was curious to hear the things people lost their taste for after their 30th birthday, leading them to ask:
"What's not "cool" anymore when you turn 30?"
Actually worrying about anything being "cool"!
"Being cool."
"Actually for me it was around 35, because I like banging my head into a wall."
"But others started realizing earlier than me."
"Everyone I knew started realizing that all of the things I thought were cool when we were 20 were actually really, really dumb and unimportant and weren't interested in them anymore."
"And I'm not even married or have kids, I can't imagine how stupid the sh*t I was into would seem if I had a family."
"However, video games I played when I was young still seem cool to literally everyone my age, so that didn't change even though I expected it would."
Early to bed, early to rise... or at least early to bed...
"I value my sleep a lot more at 30 than I did at 29."
"It scares me."
"I’m not in my twenties anymore but life is good."- arcanehavok743
Yeah...I'll just have one glass
"Hangovers."- writer_rat
I'll pay up for convenience.
"Teenager/early 20’s: 'yo we can save money by booking the 7am return flight and not paying for accommodation - lets just stay at the club until 5am or sleep on the airport floor!'"
"30yo: I’d rather die."- Gravesens1stTouch
I'll be transparent, and I'll honor my plans!
"Bailing on plans last minute."
"If you don’t want to do something, just say so."- freakanature
Dude, we graduated over ten years ago!
"Bragging about your high school accomplishments."- Hysterical_Realist
Yeah... I'll get my own...
"Sleeping 8 to a hotel room to save money."- UrDraco
So this is what it's like to have a savings account...
"Spending all your money at the bar on payday."- deputytech
Life is meant to be enjoyed.
"Here's some prospective from way in your future."
"I'm 64."
"When I was in my 50's my motto was, 'Oh, well'."
"I have 2 mottoes for my 60's."
"'Anyway, doesn't matter', and 'I don't need that stress in my life'."
"It's a great place to live."
Our tastes and interests change with each passing year.
Hence why staying up till 5am drinking straight from the bottle and eating nothing but potato chips might not have the same appeal.
Though no one should look back on those moments with shame or embarrassment.
After all, a good time was had by all, and that's what your 20s were for.
Not everyone wins the parent lottery.
It's a hard road when you have parents who don't support you or are openly hostile to you.
And the nonsense and cruelty can be subtle.
Sometimes it's the subtlety that's worse.
Redditorsnoofle-sciencewanted to discuss the ways we can all tell how others we're brought up by people who maybe should've rethought breeding. They asked:
"What is a sign you grew up with shi**y parents?"
I got lucky with my parent but I feel others who got the opposite.
Center of...
"You are in your 40s and still crave attention and validation from anyone at all because you were ignored all the time."
JBLBEBthree
Protection
"Even at 31, feeling like if I get close to anyone they'll find a way to take advantage of me."
NoticeWhenUAreHappy
"I’m not even sure my parents are wholly to blame there, they taught me love is kinda conditionally based on being a success and family means never being comfortable directly opening up. And that truly dealing with things is best done by ignoring or shouting about them. It was other folks who took advantage."
cewumu
I want nothing...
"The last time I got new tires, my mom made me let her pay for them for me because I didn't have a job and she doesn't want me spending money. Within an hour after, she was already using it as leverage like a, 'I did this for you, now do this for me!' kind of thing. My dad let me reimburse them without her knowing, but still. My parents have caused me to not be comfortable with accepting anything from anyone anymore. Not even a Christmas gift from a close friend."
SilverLugia1992
Do X
"Not being able to recognize affection or how to show it healthily."
TwoLaysea
"Affection gives me panic attacks. I know I'm going to get in deep crap because they're going to follow up with 'since I'm so loving you need to do X' with X being something i know I don't want to do. Haven't lived at home in decades but I still don't trust when people are being genuinely kind and loving. I know the other shoe is going to drop with a whole foot in it."
digitalwyrm
Worth
"You feel intimidated by everyone around you, you feel like you're never good enough for anyone, no matter how much they tell you that you don't need to try so hard, and you generally have low self-worth."
mR-gray42
Some childhoods really are a tragedy.
Sorry
"Being surprised people will apologize and want to talk out and deal with an issue instead of screaming and pretending everything is fine and never mentioning why there was a fight or argument at all."
ToastedMaple
Lies
"You remember being severely neglected yet you were told 'you are spoiled.'"
Embarrassed-Swan3568
"Lots of these hit close to home, but this one hits closest. Especially because my parents use money as a way of trying to keep me around for narcissistic supply."
"'Oh, they're such nice people, look at all they do for you!' Literally all I want in life right now is to not have to depend on them, I'd give every penny I have to not have to spend time with them and just constantly keep my mouth shut about my childhood abuse."
emueller5251
The Crave
"I once had one of my good friends tell me about how his dad never hugged him or said he loved him and this fantasy he had about his dad holding is head in his hands and telling him he loves him. I promised myself I would do everything I can to make sure my kids feel loved and are used to affection. And it's clear they crave it."
TheGlenrothes
I Remember
"When you really don’t remember any good times you spent with them."
AverageLegoGameFan
"My family was mad when I didn't attend my grandfather's funeral last year. I thought about it for a minute... then realized I could not come up with a single positive memory of him or anything nice he ever said to me in my life (I'm 44)."
"I could, however, come up with a very long list of really shi**y things he did and said. So I realized, why would I want to go? Don't want to see anyone else that will be attending anyhow so, nope. I am an adult and I don't have to so I didn't and I am glad for my choice."
Business_Loquat5658
peace out...
"You don't talk to them anymore or want them in your life otherwise as an adult (e.g., not inviting them to your wedding, or want them around any potential children you may have)."
Cuish
People really should have to be licensed to become parents.
Life is fragile.
We're reminded of that every single day.
In a split second, anything and everything can change.
You never know when you may end up in an ER.
RedditorSpinalPrizonwanted to hear about the times life took a sudden unexpected turn. They asked:
"People who were fine one minute, then woke up in the hospital, what happened?"
Thankfully I've only ever fainted. Blackouts and hospital stays give me anxiety.
Knock Out
"I was walking to a birthday party. Next thing I knew, I woke up in an ambulance. I had been struck over the head and was knocked unconscious. I never found out who it was, or what they wanted (they didn't take anything from me)."
nome_king
The Van
"On a business trip in Texas. Me and two co-workers were driving to work, I was in the back passenger seat. Woke up in an ambulance. Got hit by a sprinter van at 50mph and slammed into a guard rail according to the police report. I don't remember any of it. Broke 7 ribs, collar bone, concussion, and fractured two bones in my neck. Took like 7 months to recover, but my neck and shoulder still bother me daily."
RemarkableWafer
Psycho
"When I was around 8 or 9, my parents went to have dinner at a fancy restaurant. My younger brother was at a friends house and I had a babysitter. When I finally fell asleep I woke up in an ambulance. Turns out my babysitter overdosed me with pills so I wouldn’t wake up whilst she threw a party at my house. She gave me so many I passed out and had a reaction."
Honey_*itch-
Weeks Later
"My girlfriend had a thyroid related heart attack, where she was revived and put into a medically induced coma for like 2 weeks, and took her another 2 weeks to come out of it. Then she had to go to in-patient physical therapy for a bit. Talking to her after she woke up, I couldn't help but be astounded how much it f**ked with her memory. It was like she remembered events, people, things and places, but any concept of time went out the window."
"For example, she thought she was living at her ex husband's mom's house, driving a car she had before we met, working at her current job, and knew we were dating. And of course, as those were all simultaneously impossible, she was having a lot of trouble figuring out what was right, and what wasn't."
Digital_Utopia
Hero Gramps
"I had a severe asthma attack to the point my entire throat closed up. I turned blue and was lying on the kitchen floor. Woke up in my grandads car with a straw in my throat and him banging on my back. Woke up again in the hospital. I was about seven."
Kaonashi_chlo
I would be a wreck in all of these situations. This is too much.
Erased
"Hit by a van . Woke up about a month later. My last memory before waking up is my 4th period art class in high school. So it completely erased the last half of the day before and the entire morning of the accident itself."
Half_Smashed_Face
A Bad Series
"My dad was driving me to school and suddenly I was in my bed! I get up, open my door, and ask my family what just happened! They all simultaneously scream for me to go back to the bed. Apparently I had already asked them what happened six separate times. I had a series of grand mal seizures during the car ride."
"Went from chatty to seizing all of a sudden. My dad called our pediatrician and I was eventually diagnosed with a form of epilepsy. My dad was told to take me home and put me to bed. It was the most disorienting thing I've ever experienced. It took six months to feel normal again. I had a constant sense of newness with familiar things that was very weird."
Nht2
To Sleep
"I was in elementary school. I stayed home because I had a light fever one day. I took a nap and woke up 3 days later in the hospital with no feeling in my legs. I had contracted viral meningitis, which had cut off the nerves to my lower body. I was bedridden for 3 weeks and spent several more weeks in physical therapy relearning how to walk. The horrors I endured during my stay were traumatic enough, but I still feel lucky. In high school, a fellow classmate had contracted bacterial meningitis, he died two days later."
Tathanor
The Jungle Gym
"I don't know if absolutely plastered counts as being fine one minute, but yeah. I remember being sh**faced sitting on a jungle gym in a park and then waking up the next morning in the hospital with an IV and catheter. Apparently I was found in a coma and had multiple organs shutting down. If I hadn't received medical help I would've died. Am now 3 years sober."
sandenema
The Rupture
"I was at work having a normal day. I went to the toilet and could not get off the floor because I was doubled over in pain."
"I somehow managed to stagger out to where my colleagues were and they called me an ambulance. Got to hospital and had all my clothes and belongings shoved in a bag and was rushed into emergency surgery for a ruptured ectopic pregnancy."
snoozlybar
Well I guess some miracles actually do happen. That is all too crazy.
All of us have something that we tend to "geek out" over.
This could be a book, television show, actor, singer or sports team.
But some shows or celebrities have a considerably wider fanbase than others, as evidenced by the terms "Trekkies" or "Beliebers".
Some times, members of these fan bases are so passionate, that they often come off as obnoxious or aggressive, possibly even hurting the reputation of the people or product they go wild over.
Redditor vejack was curious to learn which fan bases the Reddit community tends to find the most off putting, leading them to ask:
"Which is the most toxic community/fan base that you know?"
Everyone has an opinion...
"Reddit."- tall2022420
Oof, that's bad...
"It's not a big community, but there are items in the dilapidated bowels of the Chernobyl nuclear plant that are less toxic than the Super Smash Brothers Melee fan base."- CorgisDie
When the creators tell you to back off, take a hint!
"'Rick and Morty'."
"Even the show's creators have had to clash with them and their toxicity."- JeremyZenith·
I like it, in small doeses...
"Kpop fans."
"I love really enjoy Kpop and am a fan myself, but damn. I sometimes just can't."- Ok-Enthusiasm-6975
Love the animation, the fans, not so much...
"Some anime community’s."- thomas_da_tra1n
It's just a TV show... tone it down a bit...
"I expected to find this but haven't yet."
"The Supernatural Fandom."
"Other than the whole populous of it are cringe and over the top, getting tattoos of a show detail etc."
"They've literally bullied the show to continue the show past the natural ending, season 5, and for literally half a decade made them try to poop out content that topped the last season, with no where to really go to at that point."
"The consistent push on 'shipping' characters together that make the actors visably uncomfortable."
"The fan base is full of edgy people who gatekeep everything.'- develyn507
All of them!!!
"Are there any non toxic fan bases anymore?"
"The whole idea of people getting together and arguing with anyone that disagrees with them just breeds discontent."- KingGuy420
At least they get them excited about reading...
"YA writers."
"No specific authors, but the community of them."- D-Rez
There's nothing wrong with being passionate about something we love.
But when that passion starts to become competitive, even unsafe, can you even still call it a fanbase "community"?