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People Explain Which Industries No One Realizes Are Actually Dying Out

Life is moving on and some parts of the world are just getting the message, or are trying to ignore it.

Certain industries and careers are falling off as life goes on, thanks to technology, somethings become obsolete.

Let's discuss...


Redditor urklegrue3wanted to discuss the breeds of labor that are falling away, by asking:

"What’s a dying industry that no one realizes?"

So much has changed over the years.

We have to roll with it.

Does anyone remember the Cabbage Patch Kids?

They were a whole mega industry. Dead.

Just saying...

Inked Out

"Printers. Which is weird to say as I’m a printer repair tech. But yeah they are slowly dying out. My company has started diversifying into other areas because we literally had a drop of like 60% last year." ~ dreamnightmare

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Teenage Dreams

"The teen magazine industry. I used to read them and they were so many, but now they’re just gone. They’re either online or non-existent. I really think that due to the Internet and social media, the purpose of those magazines is obsolete., to say the least." ~ lilasketching

"I used to have subscriptions to so many of the teen magazines…CosmoGirl, Seventeen, YM, Teen Vogue…now I can barely focus on magazines. It all seems so trite." ~ degrassipurist

The Arcade

"Also one no one thinks of is arcade game technician. There are already very few of these around and it's a dying breed. I know a few and they are older and ready to retire and there really aren't any that are young, if there are some that are young, we are talking very few and far between."

T"his was a very common job in the 1980's when arcades were booming. Someone had to keep the machines running. It's also very difficult to become an arcade game technician, you can't exactly go to school for it, there is probably only one traveling school in the USA that teaches this sort of thing."

"And even now it's more like being a casino slot machine technician. If you want to learn old school arcade game repair techniques you have to find someone who is older who is willing to teach you, and that will be very difficult." ~ SaraAB87

Death Becomes Us

Cemeteries. I think it is up to about 70% cremation and hardly anyone buys plots anymore. It really is a dying industry." ~ Afraid_Opportunity40

"I wont say cemeteries are dying since someone still needs to maintain these places, they’re just not expanding, worked at a cemetery for a couple years as a side job and we had loads of burials in that time but only a handful were in new plots. As you said most people choose cremations nowadays but they still bury the ashes in an urn for the most part."

"They tend to just put them in the family plot on top of grandma and grandpa so no need for any new land. The cemetery I worked at had like 2 acres mapped out for future expansion but at the rate we were going with selling those plots it’ll take them 1000 years to fill it up."

"I for one am not at all upset with this because let me tell you full burials are a pain in the ass. Most people probably don’t think about it but digging a grave is pretty much everything they tell you not to do when digging a hole. A 6 foot hole straight down with straight edges is extremely unstable so you’re constantly battling cave ins and often times have to jam some kind of shoring in there."

"Then you’d better hope the funeral home talked the family into buying a concrete grave liner or vault, otherwise when you bury the casket it’ll eventually break and cave in on itself again and you’ll have to go back and fix it cause you’ll have a sinkhole. A cremation burial is just a 2’x2’ hole dug with a shovel, takes up less space and is so much easier on the cemetery staff." ~ kg1206

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Shine On

"These shoe-shining stores in NYC, can't understand how they afford the rent." ~ infomaticaddict

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Those shoe shine people work hard.

I wonder about how they make it work.

Who stops for a shoe shine anymore?

pass the test...

"Standardized tests companies. There are many of them because they used to send out 10’s of thousands of paper copy tests. School districts are leaning more towards online testing, meaning one company can cover 100’s of thousands of people." ~ PM_ME_UR_PAYROLL

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Lost Balance

"Driveshaft repair/balancing. The one repair man we had in the city closed his doors because he had a HIGH demand but no one else works there and no one has the patience it takes to learn it and do it. He got tired of his customers not being patient enough to sit on his wait list." ~ ThisonetimeinNewYork

Into the Woods

"Forestry. Last I heard in the US the average age of a Forester was over 50+." ~ TeamCam8

"It sucks because I really wanted to get a degree in ecology and work at a national park, but when I researched the wages and looked into how many permanent jobs were available, the math just didn't add up for me. I'd owe too much in student loans, and I would have to move constantly because all of the work was seasonal. It's very unfortunate." ~ _AquaFractalyne_

Show me the light...

"How can Lamp Shade stores pay the rent?!?" ~ BigBl3uu

"My family friend just retired and closed her lampshade shop. Sure she sold individual lampshades and did repairs on lamp shades, and could even custom make lampshades, but their bread and butter was hotels, office buildings, interior design agencies, etc." ~ PDXgoodgirl

In Death

"I think the funeral business has priced themselves out of the market for the traditional embalming and burial that costs five figures. I know some conservative, religious family members that opted for cremation just because of the cost." ~ p38-lightning

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Funerals are a mess. And burials even messier.

It feels like cremation is becoming the way to go.

Life is moving forward. Industries evolve, as must we.


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Secrets About The Food Industry They Don't Want You To Know

Reddit user Lilyxrx asked: 'What’s a secret the food industry don’t want you to know?'

Assortment of various food
Photo by Jimmy Dean on Unsplash

Whenever we go out to eat, be it at a fine dining establishment or a quick service window, some of us tend to wonder what the journey was for the food that we are looking at on our plates or in our take-out bags.

Many have similar thoughts when buying frozen or pre-packaged dinners at supermarkets.

The answers aren't always readily available, often because the food service industry will go to great lengths to keep them under lock and key. Well aware, most of the time, that current or former employees will spill the beans at one point or another.

Redditor Lilyxrx was curious to hear some of the most well guarded secrets of the food industry, leading them to ask:

"What’s a secret the food industry don’t want you to know?"

Next Time Your Craving Bananas Foster...

"The 'natural flavors' are just big jugs of glycerin with hyper concentrated flavoring in it."

"Banana flavoring is fairly flammable."

"Source: Worked in food manufacturing."- irony_in_the_UK·

Cholesterol Be Darned!

"Chef here."

"It’s salt and fat."

"If you have a question about anything it’s salt and fat."- LongRest

For Efficiency's Sake...

"Olive Garden makes all their necessary pastas for the whole day from 8-10am every morning."

"Partially cooked."

"So when an order comes through, they grab a serving of the needed pasta style and flash cook them in hot water."

"Also, it’s just the brand, Barilla."- Deerhunter86

Justin Bieber Food GIFGiphy

Before You Pay The Extra Money...

"Beekeeper checking in."

"There is no such thing as organic honey."

"I do not treat my bees with chemicals, but I have no idea where they get their nectar."

"A bee can fly up to three miles from a hive to get nectar."

"It is virtually impossible to guarantee they have not gotten nectar from a chemically treated source."- toad__warrior·

If You Ever Wonder What Makes It Taste So Good...

"Unless it’s a health conscious food joint you’re eating at, the food we serve is designed for maximum taste."

"It’s either dense with fat and sugar, or fat and salt "

"E.G. Those mashed potatoes you like?"

"Made with cream, butter, and salt."

"The quiche?"

"Made on cream, not milk."

"Etc, etc."- petuniasweetpea

Before You Start Bragging...

"Dragon fruit isn’t an exotic Asian fruit."

"It’s a cactus fruit, and as such are native to the Americas and can even be grown in the US."- ferretmonkey

dragon fruit GIF by Feliks Tomasz KonczakowskiGiphy

In Case You're Wondering why That Taste Is So Familiar...

"A lot of the processed cheese and cream cheese is all the same recipe we just switch the labels and packaging for the different brands we run."

"Source: I work in a cheese factory in a company that services 75% of America's domestic market."- anon5678903276

Another Reason To Have No Guilt Over Take Out...

"Well."

"I work at Dominos, and we are kept afloat by the people who don't coupon and pay full menu price."

"You people are the unsung heroes of labor."- LoweeLL

Unlike Any Chocolate...

"When I worked at a mass production bakery the chocolate for the chocolate covered doughnuts came in giant frozen blocks of 4x4 pieces and contained no actual chocolate what so over."

"When unfrozen it was like some sort of nasty smelling paraffin wax that I would break up with a hammer and place into a melter that would then pour over the doughnuts."- gil_beard

Chocolate Dessert GIF by HuffPostGiphy

What Do Orange Juice And Whiskey Have In Common?

"The reason orange juice tastes consistently the same year round, even though it's a crop harvested once a year, is because citrus oils and citrus flavor are added back to different batches and blended all together."

"Similar to how whiskey is blended from multiple barrels to make it consistent."

"The difference is that even though extra stuff is added back into the OJ, it doesn't need to be labeled because the flavors contain all ingredients from oranges (FTNF-from the named fruit) so the FDA doesn't mandate labeling additional ingredients."- PensiveDoughnut

Does That Explain Their Shape?

"Pringles (and baked Lays/similar) are made of rehydrated and compressed rejected/excess parts of potatoes that go into regular chips."

"I learned that from my dietician at work and thought that was odd."

"I still like them over regular chips."- bluesasaurusrex

A Secret Better Not Known...

"The 11 herbs and spices secret recipe."- NemoTheOneTrueGod

Food Pouring GIF by Great Big StoryGiphy

Just Pop It In The Fryer...

"I was a young lad working at Church's Fried Chicken during the summer, many years ago."

"The owner refused to throw out chicken that had already gone bad; to the point where you'd gag if you smell them."

"Apparently if you batter them bad boys up and deep fry them, the rancid smell goes away."

"His customers never knew they were eating spoiled chicken."- Dirt_E_Harry·

Sweet... But Safe!

"The amount of sugar that goes into Costco bakery products is absurd, especially the apple pie."

"That being said; Costco does not f*ck around when it comes to food safety."

"Every area that is responsible for producing food is most likely cleaner than a white room for producing computer parts."

"There are virtually zero roaches, we found one in the bakery once and shut it down until the exterminator did his thing that very night."

"Someone returned a package of dinner rolls because their child had bit into one and a sharp piece of metal was in it, within less than 2 minutes every manager in the building was doing an investigation that led all the way up to the regional manager and his boss for several hours and determined that it had come off of a piece of machinery before it reached our location."

"We throw away rotisserie chickens if they have left (even for a few minutes) the shelf and someone tries to put it back."- Deathnachos

Costco GIF by hero0fwarGiphy

We'd like to think that everyone who works in the food industry shares the same high standards.

But, as in any industry, there are those out there who will cut corners for speedier results.

On the bright side, it does save you the trouble when deciding what cream cheese to buy...


Two people look over paperwork on a desk
Photo by Romain Dancre

Loopholes are everywhere.

But finding them can be time-consuming.

Or they can be a straight-up accident.

Sometimes corporations don't even realize the ways they've given out great deals.

In the early days of the internet, scheming for loopholes was a favorite pastime, but companies caught on.

They're still out there though, just waiting to be discovered.

Redditor Aarunascut wanted to discuss the best "deals" they've stumbled upon and utilized, so they asked:

"What was a loophole that you found and exploited the hell out of?"

I love a good loophole.

I would always use the free gym trial memberships.

They've caught on now by using better tracking.

Alas...

Rinse & Repeat

coins GIFGiphy

"You used to be able to order dollar coins from the mint."

"Pay for it on your credit card, free delivery."

"Get sky miles."

"Take dollar coins to the bank, deposit, and pay off bills."

"Repeat."

AMLT1983

I Love Pizza

"I run a recycling center and when Mountain Dew did the win an Xbox One with codes under the soda bottle caps we got a total of 20 Xbox ones. Every worker got one that year. Also, Casey’s Pizza had a thing going that you collected 10 tabs off the large pizza box you’d get a free pizza. We had free pizzas weekly for years till they stopped doing it."

Otis_Firefly

Her Code

"During my first year teaching, teachers were each allowed 1500 photocopies a month. I had 150 students. That wasn't enough. One day, a coworker announced that she was leaving for a different opportunity. I asked her for her copier code. They never deleted her code, so I had 3000 copies per month for the last 5 months of the school year."

driveonacid

Sacagawea

"Older vending machines like the ones in my high school and car wash used to take golden dollars (yes, the Sacagawea coin), count them as a dollar and then spit them back out. You could buy the whole machine with one golden dollar. My friends and I exploited this for 7 months senior year until they swapped all of the machines out."

MapUnitKey

"Interestingly almost all of the US dollar coins ended up in Ecuador as they also use the US dollar. It was super weird but convenient as an American going there and I guess it really messed up their economy. I had always wondered where they disappeared to though. Major issues with counterfitting them too, any shiny one was basically useless even if it was real."

ember3pines

Coded

Girl Cheese GIF by Pizza HutGiphy

"When Pizza Hut first started online ordering they gave me a code for a free pizza for ordering online for the first time. Turns out the code also worked if you just ordered as a guest and kept working."

Stone_Reign

I miss the Pizza Hut deal days.

Online coupons used to give away the whole company.

$1.50

Make It Rain Loop GIF by Chris TimmonsGiphy

"My bank thinks the vending machine at work is an ATM and refunds my 'atm fee' automatically... Chase bank if anyone wondered. I noticed I was always getting like $1.50 returned to my account here and there and then I realized what it was."

homerinthebushes

Past Services

"Back in the 80s, we found vending machines that were not regularly serviced that would overflow the coin box and spill quarters on the floor. We used to scrape them out from under the machine with a stick. Was a good time to be a latchkey unattended minor."

weakplay

"Vending machines in college (Ireland early 2000s) had a flap at the bottom that was supposed to stop you reaching your arm up to steal. But it also had a sensor used to determine if had something been dispensed. So if you held it shut, the machine would think nothing had dropped and you could order as many things as you wanted, then refund your coins and release the flap."

BrianHenryIE

Senior Year

"My senior year of high school a Chick-fil-A opened in our town and to advertise the grand opening they put a free chicken sandwich coupon in the yellow pages of the phone book. No purchase, no stipulations. For whatever reason there were like 1,000 phone books stored in a storeroom off the gym. Me and my buddies ate a chicken sandwich damn near every single day of senior year."

Panther90

Switched with Michelle

"At a former job management rearranged the schedules to expand our call center hours from 7 am to 9 pm. It was still an 8-hour day, you just started later. We had a meeting to discuss if we could pick our own hours so employees didn’t run the risk of working until 9 pm then having to be back the next day at 7 am. Management gave us a hard no-on that. But we were allowed to swap with a co-worker."

"A few of us got together to review the monthly schedule and noticed that 5 people were in the rotation who hadn’t worked there for years. (Seriously!). So, whenever we had to work a late schedule that we didn’t want we 'switched with Michelle.' This went on for almost 2 years before management scrapped the whole idea."

Crazy_from_the_heat

The King

burger king GIFGiphy

"Burger King used to have an app where you’d shake your phone and it would sometimes display a free item. A guy at work wrote his own app that looked identical to Burger King, but would only ever show a Whopper Meal. Every lunchtime he’d go to Burger King and get a free meal."

RedLeader7

I love a free meal.

Especially a free meal at any "cost!" LOL.

couple painting room
Roselyn Tirado on Unsplash

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