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Pretty much anyone who’s ever worked an honest job in their lives has had a “they don’t pay me enough for this [insert unPanda-like words of your choosing]!” moment. Or even several. It’s that dramatic moment when you feel the final straw metaphorically breaking your back and you decide to make your exit, stage left. Preferably while singing, “Fudge this manure, I’m out!”

Well then, you’re likely to relate to a lot of these stories. Redditors have been posting their “they don’t pay me enough for this” stories that made them give up and leave or raise their voices after user Indian_boy786 started up a viral thread. Grab some popcorn, have a scroll down, and upvote the stories that stunned you and made you laugh. A sense of humor helps when you have to deal with stuff like this!

In an in-depth interview with Bored Panda, the author of the thread and a salesperson in India by trade, Indian_boy786, told us all about what inspired them to strike up the topic on Reddit, gave us some advice on how to deal with rude customers and managers, as well as what you ought to do if you find that you can't stay at your current job even a moment longer.

#1

"What Is Your 'I Don't Get Paid Enough For This' Moment?" 30 People Reply I worked at walmart for less than a month in 2009. I scanned a big box fan for a guy and it didn't ring up, so I said "I gotta do a price check on this, I apologize." The guy said "It's $24.99 you f***ing idiot." I stared at him for a moment, then reached up and turned my little register light off, turned around, walked out to my car, and went home.

CDC_ , drobotdean Report

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#2

"What Is Your 'I Don't Get Paid Enough For This' Moment?" 30 People Reply I was working in a grocery store one time, and as I was checking people out, one lady came up to me and the very first thing out of her mouth was: "You're a failure and an embarrassment to humanity. If you were my kid I'd beat your [arse] right here right now." I had done literally nothing but ask how she was. Like what. Then her card declined lmao.

Architect17 , Andrea Piacquadio Report

#3

"What Is Your 'I Don't Get Paid Enough For This' Moment?" 30 People Reply Had a customer who didn’t “believe” in the virus, so he coughed in my face when I was taking his order as a way of protesting.

Because, you know, a 17 y/o making minimum wage is responsible for a global pandemic and forcing you to wear masks.

no4scinjewboi , Atoms Report

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"I was at work and my phone fell off the desk resulting in its death. So long partner. It was a tense day and I was mentally and physically exhausted then I asked myself, 'Am I getting paid enough for this' which I posted on Reddit," Indian_boy786, the original poster, told Bored Panda.

"I have been around Reddit for a few years now and I have received my fair share of upvotes and awards but this post blew up. It was on Reddit's popular page for 3 days and became one of the most interacted posts on r/AskReddit. The people interacting on the post helped me a lot going through that month. There were so many people which I could relate to on a cosmic level. I felt happy as to where I am currently because people out there are struggling more than me and working harder than me each day. It actually changed my perspective towards so many things and I am thankful for it," the redditor shared just how much the thread impacted them.

#4

"What Is Your 'I Don't Get Paid Enough For This' Moment?" 30 People Reply We removed a fabric foreign body from a dog's small intestine. Owners wanted to see what it was. We cleaned it up and saw it was a pair of panties. We handed them over the the wife takes one look at them then goes red.

"Those. Aren't. Mine."

Husband apparently had a whole castle of lies that started crashing down then and there in our lobby. Eventually had to have security remove them because they were really going at it with no intention of taking it somewhere else, and we had other clients in the lobby getting really uncomfortable.

FeralGinger , visitingpetnurses Report

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#5

"What Is Your 'I Don't Get Paid Enough For This' Moment?" 30 People Reply Grocery store cashier. The customer was angry because her cereal had rung up wrong. I called a price check and this lady berated me the whole time. I recall that she accused me of trying to steal from her. Said she was going to get me fired.

I looked at her and said, “I make $7.25 per hour no matter how much you pay for this cereal, so I do not give a [damn] how this situation turns out.”

She stared at me in shock. The price check comes back saying the price scanned correctly. Silence.

I said, “So do you want the cereal or not?” She said, “Yes.” And that was that. She did not complain to the manager.

Historical-Foot99 , Midnight Believer Report

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Carrie de Luka
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

She also did not apologise. Why do people overreact like this? Some people seriously need to calm down.

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#6

"What Is Your 'I Don't Get Paid Enough For This' Moment?" 30 People Reply I was volunteering at a state park. One of the (paid) park rangers would drive people around to various locations to work. Then come check on you throughout the day.

B*tch tried to drop me off at the bathrooms and told me to clean them. I was like, "Nope, that's not happening. I'm here to work OUTSIDE."

She told me, "You're gonna do whatever I tell you to do or I won't sign off on your hours."

Then I had to explain that not everyone who volunteered to work was there because they'd been sentenced to Community Service.

StanDarkloard , Joshua Tree National Park Report

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Indian_boy786 revealed to us that they work in sales, so they get their fair share of rude and sweet customers alike. One time, a customer who was both rude and violent, however, made them lose their patience. As it turns out, the customer was complaining to Indian_boy786 even though they got the wrong company and this had nothing to do with them. So the redditor eventually got their revenge by sending him on to a completely different city and the wrong address, wasting their time.

As for dealing with rude managers, Indian_boy786 believes that they "are being paid for the work you do. So work for yourself and never correct a rude manager. Look for a better job and after you leave, write a letter to the boss about the manager and tell your coworkers to do the same. Managers don't get their job at any company after they are kicked from one." In other words, the redditor suggests gritting your teeth, nodding politely, and ruining your manager's career once you decide to switch jobs. Revenge, however, is a dish best served cold and isn't for everyone; it's the last resort.

#7

"What Is Your 'I Don't Get Paid Enough For This' Moment?" 30 People Reply I used to be a counselor at a methadone clinic. Had a client who was going to prison for slitting the throats of his ex-wive's beloved rottweilers because "I couldn't kill her and it was the best way to hurt her. "

The day he was supposed to go to prison, he showed up at the clinic, after dosing hours, demanding his dose. He was no longer on the clinic so, legally, there was no way to do this. I stood behind the counter and tried to explain the situation to him. He grew more and more irate and then called his lawyer and put me on the phone with him. His lawyer explained dude didn't show up for prison, was now a fugitive and had pulled a knife on his own sister in her car just outside my clinic. So, dude had a knife. Lawyer told me not to piss dude off. He was violent and to call the cops.

By this point, every other therapist and office worker had mosied out. So, I told the lawyer thanks, hung up the phone and mosied out of the front office and called the cops from the break room. Dude hopped over the counter and trashed the place and left.

The bosses asked why I didn't stay and make sure he didn't trash the place. I explained they paid me $10.50 an hour and refused my raise. I was the only man in the building and was left alone with an armed violent felon. [Screw] their stuff.

Brainstick , Martha Dominguez de Gouveia Report

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#8

"What Is Your 'I Don't Get Paid Enough For This' Moment?" 30 People Reply I ran the entire company’s financials and general management for $14/hr. I had a meeting with the owner telling him I need a raise and to hire an assistant, he told me I wasn’t “business minded” and should be a stay at home mom. I quit the next day.

delaneyk19 , August de Richelieu Report

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#9

"What Is Your 'I Don't Get Paid Enough For This' Moment?" 30 People Reply I worked at a heating and air conditioning company doing bookkeeping. I was being trained by the companies accountant. If I made a mistake the owner would literally scream at me full voice. I overheard him talking to his brother and his brother had told him not to scream at me. The owner said, "you have to tear them down to build them up." I decided I wasn't going to take another day of his screaming after that.

Think-Anywhere-7751 , Andrea Piacquadio Report

According to Indian_boy786, your experience is what really sells and that's your main ticket to finding a better job if you feel like you're trapped at your current company. "The work does not get easier over time, you just find easy ways to do it. If you are not getting paid enough, I would recommend you to get a degree if you don't have any. And if you do, just keep looking for another job."

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The redditor suggested covering your bases and not quitting your old job even if you've already found a new one; at least at the very start. "You should not leave your current job when you get into a new job. I would say take a week's leave from the current job to see if you like the new job or not. If you do like it then there's no reason to go back and if you don't you were never out of options."

#10

"What Is Your 'I Don't Get Paid Enough For This' Moment?" 30 People Reply I'm a public librarian. I was helping someone in the computer room and turned to tell someone he needed to keep his exclamations at the video he was watching down. Just then, the woman I was helping leapt aside because the man I was shushing pissed himself. It ran down onto the jacket he had tied around his waist, down the chair, onto the ground. Turns out he'd snuck in alcohol and was totally black out drunk. I told him he had to leave. He put the piss covered jacket on and stumbled out. As I returned with gloves and cleaning supplies, another patron decided this was a good time to complain about some kids who were making noise. I took a deep breath and said "This is a good time for us all to appeal to our higher selves and do our best in the moment. Please just adapt for a minute". Then I thought about the student loans I took out for the master's degree as I scrubbed up piss.

thenletskeepdancing , Go to thom masat's profile thom masat Report

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error 404 name not found
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"this is a good time for us all to appeal to our higher selves and do our best in the moment" is poetry

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#11

"What Is Your 'I Don't Get Paid Enough For This' Moment?" 30 People Reply When I was 20 I had 3 jobs. I worked as a bank teller from 8-4, then as a closing shift manager at a coffee shop from 5-10, then as an overnight janitor from 11- 2 am.

This wasn't every day but it was enough that it equated to about 80 hours a week between the 3 jobs, and yes you can imagine this would lead to burnout real fast.

So at the overnight janitor gig my "boss" comes over to me and asks me to come to the office for a review. This was weird, all I did was mop floors on a production line that made air train brakes. But whatever.

I go into his office and he closes the door behind me and pulls out a gay porn magazine and starts asking me about different d*cks and put his hand on my shoulder.

I was surprisingly calm and just said I don't like d*cks and went back to work.

Then it hit me what happened. I called in sick the rest of the week and picked up my final paycheck when he wasn't there.

It was a hard enough job without being sexually harassed for $8.50 an hour.

anuncommontruth , energepic.com Report

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Monty Is Fiennes
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

People shouldn't have to deal with this rubbish at work... no matter who... no matter for how much...

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#12

"What Is Your 'I Don't Get Paid Enough For This' Moment?" 30 People Reply I currently work at an escape room and an anti-masker came in refusing to play wearing a mask (which is currently protocol) - he was playing our Matrix themed room and after I refused to let him play without a mask he kept repeating about how this was "Just like the Matrix" and "Have you even seen The Matrix, it's all about control, and what happens when they lose control? They send in Agent Smith".

Sir I am not earning minimum wage to argue with you about a film from 1999. Wear a mask or get out.

PiggyTank , cottonbro Report

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cybermerlin2000
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The Funniest anti-mask story I can give is where My fiancée and I were about to enter a supermarket and was refusing to wear a mask while being refused entry when his wife/girlfriend walked up wearing a mask and holding another just looked from the guy to the worker and kicked him in the nuts! We heard her say "Now you know how dangerous it is to not wear a f*****g mask! Put. It. On! Or get back in the car and wait" He half sulked and half staggered off to their car and never came in. She was a very angry woman, but she apologized to the shop worker on the door

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The author of the thread on r/AskReddit believes that "revenge is the purest of emotions" because it "drives people to better themselves in so many ways." They believe that you can learn a lot of useful things not just from good people but from bad individuals as well. Everyone's an example if you have the patience to see this. "Good people will teach you what to do and bad ones will let you know what not to do."

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They continued: "If you're getting asked to do things you don't wanna, the manager/boss is very rude to you, and you are not bettering yourself in any way through your work, then consider yourself lucky that you are brought up well and you are not a jerk like them. Look for opportunities and believe in karma. You do your part of good deeds and the course of nature will find it's way to the well-deserving. Your end goal is to be remembered as a great person. Nobody remembers jerks."

#13

"What Is Your 'I Don't Get Paid Enough For This' Moment?" 30 People Reply Plumber.

Owner of a mobile home called and said they had a stinky yard.

I could smell it when I pulled up.

the mobile home was new and had only been set up for about 8 months. while setting it up, someone didn't tighten a no-hub band of the toilet in the kids bathroom.

8 months of flushed toilet was all over the ground, under the home and had just started being noticed outside.

I told the homeowner to call the guys that set it up to come fix it. I wasn't crawling under there.

From-the-Trailerpark , daveynin Report

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#14

"What Is Your 'I Don't Get Paid Enough For This' Moment?" 30 People Reply Used to work at a gadget shop - loads of silly squeaky things, things that flew about, novelty gadgets etc. - you get the picture. We always had to wear something from the novelty clothing range. One day I wore an apron that depicted a buff guy (I'm female), and my male co-worker wore the female version. During that day I had so much abuse. I asked my manager if I could change into something else and she said that it was a talking point. I had people calling me all sorts - from fat to idiot, to questioning my true gender and sexuality. I had some teenage boys push me into some of the shelves and then made me fall into one the central box tub things we had that held lucky dip products. Still my manager wouldn't let me change.

I quit. If she had said that I could change after the first few incidents, then I would have been ok. But seeing the abuse was reducing me to tears and still not doing anything about it? It wasn't worth the pay cheque.

shinyhappycat , .ebay.com Report

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#15

"What Is Your 'I Don't Get Paid Enough For This' Moment?" 30 People Reply I have an mildly irrational fear of spiders. I was asked to help clean out an old storage area/shed type building. It was covered in dust and a ton of these big black spiders but a big enough space that I felt fine. Until my supervisor handed me a leaf blower and asked me to go through a back hallway with it.

Opened the door to the hallway and it was cramped, just tall enough to be a little over my height and just wide enough for me to walk through. Except there was no light so it was pitch black, until I held up my phone flashlight and saw the largest mess of tangled webs filled to the absolute brim with thousands of the big black spiders. Straight up refused to walk down that thing, especially with a leaf blower. Like no thanks, I don’t want to create a spider tornado.

My supervisor was irritated with me that I refused to do this, but I would rather be fired than walk through the arachnid hell hallway for 10 dollars an hour.

Foxnet93 , rjp Report

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If by any chance you’re one of those rare people who haven’t ever been in a situation like this, we have to ask: what’s that like? Are you a unicorn? How do you feel living in a better parallel universe than the rest of us?

Unfortunately, plenty of us have reached our breaking points at least once in our lifetimes. There comes a moment when what you’re asked to do is so outrageous, so inhumane, so degrading that you realize the doubloons you take home with every paycheck really aren’t worth it. They’ll have to pay you in solid gold bars to make you deal with that stuff!

Most of these stories deal with one of two problems: either horrible customers who really have to learn not to be rude or incompetent managers who really need a lesson or two in Manners and Leadership Theory 101.

#16

"What Is Your 'I Don't Get Paid Enough For This' Moment?" 30 People Reply Bartender here. Grown man threw a lit cigarette at my face and threatened me with physical violence. This was a year or so ago but a 45 (maybe older) year old man behaving that way towards a 24 year old female was definitely one of those moments. Plus the people getting handsy and occasional cleaning of vomit I do not get paid enough.

epaerl , Christian Allard Report

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#17

"What Is Your 'I Don't Get Paid Enough For This' Moment?" 30 People Reply When I was doing 90% of my boss’ job in hopes of a full time promotion that I had been promised for three years and he took all the credit and told me my promotion wasn’t in the budget.

TFAJubilee , Amy Hirschi Report

#18

"What Is Your 'I Don't Get Paid Enough For This' Moment?" 30 People Reply I worked at McDonald's when I was 16 and some crack head complained that her fries were too cold, so I made her a fresh batch which she proceeded to throw at the upper part of my chest/neck and gave me grease burns. She then spat at me and left. My manager told me to get over it. I'm 20 now and can still see the burns in the right lighting.

dkssjejsg , freestocks.org Report

If you end up having to deal with rudeness from your boss, there are a few things that you can do. You first have to consider the circumstances surrounding your manager’s outburst. They might be under a lot of pressure and their rudeness toward you might be an involuntary reaction forced out by stress rather than any actual ill will aimed at you. See if things are better when the circumstances have changed: there might not be any need for further drama.

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Because your manager is, well, your manager, there’s always a certain amount of fear that you might slip up while speaking to them. Nobody wants to lose their job over an argument; on the flip side, you also can’t avoid important issues just because you’re afraid that someone might get offended and fire you.

That’s why you always have to be very polite, humble, yet firm when speaking to your manager. You have to strike a balance between being direct enough so that the problem (e.g. rudeness, excessive demands, changes in workload) is addressed while also being diplomatic enough so that you don’t trigger their defense mechanism. Few people are willing to change at the best of times; even fewer will if they feel personally attacked.

#19

"What Is Your 'I Don't Get Paid Enough For This' Moment?" 30 People Reply I worked for a summer camp one year that was run by a stereotypically hippie-dippie organization. Now, I personally support this organization but they had some ridiculous idea about how to discipline children. In that they didn't believe in discipline at all.

No time outs. No raising your voice (even just to be heard). No rewards to be earned or positive reinforcement. No loss of privileges. No warnings. No speaking to the parents about behavioral issues. Nothing.

Now, most of the kids were coming to this camp because their parents didn't have the means to send them to more expensive camps and quite a lot of them had behavioral issues to start with. But none of the kids were monsters, in fact, they were all pretty great. They mostly just needed some understanding and solid boundaries.

Unfortunately, with no discipline, comes no boundaries, or at least no way to enforce boundaries. So the kids tended to run amok and there wasn't a whole lot we as counselors could do.

So I surreptitiously gave a few time outs to some of the more wild kids and, guess what, their behavior immediately improved and I never had trouble with them again. In fact, they had a better time because they weren't constantly getting into fights with their friends.

But, I guess the higher ups found out about it somehow and sat me down to talk about how "you just need to talk to them, find out why they are behaving badly and make them understand the correct way to behave".

I knew why they were behaving badly - they were kids in a place away from their parent with no rules and no discipline - they were seeing what they could get away with.

In the end, I basically ignored the higher-ups. I wasn't getting paid enough to deal with kids all day without having any way of keeping a bit of control. Regardless, the only problem kids had already had their time outs and, like I said, they were fine once they knew where the line was. Besides, I wasn't worried about my job... they don't believe in discipline.

kitskill , Lukas Report

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#20

"What Is Your 'I Don't Get Paid Enough For This' Moment?" 30 People Reply When a thick stream of sweat drained out of this girls cell phone case. I had to explain to her that her phone had water damage and that she shouldn't work out with her phone in her bra, all the while trying to be professional and not gag while cleaning the mess. (I sold phones at Sprint).

jordanmlee , Kilian Seiler Report

#21

"What Is Your 'I Don't Get Paid Enough For This' Moment?" 30 People Reply I used to work in a mall music store, back when that was a thing. There was a corporate policy to play new music regularly, y'know, because that's the thing you're trying to sell.

My boss, every single day she worked, would play the entire Madonna album, Ray of Light. Hours of the same eight [goddamn] songs. For most of a year, until it was either go mad, commit murder, or bail. I bailed.

That music franchise went under a little over a year later. I hold Madonna and my old boss responsible.

Eeyores_Prozac , jnate09 Report

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Raven Sheridan
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I worked at a Greek owned corner grocer for 18 months. Same damn 10 Greek language songs on repeat, all f*****g day! The only time we got a break was December, when they broke out a Greek language Christmas album, that would play the same 12 carols, all f*****g day!

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If your manager doesn’t react to subtle or more overt hints, then it might be time to ask for help. Think about talking to your Human Resources department. Provide them with all of the necessary evidence and speak to them about what can be done.

While some HR staff are absolutely wonderful and will do their best to solve your problems, the fact is, you don’t get these wonder employees in every company. In some HR departments, the staff see it as their responsibility to protect the interests of the company itself rather than those of the employees. The latter tend to get the short end of the stick and have to fend for themselves, grit their teeth, and accept that some issues will never be fixed.

In those cases, when you’re left well and truly alone, it’s best to consider changing departments within the company, finding another job entirely, or (in extreme cases where rudeness and demands turn to harassment and exploitation) even seeking legal advice. Everyone has a different limit for what they can tolerate and it’s important to respect your own boundaries. Easier said than done, of course, but vital nonetheless.

#22

"What Is Your 'I Don't Get Paid Enough For This' Moment?" 30 People Reply Bagging groceries at a major supermarket. The manager came over to tell me that I needed to clean up the bathroom. An elderly gentleman fell off the toilet while pooping and it was a literal s**tshow. Apparently I was the most qualified because I was 16. I was handed a broom and a dustpan. I s**t you not (sorry had to.) My reward for going above and beyond the call of duty? Five dollars in store coupons. Sometimes dreams really do come true.

Frgmn7669 , Matilda Wormwood Report

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Znaya
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And that's how the managers and owners keep the big bucks smh

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#23

"What Is Your 'I Don't Get Paid Enough For This' Moment?" 30 People Reply Doing volunteer work and some busybody started bossing me around like they were in charge (a neighborhood association type person). I told them to back the [hell] off. It took a couple of seconds for people to realize that the person barking orders wasn’t a boss, but an a-hole that was used to being in control.

stateofyou , Alex Green Report

#24

"What Is Your 'I Don't Get Paid Enough For This' Moment?" 30 People Reply Assistant manager at a movie theatre, fight breaks out between two teenage guests that we had to restrain, fill out police report etc.

Police seized one of our garbage can lids as evidence (teen A hit teen B in the mouth with it - blood was all over it)

Got in trouble for losing a can lid whilst on duty

Eternal__Optimist , Pixabay Report

On the other hand, if it’s a customer that’s causing the “they don’t pay me enough for this” situation, things are a tad different. Here, you always have the possibility of simply telling them ‘no’ in a firm but polite way, refusing to serve them outright for failing to treat you like a human being, or asking for backup from your coworkers or manager.

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It’s best, however, not to give rude customers a taste of their own medicine. Fighting fire with fire only escalates the tension. And even though it can be dramatic and entertaining to watch from the sidelines, it’s not doing wonders for your reputation or that of the company. It’s always better to err on the side of cold professionalism rather than passionately looking for justice (choose to be the English butler rather than the charging crusader… at least at first).

#25

"What Is Your 'I Don't Get Paid Enough For This' Moment?" 30 People Reply My boss demanded I work 12 hours/day 6days/ week paid by the load. The first day I spent 12 hours and didn’t haul anything. Second day same story. Third day I pulled one load. $50 in 3 days. He refused to pay me or the other drivers hourly so we all quit. I still have the voicemail of him yelling at me and the one of him begging me to go back and he’ll pay me hourly. Nah.

srcorvettez06 , Craig Adderley Report

#26

"What Is Your 'I Don't Get Paid Enough For This' Moment?" 30 People Reply Working for a popular grocery store, the amount of people that think the workers are stupid are astounding.. the produce all have codes and sometimes I forget. To the customer, this looks like I simply don’t know what a broccoli is. They’re like “it’s broccoli” in a condescending tone, and I just have to brush it off. It happens so many times, and though it’s not terrible it really gets me down sometimes. Most people assume retail workers are people with no goals, or even bums. That’s not true at all, everyone I work with including myself is planning to go to college or already enrolled.

ghostposer , Walmart Report

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Iapetos
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Then reply in the same condescending tone: "You see, every product has a code of seven digits, and they do change so it does not pay off to memorize them, which is why I look them up..."

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#27

"What Is Your 'I Don't Get Paid Enough For This' Moment?" 30 People Reply Manager at a grocery store I worked in my teens refused to pay the waste management bill for several months. When they finally came and emptied the dumpster, there were still mounds of trash laying about around the area.

He had me go out and clean all of it up alone. I didn't have any protective gear or supplies whatsoever, and was out in 100+ degree weather. I was only given a bunch of trash bags to put it into, and when I went in to ask for help, I was just given a shovel.

I worked one more day after that, and after just being given more work to do without so much as a "good job" or "thanks", I never went back.

herpty_derpty , John Cameron Report

Whatever you do, don’t take things personally when you have to deal with a privileged customer who’s stepping on your toes. They usually don’t have a problem with you; rather, they have a problem with the company and how things are done. They’re just taking it out on you because you got ‘lucky’—they spotted you first.

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Ironically enough, if you empathize with a rude customer’s concerns, you might end up turning a foe into a friend. There’s always a win-win possible, no matter how badly you might think the odds are stacked against you.

Other customers simply need to vent. They’re not here to listen to rhyme or reason: they need to offload because they’ve had enough. And even though none of us deserve to be their proverbial punching bags, sometimes there’s no getting out of the situation smoothly. So listen to them, apologize where necessary, and show them that you’re here for them. We’re all human after all and at some point in time, we’ve vented when we shouldn’t have.

#28

"What Is Your 'I Don't Get Paid Enough For This' Moment?" 30 People Reply Worked at a retail store. Fiends would come in occasionally looking to steal stuff and the worst we could do legally was ask them to leave but my boss insisted we get physical with them, to which I obviously told her [hell] no.

I watched her chase one out of the store one day and she screams at me since I’m standing by the door like “TACKLE HIM” and I’m like uh no lmao

TKOism , .wikipedia.org Report

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Znaya
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Good reason to receive a beat down by chasing some one even though they are in the wrong, it's not worth your life because of a job

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#29

"What Is Your 'I Don't Get Paid Enough For This' Moment?" 30 People Reply When my patient threatened to kill me and my family, then brought out a hand-made wooden knife from under his bed.

s-van , Alex Green Report

#30

"What Is Your 'I Don't Get Paid Enough For This' Moment?" 30 People Reply Working at a large chain retail store, come across a spot of s**t in the toy aisle. Oh, look! A mess for me to clean! And what’s that over yonder? Another one not far away! Nice little trail of brown nuggets left behind and leading me on the worst scavenger hunt ever all the way across the store to the bathrooms. What do I find waiting for me inside? The mothership turd, sitting proudly in a small heap on the floor in the corner. Merely a few feet away from an actual, factual, functioning toilet.

Turns out a kid was in the toy aisle with their parent, and couldn’t hold it in any longer, followed by a mad dash to the bathroom. My supervisor literally said they felt bad for me, and I didn’t get paid enough by corporate. Raise? No. 5$ gift card? Yeah.

PirateDuckie , Dan Keck Report

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Sista of the moon
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is sick. When I’m a parent, i would NEVER allow my children to behave this way. Disgusting.

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Having a stoic outlook helps in these kinds of situations… however, there really does come a point (for everyone) where they don’t pay you enough for dealing with this kind of stuff! Have you ever been in similar situations, dear Pandas? How did things end? Share your stories in the comment section below!

#31

I briefly worked for a veterinarian when I was in high school. He was always yelling at the animals that were boarded there and the place always stank. Miserable job. His was also the only place around that had a crematorium for pets.

One day I came in to work and he took me out to the crematorium and lying there someone's clearly passed Great Dane. Way too big to fit. The doc handed me a saw and I handed him my work apron.

DavesNotHere1 Report

#32

21yo me was mowing lawns while I was going through Fire Academy.

Per my contract with the department, I had to do one 24 hour shift a month. Eventually, as goes the job, I encountered my first fatality, a suicide.

I got off shift the next morning and went to go mow some lawns. A customer b****ed me out for the lines in his lawn not being straight and in that moment, it hit me how precious and short life is. I decided this miserable job was not worth my lack of happiness. At lunch break, I got in my car and drove off without saying a word.

7 years later, I am a paid firefighter with a big city department and I have never been happier! Don't sacrifice your happiness and mental health for ANYTHING!!!

buckeyenut13 Report

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#33

Working $10 an hour in Disney world on an attraction. There’s one position called merge, where your job is to stop the stand by line and send the Fastpass line. Fastpass is normally based on reservation, but if another ride breaks down in the park, they’ll give out fastpasses that can be used pretty much anywhere.

One day almost every ride in the park was broken except ours, which meant EVERYONE was coming to our Fastpass line. I was sending 150-200 people through Fastpass for every 10 I was sending through standby, for roughly an hour, and I didn’t even come close to clearing the line.

The people in the standby line were screaming at me, starting chants, taking pictures of me (and my nametag), and just generally being awful. My favorite was one guy repeatedly screaming “I KNOW THIS ISNT YOUR FAULT MAN BUT THIS IS BULLSH*T”, in front of his six kids.

I just calmly stood there and just kept saying to everyone “sorry folks, but I really don’t have any control over this”

I got off easy though. I know people that have been pushed, punched, and spit on amongst other things. A bunch of my friends ended up breaking down crying while they were working Merge.

If you go to Disney, do your research on how to avoid lines, and remember that the cast members are people too.

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Don't Look
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

At least we know now that Disney is a screwed s**t show for as long as Covid rules are in effect.

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#34

"What Is Your 'I Don't Get Paid Enough For This' Moment?" 30 People Reply Working in a psychiatric hospital (19F), extremely psychotic, pregnant w twins young woman would only talk to the “girl in the cactus scrub top” (me). Naive me wanted to help this women, the only way she said she would cooperate is if we were behind closed doors, which would NOT happen, obviously, but we did the best to make her comfortable within protocol. She was also completely naked. Anyways, security in the door, two staff outside and me trying to console this psychotic women who LOVED my cactus scrub top. She decides she finally wants to get dressed and wear my shirt so she pushes me up against the way and tried to take it off. Security was on her quick and I was out the door. $15 entry level job, pretty much fresh out of high school, one of many stories.

maziedarling , freestocks Report

#35

Teacher here. First grader asked me to wipe his butt after he pooped.

Nope. Nope. Nope.

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#36

Customer called asking if I'd advise him buying tickets from a second hand seller. I told him no, I wouldn't recommend it and that the tickets can be fake. He went on about how it was his daughters biggest dream to see X band live. I advised there were no more tickets and unfortunately he'd have to keep an eye on the website. He then suggested he buy reseller tickets and see what happens. I advised him that was his choice not my recommendation.

Not even 10mins later he calls back shouting down the phone that he paid for two tickets but only got one. I said I'm sorry that happened but there's nothing I can do about it. He then starts shouting that I have ruined his daughter's birthday and I should be sacked. Literally told him "I do not get paid enough to listen to you shouting abuse at me for your bad choices, here is the email address to put in a formal complaint and this is my name. Have a good day." Then hung up.

Reported the call to my manager who said they'd look out for the email. Nothing ever came in.

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#37

Working at the public city pool as a lifeguard. We were also the janitors after hours. A team of three of us would tackle the locker rooms and main area. One summer on the last day we had a literal poopalooza.

Some one commits the cardinal sin of s**tting in the pool. Literally those logs were adult sized and they had distance. Meaning whoever did it was moving around our entire pool as they shat themselves. We shut down early due in part to the discovery that not only will we be swimming in 5 ft water turd fishing, but theres not one but two piles of s**t, inches from the toilet, on the boys locker room floor. Meanwhile some mother of a mother put a s**t filled swim diaper on the top of a shower where it proceeded to leak down the wall and spray outwards onto the floor. All this within 15 minutes of each other. I got the luck of cleaning the woman’s locker room which beat out turd diving imo but not by much.

Fun fact after the mandatory 30 minute wait we taught swimming lessons in that same water. Never wanted a shower more badly than I did that day.

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#38

Used to work in a KFC, which I regret due to the underpayment and the working hours, I got no sleep at all. One day a guy that looked to be around 22 got mad at me personally that his chicken leg wasn’t crispy enough, even though I never made it. He threw it at my face and I just said “I don’t get paid enough” and went home early that day. Boss asked why I went home. He said he understood but then proceeded to tell me how leaving early isn’t tolerated in my place of work, even with grease all over my face. So glad I quit.

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Mtownmick
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How are business owners supposed to have a much better lifestyle when minimum wage employees won't suck it up and be glad to work no matter what the abuse. Owners will never become rich enough to have entitled descendants that think being born rich makes them better. Our whole system will collapse. Money is king. Ask any religion - no wait, don't ask, observe their actions. This is what I was taught and I am glad to see that there is resistance to this continuing. Good job.

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#39

Home care patient insisted on leaving a loaded weapon out on his coffee table al day long. Caregivers were terrified, especially since he had sexually harassed a couple of them.

I asked him to put the gun away, even got him a lockbox, he refused, threw the lockbox out on the porch, called me and told me to come and get it.

I ended his services with a polite referral to another agency. No way I’m coming to your yard so you can shoot me, you maniac. And I’m not sending any more poor, abused immigrant women to wipe your [arse].

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#40

"What Is Your 'I Don't Get Paid Enough For This' Moment?" 30 People Reply I worked at circuit city when I was 17. Heard a noise of packaging being opened in the movie section, found a guy crouched down cutting open dvd boxes & stealing the discs. He looked at me, held his knife out and said "Got a problem?"

I just replied "I don't get paid enough for this" & backed off. I went to the back room of the warehouse area to call a manager to tell them what happened. Never could get a hold of anyone so I just chilled in the warehouse area for a half hour to decompress.

Skrivus , Brett Jordan Report

#41

"What Is Your 'I Don't Get Paid Enough For This' Moment?" 30 People Reply First day at the health department, I'm left at the reception desk alone while literally everyone else in the office went out to a farewell lunch for the person I was replacing. As I was on 90 day probation, wasn't yet licensed and badged, my pay was $7.96/hr.

I'm sitting at reception, and some redneck comes in with a leaking garbage bag and drops it on my desk. It contains a newly beheaded javelina head. His buddy had been bitten, and it needed to be tested for rabies ASAP.

I had no [damn] clue what to do with a leaking garbage bag of javelina head. He couldn't wait for others to return, so he left a number and split.

Turns out, we don't do that sort of thing at the health department. Guy refused to come back.

Barflyerdammit , PhotoMIX Company Report

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#42

"What Is Your 'I Don't Get Paid Enough For This' Moment?" 30 People Reply I was a manager for a well known lingerie store. Our location was in a failing suburban mall. The store was giant and shaped oddly. There were dressing rooms in odd hidden corners and a few blind spots. The store was located at the end of the mall next to other stores no one really went to, so there wasn’t much foot traffic. We were also always short staffed because no one wanted to work out there. All of those factors made us a prime location for thieves and weirdos.

I would have to do laps around the store due to its layout, and I would regularly come across people doing sex stuff in this one secluded little dressing room. The dressing room was in a sort of alcove and was the least visible spot in the store, so it was prime real estate for all kinds of shenanigans. It ranged from women doing strip teases for men, to catching couples having oral sex, to catching couples having penetrative sex, to catching men masturbating. The final straw was catching a man at closing time, masturbating into a pile of cotton panties with the dressing room door wide open. I couldn’t take it anymore. I put in my notice the next day.

And what was crazy was that corporate always shrugged or laughed it off when I would call and complain that we needed a security guard. I was 21 at the time, and every woman that worked their was between 19-30; it was a safety issue, and they’d also blame us for all the merchandise theft, which we were unable to prevent because their weren’t enough bodies in that gigantic store to prevent it.

I was also dating a guy who also worked in the mall, and he told me that they finally closed up that one dressing room not long after I left. He said a lot of folks were pissed because apparently that one little dressing room was a well-known open secret spot for hooking up.

ElleCBrown , Nan Palmero Report

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Jupittance
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Shutting down that dressing room seems like such an obvious solution, wonder why they never did it before?

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#43

I had a couple personal and professional setbacks that saw me working at a Taco Bell for a few months in my early/mid 20s.

Anyways, we ran out of tortillas, so I was asked to drive (my own, personal vehicle) to another store to get more.

I did so, then asked about mileage compensation and was told there was none.

So for minimum wage I drove my own car, that was already on its last legs, and used my own fuel for business purposes.

Legally I'm entitled to compensation for that. The IRS sets mileage rates every year.

I quit at the end of my shift. Heard through the grapevine the GM was very upset that I did that, which surprised me, because she ran a Taco Bell staffed almost exclusively by teenagers. She should be so lucky I told someone I wasn't coming in tomorrow.

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#44

Was working as a life guard in highschool. A little girl got her toe stuck in the crevice of our water slide and got it basically ripped off from the knuckle down. I was tasked with climbing into the slide to try and find the damn toe so we could send it to the hospital.

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#45

"What Is Your 'I Don't Get Paid Enough For This' Moment?" 30 People Reply Working in a grocery store meat department during Thanksgiving, when every third customer asks if you have any larger turkeys in the back. And insists you go back to the walk-in freezer and sift through multiple pallets of frozen turkeys for the 80th time today.

PhillyCheesesteakSub , Butterball Report

#46

Grabby customer grabs drink on the counter, tastes it, says, "This isn't mine. I ordered a vanilla latté. This is also iced." I proceed to tell her it's clearly not her drink she picked up then. Am currently making Grabby's drink, then have to double back to make the previous drink for the customer it was originally intended for. Again.

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John C
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I know it's easy to come up with this stuff AFTER it happened, but it would have been sweet sweet justice if you had re-made the first drink before Grabby's, explaining that you have to serve the customers in order.

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#47

"What Is Your 'I Don't Get Paid Enough For This' Moment?" 30 People Reply After 4 months of not seeing my family because I was working full-time and only getting one day off a week, I finally quit without notice when they were gonna make me close last Thanksgiving. I had already requested and approved the day off a month prior. I left and never came back. The GM even tried pulling the “you can’t quit you’re fired” ahaha

Teletubbyjr , Andrea Piacquadio Report

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#48

Worked at a large hotel chain as a setup person when I started. Had a group of people book the entire 7th floor for the weekend for their event. Came to find out that they had a fetish for dressing up as "babies" and roleplayed as kids meaning they pissed and s**t themselves.

We weren't allowed to clean the rooms while they were there but once they left you could imagine the stains and the odor left on the carpet. It was so bad that a cleaning company had to come and decontaminate and clean the rooms.

I couldn't believe a group of adults did this, it was disgusting and the fact that it was so many of them surprised me. I definitely thought getting paid minimum wage wasn't enough to deal with that in any way.

They are forever known as diaper people to me.

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Sista of the moon
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What? Who does that? I can just imagine how uncomfortable i would be if i was in that room ;-;

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#49

I had a really hard time finding my first job out of university. My friend ended up getting me a gig with a promo company to help me with bills. The job sounded simple enough - I was to hand out coffee samples for a certain brand while being stationed at varying grocery stores across the state. Later in the job description I was informed that I would also have to bring the sampling booth with me.

I thought it would just be a small, plastic cart, but nope - it was a huge full-on wooden coffee service station. Not to mention that I also had to bring in the coffee machine, sugar, milk, water and even garbage can. The first time I did it, I struggled to put it all into a shopping cart, and only barely succeeded by using two. The next few times weren't all that much easier, but I did get better at doing it.

I think it was the sixth, or maybe seventh time. It had already been a horrible day - customers had hated the coffee (what do you expect from a s***ty machine?), the store manager had been rude and unaccommodating, and my back was starting to hurt real bad. One guy even made a point that he hated the coffee so much that he poured the cup into my garbage can, waterfall-style, before flicking the empty cup towards me. It killed me so bad, but I needed the money, so I forged ahead and finished the day off.

I loaded up my grocery carts again and pushed out of the sliding doors only to met with complete darkness and pouring rain. It had also been a busy day at this particular store, so my car was parked all the way at the end of the parking lot. I was pissed but was just like "[screw] it, let's get this done" at this point so I started pushing. 3/4 of the way to my car, the front wheel of one of the carts gave out. I lost my balance and my supplies came flying out, coffee machine, sugar packets and all. It was almost comical.

I knelt in the downpour, picking up my stuff, only to find that the coffee pot heavily cracked. That was enough to push me over the edge. I crumpled into a heap on the ground and quietly cried.

When I had finally regained my composure, I grabbed the rest of the supplies and haphazardly threw them into my car. Drenched and sitting in the driver's seat, I called my manager and told her I quit, and that she could pick up the supplies whenever.

That job 100% did not pay enough for that sh*t.

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#50

When I was 18 and working at a retail store, a baby in his mother's arms took a sh*t so massive that his diaper couldn't contain it. A bunch ended up on the floor, and the mother ran away. I was not paid enough for that literal sh*t.

heybudno Report

#51

"What Is Your 'I Don't Get Paid Enough For This' Moment?" 30 People Reply I used to work at Old Country Buffet, and there were kids who would eat until they threw up- like alllll the time-

This one case that is seared into my mind was when I was once fixing up the salad bar and I heard ‘Billy Run!’ screamed from an ignorant parent and then I see this 12ish year old boy running to the bathroom, only he didn’t make it. An unholy amount of undigested red Jello-O came exploded out of him like a volcano all over the Caesar Salad, the floor next to the cash register, and on about 5 or 6 diners waiting in line to get in. It looked like he had literally vomited his guts out in an arc about 10 feet in diameter. I had to sweep up the chunks with a broom until a dishwasher with a mop could take care of the rest.

Darth_Xenic , Kim Love Report

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#52

I worked at a retail store in the clothing department. I was helping with letting people in and out of the fitting rooms. One girl who was underage needed a room, I unlocked it for her and she went in, I came back out of the room area. Her grandparents came into her fitting room to look at what she was trying on. They then walked out and accused me of looking into her dressing room. They started yelling and causing a scene, called the manager over. At this point I was on the brink of crying. The manager pulled me aside, watched the security cameras and saw that nothing was wrong. They let me have the rest of the day off.

JoeKing1988 Report

#53

Took a second job at fedex as a driver... I'm still in the military so it was a struggle... fast forward a few months, I'm on a delivery. Guy yells at me for ringing a doorbell, at a metal working shop. The doorbell was installed because the machines are loud and they needed to get the attention of the workers when there is a delivery. Got back to the fedex warehouse, guy at the metal place had already called my boss and told her that I rang the doorbell once and that it was too loud. I get written up for customer dissatisfaction. I quit and just left all the other packages on the truck.

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#54

Working as graphic designer putting together newspaper. To save money, they decided 'other duties as assigned' meant scrubbing toilets and making deliveries. Noped out of there.

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Deborah B
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Some places can't afford a janitor. The good ones, there's a rota, and everyone takes a turn cleaning the loo, including management. Possibly not the top management, if there's more than three levels in the hierarchy, but everyone else.

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#55

I worked as a car detailer (like cleaning and waxing cars) when i was 16, my dad owned the business for years so I grew up doing it and was pretty skilled for a 16 year old, my dad sold the business to a family friend, part of the conditions were thst I'd keep working there and show him what to do bit the guy was an idiot.

He put me on the hand car wash because I was "too young to be waxing expensive cars, customers dont like it" when the actual reason was the hand car wash was the lame part of the job and he wanted the fun part, he then [messed] up a jaguar's paint work by buffing it WITHOUT A PAD on the buffer, just scraped the [hell] out of a jaguar. I let him blame me because I felt bad that he was the owner of the business and made himself look a tit. Then I realised the reason was that he was stoned out of his mind everyday (look I smoke weed too, no judgement but dont do it at work..) he started leaving me alone for hours on end while he went to smoke weed, I would earn all his money and wasnt even getting minimum wage.

Come one day in the winter he turned up and opened the garage with a spliff in his mouth, immediately left and didn't come back for about 6 hours, it was freezing, there was ice everywhere and I was alone shaking trying to wash cars with water which was freezing on the surface of the cars as I was going, I was running around like a madman trying to stay warm and because we were busy as, I slipped hard on some black ice, went upside down lol and landed on my head, completely blacked out for a minute or so and woke up to a few customers around me like wtf, where's your boss, I looked about 12 aswell so they were genuinely concerned, I got up and just left. Left the garage open, left everything there to be taken if someone wanted to, he rang me an hour later going mental and I was just like [screw] you, you left me for 7 hours to get stoned, shove the job up your arse you prick.

First of 3 times I've up and left a job without warning because of arsehole owners, remember if you aren't making money for yourself, you're making it for someone else. You should be more important to the employer than they are to you and that's how it should feel when you're working for someone.

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Robert Thomas
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

OK FIRST OF ALL @LOGIC AND REASON IM AM GOING TO BE TURNING THIRTEEN BUT I DONT DO DRUGS OK BUT WEED ISNT HARMFULL ACTUALLY IT CAN STOP YOU FROM BEING ADDICTED TO STUFF LIKE MOLLY ALOT OF PHSYCHAIRATRIST sorry about me spelling BUT ALOT OF THEM RECOMMEND IT OK ITS NOT VERY HARMFULL THE ONLY RESON ITS ILLEGALL IS BECAUSE OF ECONOMIC TRADE FOR WEED BUT IT WONT BE ILLEGAL SOON DONT ASSUME THING im so sorry i yelled but seriously just think about things before you say them i got mad im sorry hope you have a great day and please be smart when saying things

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#56

Being told that a ruined a woman's christmas because the supermarket I worked at was out of brandy infused marmalade

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#57

I worked at a beach resort many years ago. The housekeepers were all upset one day because someone s**t in the clubhouse shower. I was a little pissed that they were making such a big deal about it until I went to see it. It was like some mythical man beast had shat a huge one foot long, two-inch thick turd in the middle of the shower. I eventually took one for the team and picked it up and threw it away. It was as heavy as a puppy. I definitely wasnt getting paid enough to do that.

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#58

I used to have a position offering free adult education services. Becauxse our redneck state doesn't value education, we were housed in a crumbling building that only had one restroom in our wing.

One day a male student, who was known to be demanding (considering everything we offered was free) goes out to use the restroom, comes right back, and loudly tells me that the toilet in the restroom is "backed up, you should go in there and fix/plunge it" then stands there and looks at me expectantly.

Lol, yeah no. I'll put up with the 5 wasted years it took to get my degree in education, I'll deal with the sh*tty pay, sh*tty hours, the disrespect from students, but I'm not plunging toilets. I draw the line. I just ignored him and went back into my office....

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#59

I worked for a big chain restaurant for many years. They had an issue with bussers throwing away silverware in a haste to clear tables. It was an accident, but it happened. One day the manager shows up with a kiddie pool and starts dumping the bags of trash from the dumpster into the kiddie pool in the middle of the kitchen. Not fresh trash, but the maggoty filled trash that had been rotting for days in the summer heat. She said nobody was allowed to leave for the night until they dug through the maggots and rot and found 10 pieces of silverware. [Screw] your $2.33/hour. I am not digging around in maggots, rotting food, and vomit for you.

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Catlady6000
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Had a manager that did similar, only better. Told us two weeks ahead, it was just the garbage for that shift, and if there was no silver ware, she would clean it all up herself. Took a week, but after cleaning 4 consecutive shifts herself, she treated us to pizza and ice cream. She was a great boss. Oh, and she picked the slowest days of the week.

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#60

I make $14/hr to work in a nursing home with an active covid infection and dementia patients who won’t wear masks or stay in their rooms. I’m living separate from my family, only going from my bedroom/makeshift kitchen to work and back. I wear a mask at home now to protect my family and I’m not allowed at thanksgiving.

I don’t get paid enough for any of this. Not by a long shot.

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Raven Sheridan
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Have worked with dementia patients and it ain't no picnic. And that was before covid!

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#61

I work as a welder/fabricator for a very small company and when we have slow days my boss sends me to his house to help on his newly build bed n breakfast (i layed a lot of the bricks and build the showers and so on which I don't mind). One day we get to his house and he just points to a huge stack of mixed garbage and tells me to sort it and drive it away. It took the whole damn day and some af the old cardboard and stuff was wet and smelled bad. All i could think was minimum wage and i have to deal with his private s**t.

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Ian Koch
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ok, helping with the house, sure, but sorting TRASH? wow. he took it too far.

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#62

I was the restaurant general manager for a Pizza Hut. I was salaried at $29,000/year and was required to work 10-hour shifts, 5 days per week and to also be available 24/7 over the telephone and to come to work if another manager was out sick. I essentially made $8/hour one year, which was the lowest amount of any employee. I demanded a raise, was denied, and quit without notice.

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#63

College instructor in a prison: (I’m 36/F)

Second day at a new job and an adult male student exposed himself and started rubbing one out while staring at me in a classroom full of people.

Made me question my career choice but I still stayed. I also learned how to write an incident report and a ticket that day.

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#64

Fast food worker:

Had a lady get pissed I couldn't hear her four year old mumble her order and got tired of me asking her to repeat it that when she finally paid for the order she slammed her change on the counter and tossed each coin at my head. I just straight up took off my apron and left the store.

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Mewton’s Third Paw
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I hate stories like this. Why should you lose your job because someone treated you like shît? That isn’t justice. Call the cops and say she assaulted you. Even if they won’t charge her. Waste her time and make a spectacle in front of her child. You know how you make a mom break down? Call her a bad mother. In front of her kid. Fûck people like that woman.

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#65

Tow truck driver. When securing a vehicle on the driver side and a car stays in the lane closest to me and I feel the static of their mirror across my chest as I rope-a-dope so I don't get hit. Makes minimum wage feel really minimal.

Be cool to people working on the roads and freeways, slow down, move over if possible. 6 weeks ago a local tow truck driver got hit and killed, happens about once a year. Please be cool and keep us alive while we get 12 bucks.

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BabaBizzle
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

People always drive too fast even when they’re clearly seeing you guys pulled over. No respect ! And so dangerous !

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#66

"What Is Your 'I Don't Get Paid Enough For This' Moment?" 30 People Reply Fish monger in a grocery store. We got a large number of lobsters in, soft-shelled and already dying. So my manager decided we could at least sell their tails. Apparently lobsters don't really have a central nervous system, so when you sever the tails and put their tails on ice they freaking run away.

So I had to chase these tails down because they've escaped into the rest of the display case, onto the floor, and hidden under our prep tables. Never again.

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#67

I made $8/hour as a car detail tech. A Great Dane s**t all over the interior of a newer Acura with the fancy heated and cooled perforated leather seats. I had to use and air gun to blow literal s**t out of each individual hole in the seats. It took 3 hours.

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Deborah B
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Would not want to use the heating feature of those seats again.

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#68

When I was a 9-1-1 Telecommunicator. Taking all those suicide calls domestics with children, medical calls, people dying, officers getting shot, etc. Did it for 16 years before enough was enough.

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Bear
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I can never last a day with that job, I am way to emotional and that would probably break me :(

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#69

I work in client care. My three times a week coworker doesn't check on those clients, so either I have to take over, or get him in trouble for negligence. I totally ratted him out to our boss this morning, because he can't do his job.

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#70

When I got offered crack in exchange for merchandise

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#71

I used to work for a potato farm in the UK. I worked in a small office taking orders and processing them for delivery. The owner was very temperamental and would fly off the handle at any given second. After 5 years of putting up with her, I went back to work after 2 weeks holding and was asked by the owner to build a report on an updated system that I’d had no new training on. The system no longer worked the way it had before the update so I couldn’t build the report and told the owner this.

The next morning, I went to work and I was accused of deleting the report and when I reminded her that I’d said I couldn’t build the report, I was accused of lying. One thing about me, I’ll take a lot but don’t ever call me a liar, I won’t take it from anyone for any reason. I thought it through for an hour or so and had the pleasure of telling her to shove her job up her arse. There was no way I got paid enough to be spoken to that way and totally enjoyed being able to quit, telling her exactly what I thought of her.

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#72

As a nursing assistant making $16 an hour, one day I had a 500lb schizophrenic bed bound male who purposefully took a monstrous s**t in his hands, then proceeded to smear it all over himself, all over the bed rails and walls, and throw the remaining poop across the room. I had to clean him off, breaking my back turning him side to side attempting to reach every skin fold, then scrub it off nearly every surface in the room. (Housekeeping won’t sanitize until nursing staff cleans up the bodily fluids). It took me over an hour. I nearly quit.

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#73

McDonald’s manager. After close a woman stumbled out of the bathroom and ran down the street- I went in the bathroom to find blood splattered on the baby changing table and on the floor and a heroin needle in the trash.

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#74

Literally getting yelled at for not staying late. I don't get paid to stay late. My bosses are a married couple and think it's OK to lose their s**t at me. If I didn't really need money right now, I'd quit

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#75

I work for a mental health clinic. We have 6 schedulers for over 100 therapists, and over 5000 clients. We also just got a completely new EHR system 2 months ago that was custom-built for us. Very badly. Management also wants us to start doing insurance work. We have a billing team.

All of us are looking for other jobs.

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#76

I worked for a small college. The president's secretary thought that most things were above her paygrade and at one of the busiest times of the year for my office decided that I should put in 80+ hours to clean her data and get something she needed done. After getting it finished she decided that she wanted the whole thing changed. I broke down. I went to the doctor in the midst of a full blown panic attack and was given a note for two weeks off work, which meant they had to use what I did or do it themselves. I came back to work and resigned.

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#77

I work at Security and been working here for two years. I work at one of the highest profile sites in Vancouver, yet we are not trained to use or keep any weapons. One person watches the cameras and other do the walking there. I have worked night shifts and have pretty bad experiences here. Once when I was walking through the roof area, one individual came from the opposite side and put his pistol on my head. He wanted to get into a bank and wanted me to provide access. The worst thing was me being trapped in the blind spot of the CCTV. My mind and heart both almost stopped working since it was my first time having a gun on my head.

I slowly started walking towards the entrance and when I entered the key inside the lock, we heard the sirens for police vehicles. They panicked and ran away in the dark. I quickly called my Control Officer (guy on CCTV) and told him the whole scenario. Control officers are considered as shift supervisors when it comes to overnight shifts. The person got shocked and asked me to take some water and call police right away. I told him ‘I don’t think I get paid enough to tackle scenarios like this without weapons’ and he agreed. This happened in the middle of March (during corona time) and I left the site after March.

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#78

I work in a shop. Someone called to ask if they could return USED TAMPONS. I politely said no, but they kept asking why not.

I'm about 97% sure it was a prank call, but still. What fun is it to call an underpaid worker whose job it is to be nice to you and pull that kind of [stuff].

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#79

I used to work in a brothel and one time this guy came in, receptionist warned me he was a bit grim and to try and breathe through my mouth instead of my nose, and that he's a pushy [prick].

Grim didn't cut it, I have a strong stomach and not much phases me but the smell of this guy, I nearly threw up on his dick, I had to keep making up excuses to move away from him to try and get some less awful smelling air, the room stank after he left even after half a can of room spray and changing the sheets, and I scrubbed myself so hard in the shower afterwards that my skin hurt and I still didn't feel clean

He was also hitting the poppers so hard his entire body went white (yes, that included his penis) except his lips which were dark blue

The smell and nearly giving himself a heart attack also accompanied him demanding all sorts of things that I didn't offer such as bare services accompanied and kissing, I nearly had to kick him out a few times because he was so bad

I swear it was the longest 30 minutes of my life, and I can still remember the smell

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#80

There was a perfectly formed turd hanging from the bathroom ceiling. Like some bastard had learned to levitate and used his newfound powers to sit on the ceiling tiles and let the poo gradually push him downward as he pushed it out. I let my manager bat that one down with a broom.

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#81

Retail worker, gardening center.
I have to manage that everyone takes a shopping cart with them because Corona.
Sir doesn't want to.
I insist sir has too.
Sir decides to grab my throat.
Please be kind to retail workers, they are doing their best :)

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#82

I write erotica for a living, and every now and then I'll get a commission through. Commission work is generally pretty fun, because the pay is good; the flipside of it is that people often want things they can't get in mainstream erotica. That usually either means very specific fantasies, or very extreme fantasies.

I have a bunch of examples of this, but my favourite is one time when I got an email from a very lovely guy, asking if I'd write him a story about him being sounded by a Hot Wheels car. He wanted the first half of the story to be able the little car stretching out his peehole as it went in, and the second half to be about how the tiny little wingmirrors damaged his urethra as it came out

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#83

Worked at a hotel chain cleaning rooms when I was in highschool. Came upon something eeeking down the side of the mattress onto the carpeted floor. IDK if it was blood/mucus throw up or a miscarriage, but my $7.10/hr did not cover bloody bodily fluids.

Boss chewed I and a coworker out for not being willing to clean it up. Don't effing care, lady.

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#84

When I was working at a grocery store and the pandemic started and then I became an "essential worker". So essential I still don't make enough money to live on my own and any day now I'm going to catch Covid and bring it home to infect my family. I won't even get paid for the 2 weeks or more I'm going to be out of work because of it. Hopefully I graduate on time next june and get a computer programming job and never work retail again in my life.

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#85

Sitting in an IEP meeting being told by an advocate that they know something’s unacceptable because they’ve been in a lot of iep meetings. Ma’am, I’ve watched a lot of Law & Order: SVU, but that doesn’t mean I know how to solve crimes.

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#86

A lady came into the Nordstrom I was working at frantic and hyperventilating, with tears streaming down her face because she could not find the perfect pair of white pants for her upcoming beach vacation

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#87

Working as a janitor and having to clean a bathroom wherein the toilet made a spectacularly horrifying fountain of excrement to the ceiling and then it happening a second time shortly thereafter.

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#88

I was a temp at this horrible club. Whole night was awful, people grinding, falling down the stairs, tryna grope you in the dark as you collected glasses. Was sold to me as a 'cocktail lounge' when I took the job.

Saw a dude sitting by himself all over the place n was lit about to go get him a glass of water bc he looked soooo wrecked when the vomit just came gushing like a fountain, I was watching like it was slow mo spilling all over him, the table, the ground n then realised "f***. This is my job. F***." and just noped out. £8 an hour for twelve hours is not enough money.

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#89

Time I got stabbed (arm), and the other time I got stabbed (chest).

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#90

Drew a special ed route. I don’t have an assigned route as I’m a mechanic/spare driver not a full time driver. One of the students got out of their harness and started picking seat foam and eating it. Then proceeded to projectile vomit all over the window. I and the driver that normally covers that route do not get paid enough to deal with that and try to drive.

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#91

Karens. Do I have to say more?

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#92

I worked at Dairy Queen for 2 years. One night, we found out that a pipe had clogged under the building, and water had been sitting there for a long time. Whenever water sits for a long time, it gets this terrible sewage smell. It's awful.

In the middle of the night, the owner of the restaurant shows up and demands that we unclog the drain during work hours. When we unclogged the drain, water came flooding into the working area, making the whole place smell like sewage. The only way to fix the situation was to use a dry mop to soak up the water and then squeeze out the water into our mop bucket.

The owner soaked her mop in really stinky water, and then slathered it all over my hand when I was moving the mop bucket. I almost walked out, quitting my job, but I decided to stay because I needed the money. Minimum wage wasn't enough for that.

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#93

Worked in a grocery store as a manager. Got yelled at by a mom in front of her two kids at 6:30am for not having the kind of Easter eggs she wanted. I am not a morning person by any means, but that pretty much summarized the majority of my experience in customer service.

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#94

While working as a student custodian on campus I had to clean vomit out of a urinal. There is no easy, not gross way of cleaning that. Not worth the minimum wage.

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#95

When I was told I need to be studying for my job in my off time and at work. Bro how about you teach me? And also screw that, if im off... im off. And if im at work, im going to be at work working. If I don't know enough, you didn't teach me right.

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Barbara
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If they use it as an excuse to give you no training at all, yes. If they did give you training, but expect you to keep up with changes, no. Like, you're the only one who has to do that? Don't think so.

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#96

Worked at a big clothing store for two years during college. They wanted me to be supervisor but I turned down the position for a more flexible schedule. Left for an internship and went back after it was over. Went to the bathroom my first day back and new manager said I had to ask permission before going. I clocked out for lunch and never came back.

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#97

Nurse- I had a patient who was a bit backed up with poo. We were doing a golytely clean out and it just didn’t seem to be working. We kept pushing on. I went in on my afternoon rounds to check on him (who was a severely delayed, wheelchair bound patient) and he was just smiling at me in a sea of poop. Just a sea of poop draining down the side of the bed. And he just smiled as a resigned myself to the fact that this was my life now. But hey! At least he was finally pooping.

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#98

I worked graveyard security for city hall. Caught a homeless guy taking a dump at the seating area around the fountain. After I confronted him he tried to clean it up with a thin napkin before calling it quits and leaving.

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BabaBizzle
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

At least he tried to clean it unlike the umpteen others who s**t and leave it ....

#99

Not a moment, but after a few years it slowly came to me. Well-paid job, but no possibility for a personal life. It comes to everyone eventually, even on their deathbed. But then it would rather be: I didn't got paid enough for this". You work to live, not live to work.

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#100

I work in retail and one time someone peed in a bucket that was meant to be used for cleaning (I just had to help another customer so I just left it in an aisle) and I really didn't want to clean it.

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#101

I worked in a pharmacy photo lab, making maybe a dollar over minimum wage, that was right across from the Disney video display.

There was a time in my life when I knew the lyrics to every single one of the songs in Lion King 2.

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#102

More than once, as a landscaper, customers have asked us to evict homeless encampments. We've always said no. We have a new owner now, he's charging sixty bucks a month extra for "picking up trash inside the dumpster walls" which means taking up mattresses and hygiene products and clothes etc and pressure washing the turds off the concrete... I don't do it though. I'm just not gonna lol. I mow grass that's not even close to the same.

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#103

I work in a children's toy store, minimum wage. We have this small playhouse for kids to play in, with like a little plastic kitchen. The sink that's in the kitchen has genuinely been through hell. From piss, to puke, slime and s**t. I don't know how the parents don't even clean it up. Sometimes they tell us what happened and then walk out, other times it's a less than pleasant surprise when we open the windows of the playhouse. I never understood why we don't remove the playhouse, or force the parents to clean it up. Luckily I've only had to clean out the slime that kids put in there. The poor colleagues who had to clean the other things...

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Sentinel
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Parents should not be allowed to leave til they clean up their kids’ s**t. Period. Put that in a sign.

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#104

I work in IT, and we get asked all sorts of questions, particularly by end users.

They seem to think that if it runs on electricity, it must be my responsibility.

I was contacted around five times a day by the same end user, about every little thing. For weeks. Often asking me the same question over and over, expecting a different answer than "I don't know, ask ".

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#105

Was a dishwasher as a teenager and was told to stay late at a Marriott restaurant every night (with no extra pay) until everything was cleaned. Was treated poorly by the two bosses anyway. One night, under the brown rubber mats, there were dozens of cockroaches. My co-worker looked at my face, grabbed the water hose, and told me to go home, because he knew I was not gonna do it.

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#106

Listening to other employees complain about most things but especially about things they cant change or could change but won't put the effort into doing so. I'm a engineer not a therapist

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#107

When I started the job in a pandemic, find out I am head of the department with 3 staff members. Wasn’t told any of this in the hiring process. One of the staff member retired and was told couldn’t fill the position so had to restructure the office. Had to change the whole department for online and then a cyber attack occurs.

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#108

I was doing software training for a start-up. The s***ty publicly traded parent company that acquired us wanted us to train some of their big wigs on the software.

I'm used to having to teach people how to use / download chrome, but this guy didn't even know how to connect to the internet. When we got to the point where we determined he was going to have to update his OS to be able to download chrome, I wiped my hands and politely told him to go f**k himself.

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