Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
“I Don’t Get Paid Enough For This”: 35 People Are Sharing The Moment They Understood They Were Being Exploited
Loving your job and being proud of what you do is something many of us strive for. Just try to imagine how wonderful it must feel to show up to your workplace every day and know your skills and efforts make valuable contributions to your company's success. But unfortunately, even star employees aren’t immune to problems at work. Sometimes, all it takes is one unfortunate moment that takes a complete 180-degree turn and makes people walk away singing, "Screw this! I’m out."
If you can relate, you might find comfort in knowing you’re definitely not the only one. Three users, PM_me_gorillas, BenIrwinG, Deer_is_me, attempted to find out what pushes people to the brink of quitting. They reached out to fellow members of Ask Reddit and wondered about the exact moment they thought, "I don’t get paid enough for this."
Thousands of replies came flying in, and each is more surprising than the previous one. So pull your seat closer, grab a box of popcorn, and take a moment to read about the frustrating things people had to endure at their jobs. And if you’re interested in even more stories where customers and employers shamelessly take the last straw, check out Bored Panda's previous pieces about them right here and here.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Holding a pair of dying twin boys so they wouldn't die alone.
Their mother hadn't wanted the pregnancy, hadn't even told anyone she was pregnant, so it was a bit of a blessing when she went into preterm labor and delivered them 4 months early.
She was relieved to not have to raise twins on her own and didn't want anything to do with her sons. 22 weeks is too early to live very long, but they were alive long enough to have some consciousness, some awareness and I couldn't bear the thought of them spending their whole short little lives cold and alone. I took them to another room and kept changing their blankets to keep them warm and comfortable until their chests finally stopped moving a couple of hours later. I sang to them "you are my sunshine" and then tucked their little bodies away in the morgue, and clocked out. As an obstetric nurse, I deal with the very best and worst in people. I love my job, but my heart broke that day. All the wonderful happy days at work just barely make up for the days like that one. tl;dr - don't get paid enough to show someone else's kids the only love they'll ever know in their very short lives.
Andrew Pugg 2 years ago
It's controversial but why not terminate the pregnancy. Its like she just discarded those babies in the trash, her job was done and now she can get back to being herself. I am just disgusted with this. Thank you for being compassionate and for the hard work
RELATED:
#2
I was 19. I enrolled to gain a certification as an EMT. I followed that by busting my a**, sometimes literally, to somehow be qualified to save a person or their entire life's earnings from a fire. I then followed that by sacrificing a year of my life, or ~90/hrs a week between work/school to become a paramedic at age 23. I've been sh*t on, puked on, bled on. I've smelled the previously mentioned, I've smelled brains, which has it's own distinct smell. I've held body parts that have been detached moments before. I've shoved tubes down peoples throats so they may breathe, despite the number of gunshot wounds they received. I've performed CPR on infants. I did this for ~$13/hr.
Firefighters, EMTs/Paramedics, and Police are not compensated nearly enough for what they experience.
#3
I'm a "helper" for people with mental disabilities.
Have you ever pulled a turd out of a man's a** when he is stuck halfway through his pooping?
Have you ever woken him up to find he has smeared sh*t all over his face like war paint?
Have you ever been jabbed in the eye because you made him eat his vegetables?
Have you ever had to convince someone with paranoid schizophrenia that you were, in fact, real and not a hallucination while they held a knife?
11.50 per hour
Mrs Spigot 2 years ago
Yes and more, working with people with dementia for minimum wage, they're not all sweet confused little old ladies.
#4
Worked retail, worked night fill as assistant manager, assistant day manager thought he was god's gift to women.
During stocktake (when both night and day staff are in store) walked in on said manager trying to force himself on a night fill staff member. Pulled him off her, got punched in the face and chest multiple times. filed a police report.
Was then written up for not 'escalating' the incident to upper management instead of reporting the rapist prick to the police. Flipped them the bird and told them to f*ck off. Was really tempted to deck the dude on the way out, but instead went and filed a second police report for assault (on myself) and got his ass fired by regional management who some how knew nothing about this whole thing until the police called them.
Gave up on retail at that point and went back to university.
David Harris 2 years ago
Good on you for standing up to that scumbag and saving his victim! I hope he gets the same treatment from a large man in prison!!
#5
I was a teacher.
A 6th grader hurled a book at my head from behind.
I got to have a meeting with the principal and the mother where she screamed at me for 20 minutes because I wrote her daughter up for it.
Principal did nothing.
10 years later I design fiber cable routes and make twice the money.
David Harris 2 years ago
Teachers don't make nearly enough money for the insane amount of work and responsibilities that they have and the sickening amount of disrespect they have to endure!
#6
I worked at a gas station in my teens. Lived on my own, needed the money, and there weren't many options in my area for someone my age. Every week I'd clock in a minimum of 50 hours and only ever get paid for 30-38 hrs. They kept saying they'd fix it, it never got fixed. I worked double shifts regularly and got called in every single day off I had scheduled. Every one. I couldn't afford caller ID at the time (this was before it was standard) so on my day off, I had to stop answering the phone because simply telling them I couldn't make it in would result in them calling all. f*cking. day. Then, since I lived so close by, they started sending other employees to my apartment. Most of them felt bad about it, and eventually refused but then the manager and district manager started showing up, pounding at my door, pleading with me, slipping notes under my door, and trying to guilt trip and threaten my job safety. I can't even begin to explain the toll that took on me, physically and mentally. I stopped menstruating (TMI, sorry) and actually started losing my hair. But, I needed the money.
My breaking point was shortly after I'd already quit once. The first time was because I'd requested my birthday off, they approved it, and then the day before told me I'd need to come in. I said no and stood my ground. The manager eventually agreed to figure something else out. Birthday comes around and my phone gets blown up by every on duty employee and one off duty. I finally tell the boss they can leave me alone for the rest of the day or I quit. He replies "Well... we're going to need you to come in still." So I quit. I got rehired the next day after I plugged my phone back in (because quitting didn't stop the calls) by the district manager who begged me to stay and promised to have the store back off when I had a free day.
A few weeks later was Easter. I'd surprisingly been given it off, and was excited to finally get to spend a holiday with my family. That morning I woke up to the phone ringing. And ringing. And ringing. It was 6:30 AM. I am not a morning person. I answered, told them no, and ignored the barrage of calls that continued until I went out the door. About an hour after I got to my Mom's, the calls started there. I'd never given them her number. I refused, asked them not to call there again and hung up. My mom answered and asked them not to call back. My step dad answered and threatened to call the cops for harassment. They wouldn't stop. We had to unplug all the phones for dinner and I was terrified they were going to show up there too. As soon as the phone reconnected, the calls started again. That's when I finally snapped. I answered and told the boss every possible way to go f*ck himself. He eventually hung up on me so I called his a** right back and continued. I didn't just quit, I unhinged. I kept calling until they took their phone off the hook. Then I (kind of) enjoyed the rest of my Easter evening. I've had my share of sh*tty jobs before and since, but nothing that compares to that place.
LagoonaBlueColleen 2 years ago (edited)
That is so illegal from the start in North America. I don't think I would have tolerated this behaviour on the first day they would start with me.
#7
Me and 3 others got the sh*t kicked out of us in a small horse stall by 5 emus we were trying to deworm. Not worth $8 an hour.
#8
When I got texts like these from my boss' boss' boss.
For anyone (men can get harassed too) facing this kind of harassment, don't quit until you have another job secured, especially if you're reporting it to HR. HR departments from different companies talk to each other, and you will not believe how hard it is to find a job when you have develop a reputation as a "trouble-maker", "attention wh*re", "c*cktease", "sl*t", etc. HR is there to protect the company, not you. So no matter how close you think you are to HR, expect some sort of backlash.
The more senior the person is, the more likely they are to have gotten away with this for a looonng time. There's safety in numbers so if you can find other men/women that have faced the same harassment from the same guy (you will), report in a group and make sure everything is documented. S/he could still get away with it, but it'll be harder when there's more evidence. One person can be branded a "sl*t" but multiple people? HR must have awesome hiring policies.
Katarzyna Gratka 2 years ago
It is sad and scary at the same time what they do to US workers. In Poland, even if the company comes from the USA or from another country, I haven't seen HR treat people like that. Apart from single cases when someone is just an a*****e, HR always tries to help, and many situations are definitely solved in favor of the employee. Maybe it is due to labor law?
#9
When the lady at the table I was serving complained because the ice in her glass of ice water had melted and the water was "too watered down for her liking".
#10
Right now.. I'm on hour 12 of what is shaping up to be a 16-18 hour day, and I'm fixing the mistakes of someone who gets paid at minimum 40k more than me.
LagoonaBlueColleen 2 years ago
This is what happens when companies play favourites and not give raises and promotions to those knowing what they're doing.
#11
Used to work as a paramedic/ER Tech. Had a homeless man come in with a narcotics overdose. He was given Narcan to reverse the effects of the drugs. Safe to say he was not happy. He assaulted one of the nurses which led to him being restrained to the bed. He began screaming at everyone that entered the room that he was "gonna kill 'em." After about 10 minutes of this, he scoots to one side of the bed, and sticks his ass in between the railings. He then projectile sh*ts all over the computer, the walls, chair, and floor. There was just so much poo. I, along with others, had to go in there and clean him/some of the room up. Thankfully housekeeping took care of the floor. I literally said, "I don't get paid enough for this sh*t."
Lydia Nijland 2 years ago
And when you think of it - the housekeeping people probably even get paid less :( And are a lot of times looked down upon aswell - thank you for being thankfull
#12
Witnessed someone's literal 'I don't get paid enough for this sh*t' story.
I was at a ShoBiz (Similar to Chuck-e-Cheese, might even be the same place.) for a relatives birthday. All the kids are running about having fun, playing games, etc. Suddenly there is a commotion around the ball pit. Turns out some kid has had a serious diarrhea Hershey-squirt blowout and it is all over in the ball pit. The little plastic balls are all covered with a thin film of booty butter.
I'm across the room from the code brown near the counter where you trade in tickets for fake moustaches and laffy taffy and sh*t. The manager tells this teenager he needs to get to the ball pit right away, and is trying to hand him a mop. (Not sure what a mop will do in this situation but I digress.)
Anywho, the teen is not having it and loudly says, "Nah bro, that ain't me" and strolls out the door and into the sunset.
Grace Barclay 2 years ago
I'm laughing so hard at this, the best being the teen saying Nah bro, that ain'tme. Still laughing...🤣🤣🤣
#13
Worked at a tanning salon in college. Once a week we would deep clean the beds like overhaul clean the bed, the room, pull out the beds and get behind and everything. Well I go to slide the tanning bed out and behind it is a fully soaked, blood red stained maxipad. It was f*cking disgusting. Sad thing is another girl I worked with found used tampons wedge behind another bed. Some Women are f*cking disgusting when it comes to disposing of their lady products.
#14
Had a guy come in with a raging hard on that wouldn't go away. Priapism for those that enjoy science. I had to hold this guys throbbing boner while a resident stabbed it with needles trying to drain it and inject medications to make it go down. After 8 stabs, no luck. Dude went to surgery and was told he will never have an erection again. I was the last person to hold his functional wiener. PSA- if you've had a four hour long stiffy, get to the ER in a jiffy.
#15
Cable guy here:
You know that really run down trailer park with hundreds of cats running around unchecked outside? The one that's full of rust bucket trucks with confederate flags painted on the tail gate? When the wind blows you are overwhelmed by the scent of cat urine..... I go into those trailers and dig through piles of garbage/diapers/animal and human s**t all because "my Fox News pixelated once during the debate" only to find the customer had spliced in their own line because they wanted tv in the rest of the trailer. I then have to crawl under the trailer and run a new line to replace the one they f**ked up, all the while being told how I'm a piece of sh*t because Im following company policy that you pay for every room you have tv in. Also here's 2 dead cats and a black widow colony that I carefully avoid, until I am backing out (because you don't have room to turn around under a trailer) and my boot goes into the web. I do all of this just so they can have cable for the 3 months until they get disconnected for not paying the bill and switch to dish.
It was a long day.
#16
Mental health nurse here. I witnessed this but it didn't happen to me. One day on shift I responded to a duress alarm on another ward (1 nurse from each ward responds to duress from any ward). A female patient on a psychiatric intensive care unit had become violent and and could not be deescalated. It was decided that physical restraint and intramuscular medication would be needed to settle her down.
Anyway, as the team of 5 nurses approached her she was standing there with her legs apart and shouting at us. Just as we stepped into her space to initiate the restraint she stuck her fingers into her vagina (she was menstruating at the time) and managed to stick them into the mouth of one of the female nurses doing the restraint. The patient was extremely amused. Nurse vomited after the restraint and had to leave for the day.
That's just one of the really bizarre moments I have experience since working as a mental health nurse.
#17
When I had to clean poop of a very confused lady who thought I was forcing her to have an abortion. She was kicking and screaming every time anyone came near her with a wash cloth. When we got her her in the shower room to clean her she was was grabbing hand fulls of her own poop screaming "WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY BABY".
EDIT: The worst part is when the family comes in the next they and ask how the night went I put on a smile and say "Great, your mother said she couldn't wait to see you today".
Inga Paškevičiūtė 2 years ago
That sucks when you have to lie. Honestly, I would like to know if my mother was acting like this, so we could all help her. :(
#18
I worked as a cook at a restaurant that doubled as a night club after dark. A guy got shot and killed on the front landing one night and the next day they expected me to clean up the f*cking murder scene.
#19
Library. Found a used nappy (diaper) crammed in behind the books in the picture books area. Not the first time I'd found one, but the first one I'd found folded sh*t side out.
Wilko Lunenburg 2 years ago
This thread is getting worse and worse.... I have to stop reading it before I lose all faith in humanity.
#20
I was a rookie wild land fire fighter making ten/eleven bucks an hour, and I seriously questioned why I only got paid that much, particularly that one time that I had to hold two hundred yards of road with nothing but a tool, and two other rookies who were pissing their pants, when a wall of flame hit our line and started throwing spots into the tall grass we were standing in. Luckily a brush truck arrived before we lost most of our facial hair, and we made it out alright.
#21
While working at an adult video store, I discovered a bucket of dehydrated piss in the broom closet. For a moment, I tried to summon a normal reaction of disgust or anger, but I felt nothing but indifference. The piss bucket wasn't what broke my spirit.. it was what made me realize I had no more spirit to break.
#22
Accidentally Poking myself with a needle that was just used on an hiv positive person
Edit: I did get put on post exposure prophylaxis immediately after.
#23
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).
#24
Due to being short staffed at work I was doing the job of 2 people. I agreed to it knowing it would be temporary and it would give me an opportunity to stand out and be noticed by going above and beyond.
Temporary turned into 6 months and instead of getting noticed for going the extra mile I was starting to get in trouble for not meeting goals and deadlines.
Review times came around and I received a pretty negative review stating that my failure to meet goals and deadlines meant I was going to get a lower than average raise that year. I told them that effective immediately I would resume doing just my job unless I was actually getting paid to do the job of 2 people.
I received a halfhearted apology and they soon got someone to fill the void making it a 2 person job again. Still didn't get the raise I think I deserved and to top it all off my attempt to get noticed now got me viewed as a troublemaker and not a team player.
#25
Happened about two weeks into my job working at a college bar. Was on my hands and knees beneath a urinal, cleaning up the puke that had overflown and fallen to the ground. Surprisingly wasn't until another drunken idiot stood over me and began to piss into the urinal I was cleaning under that I had my "I don't get paid enough for this sh*t" moment.
...he didnt have the greatest aim.
#26
I was working at a gas station on Halloween. Pretty normal night, a bit more beer than usual. And then I see some kid walk by with his collar pulled up, he's walking a little odd. Then he walks back the way he cames which is a little weird. Then I notice his friends walking up. I 'm looking at them and I see one is wearing a mask. Then I see a fire extinguisher in his hands. I start moving to the switch that controls the electric locks but sadly I reached it half a second too late. Two kids hold the doors open and this little sh*t unloads an entire fire extinguisher into the store. Can't see sh*t, the entire store is filled with powdery haze. It took 8 hours to clean up. Eight hours closed for a 24 hour gas station. And it turns out, the whole point was to steal an 18 rack of f*cking keystone. F*cking kids.
Edit: we had them on camera, but the managers decided it wasn't worth pursuing I guess. Nothing came of it. None of them could have been over 17. They had two guys holding the doors open the whole time, so their friend who came in earlier ( and I hadn't been paying attention to) could run out with the beer. The mag locks didn't matter since they had the door open first and kept it that way. And no it isn't that they don't pay me enough to clean, they don't pay me enough to deal with some little dipsh*ts who can plan something as elaborate as that and then take the sh*ttiest beer in the store.
Purple Gerbil 2 years ago
My mum works in a petrol station and they do nothing about shoplifters.
#27
I used to be a case manager for adults with severe mental illness. One day I was meeting with a client in her home, she was experiencing auditory hallucinations that directed her to cut herself.
She tells me, "the voices are saying to hurt myself." I say, can you ask them to wait until we're done?
She then says, "Now they're telling me to hurt you."
She then pulls the slowest ever turn of her head to look down at the table beside her (where I then notice three cheap-o box cutters are sitting, which is clearly what she's been using on her arm) and then just as slowly looks back at me, all without saying another word.
I asked her for the box cutters, which she handed to me, and quickly ended the session. Nope nope nope nope nope.
#28
Was a manager at a McDonald's and I got screamed at by our district supervisor, mid shift, for putting too many ketchup packets in a bag through the drive thru.
F*ck. That.
#29
Was flying a jet full of tech people to SXSW. 8 Seats on the plane and they were all full. First thing in the morning, the passengers started having drinks. 2 hours into the flight someone taps me on the shoulder and says "Captain, the toilet isn't working."
It was working just fine, but the tank was "at capacity." We could either land the plane and delay for a while, or they could hold it. Meanwhile, I had to pull on some rubber gloves, grab the knife from the bagel tray, and try to go Super Mario on the airplane's lavatory.
So there I was at 41,000' plunging a toilet with a plastic knife thinking, "I'm too old for this sh*t."
#30
I worked in popular night club at the time this happened. It was during a PRIDE event and we were slammed--our capacity was 300 and ended up having over 1000 people come in and out of the club in the 5 hours we were open. Somehow, someone was stabbed by the little coat hanger thing that's on the back of the bathroom stall door. This individual managed to bleed profusely all over the bathroom stall, half of our dance floor, and all over at least 30 individuals within the club and no one noticed.
I'm not kidding when I say that it looked like a damn crime scene, some serious Law & Order kind of sh*t. And yet somehow no one complained about the blood on themselves, the floor, or the bathroom until we turned the lights on. Cleaning up a sh*tload of semi-dried blood throughout our club after one (if not the) busiest time of the year was wretched. I was exhausted, gagging from the smell of blood, booze, drugs and (most likely) other bodily fluids. After several hours of scrubbing and then getting up a few hours later to work another event, I realized that I hated bar life and needed to get out or double my hourly rate.
#31
I'm a mental health counselor at an eating disorder facility. We had a new patient arrive who previously came from a sober house and was homeless so he brought all his belongings with him, which was around two large suitcases of clothing. He stayed in program for roughly 36 hours than quickly discharged himself without much of an explanation or plan on what to do (he was from across the country). My coworker and I go into strip and remake his bed, after he had already left, and we find BOXES full of purge (like nature valley boxes but costco size) and one suitcase full of purge and a bunch of clothes still soaking wet, full of purge. Also found some of his purge-covered clothes outside the window, which we went to go dispose of. Those had mats all around them and i learned that maggots show up pretty fast when you leave vomit in 90 degree heat. We both look at each other and were like "....this is waaaay above our pay grade."
I wish that was the grossest story. Just the first one that comes to mind.
#32
I recently had to climb into a 7ft deep pit that was covered by a grate to remove lead paint from a window. The pit was obviously breeding ground for spiders. There were thousands of them... Thousands..
#33
cleaning diarrhoea off the walls of a bathroom stall 3 times in one night.
(bartender)
Hermien Greeff 2 years ago
They should design bar bathrooms like it is one giant shower. End of the night you remove a big drain lid in the corner, plug in a hose and go to town on the walls, floor, toilets, basins etc. A giant wet room.
#34
I was on a phonecall for 22 hours.
Twenty. Two. Hours.
Long story. I was in a security team that did a lot of hand-holding tech-support kinda stuff because we didn't trust anyone. At some point it was a HUGE mess with me being the only guy and me being abused horribly. Eventually my boss and I managed to get some ground-rules in - no upgrades without telling us 3 days in advance. No calling SterlingPhoenix with no good reason. SterlingPhoenix is allowed to hang up on you if you do not give him anything to do, etc.
Then my boss quit, and we got a new boss who didn't enforce anything and did not have my back.
These people set an implementation for like 10pm, and told ME about it at 4pm. Which is way less than 72 hours. I told them hey, tough luck. And my boss goes "Oh you're helping them or else."
So I worked with them all night, then they paged me back in the next day, and my boss pretty much threatened to have me continue to work with them (and a lot of this was just me being on the phone and them saying I can't hang up "just in case"). Finally got to leave at 2am.
...and yet it took me years after that to actually quit.
#35
I work in a public library. A grown man got mad over a $30 fine (for failing to return DVDs) and proceeded to push books off of shelves and try to knock our display case over. Also, we have a "tampon bandit" that left a lovely used tampon by the sink for us to find.
What do you think ?
Mrs. Jan Glass 2 years ago (edited)
Mine was when some old lady stayed behind to scream at me for daring to need a bathroom break during the Christmas rush. She didn't care that I'd been standing for over 4 hours without a break and just needed to pee. (She never thought that I'd been working two jobs full time without a day off for over two years, either.) She was FURIOUS that I closed my register when it was her turn. Never mind that she was immediately helped by the next register, and was done by the time I got back from my 90-second dash back and forth, she was in SUCH a hurry that she had time to... stand and wait for me to get back to yell at me for leaving when it was HER turn. Usually, I would've been apologetic, but this time, I just went "Ma'am, we're allowed to use the bathroom," and turned my back on her.
James Tartaglione 2 years ago
mine is funny (i hope). used to work at a print shop. ran some stuff on gray cover stock for a lawyer. she was not happy as, and i quote, "that is not gray. that is dark white". i responded with "actually it looks more like a light black"
Isabelle Lamarque 2 years ago
Mine was when my boss was almost bullied into quitting because she was sick for too long. (she had her uterus removed after a severe illness) I was close to her and visited her frequently. No one ever asked her how she was doing or had any compassion. I fell ill a week before her and my colleague was promoted to her job (temporarily we assume) I'm battling a chronic muscle disease and don't know if I'll be able to go back as I'm an IT technician and working on servers is pretty physical often. My colleague/boss told me to stay sick for as long as I can 'cus the moment I return they will fire me. I'm in IT and do not have a wage according to my sector. Tbh I won't be sad when they fire me..
Mrs. Jan Glass 2 years ago (edited)
Mine was when some old lady stayed behind to scream at me for daring to need a bathroom break during the Christmas rush. She didn't care that I'd been standing for over 4 hours without a break and just needed to pee. (She never thought that I'd been working two jobs full time without a day off for over two years, either.) She was FURIOUS that I closed my register when it was her turn. Never mind that she was immediately helped by the next register, and was done by the time I got back from my 90-second dash back and forth, she was in SUCH a hurry that she had time to... stand and wait for me to get back to yell at me for leaving when it was HER turn. Usually, I would've been apologetic, but this time, I just went "Ma'am, we're allowed to use the bathroom," and turned my back on her.
James Tartaglione 2 years ago
mine is funny (i hope). used to work at a print shop. ran some stuff on gray cover stock for a lawyer. she was not happy as, and i quote, "that is not gray. that is dark white". i responded with "actually it looks more like a light black"
Isabelle Lamarque 2 years ago
Mine was when my boss was almost bullied into quitting because she was sick for too long. (she had her uterus removed after a severe illness) I was close to her and visited her frequently. No one ever asked her how she was doing or had any compassion. I fell ill a week before her and my colleague was promoted to her job (temporarily we assume) I'm battling a chronic muscle disease and don't know if I'll be able to go back as I'm an IT technician and working on servers is pretty physical often. My colleague/boss told me to stay sick for as long as I can 'cus the moment I return they will fire me. I'm in IT and do not have a wage according to my sector. Tbh I won't be sad when they fire me..
Related on Bored Panda
