I don't think I'm wrong in assuming that most of us — at some point in our lives — have had a frustrating moment at work where we've thought, I DON'T GET PAID ENOUGH FOR THIS!
Well, Reddit user u/indian_boy786 asked just that, telling users to share their own "I don't get paid enough for this shit" moments. And, sadly, there are a lot of work horror stories...
1. "When I was 18 and working at a retail store, a baby took a shit 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 shit."
2. "I used to work at Old Country Buffet, and there were kids who would eat until they threw up, like all the time. One time when I was fixing up the salad bar, I heard an ignorant parent scream, ‘Billy, run!’ I see this 12ish-year-old boy running to the bathroom — only he didn’t make it. An unholy amount of undigested red Jell-O exploded out of him like a fucking volcano all over the Caesar salad, the floor next to the cash register, and on about five or six people waiting in line."
3. "I'm a barista and a ~grabby~ customer grabs drink on the counter, tastes it, and says, 'This isn't mine. I ordered a vanilla latté. This is also iced.' I tell her it's clearly not her drink she picked up then. This happens while I'm currently making Grabby's drink. So I have to double back to make the previous drink for the customer it was originally intended for. Eight hours a day, five days a week."
4. "I worked for a decade at a very popular chain that sells bath and body products. With seasonally released products, we would decorate the store according to the theme and get a new soundtrack that would accompany the theme. One year for spring, we did a tropical theme. I had just gotten promoted to management and was working longer shifts. The soundtrack they gave us was summer- and surf-themed music — it only had about 10 songs on it and was approximately 30 minutes long in total. I heard 'Wipe Out' twice an hour, every hour for eight hours a day, five days a week."
5. "I was told I ruined a woman's Christmas because the supermarket I worked at was out of brandy-infused marmalade."
6. "I worked at Blockbuster in college for chump change. A bunch of dudes shoplifted the fuck out of us and when the other guy and I confronted them about it, they ran out the door. District manager asked why I didn't put myself between them and the door to protect the merchandise. I told them for minimum wage I'm not putting myself in danger to keep a giant corporation from losing some Twizzlers and a copy of Friday and Armageddon."
7. "When a thick stream of sweat drained out of this girl's cellphone 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. I did this all while trying to be professional and not gag while cleaning the mess. I sold phones at Sprint."
8. "I'm a fishmonger 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 escaped into the rest of the display case, onto the floor, and hidden under our prep tables. Never again."
9. "I ran the entire company’s financials and general management for $14 an hour. I had a meeting with the owner telling him I needed 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."
10. "I'm a public librarian. I was helping someone in the computer room and turned to tell someone he needed to keep it down. Then, the woman I was helping leapt aside because the man I just shushed pissed himself. His urine soaked onto the jacket he had tied around his waist, down the chair, and onto the ground. Turns out he'd snuck in alcohol and was totally blackout 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."
11. "Bartender here. A grown man threw a lit cigarette at my face and threatened me with physical violence. A 45-year-old man behaving that way toward a 24-year-old female was definitely one of those moments. Plus, I deal with people getting handsy and the occasional cleaning of vomit. I do not get paid enough."
12. "The manager at a grocery store I worked for in my teens refused to pay the waste management bill for several months. When they finally came and emptied the dumpster, there were mounds of trash 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 given a shovel."
13. "I'm a plumber and the 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 eight months. While setting it up, someone didn't tighten a no-hub band on the toilet in the kids bathroom. Eight months of flushed toilet was all over the ground, under the home, and had just started being noticed outside."
14. "I worked at a heating and air conditioning company doing bookkeeping. I was being trained by the company's accountant. If I made a mistake, the owner would literally scream at me full volume. I overheard him talking to his brother and his brother told him not to scream at me. The owner said, 'You have to tear them down to build them up.'"
15. "I worked at Circuit City when I was 17. I heard a noise of packaging being opened in the movie section and found a guy crouched down cutting open DVD boxes and 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 shit' and backed off."
OK, your turn. If you have had one of these moments at work, vent about it in the comments! We are here for you!!!
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.