If you work in retail, customer service, or the service industry, sooner or later, you're going to run into a confoundingly indignant and angry individual who is going to ruin your day—leaving you thinking about this interaction for years to come. It's just a matter of sheer statistics; talk to enough people in a day, and sooner or later, at some point, you're going to have a grown adult having a full tantrum in the center of your store like it's some kind of performative art piece. This Karen…

Toxic organizations breed toxic behavior, begetting toxic people. Unfortunately, those that conform to the organization's less-than-ideal ideals tend to do better and prosper, rising far above their deserved rank and encouraging their unfavorable behavior towards others that would ideally be derided. We've seen stories like this before, where an employee is singled out and collectively gaslit by their coworkers on behalf of getting them to conform to bizarre organizational directives. In this c…

What would you do to get your preferred parking space? Some might say that towing seven cars is a little extreme—whether or not those cars are technically supposed to be parked there. This is especially the case when you're just a guest staying at a hotel and in no way have a stake in said hotel. This Karen took issue with the fact that there were a bunch of non-electric cars parked in the electric car parking spaces, but parking at the location was extremely limited, so it was essential that a…

One of the worst parts about working in the service industry or retail is “blackout” dates—where no one is able to take days off—these always line up with precisely the days you'd want to take off. Holidays, long weekends, and anytime between Christmas and New Years—pretty much any time you might want to see family or friends (who are all off work.) These have all been deemed as days where all hands are needed on deck due to high volumes of trade. But the worst part about blackout dates?.. Hypo…

There are glorious times in customer service when doing what the customer has asked necessitates doing technically nothing. It's a rare occurrence but oh-so-good when it happens to chance upon you. When this worker promised to give an angry Karen a refund, they did so by promising to refund the amount that it would cost them to park on the street: Nothing. This left the Karen happy to go merrily on their way, and with the problem now out of sight and out of mind, she was never the wiser. It's g…

You'd probably be horrified at how common these types of requirements are within certain industries. The industries where manipulative employers tell you with a smile that you're a "family"… while simultaneously plotting how they can squeeze as much unpaid labor out of you as possible. Working in the service and retail industries is no walk in the park—that should not come as a great surprise to anybody. The frantic and inconsistent demands of these businesses place considerable strain on staff…

If you read the original poster's title as ‘Hitachi Fun’ instead of ‘Hibachi Fun,’ like me, you were expecting a very different thread.

One of the (few) benefits of not operating your own business, and instead working for someone else's, is that you take on none of the risks of the business — isn't that the sole reason why businesses and executive management justify keeping so much of the profits?

All this over a screw?

It's always best to take advice from and listen to the person who knows best… and just because you're in charge doesn't automatically mean that that's you. Even the most base level of worker will know more than you about niche details and processes regarding their role. That's the reason why, when entering a new leadership position, it's always best to observe and learn before acting and making changes. There will reach a point where you need to step in and make some changes, some of which may…

Everyone wants to think they have all the answers… but sometimes you don't know even half as much as you'd like to think. We would all do our best to listen to other people's thoughts and opinions before assuming that we have the best and only answer. This student and part-time waiter made the asinine assumption that his method for charging guests was superior to the method devised by his coworker. After claiming that her methods were making it more difficult for him, he insisted that they reve…

At what point are health and safety more important than opening in the middle of a blizzard?

Working in customer service, retail, and the service industry is exhausting. Long hours spent almost entirely on your feet, with inconsistent scheduling and shift work being incredibly disruptive and making it hard to get a routine going in your personal life. Despite this, there's one thing that makes these jobs particularly hellish: people. People are why workers in these lines of work have such a problem with people, and there's really no explaining this to someone who hasn't experienced it.…

There is no shortage of entitled people in this world, but some people take normal entitlement and turn it up to 11. These ‘Super Karens’ have a power level of over 9000, and there's no stopping them in their tirade against the world. Anyone who has worked in customer service, or any role where you deal with the public, has, unfortunately, come into contact with at least one of these people, and each one leaves the mental scarring of an experience that you won't soon forget. This Karen somehow…

The great part about being a manager of a retail location or restaurant is that you get paid a little bit more than the miserable wages of your subordinates. The not-so-great part about being a manager of a retail location or restaurant is that a little bit more still probably isn't a whole lot, and certainly isn't enough for all the bullshit you have to deal with.

Being appointed as a leader generally means that you should be doing at least a little bit of leading: sitting on your cell phone while your teenaged workers suffer the onslaught of a rush is not that. It's a sure sign that someone shouldn't have been appointed to the leadership position they are in and is instead a living, breathing example of the “Peter principle.” Other times the issue is worse still, and the person's appointment to their leadership role isn't due to any previous performance…