Even though she was only 17 years old, this woman was already an expert on koi and other tropical fish . It's fortuitous that she got a job to match, starting off at a retail tropical fish store. Whether you have a pet or not, spending time at pet stores is a fun and free activity to do. Many stores have tons of cats and dogs, some have gerbils or birds, and others have aisles and aisles of fish tanks. As far as retail jobs go, I imagine this is a pretty calm place to work most of the time.

When you don't want fast food but also don't want to pay $35 for an entree, it might be time to head to a chain restaurant. The prices of everything these days have gone up to utterly comical levels. While looking to find a nice dinner at a spot in Manhattan, I found one place that looked stunning. Then, I took a peek at their menu to find that the cheapest item was an $18 appetizer of potato chips. Just let that sink in: nearly $20 for potato chips, as the cheapest menu item . I weep for the f…

Supermarkets are already a relatively overwhelming experience for most of us, akin to navigating a labyrinth that's been starkly lit by harsh-white fluorescent lighting while a string of the most infuriatingly mundane acoustic covers of songs that were popular ten years ago play omnipresently throughout.

It must be difficult to be a barista if you don't like to make coffee. Or to be clear, it seems like some baristas look down on anyone who doesn't like their coffee black. They seemingly have a personal vendetta against the vast majority of coffee drinks who don't want their bean juice to be bitter and scalding. Lots of people love frappes or lattes or any number of blended coffee drinks, and this love is fueled by social media “secret menu” hacks. When social media was in its younger years, a…

Have strength retail workers , you will need it when these customers show up. As a cashier, you'll ring up hundreds of customers each shift, and you'll probably forget all of them, except those who are exceptional. Maybe they're especially kind in a job where many customers are impolite. Or maybe they're really funny and manage to make you laugh. Or, if you're these people, you've remembered the customer because they've asked some of the most absurd questions ever. Several people who worked in…

Karens have the uncanny ability to identify, single out, and berate people who work customer service jobs, accosting them with wanton fury regardless of whether or not they even happen to be working at that time—or are even employed by that place at all.

It's time to dive into the tipping debate . Should you tip every time you eat at a restaurant? Many people, myself included, would say yes. It's not that we enjoy tipping, especially during these times of high inflation and being asked to tip for tons of services these days. But tipping is a necessity for waiters and waitresses, and it's a good feeling to reward someone who has done a good job taking your order and bringing you your food and drinks. But what if the waiters do a bad job ? What i…

When this restaurant worker was running late for their shift, their manager reached out to ask if they were coming in, probably not realizing that the simmering heat of anger that had been bubbling below the surface was about to boil over. After a series of unmet promises, unrealistic expectations, and even being cheated out of pay, this restaurant worker was more than happy to call it quits. The reason they were late to their shift in the first place was that they had actually been interviewin…

A restaurant manager decided he wanted to cut costs on quesadillas, starting by using crepes instead of tortillas. That's probably because he had basically no real-world experience running a restaurant. Instead, he'd just taken a cooking course, then decided to cut costs at the restaurant in the quickest and easiest way he knew how: by making the food taste worst. Whether you're at a five star restaurant or a hole in the wall food shack, the quality of the food matters above all else. If your h…

Typically, purchasing something means that you intend to keep that thing for the duration of its life or until you pass it on. This directly contrasts with renting something, where you lease it for a set period of time for a fee with the expectation that you will be returning that thing by the end of the period you have paid for it. Both arrangements have their advantages, by owning something it's yours and you can do whatever you want with it, but this usually requires a much higher buy-in cos…

When you go out to eat at the same place over and over again, it's often because you love everything about the restaurant. Maybe it's a pizza parlor with red booths and perfectly crispy pizza. Or perhaps you enjoy a quiet fancy restaurant where the appetizers are delectable and the conversations last for hours. However, some people enjoy going to the same restaurant on repeat for another reason—they've “taught” the staff members exactly how they like their food to be prepared . Whether these cu…

When you find yourself answering the same queries over and over, it can make you think, “There must be a better way.”

This waitress wanted to share a story about a family interaction at her job, but commenters took the customers' side! The OP has a few memorably cringe lines. If a waiter ever handed me water and in the same breath told me about how it had “came out of the dinosaurs years ago. [It's] just filtered super well," I'd hesitate to eat there. What a weird thing to say about a fresh beverage! Perhaps one of the worst ways to make water sound appetizing is to remind the customer of how water filtration…

Service industry workers live hard and die by the same credence, having long ago had their garden of farks scorched by an onslaught of unruly customers, temperamental chefs, and unreliable restaurant managers . They're a hard, complex, and colorful bunch, often seeking reprieve from their demanding careers in all the wrong sorts of places. But it's one of those lifestyles that feels good until it isn't, and when the bottom card gets pulled out of the house, and the entire thing comes crashing d…

Some of these customers were justified, some were Karens, and some were simply not the sharpest knives in the drawer. Regardless of the varied experiences of these customers, thankfully, we are in the privileged position to be able to entertain ourselves with their ridiculous one-star reviews from a distance. I would certainly not want to be in their positions. For instance, the thought of ordering fajitas and then having them delivered only to discover a literal bolt in my food is beyond me. H…

Being in charge doesn't mean you have all the answers. In fact, it often shouldn't, and this means that while you don't know the answers, you are experienced in identifying people with those answers and knowing when to differ to their better judgment. Those in petty positions of power who are unable to get their ego out of the way and accept the expertise of their subordinates are bound to end up in embarrassing situations like this one. This venue supervisor refused to accept that the experien…