Whether you're working in a spotless kitchen or not, hearing that the health inspector has showed up unannounced sends some sort of chills down any service industry worker's back. Maybe it's PTSD from getting pop quizzes in high school, because that's exactly what it feels like. Even if you are sure you are an expert on the topic, something about being put on the spot and quizzed about it at random makes you doubt yourself. So you can image the sort of chaos that ensues with an inspector shows…

HOLY MOLY, a human was decent. Alert the news! Sound the sirens! Everybody hold hands and enjoy this moment of faith being restored in humanity. It's quit uncommon to find a store on the internet that does just that. Usually, it's people venting about some horrible incident with a Karen or incompetent manager that makes life feel unbearable. But, hey, it's the holiday season ! Some wholesomeness and empathy is called for. This Redditor recalls an embarrassing moment in his life that he will nev…

If there is one thing that working in the service industry tends to teach you, it's to hold your ground. You can't let everyone walk all over you, because there will be people who will most definitely take advantage of that weakness. For example, this server who either came encounter with a male Karen or a really empty-headed scammer. He was working a very slow morning shift, we're talking just several orders, enough to count on one hand. So when a mad came storming in demanding a refund, the f…

When it comes to sticky situation, you're going to want an expert in charge, right? Unfortunately, sometimes, like in the instance of this Redditor's story, the “expert” in charge is actually the worst. This Redditor was new to working the service industry. (They have since worked it for many years, but this was from the start.) The were working at a big chain steak house when they got a male Karen . This guy ordered something off the menu that did not exist. When OP pointed that out to him, he…

Usually once you've worked in the service industry, you learn how to be a good customer. Oftentimes, you'll learn how to respect your server, clean up after yourself, and generally be a half-decent human being while you're enjoying food at a restaurant. You'd think that it would be a natural reflex to be polite to the person handling your food supply, but for the disrespectful types, tormenting your server is a prize-winning sport.

Welcome to working in the service industry!

Everyone's stayed at a hotel or motel at least once in their life. The magical wonders of continental breakfasts, freshly made beds, and clean white towels get cemented in your memory, making your hotel experience (even the non-luxurious kind), memorable simply because it may be the one time in your life that you're pampered with room service. Your hotel experience is designed to go quite smoothly, that is, unless you're a poor listener and a tyrannical Karen...

Certain organizations, especially within certain industries, love to save on labor, and one of the ways they do this is by sending workers home from a scheduled shift when things are quiet to try and keep from being overstaffed. Of course, predictably, as soon as the manager has sent someone home, you'll end up with the biggest rush of customers you've ever experienced, ensuring that the rest of the day is going to be a living nightmare—and no one will be getting any breaks.

In this day and age, there seem to be just as many bogus jobs and industries out there as there are legitimate ones. Frankly, that's a generous statement considering this list, which was compiled from this r/AskReddit thread. Some of these fields range in scope, but all of it boils down to unqualified people selling overvalued products. This could include consulting agencies that really have no business running data and making executive decisions from their third-party perspectives. This includ…

Everybody who has every worked in the service industry has had their own embarrassing story. Honestly, it's better to get your front of house fail out of the way early so you know you can get through it. Dropping a full tray is the classic one and might even get you applauds. Then there is the dropping of a tray directly onto a customer. That one is way harder to bounce back from , but if you have nice customers, it can also feel like a good lesson. Then there are whole other instances that jus…

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.

Most entry-level and low-paying jobs have the uncanny ability to be consistently and overly pedantic about employee appearance. Especially when you're not even customer-facing, it's hard to believe that it's not more about their control over you than the actual appearance.

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…

"Comfort equals laziness" is an attitude that is pervasive throughout certain industries, with the idea that a comfortable employee is an unproductive one and that relative comfort is somehow offputting, prompting employers in these industries to treat their workers with cynicism and hostility.

You always have to know what you're buying! After all, it's only fair, and sometimes (most of the time), what is advertised is not what you're actually purchasing. These former employees of various industries shared their secrets based on their experiences, which they offered to the wild world of the Internet via this r/AskReddit thread. Some of the fields represented include the food, restaurant, tech, insurance, and music industries.

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…