“I immediately wanted to call in sick,” this video game store employee wrote. What made them feel so ill? An advertisement! For those who have spent time in the trenches of retail work around the holidays, you know exactly how this person feels. No matter how much you enjoy your retail job during the year, when the holiday season comes around, customers begin to act feral.

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.

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.

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…

There are some people in this world who have been raised and reinforced with such entitlement that when they want something, no amount of reason will convince them that they can't have it. One has to wonder how one's mind can be so brainwashed to be able to think that you can have just about anything. Unfortunately, enough people out there seem to be mentally engineered this way and there's not much we can do to stop them. It's only a matter of time before you just have to get the cops involved…

Rules usually exist for a reason. Generally, they come into being because someone did something and learned the hard way that the way they chose wasn't the way that it should be done, so it's decided that this way should never be attempted again by either them—or those surviving them—depending on how poorly their attempt went. There is another type of rule, though, and these rules are generally made up by a bored busybody middle manager on a random Wednesday afternoon because they need somethin…

It's no secret that working in customer service exposes you to all kinds of bizarre behavior that wouldn't be acceptable in any other place in society. What is it that makes people think it's okay to treat someone any differently just because they happen to be wearing an apron or a name badge? Unfortunately, the act of being served gives petty tyrants the opportunity to feel as if they are better than the person serving them, with some individuals exhibiting levels of malice and cruelty that ma…

What do you do when your manager is a thieving fraudster, and their boss refuses to listen because, on paper, your manager is getting good results? This is something you'll likely come across during the long course of your career, and you might be dismayed to find yourself powerless in the position. Heck, most bosses will be willing to look the other way for someone who is performing high in whatever KPI upper management is currently prioritizing… Just as long as things look good and people are…

Specialists exist for a reason. For this retail worker , jewelry is their career. They're a diamond specialist who works at a privately owned business. Even though they have impressive expertise at their job, there are always customers who think they know better than a trained professional. Something customers don't seem to realize is that expertise matters. As a customer, you go to see someone who's spent 10,000 hours learning a trade because they have knowledge that you require. That's the wh…

Memes to scroll while you hide from your manager on your lunch break

When customers demand help , they want to be helped immediately. And instead of listening when workers actually try to help them, they seem to shut off their ears, and end up throwing a tantrum instead. Cashiers don't get the respect they deserve, and lots of customers are very rude to them on the daily. U/NiftyGoblin had a strange story to tell, which they shared to r/TalesFromRetail, a subreddit for retail workers to share the realities of life behind the cash register. This OP was just tryin…

It's often said that no one will appreciate the job you do until you're gone, and we've yet to see evidence otherwise. It's like being in the driver's seat of a race car; as long as you're driving that car, people will attribute the car's best performance to be owing to the car itself. It's not until you leave the team and another inferior driver takes your seat that people will realize how truly terrible the car is… and that your efforts were making the car appear better than it actually was.…

Extreme couponing is an interesting hobby that serves as a great past-time for house spouses who need a break from the tiring work of pitching the latest MLM fad to old acquaintances. It also makes for some pretty mediocre television that makes for a passable watch when you're drifting in a fever dream and too sick to change the channel. It does not, however, make for a good means of operating a business. And, yet, many managers and business owners out there employ it as a strategy, paying no h…

Navigating some companies' return policies can be an unnecessarily difficult experience that may drive you to look for ways you can circumvent their requirements and get a fair go at returning your unwanted item. At times it can feel like these policies are unnecessarily specific and cryptic: “Customer must return an item only when the thrush knocks on the last light of the third day of the second new moon—whilst wearing a hat made of cabbages." After a while of wondering what in the Tolkien yo…

What should you do with your delicious dessert waffle when you're done chowing down on it in the nostalgic comforts of a mall food court? Dispose of your waste and neatly stack your tray in the holder on top of the trash can? No. If you're this Karen, you're taking it to the nearest clothing store and demanding that the workers there dispose of it for you—under firm threat of having smashed waffles and ice cream all over the floor and clothes. Hey, at least it's not as bad as cleaning out the c…

Unnecessary rules and processes must be followed to the letter—because some manager who has never actually done the job decided it must be so. As long as they only waste your time, they'll remain in place indefinitely as you're hounded mercilessly about the resulting drop in productivity (thanks to these new processes.) However, as soon as these processes infringe upon the time of the manager who made them, it's miraculous how quickly they can disappear, which means the easiest way to get rid o…