People Are Anonymously Sharing Secrets From Their Jobs That They Aren’t Supposed To Share In A Viral Online Thread
It’s no secret that the real action always happens behind the scenes. Think of how little we know about things unless we actually become a part of it; in that way, you are likely to never play slots if you've ever designed a slot machine.
Sounds like a metaphor, but it isn't. Recently, one Redditor posed the question “What’s an industry secret in the field you work in?” and amassed 82.4k upvotes. Comments started buzzing and reached a count of 38.3k, with people spilling all their industry secrets in plain sight.
From dentists to auto insurance agents and librarians, these workers couldn’t miss the opportunity to share some insider’s knowledge on simple things, like buying clothes at Goodwill.
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I’m a teacher. If you as a parent will read with your child often and early, your child will thrive in school. I’m talking daily books read together from newborn to about third grade. Every single day. No teacher can replace that.
I'm not training your dog, I'm training you.
It’s no secret that every industry has its own secrets that remain virtually invisible to the people outside of it. So Bored Panda has contacted a US Goodwill employee who preferred to stay anonymous, to find out whether it’s true that half of the donated goods end up in the trash, as stated in the thread.
The Goodwill employee said that the staff has always followed guidelines and if anything is unsellable, it gets tossed. “People donate bags of clothing, some are stained, have holes, or are in some way unpresentable. Donated electronics are a hit or miss. Sometimes we test them and if they don’t work, garbage.”
I'm a server. No matter how much we insist it's "okay" that you are keeping the entire restaurant open after we've closed, please know we are 100% lying. We will get fired if we deviate from anything other than pure delight that you are keeping us from going home. We dread it. Please don't believe us.
The American attitude that customers can do no wrong just leads to people taking advantage to a ridiculous degree. It also means that on those occasions where you absolutely have to say no to a customer, they may well have a fit like a spoilt toddler because they aren't used to hearing it.
Human Resources: we exist to protect the agency from the employees, not the other way around.
Other unsellable stuff which gets thrown away includes anything that has “major cosmetic damage” or anything else that “would prevent its sale.” This may be “that pair of earbuds in the bottom of your donation bag.”Once, “I had a set of speakers covered in what I hope was maple syrup.”
Sometimes, it's “wares or household items: if it’s damaged in any way, it’s tossed.”The Goodwill employee says that “Bottom line is, people find it's cheaper to donate things rather than throw them away.”
Sadly, according to them, “it is rare to find newer items with tags on them.”But it also depends on the demographic. “For example, a Goodwill will have less valuable items in Detroit than upstate New York,” they explained.
Plumber here. There's no such thing as a flushable wipe. The package lies. You drains WILL clog, and fast; your landlord will charge you; it’s going to suck. Throw wipes in the trash if you use them; toilets paper is the only acceptable wipe.
Not a secret at all, just not common knowledge somehow.
Yes, this. My mum used to use washable wipes until I told her, she didn’t believe me coz they said they were flushable until she looked it up for herself. These should not be sold as flushable wipes.
A lot of librarians will waive your fines if you have an excuse and you don’t ask too frequently, even large fines. Also, librarians DON’T CARE about your fines and aren’t judging you. Please come back. We personally have more fines than you. Librarians are ALWAYS overdue with their books.
I'm an attorney. The secret is shut the hell up.
Which is why no Trump attorney has ever wanted him to testify because any time he does he will blow his own case bigly!
Knowing how to research the answer to a question is at least as or even more useful than knowing the answer to begin with. I made a living in IT for a decade with that mindset.
I have been seen as a font of all knowledge at work for years...would have people from other departments coming to ask for help doing this/that/the other because they'd "heard about" me as some sort of office/process/IT/program encyclopaedia. I am not this. I just know how to google and am good at thinking of logical keywords to search the system by. 85% of their problems would disappear if they just calmed down and spent 5 minutes running searches. They haven't figured that out and I'm not going to tell them.
Managed boarding and grooming kennels for 8 years: the secret is that the employees actually do love your pets too. Even the difficult ones, most of us realize they just miss their people. The number of times I’ve weeped when a pet died, or spent way too many hours comforting a dog with separation anxiety, or spent hours off the clock with a boarder who needed to be rushed to a vet office...wouldn’t trade it for the world.
Some pets just suck though, not gonna lie.
But these are not the only secrets in the donated goods industry. The Goodwill employee said that “where I worked, there were no price tags, so you had to select the price written on it at the cash register” and it “took forever.”
Moreover, “people rub off the prices all the time and ask for it to be repriced.”Oftentimes stuff sold in charity and non-profit shops get scouted by resellers. “There are always resellers checking values of everything on eBay. Speaking of resale, it is a known problem that people run “kahoots “ and sell stuff lower to employees who resell it online. Strict rules at my Goodwill stopping that, but issues elsewhere,” the employee commented.
Meanwhile, if you’re wondering why there are so few better-value goods in your local American Goodwill, it may be because “anything of true value gets sent off to a blue boutique store (owned by goodwill) to be individually priced.”
I design slot machines for casinos... Don’t play slots.
In Europe there are actual rules that slot machines have to follow. Although you'll always end up loosing of course.
Teacher: The parents are more of a hassle than the students.
I doubt that is a secret, but there it is.
As a teacher of 15 years, I 100% agree with this. It's one of the leading causes of teachers leaving the profession these days...
I’m a dentist. Here’s the lowdown on toothpaste.
As long as it has fluoride they are all basically the same.
When I was in dental school, the [Tooth paste brand] lady came by and said that everything that says [Toothpaste brand] on it is all exactly the same, the only difference is the packaging. So whether it says whitening, or gum protection, or whatever else, it is all exactly the same.
The exception is sensitivity toothpaste typically does have an extra active ingredient. KNO3, which helps with sensitivity.
Don’t ever feel obligated to buy the expensive toothpaste because you think it will be better for your teeth, just buy whatever you like best.
As a beginner counselor I worked with a lot of children and adolescents. Consistently the discussion with my colleagues was how it was the parents who were the biggest problem and the kids were just adapting to a crazy environment.
Not an industry I work in per se, but I used to be in a sales role. One of my customers was a milk bottling plant. I was somewhat surprised that they were putting the exact same milk in both organic and non-organic cartons. Turns out all of their milk is organic, but in order to not miss out on the sales of non-organic milk, they just bottle them differently and sell them at different prices.
So they were profitable on non-organic price level and sold their milk on organic price, too, with extra profits. Smart…
Piss off one nurse; you piss off ALL the nurses.
I got into it with a patient once and I was wrong. Half the staff went at him as well and I had to get them all to back off and explain that it was my fault, not his. And when they calmed down I went to apologize to the patient. And what actually happened is that I was enforcing a policy that had changed and none of us knew about it because communication where I work sucks. You have to know what walls to read when you come to work or you won't know what's going on.
I’m a fossil replicator and apparently the industry secret is the fact that we exist. So many people are blown away to learn that most fossils they see in museums are replicas.
Not just the fossils many of the other exhibits are replicas for insurance purposes.
Scientists: We disagree with one another a lot more often than the media would often lead you to believe.
The reason we're good at our jobs though is that (ideally) we like disagreeing with each other and we are able to move on when proven wrong. It's a part of the job.
You're not much of a scientist if you stick to your theory when the evidence shows it to be wrong. Science is self-correcting. It just takes longer when stubborn scientists are involved.
I’m a musician. It’s not really a secret but 90% of of our revenue is from merch. Spotify plays, show guarantees, etc, everything is menial in comparison to shirt sales. In fact, a big reason bands tour as often as possible is because we can sell more shirts when we’re in front of people.
Construction boy here. If your windows or sliding doors are tough to open and close. 9 times out of 10, we put your own dish soap on tracks and the thing works perfectly. It take 5 minutes and we charge 150. Dish soap people, its better than WD40 sometimes.
Our window installer suggested furniture polish to make things run smoothly - so far it's worked.
Former aircraft fueler. Don't check your pets in kennels. Especially in summer or winter. They are submitted to some very harsh environments, left on belt loaders in the sweltering heat right next to a running APU that's loud enough to deafen human ears, let alone a dog's. It's terrible. I always feel so sorry for them.
American Airlines will destroy your luggage. They get overloaded on carts, fall off on the way to the plane, and are left there to get run over by tankers and yes, fuelers, and rained on, then dragged to the edge of the ramp to sit all night while you arrive at your destination and wonder where the hell your bags are.
If your departure is delayed, 90% of the time it's us (the fueler). Look out the window to the right side if it's a small plane, left side if it's a really big plane. If there's a truck sitting under the wing, we're the reason you're late. Sorry.
This seems to be a secret to many customers; it actually pays off to be patient and polite if you need the staff at a store to resolve an issue or help you with something.
Who could have known that treating people with respect will result in them being more helpful?
Some therapists/counselors are on the wrong side of the couch, so to speak. If you feel your mental health provider is unhinged, they may very well be.
As a mental health worker, I can tell you that it takes one to know one.
Used to screen resumes for small companies. Job "requirements" are more of a wish-list situation. Never let some unchecked boxes deter you from applying - you have no idea what the applicant pool is like. The biggest boon, especially at small companies, is someone who legitimately cares.
Different countries, different rules. UK Equal Opportunities Act 2010. If you call yourself an Equal Opps employer the way you screen applicants can be very specific. All the companies I've worked for we screen based on whether or not the person meets the requirements laid out in the job description and person spec. Score 0 if you don't have the requirement, 1 if they mention it and 2 if they give an example of using the requirement in a job or life situation. The people with the highest scores - the top 10 or so - are invited for interview. This is about preventing discrimination, on paper/online application you can't judge much else so it isn't about 'caring'. Once you get them in for interview then you can start evaluating team fit and so on. No, not all companies do this and don't let it stop you applying but best to assume they might and come up with as many ticks and examples as you can.
Former industry: commercial radio.
It's never caller 5. It's the caller who sounds best on air.
I dont understand how they even hear your voice. When trying to be caller say 10 and u call they don't speak if u get thru the dj will say something like ur caller number 8 try again as soon as the answer. You haven't even spoken yet. Most u say is OK thanks
Auto insurance agent. Please, for the love of god, don’t tell auto insurance agents more than you have to. They ask you a question, just say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and answer the question as straight as you can. If you go on and on about your life story, you will probably end up saying something you don’t have to and making your rate higher, or getting yourself declined. We WANT to get you that policy as cheap as possible, only tell us what we need to know and don’t say anything else.
Who phones an insurance company? Doesn't everyone just compare prices online these days?
Former bath and body works associate here. The scents they “discontinue” will come back with a different name and new marketing. They’re just recycling the scents.
I'm a massage therapist and the biggest secret is stretching if you stretch properly you will get rid of effectively 90% of the problems but no one is taught how to stretch properly The best stretches are actually the stretches you learn in middle school hold still count to 10 take deep deep breaths move on.
I'm not going to lie this post has blow up a lot more than I expected and I'm just going to give a guess a little more information. The whole point of stretching is to do the opposite motion of what the muscle does whenever it's in use and the whole point of stretching is also to alleviate pain and bring circulation to the area and regulate the muscles basic systems. So here's the basic rule if you hurt somewhere do not stretch that place find the opposite muscle in the opposite movement and stretch THAT ONE. The way the body works is kind of like a giant game of tug-of-war muscle actually controls the movement of bone and helps with your posture , no one has perfect posture though. so stretching make sure that nobody wins the tug of war and that your bones remain in place is close to perfect posture as possible, which means that your bones and ligaments don't take any damage from gravity or any other force that affects your body during your daily life. I will not lie however if you do have injuries like if you broken or torn or dislocated or separated something that pain will never go away it will dissipate and it will get to a lower level in which your body will be able to tolerate on a daily basis but it will never go away The body can never correct something that's been broken. this should help you be able to search your own stretches online but apparently I need to make a YouTube channel. just thinking opposites if you're back hurts look for stretches for your front like in your chest in your core if the front of your legs hurts you need to stretch the back of your legs if the front of your arms hurt stretch the back of your arms just do the complete opposite of wherever you hurt and start stretching that area and you should notice pretty quickly that it's tighter when you stretch the side that does not hurt then versus when you stretch the side that does.. if I make a YouTube channel I'll make the post here somewhere in the comments so people can find it good luck!
There is way more butter than you think in almost every dish you eat at fancy restaurants, and that is usually the reason you won't see the amount of calories in each dish.
Source: 5 years as a chef in Italian cuisine head chef, 8 years in an Italian kitchen.
At Goodwill, we don't clean anything that we sell, and we get some really gross stuff that touches everything else so next time you buy something from Goodwill, wash it well.
As a former TSA worker airport security is alot of theater. TSA is constantly failing plain cloths inspections. I worked with a guy who got fired because someone showed him an ID with a picture of Micky Mouse on it and he let the person through because he wasn't paying attention.
But not in every airport and not in every country. I saw an employee verifying the ID of a baby by making him look at her to check the picture on his documents.
The ice cream machine isn’t broken, the f'*ckers were just too lazy to clean it, or more likely, none of the people working that day know how. It’s a b*tch and takes like 4 hours. It shuts off and makes you clean it, so rest assured it’s gonna be clean. Just not when you need it.
A huge portion of online reviews, ratings, social media presence, etc that you see for any given company are fake, paid for, or done by multiple accounts controlled by us. This includes a company’s Glassdoor page (fake reviews about how great it is to work there so that the million negative reviews don’t crush their page).
I’m not saying it’s every company out there, but it’s been a lot of the ones I’ve worked for.
Source: am copywriter. What are ethics? I surely don’t know anymore.
Federal HR here, if you put the words from the vacancy announcement about what you need to qualify in your resume you’ll almost always be qualified, we search for those words instead of reading an entire resume.
Most of the time people don't adapt their resume to the job they apply for, this is a huge mistake. Just show me how you can use your experience in this new job and you'll get it!
The fruits and veggies you buy at the grocery store... Wash them.
Amusement park ride operator here. If your kid is crying and you want us to stop the ride, even if we want to it’s not gonna stop immediately. The carousel will spin a few more circles or the ship will swing a few more times before stopping. The only exceptions is the emergency stop which will absolutely f**k up the ride for a while if we press it. Hence we only use it in actual life threatening situations. The best thing you can do is try to get your kid to calm down as the ride comes to a stop and no, yelling “Stop the ride” at us does not make it stop any faster.
Also, by jelling "stop the ride" you confirm to the child that it is in danger and needs to get out as soon as possible. Which could lead to some panic moves that could seriously injure the kid or even worse.
In Microsoft office, word specifically, you can upload recorded interviews and it will transcribe it and ever have speaker one and speaker two, three and four! Basically, eliminating a huge annoying part of the job.
At goodwill 50% of what you donate ends up in the trash because we don’t have the space for it or we just deem it too ugly.
It’s very sad how much charity shops bin actually. And it costs them money to have those skips emptied. Please only donate stuff that someone else will buy unless it’s rags. Put all your holey socks and stained t-shirts in a bag and label them rags so they can be recycled and no-one has to touch your small s!
The off brand products are created in the same factories as the name brand products a surprising amount of the time. The product itself is the same with different packaging and a lower retail price.
When it comes to retail:
If you're night crew, day crew just dicks around all day, and doesn't get anything done, leaving all of the work for you.
If you're day crew, night crew just dicks around all night, and doesn't get anything done, leaving all of the work for you.
Firefighters are trained on several areas and can specialize deeper into certain disciplines. Most of the emergencies we get called to are situations we have never been trained on, but with 4 of us on a firetruck we can normally figure out a solution.
I like to department that train fighter in rescuing cat on tree.
I'm in Cybersecurity and deal mostly with the largest companies and government's in the world. Every one of them has been breached, to carrying degrees, by the Russians and Chinese. Almost daily. It's not a matter of if they'll get in It's a matter of how long they'll be there, and how much damage they'll do, before you find them.
The cocktail you just bought might cover the cost of the entire bottle we used to make it.
Wow, shocking to discover bars are making a profit from selling drinks
New construction.
That $3k/$4k "luxury apartment" you're renting is slapped together in a rush just like everything else is.
Also, if you're on the 3rd floor or above, you have water bottles filled with urine stuffed inside your walls because the elevators are typically finished last.
Weight loss industry. This might be obvious, but most of our business comes from return clients after they've gained their weight back (and then some). To be clear, the plan isn't rigged to make you gain it back, but the fact that it happens easily as a result of dieting keeps us in business.
People ask me how I am the same shape as I was 20 years ago but rarely believed me when I said just eat enough to not feel hungry. The thing is, when you eat until you feel "full", then you are already overdoing it. It's breaking from that mentality that is difficult.
I know a lot of people get annoyed when a store employee pushes the credit card, but at the kids clothing store I worked at, if you didn’t get at least x amount per day they cut our hours. I wasn’t pushing you a sh**ty credit card to be an as**ole, I was scared to lose my hours.
This happened to my wife once, she was asked if she wanted a store card, she asked if it was a credit card, they said no so she signed up as they gave the impression it was a card where you get points for spending in the shop. When it came it was a credit card. She rang the CS number and had a right go at them for lying to her.
If you're someone who purchases bulk nuts, grains, etc. Just know that those bins are probably rarely cleaned, and even when they are "cleaned", odds are they were just rinsed out/wiped down to look clean.
I used to be a bulk buyer at Whole Foods Market and when I took over our bulk department had no cleaning logs or sanitizing procedure. The bins had moths/insect colonies and mold in them. Our store was opened nearly 5 years prior.
Healthcare. Homemaker.
If your grandparent or parent gets in-home care, please know that your family member could live in a cockroach infested house and not have to move if they didn't want to. It's not up to the company to give your loved ones environmentally safe places to live, it's up to the family. They can certainly try to persuade, but they can't force.
Why do I know this? Because I've been to the cockroach infested house where an 80 year old woman lives. I have a mentally ill client that put bleach in his dog's water to help with it's breath. I have a client who never cleans his cat box. I have a client who has a caved in ceiling. I've called it in, but there is no help from the company. All they say is, "There's nothing we can do. It's up to the family members."
It's a sad sad thing because there are sooooo many family members and friends who really don't give a [damn] how some people are living. Sure, they'll visit. But do they clean the litter box? Do they make sure there are no cockroaches, do they make sure the house is stable and not falling apart? Nope. They say they care and that they love the person, but they don't care enough to make sure they live in a healthy environment.
It really worries me, because if I imagine my own mother having such a deteriorated mind and there were no other family members to help her, she could live in a run down, cockroach infested house if she was stubborn enough. It frustrates me, because whereas the client does have rights, should they really have the right to live somewhere where their health could be at risk? Where their caregivers could be at risk as well?
Isn't there some service to call if it is truly non safe living conditions ?
CALL AN ANIMAL SHELTER (a nice one) AND GET THE DOGGO AND CAT OUT
With the bleach in the dog water thing, yeah, they might have not known what they were doing, but it's still literally animal abuse and something needs to be done about it, even if it's not on purpose. To just sit back and let it happen, makes YOU the horrible person
Im hoping she changed the water before he even got to it or the dog smelled it and refused to drink it. Dogs will not gravitate towards a bleach smell and if anything, will find the smell extremely overwhelming. This is what I am hoping. My dog will sniff my cupboards for days when he smells treats. He has no interest in my cleaning supplies.
Load More Replies...Yes, agencies or care giving businesses can be held accountable for not reporting these conditions. it is Elder abuse, it's abuse period regardless of age and worse if it's known the person isn't able, mentally or physically, to help themselves. Every town or city has Senior agencies and advocates, even if a lawyer, to go to bat for these people. Many of these poor folks have to be "forced" into care homes and often taken to hospital for care and observation. If it was a child, Social Services would take them away. There are agencies to care for adults and seniors, too, along this line.
so true! when my mome had to be placed in a faciity i would clean the bathroom & 'living area' in her room because other than vacuuming it didn't seem it was done very well. really pissed me off and i made it known that 'housekeeping services' meant a little elbow grease when it came to scrubbing. and, being disabled myself, it was difficult to do it but it got done.
When I was child we went to visit a relative interstate. His homecare services were supposed to be cleaning, doing the shopping, cooking a weeks worth of meals, and alerting authorities about home repairs. All they were doing was shoping and dropping it at the door. He was mostly blind and living in squalor. We spent our holiday sorting the situation out for him, inc getting the lazy worker fired and finding new homecare as well as sending a family friend to check on him weekly.
Load More Replies...It’s not easy dealing with a stubborn elderly parent. My father passed and my mother refused to give up his mean dog which used to bite her! One day she was walking the dog outside and it pulled hard on the leash to chase a squirrel. Mom fell and fractured her pelvis. Secondary to the fracture she had a small stroke followed by dementia. She never returned home. Being stubborn can kill 😐
This door swings both ways. I know a grandparent of a friend who is an absolute bitch who refuses help of any kind because "it's fine the way it is" or they don't want any of those " people" coming in their house to fix it. Or they don't want to pay for it even though they can. She's going to end up dying in that house because she left her panic button downstairs and her automatic chair to take her up and down the stairs crapped out. Don't always blame the family - you can only push an old stubborn fart so far before they dig in their heels and won't be moved. Sometimes its decades of struggle and eventually the family just says "Fine. F it. You want to live like this? Live like this."
Medicaid Director of a home health company here: If the client is on Medicaid, the caregivers and the company aren't allowed to do anything about it except possibly report it to Medicaid, the insurance company and the family. If the caregiver does anything out of the parameters of what Medicaid provides, the client could lose services. Adult Protective Services is another option, but you need to make sure you have proof of the claims.
You can call Adult Protection Services for your County if you are in the U.S.
Sometimes there is a story behind. The kid might be just frustrated because the parent abused the kid emotionally or financially or other way and the kid needs to also think about their own future now so they don't end up the same. It is not always just neglect from the kid/family members but might be the frustration and inability to help due to different reasons
As someone who has been through this with elderly parents, here are some facts. 1. They may refuse to move. You will have to physically remove them from the environment. 2. You will call the repair guys or the exterminator (or whomever) and, if you can't be there because you have to work, they will not let them in and send them away. This makes it sound like the family are a bunch of schmucks, but sometimes the family is between a rock and a hard place too. We weren't able to move my mom until she fell and broke her leg. We just didn't let her go home after that. She kept trying to get people to come and get her (under the pretext that she just needed something from home) so that she could get back in her house. If she had, we would have had to literally carry her out of the house kicking and screaming and it probably would have killed her. It was brutal.
it can be hard to get someone out, tho. It took years of subtle pushing and hints to get my poppy out of his house. it's in terrible conditions - holes in the wall, cracks, insulation on the ground, too many steps... we got him out 2 years ago, and he loves his new apartment/house place.
SOCIAL SERVICES even anonymously if you're concerned that you can lose your job.
This is so sad, our mother fought with us to stay home. It wasn't good for her. My sister lived near by (I'm not) and argued with her about cleanliness and getting rid of junk. The junk remained it wasn't worth it but her hygiene was a major concern. Unfortunately Mom fell and broke her shoulder on one side and arm on the other and one of her legs. We placed her in Assisted Living closer to my sister's home. She was angry for a while but eventually liked having people take care of her.
This is one of the reasons my mom and her siblings were so happy to get my poppy (their dad) out of the old farmhouse. It was rundown, had huge cracks in it, insulation on the floor, bad steps, dirty... we were scared something would happen to him and help wouldn't be able to get to him. It took literal years, but he's in a townhouse now. Keep at it, you can do it.
There are those that have no family, or none close by, living like that too. They need someone checking on them and helping them out.
Definitely if the house is unsafe, that is a legal/ABUSE issue, and should be reported the same way you would report if they had bruises on them.
Not only that but a lot of people needing care are completely alone. No family , no friends = no advocate . Get a case worker from health and human services
i used to work as a cashier. we had an old lady shop every day and almost always bought a 20 lb bag of potatoes. she lived alone. we tried calling the welfare office since she was on government assistance....nothing they would or could do. up to the family. she had no one. a few years later i had gotten a job as a phlebotomist at the newest hospital...saw this poor woman on the dementia floor. at least then she was taken care of.
It's not legally negligence if the person hasn't been ruled incompetent. And getting someone ruled incompetent can sometimes be literally impossible in the US. If the person is able to act like they have it together in front of an evaluator, then they can't be forced to submit to an evaluation. So it's a situation of a cranky old person refusing help. What also suck is that the necessary evaluations cost so much in the US, too. So you can have an elderly relative who is actually dangerous, but I you can't afford to get them evaluated, you can't get any help. It's awful.
Load More Replies...Call adult protective services. If the adult is deemed mentally of sound mind then it's none of your business where they choose to live. However, if they're found to not be mentally competent the state can take over (In the USA).
You are in the USA ?If so I have no words except I feel for you and good luck. This would never happen out here in the civilised world .....
Vodka is really, really, really cheap to make: the glass bottle costs more than the juice
Everything at the Container Store exists and is cheaper at Lowe’s.
And you can find it cheaper on Amazon than at lowes. Plus lowes sells mostly low-quality consumer market stuff. If you want quality then you have to buy the highest quality stuff lowes (home depot, et al) carry or find a place that carries better stuff over all.
Dress codes and other rules bouncers tell you at the door are usually made up on the fly.
Almost every hairstylist gets the heebie jeebies when we shampoo your hair and you just stare up at us. CLOSE. YOUR. DAMN. EYES at the shampoo bowl!
The guy who shows up at your house to make repairs is usually the guy who decides how much to charge you. Standing behind him while he works cost extra. Treating him like [stuff] cost extra. Being nice to him can save you a lot of money
Im a repair guy and i absolutely dont mind if customer watching and interested. Its actually better if I show them the problem and the solution, so later they cant accuse me of making up faults that wasnt there before or changed parts that wasnt necessary.
A lot of successful artists at a certain level of success do nothing more than create a concept and employ several assistants, who are either current or graduating art students, who actually make the art itself, its reproductions or both.
Well that's not new. The likes of Leonardo de Vinci et al did that too.
I used to work in jewelry. Most of the prettiest gemstones are also very affordable. Tanzanite is a beautiful purple and looks nicer than amethyst. Topaz comes in lots of colors, including a pretty blue color which can be as nice as aquamarine. Opals aren't as brightly rainbow hued as they look in pictures.
What you think is pretty matters far more than anything else in my opinion. Having done some study of this (for personal interest) I have found that better quality tanzanite is usually a rich deep blue than purple but if you like the more purple coloured ones they are very pretty too. It is a different kind of purple to amethyst. You can like the pale amethyst more than the richer deep purple toned amethysts. See Rose The Cook re the Opals! A lot of gemstones are irradiated to change the colour or deepen the shade. Want a cheaper alternative to diamonds? White zircons are a natural stone that sparkle in a very similar manner. Less fire but double refraction. You won't notice with the naked eye.
Library Worker here: the majority of donations we recieve do not end up in circulation (on our shelves) no matter how much you demand we put them there once they're donated. The reason why this is, is because we only add items to the collection that we think will circulate (be checked out). Most libraries get funding based off of statistics. We don't want to waste shelf-space on items that people aren't checking out, as it won't improve our stats. So, unless the donated items are brand new, or by popular authors we will not add them to the collection. We will also weed unpopular items from our collection with extreme prejudice for this reason, much to our patron's horror. These books usually end up being sold at book sales to help generate funding for other library programs.
I bought a lot of great paranormal books for less than a dollar at the library! It was great- old John Keel books!
If in doubt, lubricate....I'm a machinist.
Makes sense. Though don't just pile on top of old, dirty lubrication - clean things up as well.
Whenever you tell someone to check in the back of a grocery store they go back there and stand for a few moments and come back out... 99% of the time of its not on the shelf we are out but we know you won't believe us so we go "look" for it so you feel a bit better even though we already knew there was none back there.
I've never understood why people demand the employees to check in the back. Dude, if it's out of stock, it's out of stock. It'll be back eventually.
Banks don’t have millions of dollars in cash in them. Their insurances rates would be way too expensive. They keep enough on hand to do weekly traffic plus some extra.
Structural engineer here. Everything has a chance of failure. It's too expensive to build everything to be 100% safe
Some countries have better regulations than others and often these things are being improved all the time. Yes, costs are going up at the same time.
The cheapest bottle of wine in the restaurant has the biggest markup.
Surprise. Rich people aren't going to pay $400 for a $200 bottle, but everyone else is paying $25 for a $10 bottle.
RV technician here. It is designed to start breaking after around 44 uses. Most RV owners use their trailers on weekends. But not every weekend. So that 44 uses on average stretches between two and three years.
Much like new homes using "builder's grade" everything, RV manufacturers do the same so they can offer a product which could be afforded by more people. When that stuff fails (and it will) replace with higher-quality components.
Used to work in menswear and I got one that’s pretty morbid. Most of our tailor shops are filled with suits that were made years and years ago. This is because most of them were made for people who died before they could be picked up. The others are often for weddings that got canceled after the suit was made.
I thought you were going to say the suits were taken off dead bodies. If nobody ever picked them up then they're brand new items.
Ugh I hate to say this.
Hospitals aren’t as clean as I personally want them to be. A lot of my ex coworkers would clean “high-touch” areas (doorknobs, lightswitches, the stripped bed) but don’t you dare look under the mattress or the corners of the floors or under that easily rolled out couch or on the sides of toilets, dust on light fixtures, etc...
I was put in a room once and within 5 minutes demanded another room. There was blood on the floors, walls and chair.
If you order a pizza but like to choose your own toppings, it’s often cheaper to choose an existing pizza like a Meat Supreme or something with loads of toppings, then swap out all the toppings for ones you want, than to go for the Create Your Own option in the menu.
Note, this is much less awkward if you order online than on the phone.
Every client thinks architects are unnecessary and they can draw the plans themselves but they are just too busy.
I work in the blood industry (for medical/research/manufacture use.) When you donate, your Red Blood Cells and most Platelets will actually be used for medical purposes, but about 85% of the Plasma donated will be sold to makeup companies and other manufacturers. Roughly 20% of Platelets will also be sold to manufacturers. Your White Blood Cells will either be sold for research or discarded, since they're basically useless for medical or manufacture purposes. Overall, about 50% of your blood will be used for treatments, and the rest will go to makeup/manufacturing and research companies. I'm not saying don't donate, it still helps people, but it's just something nobody really thinks about when you have that needle in your arm.
In France it's forbidden to sell any blood-derived product. Blood donation is free and only public organisms can collect it.
Not really a secret but some wholesale nurseries will sell plants for a fraction less then public nurseries and big box retailers. Like 1 gallon of a shrub will sell for $16 at home depot, but at a wholesale nursery that same plant will cost like $2-6. Edit: some wholesale nurseries are open to the public
Love my local nursery for just this reason! I will see plants & flowers I like at Home Depot or whatever, make a list, and then get them at my nursery.
[California] Cannabis concentrates: don't trust that the test results are accurate at all. We were demanded (by the business owner) to use some dirty methods to cheat on potency testing and pesticide testing. Turns out, those tests can be pretty easy to trick if you know what you're doing.
This is ultimately what led to me leaving the industry. Eventually, all of our chemists stopped smoking concentrates altogether for these reasons.
I buy flower and make my own edibles. (I have multiple chronic pain disorders, and it's the only relief I ever get.)
Pilots f**k up all the time. You only notice though if you know what to look for.
Nobody uses bots to inflate metrics more than the most major players in the entertainment industry. All the numbers are fake, including sales.
Major players in the entertainment industry have fake numbers, including sales? And use bots to inflate their numbers? I find this confusing, as I thought the actors/writers/directors were the major players in the entertainment industry and I'm not sure what 'sales' and bots have to do with their jobs...so maybe I don't know who the major players in the entertainment industry are...
Musical theatre: The set looks gorgeous only from the angles and distances the audience can see it. Up close and/or to the side AT ALL and it looks like a toddler built it.
Also, unless it's Broadway, there's a pretty good chance that there's at least one musician in the pit who is sight reading the music at any given performance.
Sight reading showtunes on the fly for a professional, or just a very good, musician is standard.
We don't actually enjoy carrying people down 11 flights of way to narrow stairs because they have a stubbed toe.
They lie to their customers about saving their credit card information because we arent supposed to. We also save their social, addresses, and 5 of their most recent phone numbers and bank account numbers.
The life of a student loan servicer
Europe: "Yes, you have a right to be forgotten and on your first demand private companies must erase everything they have on you if you're no longer doing any business with them."
The kind donations people give hoping they go directly to the clients in shelters actually end up at the Salvation Army or Goodwill to be resold (even though we’re instructed to tell them that won’t be the case) and this is done before the clients are even given the chance to decide if they want some of the donated stuff.
I think you guys might be overthinking this a bit. You have your procedures for getting stuff for the residents; that’s not offensive.
I work in logistics for a massive manufacturing company, money's not [freakin'] real. $1000 for 8 lightbulbs.
This reminds me of the $1000 dollar hammer that NASA bought that everyone was up in arms about. The media left the impression that it was a normal hammer. If they'd told the whole story people would understand why it cost so much. I was at a power plant being built and there was a bolt that had a thread about 10" in diameter that was about 30" long. That thing probably weighed over 1,000 lbs and cost thousands as well. But the media would report it as, "Florida tax payer paid $2,100 each for 400 bolts." without giving any context.
I'm a teacher. If a student is bullying other students it's because they are being bullied or ignored at home...either by a sibling, or by one or both parents. Remember that. No matter how nice the family seems when they're sitting in front of you always remember that, and then find a way to bond with that student.
Disagree. I was bullied at school for a physical feature that runs in my family. We didn't bully each other at home.
Load More Replies...Here's a little known fact about having surgery: seen one you seen them all seriously. But here's the main one: yes, we will ask you 100x what surgery are you having done today. You want to know why? We want to make sure YOU know. We all know what you're having done but we are legally required to confirm it with you at every step along the way. Also, we keep asking you when you had something to eat or drink because we've given you a drug along the way that relaxes you. Eventually, you'll start telling the truth and then we will have to cancel your surgery if you ate within an 8-hr period...because you could die.
EXACTLY. People lie, and their families sue when something goes awry even if the patient lied and it's on videotape.
Load More Replies...How about the little known fact that the "smoke" seen coming out of coal fired power plants is not smoke but STEAM. In fact it is cleaner water than that in most bottled water.
Why does this have this many upvotes. The "smoke" from the cooling towers of coal fired power plants is steam, of course, but you can't just ignore that every coal fired power plant has at least one chimney, and that is for the SMOKE. It sends enormous quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, more so than any other fossil fuel. A coal power plant must burn coal to work, and those emissions are put into the air. The cooling tower is irrelevant in the matter of cleanliness of coal. It's like saying your AC in your car is in fact not exhaust but air. Like, why?
Load More Replies...Secret: Hospital patient advocates are hired by the hospital, and focus on social services/legal. Volunteer advocates who are not paid a dime by anyone (like me and a few others across the US, a very few, alas), with medical education, have no paychecks at stake. So when a hospital's patient advocate comes to you? They're there to cover the hospital's ass, not yours. it's why I started doing this. I got the worst so-called advocate about ten years ago. A few years later, I transitioned from online presence to in-person. As it happens, the hospital doesn't mind me, b/c I can stand by the nurse station and answer a lot of questions like, "What does this word mean?!" and spare the nurses/staff miscommunications/etc.
I work in collections for car payments. We have help to offer, but if you are overly rude or demanding we “forget” to mention the help to you. In fact if you’re extremely disrespectful we go out of the way to make sure your car gets repoed quicker. Don’t be a d**k to someone just because you’re broke. We didn’t make you that way and we’re just doing our jobs.
I thought collection companies had gone with robocalls?
Load More Replies...Word of advice. Don't be rude or piss off your doctor's' receptionist. Cause guess what? We are the ones who have the most power, not the doctor.
Just goes to show that you cant trust anything and to do whatever you want at your own risk.
These 'secrets' are a heady mix of of common knowledge, massive generalisations and incredibly dubious. I think a lot of them are either from people who have never worked in these jobs and are guessing for a bit of Karma or have spent a week there and think they know everything. If you're going to make your whole site about stealing content from Reddit, why not use some of the more interesting subreddits like TIL or askhistorians. Hell, Hobbydrama has a lot of hilarious anecdotes that'll fuel articles for a week! Askreddit is the dregs alongside amitheasshole and relationshipsadvice.
My current reddit obsession is LeopardsAteMyFace.
Load More Replies...Terms like "overqualified" mean you blew the interview. The most common way to blow an interview? Not knowing enough about the company or position you're interviewing for. Do your research.
Overqualified - this means someone is too experienced for the role which means they might ask for a lot of money or not stay long to build a career
Load More Replies...Unless asked a specific question (i.e. "does that hurt?"), don't talk to the dentist.
I'm a teacher. If a student is bullying other students it's because they are being bullied or ignored at home...either by a sibling, or by one or both parents. Remember that. No matter how nice the family seems when they're sitting in front of you always remember that, and then find a way to bond with that student.
Disagree. I was bullied at school for a physical feature that runs in my family. We didn't bully each other at home.
Load More Replies...Here's a little known fact about having surgery: seen one you seen them all seriously. But here's the main one: yes, we will ask you 100x what surgery are you having done today. You want to know why? We want to make sure YOU know. We all know what you're having done but we are legally required to confirm it with you at every step along the way. Also, we keep asking you when you had something to eat or drink because we've given you a drug along the way that relaxes you. Eventually, you'll start telling the truth and then we will have to cancel your surgery if you ate within an 8-hr period...because you could die.
EXACTLY. People lie, and their families sue when something goes awry even if the patient lied and it's on videotape.
Load More Replies...How about the little known fact that the "smoke" seen coming out of coal fired power plants is not smoke but STEAM. In fact it is cleaner water than that in most bottled water.
Why does this have this many upvotes. The "smoke" from the cooling towers of coal fired power plants is steam, of course, but you can't just ignore that every coal fired power plant has at least one chimney, and that is for the SMOKE. It sends enormous quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, more so than any other fossil fuel. A coal power plant must burn coal to work, and those emissions are put into the air. The cooling tower is irrelevant in the matter of cleanliness of coal. It's like saying your AC in your car is in fact not exhaust but air. Like, why?
Load More Replies...Secret: Hospital patient advocates are hired by the hospital, and focus on social services/legal. Volunteer advocates who are not paid a dime by anyone (like me and a few others across the US, a very few, alas), with medical education, have no paychecks at stake. So when a hospital's patient advocate comes to you? They're there to cover the hospital's ass, not yours. it's why I started doing this. I got the worst so-called advocate about ten years ago. A few years later, I transitioned from online presence to in-person. As it happens, the hospital doesn't mind me, b/c I can stand by the nurse station and answer a lot of questions like, "What does this word mean?!" and spare the nurses/staff miscommunications/etc.
I work in collections for car payments. We have help to offer, but if you are overly rude or demanding we “forget” to mention the help to you. In fact if you’re extremely disrespectful we go out of the way to make sure your car gets repoed quicker. Don’t be a d**k to someone just because you’re broke. We didn’t make you that way and we’re just doing our jobs.
I thought collection companies had gone with robocalls?
Load More Replies...Word of advice. Don't be rude or piss off your doctor's' receptionist. Cause guess what? We are the ones who have the most power, not the doctor.
Just goes to show that you cant trust anything and to do whatever you want at your own risk.
These 'secrets' are a heady mix of of common knowledge, massive generalisations and incredibly dubious. I think a lot of them are either from people who have never worked in these jobs and are guessing for a bit of Karma or have spent a week there and think they know everything. If you're going to make your whole site about stealing content from Reddit, why not use some of the more interesting subreddits like TIL or askhistorians. Hell, Hobbydrama has a lot of hilarious anecdotes that'll fuel articles for a week! Askreddit is the dregs alongside amitheasshole and relationshipsadvice.
My current reddit obsession is LeopardsAteMyFace.
Load More Replies...Terms like "overqualified" mean you blew the interview. The most common way to blow an interview? Not knowing enough about the company or position you're interviewing for. Do your research.
Overqualified - this means someone is too experienced for the role which means they might ask for a lot of money or not stay long to build a career
Load More Replies...Unless asked a specific question (i.e. "does that hurt?"), don't talk to the dentist.