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Your first day at work is probably going to be a mix of very different but equally powerful emotions. Excitement because you’re starting a new chapter in your life. Anxiety because you’re not quite sure what to expect. And a dash of stress to round things off—because you want to leave the best first impression possible. Both on your boss and all of your new coworkers.
Alas! Starting a new job doesn’t always go as planned. Redditor u/Mr__Roomba sparked an interesting discussion online after asking folks to share their very worst first days on the job. And the stories range from deeply demotivating to downright awful, with a dash of bizarre hilarity sprinkled on top. Scrol down to see just how unlucky some people have been.
Bored Panda got in touch with workplace expert Lynn Taylor who shed some light on the importance of first impressions at work and shared some practical tips on how to leave a positive impact at a new company. "The phrase, 'You only get one chance to make a first impression,' certainly applies to the first few days at work. And that can be daunting for anyone," she told us. Taylor is the author of the book ‘Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant' and the founder of a popular blog on Psychology Today. Read on for our full interview with the expert.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
True story.
**I got mugged on my first night as a pizza delivery guy.**
It was my second delivery of the night. I parked the car, and had to walk a little bit to get to the apartment building. During that walk, two guys came up, hit me in the head several times, shoved me down, and took the money bag and the pizza and ran.
I went back to the pizza shop and quit on the spot.
The pizza shop owners sent me to the emergency room to get checked out, they paid for the bill, they made sure I got home safe and sound. So they were great.
Loverboy 2 years ago
Props the shops owners, 90% of others wouldn't have done the same. You had been employed one day and they did that.
DC 2 years ago
100 % of huge corps, able to pay for an insurance for such and similar events, would agree each other in not paying, arranging or helping with and for anything. Fire your for losing money and pizza, charging you the value you lost. Sadly, this would surprise me not the least bit.
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Cyber Returns 2 years ago
My friend got a job as a delivery driver for a pizza company and right after his first delivery of that day some guy stepped out and pulled a knife on him and ordered him to hand over his money. This was during COVID early into it's lockdown, and he laughed at him and said, "You do realize people pay online now, don't you? Even the tip!" The idiot ran off, and my friend called the police. The guy was never caught
Workplace expert Taylor noted that we're all being evaluated more closely when we first join a company. Whether we like it or not, that's human nature for you. "No hiring manager wants to feel like they made a mistake. And they do want you to succeed. So a thorough onboarding process can benefit both sides. The flip-side of course, is that bosses must avoid any tendency to micromanage their new hire," she explained to Bored Panda.
"When you join a company, managers generally want to make sure that you have all the tools you need. Training is a priority—so by definition, you will be more in the spotlight. Since first impressions are critical, this is a good time to be aware of your work ethic, enthusiasm, and establishing your personal brand."
Meanwhile, good managers are bound to be "somewhat empathetic" to the extra pressure that new hires are under. "They should give you a little slack—knowing it’s a challenging time for most mortals," the author of 'Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant' said.
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#2
I was hired as a party host for a children's playland. I was the only adult who was allowed in the playground area so half of it was coaxing children out when their time was up. The slide was wet, and the lower half of the ball pit was socks and diapers. We had staff meals from the on site cafe and mid afternoon we realized everyone had food poisoning when the character in the large fluffy suit vomited in the head of the costume. And I had to guide them out, with vomit pouring out of the mesh face hole. I stayed another week after that and the next person in the character suit vomited because of the smell already in the head. They then chemically cleaned the head, and the next person to wear it vomited then passed out from the fumes and I had to drag an unconscious 6ft rodent from a room of screaming and crying kids.
DC 2 years ago
This would easily make up about 10 minutes worth of sitcom. If executed well, ...
Sunny Day 2 years ago
I picture Malcolm In The Middle, with Malcolm as the OP and Dewey as one of the kids.
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Gardener of Weeden 2 years ago
" you don't want to traumatize the kids by ripping off the head".
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Sue User 2 years ago
I am a sympathic vomitter. If i hear someone wretch,or even gag, it sets me off. My brother is too. I once had to stop the car, and both of us got out ( and walked away from each other ) because we were in a feedback loop.
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#3
got hired on as a prep cook at a longhorn steakhouse as a second job to make some money before i moved. started in december. during orientation the general manager said “if you’re early you’re on time, if you’re on time you’re late, and if you’re late you don’t deserve a job.” fair enough, i usually arrive at least 15 minutes early to anything, work included. my first actual day of work i get dropped off at 7:45 for an 8:00 am shift. it’s like 30 degrees out, starting to snow. 8 rolls around and nobody else shows up. 8:10 nobody. finally 8:20 rolls around and the other two prep cooks show up. i asked them what the deal was and they said the GM was always late. then at 8:30 the GM finally shows up to unlock the doors to let us in. i looked at him and said “if you’re early you’re on time, if you’re on time you’re late, and if you’re late….” and just gave him this look. he told me it wasn’t gonna work out so i walked 2 miles home in the snow. was probably a good thing honestly
Frank Hassler 2 years ago
I mean, honestly, you should have made that connection when you heard “longhorn stakehouse”
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Bronze Republic 2 years ago
I feel you could probably get that GM for Unsafe working conditions. Or could you not?
Sue User 2 years ago
Spotted the European. In the USA, during COVID, some people working in a meat plant wanted to go on strike. Calking out sick was firable, there was no social distancing, etc. The govt decided that " the public need" was more important than their safety. Even when they oiinted out that they were working with *food* , that diidnt change anything.
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LavenderHippoInAJar 2 years ago
My ballet teacher always said that early is on time, on time is late, and late is unacceptable.
The expert was kind enough to share with us a few ways to "put your best foot forward in a genuine way" during your first day at work, while also steering clear of trying to overly impress others.
"Demonstrate your strong work ethic and dedication. You want to let your manager and others know you’re a team player and care about the results you deliver. You don’t need to go overboard and work at the office until midnight, however. If you work crazy hours, you may set false expectations, or convey that you have no life outside of work," Taylor told Bored Panda. "However, if you lean toward one side of the work ethic pendulum, putting in the time to learn the ropes in the first few days is a better career option."
Something else that can leave a positive impact is asking questions. "No employee is expected to know all the nuances of a new job on the first day. Asking thoughtful questions as you’re being onboarded will demonstrate your desire to do your best, and expedite your success," she said.
#4
Dairy Queen queen I was 17.
The layout was such that I had to repeatedly walk past the grill where the floor was so covered in grease that it was like trying to walk across oiled ice...super dangerous because if you slipped, you were likely to hit the grill. I got yelled at for mentioning that the floor needed to be cleaned (I even offered to do it but was told no).
I was scheduled for an 8 hour shift, so by law, I got a 20 minute unpaid lunch break, which I was made to take about 45 minutes into my shift. I got yelled at for asking if I could please take my break closer to the middle of my shift.
I was left alone as the only cashier and ice cream preparer, even though I hadn't even been told what everything on the menu was yet, let alone how to make it. I kept getting yelled at for not knowing when I went to the back (past the slip-n-slide of death) to ask for help.
About 3 hours in, I was absolutely certain this would be a horrible place to work, so I told the owner that it was dangerous there, I was being yelled at by the manager for not knowing how to make things I had never even heard of, and the job was a bad fit for me so I was quitting and leaving.
He told me it was unacceptable that I wasn't giving two weeks notice and yelled at me about it until I cried.
It's been over 20 years, and I've never set foot in a Dairy Queen again.
Sharon Jackson 2 years ago
Actually where I live, the DQ is one of the best places to work in town and the manager is a super guy. So it all depends.
rs_adahl1971 2 years ago
I've had a bad work experience at a dairy queen too. So I feel for you, I really do.
Edward Dwyer 2 years ago (edited)
F**k two weeks' notice and also where were the rubber floor mats?
Huddo's sister 2 years ago
My sister left Maccas not long after she had burned her hand in the fryer. The manager claimed it was her shoes that made her slip, not the fryer oil that was leaking on the floor!
#5
In the first few months of the pandemic, I got hired at a dog daycare and the owner told me I’d be making $9/hour as their receptionist. I go in to fill out the paperwork and she tells me that she actually filled the receptionist position, but she has a dog handler position open for $8/hour. I was hurting for money, so I accepted it. She told me I’d start right away - literally on the spot. She didn’t tell me that before coming in, so I wasn’t wearing proper clothes for it (capri pants) and she berated me for it and said next time I do it, I’ll get written up.
As she was showing me around, I realized the entire play area for the dogs was inside. There were no outside areas for the dogs to run, and as a result, the whole place smelled like dog waste.
She then threw me in a gated area alone with a pack of large dogs without any formal (or informal) training. One dog was pretty aggressive and kept trying to bite me. She’d yell at it from the other side of the gate, and all that would do was get the dogs riled up. I’m not scared of dogs but I was scared that day. She yelled at me for not being assertive enough with the dogs, but I didn’t know the dogs personalities yet and I didn’t want to start a fight between them or get attacked. The dog that was trying to bite me kept picking fights with other dogs and she got mad at me for telling the dog “no.”
After my shift was over, I never went back. I had an interview at Target the next day and got hired there at $15/hour.
Alison Hell 2 years ago
This place should have been reported... dogs cant go outside? The problem in society is that people dont speak up or report things. And so these poor dogs suffer... but hey, who cares right? I'll just continue on with my life. Though this is a minor thing compared to what else goes on in this world, sooooo many horrible things dont get reported...people tell their awful stories, and at the end of the story, often times it is..'so I left'... so the abuse or whatever continues...
Gardener of Weeden 2 years ago
Think about the dogs owners. THEY are the ones truly responsible, No outside play area? I will find another "day care". If the owners truly cared, they would be out of business.
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DiscoqueenJ 2 years ago
It's weird how these managers/owners assume you know the job and how to appropriately be prepared for it when you were JUST HIRED. They need to find a job working alone.
#6
My first job was at a new buffet in a small town when I was 14. They mass hired everyone that showed up to the interview.
I was supposed to be a dish washer but when I got there for training they handed me a ladder and told me to install the dry wall ceiling tiles in the kitchen. I, obviously, had no idea what I was doing and had a tile fall on my back, which caused me to slip off the ladder and fall on the ground.
The owner was upset that a 14 year old kid couldn't do the non-dishwashing task correctly and chewed me out and sent me home and to never come back. I had to pester them for months to get my ~$6.50 for the hour I was there. Shockingly, they went under in just a few months.
Keonna Diamond 2 years ago
Additionally your parents should have sued them for your injuries AND reported them to labor board bc 14 year olds are not allowed to do that type of work.
Cindy Johnston 2 years ago
Where were your parents during all this? Your dad should've gone up there and opened a can of whoop-a*s on that guy.
Em 2 years ago
Had to do this in my parents' kitchen one time. They liked to start home improvement projects, get bored with it, let it sit half completed for months, then realize "oh people are coming over for christmas" and make me do it. I will say that hanging drywall, even on the ceiling, beats the hell out of installing tap n' lock flooring.
David Martin 2 years ago
Why did he get onto the ladder and attempt to do the tile work in the first place? If you're not trained to do the job, you're risking yourself, the business, and possibly the people around you
"Highlight your upbeat, can-do personality. It’s often said that managers hire attitude. All things being equal, given two candidates with identical skills, the most positive, professional person will always advance more quickly. Offering to help out and being a resource to others is also a good way to demonstrate your level of commitment," the workplace expert said. What's more, being friendly really does count.
"It sounds basic, but since attitude matters, try to become acquainted with key team members, while still accomplishing the day’s tasks. Take notes on those you meet… their names and responsibilities."
#7
I was a supervisor in a technical support department for "professional" support, but was one day unceremoniously moved to "personal" support. (The former was expensive and for IT and experienced clients. The latter for regular home users.)
When I arrived in my new department, they were short 3 supervisors, so I was assigned all 3 teams, and the place was like Lord of the Flies. I was given a printout of schedules and names, with no way to find the people. I started tracking them down to find that nearly 1/3 of them had left the company, but previous supervisors didn't notify HR/payroll, there were no files on what people were trained on, nothing.
End of the day my new boss asked how things were, and I told him people needed to be fired. He laughed, and said, "We're understaffed already."
I replied, "No, I mean the other supervisors who aren't doing any job I can identify, and you for letting it get like this."
Things with him were a bit touchy after that.
Bronze Republic 2 years ago
I'm glad OP had the guys to say somepeople were not doing the job. But also never do that unless you have proof and evidence to avoid firing a good worker.
Highball 2 years ago
You were lucky, telling my boss how it was, cost me my job. It was a manufacturing company that worked on 4 quarters to a day, in which we reported production for that quarter. I had turned my department around from the worst to the most productive department. We would meet in the middle of the morning for a staff meeting and all we did was discuss the problems that only one or two departments had, the rest of us twiddled our thumbs. I asked if after we had made our report, since nothing else concerned us, if we could leave. No! So, one day one of the general supervisors made a report that the second quarter had a dramatic drop in productivity, so why was this? So bright big mouth me said, "Well, we are all here, doing nothing, there is no supervision on the floor". I didn't finish the week. The good part was that he didn't finish the next week. The woman in personnel said if anyone asks, she would give me the most exemplary recommendation anyhow. She did.
#8
When I arrived on the first day, there was an eviction notice on the door and a cop looking for the business owners. Bullets dodged, that day!
Trophy Husband 2 years ago
I worked for a few months at a place that rented software in the 90s. No, that's not legal. Anyway, my last day was fun. There were two partners, the one who worked there daily, and the silent guy who financed it. That first one was gone on my last day and the other one showed up and told us to load everything we can into his van. He then gave us a bunch of stuff from the store and paid me in cash for my last week; said the first owner was arrested for tax fraud and the place was being investigated to be seized, so he needed to get what he could and get out. Never heard from either of them again.
#9
My first day as a medic was terrible. We got a call from a babysitter, she turned her back for what she said was a minute and the little guy she was watching fell into the pool. We got there and she was doing CPR, we took over and I don't know how but we got that little guy to start breathing again. We got him ready to transport to the hospital and my partner decided I should get some experience so he left me in the back of the ambulance with the kid. Everything was going well until it wasn't. We chatted a bit and things seemed okay. Then he looked at me, said my name and just flat lined. I did everything I could. S**t still hurts today when I think about it. Messed me up for a good while, got all of August off and got set up with a therapist. Being a medic can either be the greatest job in the world or the absolute worst. I wish I was still a medic sometimes.
Warrior Mama 2 years ago
What a recipe for disaster - even in a non life or death situation it's important to supervise health care employees while they are learning the ropes. Death of a patient is hard, but death of a child patient is a whole other level. That coworker should have known better and stayed with the new medic regardless of how they thought things would turn out
Disgruntled Pelican 2 years ago
Especially when it comes to drownings! Just because they look fine doesn't mean that secondary drowning won't occur.
Load More Replies... DiscoqueenJ 2 years ago
That's horrible! I could never do that job. Hats off to those that can. They are the true heroes.
over it already 2 years ago
Sounds similar (emotionally) to my years as a CPS social worker. Some great celebrations, some tragedies, a ton of paperwork and passing time with sudoku in courtroom benches waiting for your case to be called.
Moezzzz 2 years ago
This happened to me at an ER I was working at when I first got out of school. We got the call from EMS that they were headed TO a home where a 4 yr old had fallen into a pool and amazingly, our head ER MD lived 2 houses down from where this happened and he ran over (he just HAPPENED to be out in his yard when the family started screaming), he gave me instructions on what he was doing and what he needed when he got to our ER, and I was on the line with him the whole way to the ER while he was in the back of the ambulance. The kid finally started breathing/crying 1 mile from us and when he got to me, I almost lost it; this kids little sister was JUST in for a bad case of pneumonia and I had played with him, brought him my sons old trucks/cars. He recognized me and held his arms out to me and I cried like a baby. He was fine- had a small touch of pneumonia but went home after 2 days. That was the start of me hating/loving my job.
Meanwhile, the expert suggested avoiding the 'superhero' temptation. "In one’s zeal to impress, it’s easy to go overboard. Pitfalls include:
- Acting like you don’t need as much training because you already understand the job very well.
- Indicating that you did things differently at your former job or intimating your way seems superior.
- Being too vocal at meetings, posturing, or challenging others. This is a good time to be in more of a listening mode in general.
- Biting off more than you can chew. Suggesting you have the skills to do much more than required could backfire later."
Moreover, your first days at work can be a great opportunity to "establish a strong foundation of your personal brand." Workplace expert Taylor advises being aware of how you interact with others, what your presentation is like, and how you want to come across.
"Substance, meaning the work you deliver, will always be paramount. But savvy business professionals know, for example, that it’s important to remain professional at all times for optimal career advancement."
#10
This wasnt a bad first day but sure was funny. New job site building a reststop for parks Canada. My boss and i are just surveying the site when he slips on a slope and slides down into a bog. Hes down there on all fours soaking wet and muddy and i dont want to help in case i fall in too. Searching for aomthing to say i muster out uh did you mean to do that? He replies ofcourse i didnt f*****g mean to do that god damm it. He crawls out, says well ive had enough for today, how about you? And im like ya sure we can call it a day. We drove three hours to have a look at the site for ten minutes and three hours back home. The ride was pretty quiet when he says, did you f*****g mean to do that, you f*****g guy! We dont work together anymore but he was an absolute gem of a guy, still consider him a friend.
#11
Happened in the Navy on my fourth ship. I had to fly to meet the ship on deployment. Flew from Virginia to Spain. Everyone left the plane to refuel it on the tarmac. We boarded after refueling. Turns out too much fuel, had to deboard everyone to remove fuel. Several hours delay. Don’t remember where it landed next, but it was delayed there too. All said and dine, we were supposed to land in Bahrain around 11pm local time after flying halfway around the world. Didn’t get there until about 3:30am. Upon arrival, turned out the ship didn’t bother to send anyone to pick up the 60+ sailors who were transferring to the ship - most of which were 18-19 year old men and women straight out of boot camp. I was the senior person there, so made a phone call to the person in charge of picking us up. He said to wait where we were and someone would be there at 6am. After a very quick conversation, the guy agreed to send someone there right away. A half hour later someone shows up with a clipboard, a list, and hotel keys. Turns out everyone had a room already reserved except for me. After a few more phone calls, I found out that the ship wanted me to fly out as soon as possible. So I had to wait in the hangar until the flight departed about 6 hours later. By this time, I had been traveling for well over 24 consecutive hours. Flew out to the ship on my first and only COD flight (carrier onboard delivery). Guy in front of me threw up in the floor and got it all over my shoes. Made me sick. I almost threw up too, but managed to hold it in. Plane landed. Went to the hangar bay to pick up my bags. Normally, when transferring to a new ship they assign a sponsor to help with the move. Normally the sponsor is there to meet the newly reporting person to get off in the right foot and help carry bags. I had a sponsor, but they didn’t meet me in the hangar bay. Not a big deal. I’d been on an aircraft carrier before and knew my way around. So I carried my bags down to the office where I knew I would be working, only to be met with a “Who are you? Oh, we weren’t expecting you.” Okay, definitely not a good first impression. As an officer, my sleeping arrangement on ships was a stateroom (kind of like a smaller, crappier version of a college dorm room). After traveling for forever, I just wanted to go to sleep. Since they weren’t expecting me, they didn’t have a stateroom for me. So I waited several more hours until I could finally get a bed and get some sleep sometime on Thursday afternoon. After a few hours of sleep, I was awoken to the sound of talking and running water. Turns out the communal bathroom right next to my stateroom had a clogged toilet, which resulted in an overflow of s**t water into my room, soaking everything that was in the floor. That marked the end of my first day. The rest of the time onboard got worse from there. Turns out that after waking up around lunch I’m Friday after a few hours of broken sleep. I found out that the ship was pulling right back into the same port I had flown out of 12 hours earlier.
Geoffrey Scott 2 years ago
Nah, THAT is the well oiled military machine for you
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Robert Trebor 2 years ago
I was flown to Rota, Spain to get to my ship in 1978, and SAT. Many people arrived, no one left. Three weeks later they put us on a C-130 and flew us to Sicily. Three days later we flew out to the USS Nimitz (Aircraft carrier, no one's ship). A week later they sent us back to Sicily by helicopter. The next day we were on a C-130 back to Rota. We SAT some more. More people had accumulated, for about six ships. A Chief Petty Officer and I went to the travel office, and becausue of phone calls home, we knew where our respective ships were, mine and two others in Barcelona, the other three in Palma de Mallorca. Lady at travel office denied any official notification. Chief goes around her desk and takes down the message clipboard, and lo, there is a list of our ships and their locations. She's squawking about 'that's classified - you can't look at that,' when the officer in charge of the office comes out and we explain our frustration, and he tells her to get us all out commercial tomorrow.
Robert Trebor 2 years ago
Turns out she was trying to save the Navy money because all of the ships would eventually come through Rota, and we could board. Problem with that is, the only reason they spent the money to fly us over there was because the ships needed us now. We taxicabbed to the nearest commercial airport, flew to our destinations, got to our ships. Had we not done that, I would have to have been flown back to the states, because MY ship went right past Rota without stopping, on the way to Germany for Kiel Week (Naval gathering), and Denmark, for the Rebild ceremony on the 4th of July. I'd've missed all of that.
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Moezzzz 2 years ago
As a military wife and sister, this is not surprising. My husband is Army and my brother is a veteran of the Army (Purple Heart recipient), I've heard terrible stories- sleeping on the ground in airports, waiting around for hours for anything to happen, etc. Like, when they were "in country", they all expected to sleep on the ground (which they did, often, bc otherwise they wouldn't sleep at all if they didn't- also explains why both of them can literally sleep anywhere and at the drop of a hat- yeah, I'm jealous of that). One of the Nurse Managers at my clinic is a Navy veteran and when I told him this story, he said "yeah, that's about right".
#12
First day at work, a library. I’m 18 years old, I look like I’m 12. My very first patron comes storming up and I ask, “Hi! How can I help—“ and he starts cursing up a storm at me because his card had been deactivated a few days before.
“And I want to know why and I want to know now!”
“I… this is my first day here, let me get someone for you…”
His whole attitude changed and I guess he thought I was like a baby library page or something because I’m sure I looked like I had just witnessed Jesus curb-stomp a puppy.
It was a weird way to start a new job. Then I got chastised for not know what had happened last week at a job I didn’t work at.
DiscoqueenJ 2 years ago
I just want to know why anyone would get so upset over a stupid library card?
Kitty 🥀 2 years ago
Whew, you’ve never worked in a library. Once you’ve had a retiree scream at you because they didn’t bother checking their email, didn’t come in to get the new James Patterson book they’d been on hold for, and the book got sent to the next person in line, you become jaded pretty fast. These people are feral, I’m telling you.
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BookFanatic 2 years ago
Hugs from a fellow librarian. On my first day, a man asked me what size bra I wore. (shrug) I'm still here 20 years later, though. Haven't seen him since.
María Hermida 2 years ago
A friend of mine answered such question with "my bra size is none of your business, but my shoe size is big enough to kick your balls. Would you like to try?"
Load More Replies... Moezzzz 2 years ago
I'll never understand why anyone would think that screaming and acting like a fool will get you anything at all. I work in healthcare and we are HEAVILY customer service oriented, which is why when we hired front office staff, we look at that more so than their medical office experience (I mean, THAT can be taught, but good customer service can change everything!). I'm normally with about 5 providers and take care of their schedules/patients, etc but sometimes I will help up front bc I genuinely love my job and the people I work with. I've had patients yell at me and demand this or that; in these cases, I do my job, but it's the bare minimum. If someone is just nice (nothing more), I will go out of my way for anything they need. Especially elderly people; some don't know how to navigate our system, so I make sure they can contact me so that I can help them personally. Being just NICE will get you almost anything! Being rude is just ridiculous
Like it or not, first impressions really do matter. Especially in a workplace setting. And that goes for both new employees and managers alike! A good first impression means that you’re someone who’s memorable and will stand out from the crowd. You should strive to find a balance between being professional and friendly.
‘Indeed’ notes that you want to be remembered if you have ambitions to rise to a leadership position. Ideally, you want to appear confident, charismatic, intelligent, and empathetic—no matter how small the interactions with your coworkers or clients. In short, you want to show off your positive (potentially) managerial qualities, no matter how much of a greenhorn you might be.
Appearances are very important when it comes to leaving those lasting initial impressions. You want to take the time to really focus on your appearance—from your clothes to your hygiene—and body language. Try to maintain eye contact, smile lots, and exude confidence through your body language.
#13
Not my first day but my second. I had just hired on at a steel fabrication plant. My boss gave me a broom and told me to keep the sidewalks clean, keep my head up, watch what everyone is doing and stay out of their f*****g way. Its dangerous working with this heavy steel and we don't want you to get hurt your first week out here. It was about 7am. Around 8am a stack of steel fell over trapping another employee and I had to hear him scream bloody murder for about 3hrs while they worked to get the steel beams off of him. He lived. It crushed his pelvis, I worked there for 2 years, he never was able to come back to work.
#14
First day working as a chemist in a quality control lab. The person training me told me “just so you know every single person in this department has had to go on medical leave for a stress related illness between their first and second year on the job.” That definitely happened to me. From there it only went downhill. I toured the warehouse and there were pallets of raw materials stacked so high and improperly they were leaning toward the walkway. There was a struggling rat on a glue trap and the warehouse guy said at least it isn’t squeaking anymore. Their walk in cold storage had liquid leaking out the door. I went to lunch and it was like a scene out of “mean girls.” I was told I couldn’t sit at certain tables and wound up eating by myself. Someone stole the cupcakes out of my lunch bag too. I realized I made a horrible mistake but I really needed the job and the money, plus the market was bad so I stuck it out for 19 months. The place is currently in the process of shutting down and will be closed by the end of the year, so they eventually got what was coming to them.
JL 2 years ago
I would think a place that treats workers so badly and burns them out would have been reported for their violations much earlier than this.
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Scott J 2 years ago
I lasted about 8 days at a generic pharmaceutical company. The lab manager was a tyrant. I left one afternoon and just never came back. I found myself staring out a window at the landscaping crew one day. It looked like they were having fun cutting the grass in those fancy lawnmowers. I realized I was miserable and left, wondering what I was going to do with my chemistry degree. I'm now an industrial hygienist and it is a much more fulfilling career.
#15
I got hired at an insurance place. I was told business casual so my first day I was wearing Chinos and a sweater. I was still filling out paperwork when someone came in and told me I needed to go home and change. It was a half hours drive each way at the time but I was broke so I did it. Quit a few months later. Horrible place.
Libstak 2 years ago
I've worked for many insurance companies in my temp years. My worst was one where you couldn't leave your desk for any reason other than the toilet and that was timed to 5 mins Max. A coffee lady made you a small cup of coffee at 10am and 3pm and you couldn't eat or have food or drinks at your desk outside of 10am to 1015am and 3pm to 315pm. It was a large office so as you could imagine she couldn't serve everyone in that time. Management would target employees they didn't like cos they felt they could for having beverages outside these times.
censorshipsucks 2 years ago
ugh. Always dress up one notch on what you are told, then people can't complain.
Sue User 2 years ago
I was interviewing for a software company so I wore a dress. The interviewer asked me if i always dressed like that ( um no, interview ?) . She told me to dress more casual to work, so i wore khakis and a polo. I was still overdressed.
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Ivy Ruonakoski 2 years ago
Wtf even is business casual? I'm so glad we can wear whatever we want at my office.
Jenny Fullerton 2 years ago
Business pants, button up shirt, no tie. But leave a tie in your desk drawer for “just in case” situations
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Michelle Reynolds 2 years ago
I worked for an optometrist who fell for a scam and paid his $1200 "electric" bill with itunes gift cards. He was a complete a*s and deserved it.
René Sauer 2 years ago
If the position isn´t customer facing the only dress rules should be " No stripper clothes, no PJs, No sexual/racist Pics or quotes." Anything more, like no Jeans or only high heels should be forbidden.
For instance, you wouldn’t want to keep your hands in your pockets or cross your arms while you’re hunched over and looking beyond scared. Be in control of your posture, slow down your movements, and actively listen to your new colleagues before speaking.
‘Insider’ suggests using your first day to be proactive. Introduce yourself to others and get to know your coworkers. The extra effort is going to be well worth it throughout your career, but you may need to go outside your comfort zone if you’re naturally a shy individual. Those connections are going to come in handy when you inevitably find yourself in a tough situation.
Though it’s important to ‘click’ with everyone at the company, don’t feel like you have to pretend like you’re someone you’re not. Be professional, but be yourself. Avoid creating the impression that you’re trying too hard to get everyone to like you. People admire authenticity, not pretense.
#16
Wasn’t my experience, but the experience of someone else i’ve heard: He went to work at an ice cream shop for his first job at 16. He was filling out the application when the manager told him to forget the application and go ahead and come behind the counter and start working. They had him start by making waffle cones, and he did that for 6 hours. Afterward, when they were sending him home for the day, they said “we’ll call you”. He wasn’t actually hired. They had him work for 6 hours without pay and without hiring him. When he tried calling the next few days to see if he’d gotten the job or if they’d pay him for those 6 hours, they didn’t answer. He decided to drive to the location a couple days later and they were closed. Permanently. They shut down literally the day after they had him work those 6 hours. They knew they were shutting down and didn’t tell him. When he finally did get ahold of that manager, and voiced his complaint about making him work without pay, she told him “well you don’t always get what you want”.
Kevin Sutton 2 years ago
Walk thru the window, help yourself to good to the value in eBay of the stolen wages, plus a bit of compression for your trouble
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Bronze Republic 2 years ago
Comment 2: But also why you insist on filling out all the paperwork. But even having started the paperwork counts in most countries.
Load More Replies... H.M. V. 2 years ago
My sister, after working as a waitress at a friends restaurant in the next town, didn't want to ride a bicycle each way for half an hour anymore. The next time we ate at a local restaurant we liked she applied there. She came in for a trial evening. Turns out she didn't get to keep tips. And they only gave her 20€ for the entire evening. Not even close to minimum wage. Suffice to say she didn't want to work there anymore after that. And we don't like that restaurant anymore.
Carrie Little 2 years ago
Why would they have him make cones if they were shutting down? This story is very confusing to me!
#17
My boyfriend of five years decided that a Monday at lunchtime was the perfect time to break up with me via text message. While I can't say the breakup was a complete surprise I really, really wish he had done it on the weekend when I could have private time to deal with it. He also could have had the balls to do so in person but, hey, that's asking a lot from him.
So, first day at a new job. I'm a teacher and it was a new school but in the same city. Morning was introductions. Everyone was lovely, happy, smiling and so was I. Then I sit down to eat lunch and my phone dings. Well, you can imagine what that was like. I hid in the bathroom a while trying to keep it together because the afternoon was the opening ceremony.
The whole ceremony takes about two hours with speeches, intros, information, video, taking pictures etc. All the teachers and I had to stand on a stage and give short introductions in front of 700ish children, their parents, school officials etc. So I was sitting on the sidelines trying not to cry or vomit or let my emotions be obvious. Probably didn't succeed. Then had to get up on stage in front of well over 1500 people and keep it together long enough to give my little intro about looking forward to the new year blah blah.
I could finally leave after the ceremony and bawled the whole way home.
Edit: Thank you all for your kind words. This happened many years ago but it still stings. It's amazingly cathartic to let it out though.
Calling him a Person Of Senselesness fits pretty well. I can't call him an a*****e, because he wasn't. But he was perhaps cowardly and didn't consider the emotional toll his actions would take.
In the follow-up talks he admitted that he'd known I wasn't The One from the start but he still thought I was a great person, fun, we got along etc. and decided Fake It Till You Make It was a great relationship strategy. Yeah. That's a stab to the gut, knowing someone was pretending to be happy with you. Those cuts run deep too, and affected my later relationship. How can I believe my new partner loves me? My ex said he loved me, and it was a lie. How can I believe my new partner sees a future with me? My ex said he did, and that was a lie.
If anyone out there is just not feeling it with a partner but can't think of a *good* reason to break up, please, just break up. They deserve someone who doesn't have to talk themselves into loving them. Yeah, they'll be sad, but every day you let them live a lie it will be even worse when you finally break up and pull the rug out from under them.
crowspectre (he/they) 2 years ago
Honestly sounds exactly like what my last boyfriend did except he broke up with me at 8 pm
Florence O'Grady 2 years ago
If you don't have the fortitude to break up with someone in person, you are slime!!!
René Sauer 2 years ago
I told my coworker for months to REALLY think about his relationship with his boyfriend. Ididn´t want to outright tell him to dump him, because that wasn´t my call, but the stuff I heard about him... The guy was working as a server, and when covid hit, his job and thus income took a hard hit. He only got 60% of his normal salary. My coworker had to carry him through the pandemic for almost 2 years. Boyfriend could have taken a temp job to help, but no, he sat on his a** at home playing xBox and getting into a MLM. Then one morning he dumped my Coworker, just as he arrived to work. My supervisor and other coworkers told him to go back home to make sure the guy doesn´t run of with anything valuable
Ken Beattie 2 years ago
While his break up timing and method is not good I don't feel like it's fair to blame him for continuing the relationship when he knew she wasn't the one. Saying fake it til you make it might be a bit harsh. If they had fun, he thought she a great person and they got along well it's not hard to understand wanting to give it time to see if there is something more there. And hell, who can 100% be sure it's "true love" or "they're the one" anyway?
#18
I've got 2 but both jobs ended up being great and I worked there for a year plus
1. I worked at a flower shop in high school. The gal training me and I found this pink plastic gun thing. Obvi not a real gun but we barely touched the trigger and all of a sudden we were coughing and our eyes were watering. We had to leave the room and close up the shop early... It was some kind of pepper or bear spray.
2. Job in college was a group home for elderly women with mental disabilities. Since I was new I didn't know how to de-escalate situations yet. One woman had the mental capacity equivalent to a 3-year-old and tantrums were common. She had a tantrum my first day and not knowing how to deal I made it worse. Went outside to chill out and when I felt better to come back in the lady saw and ran to the door to CHOKE me and keep me out. No one else was around... I went to the other door to get in. Obvi I'm alive, but damn that was a night.
Brainmas 2 years ago (edited)
Who would pull the trigger on something gun shaped without knowing what it was?
Load More Replies... Sunny Day 2 years ago
A friend got a job at a nursing home right out of HS. They were introducing her around, and met this one patient - a sweet little grandma in a wheelchair. Looked the sort to bake cookies every week and spoil her grandkids. Cute as could be. She said to friend "oh, honey - you have such pretty hair! Come closer so I can see it better." Friend knelt by the wheelchair - and the old lady grabbed her by the hair and started banging her head on the arm on the wheelchair.
Tee Rat 2 years ago
One of my managers used to work with people who had mental development issues. Part of her job was to take them to the store if they wanted anything that wasn't provided. One day she took her eyes off of this woman in the changing room at Walmart and she spent 10 minutes chasing a naked woman through Walmart. As you can guess she was fired. Actually, knowing her, it scares me they let her have that job in the first place.
#19
I work at a gas station and I accidentally hit the button that emergency stops all the gas pumps my first day lmao
Fat Harry 2 years ago
When I worked in a clothes shop I found this red slidy button under the counter that didn't seem to do anything. I pressed it and pressed it and nothing seemed to happen. Then about five minutes later the police showed up. It was the panic button. Shockingly, this wasn't even my first day... I'd been there about 3 years.
MontanaMariner 2 years ago
I worked at a store with a panic button that didn't work, found out it didn't work when we got robbed and cops didn't show up until we called. We were told that pushing the button would call the cops, lock the door from the outside, and set off the alarm. Cheapskate owner never paid for the security company's monthly service fee so it never actually worked. I don't miss that hell hole.
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Llewella 2 years ago
I used to work at a gasstation. We had an emergency button on the LPG-pump. When you press it you turn off the power to all the pumps and send a signal to the firestation. A big red button with emergency in yellow (in 3 languages) above it.... and still about 2 times a week customers would push on it, because obviously that's how you fill up, right? Thankfully the firestation always called to verify first. After a while when they called they simply asked "fire or idiot"
Ray Perkins 2 years ago
Summer job, I had to collect samples from a huge gravel crusher. I accidently hit a button which shut down the outgoing conveyor belt, so the machine started to plug up with incoming rocks. Embarrassing, but no damage at least.
Stephanie Gidcumb 2 years ago
I was like 4ish when my family was driving back from CA to KY and we stopped to get gas. I got out and I saw this big, round "button" that was the same color & everything as the pump. I obviously pushed it when my parents & siblings weren't looking, which made it shut off. After asking the attendant about it, they came & asked me if I pushed it (I lied), and then we left after my parents profusely apologized. Man, I still feel bad 27 years later.
Robin DJW 2 years ago
I had a coworker do the unthinkable... she was a night shift worker in a data center serving a healthcare system - servers, mainframes, tape storage silos, the whole nine yards. One night she noticed a big red button under an acrylic flip cover, so she flipped the cover and was muttering "I wonder what this does" when she pushed it. Immediate pitch blackness punctuated by the sound of a whole lot of electronic equipment winding down. Oops.
#20
My MIL was buying a restaurant and asked me to go work there for a day and take a look see. She gives me the name, I look it up, then show up at 6 am. The ladies working seemed a bit confused but they let me in and put me to work. Two hours later, one of them comes to me and says "We think you're supposed to be at the OTHER Charlie Ann's" There were two unrelated restaurants five miles apart with the same name. Later she tried to hire me, lol.
#21
I was working in a hog slaughterhouse when I was 18 years old. Clean up duty was the job I was given, so it was my duty to dump all the scrap bins from each work station. All these scraps ended up in a big pit with an auger at the bottom to grind and into a slop and send off to a rendering plant which turned this product into even more unspeakable things (pet food, animal feed etc). I was the last to go for lunch since I was to clean/dump scraps from each station before heading off. Last thing to dump was a massive wheel barrow (about 5 times the size of a regular yard work wheel barrow) full of pigs heads. There was a drain hole in the floor, me rushing to dump, hits the drain and about 60 heads fly all on the floor. So I spent my lunch collecting the heads back into the barrow. Needless to say I went for a bathroom break, got changed, cleaned up and f****d off out of there. Keep my pay, I said. Ha!
MaryHadaLittleLamb 2 years ago
I think this one is the winner of the worst first day award. How awful!
#22
Back when I was in college, I started working at a certain sort of call-center. My first day was emotional hell, and not just for me. See, this wasn't a sales gig in the traditional sense: I had been hired to be a "talent scout" for an incredibly shady organization that was trying to hoodwink unsuspecting parents into purchasing "acting and modeling lessons" for their kids. My job involved calling people, enthusiastically reciting a script, then booking marks into "one of our last remaining slots." The children and their parents would arrive on a weekend, go through a fake audition (complete with fake casting agents), and then be instructed to call a given number on Monday morning. That number would connect people right back to the call-center. Hopeful "applicants" be told that the "casting agent" had *loved* the child's audition, but that said child needed some additional training before they were ready for the screen. Parents would then be suckered into paying thousands of dollars for twelve days' worth of completely worthless classes... and if a kid missed even one session, they would be summarily expelled (unless their guardians paid even more money to reinstate them). Anyway, I started working on a Wednesday. By that evening, I was feeling physically sick, and I was kept awake by guilt-ridden nightmares. I struggled through Thursday, then quit on Friday morning. Had I stayed any longer, I'm sure that my soul would have withered and died. **TL;DR: I could only handle three days as a call-center con-artist.**
Michelle Reynolds 2 years ago
I was just thinking about that place! My parents enrolled my sister in the modeling classes. LOL she was NOT happy.
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Igor914624 2 years ago
Similar experience. In high school I took a job with a call center. We were given a list of numbers to call and told to sell them the shady product. I made the second call and got an elderly lady on a fixed income. I politely ended the call and walked out.
#23
I did an internship at a geotechnical engineering firm one summer and after my initial orientation they had me drive out to meet some one on a coring job. It was way out in the sticks on a hot day, maybe 101 or higher. The place was out in the mountains on a massive piece of private property, like over 10k acres, it was a collection of wineries. We do the job and they wanted me to leave early to avoid overtime on my first day so they told me to drive home on my own and gave me some very basic directions on how to get out of this maze of mountains. The only real direction I was given was when you get to Y intersection go down not up, I leave, get to a Y intersection and go down. I guess it was a different Y intersection. I realized pretty quickly I went the wrong way but couldn’t turn around because I was on a tight unpaved mountain road that was too narrow to turn around. I drive a few miles try to turn around in a larger spot and get the truck stuck. No one knew where I was and I had no cell service and no water and it was probably 5 plus miles back to the job site. I started walking because I thought I heard a road and sure enough there was a rarely used public road not far from me. Eventually I sat on a log and considered the real possibility I might not make it back, I was starting to get disorientated due to exhaustion and dehydration. I collapsed on the side of the road eventually until some one drove down the road and saw me, they picked me up and dropped me off and the nearest gas station where I got some water and called my boss. The next day I had to go with a bunch of trucks to get my truck back. They didn’t fire me either
Edward Dwyer 2 years ago
Also that they were a truck driver at the beginning.
Load More Replies... tabithapaquette98 2 years ago
Why should they fire you? They are lucky you lived and didn't sue.
Florence O'Grady 2 years ago
I hope the company learned their lesson and this never happened to anyone else ever on any job site.
#24
My first day at Menards, a home improvement store typically in the Midwest, they give you this little introduction. I was 5 months pregnant and was having really severe nausea and pain, and was just trying to get through the first day the best I could. They spoke about how their turn over rate was over 50% and it was a goal to get it down. My second day, I told them I had a doctors appointment well before and when I told them I needed to leave for the appointment, they told me I would be written up for leaving early. I told them to go ahead, it was an appointment for my baby and I wasn’t going to miss it. My third day, I showed up and they told me that since I missed 2 hours of a shift, they had to suspend me. I told them to eat a d**k, handed them my badge and apron, and left. Never f*****g work at menards.
René Sauer 2 years ago
If this had been anywhere else but the US I would have asked: Why even bother finding a new Job when already halfway through pregnancy? Just wait until the kid is out and then go looking.
SlothyK8 2 years ago
Before Menard's had its own legal department, they hired outside attorneys as corporate counsel. The father of a friend of mine served in that role many, many years ago. The stories he tells make me cringe so hard! That place is EVIL. As an example, if a store needs maintenance (a roof fixed, plumbing, etc.) the contractor taking on the work has to agree that half their compensation for the job will be in STORE CREDIT. They are complete scum.
Sunny Day 2 years ago
Don't take a job if you can't do it. They treated you the same as any other employee, as they should.
I Am, In Fact, That Weirdo 2 years ago
Don’t comment on a post if you can’t do it right. OP be 5 months pregnant but no, no, job faaaaarrrr more important than well-being of unborn child- job give life points!
Load More Replies... #25
It wasn’t her first day at the job it it was her first day covering my office. I told her whatever she does do NOT pull the panic button (unless it’s a reason to panic) of course she randomly decides to pull it in the middle of the day- doesn’t answer when the company calls for the code so of course it prompts the police to show up. It’s a psychiatrist office so many of the patients have issues with police for various reasons causing patients to get upset and panic, doctors to get mad and the police to be annoyed because they are questioning her and she’s acting stupid. When I got back to work they told me that she thought I said pull the button to make the computer work better. The button is not connected to or near the computer whatsoever.
robin miller 2 years ago
https://tenor.com/view/father-dougal-father-ted-dont-press-the-button-gif-19983386
#26
Oh man. Virgin Megastore - when those were still a thing. I applied not really expecting a call because it was a giant mall store and that's just kind of how it went. Manager calls me a week after I applied. Asked me to come into an interview. I told him I was sick as a dog. I had the flu, chills, puking, aches... the whole nine yards. He was enthusiast and asked me to come in anyway. I needed the money badly and the mall was only down the street. He insisted I come in. Whatever, if we can make it quick. I go in for the interview. It's a group interview. He failed to mention this. I'm doing my best to keep my distance from everyone while he asked the standard mall employer/corporate questions. "Why do you want to work here? How passionate about music/media are you? What does Virgin Megastore mean to *you*? Why do you want to join *our* family. Me: Ugh. Man. Either give me the job or don't but I need to go rest. Manager: Nah, c'mon! We're going to do a floor tour! Me: I don't have that in me. I need to go. Manager: Well, if you stay and last a whole shift, you're hired! C'mon, let's hit the floor! Me: vomits Manager: Me: Me: I'm going home. They never called me again. But I was paid for the interview. All 40 mins of it.
Greg Baughman 2 years ago
They had to close all the virgin stores. No virgins left to sell. :D :D :D
#27
First corporate job. We had these large metal coffee urns in the break room on the floor. You put the grounds in the cup thing and hit a button because they were piped into the water line.
What I did not know was that it would run a cycle for each button push, I pushed it twice in a row and left for it to brew. When I came back it had doubled up and overflowed and there was coffee everywhere. Day one.
over it already 2 years ago
That's a design flaw imo, but a heck of a way to find out about it.
Flabuless-Jaye 2 years ago (edited)
I went for an interview for a graduate scheme for a prestigious IT company in London. I'd travelled 3 hours by train to get there. It was a group interview which involved a "lunch" with senior company execs who we were expected to interact and converse with. ( Given it was a room full of graduate IT/Computer Science/Programming geeks I was surprised that anyone could talk to anyone given how many of us, myself included, were naturally introverted. ) After it was over, we went back into a board room to do some psychometric tests, so before we started I went to get myself a coffee. It was in a jug style flask where you had to unscrew the tip to allow the coffee to come out. I misjudged how much I needed to turn it, and I managed to empty most of its contents onto the sparking white table cloth. There was nothing to wipe it up with although the guy standing next to me had a good go with a singular tissue in his pocket. I didn't get the job.
#28
I worked in a Kmart and the first day I saw a bulletin regarding a secret shopper who approached an associate stocking shelves and asked for assistance. He told her to f**k off. Yeah, I realized that morale at that store was nonexistent.
#29
I was being trained on how to clean cages for Pet Smart before the store opens. First day. Manager hands me one of the Russian dwarf hamsters to hold. Hamster jumped out of my hand and hit the floor. Her eye popped out. Not all the way but still bulging out of socket in bizarre way. I was crying and saying sorry over and over and the manager LAUGHED at me and said "don't worry! It's just a hamster!".....
JP Purves 2 years ago
So put the manager on a tall ladder push him off and see if his eye pops out, then say, "don't worry, you're just a d-bag."
Load More Replies... Kathryn Baylis 2 years ago
Let's do the math and drop that manager from an equivalent height. When his eye pops out of its socket, we can just say, "Don't worry! It's just a human!"
Allison B 2 years ago
You point, I punch! 😤 (now I think I'm going to go replay BG1 and 2. 😂)
Load More Replies... #30
Dishwasher at a small breakfast place when I was 14. Didnt tell me I had to supply my own gloves and the dishwasher was right at the egress of the breakfast bar so I had to constantly keeping hopping out of the way of the waitstaff as they came back to grab plates. No sink, just a soapy bucket of water and a industrial dishwasher that was more akin to an autoclave than your regular dishwasher. each time i opened it steam would come pouring out - I was sweating my a*s off. I burned my hand so bad the first time I grabbed a plate out of there. And the special for my first day was beer battered shrimp. they were floating around in the bucket and sticking to my arms.
#31
Oh my first day, they told me any PTO hours that I take must be made up within the quarter. Got it, so I don’t actually get PTO. I started looking for a new job the next day.
#32
In a care home for elderly people, just finished national service and needed a job until starting at college. No skills required. Turned up for an evening shift and was told what to do. One of the people living there was the same age as my mum; 50-ish, and looked rather like my mum. She had pretty advanced MS, and needed help with everything. On her table was a picture of her kids, who never came and visited her. They were my age The kicker: She loved it when one of the helpers had time to smoke a cigarette with her and watch TV, so I did that and was told by the other helper she was very happy. Her MS was not affecting her mentally, so she was just sitting there bored out of her mind, hoping for someone to help her smoke a cigarette and laugh about some stupid TV show. I noped the f**k out of that job, and kind of regret it now. Ekstra kicker for laughs: I got MS 6 years later....
DiscoqueenJ 2 years ago
Why did you nope out of there? Sounds like a great job hanging out and watching tv with a sweet elderly patient!
#33
Got a job at Wal-Mart and on the first day the manager told me to ask another manager to set me up on training videos. When I asked the other manager I got yelled at because she "didn't have time for me"
Spongebob Sadpants 2 years ago
I hated working at walmart. I won't go back unless I have no choice.
Sanguinius 2 years ago
Way too many of my early jobs involved getting yelled at. Not a very effective management strategy.
#34
My first day working at a new hospital I was getting a tour near the ER when a psych patient jumped out of the bathroom as I was walking by, slapped me hard across the face and yelled the "N" word at me before running out the exit in her gowns. Yes, I still work here.
#35
Back in 2011, got a construction job as a roofer. 10$ an hour, cash, and the biggest rule was "you are fired the second you hit the ground." Meaning, if you fall off the roof, you never worked for me. 10am the boss is drunk and backs his truck up into a wall on a clients property. Stupid me stuck around for like 2 years.
#36
On my co-worker's first day we had a staff meeting and the janitor of the building had found a puppy on the side of the road. She'd put it in a box in the meeting room until her shift was over so she could take it home. Everyone was fawning over the puppy before the meeting and then we started the meeting with the box in the middle of the table. About 3 minutes in we heard the puppy give a death rattle and then it died.
PandaRave 2 years ago (edited)
Yeah, don’t worry. You don’t death rattle from asphyxiation, right? Right? Edit: Yeah after research I’m right. It’s all good. W me
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#37
I got a temp job at an office going through files and shredding old documents. What they didn't tell me until I got there was that the shredder was actually a leaf shredder located on a loading dock. So, in my nice first day at work clothes I loaded a hand cart with paper boxes, trekked through the hot Texas sun in August to this unairconditioned loading dock and fed paper into this leaf shredder, back and forth several times.
#38
I took a temp job from an agency while I was looking for a permanent position. I showed up and was told they forgot to cancel the request for a temp, but let me work for the day anyway. They had me go through resumes for the people they were going to permanently hire into the position I was there for. Icing on the cake was that I had bought new shoes the day before, and made an a*s of myself several times tripping in front of everyone in the office. They probably wouldn’t have kept me anyway.
Kathryn Baylis 2 years ago
Agador: Senator, another shot for you? Senator Kevin Keeley: I don't really drink. Agador: Yeah, but now's the time to pretend!
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#39
Bought new shoes for my first work day, hurt like hell the whole day. In the evening I finally got out of them, all toes were bleeding and the nails from the big toes were completly blue. Took 2 years for the nail to grow it all out.
#40
None of mine were particularly bad except the normal "I don't know what I'm doing or who any of these people are" type things. Instead I'll give one from my wife: My wife (girlfriend at the time) and I used to live in a small house in a small town and while we were out there she worked at this grocery store chain in our state (and I think a couple others). She worked in the deli there but it was such a small store they didn't really have much to it. It was actually more of deli/bakery that they just combined. Years went by and we decided to move back closer to the bigger city and she was able to transfer to a store close to where we were moving. They had told the new store that she has had years of deli experience but what they didn't seem to discuss was the fact that the old store's deli didn't have half of the stuff a regular big store had. My wife showed up for her first day and saw that their deli had a full lunchmeat counter with the slicers and scales, which her old store did NOT have. She had absolutely no experience with slicing lunchmeat and actually barely dealt with customers at the old store at all. She told them this numerous times when she got there but they didn't listen. They basically just threw her on the counter and told her to start calling numbers. She tried her best but of course the other workers started getting frustrated when she asked constant questions, still not listening to the fact that she didn't have any experience in this area. All they heard is that she had years of deli experience. That was her first and only day at that store. She was able to close the store well enough because she had experience cleaning up and mopping and such but after that she didn't dare put herself through that again and I don't blame her. It was a big struggle for her to find another job because back then NO ONE was hiring but we did what we had to do. I understand the miscommunication in the transfer but I don't understand why they couldn't have listened to her when she said they didn't have the deli counter at her old store. The company wasn't really great about that kind of stuff though. I actually worked for the same company but a different store and I wasn't exactly happy there either.
#41
Worked at a grocery store, specifically in the deli/"fresh" foods dept. Showed up at the wrong store (they didn't specify which location so I went to the "training" store). After I figure out that I'm in the wrong place, I go to my correct store - they even called to tell my store that I'd be late due to their own fault. I get to my location and the boss is a fuckn shithead. Rude, argumentative and regarding me like I showed up late on purpose...not as if I'd been given wrong instructions. She treated me like a little kid trying to shirk work, when I was in my 30s and hired on a full time and needed the job badly. Boss never quit riding my a*s, only gave me 1 day off a week because I was "so good with the customers" but she never really complimented me or gave me a raise. So many people hated her and I saw a customer give her a serious tongue lashing one day. I quit less than a year in and the store manager quit the next damn month. Last time I saw my old supe, she was behind the deli at a diff location. She's so bad they keep shifting her around the state until retirement. F**k her, she's a twat.
Jennifer_Crowley_Luci 2 years ago (edited)
I have never understood why some companies really do keep holding onto their problem employees and just moving them to other stores in the area... Worked for one of the "General" stores that kept doing that with one employee. Just tell her to hit bricks, man!
Kathryn Baylis 2 years ago
Seen that a lot myself. Always wondered who they're related to, who they're f*****g, or who they've got real bad dirt on that allows them to be such a******s, fuckups, or both, and not get fired.
Load More Replies...
DiscoqueenJ 2 years ago (edited)
My ex-husband had a co-worker that worked in the home office - she was twat, too - and to get rid of her, they moved her across the state to my ex's location where she was NOT his boss but proceeded to act like she was. He was under so much stress during that time and when she quit, they literally threw a party and didn't invite her.
#42
I unknowingly took a dump next to my boss. We both had pretty nasty shits, and when we got out of the stalls things were awkward for a bit. We now laugh about it every now and then.
#43
Decades ago, I rolled into California, penniless and in need. I applied many places including the local McDonald's as I needed money immediately. While at the interview, the manager said they didn't hire guys with long hair. Being a guy with long hair, I told him I understood his position, thanked him for his time, and excused myself so he could get back to it. About a week later I get a call from him telling me they'd look past it and would like to hire me. Great! I get to eat again! Trouble is, I didn't have any razors. All I had was a clipper that gets pretty close, slightly more than stubble, but definitely not beard hair. I show up, and the _owner_ is there. I have met some pricks in my life but _this_ guy deserves whatever stroke he gets. He sees me coming up from the underground freezer (some McDonald's keep them underground. It's a goddamn liability but whatcha gonna do?) and just lights me the f**k up about EVERYTHING. He's literally screaming at me on my first day about very light face fuzz, saying that I "asked" them to make and exception for my long hair and now this! I asked for NO exceptions. I excused myself. They called ME. I try to explain my circumstances to him, that I literally have nothing in the world, and in front of everyone he shoves a $20 bill at me and tells me to go next door and get a razor. The manager, meanwhile, who previously had been personable and nice, was suddenly taking this fatherly tone with me, saying things like "Look, I can't hold your hand. You have to do the hard work!" I. Did. D**K. for work in that store from that day on. He ran that place like f*****g Auschwitz. He would yell at the elderly cashiers up front, in front of CUSTOMERS. He never mailed me my taxes. "Well, if you send me the money I'll send you the forms". So I sicked the IRS on him. I hope they buried his a*s. Probably not but I'll take any catharsis I can. 20 f*****g years later and I still hate that piece of s**t. I hope if he still lives he's in tremendous pain and all his dogs died of leprosy. Piece of s**t.
Carla Phillips 2 years ago
When I worked at McDonald's in high school, I had carpal tunnel surgery on my right hand. I worked noon till 5 because I was in a program at my school called HERO that basically promoted teens working. So, you can imagine it was pretty busy, especially when I first got there because of lunch rush. Here I am my hand wrapped and stitches the head manager says "I need you on French fries" I tell him it's not a good idea, I just had surgery and I'm right handed and making me try to do everything with my left hand during lunch rush will be bad. He tells me to "just do it" wanna guess who was right and how long I was on fries that day? Same McDonald's, different manager. Very nice guy, but very high strung and would get flustered easily. I don't remember what the issue was, but it ended with him throwing a filet 'o fish at me. His whole face had gone red! It didn't hit me and it was so absurdly funny to me all I could do was double over laughing. He apologized later.
Kathryn Baylis 2 years ago
How about instead, his dogs chew on him before his stinking weeks old dead body's found? in Summer.
#44
Long time ago when i was working in hospitality, on my first day (trial) I had an order for a tea, I managed to take the wrong coaster and didnt notice. The tables were pretty low to the ground and as I was going down to the table, I managed to spill the boiling water all over myself and the customer. It didnt help that the woman was a regular customer coming in every day, but somehow I got the job.
#45
The HR guy said "That's all we've got for you today." Everyone in orientation was then introduced to their new boss. My new boss was on vacation. I asked the HR guy, he said "I don't know, go home?" So I did. Got a call. I guess someone else had gotten my boss's boss, and this big wig was going to walk me through everything. He was disappointed that I went home.
#46
My very first job was working for a grocery store as a bag boy and cart gopher. The very first day they rushed me through the onboarding process because they wanted me to hurry up and get to work. Why? It was hailing outside and no one wanted to get carts so they figured they'd let the 16 year old new hire do it. Spent the entire night outside in the hail getting carts. Worked there for a month and quit. That store was ran by incompetent a******s and closed a few years later.
#47
Was very sick - high fever & congestion - before my first day. A day before I wrote to HR asking to postpone my start date by two days. They said no. So I came very sick to work, shook everyone's hands (while warning them I'm sick!). I don't remember much from that day, just that it was very, very unpleasant. Not sure why HR would say no to such a request. I think they were afraid I'd be interviewing for another company? Which I could still do. Anyway, it sucks to start a job, which is already a stressful thing, when you are also very sick, not to mention, there's the risk of spreading whatever I had to the rest of the company - I literally met everyone on that day.
Seabeast 2 years ago
Hopefully the pandemic has finally made people see sense about requiring sick people to come in to work.
Kathryn Baylis 2 years ago (edited)
But don't hold your breath. Business owners/CEOs/Other "suits" are resistant to change. That's why they're all crying that nobody wants to work anymore---when they're still paying the same s**t pay, basically having employees train themselves, making schedules that are nightmares, ignoring time off requests made months in advance, not offering benefits that are worth a damn, stealing pay from employees through unpaid overtime, and in general just treating their employees like expendable s**t, even though they're the ones who really make the company its money, not the clueless "wunderkind" at the home office. Put the suits to work on the front lines, and the place would go belly up in an hour.
Load More Replies... #48
I had community service at a library once, I had to call people about books they wanted to order that have come in. The very first call i made, the woman who ordered the book was in tears, someone close to her died. They had given me a script to work with, but nothing on the script said anything about death. So now I'm just trying to make them feel better, anything they ask I'm just saying "yes, yes, of course we can do that." Then it comes out that this is my first day, she she says, "ok, can I talk to someone in charge to confirm you can do everything you said you could?" I wasn't in the room for the confirmation, but holy c**p i wasn't ready.
#49
Walked in as a web developer and sat down expecting to get things setup. "Our Blackberry server isn't working, and neither is our Intranet site, can you take a look?" Ended up walking the network guy through moving the website to a different server because something in the IIS config borked. It was day 2 before I finally got my own network signon.
#50
Uncle got me a job working at his friend's warehouse where they made dresses. I walk in there, with zero experience whatsoever, and the owner says to me "So your uncle told me that you're really smart. I'm looking for someone to take over my business." I did not go back a second day.
What do you think ?
ConstantlyJon 2 years ago
storytime: I did door-to-door solar sales for a bit between jobs. My first day knocking the guy I was shadowing for some reason was wearing two hats. I'm like, whatever, you do you man. We knock for 2 hours and talk to some people, set up some follow up appointments, and only afterwards when we were debriefing did he notice he has on two hats. It was like 2 baseball caps on top of each other. Apparently he was already wearing one while cleaning out his car, put another on top to run it into his house while he carried other things and forgot it was there. Dude was beside himself that I didn't tell him. I was just like, I just met you. Thought maybe you were a two-hat guy.
Huddo's sister 2 years ago
I was hired for a job, said what day I could start. Got called in three days early, so I assumed that meant they really needed me. It was for an after school program, but they brought me in for the last three days of the school holiday program. I turn up and my boss wasn't expecting me, no one thought to tell him I was starting that day. Then I realise there are a total of four kids there, so we weren't short staffed at all. Oh well, it gives us time to go through an induction and other paperwork. Rest of the day is pretty boring, except that I get a call from our manager asking if I would fill in at another program on the following Monday, even though I haven't gotten used to the program I was hired for yet, and they wanted me to do the shift as the only staff member. Then the next day I turn up for my shift and my boss says "do you know what the plan is for today, you will be on your own for three hours while I do a split shift". At first I thought he was joking, because it seemed...
Huddo's sister 2 years ago
...like something he would say. So first few days I was definitely thrown in at the deep end! Became pretty much the pattern as far as communication and expectations to be honest. I've made it a full year with them now, but still don't always know until the day of a shift where I will be, even though I was hired for one particular program/school.
Load More Replies...
Valdemar 2 years ago
Started working at a camera store that did it all including custom framing that included museum level framing. I was hired to develop and process customers negatives into 4"X6" prints. First day in I get the tour and meet the other technician who's going to show me the ropes of the new machine that I'm already familiar with from a previous chain company I worked for. The tech looked like a depressed nightmare straight out of a war zone and I was about to find out why. This little camera store outside of Ann Arbor Michigan had a contract with the county government to develop all film from accident investigation to crime scene and everything else and that's what she had been doing. She was not only burned out, she was traumatized and becoming unhinged and needed to stop doing it. So here I am starting out my training and an hour in a package of negatives comes in from the detectives at a nearby town with a Greek name and they needed more prints. Humans are monsters.
Zelda Blue 2 years ago
I had 2 bad first days: First job was at a cheese and sausage shop in a mall. I arrived an hour before the store opened and was told that we search through all the cheese in the cases, find any with mold on them, scrape the mold off and rewrap them before putting them back for sale. That is a big NOPE for me, didn't go back. Next job was at a company that printed and sold legal forms. I was hired as customer service manager. I arrive, the president of the company says, glad you are here, hands me a catalog of forms, points at my desk says he has to go to a meeting will be back soon. The minute he leaves the phone rings, I am like a deer in the headlights afraid to pick up the phone because I have no idea what to do. A couple of days later (yes I came back after the first day) they came and took our garbage dumpster because we hadn't paid the bill, then a man showed up to take the filing cabinets because we hadn't paid for those either. It was a very tough first week.
DiscoqueenJ 2 years ago
My niece went through a lengthy interview process for an internship two states away. She showed up on day 1 and they had nothing for her to do. By the end of week 1, she went to the school and asked to be reassigned. Why would you hire someone for an internship and then having nothing for them to do???
censorshipsucks 2 years ago (edited)
I think if they are going to copy/paste off reddit at least TLDR it.
Nikki Sevven 2 years ago
What I don't get is BP staff calling themselves 'writers' when all they do is copy and paste stuff that other people wrote.
Load More Replies... ConstantlyJon 2 years ago
storytime: I did door-to-door solar sales for a bit between jobs. My first day knocking the guy I was shadowing for some reason was wearing two hats. I'm like, whatever, you do you man. We knock for 2 hours and talk to some people, set up some follow up appointments, and only afterwards when we were debriefing did he notice he has on two hats. It was like 2 baseball caps on top of each other. Apparently he was already wearing one while cleaning out his car, put another on top to run it into his house while he carried other things and forgot it was there. Dude was beside himself that I didn't tell him. I was just like, I just met you. Thought maybe you were a two-hat guy.
Huddo's sister 2 years ago
I was hired for a job, said what day I could start. Got called in three days early, so I assumed that meant they really needed me. It was for an after school program, but they brought me in for the last three days of the school holiday program. I turn up and my boss wasn't expecting me, no one thought to tell him I was starting that day. Then I realise there are a total of four kids there, so we weren't short staffed at all. Oh well, it gives us time to go through an induction and other paperwork. Rest of the day is pretty boring, except that I get a call from our manager asking if I would fill in at another program on the following Monday, even though I haven't gotten used to the program I was hired for yet, and they wanted me to do the shift as the only staff member. Then the next day I turn up for my shift and my boss says "do you know what the plan is for today, you will be on your own for three hours while I do a split shift". At first I thought he was joking, because it seemed...
Huddo's sister 2 years ago
...like something he would say. So first few days I was definitely thrown in at the deep end! Became pretty much the pattern as far as communication and expectations to be honest. I've made it a full year with them now, but still don't always know until the day of a shift where I will be, even though I was hired for one particular program/school.
Load More Replies... Valdemar 2 years ago
Started working at a camera store that did it all including custom framing that included museum level framing. I was hired to develop and process customers negatives into 4"X6" prints. First day in I get the tour and meet the other technician who's going to show me the ropes of the new machine that I'm already familiar with from a previous chain company I worked for. The tech looked like a depressed nightmare straight out of a war zone and I was about to find out why. This little camera store outside of Ann Arbor Michigan had a contract with the county government to develop all film from accident investigation to crime scene and everything else and that's what she had been doing. She was not only burned out, she was traumatized and becoming unhinged and needed to stop doing it. So here I am starting out my training and an hour in a package of negatives comes in from the detectives at a nearby town with a Greek name and they needed more prints. Humans are monsters.
Zelda Blue 2 years ago
I had 2 bad first days: First job was at a cheese and sausage shop in a mall. I arrived an hour before the store opened and was told that we search through all the cheese in the cases, find any with mold on them, scrape the mold off and rewrap them before putting them back for sale. That is a big NOPE for me, didn't go back. Next job was at a company that printed and sold legal forms. I was hired as customer service manager. I arrive, the president of the company says, glad you are here, hands me a catalog of forms, points at my desk says he has to go to a meeting will be back soon. The minute he leaves the phone rings, I am like a deer in the headlights afraid to pick up the phone because I have no idea what to do. A couple of days later (yes I came back after the first day) they came and took our garbage dumpster because we hadn't paid the bill, then a man showed up to take the filing cabinets because we hadn't paid for those either. It was a very tough first week.
DiscoqueenJ 2 years ago
My niece went through a lengthy interview process for an internship two states away. She showed up on day 1 and they had nothing for her to do. By the end of week 1, she went to the school and asked to be reassigned. Why would you hire someone for an internship and then having nothing for them to do???
censorshipsucks 2 years ago (edited)
I think if they are going to copy/paste off reddit at least TLDR it.
Nikki Sevven 2 years ago
What I don't get is BP staff calling themselves 'writers' when all they do is copy and paste stuff that other people wrote.
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