The summer job is a rite of passage for many kids, who are encouraged by their parents to get out of their hair and go and learn valuable lessons about responsibility, the value of money and hard work.
Whether you were saving for a bike, your first car, a prom dress or whatever, we all went in with high expectations of independence and feeling like a proper adult. However those expectations are not always met!
Jimmy Fallon did us all a service by asking people to share their worst summer job experiences in one of his legendary hashtag challenges. Needless to say, there are some absolute classics in there! Scroll down to check out a list of Bored Panda's favorites below, and feel free to share your own in the comments!
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Yeah, this one is just sad. I worked a lot in care and the woman probably had dementia. I could list about 100 more [and far worse] of these 'funny' stories but to me they are just sad and it isn't anything special either.
I can't imagine it paid well, but I don't see how this would be a bad job. Heck, sign me up
"Commitment to the community"? What kind of geniuses come up with notions like this? What a load of horse pucky. Starting a business isn't a commitment to a community. If anything it's a commitment to ones self. There's no commitment unless he was paid in advance. Highly unlikely in a service business like lawn mowing.
I worked for a service drive of a dealership when I was 19. Every man that came to the window would ask to see a manager for an explanation of their bill instead of asking me...even after I told them that I was the one that processed and coded their bill (meaning I had to know how to diagnose and fix any mechanical issues with the cars.) The revenge came one day when I told the guy that I needed to explain some thing about his new engine. He said "I'll talk to the service drive manager, honey." The manager didn't know what had been done. So the customer never got the note that he shouldn't take the car over 55 for the first 500 miles to give the seals time to set. He called less than an hour later to say his engine had blown out from under the hood and all over the freeway. Guess that sexist stereotyping finally jumped up and bit you in the a*s, didn't it honey!
Why would a 14 year old need a babysitter? Unless he was special needs which would be a more legit explanation for the adult diapers I suppose
I actually worked at a French Bakery one summer in Pike Place Market in Seattle. Every week I'd have the same customer, Antonio, come in and tell me I was beautiful, he'd sweep me away to Italy some day and that doing this would make him the happiest man on Earth. The problem was..he said this to every young girl at the shop.
Why the f**k weren't you allowed to use the owner's toilet. This is just cruel.
yes we are, but you need to hold up this 9 iron for 15 minutes before i let you in...
I babysat kids that would give me $20-$50 to take them to get ice cream, go to the pool, and so on. The boy once offered be $500 to NOT tell his parents he locked me on the roof. He was 10 at the time and actually had that cash to hand me. I haven't seen that much cash in one place since then...
What the hell is wrong with people?! Crapping their pants , doing gross personal things in public??
Are you surprised? Abercrombie and Tommy Hilfiger are the same. They say the will not make plus size clothing because they only want their clothes on beautiful people.
I was okay, until the last phrase. Sorry to laugh! I would've totally bought some of your artwork.
oh wow. I might threaten to call the police - just like you would if an adult was threatening you I guess. :S
I once had a professor in college tell us to write down the grade we think we deserved in the class. I put "B" bc I felt the B I was already earning was fair. I was the only one who didn't know it was his last semester and had stopped grading after midterms. So everyone got A's - except me with my B. That day, I learned lying can get you farther in life.
Thank God the police have their own photo processing labs..or I guarantee it would be way way worse.
I had a boss that trained me how to do all the daily and weekly processing of tickets for a propane company in a matter of 1 hour..during peak season...the day before she was due to leave for a managers convention in San Diego for a week...leaving me to man the office on my own with 4 very belligerent and uncooperative drivers and a slew of pissed off customers. I'm surprised I didn't light a match on my last day. #TalkAboutFired.
People don't want to buy knives from door to door salespeople.
We had a French exchange student at my school who was in my English class and all he did in there was watch porn. Seriously. You're in an English class in an English speaking country. Couldn't you at least listen out of respect for the teacher if not your own learning?
Every day? Did she not eventually get bored of it? Your sister sounds like she had way too much time on her hands.
A BRA IS NOT A GIANT POUCH!!! Also, women's clothing needs more pockets.
this is not a "worst summer job", this is "failing at following the directions you were given" and "sucking at doing your job".
If he'd done it these days, he'd have been tossed out, publicly humiliated, divorced and unemployed. And in my case, he would have had hospital bills too...
Grew up in Ohio farm country. I can confirm, this is just about the worst smell. Although, processing seafood can't be much better.
Did you hear about a washing machine or washing with soap with your hands?
Wow. I'll bet there are a lot of levels of disturbing to this kid's story.
Before a school dance performance I sprained my ankle and thought I'd get out of it. Nope. My teacher had the great idea of getting me to blow bubbles before the start of the dance. I limped to the front, with a pissed off expression and blew a few bubbles to the bewilderment of the audience before limping off now seriously pissed off..... That trauma was over 30 years ago and I haven't forgotten it so I really feel for you!!
I'd be of two minds on how to respond to this. On the one hand, I'd want to not get involved ("Well, different people have different reasons. You'd have to ask the adults in question.") On the other hand, I'd want to mess with them ("So that the sex monsters who live in the drain can help out.")
Your life must be incredibly easy if this is the worst job experience you've had.
If I was your mother, I would've had some stern words for your abusive boss. Threats, actually.
Should have sold Tri-Stars. In the end, I got $400 per machine sold. I sold about 4-5 a week, and I was 20 years old.
Would've made more sense to send you 5 rows BACK (the rows already done), wouldn't it?
Good thing none of your patients got into the rat poison---the neighboring business would've had a huge lawsuit on their hands!
I would've asked him if HE was going to eat it, to prove his point. Then sit back for the fun.
That's why I just don't buy that kind of thing at convenience stores...
Hope your parents gave your neighbor a talking-to about child labor laws.
You should have patted her condescendingly on the head and said "There, there, chill out" 😂
Not what you'd expect to be part of the job description of an educator...
Weird, since that doesn't get rid of the weeds---they have to be pulled out root and all. Sounds like your uncle was a d**k.
Guess mom never learned the lessons her parents taught her. Or she thought she was being funny (she wasn't, btw)
Sounds a lot like my summer job in 2016... worked as a cashier at the local convenience store, only they didn't train me well enough, so they just gave up on me and ended up making me clean the bathrooms and floor every day, along with stocking items... that and they only gave me about 3 hours every two weeks >:(
I feel like that isn't the job's fault. Unless they didn't tell you in advance you'd be working with flames.
Just one anonymous call to the Health Department would've solved that problem
better of in the kitchen than being front of house dealing with a*****e customers
Would've been funny if that same kid then started digging in the sand at that exact spot. Poetic justice.
Should've called the Health Department on her instead---or threatened to.
Amazing how some companies think that an extra $2/week before taxes could qualify as a "maximum raise". Maybe for 1930...
You could parlay that into very high wages for jobs no one else can do. That is, if you want to...
I would've lasted 5 minutes working for a micromanaging a*****e like that.
i have a feeling thats how it is with any conveyor line job, had same types a nightmares about the battery factory and also meatpacking plant.
sorry but you are an idiot, if your talking about a microwave anyway, if not then my bad,
i wouldnt tweet this lol, wouldnt the religious police arrest you for bad mouthing the republic or something?
tbh id rather deal with a woman if going to a male dominated place like mechanic or hardware store etc, usually if a woman is there she knows her stuff and has an interest in it etc.
I apologize in advance. Cutting cheese? Did it smell like Limburger? I'll let myself out now.
we still haven't gone back there after the TV incident. basically, we went there when i was little, and either it was a really weird ad or a movie but some serial killer thing started playing on the tv, i remember crying in my mom's arms while the employees frantically changed the channel
Should've reported him, or at least given his number to your father to call.
oh hell the fother mucking NO, id have made damn sure the idiot was blamed and woulda decked him hard. as an ex chef, i know all about these dangers. they coulda f*****g died
seeing a hamster in a bathroom couldn't have been THAT bad... hamsters are cute! X3
Am I missing something here? How is this bad, and why would you feel guilty?
You should've called the cops, or at least to,d your parents---especially if you were underage.
It seems like you need to go back to school and learn how to write properly.
So you made the jobs of people who made minimum wage even more miserable by taunting them? I hope Karma is a real b***h for you.
My first summer job - chambermaid at a local hotel age 14 on 35p per hour (that would buy you 10 cigarettes back then) The owner would "inspect" rooms before we cleaned them and pocket any tips left for us
When I was about twelve, an older boy said to me he could blow cigarette smoke out of his ears. He took a cigarette, inhaled, and asked me to push on his tummy with both my hands. I did, and he pushed the burning tip of the cigarette on my hand. I still have the scar to prove it.
My first summer job was taking care of my neighbors cats, and her fish. One cat slept all the time, the other would violently attack anyone who came within 4 feet of her. I got a lot of scratches on my legs during that job. One of the cats threw up a hairball on the carpet and I had to clean it best I could. Keep in mind I was 12. I also was new to the concept of feeding fish, and, not having been instructed how to feed them, I overfed the fish and 4 of them died. Not fun, but I was paid 20 dollars and got a gift card to a fancy pizza place so i guess it worked out ok
You know, a lot of these aren't bad jobs, they're bad OPs, or bad OP's friends, or bad "yeah that was a bad thing to happen to you but that's just life, sometimes you drop something on your foot & dislocate your toe, it doesn't mean that the job is bad".
A previous job - I came in with over 40 clips in my arm from a shattered elbow and operation - to get the disciplinary for having time off sick
I worked at Panda Express for a few months in high school, and someone from the morning shift turned the temperature of the teriyaki sauce way higher than it should have been and no one noticed. At one point during my shift it got super busy and it was just me and my manager working behind the counter, so in my hurry to fill a container of the (220 degree F) sauce I accidentally poured it all over my arm and hand. I stupidly wiped it on my apron and tried to tough it out and finish ringing up the customer before rinsing it off... I finished the rest of my shift trying to hold back tears with bright red, blistering second degree burns.
My first summer job I was 15 and worked with my then step dad framing houses. I got paid under the table which was good money, BUT, since I was the only girl on the job site and the youngest, they decided to mess with me. I was told to go around the to the other houses and ask to borrow their board stretcher. I did, they laughed, I got humiliated. Also, my step brother shot a frog in the leg on the ground with a nail gun and I cried.
When I was 16, I worked for a park and the cub scouts would camp there once per year. I was responsible for cleaning the toilets, which usually wasn't that bad, but the boys bathroom the following morning was covered from floor to ceiling in feces. There were even shoe prints on stall walls and on toilet seats in poop.
My "summer job"(close enough) was tutoring some kids(still do sometimes but only have one left and that's because he my teaching, have a perma-job but don't have the heart to dump him on some other boring tutor lol)...had a girl once who was really sweet but really really REALLY bad at Maths. She wasn't stupid per se but the things people'd normally grasp within a minute took her hours of doing it over and over again til she finally got it down. As our scheduled time is running out I realize we're making progress but will need more time to finish this so I call her mum and we talk it over and she's all like "yes absolutely, if you need more time so be it I'll pay for it ofc" and this eventually ends with each of our lessons being ~1.5 hours instead of 1 we'd originally arranged(the girl is all for it and we have talked this with her mother multiple times and she'd always agree if it's necessary, it's necessary).
My first summer job - chambermaid at a local hotel age 14 on 35p per hour (that would buy you 10 cigarettes back then) The owner would "inspect" rooms before we cleaned them and pocket any tips left for us
When I was about twelve, an older boy said to me he could blow cigarette smoke out of his ears. He took a cigarette, inhaled, and asked me to push on his tummy with both my hands. I did, and he pushed the burning tip of the cigarette on my hand. I still have the scar to prove it.
My first summer job was taking care of my neighbors cats, and her fish. One cat slept all the time, the other would violently attack anyone who came within 4 feet of her. I got a lot of scratches on my legs during that job. One of the cats threw up a hairball on the carpet and I had to clean it best I could. Keep in mind I was 12. I also was new to the concept of feeding fish, and, not having been instructed how to feed them, I overfed the fish and 4 of them died. Not fun, but I was paid 20 dollars and got a gift card to a fancy pizza place so i guess it worked out ok
You know, a lot of these aren't bad jobs, they're bad OPs, or bad OP's friends, or bad "yeah that was a bad thing to happen to you but that's just life, sometimes you drop something on your foot & dislocate your toe, it doesn't mean that the job is bad".
A previous job - I came in with over 40 clips in my arm from a shattered elbow and operation - to get the disciplinary for having time off sick
I worked at Panda Express for a few months in high school, and someone from the morning shift turned the temperature of the teriyaki sauce way higher than it should have been and no one noticed. At one point during my shift it got super busy and it was just me and my manager working behind the counter, so in my hurry to fill a container of the (220 degree F) sauce I accidentally poured it all over my arm and hand. I stupidly wiped it on my apron and tried to tough it out and finish ringing up the customer before rinsing it off... I finished the rest of my shift trying to hold back tears with bright red, blistering second degree burns.
My first summer job I was 15 and worked with my then step dad framing houses. I got paid under the table which was good money, BUT, since I was the only girl on the job site and the youngest, they decided to mess with me. I was told to go around the to the other houses and ask to borrow their board stretcher. I did, they laughed, I got humiliated. Also, my step brother shot a frog in the leg on the ground with a nail gun and I cried.
When I was 16, I worked for a park and the cub scouts would camp there once per year. I was responsible for cleaning the toilets, which usually wasn't that bad, but the boys bathroom the following morning was covered from floor to ceiling in feces. There were even shoe prints on stall walls and on toilet seats in poop.
My "summer job"(close enough) was tutoring some kids(still do sometimes but only have one left and that's because he my teaching, have a perma-job but don't have the heart to dump him on some other boring tutor lol)...had a girl once who was really sweet but really really REALLY bad at Maths. She wasn't stupid per se but the things people'd normally grasp within a minute took her hours of doing it over and over again til she finally got it down. As our scheduled time is running out I realize we're making progress but will need more time to finish this so I call her mum and we talk it over and she's all like "yes absolutely, if you need more time so be it I'll pay for it ofc" and this eventually ends with each of our lessons being ~1.5 hours instead of 1 we'd originally arranged(the girl is all for it and we have talked this with her mother multiple times and she'd always agree if it's necessary, it's necessary).