34 replies to this topic

[Aluchem]

For the last 5 months or so I have worked the night shift at a service station, this is an interim job until I finish my qualification to become a Shotfirer (the guy who blows stuff up on mine sites). The advantages to the job are the relatively high income from a job that requires no prior qualifications ($25 an hour), and only working three nights a week, giving me 40K a year for 31 hours worked. The negatives are long, antisocial hours (10 or 11 hour shifts), boredom and dealing with some truly crazy people.

Because of a few recent events I thought I would share some of my experiences from working there:

1) I have had multiple shoplifters of course. Typically I lock them in the store until they put the stuff back, usually receiving a few death threats in the process. On one memorable occasion I had two teenage girls banging on the door to be let out while screaming that I had taken them hostage

2) Every now and then you get a psycho, I've had customers just completely lose their nut at me for some reason or another. One time it was because I smiled in greeting a regular customer, the woman (not the regular) thought I was in some way mocking her. On another occasion I had a customer outside fling a station squeegee at the window full force because I 'looked' at him.

3) I've had two customers start a fist fight in the store, I had to bring out the baseball bat that we keep below the counter to get rid of them.

4) Someone tried to mug our delivery driver outside my window, I had to bring the bat out again and chase him off.

5) I've had two drunk under age girls try to buy cigarettes, when they got refused they stole a shopping trolley from somewhere and rode it through the station concourse harassing customers. They tried to steal a traffic cone and literally ran away screaming when I walked outside (no bat).

6) The toilets are now locked at night. That's because someone decided to smear human shit all over the walls, on another occasion someone stole a two litre bottle of oil from the shelf and tipped it all over the floor. Thankfully I wasn't the one that had to clean up either of those messes.

7) I have had a customer come in with his laptop and ask me for tech support because "My kids have done something to my computer and now I can't get Youporn to work, I just want some private time". He had no shame whatsoever, talked like he was asking me for cigarettes. So I spent 5 minutes or so trying to fix his computer while desperately avoiding reading his 'search requests'.

8) And last night. This is the one that prompted me to write this post because it's just so nuts. Around 12:45am I had two cars pull up, each with two people in the car. One of the cars parks on a pump and the driver fills up while his passenger waits in the store to pay, meanwhile the other car has pulled up near the first and the occupants are having a conversation with the other driver. The passenger for the car filling up pays for the fuel and walks towards the exit.

Without warning the second car moves past the first car, gets about 20 metres away, stops and then accelerates at full speed reversing directly into the middle of the first car. Knocking it about three metres sideways directly into a petrol pump. I'm shocked but I still take down the number plate quickly, I follow the occupants of the first car out and ask them if they want me to call the police. They tell me "No, we will sort it out". This raises a big red flag for me so as they pull away (amazingly the car runs) I take their plates down and then call the police. Meanwhile the supporting pillion for the pump is bent on an angle and the pump is dented but luckily not leaking fuel.

When the police show up I learn from them that they caught the first car (the one that got hit) and the occupants tried to run away, throwing a backpack into the bushes as they do so. The cops caught one of them and find the bag, inside is a 'burglar kit' with lockpicks, crowbars, balaclavas, a slingshot and assorted other equipment. They also search the car and find an unregistered semi-automatic pistol (Semi-auto weapons are illegal in Australia except under strict circumstances, carrying concealed guns is a BIG deal here).

What baffles me is not just what happened, it's the fact that it was done apparently without regard in a well lit, camera covered public place, in full view of everyone present.

9) It's worth mentioning also that last night at another of our service stations a four wheel drive crashed into a pump at high speed, setting the canopy roof on fire. When police searched the car they found a massive stash of drugs.

So there you have it, thank god I've only got two months to go.

Think your job is bad? I'd love to hear some of it

[Sancho]

!!!!

I love my job... now more than ever.

[Seelen Jager]

I had the first part of number 6 happen to me working at a miniature golf course.  A little kid come out of the bathroom... idk how of the shit got where it was but it did.  The parent expressed no remorse.

[Yamir Ke'Shark]

Never did graveyard shift back in the day, although a friend of mine does still and some of his mroe colourfull stories involve drunk girls doing a strip tease on the counter, girls in tank tops thinking they are a worm and wriggling through the shop, as well as attempted robberies and the like (he's a REALLY big guy and threw one fo the attackers out through the front glass window).

Personal experience however..  (I used to do the 4pm till 10pm shift at a 24hr station), human excrement up to your waist in the toilets on a regular basis (thankfully I've never had to clean that up).
But i still think the best one is the police car pulling up in front, cops getting out, putting on vests and strapping on side arms (NZ police do not carry firearms unless in exceptional circumstances) and filling up their car.  When one of them wanders in I ask "so.. what's up", and he responds "Oh we had a couple of guys escape from the police station so we're here in case they come this way", and then jokingly asking "ah, what were they in for" to which the response was.. "armed robbery of petrol stations".  I look at him, then look at the 16yr old student working the 2-8pm shift next to me, she decidedly looked.. green.

People trying to buy petrol and putting it in empty methylated spirits containers or coke bottles.

Now at one of the other stations (the owner had three, I worked at all as needed with regular shifts at one of them).  Opening the shop one morning and finding half the forecourt covered in blood (gang HQ around the corner to the left, police station around the corner to the right).

"Hot-boxing" Cars driving up, winding down the window and trying to buy petrol..

So yeah, I remember those days when I was way younger..

[feriluce]

I worked in a service station at night for a few months, but not living in crazy land I didnt have any especially bad episodes, apart from cutting halfway through my finger while slicing bread.
I wouldn't excactly recommend it however, 7 days in a row with 10 hour shifts really take its toll, even when you have a week off afterwards. Its also mindnumbingly boring.

[Razires]

I had a job working in a bar once with some pretty weird night gigs. Nothing as bad as that, but I did have a particularly bad experience with a rocker who decided to strip down to a pair of assless chaps and get up close and personal with me - I resisted with due force!

Oh, and on one halloween night the mens communal urinal overflooded and leaked into the celling of the basement dance floor area mid-concert. No one seemed to notice... even the bar staff to a point. We were a little busy serving customers and clearing up the waterfall of puke that once was the stairs to the basement.

[Dior Saursi]

I worked at a small town grocery store near a fairly large resort area. I worked all shifts, but I worked frequently at night either stocking or cashiering. I've had to call the cops on shoplifters, domestic disputes, people passing out drunk, public nudity, and even more.

[xikorita]

Pics?

[Mr M]

Aluchem, on 13 February 2012 - 12:18 AM, said:

7) I have had a customer come in with his laptop and ask me for tech support because "My kids have done something to my computer and now I can't get Youporn to work, I just want some private time". He had no shame whatsoever, talked like he was asking me for cigarettes. So I spent 5 minutes or so trying to fix his computer while desperately avoiding reading his 'search requests'.

I should do this just to weird people out

[Brititos]

Can we have live feed from your security cameras? Ideally with sound

[Othran]

Worked as a hotel manager for a while years ago, did a few nights when there was no option. Been stabbed once (not too seriously), nearly got prosecuted there as I threw the guy down a flight of stairs after he stabbed me (yes the UK police are that shite). On another occasion some guests demolished a block wall between two rooms so they could have a party. Had the Millwall travelling support in once (their girlfriends/wives booked for them so we wouldn't know). That turned into a running battle with Leicester fans which required 80+ police to sort things out. Drunks and whores are pretty much normal.

I thoroughly recommend not working in a hotel in the UK - too many of the population are chav scum.

[Silas]

25$ for 10-11 hour night shifts? That's not my idea of high income, but mileage varies I guess. Also I assume everything you buy is cheaper in Australia (BigMac index )...

[feriluce]

Silas, on 13 February 2012 - 09:44 AM, said:

25$ for 10-11 hour night shifts? That's not my idea of high income, but mileage varies I guess.

It HIGHLY depends on your country. Here, for example, 25$ is barely above minimum wage.

[Luzxz]

If $25 is minimum wage i need to start hassling my boss for a better pay rate.

[Challenger70]

I deliver pizzas for a family owned Pizzeria here in Bernalillo/Rio Rancho. Often times I get people partying offering me drinks (COME IN! HAVE A BEER!) or some reefer (You toke it up?). I'm like: Seriously? FUCK YEAH I'LL COME IN (Hehehehe, not really, but I've been tempted)

[Aluchem]

The typical wage for unskilled work in Australia is around $16-$19 dollars an hour. I'm on around 40K a year for part time work atm, when I'm qualified as a shotfirer I'll be upgrading to around 90 - 110K a year

[Azual]

Aluchem, on 13 February 2012 - 11:30 PM, said:

The typical wage for unskilled work in Australia is around $16-$19 dollars an hour. I'm on around 40K a year for part time work atm, when I'm qualified as a shotfirer I'll be upgrading to around 90 - 110K a year

When you consider the cost of living difference as well as the exchange rate, Aussie minimum wage is ridiculously good compared to over here. Prices are roughly the same in Aussie dollars as they would be in £ over here, but our minimum wage is £5 something.

[Greygal]

The minimum wage in the US is $7.25 an hour - which is around 5.50 Euros, £4.61, or AUS6.75.   A typical night-clerk at a service station earns minimum wage - maybe $8.00 if they are lucky.  

I've never had #7 happen on a job... but all the others, I've had happen or very similar experiences.  

I've worked so many jobs I'm not even sure where to start ... some of the stranger ones include driving a taxi in Denver, Colorado, bartending during Spring Break in Ft Lauderdale, Florida, and chasing bears in Sequoia National Park, California.  

Never forget the time one of those bears false-charged me... had to throw away a perfectly good pair of pants...

Drove taxi in Denver for almost two years, mostly part-time... one time a guy got in my cab and said "take me to Lake Tahoe."  "I don't know a club named Lake Tahoe..." "No, no, the city.  My connecting flight got cancelled and I'm not waiting any longer to get home." I looked at him like he was crazy, then he threw his credit card and ten $100 bills onto my seat, said "that should show I'm good for it, wake me when we get there" stretched out on the seat and fell asleep.  

Dispatch was floored, needless to say.  Since we didn't have GPS in the taxis back then (this was 1998) nor did I have a cell phone, Dispatch actually phoned area taxi companies on my route that I was to check in with as I entered their service areas.  Just in case.  

He woke up only once during the next 18 hours that it took me to drive there, during one of my stops for gas, and did not wake up again till I woke him when I hit the city limits.  He directed me to his house, when we got there he told me to put the entire fare on his credit card.  I did, and as I handed him his $1000 back, he said "Keep it.  You earned it.  Have a safe trip home."

Damn it though, I had to dead-head back to Denver... sigh...

Total fare was $2058 and change.   I pulled into a Motel Six and slept around 20 or so hours, straight.  After food, hotel, fuel  and dispatch fees, I pocketed just over $1,500 - plus the $1,000 tip.  I used the money a few weeks later to buy a used 1996 Geo Metro - first car I ever owned that actually wasn't a junker from the get-go.  Loved that car, still miss it, especially the wonderful gas mileage! Drove that car for the next six years, put over 380,000 miles on it before I traded it in for my 2000 Ford Focus... which I drove until the engine blew up as I was moving to Vegas last year.

[Goodvibes]

I know a London taxi driver who has - not once, but twice - had someone get in his cab and asked him to take them to Paris.

[Silas]

Goodvibes, on 14 February 2012 - 02:10 AM, said:

I know a London taxi driver who has - not once, but twice - had someone get in his cab and asked him to take them to Paris.

lol nice... If the price is right, though, what is the problem?

I know people that have taken a taxi from Oslo to Bergen. That's over 500 km. Naturally they payed a LOT for it, somewhere around 1000-1200$ I believe. But I mean, if you have to go, your job is paying and there are no planes or trains available etc.

EDIT: Missed GG's post... That's quite a trip lol

[Othran]

Azual, on 14 February 2012 - 12:14 AM, said:

Aluchem, on 13 February 2012 - 11:30 PM, said:

The typical wage for unskilled work in Australia is around $16-$19 dollars an hour. I'm on around 40K a year for part time work atm, when I'm qualified as a shotfirer I'll be upgrading to around 90 - 110K a year

When you consider the cost of living difference as well as the exchange rate, Aussie minimum wage is ridiculously good compared to over here. Prices are roughly the same in Aussie dollars as they would be in £ over here, but our minimum wage is £5 something.

Indeed and people get sacked when they reach 21 to save pennies - the Co-op supermarkets for example have a policy of only employing part-time workers under the age of 18 at weekends, then sacking them 3 months before they reach 21. Chemists (Drug stores for yanks etc) are the absolute worst for this as they must have someone other than the pharmacist over the age of 21 in the shop at all times. Its like a bad game of pass the parcel where the parcel is you getting sacked.

[Othran]

Goodvibes, on 14 February 2012 - 02:10 AM, said:

I know a London taxi driver who has - not once, but twice - had someone get in his cab and asked him to take them to Paris.

Its reasonably common for London taxi drivers to do runs to Scotland for clueless tourists. No joke. Costs about £800 round trip (meter must go off when you leave London, so you agree fare in advance), which given the insanity of UK rail fares probably isn't bad for 3 people.

[Azual]

Silas, on 14 February 2012 - 02:20 AM, said:

Goodvibes, on 14 February 2012 - 02:10 AM, said:

I know a London taxi driver who has - not once, but twice - had someone get in his cab and asked him to take them to Paris.

lol nice... If the price is right, though, what is the problem?

The water?

[Silas]

Othran, on 14 February 2012 - 09:36 PM, said:

Azual, on 14 February 2012 - 12:14 AM, said:

Aluchem, on 13 February 2012 - 11:30 PM, said:

The typical wage for unskilled work in Australia is around $16-$19 dollars an hour. I'm on around 40K a year for part time work atm, when I'm qualified as a shotfirer I'll be upgrading to around 90 - 110K a year

When you consider the cost of living difference as well as the exchange rate, Aussie minimum wage is ridiculously good compared to over here. Prices are roughly the same in Aussie dollars as they would be in £ over here, but our minimum wage is £5 something.

Indeed and people get sacked when they reach 21 to save pennies - the Co-op supermarkets for example have a policy of only employing part-time workers under the age of 18 at weekends, then sacking them 3 months before they reach 21. Chemists (Drug stores for yanks etc) are the absolute worst for this as they must have someone other than the pharmacist over the age of 21 in the shop at all times. Its like a bad game of pass the parcel where the parcel is you getting sacked.

And that's legal? That would never fly here....

Azual, on 14 February 2012 - 09:50 PM, said:

Silas, on 14 February 2012 - 02:20 AM, said:

Goodvibes, on 14 February 2012 - 02:10 AM, said:

I know a London taxi driver who has - not once, but twice - had someone get in his cab and asked him to take them to Paris.

lol nice... If the price is right, though, what is the problem?

The water?

There's both ferries and a train-car-hoppalong thing tho right?

[starborn]

I worked at the 1-hr photo for several months.  One day this guy with some interesting tattoos and piercings comes in and asks if I can develop his pictures.  I should have known that he was really asking me something else.  So I get to work, and as the pictures are coming out, I realize that they're pictures of topless / naked girls with (I'm assuming his handywork) piercings.  He has quite a few- and for probably ten minutes the machine keeps spitting out pictures every few seconds.  So I'm standing in front of the machine, which is right by the exit, trying to block outcoming pics from view.  However, I also had the job of checkout, so when a customer would come by, I'd have to scan their items and move away from the machine spewing out pictures in plain view.  Naturally, I didn't mind the pictures so much- but that was rather conservative family store, and I was just waiting for someone to start screaming "What in God's name are you doing over there?!"

On another job, I was asked to throw away gold plated objects as well as diamonds.

And lastly, I took a visit around some labs and met some really nice people in this particular one.  One of the people that greeted me had this purple welt on half of her face, almost a cicle some 5-6 inch in diameter.  Didn't really think too much of it until another one of the people I spoke to had one on his arm.  And then a third person had one on his neck.  What is going on here?  Then it hit me- I was in a high energy laser lab.