Retail: where dreams go to die under fluorescent lights and forced smiles. It's not just a job, it’s emotional dodgeball with a name tag. Every shift is a test of patience, dignity, and bladder control. You clock in cheerful, clock out questioning humanity. Time slows, managers vanish, and customers… well, they come in hot. No breaks, no mercy, no escape.
This isn’t just work, it’s psychological warfare with a side of price checks. Think your 9-to-5 is rough? Wait ‘til you hear what these poor souls survived. Spoiler: You’ll never look at a receipt the same way again.
1
Dollar Store Nepo-Babies Fired Me
“Worked at a dollar store run by a couple with kids hanging out. Got chided for interacting with kids, too slow at checkout, and fired so they could hire a relative.”
2
Mask Shamed, Got Hospitalized
“I wear a mask due to chronic illness and vulnerable loved ones, but constantly get questioned by coworkers and managers. One manager implied masking meant I wasn’t fit to work, so I stopped: got COVID and nearly hospitalized."
3
CBD: Can't Be Dealing With You (Again)
“Worst job was a CBD shop, not the store or customers, but two crazy micromanaging old women running it. Lasted two days. Don’t play that game or talk to me like I’m an idiot.”
4
Sign Spinner, Soul Spinner
“Worked as a sign spinner for a vape shop run by young college kids who got stoned and played video games all day. The manager would close the store to work out, leaving me alone with angry customers. They cut my hours and made me work six days a week.”
5
Goodwill? Not So Much.
“Worked at Goodwill: Older staff dumped all the work on younger employees. One creepy guy obsessed over me, falsely accused me of age discrimination, and harassed me at the register. Management was abusive, played favorites, and retaliated when I reported them.”
6
Tourist Trap, Employee Nightmare
“Worked at a cheap tourist trap. One manager got the job through nepotism: her aunt was the store manager. A 25-year-old coworker obsessed over her constantly. Not illegal, but super weird. He micromanaged everyone.”
7
Radio Shack (ed to Death)
“I was a manager of a Radio Shack. No support from the DM. Low pay and the company was falling apart. Hated every minute.”
8
Online Pickup, Offline Sanity
“Working in Online Pickup: Customers treat our area like it’s for everything because of a flashy TV. Manager refuses to let us post signs, so people cut lines and get angry when corrected. Pickups are supposed to be priority, but in-store customers lose it if we can’t help immediately.”
9
Sam’s Club vs. Ace Hardware: Battle of the Miserables
“Tie between Sam’s Club and Ace Hardware. Sam’s was just Walmart with pressure to upsell or get in trouble, hated it. Ace could’ve been fine, but the franchise owners were miserable. Asked one how she was doing, got: “Terrible, don’t talk to me.” Worst people I’ve ever met.”
10
Head Office, Brain Dead
“Head office makes terrible decisions that hurt customers, then expects us to take the backlash. They also push us to bribe customers for good Google reviews.”
11
Surveillance, Stalking, and Side-Eye
“Worked at Plato’s Closet at 16 for $9/hr. Owner was a clueless micromanager watching through cameras and sending passive-aggressive texts. Managers were worse, one made me follow POC shoppers to “prevent stealing,” and they talked behind my back, calling me dumb.”
12
Manager Duties, Cashier Pay
“Did the daily work of a 2IC and skilled tech, but got paid minimum wage like a cashier. Tons of extra responsibility and stress, with zero extra pay.”
13
HR: Harassment & Ridicule
“Worked at a small, tight-knit company where if you weren’t in the inner circle, you were ignored. HR was a joke: gossiped and laughed if you raised issues. My manager hired her creepy husband, who sexually harassed me and was openly homophobic.”
14
Open Hours? What Are Those?
“Worked in a kiosk. No doors, so customers harass us during opening and closing, ignoring store hours. We get abused for not helping while off the clock, and we’re not paid to set up early. No one comes in early, so we’re always scrambling to open while people demand service.”
15
12 Years a Grocer
“Worked 12 years at a grocery chain with unsupportive management. Customers always got their way despite policies, which was soul-crushing. Decent pay but left me hating people.”
16
Dollar Store Drama, Directed by Chaos Itself
“Worked at a dollar store run by a sheltered trophy wife with zero real-world experience. Two assistant managers constantly fought: one was bipolar and off her meds, the other had a grade 7 education and a passive-aggressive superiority complex.”
17
Lowe’s, Lower Morale
“Department supervisor at Lowes for under a year. Upper management ran it like boot camp. Store manager was physically and verbally abusive with anger issues. My assistant manager boss was mean and threw me under the bus.”
18
Hobby Lobby: No Scanners, No Sense
“Worked at Hobby Lobby. As a visually impaired cashier, I struggled with their no-scanner policy, they believe barcodes are the "mark of the beast." I was slow and made mistakes, then got yelled at by a mean assistant manager. The store manager was creepy.”
19
Plato’s Closet: Broken Bones, Broken Spirit
“Working at Plato’s Closet: customers were awful, bringing in filthy clothes and complaining about low payouts, but employees took all the blame. After a car accident giving me a broken wrist and concussion. Assistant manager threatened “consequences” if I didn’t come in. I didn’t show up and got fired, told I had no future.”
20
Coach House Gifts: Theft, Parties, and Pink Slips
“Worked at Coach House Gifts, which was riddled with employee theft. I enforced strict money-handling rules and fired the assistant manager for leaving the safe open while partying with friends. After a missing deposit, all employees confessed and were fired.”
21
Sun Foods, No Fun, No Schedule, Just Screaming
“Worked at Sun Foods grocery: no schedules, forced full-time hours while in college. New cashiers got favors; I got punished for being late. Supervisor bullied me; GM ignored me and accused me of stealing. Got laid off unfairly. Old coworkers now avoid me.”
22
Tractor Supply 2: Electric Misery Boogaloo
“Worked four years at Tractor Supply, horrible experience. Went through six managers who ignored safety, played favorites, and tried blaming me for missing money (it was a shift leader). They severely underpaid for the workload.”
23
Grocery Boss Goes Full Karen
“At 19, I managed a department at a discount grocery for $8.25/hr. The wife-boss accused me of missing inventory and constantly found faults. She once screamed at me in front of customers.”
24
A&W: Abuse & Whiplash
“Worked at a family-run A&W franchise, ignoring corporate rules. One boss was an arranged-marriage moron; another hired women just to intimidate them. Customers were rough: one woman threw her breakfast at me over how I cooked her eggs. The job led to a nervous breakdown.”
25
Tractor Supply, Zero Support
“Cashier at Tractor Supply: blamed for everything, even radio system glitches. Stockers ignored me while I dealt with long lines. Called for propane help, no one showed, got blamed. Yelled at for missing online orders they could easily see. Young, mean managers treated me like I was slow.”
26
CVS: Crying Via Screaming
“Worked as a CVS pharmacy tech. Didn’t face the worst abuse, but on my last day, I got yelled at by five different people in five hours for things I couldn’t control: like missing prescriptions, insurance issues, or delays at other stores.”
27
Lost in Translation... and Screamed At Anyway
“Worked at a small health food store owned by a German couple. Their thick accents made communication tough, but I understood when she screamed: “YOU’RE STUPID!” She blamed me for misplacing something I hadn’t even worked on the day before.”
28
London Drugs, But Make It Trauma
“Worked at London Drugs, Canada’s “best” company, but what a joke. Managers were there 10+ years, and Karen (yes, really) screamed at me on the sales floor during a Christmas rush, in front of 30 people. I quit immediately.”
29
CBD: Can't Be Doing This
“Worked a month at a mom-and-pop CBD store. Owner micromanaged and never gave prices, so customers waited. Asked for a price list, told it was “above my pay grade.” Got a write-up for covering overtime I cleared with the owner. Quit immediately and returned the key.”
30
Welcome to Journey’s: Here’s a Script and Soul Erosion
“Worked at Journey’s in the mall. Hated having to give the same scripted sales pitch to every customer, management forced it hard. Most just wanted to shop in peace, so I barely did it. Didn’t last long; the annoying sales tactics and a condescending boss made me quit.”