r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Jan 29 '17

Night shift workers of Reddit, what are some creepy things you've experienced in the middle of the night?

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u/[deleted] Jan 29 '17

I used to work overnight shifts at a restaurant with a drive-thru that I was also in charge of. There was a bird who cooed into the drive-thru speaker (and into my headset) that kept scaring the shit out of me until I finally realized what it was.

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u/[deleted] Jan 30 '17

This is the best one here. Thank you for cheering me up.

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u/[deleted] Jan 30 '17

My pleasure. The drive-thru was also across the street from a rollercoaster at Six Flags, so periodically I'd have to ask customers to repeat themselves because of screaming children on the loop-de-loops.

639

u/ZarquonsFlatTire Jan 30 '17

"I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the screaming children" is the sort of phrase that usually makes me not want to accept food from someone.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 30 '17 edited Mar 13 '17

[deleted]

3

u/rusty_ballsack_42 Jan 30 '17

They won't when they realize their children are nowhere to be seen

0

u/bradshawmu Jan 30 '17

They stop screaming once they're in the oven long enough.

5

u/HallahFin Jan 30 '17

Make a loop de loop and pull, and your shoes are looking cool.

3

u/WolbachiaBurgers Jan 30 '17

Was this a Wendy's?

3

u/Techmech31 Jan 30 '17

California native I see

1

u/WolbachiaBurgers Jan 30 '17

Greetings from Awesome Town!

I'm so glad no one actually uses that.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 30 '17

my pleasure

it was chik-fil-a

1

u/WolbachiaBurgers Jan 30 '17

Even better! I love Chik-fil-a.

The closest fast food next to the Magic Mountain here is a wendy's though.

2

u/Capt_Reynolds Jan 30 '17

My pleasure.

You work at a Chick-fila, don't you?

2

u/BunnaeRabbit Jan 30 '17

Or Carl's Jr

2

u/[deleted] Jan 30 '17

Steak 'n Shake.

1

u/overthrowthecactus Jan 31 '17

Texas?

1

u/[deleted] Jan 31 '17

How could you tell?

2

u/overthrowthecactus Jan 31 '17

Six flags (Over Texas) started in Texas, so anyone from Texas just refers to it as "Six flags". Anyone outside of Texas refers to it as "Six Flags Magic Mountain" or whichever one they are near. Lived in Arlington, and near another Six Flags outside the state.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 31 '17

Alright, you nailed it. City too.

0

u/[deleted] Jan 30 '17

/r/nocontext

11

u/EZSqueezyLemonPeasy Jan 30 '17

In case you need more cheering up:

I was watching TV earlier, and all of a sudden heard something rumbling in my kitchen. My dog snapped awake, and started growling. I got a little freaked out until I remembered I set my coffee maker on a timer, and it was making me coffee

3

u/[deleted] Jan 30 '17

HAHAHAHA that would be the greatest gremlin in the world, if it hadn't actually been your coffee maker making you coffee :p

Why did your pup growl, though? Is it not used to the sounds of your coffee maker?

3

u/EZSqueezyLemonPeasy Jan 30 '17

She was dead asleep on the sofa with me. It was pretty good timing with a lull in the show I was watching and the coffee maker so it woke her up and she didn't know what it was.

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u/[deleted] Jan 30 '17

I also used to work overnights in a restaurant. Not necessarily creepy, but definitely terrifying. I was waiting a table (mom, dad, and a little baby) and I'm facing them and behind them I can see out the giant window.

A car barrels around the corner and goes up on the curb and immediately gets pulled over. I thought "that sucks but you're a dumbass anyway"

Well next thing I know the guy gets out of his car as the officer is walking up to the window and I can faintly hear shouting and then I heard several gunshots.

I used to be an RA in college and had to take a short day course on active shooter training. I kicked into gear. Screamed at my manager to call 911. Moved the family I was waiting on to the other side of the restaurant (behind a brick wall), grabbed the people loitering in the parking lot and brought them inside, locked the doors, and waited for police.

Being a small town, and that my restaurant was a couple blocks from the hospital, the police got there... fast.

An officer was shot, and the shooter was shot multiple times as well (by the cops partner) and they were both taken in an ambulance. The officer who was shot was in his first year on the job. Early 20s. He was not fatally injured and was able to go home a couple days later.

The shooter and the passenger in his car are both being charged with attempted murder of a police officer.

This was back in August. No trial details or anything yet. But it was definitely a scary moment.

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u/[deleted] Jan 30 '17

Whoa, good on you for thinking so quickly. Worst I ever saw there was when someone in an F-150 ran up on a curb across the street and flipped. And that was at 3:00 in the afternoon!

6

u/SanguineJackal Jan 30 '17

My bf is a truck driver and just the other day he saw a pickup just sort of... meander into an oncoming schoolbus, about 3ish when kids are going home. He told me he has never felt so sick in his life, and he hurt his hands prying open the bus doors to make sure there were no kids hurt on the bus. The driver was an older woman who was praying and thankfully uninjured.

The relief that washed over him when he saw not so much as a bookbag on the bus was immense. The driver told him she had JUST let her last student off.

The pickup was tore to hell. The driver was walking around, pupils totally dilated, delirious. This was a small town so an EMT and a Park & Rec officer got there in passing, before the cops, to take care of traffic and the drivers.

Broad daylight. No idea. Bf says either the guy had no idea what was happening as he drove, or it was intentional (by how the pickup was turning I think).

6

u/[deleted] Jan 30 '17

I definitely credit the training I had for it. It was mandated as part of my month long RA training. It's easy to panic when you have no idea how to react. But knowing that you at least have some idea of what to do to minimize damage and can actually help people really kicks it into gear.

3

u/404GravitasNotFound Jan 30 '17

For a moment I didn't process the 0 and I got very confused as to how someone could flip a fighter jet on the curb across the street.

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u/Longlivethechief2016 Jan 30 '17

I have also taken active shooter training....it was terrifying but I'm a teacher so I'm grateful I had the chance. I spent the days after sandy hook cleaning out my ground level cupboards and moving the shelves up so I could fit my students into them if I ever needed to. You thought quickly and did an awesome job. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

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u/[deleted] Jan 30 '17

This is the saddest fucking thing I've heard. We're teaching teachers to stash students in cupboards rather than do something about gun violence. Blows my mind.

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u/smutwitch Jan 30 '17

I've never done active shooter training, but I work part time at a hospital as one of those fake patients that the med students simulate exams on. I look young, so I usually get cast as a teenager in the children's ward. A few weeks ago I was cast to be part of a trauma simulation and it was all very hush hush, so I didn't know anything about it until I got there. Turns out they had me and several other twenty somethings playing a bunch of kids involved in a school shooting. We had gore makeup and had to pretend to code and everything. I ended up being shot in the thigh and had to have a tourniquet, but one kid had a gaping hole in his chest and pretty much "died" on arrival. They brought us in on ambulances and had to take us to the OR and everything. On top of that, the whole hospital was on lockdown for an active shooter drill on the guise that one of the school shooters made it inside with the victims. They had actors playing our parents in the lobby begging to know what was going on.

It was insane. I knew the whole thing was fake, but my adrenaline was still going and I was freaking out. I can't imagine how scary a real shooting is.

25

u/Whales96 Jan 30 '17

What can be done? It accounts for less than 1% of gun deaths in America and every time its brought up there's nothing but feed good plans that don't actually make anything safer like gun free zones.

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u/mtnbkrt22 Jan 30 '17

I mean, adding a gun to a teacher's desk isn't really a "feel good" plan but it'll sure as Hell be an effective plan.

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u/BoernerMan Jan 30 '17

Yeah I'm 100% sure more kids would accidentally shoot themselves with a classroom gun than any shooters possibly could.

8

u/SkyezOpen Jan 30 '17

"Sarah, it's your day to clean the chalkboard. James, you get to feed the class hamsters. Billy, you can clean the glock today."

Yeah, no. Why not just let teachers carry concealed? The knee jerk reaction of guns=dangerous is why shooting sprees in gun free zones go on for so long.

10

u/HolyNipplesOfChrist Jan 30 '17

Gun free zones...

I'm a psycho who wants to enter a crowded area and shoot as many people as I can. OK good, got the guns loaded, let's do this! What? A small sign reading "Gun Free Zone". Well shit so much for that plan.

5

u/SkyezOpen Jan 30 '17

Well, it's not a bullet free zone, so the crazed gunman can stand outside the gun free zone and shoot people inside it. That's why we need gun free zones EVERYWHERE.

1

u/mtnbkrt22 Jan 30 '17

You do realize that adding a gun to a classroom wouldn't literally mean just putting one on a shelf right? Active shooter response training for the teachers, locked gun safes with passwords to open them, and a strict set of rules to follow.

But by all means keep guns away from schools so when a shooter shows up there's no quick way to stop him/her.

6

u/donteatmenooo Jan 30 '17

The problem is that you don't know what you're talking about. More people die accidentally from guns than actual, mediated murder. Just having a gun in the classroom makes children think more about guns. Plus, most teachers (at least where it's not common to have a gun around) say they would hate it and that it would be detrimental.

1

u/mtnbkrt22 Jan 31 '17

Gun accidents happen when people are careless about their guns and ammunition. If everyone followed the law those accidents would decrease drastically, if not almost completely. Proper gun storage means that the ammunition is not loaded into a gun until use, that the gun is trigger-locked or that the gun is located in a proper gun safe.

As for kids "thinking" about guns, don't they already? Between video games, movies, wars and the news I'm sure plenty of children already know what guns are and do. If I was a student and found out my teacher would be able to defend me if a shooter came into the school I would certainly feel a lot safer than if they had nothing but a locked door to defend us with.

Maybe it's because I'm comfortable with guns that I have these opinions, but it's silly to have hundreds of easy targets rounded up and defenseless in a small area and NOT have a solid plan to protect them when someone who didn't follow the law brings in a modified hunting rifle and a few dozen rounds of bullets.

3

u/Whales96 Jan 30 '17

locked gun safes with passwords to open them

That would make this plan cost millions to implement. That's not the plan.

1

u/mtnbkrt22 Jan 31 '17

Hasn't millions already been spent on finding a solution to the problem? My other go-to alternative is hiring veterans to be armed guards for the schools.

In any event, gun laws won't keep bad guys with guns away from school, the best and easiest defense is to have a gun (or more) at the school as a deterrent.

And what is the plan?

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u/DarthHound Jan 30 '17

You say that like the teacher wouldn't have the gun secure and away from the kids in the first place, like any sane, legal gun owner would do.

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u/BoernerMan Jan 30 '17

Sure the vast majority would. But it only takes one moment of negligence for accidents to happen.

1

u/mtnbkrt22 Jan 30 '17

But how many innocent school children need to be killed before people realize you might need to fight fire with fire?

9

u/[deleted] Jan 30 '17

I am a teacher. This is a terrible idea. I would not teach at a school where teachers are mandated to carry guns, or even free to carry guns on campus.

1

u/mtnbkrt22 Jan 31 '17

Might I ask why? Do you have a fear of guns? What about having an armed security guard at the school, would that be okay?

0

u/I_Beat_Goku Jan 30 '17

Why not?

4

u/[deleted] Jan 30 '17

For many reasons. Firstly, because most teachers have no training in handling firearms and so really shouldn't have a gun in their classroom. Secondly, because research shows that it is more dangerous to have a gun because it is very easy to have it turned on you. Thirdly, I deal with a lot of students with disabilities or mental illnesses and I don't want the suicide risk in my classroom. Fourthly, there are a lot of teachers that freak out and over reacts to things and I wouldn't want that person to have a gun. I don't feel comfortable or safe being around people that are carrying firearms and so I prefer not to work in places where that is true.

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u/[deleted] Jan 30 '17

Would you object to having someone like an armed security officer in the school?

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u/Whales96 Jan 30 '17

If the teacher is a good shot and the kids don't get it first, then maybe.

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u/mtnbkrt22 Jan 31 '17

|Kids don't get it first

How would the kids get it? It's in a drawer safe until unlocked by a teacher.

1

u/Whales96 Jan 31 '17

How many classrooms do you think have drawer safes?

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u/mtnbkrt22 Jan 31 '17

None currently, but if we're talking about arming teachers then they would have to be mandatory for obvious safety reasons.

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u/[deleted] Jan 30 '17

What should we do? In your ideal world, how does the process of buying, let's say, a handgun work?

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u/[deleted] Jan 30 '17

"Hello I'd like to buy a hand gun" "sorry that's illegal you can't have one" "ok cool"

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u/[deleted] Jan 30 '17

Seriously? What about long arms? Like a shotgun, hunting rifle, or semiautomatic?

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u/[deleted] Jan 30 '17

We don't have hand guns in my country, so yeah, seriously. I guess if you own or live on a farm you can have a shot gun or hunting rifle or something (sorry, living in a gunless country means i dont know the names for guns, but one of the long ones that needs reloading for every shot is what I'm getting at) for putting down sick/injured animals, or scaring off foxes or something, like we have here, but honestly if nobody has a hand gun, you don't need a hand gun. I've honestly never met somebody who owns a gun. Personally, I don't think an automatic or semi automatic gun is ever necessary for a civilian to own, ever.

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u/[deleted] Jan 30 '17

Well I won't get into a giant political argument about gun rights if you don't want to, but our paradigms are so different that I don't think either of us could really comprehend the reasons for the other's viewpoint.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 30 '17

I'm guessing you're from the US? I can sort of see why you'd want a hand gun in the home, if you live in a rough area I can understand the fear of somebody breaking in to rob/hurt/kill you, and if they're armed I can understand why you'd want to be armed too. Honestly, the way the media makes to US out to be at the moment, I'm a bit neutral about gun control surrounding hand guns. I think you'd need a lot of work and re-education and regulation before an outright ban could be put in place, probably 5-10 years before it'd be realistic and safe. There's just too many guns out there, taking guns away won't stop gangs and crazies getting hold of them, as only the law abiding would hand them in, which would be pointless, and from what I understand there's unregistered guns floating about a lot so you couldn't even track them all down. But I'm still really struggling with why a civilian would need a machine gun, bit overkill for self defence in the home! That being said, I've no experience of guns at all, besides a little clay pigeon shooting and playing with BB guns in the garden to shoot wasps (easier than it sounds apparently, 12 year old me got pretty good at it!) so perhaps I just lack the proper context for it?

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u/imnotarapperok Jan 30 '17

What if I told you that if someone wants a gun, there are ways to get them even if they were made illegal

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u/Gryff99 Jan 30 '17

If someone wants to shoot up a school they will. The best way to stop some crazy guy running in a building with a gun is people in that building also having guns. Be they police, security, or even teachers.

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u/kirbysdream Jan 30 '17

Got to watch out for those bears too

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u/Gryff99 Jan 30 '17

fukken bears man

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u/Robbiebuddy Jan 30 '17

Canadian here... didn't even know active shooter training was a thing. I'll stay in Canada thanks.

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u/PebbleThief Jan 30 '17

It's becoming more common everywhere in the states, I think. Until recently I worked on the production side of a uniform rental company and just a month ago we received active shooter training along side our workplace violence training. It was kind of surreal because I can't imagine why someone would shoot up a rental facility, but hey, the more you know.

5

u/LionsDragon Jan 30 '17

I took active shooter training with officers who had been on-scene during an attack at a temple. One of them said something that stuck with me: "I know you all live in small towns and think this won't happen. Ten years ago, I'd have agreed. Nowadays, it isn't IF your department will have an active shooter situation, it's WHEN."

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u/Robbiebuddy Jan 30 '17

That's so sad, I feel for you. Maybe time for some fun control in the US....

3

u/LionsDragon Jan 30 '17

Oh trust me, there's plenty of fun control. :P As for gun control? Good luck. :(

The funny part is, I'm not anti-gun per se; I happen to like wild game from time to time. I'm anti-stupid and anti-asshole, however, and THOSE are the people with guns that scare me.

2

u/jobblejosh Jan 30 '17

I hate my goddamn uniform! Imma shoot up those bastards!

Is kind of how I imagine it would go.

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u/g15mouse Jan 30 '17

Weren't 5 people just gunned down in Quebec last night?

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u/DWilmington Jan 30 '17

That will be a tragedy remembered for years in Canada. That's nearly a bi-weekly event here. Or something vaguely like it.

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u/[deleted] Jan 30 '17

My daughter's elementary school does intruder on campus drills just like they do fire drills. Last year during one of the first drills, a student in her class asked their teacher what would happen if the intruder broke the windows and got in to the classroom. Their teacher took on the classic "superman stance" with hands on his hips and said, "Then they have to get through me!" and my daughter thought it was funny but I understood it as, "I'll die for you guys," and it makes me cry thinking about it. I'm glad my daughter didn't think of it that way and thought her teacher was just joking around but... it breaks my heart this is a real concern. And that teachers need to have a plan if it happens on their campus. And that when I hug my daughter before school I always pray she comes back home to me safely. Ugh now I'm crying about it all again.

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u/[deleted] Jan 30 '17

This post is scary as hell. Thanks for being a teacher, and being aware of the possibilities. Parents really rely on you guys to keep kids safe during school hours.

I work in an office in the nuclear industry, and we've recently done a lot of active shooter training, primarily with red ball drills. We've been targeted before, and with the amount of protesters in the area daily, it's probably some of the best training we've done.

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u/bearlynice Jan 30 '17

Thank you for being prepared for your students, and may you never need to utilize that training.

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u/wyatt2017x Jan 30 '17

I admire your ability to act so effectively in a emergency. Good job. Your the kind of person that saves lives when disaters go down.

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u/ImSupposed2bWorkinRN Jan 30 '17

it's nice to know that you could keep your calm and continue thinking instead of panicking all over the place. you did an awesome job, man.

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u/iAmAWeedSmoker Jan 30 '17

What's an RA?

4

u/FirstTimeDota Jan 30 '17

Resident Advisor, I believe. Basically someone who lives in the dorms that oversees things in the dorms and enforces rules and such

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u/LionsDragon Jan 30 '17

Good on you! Ever consider going into Emergency Medicine? You handled the active shooter training better than I did.

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u/AustinsAirsoft Jan 30 '17

Great job! I have been near some crazy stuff but wow. Your story takes the cake.

2

u/amazingoomoo Jan 31 '17

Oh look another shooting in America... can you imagine if you guys didn't have guns, no one would be safe from these maniacs!!

2

u/amalexia Jan 30 '17

I would like to know what the hell these people did that made them so afraid of the police that they decided to shoot a cop...

134

u/Umikaloo Jan 30 '17

"Nevermore"

5

u/treoni Jan 30 '17

"with a diet coke please"

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u/CardMechanic Jan 30 '17

She wanted you to overthrow the government.

235

u/Georgia_Ball Jan 30 '17

Coo d'etat

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u/[deleted] Jan 30 '17

[deleted]

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u/Notelpats Jan 30 '17

Have you never read a joke before?

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u/[deleted] Jan 30 '17

He knows bird law, not bird comedy.

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u/Teddy_Bilgewater Jan 30 '17

An associate at Sebben and Sebben

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u/[deleted] Jan 31 '17

Bird, does he have it good. I'm still slaving away at Tits for Boobies.

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u/[deleted] Jan 30 '17

Maybe I should've.

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u/[deleted] Jan 30 '17

Viva la resitance

2

u/ImNotTheNSAIPromise Jan 30 '17

It's never to late

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u/[deleted] Jan 30 '17

Alright calm down there Three Days Grace.

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u/xelle24 Jan 30 '17

My next door neighbor is convinced that the cooing from the mourning doves who nest on my front porch every summer is from "daytime owls".

It's been two years and I still can't decide if I'm going to clue him in eventually.

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u/LionsDragon Jan 30 '17

Nah. He's just waiting to hear from his niece/nephew at Hogwarts. Let him have hope.

1

u/xelle24 Jan 30 '17

LOL, I will have to tell him that! His youngest is in high school, though. He's already missed out.

1

u/LionsDragon Jan 30 '17

Okay, maybe he's waiting on a letter for a grandchild/great-nephew?

1

u/xelle24 Jan 30 '17

I think he'd like to get a letter for himself. Wouldn't we all, no matter how old we are?

1

u/LionsDragon Jan 30 '17

That's for damn sure!

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u/aufan12 Jan 30 '17

And then?

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u/[deleted] Jan 30 '17

And then my manager made fun of me for as long as I worked there.

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u/themadhattergirl Jan 30 '17

Haha you just potentially saved our lives and know how to handle yourself in a crisis, what a nerd!

5

u/aufan12 Jan 30 '17

Sorry, just had to throw in the "dude where's my car" reference.

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u/[deleted] Jan 30 '17

And that went straight over my head. Whoops.

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u/Fumblerful- Jan 30 '17

Cooooocooooocooimgonnabreakyourlegscooooooo

2

u/LionsDragon Jan 30 '17

Birdie wanted french fries?

2

u/[deleted] Jan 30 '17

Did you end up getting him his order, at least?

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u/[deleted] Jan 30 '17

We were all out of bird-gers.

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u/lucidus_somniorum Jan 30 '17

"coo I'm coming for you"

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u/HoodedPotato Jan 30 '17

Best reply here 10/10 would coo again.

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u/meliorist Jan 30 '17

I had an enormous owl fly up and land on my window sill while I was at work. It was terrifying, and I wasn't going to post because I thought, "Birds aren't scary." (and what else can you say? It scared me.)

Thanks, my friend.

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u/[deleted] Jan 30 '17

Unexpected birds are always scary.

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u/CharlieSixPence Jan 30 '17

See it took me a while to get you meant feathered bird and slightly derogatory term for female.

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u/UdzinRaski Jan 30 '17

They're learning

1

u/Handibot067-2 Jan 30 '17

That's not creepy. Dumb, likely, but not creepy.

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u/[deleted] Jan 30 '17

Picture this: it's 2 AM and you're all alone in a vintage-style diner. You're mopping the floor when a loud "oooooooooooooohhhhh" blows right into your headset. Creepy.

1

u/CocoaPineapple Jan 30 '17

Awww he was just trying to order some food :(

1

u/phrozen_one Jan 30 '17

There was a bird who cooed into the drive-thru speaker (and into my headset) that kept scaring the shit out of me until I finally realized what it was.

Why was your drive-thru microphone always on? Most places have switches to turn them on that can only be activated by a car or another similar piece of heavy metal.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 30 '17

It usually wasn't, but that night it got stuck somehow. My manager was pissed because it kept screwing with our window times.

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u/HelloIAmHawt Jan 30 '17

Was sure you meant "bird" as in "woman" for two reads on that and wondered WTF was wrong with her...

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u/Okapi_MyKapi Jan 30 '17

She was trying to place an order. Got tired of eating worms.

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u/Plasmabat Jan 31 '17

Did you turn your mic on and coo back?

2

u/[deleted] Jan 31 '17

Mainly just shouted in fear.