We gathered some of our colleagues’ worst stories from their experiences working and studying.
Many of us have to work during our studies and it can be a trying experience. But you’re not alone. Let’s laugh about it all, together. We were overwhelmed by the number of stories we got from colleagues and we’ve picked the best of the bunch to share with you.
Anonymous #1 - Unnamed hostel
“The first half of my shifts would be spent cleaning the rooms out in preparation for the next wave of guests arriving in the afternoon. In one room, I pulled the sheets out to change them, and out popped two used condoms."
Anonymous #2 - Unnamed shop
“One of my jobs was a shop assistant. One day, there was this awful smell coming from the changing rooms. Basically, someone had curled down a turd and tried to hide it with an Ikea Tam Tam stool.”
Anonymous #3 - Unnamed cinema chain
“I worked in a 'haunted' cinema during third year. It was destroyed during WW2 and the part that wasn't customer-facing never got rebuilt, so it was just derelict and creepy. Used to do shifts till like 2am as well, we'd all draw straws to see who had to go off the projector.”
Anonymous #4 - Unnamed football stadium
“I used to work at the [redacted] Stadium at one of the food kiosks during the matches. On my first shift (first ever shift on a ‘pub job’) all of the beer taps stopped working halfway through the match and we just got yelled at by around 20 angry men until the second part went on.”
Anonymous #5 - Unnamed sports bar
“I worked at a Sports Bar and used to serve this guy who would get super drunk every sunday week after week watching Football (American). There were a few times where I had to call him taxis and help him out to the car when he was leaving. New Semester started with a new class and who was my professor!? He never showed at the sports bar again...🏈”
Anonymous #6 - Another unnamed cinema
“When I worked at a cinema whilst studying for my masters, during my first week my supervisor radioed me away from a busy walk-in because someone had vomited in the sink of the accessible toilet, filling it to the brim and blocking it in the process. I had to bail out the sink into the toilet using a plastic cup and then unscrew the U-bend below to unblock that. I remember thinking everything can only get better after this.”
Anonymous #7 - Unnamed swimming pool
“I worked as a lifeguard all through uni, in my final year a man had a heart attack while swimming. It was me and 2 other male lifeguards on shift and it took all 3 of us to get him out. We then proceeded to CPR for the next 45 min while we waited for the ambulance to arrive, he was stable when the ambulance took him. The last time I went back there my old manager told me that he still comes in to swim most days.”
Anonymous #8 - Unnamed cupcake shop
“I was working at a cupcake shop in the middle of a shopping centre throughout uni and we had an Ipad at the front of the counter where people could order online. One customer grabbed me and showed me that someone had put an 'adult website' on the iPad and we had videos on a loop. I'm not sure how long that was live for but even a minute is probably a bit too long for a cupcake shop. 😂”
Anonymous #9 - Unnamed bar
“I worked in a bar in my final year of uni. One night we hosted a cocktail night and I had to try the mixology thing where you flip the bottles around as you mix drinks. During one cocktail I released the bottle too early, it flew behind me and struck the bottles stacked at the back of the bar, which then all fell off. I broke about 15 bottles of spirits…”
Do you have any horror stories from your time working and studying? Join the Student Hut Community and share your stories in our research panel.
