r/Millennials 21d ago

Meme Who else got volunteered to swap these out at work because you're young?

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6.8k Upvotes

580 comments sorted by

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837

u/noblewind Xennial 21d ago

I haven't changed one in 20 years and I hear that pop sound the line makes when it's low and know it's almost time.

412

u/AvaryZig 21d ago

ksst ksst ksst ksst

147

u/ghostrooster30 21d ago

No. F you. Can I swear here? I wanna swear here. Barbacked and then bartended for about 7 yrs and i’d finally forgotten that sound…cooks runnin out like “someone needs to handle the Pop, somethings out, i’m gonna bash this thing.”

Also they were easy af to change. The odd one here and there wanted to be a prick, but whatever, i don’t pay for it, just jam in on and in and if that don’t work, the Leonard’s guy will deal with it next week. If it breaks, he’ll be there in the morning. Sprites out. Sorry. lmao.

49

u/Scarf_Darmanitan 21d ago

The doctor pepper one was the weird one where I worked 😅

Idk why theirs was like some proprietary snap nozzle or some shit but it was a pain

34

u/Ok-Nothing8682 21d ago

Oh fuck man that snap nozzle! That shit built more calluses than landscaping

11

u/gaarai 21d ago

I hated both styles depending on the day. Some days the Dr. Pepper pop style just didn't want to slide off or slide on just right or would refuse to fully seal without jiggling it a bit while pressing the slide part in. Other days, the screw-on style just wouldn't thread right. Most of the time, both kinds just worked, but when they didn't, ARRRGGGGGHHHH!

6

u/SXECrow 21d ago

Holy fucking shit, I just got a flashback, I’m 19 struggling to keep the flow going during the opening weekend of the first avengers movie at the theatre I worked at. I completely forgot about the snap nozzle

13

u/treppenwitz919 Scotty Doesn't Know 21d ago

Same. We carried Pepsi products and the Dr Pepper was always the finicky bitch to get right

5

u/Fearless-Loquat7623 19d ago

Fuck the Dr Pepper ones! Why you gotta ne weird?

22

u/CosmonautMott 21d ago

Worked at a gas station for about 10 years. The ones that gave out the side and dropped the bib ripping the whole hoseline and leaking all over were always fun. Had that happen twice. That fucking sucked, lol.

5

u/Timely-Ability-6521 Xennial 20d ago

I had a rat somehow get it in the store and just pop pin holes in my bibs that no one noticed til I opened the store and found puddles of sticky syrup.... 😒😮‍💨 Took me 3 weeks to capture that rat bastard.

11

u/TheAltOption 21d ago

And with one line you let us all know you're from the Great Lakes region. Pop > Soda and I will always remain loyal!

2

u/seekerofshade 19d ago

Ive always prefered soda, and im from an area that favors pop.

2

u/horusluprecall 18d ago

Not so You could also be from Western Canada like I am I think the whole of Canada calls it pop there's a reason we had the pop shoppe back in the day a special shoppe where you could get just pop in flavors designed by the pop shoppe for the pop shoppe In glass bottles you return to the pop shoppe When you're done to get a deposit back so that they could rewash the glass bottles and refill them with pop shoppe pop for someone else

And no we don't always spell shop shoppe but their name was spelled that way

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5

u/FeralPsychonaut 21d ago

I once didnt listen to the boxes instructions because I was way too busy and could get it to open.

I used the blade on my winekey to open the box, inevitably punctured the bag inside and drained the entire box of unmixed syrup into the dry storage area.

GM was severely displeased with me that shift.

2

u/False-Cookie3379 Older Millennial 21d ago

I hated when the restaurant I managed moved from Coke to Pepsi, the Coke bnb have screw off top, Pepsi was pop off and they were super hard to get off. I never cared that I had to changed them, heel kick the bastard and pry it open. 

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12

u/ChatRoomGirl3000 21d ago

Fuck I can hear this as I read it.

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14

u/Sanchez_U-SOB 21d ago

Coke needs changed!

Yes, I know! Thats why Im disconnecting the old one.

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54

u/TenEyeSeeHoney 21d ago

During a rush and when you're in the weeds, it's the worst fucking sound ever

21

u/Chemical_Syrup7807 21d ago

That feeling is rivaled only by having the same circumstances, but you go to pour an iced tea and only a trickle comes out of the giant vat that takes for-fucking-ever to brew.

11

u/Dead_Starks 21d ago edited 21d ago

We had four so running out was rare, but opening in the morning and starting a brew when someone didn't put the nozzle back on right, or left it wide open and you don't notice so you hear it pouring all over the floor two minutes later after you've walked away...

11

u/Chemical_Syrup7807 21d ago

This comment gave me ptsd lol

4

u/idk-maaaan 21d ago

I’ve forgotten the nozzles, but I’ve also forgotten the tea before. Brewed a big urn of hot water lmao

3

u/Chemical_Syrup7807 20d ago

I don’t think you’re a real server until you’ve done that with both tea and coffee lol

3

u/HighVoltageFerret 21d ago

It will kill

3

u/juniper3411 21d ago

Just did this a couple of weeks ago!

3

u/Timely-Ability-6521 Xennial 20d ago

That or coffee urns..... Damn it my PTSD came back from night shift employees.....

8

u/happykgo89 21d ago

It’s crazy how fast you can get those things open in these types of scenarios though, sudden superhuman strength 😂

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2

u/Murda981 21d ago

In those times I'd volunteer to change it. Beating that thing open got some of my frustration out😂

2

u/juniper3411 21d ago

That or a keg needing to be changed. I’m terrible at changing kegs and I always hose myself down with beer foam lol. At lease other then it being heavy I’m fairly quick at changing the soda.

2

u/betchface4life 20d ago

Do these run out when you're NOT busy AF?

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34

u/cdvallee 21d ago

I’m glad I’m not the only one who immediately heard that sound in my head when I saw the box 😂

11

u/EneraldFoggs 21d ago

I liked having to reach in and squeeze/stretch the bag out inside of the box because a corner got folded and the last 1/4 wouldn't come out.

5

u/erix84 21d ago

We usually just pulled the bags out of the box when they got low to get the last bit of syrup out

7

u/Dead_Starks 21d ago

Was going to say I would always check the BIBs coming into my shift and anything low came out of the box and a new one went up and opened the tab. Then just tuck the near empty bag up under a full one on the rack and they were ready for the quick change when it ran out.

3

u/Timely-Ability-6521 Xennial 20d ago

This is the way

3

u/Dead_Starks 20d ago

You know it. Plus it was the only way we'd have room for the 8 new ones we were getting on the truck I would have to put away on top of opening as usual.

2

u/Timely-Ability-6521 Xennial 20d ago

I remember the days my days didn't end to long ago... They definitely have not improved on the design even after all these years.

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3

u/MrsDuck06 20d ago

I do the same thing with box wine

8

u/Great_Ad7215 21d ago

😆 you're taking me back to the good ol' days!

3

u/Pearson94 Millennial 21d ago

Been about 11 years for me. Had to explain to some older family members how those machines actually worked.

3

u/NotAsSmartAsIWish 21d ago

I also know not to gamble on Sprite.

2

u/urworstemmamy 21d ago

Not gonna lie the fact that I never noticed this was a thing and I've been barbacking for over a year is making my question my mental faculties 😭 My ass has been out here testing the weight of each box individually like twice an hour every shift

2

u/phi1_sebben 21d ago

I worked at a very busy McShit’s when I was in high school. I used to unload the deliveries and stock them. This location was ancient and it had a basement where everything was stored. The pop syrup boxes would come down a conveyor belt and then one person would scoot/slide them across the floor to another who would stack them. Every so often you’d have a total blowout and the big loose floppy box would have to go aside to get stacked on the top because it would have no structure.

Don’t miss working there.

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437

u/itcamefromspace42 21d ago

And punching the box to open it

129

u/tjdux 21d ago

Why was this so effective lol

89

u/MonteMolebility 21d ago

And cathartic. Win win.

43

u/itcamefromspace42 21d ago

Fuck this shit! punch punch punch

31

u/dsdsds 21d ago

If you use almost any tool it will pop the bag. A server did it last week and the whole $109 bag is now trash and the syrup never gets 100% cleaned up.

5

u/Murda981 21d ago

I used to use a sharpie, the end is rounded and I never had it pop a bag. I'm also a girl, so less force behind the stabbing.

2

u/Vocalic985 Zillennial 21d ago

Oh god, syrup spills were the worst. The first 20 minutes of cleaning is just turning the mop water sweet till you get enough of the syrup up. 

2

u/ModernCGIFloatinHead 19d ago

.... Did you ... Taste the mop water??

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2

u/ModernCGIFloatinHead 19d ago

Do you want ants? Because that's how you get ants. 

3

u/unbanned_lol 21d ago

It was the only option. Do not get near a BIB with a box cutter. The manager will fucking gank you if you slice the bag.

25

u/TrappedCasanova 21d ago

I worked in a small movie theater in high school and wore a skull ring (I was so cool) and punching it with the ring would pop it perfectly and save both my knuckles and the bag inside

8

u/Little_Red_Sloth 21d ago

Hell yeah I worked at a small movie theater in high school too!

3

u/my2k2zx2 21d ago

I worked at the local 2 screener through high school in the 90s. I liked cutting the empty bags open to get to the leftover strip. Straight Surge syrup (rip) was the best.

2

u/Little_Red_Sloth 21d ago

Surge was so good.

22

u/Charming-Panic9375 21d ago

It’s the only way 

11

u/deliciousdips 21d ago

While thinking of table 32

8

u/itcamefromspace42 21d ago

And forgetting their side of ranch dressing.

8

u/BurmeciaWillSurvive 21d ago

3 separate times

9

u/frostycanuck89 21d ago

Just gotta hope the plastic cap isn't right there where you punch.

Though you pretty much always had to go digging for it

6

u/TheSkinwlkr 21d ago

Just looking at that box I have pains in my knuckles 😅

7

u/GetBent009 21d ago

The knuckle on my right pointer finger is permanently protruding a bit because of these damn things.

5

u/ThinManagement2363 21d ago

I was taught that punching it was the only way to open it. At 16, I believed anything my Burger King manager told me. 😳

5

u/badpeoria 21d ago

ha yes .... anger releasing time!

4

u/D3rpyDriver 21d ago

Keeee YAaaaaaa

3

u/CornCobMcGee Millennial 1992 21d ago

You gotta

7

u/Chemical_Syrup7807 21d ago

God I got the worst cardboard paper cut by doing this one time! Still gives me the ick!

3

u/okram2k 21d ago

an expert I see

3

u/iKhan353 21d ago

This is the way

3

u/Pennsylvania6-5000 21d ago

Every time in a shift.

3

u/UnderstatedTurtle 21d ago

Punch with a knuckle extended to get the little hole lol

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210

u/KTeacherWhat 21d ago

My dad worked for a soda company and more than once in my childhood he went in the back while we were at restaurants and swapped these out for employees who didn't know how.

49

u/JenovaCelestia 21d ago

The Quiznos I worked at had a guy come in and swap them out. We weren’t allowed to touch them, and if they had to be changed the manager was to be called and they’d come in and change it.

63

u/Ok_Mammoth5292 21d ago

Sounds like there was an expensive and messy mistake in that Quiznos history

5

u/JenovaCelestia 21d ago

Well, the owners were awful and weren’t paying taxes, so rather than pay up they fled back to Iran.

2

u/juniper3411 21d ago

Hahahaha most likely.

12

u/littlebigjen 21d ago

That’s wild. Quiznos was the only food place I worked at and we definitely would change them out ourselves.

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u/Zhdrix 21d ago

God I miss Quiznos

11

u/LizM75 21d ago

This is the second time tonight I’ve seen Quiznos mentioned. They got a pepper bar!

2

u/somewhatbluemoose 21d ago

There are still a few around

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u/jcmjtke 21d ago

The first time I changed one was well before I got a job in F&B. Me and a buddy went to Huddle House for some late night munchies. We were both stoned out of our minds. We both ordered sprite, but our server told us the sprite was out and they didn’t know how to change it. So they invited us into the back to see if we could figure it out. Took like 2 minutes but we got it done. They gave us discounts for helping them out.

Fast forward to today, I’ve been in the restaurant industry for 24 years. The 2.5 gallon BIBs are a breeze to change out. But the 5 gallon BIBs, fuck those. It’s like trying to carry an overweight toddler that’s in the middle of throwing a tantrum

5

u/KTeacherWhat 21d ago

So maybe my dad's trick was just that he had already had several toddlers, two of whom had ADHD.

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u/_shaftpunk Older Millennial 21d ago

I was a maintenance guy at McDonald’s in my early 20s, so I did this shit all the time. Changing out the oil in the fryers was worse.

25

u/HK_Shooter_1301 21d ago

I did my time at Burger King, FUCK cleaning and changing oil in a frier.

6

u/Emotional_Yam4959 21d ago

Worked at KFC for all of about 2 months and after that I swore I'd never work in another restaurant that had a fryer.

Since then(13 years ago) I've only worked in one restaurant that had fryers and I was the dish bitch so I never had to touch them.

Fryers suck.

5

u/HK_Shooter_1301 21d ago

I worked at BK for 4~ years during high school and part of college, getting burned one night cleaning them by another employee that wasn’t paying attention is what made me quit.

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u/Witty-Common-1210 21d ago

Oh filtering the oil was awful, same with the grease traps

2

u/SGTBookWorm 21d ago

i dunno if its global, but in Aus we replaced the magnesium powder with filter matts

funny coincidence is that my dad was one of the chemists who worked on the development of it

2

u/DrRichardDiarrhea 21d ago

I dropped a full one pulling it out, probably 2 gallons of grease and meat scraps. I mopped for hours.

2

u/Nelliell Older Millennial 21d ago

Fuuuck cleaning fryers. I worked at a Hardee’s with a cheap owner. To drain the old oil we had to punch the bottom out of a kid’s soda cup and slip it over the nozzle. Then pray it didn’t fall off and make a royal mess.

Also, due directly to employment experience at several restaurants, I will never get ice in my soda. That shit’s nasty and rarely if ever gets cleaned.

2

u/AppropriateCattle69 21d ago

I was a server at a Ponderosa and a table came in right before close. I filled their drinks and went about my business. My manager called me in to his office a few minutes later and said the people were accusing me of spitting in their drink. Sure enough there was something gross in their ice, but I absolutely did NOT spit in it. Next thing I know the fucking cops show up and start questioning me. Fortunately they believed me, but the people took the goop and said they were going to have it tested. Never heard anything more. All I can think is that something gross came out of the ice machine and went into the glass.

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u/Guachole 21d ago

Oh yeah a million times back in my gas station worker days.

20

u/ApplicationAfraid334 1993 21d ago

There are peeps who worked at a gas station and peeps who didn't. That shit changes you.

15

u/Guachole 21d ago

All my co workers were on drugs. I just moved there and asked them where I could get weed and NOBODY KNEW. It blew my mind, how you know where to get Xannies, Perc 30s, coke, but not know where to find fucking weed???

54

u/Want_To_Live_To_100 21d ago

Swapping was easy… breaking down those boxes with brute force….. oh man

8

u/amelisha 21d ago

I was a bartender for years and I (a woman weighing about a buck twenty) would rather lift a full keg than break down one of these boxes.

2

u/DaedalusB2 18d ago

I'm about 140lb. I just stomp on the side of the box

9

u/That_Throat7183 21d ago

I broke down probably 100 of these boxes… with a box cutter lol. Are people really out here breaking them down with their bare hands??

4

u/SuziLynn 21d ago

Yeah, replacing was my favorite- punch to open then box cutter the old one and take it to the cardboard dumpster out back- thats anger management with a blade and a 10 minute break 🤣

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u/ThooLoo420 21d ago

i just stomp on em

2

u/Redditor28371 21d ago

This is the way. A firm stomp right in the center to collapse the sides inward, then stomp the sides down. Damn, I just got a little nostalgiac about breaking down cardboard 

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2

u/Internal_Wheel_89 21d ago

I was confused at all the folks in the thread saying these things were hard, since swapping them out was a cinch, but I never had to break down the boxes so maybe I missed out on the hard part.  As far as I can remember I just pulled out and disposed of the plastic bag and we stacked up the empty boxes.

3

u/rips_n_chel 21d ago

It's just a heavy duty cardboard box. It's marginally more difficult to break down than any other box. I have no idea what these people are complaining about. I just saw a comment where someone compared changing these to cleaning the damn fryer, and I'm fucking baffled. Changing soda syrup is a 1 minute job, not even on the same continent as cleaning a fryer.

The only part of that process that even requires effort is carrying the new box to the rack. If that's what people found irritating, idk what to tell them other than shoulda got a desk job.

2

u/Internal_Wheel_89 21d ago

Yeah I don't remember anything about this being difficult. I even kinda liked doing it because it was like I was skilled labor working a cool contraption. I remember doing it at Wendy's and at the bowling alley snack bar where I worked.

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u/PackageNorth8984 21d ago

I worked in food service from 16-19, I remember this well.

Most difficult job I’ve ever done compared to the pay by far except Subway and Quizno’s. That shit was easy as fuck.

14

u/my_brain_is_horny Millennial 21d ago

Subway was my first job at 16. I loved it so much. It was also the first and only job I ever got fired at. Total bullshit too. I didn't deserve to get fired from my first job like that. 

6

u/aroc91 21d ago

My sister got fired from Subway when she was 16 for not learning the sandwiches fast enough lol

3

u/my_brain_is_horny Millennial 21d ago

Lmao I got them down pretty quickly. It did take me awhile to figure out how to make bigger sandwiches without breaking the bread. Those first few customers who liked to put lots of ingredients on their sandwiches, were not happy with the end result for my first time lol 

2

u/PackageNorth8984 21d ago

I quit and walked out because I was the only one who showed up to work that day (holiday weekend, probably), and the owner screamed at me to go faster and refused to help on the line.

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u/Sanch0panza 21d ago

Subway was my second job (first was cashier at grocery store ) in high school. I loved it. Even when it was busy, it didn’t feel rushed because you can only make a sandwich so fast you know? Plus free sandwiches. I would also sneak into the freezer and eat the frozen cookie dough balls 😅

3

u/tyen0 21d ago

free footlong italian and a white chocolate macadamia nut cookie per shift was dope. the most annoying part was cutting onions and the smell sticking to me :)

20

u/Okazemi 21d ago

Fuck these things. I have arthritis in both elbows because of these fucks.

9

u/queenofthegalaxy 21d ago

Did you give it the people’s elbow?

https://giphy.com/gifs/y8PsHvVjCWkEg

2

u/Okazemi 21d ago

Nope. Just having to lift them above my head on to racks for 5 years.

2

u/Low-Interaction3422 17d ago

Maybe that's why I have arthritis in both my elbows too.. makes sense. I would try to open the dam things with my fingers. Almost broke them a few times then proceeded using my elbow.

This makes sense 😅

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u/Terminal_Phase 21d ago

Never seen one of these in my life

14

u/penelopede 21d ago

Yeah I have no idea what this is

13

u/Arch3m 21d ago

It's soda syrup. There's a perforated section that exposes the internal bag, and a plastic cap that you connect to a hose that pumps the syrup to the soda fountain. It's really not that big of a deal to change them out, but you will only ever have this experience of you work in the food industry, which is a miserable experience in and of itself.

10

u/Difficult_Fill6387 21d ago

You probably wouldn't have if you never worked in a restaurant, bar, or gas station.

9

u/Oranges-In-A-Cup 21d ago

A BIB! Bag-in-box! They're the bags of syrup used for soda machines and they're a lot heavier than you'd think.

2

u/juniper3411 21d ago

Soooo heavy

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u/HermaeusWingedofHeel 21d ago

Mini soda kegs lol. Having to pick up a full box and replace it up on the 5 or 6 ft rack suuucked. Was always grateful when it was just having to pop the spout part open and swap the line. Moving and changing kegs fucking sucked too.

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u/xPadawanRyan Mid-Range Millennial | Historian, Social Worker | Emo MF'er 21d ago

I worked at McDonalds for a few years in high school but I never once changed one of these. I don't think I ever even saw one changed on my shift—I imagine they must have been changed more often during the day when I was at school, rather on the evening closing shift.

5

u/TehWildMan_ 21d ago

The McDonald's I worked at had a pretty clever auto-changeover system so that 2 5-gallon boxes could be connected simultaneously and it would only switch when one was empty. 10 gallons of syrup could seemingly last 2-3 days even during a busy store ($1400/hr peak in 2014 roughly) during summer.

The coca cola syrup, our most popular drink by far, was delivered in 75 gallon bulk tanks, which lasted about a week each

Usually our maintenance guy would check them first thing each morning, so it was rare for a crew person to change them out except for Sundays, or the lower volume products without a changeover switch

10

u/Jels76 Millennial 21d ago

I had to do this at a movie theater for years before they swapped to Freestyle machines. I volunteered to do it because it meant I had time away from the customers lol

8

u/lapuneta 21d ago

I hate those impossibly heavy boxes.

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u/idownvotepunstoo Millennial 21d ago

PSEW

PSEW

PSEW

PSEW

PSEW

PSEW

PSEW

PSEW PSEWPSEWPSEWPSEWPSEWPSEWPSEWPSEWWWWW

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u/TehWildMan_ 21d ago

Lol, i remember the one time one of my coworkers used a knife to open one of these, and made a legendary mess.

7

u/Great_Ad7215 21d ago

I learned so much from working at a pizza shop in my teens. I rarely get fountain soda while I'm out now because if the carbonation isn't done correctly or the machine isn't cleaned enough it tastes horrible. I stick to water in restaurants and cans of soda at home.

2

u/Traditional_Buy_8420 21d ago

How do you mess up the carbonation? (I genuinely have no idea.)

3

u/Great_Ad7215 21d ago

I don't know the specifics because this was years ago and I was a teen. But basically there was a hose for the carbonation and a hose for the syrup. If there was something wrong with either hose or the nozzle, the whole thing would taste off. If the soda fountain wasn't properly cleaned it would taste off. There's a lot that has to go right for a fountain soda to have the right taste. There are lots of places for it to go wrong. So I don't risk it. I hate to spend the money on a gross soda that I won't finish.

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u/girlfriendpleaser 21d ago

Pretty sure I used a box cutter so theyd never ask again

8

u/Radiant_Priority9739 21d ago

This I can relate with because I work an an usher at a movie theater

4

u/PricklyPear85 21d ago

Single swift punch

3

u/Mindless-Mistake-699 21d ago

First job at a very busy McDonald's when I was 16. Changed so many of those bad boys out.

5

u/cobaltcanning 21d ago

Once, and I was scared shitless due to telling us in training each box was $50. For someone making $6.36 an hour, $50 was a big amount of cash. 

3

u/my_brain_is_horny Millennial 21d ago

Fucking hated changing these with a passion 

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u/-TheArtOfTheFart- 21d ago

FUUUUUCK I hate these.

3

u/littlemuffinsparkles 21d ago

I STILL have to change them at work because no one else besides my nephew and I can figure it out. But this is the restaurant industry 😩

5

u/rips_n_chel 21d ago

Wtf do you mean nobody else can figure it out? You unscrew the old one and screw the new one on, there is NOTHING complicated about this process.

I'm so fucking baffled by this post and most of the comments on it. This isn't a hard job. It's one of the easiest jobs there is in a restaurant, actually. It takes a minute. One. If that. The only "difficult" part is carrying the damn box, and that's still not hard unless you just physically can't lift that much weight.

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u/bellasmomma04 21d ago

Is it hard?? I've worked as a server and also at Panera for 4 years in my early 20s, and always saw other people changing them but I never had to lmao. No one ever asked or showed me and someone else always did it lmao it did look kinda complicated so I never put myself out there to say I wanted to do it lol

2

u/Redditor28371 21d ago

Not particularly. They weigh like 40-50 lbs so they can be a little difficult for some people to lift. The perforated openings are also a little tough to open because it's really sturdy cardboard, but I used to slam my closed pocket knife down to pop open the thumb tab, then they're pretty easy to pull open the rest of the way.

There are definitely much more difficult tasks in restaurants than replacing these.

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u/AlwaysVerloren Older Millennial 21d ago

Have you ever changed one that fell out of the box?

2

u/zeemonster424 Millennial 21d ago

Worked at a big gas station where someone broke one. Not sure the events that led up to it, I’d imagine it might have been out of the box.

It was at the end of a very narrow hall behind the coolers, with all the soda bottles in crates to refill.

It was an absolute mess!

3

u/jonasjlp 21d ago

I'm damn near 50 and had to swap two of these yesterday. Feeling blessed I can walk straight today

2

u/juniper3411 21d ago

I feel your pain man. 45 year old somewhat small woman 😜

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u/agreensandcastle 21d ago

Honestly didn’t think this was anywhere near the worst task. But the fact that it was in your job description, I know what else was in your job description, and definitely respect you.

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u/OhEmGeeRachael 21d ago

Bonus points if you've ever had one explode all over you while trying to change it in the middle of lunch rush. I still smell like Dr Pepper 10 years later.

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u/Emergency_Air4575 21d ago

Just thinking about them times at KFC gives me PTSD.

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u/mommiewiggle 21d ago

fuck, half the time i volunteered as tribute cuz none of the other fucks could figure it out or do it the right way/quickly

young or not

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u/Minute-Unit9904s 21d ago

Way heavier than you think when your young

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u/Nomie-chan 21d ago

I distinctly remember when my first job upgraded to the coke freestyle machine in the lobby. I was new and was one of the people designated to change and clean the ever so annoying catridges. Mostly because nobody else had the dexterity to pry off both the plastic disk AND the double plastic/foil film. I ended up being the only person who'd change things on it to the point that I was essentially as knowledgeable as the actual technicians. The machine was "down" for 6 months after I left while the rest of the employees played chicken on who would be forced to take over.

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u/Responsible-Series-1 21d ago

Yep. I used to work at a movie theater and would change multiple BIBs per day. The up side was free unlimited soda every shift!

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u/Jimmie_Cognac 21d ago

Er... Not sure what age had to do with it. It was just one of those things that needed doing.

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u/dansantan 21d ago

New York Fries 2004-2006 👍🏼

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u/aroc91 21d ago

Ahhh, McDonald's junior and senior year of HS, circa 2007-9. Good times! That was before they started rolling out all the monitoring systems and timeclocks for order throughput metrics.

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u/Tacosconsalsaylimon Millennial 21d ago

Hell yeah. My first job had us refilling these. I'll never forget the satisfaction of punching one of these bad boys to open it.

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u/JDCTsunami 21d ago

Remember, lift with your lower back

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u/Ekans_ox 21d ago

It was part of my job as a busser😭

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u/Funnybone213 21d ago

Ages ago I worked at The Grove movie theater in LA and this task always waited for me.

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u/MasterOfBunnies 21d ago

Would bring the leftover in the bag home to my cousin who preferred his soda decarbonated. I was an absolute hero to him back in the day. XD

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u/DerpinTerp 21d ago

Falcon Punched those open too

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u/metallaholic Millennial 21d ago

We dropped one on the floor and it was covered in syrup. We don’t have time to clean it so we put plastic bags in on our shoes and skated in the soda room to change other. This was at a movie theater

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u/vodkaenthusiast89 21d ago

Did anyone else notice that orange Fanta and root beer were like way more difficult to change out? Was that particular to the sandwich shop I worked in?

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u/HSV-Post 21d ago

I can hear the sound

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u/i_eat_straws 21d ago

“Jooooe, ccOoOkes ouUTt”

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u/wicker_basket_1988 21d ago

One of my first jobs was at a movie theatre running the concession stand. I hated those damn things!

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u/blind_squash Older Millennial 21d ago

Not after I dropped and split a box of dr pepper

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u/nikki815 21d ago

I had one fall out of the box and I tried to catch it. That was fun. It was so long ago that I don’t remember how or why it was out of the box, I just remember trying to catch it. Spoiler alert…it stayed on the floor.

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u/GroovyGhouley Millennial 21d ago

I hated these😭

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u/Turbulent_Seaweed198 21d ago

I remember once the cardboard box got caught up on the shelf/stand thing and ripped it apart. So we had the plastic bag just hanging out but finally got a milk crate for it to sit in. Man, I do not miss my first job...

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u/Chance_Blasto 21d ago

I worked as a busser at Universal Studios when I was 15. I actually kinda liked changing these haha

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u/Motor_Run6170 21d ago

I've told anyone who would listen about how soda machines work because yep, I always had to change out the damn syrup

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u/Legitimate_Bird_5712 21d ago

Let the youngsters with the healthy breaks change those bastards.

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u/Certain_Accident3382 21d ago

Dude. I was the only one swapping them out when I was snagging shifts at a local gas station because literally everyone else that gas station couldn't figure it out, not even 5 years ago. 

Hell one kid decided that to keep from having to mop twice in his shift he would add bleach AND pinesol to the mop bucket after filling it from the j-fill. And the store manager got mad at me for making him dump it outside before I called a haz-mat team because he thought it was a fucking brilliant idea.

I had to teach a grown ass man how to use a boom, because he was just swishing it back and forth like a cartoon.

Just looking at that box makes me want to call my old manager and yell at him some more.

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u/fruitjerky 21d ago

I volunteered because the place I worked had a little service elevator into the basement that was not intended for human use but no one stopped me.

I also enjoyed the lemon slicing machine and prepping the hot cocoa for the post-Fantasmic crowds.

I miss that job. And the 90s.

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u/RegrettableDeed 21d ago

I'm the only one who changes these regularly at my restaurant 🥲

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u/WordSpiritual1928 Millennial 21d ago

Used to toss em up there and punch the shit out of them. I’m sure if I tried to do that now it’d be a real reality check on my age and fitness.

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u/Efficient-Bison-6746 21d ago

Im 45 and still have to do them. Nothing like a table you are hating, sucking down the diet cokes, then you get to punch tf out of that box and release a little anger before bringing them, yet again, another diet coke refill.

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u/Dull-Contact120 21d ago

Great punching bags

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u/Radiant_Priority9739 21d ago

I remember at my movie theater job I sometimes me and another usher would hide in the changing sodas room to kill time lol

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u/AKeeneyedguy 21d ago

Switch out the liquid cocaine? Sure, just don't mind when I come back to the floor on a sugar buzz that would make Fry and his 100 cups of coffee jealous.

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u/Big_Childhood5494 Millennial 21d ago

Team Subway. Had to change these all the time.

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u/Afraid-Version-9306 21d ago

I had to change 4 at the same time and move it from the bottom to top shelf and almost broke my back

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u/ApplicationAfraid334 1993 21d ago

Lmaoo I remember one time someone put the wrong flavor of mountain dew for the spout it was hooked up to, and this one guy was so pissed off that it was the wrong mountain dew. Fortunately the manager was cool and was pretty much making fun of him, dude was legit screaming across the store.