Being sixteen is an unforgettable milestone. We get our driver’s license, we can (interestingly enough) join a trade union, join the Armed Forces with parental consent, change our name by a deed poll; the possibilities seem endless! Seriously, 16 Candles does not lie. But, the most important thing on my list as a strapping sixteen-year-old girl was getting my first job. My parents had stopped giving me allowances and begging my siblings for money did not bring in as much revenue as I hoped it would, so my solution became working. But, where did I start looking for jobs? Was my sassy self really going to be good in a retail store, selling clothing that I most definitely thought was overpriced myself? And food, don’t get me started on food. I cannot make a sandwich regardless of the stereotypes associated with girls making sandwiches to save my life. So I went from job to job, searching for something I could do. And along the way, I had some quite hilarious tales to tell of my experiences.

Perhaps it’s a part of the job process, learning what you are good at or what you can handle at different jobs. As I talked with friends and other newly embellished sixteen-year-old students, we all had awkward, funny, embarrassing moments at jobs. Sharing them is still one of my favorite things to do. So, let’s hear a few of our fellow student’s funny job stories. Here’s to being a working member of society!

#1. “On my second to last day of work at Opitz, the one right by Big Thrill Factory, a woman casually went into the dressing room. She was middle aged, a normal-looking lady. As I was hanging clothes up on the rack by the rooms I heard a trickling noise. The woman was legitimately peeing in the dressing room! Then, she proceeded to fly out of her room and said to me, ‘I think someone peed in your dressing room!’”

~Ella Hennen

#2. “I was working, like I have for the past couple years, at Lick’s Ice Cream in Excelsior. One day, this little girl ordered chocolate ice cream. She left, seemingly quite happy. After a while, she came running back into the store and looked frantic. I asked her if I could help her and she turned to me, mouth and chin dripping chocolate like a waterfall, and screamed, ‘MOTHER OF GOD DO YOU HAVE ANY NAPKINS?’ I got her some and once she left, I could no longer contain my laughter at this sweet little girl’s outbreak.”

~Andrew Sibley

#3. “I once told a woman who was carrying the gosh darn cutest baby I’ve ever seen that ‘if I were to steal a baby, I’d steal yours’ while I was taking her order. She straight up left the bakery. It was something that just flew out of my mouth and I didn’t realize it until it was too late!”

~Deneen Hanzlik

#4. “This kid I was working with, well, we called him Ninja. I’m not really sure why, but we did. He enjoyed it, so why not? On either my second or third day of work, we had some free time in the back room. While we were playing, Ninja, found a mosquito flying throughout the room. He proceeded to kill the mosquito on the wall, then pick it off with his finger, and (no lie) ATE it. Weirdest experience ever. “

~Erin McGinnis

#5. “A lady walked up to me and said, ‘Excuse me, I am looking for some soup.’ I was working at Best Buy.”

~Josh McGrath

#6. “I worked at Sir Knight’s dry cleaners and one night, as I seemingly lost track of the time, I did all of the lock up tasks (turned off the lights, shut off the machines, locked the front and back doors) and as I got into my car to leave, I realized it had locked up 4 hours early. Then, without realizing it, I backed into a cement pole. Score one for Sarah!”

~Sarah Hicks

#7. “I am a swim instructor for little kids, and we play this one game where I give the kids an animal and they have to jump in like that animal. So I was all like, ‘Jump in like an elephant!’ Then, this little 5-year-old girl launches herself into the water and does a full body slam. Like a complete starfish. She came up slightly disoriented.”

~Claire Carter

#8. “I’m a Personal Care Assistant for a girl with down syndrome, and it is one the best jobs I’ve had by far! But, one fateful day, I was working with this girl and as we were hanging out, the dog peed everywhere! And I mean everywhere. There was pee all over the carpet, all throughout the house! I did not know how or what to do to clean it up and it was insane how much that dog peed.”

~Maddie Ramsey

#9. “One time this guy came into Heartbreaker and he was shirtless and he asks, ‘Do you guys sell shirts here?’ I responded, ‘Women’s shirts.’ Then he goes, ‘That’s cool with me.’ He proceeds to put on about twenty different shirts (that all smelled a bit afterwards), bought one, and asked for an application to apply to the women’s Heartbreaker.”

~Rachel Clepper

#10. “There are different departments at the business I interned for in the summer and they would always play pranks on each other. During one of our ever-so-long software update meetings, one of the other departments managed to clog the entire software team’s area by stacking chairs, desks, even boxes on top of each other. It took forever to clean up, but they got us pretty good.”

~Javidan Odqan