all 146 comments

[–]BreathingEnthusiast 190 points191 points  (50 children)

It probably really isn't his job.

When I was younger I got a job working for a distribution warehouse. The dock and warehouse workers were unionized and the office staff were not, for some reason. I was part of the office but my job was to check in returns from the delivery units. Drivers would stack returns from their routes (damaged, mis-picks and the like) and stack them on pallets lined between designated bays.

I had a clipboard and had to record the product and get info from the pick sticker (order info). One day a pallet had been bumped by a forklift and was askew with product leaning dangerously. I took it upon myself to restack the cases and shift the pallet back into line.

I got a STERN talking to from a warehouse supervisor after someone reported seeing me touch their stuff. I was made aware that only union members were allowed to handle pallets and cases.

This became a problem later as well when I needed to lift a case to find the pick sticker. Eventually I just had to find someone to lift it for me, something they resented doing but also refused to allow me to do.

I was definitely caught up in some office/warehouse union politics but BOY was it frustrating trying to accomplish this relatively minor clerical task as if I didn't have hands.

[–][deleted] 45 points46 points  (38 children)

This should be higher, as your reply is entirely relevant to the post. If the person in this picture is part of a Union, they get super pissed when someone tries to perform another's job. Even small things like changing a light bulb. If that's what happened in the photo above, then it's likely this person simply didn't want to wait for a removal crew to show up.

[–]Amplifier101 45 points46 points  (28 children)

Why change a lightbulb yourself when the union workers can do it for $30.00 an hour?

[–]THEJAZZMUSIC 61 points62 points  (6 children)

I know you're being facetious, but the answer is "because people are fucking morons".

You might think moving boxes or replacing light bulbs are simple things, and they are, but people are fucking morons. Every once in a while some office jockey will think "pfft I know how to change a light bulb I'll just do it myself", then proceed to stack a dozen phone books on their computer chair and climb up on the fucking thing and sever their spinal cord in 4 different places. Or they'll say "I can lift this box I'll just do it myself" and then discover that 15 years of sitting at a desk has taken its toll on their strength and coordination and they pull their back the second their hands touch cardboard and then a whole pallet of computer hardware comes crashing down on them severing their spinal cord in 5 different places.

And so "you should ask for help from the warehouse staff for these tasks" turns in to "ONLY WAREHOUSE STAFF MAY PERFORM THESE TASKS NO EXCEPTIONS". You code for a living, these guys fix shit for a living. You have your training, they have theirs.

These seem like common, every day tasks that anyone could do, but people are fucking morons.

I know you're the exception, just like I'm the exception, just like everyone reading this is the exception, because everyone thinks they're the exception until something horrible happens. Nobody has the power of honest self-reflection needed to think "I can't change a light bulb by myself, I need help".

[–]RobKhonsu 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It's also worth mentioning that we you group a large group of people together that they normally turn into a bunch of whiny babies. Nobody wants to deal with that shit. Just sit back, enjoy life, and let someone else stack the pallets; or not.

[–]jrhii 0 points1 point  (3 children)

No, your wrong dude. For example, everyone on the road us a moron. Im a good driver, of course, but your average person out there is terrible at it. That's why I can go 20 over and it's ok

[–]Austinswill 2 points3 points  (0 children)

every driver going slower than me is a retard, everyone going faster is a maniac.

[–][deleted]  (1 child)


    [–]jrhii -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

    cell phone typing, dude. can you understand what I was saying? cool, get over it.

    [–]JustA_human 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    The economy is just a game we play with each other. A terrible awful game that shortens or even ends people's lives. Play the game or the game plays you.

    [–]dangerwolf1 0 points1 point  (1 child)

    Might wanna bump that number up 50-75% depending on the CoLA

    [–]RegretDesi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Yeah, need to make sure it isn't Pepsi.

    [–]SaggyBallsHD 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Don't be stupid.

    [–]PacmanZ3ro 2 points3 points  (1 child)

    I work in an office, unionized, I got yelled at for unplugging and re-plugging my computer's Ethernet cable to resolve an issue. Mind you I work in IT, but not the LAN team. Was my first day on the job, weird as hell to get used to


    Wow. Just, wow.

    [–]HalfTurn 1 point2 points  (1 child)

    This seems really weird to me. I don't have personal experience with unions but know many people who are in big and small unions and from their stories it seems like if someone else did the job then that just means they would get more time to sit around or take everyone to the bar and get drunk.

    [–]JMGurgeh 8 points9 points  (0 children)

    The unions are very protective of "their" work. In a way it makes sense - if they weren't, the company could hire a bunch of non-unionized "office" workers and have them go do all the warehouse work, and suddenly there isn't a need for so many (or any) union warehouse workers. There is historic precedent for this, so it isn't just some unfounded fear, either. Unfortunately this results in very rigid job definitions, an inflexible workforce, and absurd situations like the above which many have experienced and which creates a lot of antagonism towards unions - the unionized worker is required for a simple task, but the union worker is busy with their other work and can't get to it quickly, so the office worker's task is at a standstill until the union worker does have time to get to it.

    [–]Agreeswithtards 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    I would get off my ass and push the tree out of the way. Idgaf what Union shit is happening. No one is going to tell you that you should have called a removal crew to push a tree.

    [–]OscarMiguelRamirez 4 points5 points  (0 children)

    Well yeah, if he got injured moving a tree and it's not part of his job description, that would cause some problems and he might not get any comp. He did the right thing.

    Silly, but that's what "too many lawyers" does.

    [–]gtmax500 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    My friend got in trouble for hanging a picture in his office...

    There was a time and a place for unions, this day in age is not one of them.

    [–]mebob85 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

    I used to like unions, but the more I read about stuff like this the more stupid they seem to me.

    [–]taranaki -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

    This is why unions are inefficient and anti-consumer

    [–]Terakian 4 points5 points  (0 children)

    Once reserved a room in a University conference room for a potluck dinner (student club associated). People brought crock pots, and plugged them in. When the building manager came in to check on us, she threatened to get the club shut down if we didn't pack up and leave right away because we overstepped two different unions: 1) people who plug in cords around the building and 2) people who cook food within that building for events.

    It was my first exposure to the insanity of this system. My chili was great though.

    [–]NegativeZer0 3 points4 points  (1 child)

    warehouse workers were unionized and the office staff were not

    This is actually the standard for this type of job.

    [–]BreathingEnthusiast 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Thanks for the clarification. I wasn't certain on that.

    [–]shitterplug 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    That's because the union made a deal with the company. Fucking unions. Legal rackets.

    [–]TheOneTrueBastard 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    And this is one of many reasons why the older generations despise unions. They did a lot of good things, but nonsense like that destroyed their credibility with a lot of people.

    [–]porpiose_orifice 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    I worked at a campgound where a film shoot had just wraped and started to pick up trash they had left when a production assistant told me to stop they had a crew on the way. me:oh ok how long will they be. PA:they should be here in about an hour. me:seriously i could just do it. PA:you cant touch that litter.its a teamster thing.

    [–]onowahoo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Then the job description is stupid. Even though someone may have the job specifically to clear the path, I would assume the line layer would be expected to move anything missed.

    [–]welcome_to_urf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    This happens all the time at my job, but not for union reasons. It's because of how time is charged to programs. If I am not given permission to charge my time to a program, I cannot help out at all. I'm not even allowed to charge my time to general time usage and avoid the whole money issue towards the program. It may seem weird, but many places are exactly like this when charging time to different areas.

    [–]PM_UR_SUICIDE_NOTE 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    I feel like a road worker kicking a bit of tree out of his way is hugely different from the guy who works in an office deciding to restack a pallet's worth of cases in a warehouse.

    [–]Sasken 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    I have a similar story. Years ago I worked as a help desk guy for a government ministry. Part of the job was to set up new PC's. The new PC's came in big boxes, which we'd flatten and pile up in the office. One day the pile was getting huge and it was in the way. So I took them down to the recycling area.

    Somebody in the union raised a grievance because I was "doing his job". I'm sure it didn't help that I was there as a contractor, so not in a union. But if he had "done his job" I wouldn't have had to.

    [–]TheEternal21 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

    Gotta love unions. Ruining America's economy for decades now.

    [–]mark5301 76 points77 points  (4 children)

    To be fair: It would've showed up here if they'd have painted over the stick too.

    [–]SSFreud 58 points59 points  (2 children)

    I believe the expectation from the title was to move the stick...

    [–]Unnecessaryanecdote 6 points7 points  (1 child)

    That's why it's funny... the increased effort would only amount to going over the stick and not simply moving it out of the way.

    [–]DawsonSqueak 10 points11 points  (0 children)

    They couldn't have gone over. Doing so would have rammed the paint gun directly into the log, fucking all sorts of things up. Going around was the far easier solution.

    [–]OscarMiguelRamirez 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    I don't believe they could have painted over the stick, it probably would have collided with the paint sprayer. You don't get a nice tight line like that spraying from 2 feet away.

    [–]Saiboogu 19 points20 points  (8 children)

    My take - It wasn't the paint guy's job to do anything about the stick. His job is to drive down the road and paint the lines.

    His crew should have had a truck 5-10 minutes out front to check the path and clear obstacles like this, though. Blame the boss.


    OP u the winner of reposting... i've seen that pic like 15 years ago...

    [–]mynameisLando 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    I'm sure it was posted many times, but it was also posted last week.

    [–]chrico031 24 points25 points  (4 children)

    re: re: re: re: /r/forwardsfromgrandma

    Careful with that repost son. It's an antique.

    [–]throw_away_account23 4 points5 points  (3 children)

    This is by far the best phrasing of calling someone out on a repost I've ever seen.

    [–]Saiboogu 2 points3 points  (2 children)

    I trained myself a long time ago not to get too worked up about reposts. A small minority of the membership watches the frontpage enough to catch them all - it's needlessly critical and a pain in the butt to deal with.

    But I really do chuckle and roll my eyes when I see one this antique. The 'net is getting old enough that images and jokes are resurfacing from before the new OP was even born.

    [–]UhMrThePlague 2 points3 points  (1 child)

    I remember seeing this pic in the early '00s. On like Fark or something. Christ I feel old.

    [–]Saiboogu 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    I suspect I'm about as old, since your username brings back fond memories.

    [–]Username_1427 26 points27 points  (2 children)

    Last time I saw these lines being put down, they were done from a truck and the guy probably just went around the stick out of instinct. Or he hates people with OCD.

    Edit: spelling

    [–]BeatDigger 6 points7 points  (0 children)

    It looks exactly like the type of curve that would be made by swerving to avoid it, rather than carefully painting around it.

    I wouldn't even be surprised if the perpetrator was the same person who took the pic. Like he realized afterwards what he did, and took a photo to commemorate his stupidity before moving the tree.

    [–]molten 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    I used to be the person who put the lines down and this is correct, we do it from a large truck with a driver in the front, and a painter in the back who is watching the road for obstacles and controls the paint and bead guns on a chassis which hangs underneath them. These trucks generally need to move between 8-12 mph to get proper application, which is a speed at which patience runs thin for most people.

    Not to mention, the truck I was on had around 1000 miles of center-line road to paint. We only have a few months to do it (May-Sept/Oct), limited by rain (paint is water based, it won't dry if he road is wet) and travel distance (it can take 45 minutes to get to the site). In a day, it is reasonable to do 9-10 miles of single-lane road. So in a week, we may top off at 30 miles. The difference comes from multiple-lane roads, which need several passes in both directions rather than 1 (again at 8-12mph) on busy roads.

    tl;dr: To stop, get out, move the branch, and pick up the line again, while potentially blocking traffic with wet paint all around isn't a popular option: It wastes a lot of time and pisses a lot of people off.

    [–][deleted]  (1 child)



      [–]heero55 3 points4 points  (0 children)

      "Not my joblem"

      [–]FordFracture[🍰] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

      Must have been a illinois road crew

      [–]CBScott7 3 points4 points  (8 children)

      that's pretty good


      A little too good...

      [–]M00nscr1pt115 2 points3 points  (6 children)

      There appears to be large amounts of humor. What do you think, detective?


      I'd have to agree. Pretty copious amounts

      [–]M00nscr1pt115 1 point2 points  (2 children)

      We're going to have to disclose this information from the public. It's a shame; /u/MooreEvo09 was a good guy, he didn't need to get caught up in all of this. Let's make this quick detective, my wife is making gnocchi tonight.


      Perfect, gnocchi is my favorite. Care for one more?

      [–]M00nscr1pt115 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      Of course.


      i concur

      [–]ermahlerd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      we're in /r/funny, that's impossible

      [–]PizzaGood 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      Another post by someone who doesn't realize what a huge pain in the ass it is to stop a huge paint spraying truck that's running at 20 MPH, shut down the spray, get out and move stuff, all while backing up traffic and having people be pissed at you, to move a stick or a bit of roadkill, then start the whole thing back up again.

      The bobble in the line would be a lot worse than that if they had to stop and restart the rig.

      [–]MattyMattOc 11 points12 points  (8 children)

      I think he did a tree-mendous job! Another branch of the department looks after fallen trees. You can't blame him for just leaf-ing it there...

      I'll get my coat and be going now...

      [–]JD_Blunderbuss 1 point2 points  (7 children)

      Any more tree puns wood be a shame.

      [–]euphemism5 1 point2 points  (6 children)

      But it will be root not to add anything shrubstantial.

      [–]HorseToeNail 1 point2 points  (5 children)

      Im stumped.I cant think of any more

      [–]Gomulkaaa 3 points4 points  (4 children)

      Can we please stick to the topic at hand here?

      [–]ChrisHansen_ -4 points-3 points  (0 children)



      I stopped be-leaf-ing in trees long ago

      [–]AddictedReddit 1 point2 points  (1 child)



      I know. I tried. Isn't that good enough for you?!

      [–]megaspooky 2 points3 points  (2 children)

      That's a good way to stick it to the man

      [–]megaspooky 2 points3 points  (1 child)


      [–]Ochd12 2 points3 points  (0 children)

      Did... did you give yourself gold for your own comment?

      Either way, that's impressive. You got my upvote.

      [–]RobotRobertDowneyJr 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      At least they didn't just spray the line on the tree

      [–]liigoo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      This worker represents my life

      [–]sandbrah 0 points1 point  (1 child)

      "Not in my union contract."

      [–]TheShittyBeatles 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      More likely: "Not in my company's cushy government contract."

      [–]LateNightSnack12 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      /r/shitpost this pic has been reposted to hell.

      [–]an_ill_mallard 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      That was an excellent caption 👍


      Have you seen how fast paint trucks operate? It wouldn't be possible to swerve that tight. Photoshopped.

      [–]superslayer44 0 points1 point  (1 child)

      My bet is that the error in the line was there before the stick, and someone thought it would be funny to move a stick there so it looked like they painted around it. I don't think it would be likely that a broken branch would fall so that the part closest to the greater part of the tree landed facing away from the tree. The branch would need to fall while making a 180° vertical rotation, seems unlikely.

      [–]myrddin4242 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      The tree could have had a branch spanning across the street, maybe...? Or! The branch was only mostly broken, swung down while still partially connected to the trunk, then let go after the tip of the branch was on the ground. So, less unlikely that it at first appears.

      [–]Midnight2012 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      This picture is older than the internet

      [–]Cocacolonoscopy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      I remember seeing a dead nutria on the side of the road with the yellow line painted over its ass

      [–]hthsrthsr 0 points1 point  (0 children)


      [–]user64x 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Wish I have a public sector job...


      At first I thought that tree branch/root somehow skewed the road like that.

      Then I realized I was a dumbass.


      Official winner of exact repost.

      Down to the caption

      [–]acery88 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      he's walking along and all he can think is, "fuck this, fuck that and fuck this tree especially."


      Yeah, but that's a sprayer on a rolling truck. Dude would have to kill the pumps, stop, get out, move the shit, get back in, back up and kick the sprayer back on which would look bad too.

      It's not like a motherfucker was painting that line with a brush and took more effort to paint around it than move it.

      It was a half million dollar or more piece of equipment not designed to be started and stopped over a branch.

      [–]karniipls 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      this picture is so damn old

      [–]Actionjack7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      This reminds me of union bullshit. I know there are reasons for unions, but most of their meaning has turned into to making things tough on everyone for no reason.

      Case in point: Years ago I was the lead graphic designer for a project that was an on-going thing with a major company. The company itself provided some support, but it was mainly on me to create and execute the project (for the city of New York...I in Dallas). We were nearing completion of the project and the powers-that-be decided a certain seal (as in a logo) needed to be in place on the piece. We mocked it up with a low-res version for approval, but when it was approved, we needed to replace it with the high-res vector file. That was to come from the company in NY. When time came, I requested it to be emailed. Nothing, for days. Deadline fast approaching. Request, request....nothing. I finally made a call to that department and got the run around. When I got to the person that could finally give me answers, well, the person that had created the logo was out on sick leave with the flu.

      Well, certainly someone could send me that logo by just grabbing it off their computer, right? Nope. Union. Nobody was allowed to touch his/her stuff, or even pull stuff off their computer across the network. It had to be done by him/her because of the union.

      At this point, coming from a non-union state, I'm thinking what the fuck. How stupid are these people.

      So I offered to completely recreate the logo from scratch at no cost to get this thing done and meet the deadline. Nope, can't do that. Union won't allow it. Screw these dipshits. If that person didn't show up in the morning, then we can do nothing, and guess who is out about $20,000? So I redid the logo myself. When sickly person no-showed again, I used my logo, sent in the artwork and got it fulfilled just in time and got paid. I received the original logo about 3 days later. Yeah right. I'm going to sit here and lose out on good money because of your bullshit union rules.

      [–]_NW_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Half the stuff I do at work is not my job.

      [–]donnylong 0 points1 point  (0 children)


      [–]fubarspeaks 0 points1 point  (1 child)

      Maybe he's allergic to trees. Or woodophobic. Or his dispatcher nailgunned him to the seat of his paint truck this morning. Maybe he was exhausted from the 300 miles of fallen trees he'd already moved, and decided, NO MORE, GOD HELP ME! Maybe he never saw the tree but swerved to kill a zombie or large spider in the middle of the road that just happened to be in the same spot. Maybe the other end of the tree was attached to a bear, or a zombie, or a large spider and he erred on the side of caution. I am the endless excuse shop steward for my local, tyvm.

      [–]TrogdorTheBurnin8tor 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Maybe he took George of the Jungle's warnings to heart

      [–]zubinster -5 points-4 points  (15 children)

      Jeez! What's with Reddit. It's not a like a guy with bucket of paint and brush goes around painting those.How do you get "Not My Job" out of this?

      [–]alexinthis 6 points7 points  (7 children)

      He is referring to moving the tree not being his job.

      [–]Nachteule -1 points0 points  (6 children)

      It would not have been his job - but how about giving the dead tree a kick so it won't stick out on the street and the line would continue to be straight? One kick is demanding too much? What's his excuse for not doing that? Exactly: "not my job"

      [–]zubinster 0 points1 point  (2 children)

      My point is that you simply do not have have the context to say what you just said, based simply on a picture! Just like saying what's "his" excuse? How do you know it is a "he"? And I will bet you anything that was the context and the information provided, it may turn out to be just about anything but a case of "Not My Job." Reddit has created its own reality. And no one gives a shit about how ridiculous that reality is. Truth is definitely not part of this reality. All for a few fucking click of karma points!

      [–]Nachteule 0 points1 point  (1 child)

      If it's a he or she or transgender is completely irrelevant. Here is a problem that could be fixed with a single kick of your boot and he/she/it didn't fix it but painted arround it like an idiot. That's the truth. Why he/she/it didn't do it is unknown, but the "not my job" attitute is pretty obvious here. But yes, that's speculation. Like my speculation that it will get dark in a few hours.

      [–]zubinster 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Exactly my point. You could not care less about who it is, or what went on. Don't let the truth get in the way of life on Planet Reddit. This image has been reposted millions of time on the internet. Yet another Meme, divorced from any reality or the truth. In 15 minutes you will be on to the next one.

      [–]OMGWTF-BOB 0 points1 point  (2 children)


      Well.. Depending on the type of equipment that was in use could easily explain why they did this. The road is both narrow (two lane) and looks decently rural (no edges for brake downs before the ditch). Usually when they have to stripe these rural roads there's so many miles or area that must be covered by the end of the work day. So to move the branch the operator would first have to stop the equipment, then make sure it's safe to exit the equipment (remember narrow rural road).

      Then set up a warning sign or signal fifty feet behind his equipment to warn oncoming drivers that there's equipment blocking the lane (this is to prevent him and his employer from liability, and slow speeding rural drivers down). Then go and remove the branch from his path, and do the reverse of what he just did to get back into the equipment and resume working. So that "simple" move it out of the way took 30 minutes to accomplish. That's even if the employer allows workers to exit their equipment. Many will not allow an operator to exit, in fear of accidents or the operator becoming hit by motorists.

      Before anyone says "well push it with the equipment". Some spraying units or if it's a rolled asphalt stripe unit arms are a tad fragile. Hitting it against something will throw it off or even damage it causing even longer delays while waiting for a repair crew to perform roadside maintenance. I'm sure this logic will fall on deaf ears or blind eyes in reddits pitchfork mentality, but quite often there's other reasons for stuff happening other than "lazy union worker".

      [–]Nachteule 0 points1 point  (1 child)

      You are really overthinking a kick with the boot. He even saw the tree and moved his machine into the other lane to avoid it. So much about safety. Those trucks drive pretty slow anyway and have warning signs.

      [–]OMGWTF-BOB 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      You are really overthinking a kick with the boot.

      No, actually I'm not over thinking it at all. Every summer when road work kicks off I transport at least a dozen people to the ER that have been hit by motorists while working on the roadways.


      He can move into the oncoming lane when there's no traffic heading his way. Are you really that goofy to think the three seconds across the dashed line he spent avoiding the tree threw safety out the window?

      Those trucks drive pretty slow anyway and have warning signs.

      That particular new piece of equipment has updated signage and impact bumper to meet with DOTD standards. Many municipalities maintain much older pieces of equipment that do not meet today's standards. That is exactly why my first sentence addressed that with "depending of the equipment". Not everyone lives in a massive city center with taxes that can support fleets of new vehicles. Hell... The soil cement truck that services our rural road is an old water tanker attached to a trailer with magnetic trailer lights that you'd pick up at an auto parts store.

      So please let me assure you that not every place operates with the equipment in the video you linked. In almost three decades as a paramedic I've scooped up many road workers that were injured due to motorists that were impatient. I've been around a lot of road crews, and see their equipment daily since we store out excess fire equipment in their storage yard.

      Edit: added T

      [–]CommentsPwnPosts -2 points-1 points  (1 child)

      nah, this is the winner in my opinion.

      [–]Nachteule 3 points4 points  (0 children)

      fake - there is no paint on the headlights.

      [–]emptybucketpenis -1 points0 points  (0 children)

      you haven't being to Eastern Europe...

      [–]Zoomwalt -1 points0 points  (0 children)

      Being reported for almost 10 years nowwww

      [–]LessNumbers -1 points0 points  (1 child)

      Official winner of the internet's oldest "funny" picture contest

      [–]TheOneTrueBastard 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      It's new to me. And hilarious.

      [–]moeburn -1 points0 points  (0 children)

      I think you mean "nyet моя работа"

      [–]Scizzler -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

      Good ol photoshop...