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Dumb questions people ask you at work

54 replies

on_a_mission said on May 30, 2003 10:53:

I’ll begin [Note: this can also include dumb things people say to you]

Q: Do you work here?

Vixzter said on May 30, 2003 11:06:

LOL

Working at a Tesco petrol station....I used to get ppls coming in and saying..... ’Are you open?’

Don’t work there no more thank god!

TinyBubbles said on May 30, 2003 11:10:

Can i have candy before dinner?
Why can’t i pull yer hair?
Can we go outside now?
When will it stop raining?
When will mom be home?
Why don’t i have a dad?
Aaaarrrgggghhhh!!!!!!!!

(i’m an au pair)

on_a_mission said on May 30, 2003 11:15:

Just had theeeee dumbest thought. The person who gets asked the most dumb questions at work must be GOD [assuming he/she exists]...

zaine said on May 30, 2003 11:50:

good point O_A_M. I must have asked some of the dumbest questions from him. *thanks for putting up with me mate ;) *

on_a_mission said on May 30, 2003 11:56:

@zaine, do you mean me or god? LOL

kiwijazza said on May 30, 2003 14:03:

My mother used to work for McDonald’s, and people would sometimes say, “I’ll have a cheeseburger without the cheese, please”.

Little do they know, there’s another burger, which is slightly cheaper, called a hamburger...and it’s exactly what they just asked for. :P

Shane said on May 30, 2003 14:42:

When a co-worker asks me “Are you busy?”
No - I am just sitting at my desk, surrounded by tons of paper and files, frantically typing on the computer, but really, I am not busy.

Or, when I am holding the telephone receiver up to my head and someone asks me “Are you on the telephone?” Nope - you caught me - I just like to pretend I am talking on the telephone.

sfchemist said on May 30, 2003 15:07:

i used to work in a supermarket so i’d get people asking me “do you know where the ...... is?” answer: of course i do, i work here.

sunnshy said on May 30, 2003 16:03:

Are you on extra time?, when they look at the clock and see that is way pass your exit time

zaine said on May 30, 2003 16:17:

on_a_mission @ I mean God. I ask for some crazy stuff in my past!

The wierdest thing I’ve ever been asked at school is ’have you done your homework?’

heheheh, of course not!!! lol :D

DaminehGessle said on May 30, 2003 16:19:

sfchemist : To be honest with you, I have seen cases when those working in supermarkets have no clue where things are. I have actually gotten into arguments these past few weeks with those working in retail stores or supermarkets and when asked where things are, they’d either say oh we are out of that one or ….
I actually went to Banana Republic last week, asked for a pair of pants I had seen just a few days before. The girl told me oh sad we are out of that. We have to order it for you which we will charge 10$ for it and ofcourse it will take 1 week at least for it to get here. I told her I know they had it and she insisted they were out and that she had seen the person who had bought the last pair.
So I went around looking for the pants and there they were, a huge stack of them!!! I grabbed one and went to her:” So you are out eh?? You just wasted 15 minutes of my time when you could actually move your butt and look for it.” I went to the cashier and when she asked whether anyone had helped, I said no and that girl over there didn’t even bother looking for it telling me you guys were out. Ofcourse the pants were 375$ and the girl not only missed the $375 on her card (which they count at the end of the day and you should at least sell a certain amount to be employed still), but also they took $375 out of her card.
I had never treated anyone like that but apparently some people working in supermarkets and retail stores think they own the place, so they can actually not know where things are and when asked, either do not answer or give unreasonable answers.
That is very sad! People are paid to know their shit. I get paid to finish the design on time. She gets paid to know where things are.
Puffffffffffffffffff

sfchemist said on May 30, 2003 16:55:

@Damienh

yeah some people are stupid and just don’t care. but the shop i worked was tiny, three aisles and it really used to bug me when people came in the door and instead of looking round would just ask coz they were too lazy to think. but i enjoyed working there most of the time.

StillFar said on May 30, 2003 17:17:

Damineh: next time go to a quality store and don’t waste $ 375 at the republic :).

ally77 said on May 30, 2003 19:35:

If we are talking about customer’s... here goes I work in a call centre... so brace yourself...

1) I’ve run of out money, have no electric and have to feed the dog!!

2) I have just put £50 on my electric card and I was mugged!

3) The electric meter fell off the wall!!

4) What do you mean you can’t F***ing help??

5) Put me through to a supervisor... I am the supervisor....

6) I’ll change suppliers... (not when you own £1000.... I DON’T THINK SO!!!)

As you may have guessed I hate my job with a passion.... just there for the money.......

Santi said on May 30, 2003 19:45:

I’ve also worked in a supermarket, well, a big one called “Carrefour” (in Spanish they’re called “hypermarket”), and it’s difficult to know where are specific things that are not in your section! :O
Of course, in your section you know even where cockroaches live :D lol :DD

wendy said on May 30, 2003 19:46:

I was dying someone’s hair,she work at a pharmacy,and she’s always sleepin!!! :DD
So,i was dying her hair,and,ofcourse,she was sleeping
But,suddenly,she woke up,like in a fright,and asked me this question : Are you married :O
Me : Oh my God,i’m not,i’m just 18 :DD
She : Good for you,cuz,watch out with those men,Blablablablablabla,.....

DaminehGessle said on May 30, 2003 20:08:

looooooooooooooooooooooooool Wendy looooooooooooooooooooooooooool

zeeshan said on May 30, 2003 20:26:

hey are you working?

DaminehGessle said on May 30, 2003 20:58:

Zeeshan me? Yeah and I am so sleepy! I was almost falling asleep while doing calculations hah. Fortunately it’s Friday and I’m looking forward to throwing a great pool-party tomorrow and ofcourse hanging out with friends tonight. I hate working!!! I miss school :(

PS. hey is rude lol!

Jud (moderator) said on May 30, 2003 22:02:

uh, 375 $ for a pair of pants?!?

Stormkeeper said on May 31, 2003 01:51:

Damineh
you just can´t know everything

Majdy said on May 31, 2003 04:40:

it is not a question, but I HATE when people said : you don’t look like reporter.

kachina008 said on May 31, 2003 09:01:

Talking about ppl’s reaction to your job...
everyone acts all surprised/overawed/enviuos?? when they hear what I do. sheesh :P

I work in a lab, so no question is dumb, apparently :P

Agghh said on May 31, 2003 11:37:

I think all the stupid question you refer are all just... courtesy. Yeah, that little thing children should learn. Ah, except the cheeseburger without cheese, that’s really stupid.

on_a_mission said on May 31, 2003 12:08:

@agghh. Yea most of what you say is true but when I am sitting next to the counter - dress in the products of my workplace doing the PAPERWORK it is sorta implicit that I work there. I find it more funny than anything else that people use it to break the ice rather than ’Hi’ or ’excuse me’ or whatever.
Take it easy.

PS - Keep going, this is the search for the world’s dumbest [work] question

LittleSpooky said on May 31, 2003 15:47:

Driving bus, the route information is on the electronic destination sign (22- State Street Inbound / Outbound):

Do you go downtown?

LittleSpooky said on May 31, 2003 15:48:

THE ULTIMATE ONE:

Do you know what time it is?

My answer is: Yes, I know what time it is.

Vixzter said on May 31, 2003 16:13:

LOL

Vixzter said on May 31, 2003 16:19:

OK....in my petrol station days I used to get.....

’Do you sell petrol?’ ..... D’OH!

’Your petrol pump isn’t working’ ...... mmm a: its not my pump...its the shops...and b: its not my fault you can’t fill your car up properly ;)

’It smells of petrol fumes out there’..... LOL no shit...its a petrol station

oh and the usual...’do you work here’ (sat behind the cash til in silly uniform) .....mmm nope i just like the outfit ;)

xuxa said on May 31, 2003 16:41:

Sometimes people ask me if I really like maths...well funny question to make to someone who studied and teaches maths:)
“No, i hate it.. i just studied that because I am masochist :DDD”

Oh, and sometimes people say that I don’t look like a math teacher... I wonder why :DDDDDDDD

kiwijazza said on May 31, 2003 16:41:

Another McDonald’s one I just remembered:

“How much is a 50 cent icecream?”

Dunno if that’s actually been asked, but it was an old joke at school. Hehe.

Jud (moderator) said on May 31, 2003 18:19:

LO Vix :D

I can’t recall many stupid questions, just the ones you already mentioned. We finished working at 19.30, I stayed there (overworking hours), at 20.00 somebody gets in the office “are you working extra?” “no I just love to stay here, i think I will even take my sleeping bag the next time”

Oh well, i worked at the office of a company that sells tyres and car parts in their 25 garages spread around Spain. Once I was downstairs, where one of the garages was, and somebody came in “do you sell and change tyres?”

doh

Jackie_Radiorox said on May 31, 2003 19:06:

My FAV question which is starting to piss me off -

- “Does this really work?”

Dood, think about it. If you are talking to someon that wants to sell you something... DO YOU REALLY THINK someone is going to tell you No?!

Ummm, no, it actually doesn’t work, but buy it anyway! We need the revenue!

A company that my company supplies customer service for sells a quit smoking program... someone calls and asks me “So like... the quit smoking program I got two questions... is it for me to quit smoking? And how many cigarettes come with the package.”

Or a product called Horse Chestnut (Which is a natural product for leg problems and it says so on the page.)

“I ahave to ask you as stupid question. Is there any horsemeat in this product?”

Glad she knew it was stupid before she asked it. ;)

Or the person I talked to a few weeks ago not a question but still has you like O_o?
After explaining in details his prostate problem -
“...I would order with you by phone than on the live chat that you have, I prefer to order by phone so I can flirt with you better.”

on_a_mission said on May 31, 2003 19:41:

@jackie...and I thought I met idiots at work

Majdy said on June 1, 2003 05:53:

Sometimes after i have done interview people, they start to ask
” how much does it cost?”
I’m so sick of it.

LittleSpooky said on June 1, 2003 09:19:

People in general make me go like this
O_O o_O O_o. I sometimes experience all THREE expressions in a row

kachina008 said on June 1, 2003 10:24:

Jackie your experience with the phone flirter reminded me of a student I once had...

This guy was somewhat of a slacker. In his last lab report on blood types, he wrote “I really enjoyed this particular practical session, as I learnt I am one of the rare blood types (he was a AB+)... I would really like to get to know you better and maybe we can discuss this over coffee sometime.”

I think he was stoned when he wrote that report. I never did see him again. heh

Vixzter said on June 1, 2003 10:50:

Working with the public is a dangerous game....fortunatley I don’t see too many these days ;) I’m working in a small print office now where we do all sorts of printing and photocopying....ppls come in....(lots of very bright ppls from Oxford Uni) and still ask.....’can you copy this?’ mmmmm well let me think.....this is a printing/copying office.....what do you reckon the answer to that might be......you have a phd .....go figure LOL ;) .....or they see the envelope stuffing machine and say.....’ooohhhh thats clever’ ....i mean....bloody hell....how do they think large mailing companies stuff envelopes....by hand?.....yea....I’d love to stuff 10,000 letters by hand ;) ....these are supposed to be clever ppls....theyre dr’s...professors....scientists! ;)

coyboyusa said on June 2, 2003 13:28:

the most annoying thing about peopel is they think that you are there to serve theior every whim when they come shopping that isnt what we get paid for

david77 said on June 2, 2003 14:19:

In a Pharmacy a woman asked:

How do I have to cook the spaghetti for my husband? (I want to clarify her husband was fine)

And my boss answered:

You can cook them as you want.

And the woman asked again:

Can I put tomato on them?

I couldn’t help laughing after listening them interchanging those words.

harriej said on June 2, 2003 19:21:

When people come to me, because their equipment doesn’t work:
Is it broken?

DaminehGessle said on June 2, 2003 22:58:

Stormkeeper: One should not know all that’s out there. But once I start working for any organization or industry, I should know what I’m out there for. I do not expect the girl working at a retail store to know where everything is exactly because that is impossible knowing that they move stuff around all the time. But at least don’t tell me you are out of it if you are not sure. We are all here to learn. I cant say I know everything because I don’t and whoever says he/she does, is just full of crap. It isn’t a bad idea to learn. When someone asks you where things are, why not go and ask your manager, supervisor or someone who has worked there longer than you. Or at least look around a bit. The person working at a supermarket, retail store or those places that they have to deal with customers, those people are paid to help the customer, not just pretending they are cleaning or moving stuff around. I am paid to do my job, they too!

LittleSpooky said on June 3, 2003 00:47:

Not a dumb question, but this just happend to me today about an hour ago:

My bus is 40ft long and 10ft wide and 9ft tall. Just to give you an idea. So, I pull up by some parking metres (there are still PLENTY left, so people can still park). I’m sitting with my hazard lights flashing and up against the curb when I get a knock on my door. It’s Salt Lake City Police. I open the door:

“Do you know that all your metres have expired (4 or 5 of them)?”
“Yup.”
“You gonna drop some money in anytime soon?”
“Nope. Gonna leave in a few minutes.”
“I should give you a ticket, you know. For expired metres.”
“O_o”
“*lmao*”
“ha ha ha. Love you too officer. How is the night out here so far?”

And the conversation continued until time for me to start my route. I know several police officers, and they like to come up and screw with me just for general principles. I had one actually try to BOOT my BUS, WHILE I’M STILL SITTING IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT!!!!!!!!!!

“You know that damn thing is too small for my rim, right?”
“Damn.”
“*lmao*”

Some cops have a GREAT attitude, other’s are pricks. Gotta love em.

antz said on June 3, 2003 01:15:

This is a great topic!

I used to work in a call centre at an insurance company.

I once had an insurance agent/broker ask:

“Can you change my clients sex?”

Apparently, this client had just gone “under the knife” and he wanted to know can we change him to a female on our system, so s/he could get cheaper premiums (females pay less in premiums).

I was dumb struck!

Of course I had to pass it on to higher authorities to make a decision: the answer was no.

But I was able to change the clients name on our system!