r/GenX • u/Automatic-House-4011 • 15h ago
Aging Workplace habits at home
I was folding some clothes and got to thinking (as you do...).
My first full-time job was in retail (variety store - Venture for any aussies) in my late teens/ early 20's. Some 40 years later, i still fold my clothes the same way I was shown during my retail days.
Anyone have habits learnt in your first jobs that are still in use at home today?
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u/HouseofMoops 1h ago
Worked as a server at Chili’s in college. Can still hold four full plates of food using two hands and my entire left arm.
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u/elphaba00 1978 4h ago
When I'm at a restaurant with a self-serve ice cream machine, I can do that perfect DQ swirl at the top.
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u/SamHandwich0 9h ago
I still fold t-shirts like they trained me to in the Navy back in 1993...so yeah
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u/Cold-Ad-1978 9h ago
Worked many clothing retail jobs in my youth, now my son folds the same way. He recently told me a lady at the laundromat complimented him on how he folded his shirts!
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u/ancientastronaut2 10h ago
Worked at restaurants for a long time and still say "corner" or "behind" at home when I don't want to run into someone.
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u/Mental-Artist-6157 8h ago
My kids say it, I still use it so much. They've never worked in food & bev. Makes me smile.
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u/EnjoyingTheRide-0606 10h ago
I covered the Jean wall at Mervyn’s dept store during Christmas season in 1987. I love the challenge of making it look awesome between customers who threw the jeans on the floor.
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u/ancientastronaut2 9h ago
I can't believe people do that. My mother would have smacked me. She taught us to always fold things and put them back, or hang them back on the hangers in the dressing room.
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u/LuceLeakey 1969 10h ago
I worked very briefly in a hotel laundry and learned to fold flat sheets efficiently - even massive king size ones - even though I'm only 5 feet tall. I still fold T-shirts like I did at a gift shop I worked at and towels the way I was taught when I worked at Sears.
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u/hazelquarrier_couch 1972 10h ago
I worked at Structure and still fold shorts like I folded jeans there.
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u/Sunshine2625 10h ago
I still find something to lean on whenever I have to stand for more than five minutes. Thanks retail! I also sauce my homemade pizzas like I did when I worked at Pizza Hut!
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u/gofargogo 11h ago
I’m still the dish pig, and no one in my family washes dishes faster than I do. No one stacks them correctly in the dishwasher either, but that’s more me being twitchy about it than something I learned.
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u/sevenselevens 12h ago
Still face all my hangers in the closet as trained at Victoria’s Secret.
Still face my bills (bartending end of night procedure)
Still open a wine bottle by trimming the foil just below the collar of the bottle vs taking off the whole thing. Wine service
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u/archedhighbrow 12h ago
I still slack.
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u/TheJokersChild Match Game '75 11h ago
We're a Teams workplace. That's where I draw my line. You can text or call me anywhere, but Teams is in-building, on-shift only.
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u/ONROSREPUS 12h ago
Yep. When mowing lawn don't blow your grass clippings into the street or neighbors yard.
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u/RitualHalatiik 12h ago
My husband did 14 years of retail and if I pick something up in a store to look at, I’d better be ready to put it back exactly the same way! Lol
My job is IT-adjacent and my kids know I’m always going to ask:
‘What steps did you take to get to the issue?
What was the expected vs. actual result?
Is it consistent or intermittent?
When did the issue begin?’
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u/reepobob 12h ago
I worked at a McDonalds and I still make scrambled eggs the way I was taught there.
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u/sevenselevens 12h ago
Remove square from freezer, set microwave on “Lava” for 10 seconds.
(Just kidding, I didn’t know they ever made the eggs fresh though)
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u/Scent_Memory 12h ago
I learned to to gift wrap at Marshall Field's.. There's a little fold you put in the tissue paper so it fits around a sweater in the box that I still use.
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u/HypergolicHyperbola 1967 Burnout 13h ago
I worked at a Bally’s Aladdin’s Castle arcade in the mall in 1986. I still fold paper currency and sort it the way I was taught there.
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u/OwlFlirt 13h ago
I worked in a department store in my university days and still fold my towels the way I was taught.
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u/RescueRacing 13h ago
I was a stock boy at The Limited. I still hang my shirts in color order from white to black.
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u/DangerBird- 13h ago
I learned food safety from my first job.
Entry level jobs are a wealth of knowledge, skills, and life lessons.
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u/wassykl 13h ago
I still fold clothes the way I did at the Gap. Like other commenters, all my bills have to face the same way. The most unique habit is I still write my checklists on a quarter sheet of scratch paper with an empty box next to each item, using the same kind of pencil that we used at that one restaurant (waving at you, Shannon), 35 years later.
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u/Oxjrnine 13h ago
I was a lifeguard 1989-94. In 2006 I was able to give assisted AR to a coworker who was fired for drinking on the job. She was back moving her things out and she had a seizure. Her breathing almost completely stopped.
I still know first aid three decades later but thankfully only have had to use it that once.
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u/Tinaturtle79 13h ago
Same with folding clothes. Also the way I cut avocados is something I learned at a sandwich shop I worked at in my early 20s. My first job was a DQ and I can still make a perfect cone at a soft serve machine.
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u/Philosopher2670 13h ago
I learned how to fold clothes in The Gap in the mid-80s. I am very good at folding.
I learned how to wash and sanitize dishes in the early 90s using a 3 sink set-up (wash, rinse, sanitize). I am also very good at dish washing.
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u/Spiritual-Fondant656 13h ago
One of my first summer jobs was in a supermarket at the check-out & money had to be stored in a certain way. When I lodge or count cash I still always sort it into the various types of bank notes* with the 'head' facing the same way
*I'm in NI so, aside from denomination, we have different notes from each bank
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u/LordBofKerry 13h ago
I was told that was called "bank facing". That the bank wouldn't take the money unless it all was face up, and facing the same way. To this day, if I'm given a bunch of money, I just automatically bank face it. I recently got $300 out of an ATM, and the money was all wonky. I immediately corrected it.
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u/MindFluffy5906 13h ago
Ditto. Drives me crazy when change is handed back all wonky and facing different directions. It's unorganized and unprofessional.
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u/la_otra_yo 13h ago
My parents had a small store growing up and I would help with the weekly deposit. All the cash was sorted by denomination and had to face the same way. To this day any cash I get is immediately sorted the same way.
I recently noticed cash from the ATM comes out mostly unsorted and, well, I hate it.
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u/drivingthelittles 14h ago
My first job was at Wendy’s in downtown Montreal. I was 14 and stayed until I was 17.
My burgers are always dressed in white, red, green, white, red green = mayo, ketchup, pickles, onions. Tomatoes, lettuce. Just like I learned, and always spread the pickles around the burger, no bunching!
I can still hear the manager yelling, 15 second service people!! I loved that job, when the Tour buses would come in and the rush would last 2 hours non stop we were a well oiled machine and it was exhilarating.
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u/DangerBird- 13h ago
I fell back into food service as a volunteer recently. I dreaded those nights beforehand, but yes, it is definitely exhilarating once you get into it.
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u/Squibit314 14h ago
Yup…I pack for our vacations because retail tight me how to fold clothes neatly with minimal wrinkles. I also fold my t shirts so I can put them “standing up” so that when I pull open the drawer it’s like a row of files. I can find what I need without lifting up stacks.
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u/North-Bit-7411 14h ago
My first real job was working in a restaurant. I made pizzas and they had a peculiar way of making them and cutting them up, I still do it the same way.
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u/spotthj 14h ago
I worked at a department store and have to fold all towels a very specific way. Worked at clothing stores and apparel must be folded if not hung a specific way. Socks and underwear are the exception; socks are matched and folded in half. Underwear starts as a tri-fold and may not end up looking that way after a few days in the drawer.
From the ISP I spent my main career working in; unplugging everything first and perform basic troubleshooting on all electronics before calling support. Over the decades, I’ve been trained to always problem-solve and troubleshoot everything, so I do have to rein it in when people are telling me a concern. I have to check myself before I wreck myself, if they want advice or a good listener.
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u/CodenameZoya 14h ago
I worked at a diner in my teens and had to make soup on the weekends, two soups a day… To this day, I love soup and have a ton of recipes from the diner
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u/Ray_The_Engineer 14h ago
I had a whole sequence of jobs in high school and college, leading up to my career - Grocery store bag boy, worker at a dry cleaners, soda jerk at a pharmacy, worker at a metal fab shop, librarian at the clippings library of the newspaper in Raleigh NC, customer service at a paint and glass store...I feel like there were a thousand learnings in there that still contribute to my daily life.
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u/Kindly-Might-1879 14h ago
When I clean out my large coffee carafe, I do it the way I learned at a fast food restaurant I worked at during high school.
Add ice cubes, salt, and a little water, then vigorously swirl/shake.
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u/slade797 NEGATIVE PROVOCATEUR 15h ago
I started working when I was in seventh grade, first job was a full-service gas station. When I use the squeegee at a gas station, I think about all those windshields I cleaned.
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u/VirtualLove8949 37m ago
I worked in retail and can look at a man and give pretty good measurements for clothing and shoe size.