Reality is often disappointing.

I got stationed at an Air Force base about 45 min from where I went to high school at the mid point of my military career. I had people I went to high school with show up when I ordered pizza or working at Walmart when I was shopping.

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sapperbloggs@reddit

One of the highlights of my early 20's was seeing the girl (a few years older than me) who bullied me in high school, working at the local McDonald's when I was back visiting my parents.

I was super friendly to her while I made my order, but as soon as I had it in my hands I up-ended my large coke onto her counter and walked out the door.

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bill_wessels@reddit

bro if someone is working a job to pay their bills you are not better than them at all. if you act like you are you are a piece of shit.

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Username_NullValue@reddit

Nah. I had this girl in high school a grade ahead of me that bullied the shit out of me. It was my first job at 16, fast food, had no idea what was going on, and she made my life miserable for 18 months. About 10 years later, I’m an established tech bro in my new Land Rover, taking my kid for lunch in my old neighborhood, and guess who’s still working that same job. Yep.

She recognized me immediately and tried to strike up small talk, but pretended not to recognize her or remember her, just bag my fries so we can enjoy our afternoon. Felt great.

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Inaise@reddit

10 years and you're still trippin? Sounds like she is still winning then regardless of where she works. Tech bro isn't any less of a cog, they just get paid more.

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Username_NullValue@reddit

Not trippin’. I’m just not going to pretend she wasn’t a terrible person or forget how she treated me. Seeing her run that register 10 years later wearing that stupid hat was perfect Karma.

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weezmatical@reddit

Ok, then that is about that specific person who sucked. OP doesn't know that mean girl and is just looking down on people who make less money.

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Niggels@reddit

Sounds like a case of no good deed goes unpunished to me. If I held any begrudging feelings with the other children I went to school with, bullies or not, for more than a decade, I can't imagine I would've been a very pleasant teenager to be around. I wonder what stories about you she told her coworkers after you left.

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drainbamage1011@reddit

I get not wanting to make nice with the people who treated you shitty in the past, but hell, she's working a job to get through life, just like the rest of us (and she was providing a service you were in need of).

We don't all get to be astronauts when we grow up.

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Username_NullValue@reddit

It’s not like I went out of my way to make her life difficult. I just didn’t engage and remained completely indifferent.

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drainbamage1011@reddit

But you did come in here ready to flex that you'd "made it" and she hadn't.

I get it, I used to be like that too. When I was bullied in school, my parents fed me the typical line about "don't worry, they'll be working for you someday." I came out of college with my engineering degree ready to show those assholes what was up.

Imagine my surprise to discover some of my former bullies were just as well-off as me--or better!--and sometimes that high-powered engineering job sucked ass. I dunno, I'm just past the point in my life where I get worked up what other people are doing, as long as they're not hurting anyone.

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Username_NullValue@reddit

Good take. This was a long time ago - I was about 28 at the time.

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BasketballButt@reddit

If you’re still holding on to petty high school shit a decade later, that’s sadder than working fast food.

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Grundle95@reddit

“Established tech bro” isn’t a flex. At least she’s providing something of value to the world, namely fries.

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Username_NullValue@reddit

I don’t take myself too seriously…and yes. She can definitely fry a potato. Hashed or otherwise.

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BudFox_LA@reddit

No idea why this got downvoted. The sanctimony and self righteousness round here is disappointing. Thought maybe our generation wasn’t that precious about things

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weezmatical@reddit

Dickish behavior, bro.

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Ok_Effective_1689@reddit

Oh, OP. You’ll never be as funny or witty as you think you are. This post says more about you than the person you’re trying to make fun of.

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bonerb0ys@reddit

I have a friend that loves his his job at McDonald’s that’s he’s had from teenage to middle age. He has a wife & family and seems over all happy. I don’t feel bad for him because he chose his career to be in service.

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Cheapchard9@reddit

Not many people believe you can have a career at McDonalds that goes beyond floor managers. The arches just have a huge stigma they will never shake.

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Transplanted_Cactus@reddit

My kid has worked at McDonald's twice and is training now for some form of management. Why would I look down on her for being gainfully employed at a job she actually likes, without a high school diploma (thanks, Covid), that covers all her bills with extra leftover? No one is above any sector of employment.

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MartyFreeze@reddit

gif

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Sheeple_person@reddit

Why would anybody shame someone for working at Mcdonalds when there are people who choose to be cops

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bonerb0ys@reddit

Cops are also needed in our society.

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PuffyTacoSupremacist@reddit

By "be the change," do you mean become a cop and try to reform policing from the inside? Because if someone on the inside tries to do that by pointing out the bad practices, the best case is that they get fired immediately. The worst case is that they become victims of the corrupt police themselves - Google Adrian Schoolcraft for an example.

Some sort of law enforcement is needed, absolutely, but the current system is so broken that only bad people can be part of it.

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Snuffyisreal@reddit

One of my high school friends is a general manager at the restaurant she started hosting in at 15. Her house kids cars everything paid for by her. Her husband is a stay at home dad who does volunteer work and youth outreach.

Do I look down or feel bad for her waiting tables on occasions still? Hell no. I'm proud as a mother fucker this girl figured out how to do this shit early and got it right. Am I jealous a bit, because I can't deal with folks like her, yes , yes I am.

Same friend gave up a free ride to college because she loves the service industry. Worked out for her.

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threefeetofun@reddit

My best friend is a pharmacist but she worked with me 20 years ago at my work. Never looks down at all. I make $20 an hour there as crew now and her reaction was "That is amazing for what that job is. I'd take that part time if it was here"

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Lemmy_Axe_U_Sumphin@reddit

I’ve got a family member in a similar situation. Worked up from burger flipper at in an out to become a Regional Manager/Director making a comfortable 6 figures.

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threefeetofun@reddit

I used to feel bad about working for a taco place for so long. But you know what? I like it. It fits my life and makes sense for me. I give the movie Clerks 2 a lot of credit for that. You don't need to keep up with everyone. If it makes sense for you do it. If not, move on.

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toomanycookstew@reddit

I knew someone who started at the bottom of a fast food chain when they were 18, then worked their way up to district management within a decade making around $70k. Late 20s, good salary and benefits, no college debt.

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Rynkevin@reddit

I bet his location has the best service and food

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Goadfang@reddit

I went to a bar one night in my home town. I saw a guy there who graduated a year ahead of me and we sat and had a beer together. Got to know that had started a successful telecom company in the late 90s and had made millions, now he restores Porsches as a hobby turned job and is basically living his best life. Great guy, but definitely far and above more successful than me. I didn't argue when he paid for the drinks.

A coupe weeks later I met another guy from high school in the same bar. Sat and had a beer with him as well. He was so excited about a new job opportunity. That job opportunity was to work in the kitchen at Freddy's making burgers. I paid for the drinks, and he didn't argue about it.

It definitely goes both ways.

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SleestakSamurai@reddit

Reality is often disappointing.

Exactly how I felt when I saw how many upvotes this shitty meme got on this sub. Glad to see most of the comments echo my sentiment at least.

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98nissansentra@reddit

Weird cold shit. Unless the dude was a straight up evil person, I can't imagine not giving a shit about someone who grew up in my area and shared the same experiences as me, especially if they are happy to see me. If they had been shitty to me in HS, well, maybe they want to apologize, or maybe I need to apologize. We were kids. Kids are stupid. We're adults now.

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threefeetofun@reddit

I work in fast food and have for 24 years. Same place. I never want to talk to the people I went to high school with. Call their number, give them the bag, have a good day.

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SlapHappyDude@reddit

This is why you move far away from where you grew up!

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IMHO_grim@reddit

That’s what I’m over here sayin, besides the fact I’d never recognize anyone anyways.

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Jonestown_Juice@reddit

How did this shitty-ass boomer meme get 90 upvotes? You guys want to look down on working class people? That's not us.

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NovaForceElite@reddit

Every job that doesn't hurt anyone is an honorable days pay.

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jRok57@reddit

I fully plan on going back to delivering pizzas when I retire from tech at 55.

I slang pies for 9 years through high school, college and I'm between jobs. That job was pretty chill and the most fun I ever had.

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Sidewalkstash@reddit

This is a really horrible post.

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Mtndrums@reddit

It at least means they didn't OD and stopped being an idiot around firearms...

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ElectricSnowBunny@reddit

I'm too young for Facebook I don't get this

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Swimming-Food-9024@reddit

Ain’t about to lie… my demeanor in this situation would depend entirely on who and how that person was to me in high school

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DonShulaDoingTheHula@reddit

Yes I feel like this would be a very different post if OP was the underdog in high school and fry guy was the aggressor.

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daughtcahm@reddit

This ain't it

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birdlawspecialist2@reddit

I once ran into a guy I went to middle school with who was working a retail job. He was genuinely happy to see me, and it was great to catch up with him for a few minutes. I don't understand why people need to put others down because of the type of work they do.

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Geekboxing@reddit

It is unkind to look down on people like this.

Also, those service industry employees are wizards. Anyone who calls it "unskilled labor" has not witnessed an entire graduating class manage an In-N-Out on opening weekend with a military efficiency that would rival most five-star generals.

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billyjack669@reddit

Why does it smell like boomer in here?

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Brandkey@reddit

Holy shit that made me laugh so hard.

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Burt_Selleck@reddit

Here and r/millenial get a heavy handed dose of Facebook trash memes on a regular basis. It's one thing to see them but the real shame is in seeing how many upvotes and engagement gross memes will get.

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elementalguitars@reddit

I couple of years ago I ran into a girl I knew from high school band at Wendy’s. She was working the drive through. I knew she’d been through an abusive relationship and fought to get over alcohol addiction. My only thought was it was good to see her on the other side of all that stuff happy, healthy, and working. Most people’s lives don’t follow straight and predictable paths. A lot of people overcome a lot of adversity. I’ve met absolute saints serving my orders at fast food joints and my trade has had me working in multi-million dollar homes owned by the most miserable people you’ll ever meet. Money and job titles are meaningless. The only metric I use to judge people is how they treat others.

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an_Aught@reddit

Guess it depends on how they were to you in highschool.

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SteveEcks@reddit

Not to OP. Seems like they'd rather act high and mighty because they have a "real job."

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Username_NullValue@reddit

This.

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twoworldsin1@reddit

I LIVE PAYCHECK TO PAYCHECK! I'VE ONLY BEEN TO 7 DIFFERENT COUNTRIES! SOME PEOPLE GET TO GO TO 30! ⚓🍸🗽🫨🦷✋

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Synthea1979@reddit

Remember when calling people a poser was a thing? It looks like a boomer is here to stir up shit.

Who the hell judges someone else on their job, especially these days?

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Underfyre@reddit

I guess we stare down on people in the service industry like they're not a necessary part of the work force?

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throwawaytra1n@reddit

So many years ago, something about essential workers or something

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agnosticsanta@reddit

Lots of folks do food service at different times in their lives for different reasons. Life throws curveballs at you. And everyone has different needs and goals. No more shame at working fast food than eating it IMHO.

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thisismynamesilly@reddit

I don’t care what someone does for a job, I just genuinely don’t want to talk to anyone I knew in high school as I did not really enjoy those four years very much. Thankfully I live several states away from where I grew up, so I don’t run into classmates very often if at all (usually only when visiting home, which I try to avoid as much as possible). So, all in all it works out pretty well for me.

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DBE113301@reddit

Same here. Don't care what my fellow classmates do to earn money, as I don't really care to know anything about them. There have been a couple of reunions, but I haven't attended a single one. I think they're all doing well according to their standards, so good for them. The only classmate I look down on is the one who killed a guy. But he's in prison now, so I don't need to pile on.

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AliveInIllinois@reddit

40-year-old currently working as a retail cashier here.

Fuck you.

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LenaaraJaunty@reddit

Ah, the Xennial struggle—caught between dialing up the internet and scrolling through TikTok, only to find out adulting isn't as easy as Mario Kart made it seem. At least in the Mushroom Kingdom, you can throw a blue shell at your problems!

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DiogenesXenos@reddit

During lockdowns when all the restaurants were closed and everything was only drive through , I realized how important that industry is and these people need to be paid whatever it takes because I love going to restaurants and having good service. It’s an important job.

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