Gross Work Experiences (Long)

[Clover]

I used to work at three places which had some pretty dang nasty bathroom experiences-here are a few.

I used to work at a coffee shop (recently quit due to what I cited as a conflict of morality-basically a few of the staff members were doing things that were very illegal, and they brought it to work with them and I wanted nothing to do with it) and we had this elderly guy who came in every single day, ordered the cheapest thing on our menu, then spent ages in the bathroom and when he left it looked like he hadn't even been aiming for the toilet at all, and it wasn't just No. 1 I'm talking about there-blech. Of course I'd always be the one sent in to clean up.

This was often the case with my first job at a well-known pharmacy chain-when there was a mess, they'd call me to clean it up, particularly the bathrooms at the end of the night. The women's bathroom was pretty bad, like once when someone left a pair of bloody underwear on the floor (even with gloves I still wound up washing my hands about six times) and things left on the rims and all, but the men's bathroom-no matter how clean it had been-was always horrifying. One night there was fecal matter smeared on the dang walls, which could NOT have been an accident, and every night there were always a lot of areas (particularly around the urinal) that clearly showed someone's aim was a bit off.

No matter who else was there, I was almost always the one who ended up on cleaning duty, even though I was the youngest one there for a very long time, and the newest. I actually asked one of the managers about it once, and she admitted to me that I'm the only one that they could count on to clean the bathrooms PROPERLY-most of them just sweep it and leave it at that. I, however, am extremely germophobic (I even use germ-x or something every time I handle money, as it's known to carry a horrifying amount of germs) and will clorox the heck out of EVERYTHING and scrub it and mop it 'til it shines, as I did with the floors when I had mop duty. Heck, even at home I have to clean the toilet seats and door handles with clorox wipes if my niece or nephews, or even adult relatives I know are careless use the bathroom! That's part of why I'm so relieved to have my own now. But anyway, pretty much everyone there knew that I was the only one who'd take the time and put in the effort to make sure everything, from toilet seats to door handles, were cleaned and disinfected properly, so they always stuck me with it. Sigh. Why does it seem like being good at your job always gets you stuck with the worst tasks?

Anyway, the bathrooms at the one I worked at had a box-crusher against the wall that on the opposite side had the men's bathroom, so when it's going you can't hear a dang thing in the bathroom. I was once again cleaning up, and had gone into the stall of the men's bathroom to clean when the box-crusher started up, so I couldn't hear anything. Now, there was no one when I came into the bathroom (I always knock and call out to see if anyone's in there before I go in), and we were close to closing, so normally no one comes in at that time. I finished cleaning in the stall (the door of the stall will not stay open on it's own, so it had closed behind me) and pushed the door of the stall open only to see a guy, pants around his ankles, at the urinal. We stared blankly at each other for a moment (it should be noted here that I'm a girl, and at that time was 17) before I handled it in the best way I could.

I shrieked at the top of my lungs (involuntarily, of course) and dove back into the stall (to get out I would've had to run right past him) and we spent the next twenty minutes, during which he finished up and washed his hands, apologizing profusely to one another. He was very polite about it though, and just as shocked and affronted as I was (an actual gentleman? With MANNERS? Here? How strange!), and he left quickly so I could finish cleaning the rest of the bathroom with a few nervous laughs. Later on one of my coworkers asked me what the screaming he'd heard from the bathrooms was, and I was forced to tell him and my manager what happened. They laughed themselves sick, and finally agreed to have one of the guys clean the bathroom unless we had already closed and were sure not to have any more surprises like that. Of course after that they never had the bathrooms cleaned until after closing if I was there for that shift, so I ended up cleaning it anyway. But at least that didn't happen again!

Another time, I was working at a much bigger and better known chain (rhymes with all-mart ), and I didn't have to clean it up but I was still horrified.

I was working the customer service desk doing returns and such, and I'd noticed a weird smell but with all the chemicals and filthy customers that don't seem to know what soap is (particularly this one elderly man who comes in every morning, buys maybe a can of olives or tuna or two, then goes and sits on one of the benches all day-I'm fairly certain there's something wrong with him mentally) when a woman came up to me and asked me if I could get someone to clean the bathrooms. I asked what was wrong, and she told me that there was a horrible mess in there. I've had a few people more germophobic than me (if that's even possible) complain about perfectly clean bathrooms, so before I go and ask a manager to call one of the cleaning staff I go check it for myself to make sure it's worth calling them over.

Oh. My. God.

Someone had left fecal matter not only on the toilet seat and floor, but smeared it up around the stall walls, left toilet paper stuck everywhere, and in general had done everything possible to make it the most horrifying, disgusting thing I'd ever seen. I actually had to slam the stall door shut and clamp a hand over my mouth to stop from throwing up-I was glad I'd skipped eating that day, because if I hadn't I would not have been able to stop myself from vomiting. As it was I was dry-heaving a LOT. When I came back out, the lady who'd informed me in the first place saw the look on my face (she'd stayed at the service counter) and said she had never seen something that horrible, and she was sorry I'd had to see it too. I told her I felt far more sorry for the cleaning staff as I called for a manager.

When the CSM showed up, I explained the situation and yes, I'd seen it and yes, we needed someone to clean it NOW. Probably several someones, with hazmat suits. The CSM told me that the cleaning staff wouldn't be in at all until much later that day, so there was no one to clean it and we'd just have to put up yellow caution tape until they got there. The bathrooms are right next to the customer service counter, so I could smell it the whole time I was there (and knowing what the smell actually was made it a thousand times worse) and after having several people come up and complain about it, I finally put the tape over the bathroom entrance itself, not just that one stall, and directed anyone who needed it to the ones in the other section of the store.

Just...ugh....how disgusting can people be?! It had to be at least partially deliberate, I don't care what kind of stomach problems you're having, you can't get it on the upper walls like that without real effort unless you've actually exploded from sheer volume and the force of the blast shot it up there, and if that were the case I'm sure we'd find other pieces somewhere too.

Anyway, what kind of experiences have the rest of you guys had that have horrified you? Not necessarily bathroom related, but just gross in general?

[BrenDAnn]

I've told this story before, but I actually had someone take a...number two...in the men's room garbage at work. I mean, it was obviously deliberate--they took the effort to take the bag OUT of the can and go directly in the can itself. What did my manager do when I told her about it the next day? Ask me if I cleaned it up. Well duh. That trash can was the cleanest in the store by the time I was done with it!

[Jester]

Why does it seem like being good at your job always gets you stuck with the worst tasks?

Because it does.

I finished cleaning in the stall and pushed the door of the stall open only to see a guy, pants around his ankles, at the urinal.

I have to wonder about this. I mean, I've been a guy for a while now (41 years, to be exact, though I'm still shocked by that), and I've used a few urinals, and seen a few other guys use urinals....and generally speaking, if the urinal is not in a stall with a door, it is rather rare for a guy to completely drop trou and have his pants around his ankles. And by "rather rare" I don' t think I've ever seen it, or at least seen it so rarely that I can't recall any specific incidents of it. I know that, despite being completely un-shy about my own nudity, I've never done that!

Just...ugh....how disgusting can people be?!

If you are actually asking that question seriously, it is clear that you have not been a member here for very long.

[Seshat]

Why does it seem like being good at your job always gets you stuck with the worst tasks?

Because you can be relied on to actually DO them, not half-ass them.
Of course, a GOOD manager will then treat you well, with respect and consideration, as a kind of recompense for giving you the worst tasks. AND thank you for it, possibly explain why they're giving the task to you.


As for disgusting things: I think the worst, other than dealing with nappies (diapers) or litter trays/piddle pads, would have to be a tie.

One time I had a stomach bug so bad I was losing it at both ends. On this particular occasion, I lost it at both ends at the one time, with no warning. So ... not into an empty ice cream container, or into the loo, but .. well. Clean myself, clean the floor, soak the clothes before laundering...

The other would be getting years and years of stuck GUNK out of the bath and basin pipes in our new house. The drainage was incredibly slow, and we tried all sorts of drain cleaners and plungers. Then we decided to open the access nut at the junction - and SAW why nothing we were trying was working. Decades of hair, cotton buds, and other assorted muck, that had all gone fetid.
We're still progressively cleaning the sides of the pipes, but yanking all that stuff out made a huge difference. God it was a disgusting job, though!

[Gaki]

I believe I've posted all my really bad ones but what comes to mind are these:

Walking into a mens room to find shit on every surface including the ceiling. I pressure washed that.

Trying to pull out a garbage bag from an outside garbage can only to come away with maggots all over my hand. Later on it took three of us two hours to clean up this trash bag because there was a ten gallon bucket of dead animal pieces in it.

Having to pick up poopy underwear from the parkinglot.

Having to pick up a leaky plastic bag filled with shit and paper towels in the parking lot.

Walking into the men's room to find shit smears in the shape of finger prints on the side of the toilet bowl.

Having to tell a smelly homeless man that he could not, in fact, take a full on bath in our sink.

Having week-old chunky milk spilled all over me from the torn bag in the recycling bin when I took that out to the back.

...I'm sure there was more but I've probably blocked all that out of my memory by now.

[depechemodefan]

-someone changed their kid's diaper in an alcove, then wrapped it in a paper towel and left it behind a column. The other side of the column was a trashcan. I got a broom and a pale and pushd it in the pail and dumped it in the garbage.
-a cw found a guy washing his balls in a water fountain.
-a guy was waiting for a computer but didn't want to take the time to go to the bathroom to pee. 20 min latter he pees in the water fountain. since we had a cop in the library, and witnesses, the guy gets arrested, and informed the cop he had AIDS. The supervisor of the cleaning people had to clean it out.
-homeless guy, asleep on the bathroom floor with a knife near him and an empty bottle of beer.

[RetailWorkhorse]

I keep finding empty vodka bottles in the bathroom trashcan (with as much as my CW P goes to the loo, my boss D thinks he's been drinking on the job).

Poopy toilet paper in the trashcans (hey, the damned toilets work, just FLUSH 'EM!).

D cleaned up the explosive poo in the bathroom.

I've cleaned up what looks like formula and kiddie-poop (Mom was right, that stuff was like cleaning CONCRETE!) from the Main Aisle and followed the trail into aisle 3, 2, half way to the back of the store, and around Register 1.

It LOOKED like up-chuck but had no smell dried on soup stuff, from Aisle 2.

Cleaned up after Drooling Guy every. Single. Time.

Purex when dried smells oddly like excrement and hell YES I cleaned myself and that bottle off!

Maggots don't even bother me. It's the poo that others me.

ETA: Make that poo and kiddie-drool. I'm perfectly fine with dog drool. Even cat drool to a degree. Kiddie/adult drool, and I'm cleaning myself with BLEACH.

[Sapphire Silk]

Well, this one is from my days as a correctional nurse.

The county jail I used to work in had 6 2 bunk cells on the Medical Unit, and 2 1 bunk cells with showers (3 of the 2 bunk cells were directly across from the nurses office.

Most of the time the cells were empty. We only put a sick inmate in there if they were so sick they needed actual physical care, which was rare (usually if they were that sick they went to the hospital). We usually used those cells to house patients in pyschotic episodes, drug/alcohol withdrawal, or for punishment when the hole was full (because Medical was a 23 hour a day lockdown, no TV, no phone, no yard).

So I come onto the unit for work one day to this horrible shit smell (I know that smell all to well, given my profession and all).

Turns out an INS detainee who was in Medical for disciplinary reasons wrote a detailed letter to the INS explaining his deep unhappiness with the way his asylum case was being handled (ie, it was denied and he was being deported) using the walls of his cells as "paper" and his own shit as "ink."



It took a week and repeated washings of the cell by the trustees to get the smell out. Turned out, he'd loaded his left over crap in the ventilation.

Of course, INS offices were no where near the Medical Department.

[Lyse]

I'm still stuck on the fact that your coworkers heard you scream and couldn't be bothered to check it out.

[Mishi]

Most of my clean-ups were on a much smaller scale than other peoples, but here they are:

- Cleaning out severely infected ears and paws in/on Cocker, Springer and King Charles Cavalier Spaniels

- Assisting in the euthanasia and disposal of a large German Shepherd with metasized cancer (burst growths and secondary infections all over its belly).

- Assisting in the removal/clean-up of an abcessed tooth.

- Cleaning up after the locum vet covered the consult room while expressing a Shih-Tzu's anal glands.

- Regularly cleaning up the spray of blood from a post-op (Aural haematoma) dog flicking it's head before I could stop it.

- Cleaning up after untrained pets in the waiting room.

The worst scent I've ever smelt was the unwashed, infected fold of skin on a Pekinese dog's nose. Lifted some skin to clean it and the smell lingered for the rest of the day.

[Clover]

I'm still stuck on the fact that your coworkers heard you scream and couldn't be bothered to check it out.

Oh, that's nothing-one of my other co-workers had decided he thought my particular shriek when I'm startled was hilarious, so he took it upon himself to scare the hell out of me at every opportunity he got, until the rest of the staff was pretty used to hearing me yelping or shrieking (he was good at moving silently, and I'm paranoid from childhood experiences so I get nervous or startled somewhat easily), so it wasn't out of place to them. They just figured he'd gotten me again, but asked anyway. Besides, even without that, my coworkers weren't really the types to come to your aid if you were screaming, even if you were outright calling for help.

It's okay though, he stopped trying to startle me after I'd been mopping and he jumped out at me from behind one of the endcaps, and he almost managed to scare me except for the fact that he slipped on a puddle, fell on his butt and got his leg stuck in a display. I couldn't breathe for laughing! After that he stopped trying to startle me. XD

[b2addm]

Nastiest memories...Skanky woman who was brought to the convenience store where I was working by her date to play the crane machine. Despite the fact that he didn't win her a prize, and that it was their first date, she decided to engage in LOUD sexual intercourse in the bathroom. Just ewwww. At least they got a free ride in a police car.

A used tampon thrown out at the gas pumps. Right next to pump #5. Who in the hell changes their tampons in a parking lot?

Changing the outside trash one night, the bag busted and someone's tobacco spit bottle spilled all over my foot. I was wearing flip flops.

Pile of shit in the parking lot under a paper towel.

[Kogarashi]

Fruit fly infestation in the diaper pail. Makes me dry-heave just remembering it.

[Seshat]

- Cleaning out severely infected ears and paws in/on Cocker, Springer and King Charles Cavalier Spaniels

I'd blocked this one out.

Volunteering at the RSPCA. My partner and I doing the preliminary shaving of maltese terriers (or crosses), or other similarly matt-prone dogs.

The poor, poor animals were inevitably covered with infection under the matted fur. And we only did the preliminary shaving - the areas the dogs were willing to let us do. Touchy or difficult areas we were under strict instructions to leave for the professional groomers, vet techs or vets.

(Ditto for any animal who decided he/she didn't want us to groom him/her.)

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Oh, we had more than one artist going through his Brown Period in the downtown Kinko's loo. Shit smeared walls was not anything particularly unusual for that location.

You ever see that Dave Chappelle "Pop Copy" sketch? The scene were he's painting the crapper with chocolate syrup to make it "extra poopy" looked exactly like it had been filmed in our bathroom after it had been "decorated." The only differences were that

1. It wasn't us doing it.

2. It wasn't chocolate.

Buncha savages in this town.

Who in the hell changes their tampons in a parking lot?

Maybe Donita Sparks had been there buying gas earlier.