what weird habits have you picked up from your job?

by Alison Green on August 31, 2023

We all pick up weird habits from our jobs that we carry into the rest of our lives. Maybe you still fight the instinct to yell “NO RUNNING” at kids because you used to lifeguard … or you’re an ER nurse who checks out everyone’s arms to see what size IV you’d put in … or you’re a teacher who finds yourself reminding adults to have a snack … or you’re a work advice columnist who has to forcibly restrain yourself from opining every time your friends tell a work story (that one’s me).

Let’s talk about what weird habits have followed you home from work. Please share in the comments.

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  1. The Cosmic Avenger*

    A very common one, I’m sure: sometimes when I was on the phones all day I found it hard not to answer my own home/cell phone with “Hello, [organization], how can I help you?” I think I did at least two or three times.

    1. The Cosmic Avenger*

      And I still tell CSRs my phone number with each number as a separate word, almost like a quick sentence for each one (in pitch and tone), to give them time to type and to not make the numbers harder to distinguish.

      1. Ginger*

        I do this out of politeness! I’ve been on the other end of the phone and know how hard it can be to take a number down!

      2. londonedit*

        I’m struggling to think how else you’d do it! The only way I think I’ve ever heard numbers given (and how I always do it) is ‘Oh-seven-seven-five-one [gap as that’s the end of the first part] three-five-eight-seven-five-nine’ (with deep apologies to the person whose mobile number that might be!) – occasionally if there’s a double number you might go ‘Oh-double-seven-five-one’.

        1. The Cosmic Avenger*

          If I’m just saying numbers not to be written down or typed, I can rattle them off MUCH faster. And in my call center experience, that’s often how the average person gives you their address/phone number/email!

          1. Hastily blessed Fritos*

            How else would you? I’m assuming you mean something like “One two three, four five six, seven eight nine one” but what’s the alternative?

            1. Ludo*

              oh you’d be surprised at what people can come up with
              made up phone number below
              831-425-1985

              so most people would say this phone number as “eight-three-one, four-two-five, one-nine-eight-five”

              but then you get the people who go “eight hundred thirty one, four, two, five, one thousand eighty five”

              when people tried to do that I would just say “I’m so sorry the phone is really fuzzy can you please repeat the phone number slowly one number at a time” because I wasn’t about to play that game lol

              2. Mongrel*

                There are also the speedrunners, they just want the call over and done with and will blurt out the number as fast as possible and it’s your fault for not being able to keep up

              3. Phryne*

                I always say my number in doubles, as that’s how it is stored in my head. I am not good at remembering numbers (light dyscalculia), and halving the amount of numbers to be remembered is one of the ways I cope with that. I would have to think really hard to convert it into single numbers and there is a real chance I’ll get it wrong.
                So the above number would probably be eight thirty-one – four twenty-five nineteen eighty-five.
                I would not go into the hundreds though.

      3. Corelle*

        My first name ends with the same sound as my last name starts with, and my last name is close to a common name without that sound (like Erica Ali, sounding close to Erica Lee.) I automatically spell my first and last name when I give it out…like “Thats’s E-R-I-C-A, last name Ali, that’s A as in Apple-L-I.”

        I worked at the same company as an Erica Lee and I once got a whole pile of her personal info because I asked a harried HR person for my stuff and just identified myself quickly as Erica Ali and she misheard me.

        1. Petty_Boop*

          My oldest son because our last name is unusual, introduced himself as soon as he was old enough, as “my name is Brandon Boop B-o-o-p” because after hearing me ALWAYS say “the name is Petty Boop B-O-O-P he thought his last name was “Boopb o o p”. It was frankly pretty cute.

          1. So Tired*

            haha, that’s funny because when I have to spell my last name for people, I use the same letter for word combos (c for charlie, etc) as my dad because I always heard him spell it that way!

            1. Rainy*

              Mr Rainy and I hyphenated, and he spells his half like his mother does with A as in Apple, etc, while my pops was a firebase commander and I use the NATO alphabet. I renewed my library card over the phone yesterday and she asked for the number, and when I said “Lima November Papa eight-seven-fower-niner” she thanked me! And the way she did it made it sound like the first word that P stands for for most library patrons is, uh, not Papa!

              1. Fish Microwaver*

                I use the NATO alphabet too. I was speaking to my OH&S class teacher the other day and spelled my email address and he said it was the first time he had ever had a student use it.

            2. Gail*

              Same here, from when we made reservations and bought things over the phone. My maiden name is hyphenated, each half 6 letters, and ends in 4 consonants. I still spell it the way he does.

            1. Petty_Boop*

              Brandon… is that you? :) That is how he learned it! Hearing me order pizza, make an appointment, etc…

        2. Mother of Corgis*

          I have the issue of having a common first name spelled oddly (say, Linda, but with a Y instead of an I). I joke that my full name is actually Lynda-with-a-Y-instead-of-an-I, or Lynda for short.

          1. paxfelis*

            :: hands you a t-shirt for the oddly-spelled name club::

            My first name is not only a variant spelling, but is gender neutral and a common surname. I’ve started a mental list of what I’m called by people who mishear my name over the phone, because I can either be aggravated by it or amused by it and I don’t want another ulcer.

              2. This_is_Todays_Name*

                I get “Dennis” from “Janice” a lot. Like… do I sound like a dude? Denise … maybe??? But…

            2. Avery*

              Oh hey, samesies! My name (not the one I use here) is ALSO gender-neutral-ish and a common surname, and I’ve learned to pre-emptively spell it in the hopes of preventing confusion with similar-sounding names… and even that doesn’t always work.
              And then my last name is a variant spelling of a more common surname, so I always have to spell that out too… Oh, how I envy the people who can just say their name once and not have to worry about that kind of confusion!

              1. Distracted Procrastinator*

                That would be me. My first name is the most common spelling of a name that’s in the top 10 for the decade I was born in. My last name is in the top five of my country and an actual English word.

                Yes, I never have to spell my name, however, I have met actual people with my same name and trying to sift through all the same Jane Smith’s when dealing with bureaucracy can be a big headache. Also, I don’t get to have that nice professional sounding gmail/yahoo address because firstnamelastname is taken into the thousands. I have a solution, but it doesn’t have my name in it.

                There are both pros and cons for having a common name.

            3. This_is_Todays_Name*

              I worked with a guy intermittently for like 2 years, and he had two “first” names and to this day I can’t tell you if his name was, for example: “Christoper Frank” or “Frank Christopher”. I managed for that whole time to just say “Hey there how’s it going?” when I ran into him!

              1. Seashell*

                My husband has a co-worker/friend whose first name is a common last name and his last name is a common nickname. Something like Tyler Dave. I have overheard my husband on conference calls telling people that everyone mixes up the name, but the guy’s first name is really Tyler.

          2. selisabeth*

            hi! my name is elisabeth-but-with-an-s. once i said this, and the annoyed clerk looked up at me and said in the most annoyed voice, “you mean, like, selisabeth?”

            1. CarmieC*

              My name is Carole with an e on the end. More than once I’ve said “Carole with an e” and seen it spelled Ecarole. My last name stats with as Ch that has an sh sound. After years of people spelling it Sch after I tell them my name and then spell it, I now just spell it. About half the people still spell it Sch. And about half of those argue with me and tell me it has an S on the front. Sometimes I despair for the human race.

          3. Vandergaard*

            This reminds me of the time a friend of mine was picking up something she’d ordered and the clerk was trying to locate her on the system.

            Clerk: Name?
            Friend: (Trying to be helpful and pre-empt a mistake) Lynda-with-a-Y.
            Clerk: (Looks hesitatingly between friend and computer, then slowly types a ‘Y’, stops, and then looks back at my friend.) Uh… what do I do now?

            We still quote that back to each other to this day and laugh about how the poor clerk must have thought her name was Yinda.

        3. NoIWontFixYourComputer*

          I’ve tried using the NATO alphabet because my name is long and has a lot of consonants, and nobody gets it right. So (to use Smith as an example), I’ll go

          That’s “NoIWon’t Smith Sam-Mike-India-Tango-Hotel.” I use Sam instead of Sierra because otherwise it still confuses people.

        4. Reluctant Mezzo*

          My name, let’s just say it’s ‘Llama’ after which I say what species it is and a small farm animal noise. People remember it and spell it correctly.

        5. IShouldGoToBedEarlier*

          I used to work behind a counter, and I had the worst time understanding people who spelled their names without my asking. It was like my brain wasn’t expecting it and so it couldn’t parse the letters. I was always super embarrassed when I had to ask them to please spell it again.

        6. Princess Sparklepony*

          My name often gets mangled into Barbara Major. That isn’t my name, but if I go into a life of crime it will be my alias!

          Or Llewelyn Bolen but that’s a long story that involves a dream about a woman who steals socks for the needy….

          1. SunshineAndLollipops*

            My name is of russian origin, so also gets mangled. One of our newest hires spent 3 weeks referring to me as Chimera to the rest of his (also new) team and it wasnt until I got called that by an intern I realised I was now known as a fire breathing goat

      4. lilsheba*

        I always do that, I say each number slowly and clearly, because I HATE having to decipher bad speech.

      5. Sola Lingua Bona Lingua Mortua Est*

        I’ve spent close to 5 years in Technical Support across a few jobs.

        If I’m reading off numbers, they’ll come in groups of 2 or 3, since empirically, that seems to be the standard register in most people’s heads. (I know my SSN as 3-3-3 instead of 3-2-4). And I’ll spell out my name in the same pattern.

        When I leave a voicemail, I always open with “My name is Sola Lingua and my number is 555-555-1234” so you don’t have to listen to the entire voicemail twice to call me back; you can just listen to it naturally the first time and pick out the key details in the first 30 seconds on the second pass.

        1. This_is_Todays_Name*

          My SSN IS 3 of the same number, followed by 3 of the same number, then 3 different ones. So when I give it out I do “XXX-YYY-ABC” and it throws people so off because they’re expecting “ABC-DE-FGHI.” I’m like just type it in, it’ll sort itself out!

      6. tiffany*

        I also still NATO alphabet everything. I think it might have fallen out of fashion, a decade or so ago I could usually go “tango india foxtrot foxtrot alpha november yankee” and most operators would pick it up. Now I usually do the “T for tango….”

      7. daffodil*

        Sometimes I ask if they’re typing it in or confirming with a record in front of them so I know how clear/careful I should be.

    2. SJPxo*

      As a secretary yes this, or answering with “Hello this is SJPxo” instead of just answering hello and your friend is like “I know”

    3. pally*

      Yep! I answer my personal phones with “Hello, this is pally.”

      Which, unexpectedly, turned out to be a good thing when job interviewers called. It saved them from the whole awkward “May I speak to pally please?” exchange.

      But totally weird for personal calls.

      1. A Girl Named Fred*

        Honestly, I’m working on training myself INTO the habit of answering my personal phone with, “Hello, this is Fred,” because as someone who has to make outbound calls for work occasionally I’ve realized it’s so much nicer if they can just immediately go, “Hi Fred, this is Jane with Company, and…” instead of the back and forth dance.

        But maybe it helps that I don’t answer my phone unless I recognize the name/number (in which case they’ll know it’s me so I don’t need to identify myself), or I’m expecting a call so I should tell them it’s me.

          1. Random Dice*

            My sister answers the phone with “HELLO?!?!” Like Fran Drescher in the Nanny. It’s hilarious. Her volume and pitch is otherwise normal.

          2. Princess Sparklepony*

            Start answering with Ahoy! Ahoy! (Like Alexander Graham Bell) They will soon be happy that you just answer with your name.

          3. Misty_Meaner*

            When I call friends and leave a voicemail, etc… I always used to say, “Hey, it’s Me” and one friend once told me, “I always know it’s you, not because I recognize the voice, but because you’re arrogant enough to assume I’ll know it’s you!” In the days before Caller ID of course!

        2. That's 'Senior Engineer Mate' to you.*

          I”m known by a “Professional Name” and a nickname, but I don’t have a separate work number. So I never give my name because when random acquantences ring saying “Hello Dr Robert Smith speaking” is just weird, but if it’s work “Hi, Cure here” is just going to result in a ten second pause while they try to work out whether they have the wrong number. We won’t even start on my grandparents insisting on calling me Bert or my birthmother being offended by that and calling me Rob-not-Bob.

          So yep, I just say “hello” and wait.

      2. Bruce*

        When I was a kid I got trained into answering “Hello, residence, speaking…” I think some of my older sisters’ friends would call just to hear the wierd little brother answering the phone like that!

        1. londonedit*

          My dad had his own company when I was growing up, and occasionally his business contacts would call the house, so my sister and I were trained to answer the phone with ‘Hello, may I help you?’. Stopped that pretty quickly once I got to secondary school and my friends thought it was hilarious!

          Where I’m from it’s very normal to answer the phone with ‘Hello, [name] speaking’. Of course if you see the name on the screen and it’s a friend, you probably wouldn’t, but otherwise if I’m answering the phone to a call I’m expecting then I’ll say my name. Back in the day when everyone had landlines only, it was very usual to answer the phone by saying your phone number, so people would know they’d dialled correctly – I can still hear my grandmother saying ‘Six-seven-eight-five-twoooo?’ (not the real number) in exactly the same sing-song tone whenever she answered the phone! Probably helps that numbers were a lot shorter then!

          1. EvilQueenRegina*

            My grandad would do that, “2539” in a very Victor Meldrew tone. At one point I trained myself to answer that way (not quite the same tone)if I ever answered his phone so as not to confuse people calling for him who wouldn’t expect a female voice (years of being hung up on by step-relatives confused if I answered Dad’s phone).

          2. Dobby is a Free Elf!*

            My dad also ran his own business, and had business calls on the home line. My sister and I both answered with, “Elf residence, this is Dobby speaking!” well into our teens. And our friends thought it was WEIRD. (The days before Caller ID…)

            I also picked up a tic from my mom, where I kind of clear my throat before answering the phone, because our first cell phone took an extra second for the line to open, and the other person wouldn’t actually hear a greeting if you just jumped in with “Hello.”

            1. Katherine*

              The number of people I’ve phoned and this has been the case (or they say hello before picking up) and im left wondering if they pocket picked up and im going Hellooo? instead of “This is Katherine with Company” etc

        2. AC*

          I worked in operations and had to deal facilities and compliance. Now, no matter where I go, I look for a Certificate of Occupancy.

          1. I Have RBF*

            I look at elevator certificates. I used to do safety and compliance, and I had to check our elevator certificates every month so I could arrange for service and inspection at the right time.

            1. Audrey*

              I do this too!! I just read it once when I was bored then kept reading them. It’s crazy how many of them are expired!!

        3. Bruce*

          By the way, I tried to use some characters as brackets and it messed up my comment, what I meant was:
          “Hello, FAMILY NAME residence, MY NAME speaking”

      4. Snarky McSnarkerson*

        It sometimes works against robocalls. They’re programmed to begin when someone says Hello, not “this is Snarky.”

        2. Anne Shirley*

          This is true. I almost never answer the phone at work with hello anymore and it helps me catch on when it’s a robo call a few seconds sooner.

        3. HeraTech*

          I have adopted Lurch’s phone manner (the butler from the Addams’ family) to deal with robocallers. I answer with, “You rang?”

      5. Tupac Coachella*

        Another member of team “hello, this is Tupac” on persona calls. I started doing it at work, but I’m a major phone hater, so of the time if the number isn’t in my phone it’s helpful to have a professional, no nonsense greeting.

      6. Kim*

        hahahaha, in the Netherlands it’s customary to answer with your name so these replies are hilarious.

        1. Pet Jack*

          I think people used to in the US…when I watch old shows from the 70s or 80s people would answer like “The Tomasky Residence” or something like that.

          2. Pajamas on Bananas*

            This lasted into the early aughts in the Midwest. We were taught to answer “Hello, Surname Residence, may I ask who’s speaking?”

            Nowadays I just answer with “This is Pajamas.”

          3. Seashell*

            I made my first phone calls in the 70’s, and I don’t remember anyone answering that way in real life.

            When I was first learning to answer the phone, I think my mom advised me to say, “Hello, this is Seashell, who’s calling please?”, but that fell by the wayside by about age 9 or 10.

        2. Kuddel Daddeldu*

          Same here in Germany. We were trained as kids to answer the phone (wall mounted, rotary, grey beast) with our last name.
          With caller ID, I may go full dad joke (“Chaos air – we book, you despair” or similar nonsense). Once managed to do that to my boss (a call with my brother got disconnected, and my boss called just that second) but he found it hilarious.

      7. Rainy*

        I’ve been copying Barney Stinson from HIMYM recently and answering my personal phone with “Go for Rainy” which makes friends laugh and unnerves telemarketers, so it’s a win-win from my perspective.

    4. SirBluebird*

      Oh, absolutely. Once after a long shift my dad called me and at the end of the call I went “Great, anything else I can help you with today? :)” and then realized what I’d done when he started laughing and said “Nope, but I appreciate your great customer service, I’ll leave a good review.”

      2. Mad Harry Crewe*

        I have done the customer-service-warm “you have a great day” sign-off to my mother more than once.

      3. O-H-I-O*

        I’ve done the “have I answered all of your concerns?” to friends and family back in my call center days. Sigh. Also many a distracted “Thank you, you too” to “I love you” call endings. I’m glad I’m out of there! It took a while to speak like a normal person again!

        1. HQetc*

          I have the reverse problem! I don’t do much phone in my job, so I have to stope myself from signing off with “I love you” at work because 95% of my phone calls are with people I love.

        2. goddessoftransitory*

          “Now that you mention it, what happened to that blue sweater you borrowed in eighth grade?”

    5. General von Klinkerhoffen*

      I started a new job. After a couple of weeks my phone rang, and I recognised the number from my old job. So I answered, “Klink, $OldWorkplace OHMYGODSORRY I MEAN Klink, $NewWorkplace, good morning $Client how can I help?”

      Fortunately the client thought it was completely hilarious, and only my cube neighbour heard.

      1. HonorBox*

        Did that about 2 months into a new job several years ago. Thankfully it was someone who found it as funny as I found it mortifying. Luckily I was in my car so no coworkers heard it. My boss chucked about it when I told him what I’d done, just sharing the embarrassment.

      2. Annika Hansen*

        I worked 2 jobs for a while. I kept screwing up at my part-time job by saying my full-time job’s greeting. I put a note above the phone with the proper wording to help. It worked somewhat. I also tried to avoid answering the phone. (It was not a major part of part-time job was a major part of full-time job.)

        1. Lily Rowan*

          One summer I was working days as a receptionist and nights as a telemarketer, and I was a hot mess on those phones some days! Never mind once I got home.

    6. Some Dude*

      I did internet tech support twenty years ago. For me, it was fighting the urge not to start the greeting when asked for my order at the drive-through at 11pm on my way home. I don’t think I ever got past the “Thank you for…” before stopping myself.

    7. Jake*

      Back when I worked at an inbound call centre I one day had to call my own cell phone provider to sort out an issue I was having. At the end of the call, me and the call centre agent said, “okay, is there anything else I can help you with today?” to each other in the exact same cadence at the exact same time. He was like “…what…?” and I had to explain that I had the same job as him and it was reflex.

      3. I forgot my user name again*

        I thank people and wish them a nice day. when they should be thanking me from all my time in retail

    8. Sharks are Cool*

      I definitely can’t help launching into my customer-service phone persona whenever I get a call from a doctor’s office or whatever–I kind of enjoy the fake high-energy interaction that ensues. Likewise when I did confirmation calls for a dental office I could often tell when the person I was calling had customer service phone experience!

      1. goddessoftransitory*

        I call it Phone Voice, and find it very useful on all sorts of occasions when I need to get stuff done fast and polite.

    9. PhyllisB*

      Yep!! I used to be a long distance operator, and I would occasionally answer the phone at home, ^South Central Bell Operator. May I help you?”
      During a hurricane when we were working tons of overtime, one of my friends reported her mother came in to wake her up for work, and she answered her mom, “OK, let me answer this signal (call) first.”

      1. Sprigatito*

        When I was working for 911 I answered my phone “911, what is the address of your emergency?” a few times, and that REALLY scares people.

        1. Your Mate in Oz*

          I have a friend who does this. And he’s well used to us saying “We’re stuck in a bar and we can’t get out until {name} arrives”.

          It’s a stressful job and I can understand that his brain gets stuck there sometimes.

    10. Thrillian*

      Similarly, when I was working a drive thru Starbucks job in college I accidentally tried to take the McDonald’s employee’s order when I went through theirs for a McFlurry and we were BOTH confused while my friend nearly peed her pants from laughing in my passenger seat.

    11. lilsheba*

      I used to do that when I worked for a prior job, especially when I still had a home phone. I’ve broken myself of it now, although when I answer my work phone now I have to fight to not answer it for the old job.

    12. Elsewise*

      I used to work at an outbound call center, and once called a friend and said “Hi, this is Elsewise from Company, I’m calling about your recent… um…”

    13. Jay (no, the other one)*

      In the drivethrough at Starbucks one day I responded to “What I can get you?” with “This is Dr. Jay. I was paged.” I might have been working too much.

    14. The teapots are on fire*

      Same. After ten years running a library automation department, my instinct was to answer the phone with, “Automation, this is The Teapots,” which sometimes happened later when I was really tired on call in residency. Amused the heck out of the ER nurses.

    15. Anywhoohb*

      I have worked at my new job for 8 months, and I still fight the urge to answer the phone like I did at my old job.

    16. nervous wreck*

      Haha yeah, that was a big one at my old phone answering job. Worse than that though was when I would MAKE a phone call at work, and then have a total brain fart and when the person answered I would start with “Hi, [organization] how can I help you?” and then want to die.

    17. Maggie*

      I once wished my mother “have a wonderful evening” when I was going to bed, the customer service voice really came out!

      1. Bronze Betty*

        Not me, but a friend who was a special ed teacher. She used sign language with her students during the day (while also speaking), and after getting home from work, she found herself chatting with her husband while also signing everything she said to him. Her husband found this highly amusing. “You know I can hear what you’re saying?”

    18. Zephy*

      I spend so much time on the phone for work, a thing I already don’t love doing, that I have basically no energy left for social phone calls. Which means I don’t have a lot of practice with social phone calls anymore, and no ready scripts for social phone calls. I have no idea how to start OR end a phone call with my grandmother. I have had to physically restrain myself from answering my personal cell phone with “[Department], this is Zephy speaking, how can I help you?”

    19. Watry*

      At a job where I left a lot of messages, I once left a message for my therapist about changing an appointment. I waited through the answering machine spiel, then said “Hi, this is [Company], [company spiel starts]” and then I noticed my mom looking at me like I’d gone off the deep end.

      I’d leave messages as several companies every day, so I have no idea how I just picked one without an account to work off.

    21. Rage*

      Oh yeah. One time I answered my home phone with “Hi, Welcome to Burger King! May I take your order?”

    22. Jessica Ganschen*

      And conversely, when I was a kid, my parents made us answer the home phone with “[Surname] residence, [First Name] speaking, how can I help you?” which I very nearly did several times at my first job.

    23. goddessoftransitory*

      SO many times. And I repeat sentences because I’m so used to confirming orders!

    24. Sharon*

      Heck, after a long day working drive-thru at McDonalds, I’d automatically answer the phone “Welcome to McDonalds, can I take your order?”

    25. Dona Florinda*

      My very first job was telephonist, so I had to say the exact same line every single day, dozens times a day when picking up the phone. I haven’t said the salutation in a while, but the “please hold” still comes out from time to time.

    26. Stuckinacrazyjob*

      I constantly say my own name and have a weird fake phone voice that sounds like a sales person ( I’m scared of using the phone)

    27. IrishEm*

      I’ve definitely done that, and sometimes made calls and opened with “Calls are recorded for quality, training and regulatory purposes.” Oh dear.

    28. tiffany*

      I also sometimes do the “injecting a smile/warmth into my voice” thing without changing my facial expression. I sometimes forget to include the facial expression in real life and it’s somewhat disconcerting to people. Masks help here though

    29. MAC*

      I still occasionally start to answer the phone with “Newsroom, this is {MyName}” … and I left the TV station 28 years ago this month. It was my first job out of college/first time I’d ever been expected to answer with anything other than “Hello” and I guess it imprinted in my brain? Also, none of my (many) jobs since has had a specific script, plus I don’t get nearly the volume of calls that I did as a young reporter.

    30. Elizabeth West*

      HAHAHAHA
      I did this once when I was working at OldExjob. They required me to say “Good morning/afternoon, XYZ Company.” So my phone rang one day at home and guess what?

    2. YouwantmetodoWHAT?! *

      I do this without thinking about it. And I’ve worked at so many types of retail stores….

    3. A Girl Named Fred*

      I still do this and I haven’t worked retail since 2015! The habit runs deep (but also, neat store shelves make my brain happy so it’s as much an unconscious fidget as it is a leftover habit lol)

      1. Scandinavian Vacationer*

        So I straighten the little shot glasses for communion (left randomly on a tray after use) at church services. How can others not know these should be lined up precisely? Pray for me.

          1. Betty*

            I think this is denominational. Presbyterians do grape juice shots and uncooked croutons [cubed bread].

              1. Random Dice*

                I had no idea there are now shot glasses!

                Good, that grossed me out as a kid. The chalice wipe with a dry napkin actually was grosser than nothing at all.

                1. Princess Sparklepony*

                  When I was a kid I remember the dry wipe – ugh, but I was too young since it was real wine. When I got older they seemed to have cut the wine part. I was glad. It just seemed so dirty. I’ll take my dry wafer please…. and then I just stopped going.

            1. Lenora Rose*

              This has brought it back, but apparently small individual glasses used to be a thing for a lot of services, so much that the old pews in my church have a little holder with round cut-outs meant to hold them, so each person could bring a little glass to get their communion drink and their bread. (more recently used for pens for writing donation envelopes and prayer requests)

          3. Lady_Lessa*

            Evangelicals have almost always used shot glasses vs a shared cup. They even make vessels that fill a whole round tray that has the glasses in them at a time.

            1. The Beagle Has Landed*

              I remember that from when I was a kid! The silver tray with the shot-glasses in holes! Like a fancy devilled egg carrier.

            2. Not Totally Subclinical*

              Same for the Lutheran churches I grew up in. Lots of tiny shot glasses that the ushers filled with wine before the service; the church of my early childhood used glass ones that had to be washed after the service, but the later one used single-use plastic communion glasses.

            3. ReallyBadPerson*

              My church uses these, and my job is to full them using a small plastic cup with a plunger that, when pressed, releases the grape juice through a funnel into the tiny shot glass.

      2. AnonORama*

        Not quite that long, but I worked in a beauty products/cosmetic store during college and I will still move the “tester” items to the front and line them up with the tester sticker front and center I’m 49.

      3. Please no llama drama*

        Me too. I got offered a job in a very nice gift shop last year after the manager observed me tidying things up as I looked, and chatting with other customers. Honestly I think I will apply there after I retire for a part time job to get me out of the house on a schedule.

    5. The Wizard Rincewind*

      Yes, this! I always notice if I’m in a store and inventory hasn’t been moved to the front of the shelves recently. That was my first responsibility in my first retail job and it’s never left me.

      1. Miette*

        I worked in a library in HIGH SCHOOL and I do this at bookstores all the time–make sure the spines of the books are all flush with the front of the shelf lol

        1. Minimal Pear*

          I volunteered in a library in high school and sometimes rearrange books in bookstores. Nothing ridiculous–it’s usually the charming little used book stores where people take things on and off the shelves all the time. I just do stuff like reuniting series/putting them in order.

          1. Bookish*

            Worked in book stores for a long time. Can’t go into a book store and not straighten a shelf or three.

        2. goddessoftransitory*

          Flush and one stack turned out so the front cover’s on display—cannot stop myself!

      2. PhyllisB*

        I was at the liquor store once and was moving bottles from the bottom racks up higher for easier access. The owner was watching me and said “Want a job?” :-)

        1. Fish Microwaver*

          While waiting for a prescription at the pharmacy the other day, I color coded all the toothbrushes in the specials bin.

    6. Oops...*

      I’m an ESL teacher. My parents also both have English literature degrees. Recently, I have found myself CORRECTING MY MOTHER’S GRAMMAR. I may, someday quite soon, be murdered.

        1. Oops...*

          In my defense, yes! She does know better, but she starts one sentence and halfway through switches to another, similar one, but the grammar doesn’t quite line up.

      3. iamthelola*

        ROFL – if you’re wrong, I don’t want you to be right. This is one of the best things I’ve read all day!!!!

      1. allathian*

        I don’t do this often, but sometimes if I have to stretch my arm to get something right at the back of the shelf, I’ll make things easier for the next customer by pulling a few more packets closer to the edge of the shelf. I haven’t worked retail since 1999.

    8. Corvus Corvidae*

      I do this with the DMC thread displays in JoAnn’s. I don’t stop until someone gently drags me away. They’re just such a mess!

      1. Grey Duck 74*

        As a fellow stitcher, you are my new best friend!! Yaaaassss! Every time I am there, I will fix their displays, or sort the ones people throw on the bottom shelf.

    9. Ally McBeal*

      Oh I still do this and it’s been 15 years since my 6-month retail stint ended. But I’m also a very organized person and hate it when the size 12 is mixed in between the size 2 and size 8 or a hanger is askew because the garment is starting to fall off.

    10. AngryOctopus*

      My retail habit is arranging the money to face the same way and in descending order, from when we had to have two people count the deposit down. Drives my mom crazy when she pays cash at a restaurant and I grab the folder and rearrange the money.

      2. anomnom*

        Oh god, I canNOT handle seeing messy money. There’s no therapy strong enough to erase my late 80s job memory of the manager who would fire people for giving customers change with bills facing different ways, or for handing over change without counting it back. I strongly prefer self-checkout so I can continue to check/bag via The Frank Method (to be fair, Frank held himself to even higher standards than he held us)

        1. Just Another Cog*

          I worked in banking for a large chunk of my career and we always had to have money facing all the same way. I just realized I organize money facing the same way in descending denominations in my wallet and even just to hand to someone. I guess I’ve been doing this for 40+ years and this question just made me aware of doing it absentmindedly. It drives me nuts to have ATM money delivered every which way.

          1. allathian*

            I don’t handle cash very often, but I worked retail long enough as a teen and young adult that I hate this too.

      3. No Direct Reports*

        I used to audit banks, and my mom was a bank teller for years, and we both do this. Any cash I have in my wallet is also all turned to face the same way and in order of denomination. Makes my dad crazy when one of us straightens out the money for a restaurant check.

        1. HigherEdEscapee*

          I do this too! To be fair, I’m not as bad as my uncle who (used to and may still) do this and iron his money so it is wrinkle free.

          1. Jean (just Jean)*

            So he irons his bills…? At least he’s not totally laundering money.
            I’ll show myself out now. Fast.

            1. slashgirl*

              My mother’s aunt literally laundered (washed) her paper money (not sure about the coins). My mum said they’d go to visit and she’d have bills hanging to dry in the house. I don’t know if mum said that she ironed it or not–I’m sure she probably did if she went to the trouble of cleaning it. This would’ve been when Mum was little so probably mid to late 50s/early 60s.

              1. Certaintroublemaker*

                The Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco washes all the coins that go through its tills. They started to help ladies with white gloves, but they kept the practice up after fashions changed since the cleaned coins look so nice.

            1. Pennyworth*

              If you are in a country with polymer banknotes, don’t iron them – they shrink to the size of a credit card!

      4. slashgirl*

        This, I can’t stand having my bills going in different orders and I do smallest (here in Canada that’s $5 to largest). What really, really annoys me is that they don’t face the bills in the bank machines, so I end up having to spend extra time doing it before I put it in my wallet. It comes from my parents having a corner store when I grew up–that’s how mum organized the cash, and I still do it. And if I’m using any sort of cash drawer, be it register or cash box, the denominations of coin have to go smallest to largest, left to right and if there’re separate slots for bills, same thing.

        And here in Canada we have a couple different designs for $5s &$10s (and soon for $20s cus of King Chuck). I do two book fairs a year and when I hand my money in to the secretary to be deposited, I have all the same designs per denomination together.

        1. LifeBeforeCorona*

          I hate my ATM when the bills aren’t in order. I spend an extra minute facing them the same way. One time I needed $400 cash and I was convinced that I would be robbed because I stayed there, straightening out my twenties.

          1. Former Admin turned Project Manager*

            I picked up the money organizing habit at McDonald’s as well! My husband thinks I’m nuts when I rearrange this wallet to put change away.

        3. allathian*

          I do the same, but for me it’s always with the largest bills on the left. The logic is that since most cashiers are right-handed and you’re more likely to need to handle small bills rather than large ones, you keep the smallest denominations by your dominant hand for easy access. The lefties just dealt with it, like they deal with everything else in a world that’s built for righties.

          1. Princess Sparklepony*

            I’m a righty but back when I worked retail I always had my smallest bills on the left in the till. I think my mind had to have them that way to count up the row…

      7. I Have RBF*

        I never worked cashier for retail. But I learned how to count out change as a kid. I have my own small business now. I face all of my bills, and order them by denomination, even in my own wallet. I will also unfold corners, and sometimes press wrinkled bills. They store and count more easily that way.

      1. Lurkers R Us*

        Current embedded librarian and former bookstore employee. I’ve been known to face out books in bookstores that I really like and want other people to read.

      2. goddessoftransitory*

        MAGAZINES. I still face and organize them–people leave them so messy! And way back in the day when I worked at Borders I’d regularly have to fish the Pr0n mags out from behind the books in the kid’s section. Too many people thought hiding Playboys there was hilarious.

    12. Lissa Evans*

      When I’m in libraries that are not my own, I’ll put pretty books out in empty display spots.

    14. ENFP in Texas*

      Exactly! My mom owned a pair of Hallmark stores in the 80s, so every time I pass a greeting card display I find myself doing a “card run” making sure they’re facing correctly, the envelopes match and are set behind the cards correctly, and putting stray cards back where they belong. Same with pegboard displays.

      1. Arts Akimbo*

        I do this, too! It’s such a hard habit to shake– I haven’t worked retail since the 1990s.

      3. selu*

        Oh god – I do this too! My pantry looks like a cross between a grocery store and that scene in “Sleeping With the Enemy.”

        1. Resident Catholicville, U.S.A.*

          Seeing that movie in my 20’s made me realize my obsession with straightening towels on the rack maybe should be a private thing of my own and I shouldn’t share it with anyone.

          1. goddessoftransitory*

            I despise crooked towels with a deep and abiding passion. Haven’t beaten up Julia Roberts over it, though.

    16. Tammy 2*

      Oh yes! I worked at a Hallmark store in college and still find myself straightening greeting card displays. For a few years I had to restrain myself form pulling reorder tickets for designs that only had one card left and taking them to the front counter. I don’t know if they still do this (so few Hallmarks even exist), but we used to have a system of putting the last of a design behind the envelops, so if you looked at a row and could see a blank envelope, you’d know to move the last card to the front and pull the little slip to send in to get more.

      My high school job was at a movie theater and I didn’t eat popcorn again until I was in my 30s, but I still never ever leave trash behind at my seat. I think I probably wouldn’t even if that hadn’t been my job, but there’s a perception that it’s okay because it’s “somebody’s job” and…it isn’t.

      1. CamJansen*

        same boat as a former hallmark employee. card aisles at literally any other store give me heart palpitations and I have to work really hard not to move the misplaced “happy 5th birthday ” card out of the anniversary section.

    17. Ash*

      YEP. I work in a library, and I am constantly restraining myself from straightening displays in book stores. Everyone shelves books slightly differently, so I have to force myself to walk past them and not put them in our library shelving order.

      1. Decima Dewey*

        For a couple of years I worked at the library for the blind. Mostly we mailed audiobooks to people, but we had occasional walk-in patrons.

        Because our patrons were visually impaired, when handing them something, we’d gently tap their hand with the item so they’d know we were handing them something and be able to grab it.

        One day a book came in for my sighted boss. And I automatically tapped it against her hand…

    18. WonderEA*

      That one never leaves you. I worked at Wet Seal in high school (isn’t that a throwback – ha!) and I still fight the urge to straighten tables of sweaters in stores.

      1. NoIWontFixYourComputer*

        I used to pull graveyards at 7-11 in college (many Many MANY years ago), and I still have the urge to front the shelves when I’m in a store.

    19. Another Librarian (and proud of it!)*

      I thought I straightened stuff on shelves and put them back in order because I’m a librarian. I’m so glad to see it is not just me!

      1. Silverose*

        I haven’t worked in a library in nearly 10 years now after nearly 10 years as a paraprofessional in the field and trying to go professional (MLS, 6 month contract as a librarian, just no permanent job prospects because the field was glutted in my state at the time)…..I still straighten shelves when I’m in a library to this day, and still have the urge to remind kids to walk in the building…when I don’t work there…

    21. Cakeroll*

      Every time I shop: I’ll straighten/fold any stack I myself am picking/replacing an item into (I hold myself back from doing a whole shelf) including putting the sized back in order. And at checkout, I remove all the hangers and fold everything with the tags out while the cashier rings it up. Every once in a while they clock me: “Did you used to work retail?”

    22. Magpie*

      I still work retail, it is SO STRONG. Any store I go into, the jackets near me will be re-zipped with their sleeves neat, and any t-shirt or jeans piles I touch will be carefully re-stacked and size ordered. I can’t help it, I often don’t notice I’ve done it!

    24. Mostly Lurker*

      Yes! It’s that old “time to lean = time to clean” thing from my McDonalds days in high school. When I used to do events, I would compulsively straighten nametags and materials!

    25. SpaceySteph*

      My mother worked retail in high school and was METICULOUS about putting everything back on hangers in the dressing room perfectly (with like the special fold they do on pants hangers and whatnot). She’s been doing that for almost 50 years at this point.

      1. SaraV*

        I do this with pants! One side of the waistband is folded in, and then the hanger clips to the inside fold, not on the outside of the pants.

        I do that.

    26. Mim*

      Raise your hand if you’re a former grocery store employee who still fronts shelves as you shop!

      (And a huge thank you to those of you who are tall and do this, because if highest shelf stuff isn’t fronted, I literally can’t reach it. I used to have to front with a stepstool, which my then-boss hated, because he was an irrational b*stard who faulted people for things like their height.)

      1. Verthandi*

        Yes! Another short person here, and if I can’t reach something and there’s no step stool around (100% of all grocery stores around here) I will climb on the bottom shelf so I *can* reach it.

    27. We still use so much paper!*

      I havent’ worked retail since the late 70s. I still button all buttons, retie belts and properly hang bras. It’s appreciated!

    28. Magenta Sky*

      I used to work with a guy who was utterly incapable of walking by a stray shopping cart in the parking lot, and not walking it up to the door.

      Even if he was going *out* to his car.

    29. AnotherOne*

      My mom working clothing retail at various points in her life. She’ll insist that we put away clothing we’ve tried on, rather than leave it in the dressing room.

      She’s fine leaving it on a rack in the dressing area if there’s a designated place for it. But stores that want you to just leave stuff in the dressing room? She can’t.

      I’m so used to it that I do it on my own.

    30. KatieP*

      I haven’t been a cashier since 1995, but, on the rare occasion that I pay in cash, I always face my bills before handing them to the cashier.

    31. djl*

      I do that too – I pull all the hangers on a 2-way or 4-way out to the end of the arm. You can’t have a customer walk into an empty arm and put an eye out.

    32. Random Biter*

      My daughter, who used to work for Sears, still does this :)) I told her Target should put her on the payroll

    33. M*

      I’m currently in retail and do this. I also have to fight the urge to greet customers in other stores where I am also shopping sometimes…

    34. Chirpy*

      Man, I wish all of you were my customers. I get the ones who throw things everywhere, or knock everything on the shelf over.

    35. goddessoftransitory*

      Yes yes yes! I cannot be in a clothing store without refolding tee shirts, or in a bookstore without edging the shelves!

    36. 3am_caffinator*

      It’s been 10 years since I last worked retail, and I still do this–especially at bookstores and libraries (since that was my retail experience).

    37. Another Michael*

      My past retail life came back into full force when shopping with an untidy friend recently. I followed him around refolding any stack of shirts he’d rooted through…

    39. The Other Katie*

      I haven’t worked in retail for more than 20 years and I’ll still take from the second row rather than disturb a nicely faced shelf.

    40. PieforBreakfast*

      On the rare times I pay in cash my bills are all neatly sorted by denomination and all facing the same direction. It’s like a secret code.

    41. I'm just here for the cats!!*

      YES!!! I at least notice it now but don’t face the products anymore. However, I do still pull things to the front if they are pushed in to the back, but mostly that’s just to be nice so someone else who is short doesnt have to climb the shelf to get the item they want.

    43. Wired Wolf*

      Oh yes. If companies would only hire ‘occasional’ shelf straighteners (do it whenever you’re in the store, keep track of time and get paid via store credit at the end of the week/month/whatever), I’d be golden. I was meeting a friend at a local bookstore I used to work at; they recently expanded and were in the process of moving books from one shelf unit to another. I had about 10 minutes to kill, so plopped my bag down on the floor and jumped in. Two of the people that trained me at that store are still there, and they thought it was hilarious. I’d been out of that job 20 years.

      When I’m out visiting my dad, I’ve had other customers at his local grocery store ask me where things are. Weirdly, I can direct them with 95% accuracy even though it’s a much bigger store (and different company) than where I work.

    44. Facilities Squirrel*

      I do this even though I never worked in retail. My SIL would brush my hand away saying I was stealing someone’s job.

      1. Chirpy*

        Nah, unless it’s super slow, these days most stores are so understaffed that facing is a huge help (provided you’re making sure it’s the correct product matching the shelf label).

  3. mouse*

    The knee-jerk reaction thankfully faded with time but when I left teaching I had to bite my tongue against things like “put your phone away” and “tuck your chairs in please” to grown adults in the training seminars I was running. (I still do sometimes find myself tucking chairs in around the conference table before I leave)

    1. Hohum*

      Once after a long week of teaching 4-6 year olds, I was standing in my kitchen opening a can of cat food while my cats circled my feet yowling for food and out my mouth slipped “I hear you that you are hungry but you need to WAIT” in the most teachery teacher voice you can imagine, causing my partner to immediately burst into laughter and go “Oh, so THATS what it’s like in your classroom, I see” lol

      2. Please remove your monkeys from my circus*

        I definitely tell the cat she needs to use her words an ask politely when she yells at me for food.

        1. Zephy*

          I do this with my younger cat who likes to scream for porch time. I tell him to ask nicely and he makes the same sound but quieter.

      3. goddessoftransitory*

        My neighbors must hear “PEANUT, be quiet dinner is in ten minutes” every single day and assume I have a feral child I’m training to re enter society. Same with “GET OUT OF THE SINK” and “Okay, I just vacuumed and you HAVE to kick that litter out of the box?”

        1. NoIWontFixYourComputer*

          Yes, they DO have to kick the litter out of the box right after you vacuum. They believe it’s their job.

    2. LolaBugg*

      As another former teacher, I also tuck chairs everywhere I go. And I have to fight the urge to tell adults to tie their shoes.

      1. goddessoftransitory*

        “Zip up and put on your mittens!” My preschool teacher sister to just about any grown adult.

      1. Rara Avis*

        Oh yeah, me too. I’ve told strange kids to take their feet off the chair backs in movie theaters.

      2. Tory*

        CONSTANTLY. Strange children from some other school causing chaos on a public bus? Have to forcibly restrain myself from going “HEY. Knock it off. This is a shared space and you are disrupting others.” Because on the occasions I’ve let it slip out, it has invariably resulted in me being laughed at and no improvement at all lol.

      3. Pets Banshees*

        This is me too. I was watching my child’s soccer practice last night and one of the kids was really goofing off, making it so hard for the coach. It took everything in me to not just walk over and stand next to the child silently.

      4. Ms. Chracterized*

        Yep. Zero compunction about telling kids, with adults or unaccompanied, that they need to slow down, be respectful/quiet/still, etc. I was a chaperone on a middle school trip, and at the FDR memorial in Washington DC snapped at a kid, “This is a memorial, not a playground Get off that statue’s lap!” My co-chaperone said, “That’s not one of ours.” And I did not care and am still not embarrassed about it. But I am maybe nicer, most of the time.

      5. I Have RBF*

        My mom was teacher. I never was.

        Even so, it’s “No running!”, “Indoor voices please.”, and “Look with your eyes, not with your hands” when kids are acting out in public. Because my mother did it to others as well as me when I was a kid.

    4. Stoney Lonesome*

      I used to lead kids on nature hikes. I got in the habit of saying “Good observation skills!” when a kid pointed out a leaf or a worm but I didn’t have time to stop and talk about it.

      It turns out adults do not like being told they have good observation skills…

      1. Joan Summers*

        I work in informal education in a cultural institution and I do this too, especially with my husband. Fortunately he’s used to it!

        My role involves a lot of visitor interaction, especially with kids. Anytime I’m visiting a similar place, I find myself smiling and making eye contact with people, chatting with kids, and yes, occasionally saying “good observation.” Eventually I remember that without a uniform and a name tag, I’m just the creepy person talking to your children and can get myself to stop.

    5. SpaceySteph*

      Idk some adults still need that silence your phone reminder. Every training session there’s always that one person with their phone on MAX RING.

    6. Odonata*

      On the weekends, I have to remember to slow down at lunchtime. I don’t need to gulp it all down in 5 minutes between photocopying and supervision!

    7. Too Many Cats*

      I’m not in teaching anymore, but I will accidentally greet my coworkers with “Hi friends!” because that’s how I addressed my elementary students

    8. Jezebella*

      Former museum curator. I straighten framed artworks that are hanging slanty-wise everywhere I go. Restaurants, banks, other people’s houses….

      1. workswitholdstuff*

        Current Curator. Ditto.

        Also, the instinctive cringe if you hear a crash and something breaking…

        (My tutor for my postgrad used to work in a ceramics museum – she hated being in supermarkets and hearing a bottle break – cos that sound in a work context meant something drastic had happened…

        1. goddessoftransitory*

          Oh, God, like that poor guy who tripped and fell into those three Ming vases a while ago?

    9. Frinkfrink*

      When I was in grad school one of my classmates used to work as a preschool aide and tended to default to asking if anyone needed to potty before we left her apartment.

      1. mariemac*

        I worked in a preschool 15 years ago and I still tell my family and friends to use their words.

        1. Wired Wolf*

          I typically have to tell “grown” adults to use their words about 457 times a day. Grunting and pointing isn’t going to tell me what you’re looking for.

      2. Distracted Procrastinator*

        to be fair to her, this is an important question and too many people neglect it.

        (Not a former preschool teacher, but I am a mom. )

      3. SJ*

        When I was working in a preschool and potty training a bunch of kids at once I startled awake and woke my husband in the middle of the night to send him to the potty. He didn’t appreciate it.

    10. BluePeanut*

      As a teacher, I struggle to not tell people they need to take their hats off inside and need to spit out their gum.

    11. Maya*

      Yup. I work at a daycare, and I have on occasion hugged another grown adult, only to start patting their back and shushing them out of instinct.

  4. wondermint*

    I can’t be the only one who has incorporated some office-speak into social situations: “circle back” “follow up” “loop in.”

    However, my offenses don’t top when a friend of mine excused himself for a “bio-break.” The bleakest office speak of them all, in my opinion!

    1. Flames on the Side of My Face*

      You’re not alone at all–I’ve caught myself using office-speak with my small children!

      I hate “bio break” with a great passion.

      1. Putting the Dys in Dysfunction*

        Isn’t it just another in a series of euphemisms over the decades? Bathroom, washroom, lavatory, loo, restroom, etc.

        1. Flames on the Side of My Face*

          “Bio” makes me think very specifically about the biological processes about to be undertaken.

        2. Modesty Poncho*

          My groups use Bio Break to encompass anything your body might need – so bathroom but also food, water, stretch. For me it’s less gross because of that!

      2. Ex-Teacher*

        My office uses “use the facilities” all the time and I can’t stand it. Just say bathroom! It’s not like it’s a bad word!

        Maybe I’m just desensitized after having teenager demand bathroom passes 50 million times a day at my old job.

      3. the Viking Diva*

        Of course the “bio” isn’t needed – it can just be a break. But I do not interpret it as referring only to peeing. Stretching, standing, stepping outside for some fresh air and a glimpse of the sky, getting water or coffee or a snack– all meet biological needs too. I kinda like the recognition that we are all organisms and not just meeting-attending machines.

        1. Lab Boss*

          That’s how I interpret it- as opposed to a break for networking, or a break to allow prep time for the next thing, it’s a break because we are living things that need breaks for things.

          1. starsaphire*

            Absolutely. Drink of water, stretch out a cramp, blood sugar’s crashing, need to cough… could be any one of a number of things. It’s much more specific to say “bathroom” than “bio break.”

            But I think we all see things through our own lenses.

          2. Kuddel Daddeldu*

            Yes, and it indicates a short break, not lunch or longer – 5 minutes or so, not 30, so the others know to stay put or take an equually brief break.
            The opposite of “I’m going out, I may be some time”.

        2. Genadriel*

          Thing is, as some people have pointed out below, bio-break originated as a gaming term – to coordinate break time away from the computer. And for a stereotypical gamer, stretching, water, coffee/energy drinks and snack are ideally all set up to take place without interrupting the play. So the implication is that there’s an acknowledged reason to leave the computer, that calls for a break, and a euphemism was developed accordingly.
          Now that it’s carried over to workplaces it might come to mean other quality-of-life work breaks, for sure. (Fresh air and sky were notably not on the first list!) But originally it absolutely had literal I-need-to-do-this-in-the-bathroom-that’s-why-I’m-not-here implications.

      4. Hot Flash Gordon*

        I used to work with children at summer camps and I still trip up and say that I have to go potty quick. In social circles it’s OK, but not super professional at work.

    2. popko*

      Oh, that’s funny– I’ve always thought of “bio-break” as gaming terminology, since I’ve only ever encountered it watching hosts excuse themselves from gaming streams they were running.

      1. idwtpaun*

        That’s what I was thinking, too. Thankfully, I don’t think much of my office speak has permeated my daily speech, but – oh my god – the gaming speak has. Thank goodness for work from home and written communications, so I don’t have to restrain myself from saying “pog” to a coworker.

        1. Wendy Darling*

          Oh the cringe the time one of my coworkers broke something and my response in the slack channel was simply “F”

          Luckily I work with a bunch of nerds so a couple other people immediately replied “F” and then someone posted a gif of “Press F to pay respects” so the people who weren’t that kind of nerd would understand what was happening.

          1. Minimal Pear*

            Oh man the “pog” and “F” ones have me cackling out loud at work! I hope no one in my office ever asks why I’m so familiar with how to set up a desktop computer/what accessories you need lol

            2. Nessun*

              OMG yessss! Far too much gaming lingo and Twitch lingo finds it’s way onto my Teams chats with colleagues…luckily my team finds it hilarious, and just asks. Haven’t said POGGERS to anyone yet, but…

      2. LFG heroic status meeting*

        +1 definitely suggests gaming to me! I’ve thoughtlessly said it in a couple 3+ hour meetings and people are usually puzzled it.

      3. Llama Identity Thief*

        Seconded about thinking of it as gaming terminology – I’ve only ever heard bio break in terms of coordinating timings for players in MMOs.

      4. ferrina*

        I heard this in gaming circle pre-pandemic (I think I first heard it in the early or mid 2010s?), but not at work until pandemic times.

      6. JMR*

        Hah! Where I work, people use “bio-break” routinely and I had no idea it came from the gaming world. That’s wild.

          1. allathian*

            I work for a governmental agency that also employs a lot of engineers. We also have a fairly large software development unit that both employs in-house developers and outsources a lot of the work to contractors. Some departments are more geeky than others (I’m comms-adjacent and in a team of 25 with only one engineer), but some geek-speak, like bio-break, is very common regardless of background.

      7. Starscourge Savvy*

        I’ve only ever heard the term in my gaming circles! I think if someone in my office said they were taking a bio break I’d be so taken aback XD

    3. Kes*

      I mostly only do that as a joke but a little while ago I found myself messaging a friend saying I would reach out to someone and had to pause a moment and go is this jargon that has infiltrated my normal vocabulary or is that actually the normal way to say that

    5. Rootsandbranches*

      Huh, I actually like bio-break. I’ve always felt like it’s a polite way to reference using the bathroom but also leaves space for other body needs like getting a drink of water or walking around for a quick stretch.

      2. wondermint*

        I guess I’ve felt that “Excuse me for a moment” is plenty polite enough without bringing the word “bio” into it. “Bio” sounds scientific, introducing a level of sterile-ness when a warm “brb” gets the message across.

        Just my opinion though, I’ve heard “bio break” enough to know that avoiding it isn’t the vast majority.

        1. Llama Identity Thief*

          I kind of prefer bio break not because of the scientific or sterile-ness vs warmth of it, but because I know the set of activities and it puts a cap on how long the absence will be. I’ve had “brb”s be 30+ minutes long on me with no warning, I’ve never had “bio break” reach that length, and I’ve developed a mild hatred for “brb” for exactly that reason.

        2. Emilia Bedelia*

          I have only ever heard “biobreak” mentioned in context of a speaker or organizer saying something like, “We’ll take a 15 min bio break and come back at 2” or whatever. I like it in this context because it allows for whatever activities someone might need for biological reasons. I think I’d hate it if someone were to say it themselves about a break that they were taking (when in theory, you know exactly what you intend to do!)

          1. Office Lobster DJ*

            Yeah, I think this is the difference. When we’ve been granted a group “bio break” in a meeting, I always heard it as a general opportunity to do whatever you needed to do for your body’s comfort. I don’t mind it in that context.

            If a person said they needed a “bio break,” I’d assume they were going to the restroom, and “Excuse me for a moment” gets the job done fine.

            1. Candy Morningstar*

              but wouldn’t just saying “now we’ll take a 15 minute break” still have the same effect? you can go to the bathroom or get some water or make a phone call or whatever.

            2. allathian*

              I agree with you, and come to think of it, I’ve only heard it used in a group setting at work. It would feel odd to hear someone say they need a bio break. But then, I work in an environment where we are allowed to take whatever breaks we need and have a lot of flexibility with working hours as long as we attend the meetings we’ve agreed to attend.

        4. AnonORama*

          When you’ve worked for someone who demands to know where you’re going if you get up from one of her interminable (3+ hours, usually scheduled for an hour) meetings, and/or berates you later for “just getting up and walking out,” I’d rather use bio-break or restroom break. Just “excuse me” doesn’t always cut it with people who really relish a captive audience, although it should.

      3. Oui oui oui all the way home*

        Me too! We use it in our meetings because it really does cover everyone’s needs, whether for a snack, a stretch, or bathroom. We’re a diverse, inclusive group in film and TV and it seems to work in our context. I wonder what context makes some people not like it.

    6. sb51*

      It’s also sometimes endurance athletics terminology, when the radio announcers or twitter recappers want to politely remark that the entire front peloton of the Tour De France has stopped, by agreement, to pee by the side of the road. (“Nature break” is more common, but I’ve heard bio-break too.)

    7. Kay Buick*

      I once asked my dare care provider if she had “bandwidth” to take my kids one more day and I got a VERY blank stare in return.

        1. SeluciaMD*

          Me too! Bandwidth and capacity are both terms I use a lot – both professionally and personally. Never really gave much thought to how it might be weird in a personal setting! LOL

        2. JJL*

          I frequently use computer terminology when referring to my brain, like “bandwidth” , “short-circuiting”, “booting up” or “not online yet”. I find it fun and it helps me understand what level I’m functioning at in a non-judgemental way.

          1. Fish Microwaver*

            I use “latency” a lot, as well as bandwidth and some others. My SO hates computer terms used for human (non) functioning, which makes me do it more.

    8. ENFP in Texas*

      I’ve replaced “bio-break” with “pitstop” in my work and daily life, because I really don’t care for “bio-break”.

    9. ferrina*

      I do this. I “backburner” home projects or have a “parking lot” for home improvement ideas.

      On the bright side, when there’s family member I want to annoy, I just pull out my corporate jargon to “circle back to add iterative processes to reinforce the synergy”
      (read: add a new level of crappiness on a bad relationship)

    10. Piper*

      “Touch base” has started creeping into my regular personal vocabulary and I’ve been trying to kick myself out of the habit lol

    11. SchuylerSeestra*

      I use “table this discussion”, “circle back”, “ping”, “granuler”, and “contextualize” among other phrases in regular conversations.

    12. RainyDay*

      I’m pregnant with our first kid and recently used the phrase “paradigm shift” in a completely serious manner with my husband. I didn’t hear the end of that one for a while!

    13. Peon*

      My 10 year old uses “circle back” in conversations now. A hazard of working from home while he homes chooled during the pandemic. At one point, he had a zoom play date that consisted of his decepticons and his bff’s decepticons having a conference regarding their plans for world domination.

    14. MJ*

      Ugh! I hate the word bio-break. I always get a mental image of people in hazmat suits walking down the hall to the bathroom!

    15. Don't make me slap your jargon-spewing face*

      Exact opposite, here. I worked for a boss a absolutely despised who used office speak jargon all the time and it makes me grind my teeth to hear it now. If my husband wants to grind my gears, he will throw a “circle back” or “in the loop” or “wheelhouse.” During one meeting, my boss asked me if I had the “bandwidth” to take something on and I told her that I prefer not to talk about myself as if I were a machine. The thing I hate most about this sort of jargon is that it is terribly imprecise. EVERY time she told me to “ping” someone, I would ask her if she wanted me to call, email, text, or message them. She never got it.

    16. Dom*

      I’m mostly familiar with ‘bio break’ from a specific online game, to be honest – it was common to type ‘bio’ in the chat for any sort of biological functions, whether that was a bathroom visit, getting a drink or a snack, or just needing to stretch your legs for a few minutes. I’ve never come across it in an office setting.

    17. Calamity Janine*

      this is a hilarious example of how slang gets colored by how you first hear it used, because when i hear “bio break”, i don’t think business… …i think someone sounds a little bit like a world of warcraft raid leader.

      in the world of business, however, i am assuming that the tank insisting on pulling the boss by charging in after a mighty “Thundercats, HOOOOOOOOO!” on voice chat is slightly less common.

    18. Zeus*

      I recently met up with my sibling and noticed they had an injury, but didn’t get a chance to mention it until later, at which point I said something like, “I meant to follow up with you about that.”

      Facepalm…

    19. Kayem*

      I got so used to text chatting on Teams to my team, colleagues, and boss, that I found myself responding to texts from my mom with “Let me look into that and I’ll get back to you.” instead of “sure, dinner on Thursday sounds great!”

  5. Sick of Workplace Bullshit (she/her)*

    I teach English as a second language in Toronto, the most multi-cultural city in the world. I have to stop myself from saying, “Speak English!” when I hear other languages outside of school.

    Also, when I was a sign-language interpreter, I would notice any movement I saw out of the corner of my eye after a gig, because I thought it was the Deaf consumer trying to get my attention.

    1. Ex-ESL*

      I taught ESL and it was considered good practice to give students visual clues to what you were saying by gesticulating more than I (as a restrained Brit) would usually do. Along with my colleagues, it usually took a while to stop doing this on a Friday evening, so we’d all be outside the pub, asking if anyone wanted another drink (mime drinking), what they did last night (point backwards) what their plans were for the coming weekend (point forwards), etc!

      1. Varthema*

        Lots of ex or current ESL here! I also would gesticulate far more than usual after teaching a lot. Another thing I’ve never been able to shake is an obsession with how much any given person is talking in a group setting. I spent so long trying to generate conversation and ensure that quiet students were being given the opportunity to speak that one quiet person in a group conversation makes me very fidgety.

        Once we were traveling in a group tour and at lunch were sitting at a table. It was quiet, with mostly just the odd exchange of words between the couples present. I couldn’t take it! “So! What’s YOUR favorite part been?”

        (Ironically I myself am an introvert who doesn’t always want to take part in every conversation.)

    2. so_many_careers*

      I used to teach English in Japan. All of the teachers developed really odd English-speaking habits, because we learned to speak in a way our students could understand. For example, we would say “What is your job?” instead of “What do you do?” It took a bit of time to start speaking normally again after returning.

      1. DrFresh*

        Can confirm. I also taught in Japan and there were months where I never heard English only Japanese. After three years, I actually had to get back into an English speaking habits. I still use the kanji for minutes/hours because it’s faster.

      2. Jamjari*

        I still do a little head bob bow in certain situations more than a decade after leaving Korea, where I taught English. And I still use “same same” for ‘very much the same’.

      4. Ria*

        I teach native Spanish speakers in a Spanish-speaking country, and I do this too! I’m also finding myself getting worryingly comfortable with the most common false cognates they use, to the point where I’ll almost forget they’re not actually correct English. For example, my kids will frequently ask me about their “note” instead of their “grade”, since the Spanish word is “nota,” and the other day I just caught myself before referring to a student’s “notes” when talking to a fellow English-speaking teacher!

    3. raincoaster*

      OMG you must not have a minute of peace. I’m in Ottawa and must hear ten languages and dialects a day.

    4. cabbagepants*

      I’m in a workplace where most people are not native speakers and the English used in informal written communications (e.g email) has its own rules! Forget about compound sentences.

    5. CowWhisperer*

      Adult SODA (sibling of Deaf adult) here who works in a D/HH preschool.

      I sign at random people all the time. I whip my head around and sign, “What?” at people who gesture emphatically. If you see someone with their eyebrows down, wiggling their palm up hands, that’s what going down in ASL.

      I also fight the urge to repeat everything someone says verbally while signing it in a conversation because that’s my life in preschool.

  6. Mary*

    When at home doing some baking weighing everything to the exact weight 25.00 because that is what I do in the laboratory at work.

    1. Wendy Darling*

      My baking scale measures up to a tenth of a gram, so of course I measure everything exactly within a tenth of a gram because I love a round number.

      My partner has definitely gently ribbed me while I repeatedly added and removed tiny quantities of flour while glaring at my scale.

      1. Mim*

        OMG I need to get one of these! Mine only weighs to the gram, and is so old that I assume it’s a bit off anyway. Measuring dry ingredients by weight instead of volume has been such a game changer for baking (better results and I find it easier and less messy) without needing that tenth of a gram level of exactness. But I want it anyway.

      2. Your Mate in Oz*

        I have recipes for my bread maker that have hand-made annotations “4.5g yeast, 4.8 if not fresh” and similar. I have scales, I’m sick of “3/8th imperial teaspoons loose chili leaf” type measures.

        My bugbear is “100g” in recipes. 100±50, 100±10, 100±1, 100±0.1? Say what you mean, dammit. Especially because some of my handed down recipes are “two handfuls of buckweat, ground to coarse flour”. Thanks gg-gran, I’ll just write “125g+10” next to that, then.

    2. Former lab rat*

      I label my spices with date opened, because in the lab you always did that for critical reagents. Actually it does let me keep track of what spices are way old and need to be replaced.

      1. too many dogs*

        Yep. I label every food with the date that it was opened. My sense of smell is not good, so I can’t sniff the milk with any accuracy.

      2. Lime green Pacer*

        If it makes you feel better, I do that for all my leftovers, any open containers in my fridge, and everything in the freezer. Never worked in a lab (my husband would laugh at the very idea), I just find it helps with clutter, food safety, and peace of mind. I don’t do my spices though.

      3. Siren of Sleep*

        As a former baker this is 100% something you should do anyways. I always ignore “use/sell by” dates because most of the time they mean nothing if you properly store food.

      5. Jenny F Scientist*

        I date everything that goes in the freezer. I also still can’t bear to have anything on my wrists except a watch due to too many years of radiation and sterile culture work.

    3. Perihelion*

      I know I’ve been doing more lab work than usual when I find myself carefully adjusting for the meniscus in the liquid measuring cup. I do also feel that a centrifuge would be helpful for getting all the batter out of a bowl.

    4. Generic Name*

      Ha ha, my aunt, a retired biochemist, said she has to remind herself it’s “just baking” and not analytical chemistry.

      1. Former lab rat*

        Oh heavens, I am so compulsive about the meniscus. And actually baking is a good bit of chemistry. You may not need to be exact to the milligram but you do need to be fairly accurate with measurements.

        2. goddessoftransitory*

          Yep; the book Perfection Salad is all about how “scientific” cookery came to be, and using measurements exactly rather than “pinch,” “size of a walnut,” and so on. It’s fascinating!

        3. Wintermute*

          yup! cooking you can be a bit imprecise but baking relies on the chemical reactions. The most important chemical reaction in most cooking is just the maillard reaction that browns food, but baking relies on the complex interplay of protein bonds (mostly gluten) to give body, of gas-generating reactions both chemical and biochemical to create the proper texture and airiness and the reaction of starches for the right taste.

    5. pally*

      I’m a biochemist but haven’t gotten to this point yet.

      Found that a little ‘sloppiness’ in the cooking (including baking!) makes for a good turnout with most recipes.

      Not so much with lab work though.

      2. Ace in the Hole*

        I’m very freeform in the kitchen. I do things mostly by feel. It *usually* works out well.

        My biochemist friend once asked me for my bread recipe. I wrote down what I normally do and sent it over.

        Then she asked if I could clarify how many grams were in a “pile” of flour and “a big spoonful” of yeast…

        1. Former lab rat*

          I bet if you weighed your pile of flour over several bakings you would find you are within standard deviation for amount. Same with the yeast. You have trained your eyes to “quantitate” the correct amount each time you bake.

      3. Putting the Dys in Dysfunction*

        There are other factors at play that result in ultra-precise measurements providing a false sense of consistency in results: humidity/flour hydration, age of the flour, brand of the flour, water contents of eggs, etc., etc.

        An experienced baker starts with exact measurements but uses their senses in real time to adjust as appropriate.

        1. Former lab rat*

          You’re right and I’ll amend my statement. If I’m baking cakes I precisely measure the flour. If I’m making bread the last bit gets kneaded in without measuring. So if the bread recipe calls for 4 cups I will mix in 3.5 then turn the dough out on the counter and knead in flour until it feels right.

        2. Your Mate in Oz*

          Used to work in a flour mill and the whole point of the test kitchen was to tweak the recipe so bread factories(etc) could just say “235kg flour, 104l water, 1.35kg rising agent…” or whatever the actual numbers are. Benefit of the test kitchen was free bread, if you could handle unsliced farmer loaves (and if you worked late it was free! Otherwise ~1/4 retail). Best days were cake mix days… they’d make ~3 different cakes and a slice, in small-ish batches, and those never made it off the property intact.

        3. Blue*

          As a lab worker this is also true in the lab!
          There are experiments I just don’t do in the summer because the humidity messes with the results, and different reagents have different shelf lives and there are papers out there showing that the types of impurities from different chemical brands can affect certain procedures.

      4. Wintermute*

        yeah I’ve never found that carrying out a recipe under an excess of reagent ends well for me, turns out that filtering off the unreacted egg white is a pain :P

    6. Nonanon*

      I wondered if the jars I had just bought for pickling were autoclave safe.
      There is no way I could fit an autoclave into my apartment.

      1. shaw of dorset*

        They make little ones! The lab I work at used to have a couple that were about microwave sized.

        1. Perihelion*

          Someone I knew got a job at what turned out to be an awful start-up, and they were making her use use a pressure canner as an autoclave in the lab. . .

      1. JustaTech*

        I recorded all three of my attempts at sourdough in a lab notebook I got from work (we had too many).

        1. I Have RBF*

          I sometimes make soap. I have a composition book that I record all my weights and ingredients in.

          When I do batch cooking, I record the ingredients, quantities and yield in my kitchen notebook.

    9. Throwaway Account*

      I’m not in the sciences but I pay attention to the meniscus in the liquid measuring cup and to the exact weight when baking.

      I’ve also been known to date label things I open or freeze.

      I thought everyone did these things!!

      1. Cyborg Llama Horde*

        I distinctly remember my mother teaching 5- or 8-year-old me to measure to the bottom of the meniscus. She worked as a mathematician, though I suppose her mother was a nurse. No lab work that I know of, though.

        1. PhyllisB*

          Okay, forgive my ignorance, but how does this relate in cooking? I just googled this word and it talks about cartilage in the leg?

          1. Former lab rat*

            No, it’s not your knee but the way liquid sits in a measuring cup. Here is a definition of what all us science nerds are talking about:
            When observing a volume of a liquid in a graduated cylinder, graduated pipette, or buret, read the point on the graduated scale that coincides with the bottom of the curved surface of the liquid. The curved surface of the liquid is called the meniscus.

      2. Throwaway Account*

        And I just read pharmacy techs putting oldest stuff in the pantry forward – I do that too but never had a job where it was required.

        Again, I thought everyone did these things!

        Drives me nuts when my husband does not put the newest stuff in the back!

        1. All Monkeys are French*

          I am I former professional baker and have thankfully managed to train my husband by yelling “FIFO that sh*t!” when he puts away groceries.

      3. ferrina*

        I absolutely date things that I open and freeze! I also date leftovers- I’m ADHD, so this is a great help to me.

    10. AFac*

      I never put my utensils directly on the counter; they always have to rest on something else to prevent contamination.

      When I was in grad school I started covering/closing all open containers when I was cooking if I wasn’t using them for more than 10 seconds. My housemate rolled her eyes and told me I needed a vacation. She was probably right.

    11. Jess*

      After years of chemistry classes, when I measure liquids for baking or cooking, I look for the miniscus to make sure I’ve the right amount of liquid.

    12. Not A Raccoon Keeper*

      Former food scienist – I used to develop flavours for a local fancy bottled juice company, and for a while we got into concentrated vitamin shots and I would be making samples with measures to the tenth of a milligram.

      I asked for a scale for my (gluten free) home baking, and my mom bought me a quite fancy one, but while it’s accurate to the tenth of a gram, it’s useless below 5g (iykyk). A decade+ out from the last time I measured 0.00001g of some ingredient, it still kills me that I can be so accurate for most things, but am just tossing xanthan gum in like it don’t matter (it matters most of all!)

        2. I Have RBF*

          Oh, the memories! My first career was environmental chemistry, both lab and field. I have a lifetime of habits from that.

    13. sometimeswhy*

      Also a lab person, here! I have done or do almost everything in this thread. Plus:
      – made sure my kid could read an SDS and select + wear appropriate PPE for hazardous tasks when they were little (said kid is now an artist who has a well-ventilated studio, eye protection, smocks, different types of gloves, and different types of respirators)
      – suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuper casually put out kitchen fires; i know exactly where my limit is to respond safely
      – say temperatures in both F and C

    14. Rainbow*

      Me too, but not even the tiniest part of me wants to do otherwise! I always wish I had my lab stuff in the kitchen; I’ve particularly always wanted an inert gas line or just a vac line for storage (idk maybe I get a little compulsive; sometimes the idea of stuff going off gets to me). Last month I finally found some vacuum jars and I would swear on my life they can store cereal for much longer than otherwise.

      1. AFac*

        I’m also a fan of using kitchen utensils in lab.* Sometimes you just want a real spoon or a pair of chopsticks rather than a scoopula or tweezers.

        (*keep your lab utensils and your kitchen utensils separate for safety’s sake!)

    15. AnneC*

      Lab rat here too – there’s a local lab supply store my work sometimes uses, and I’ve ended up going there to outfit my kitchen with a balance for weighing ingredients. We also use a 500 mL beaker in the kitchen frequently for all kinds of thing (it pours much more nicely than the standard measuring cups!)

      1. Wintermute*

        labware is one of the few ways you can get genuine (and thus safe) borosilicate anymore, since “pyrex” baking dishes are no longer borosilicate in most cases, so it’s either shop vintage or buy labware for cooking.

        1. I Have RBF*

          I still use labware for soap making. I still have some Fleakers that I scrounged off of eBay.

      2. Hastily blessed Fritos*

        We have a beaker for a liquid measuring cup too, and a small graduated cylinder in the liquor cabinet for making mixed drinks.

    16. I Have RBF*

      My first job was in a laboratory. I still measure with precision when using a scale. I tend to weigh the exact amount specified, to the tenth.

    17. Sarah S.*

      When I’ve been working a lot in lab I will have an urge to put on my safety glasses while cooking. This urge is particularly strong whenever I use the microwave, for some reason.

  7. ThatGirl*

    I started my career in newspapers, and still get critical about headlines, poor design choices, etc all these 16 years later.

    I currently work for a “water solutions company” (plumbing-related manufacturing, mostly) and obsessively check water fountains and bottle filling stations, sink brands, faucet styles, etc wherever I go. I noticed that my in-laws had a bar faucet on their huge kitchen sink and a huge kitchen faucet on their tiny bar sink and it drives me nuts whenever I’m at their house.

    2. VermiciousKnid*

      15 years in print publishing (now in marketing). If your menu/brochure/sign has a typo, I WILL find it.

      I once saw a sign for a real estate company that said something like “find your next house in :30 seconds”. The colon before the 30 nearly sent me to the hospital. WHO APPROVED THAT?!

      1. londonedit*

        Yep, I’m an editor and I subconsciously edit everything I see. Of course I don’t say anything about it, apart from silently judging in my head. But I’ve pretty much given up on ever seeing the correct version when it comes to things like ‘everyday’ (when they don’t mean ‘an everyday occurrence’) and ‘sneak peak’ (what, is it a hidden mountain?).

      2. tsumommy*

        Glad I’m not the only one who almost has an aneurism when they see horribly egregious grammar/punctuation choices in signs :)

        1. Cathie from Canada*

          I still notice Idiot Apostrophes wherever I go — or maybe I should say Idiot Apostrophe’s.
          Also, when I see movie titles, I notice the typefaces (“I wonder why they used Century Schoolbook instead of Baskerville?”) At least I finally stopped myself from boring people by asking questions like that out loud.

          1. SpikyPotato*

            In the UK, they’re known as Greengrocer’s apostrophes, from signs outside shops selling apple’s, pear’s and potatoe’s.

            (My phone reaaaallllyy wanted to autocorrect those)

            1. Scandinavian Vacationer*

              I had to dispose of a mug from my new husband which read “Alaskan’s Do It Better.” I could not bear seeing this abomination to grammar in the coffee cupboard every day.

              1. londonedit*

                I’d have done the same! I contacted a company selling handmade items last Christmas because all over their social media marketing they were using a photo of a sign saying ‘Christmas with the Taylor’s’ or similar. They actually responded and said ‘we’re just using images of real orders from customers, we do check but in that case that was what the person specifically wanted’ – well, OK, that’s a whole different issue. But don’t use it for advertising if you don’t want people thinking you have no grasp of how to use an apostrophe!

              2. Lucien Nova*

                Our house has a sign out the front reading “The (Last Name)’s”.

                Luckily it’s a layer of bronze paint over black metal so I just took a permanent marker and coloured out the apostrophe. You still see it up close (mostly because the kerning is off) but it’s much better from a bit of a distance.

          2. They Don’t Make Sunday*

            Come sit next to me! I will listen to your typeface shade and will have follow-up questions.

          4. MigraineMonth*

            I have a friend who, right after seeing the first Avatar movie in breathtaking 3-D, turned to her sister and said, “Papyrus?!?”

            Her sister answered, “I know! What were they thinking?”

      3. TypoSpotter*

        I was at a baseball game last week and could not watch the game, because there was a typo on one of a hundred iterations of a sponsor logos on the digital displays. D:

        1. I Have RBF*

          Oh, my, god! I did newspaper layout in high school and college, plus my own newsletter that I published. I will still grind my teeth at “business” fonts like Arial and Helvetica because the default kerning is so bad.

          1. Firefighter (Metaphorical)*

            I once dragged three friends out of a bar to show them the bad kerning on the sign outside, as part of a monologue about how you can tell our town is provincial and a bit meh. The kerning wasn’t even that terrible, it was just… OFF and it BUGGED ME.

      6. Not Totally Subclinical*

        I often drive by a construction site with a banner that lists the types of construction the company does, including “STORGAE UNITS”.

        I really hope they check their building plans more carefully than their advertising.

        1. Lucien Nova*

          We have an automotive place here that for quite some time advertised itself as “UNDER NEW MANAGMENT”.

          Their automotive work must be much better than their proofreading skills; they do quite a lot of business!

      7. allathian*

        I’m a translator and proofreader, and I do this all the time. At least I’ve learned to judge people who can’t spell only in my head rather than out loud. But I don’t think I’ll ever be able to stop silently judging people for not being able to spell, even if I’m aware that it’s ableist as heck.

        1. rebelwithmouseyhair*

          Do you find yourself trying to translate random things you read in the street?
          I can’t even order from the menu until I’ve completed a draft translation of it in my head…

    3. Shiba Dad*

      I work with HVAC-related stuff and I check out thermostats, but just in commercial/institutional settings and not residential.

    4. lilsheba*

      Oh me too I went to school for radio broadcasting in the late 1980s and took classes in journalism and traffic (commercials and scheduling) and it infuriates me when I see language usage being wrong (like using the word entitled when it should be titled when discussing actual titles of things) Or when I see traffic rules being broken like commercials for competitors being back to back in a commercial break…I was taught NEVER to do that.

    5. Miss Cranky Pants*

      Yeah, editors gonna edit.

      My favorite typo from an old Jonathan Kellerman book was when the character walked up the bridal path behind his house. Really?? Makes me smile to this day.

      Typos are everywhere; one must turn off the editorial brain once work is done, otherwise you’ll go insane.

      1. starsaphire*

        I actually stopped reading a mystery series I had rather been liking because of sloppy editing.

        Seriously – the books took place in a tea shop, and after the second time I ran across misspellings of various fairly common tea china, I gave up in disgust. (Like Lennox instead of Lenox, or Lamoge instead of Limoges.)

        And yes, these were bookstore paperbacks. I could have gritted my teeth and excused it in a self-pubbed ebook, but if it comes out of a publishing house, I expect a book to be, y’know, edited.

        1. Tiggerann*

          the publisher is avoiding a lawsuit. the tea companys may lose their trademark if it appears in the wrong place.

      2. Dancing Otter*

        One of my favorite writers recruits beta readers for what they call “The Great TYOP Hunt” before every book release. Because their readers are exactly the sort to find and complain about any mistakes that make it into print.

    6. Random Biter*

      My BFF was a reporter in a previous life and would collect newspaper or magazine articles with the most amazing typos. One of the best was a photo of a new sheriff with a caption that read, “”goodoldwhatshisname” takes office today.”

      1. AnonORama*

        Not in the newspaper, but at a fundraising conference years ago, a funder mentioned having received an application where there was a huge blank and the words BULLSHIT BULLSHIT BULLSHIT written in red caps instead of any content. Obviously the applicant sent the one with the placeholder by mistake, but I would die and quit my job (in that order, lol) if I produced something like that. It did make me more careful about using placeholders at all, and about checking things before they went out.

        1. Richard Barrell*

          I always use harmless text in placeholders. If something goes out with a big red “Badger badger badger badger” or just “PLACEHOLDER TEXT HERE” in it, then that’s embarrassing but not apocalyptic.

          At work we have a “no swearing in code or test content, not even in comments” policy because sometimes we are contracted to ship source code to the customer, and it’s safer to just never swear than to try to remember which places you can or can’t write four letter words in. :)

    7. goddessoftransitory*

      Have you read The Cheese Monkeys? It’s a hysterical novel about kid who starts taking a commercial design course in college with one of those genius/terrifying teachers, and within a week he cannot deal with the sloppy design presentation of the stores, the bus station, the pizza place…

    9. Retired editor*

      Spotting misspellings, typos, grammatical errors, poorly written headlines, disorganized writing, and so on is still a real affliction years after having retired as an editor can get aggravating. In addition, my escapist reading is Regency romance, and I was interested enough to do a lot of reading about the history of the era — which means there are books that exasperate me with language unsuited to the era (chat about “sibling rivalries” during a curricle ride in Hyde Park) or factual errors (unlikely clothing colors that don’t take into consideration the actual dyes used at the time; medical treatments that don’t reflect historical practice, books published by writers who characters encounter when those writers were published posthumously, random historical errors, and so on).

      I also spent years working and volunteering in libraries, so I am always tidying or shelf-reading in libraries and bookstores. My books at home are organized by topic, and within that, by author surname. But the alphabetization does not stop there. My spice jars are in alphabetical order. When I can manage it, icons on my desktop or home screen are in alphabetical order (and I am still annoyed that computers don’t generally allow me to stipulate that icons default to alpha order; at least, as far as my limited tech skills have discovered). My stack of greeting cards has the birthday cards on top, a couple of get-well-soon cards, and the sympathy cards on the bottom. CDs are by music genre, then alphabetical order by the group name or the surname of the individual performer.

      I’m not sure where the color-coding came from, but my closet is organized by color, as are some refrigerated and pantry items.

  8. GingerNP*

    I was an ER nurse for 15 years and just recently moved into a primary care Nurse Practitioner role – and I will never stop a) assessing people for IV placement, and b) telling people they should get moles looked at.
    I also (possibly unfortunately) have an extremely high threshold for what constitutes a serious/urgent/emergent problem – something I have to recalibrate as I move into my own practice as a primary care provider.

    1. TeenieBopper*

      I dunno, my fiance works at a primary care office and from the stories she tells me it sounds like most patients need a recalibration of what is a serious problem is – in both directions. She has people who’s step one when they have a cold is to go to the doctors instead of just drinking fluids and taking aspirin and then she has 60 somethings who come in with difficulty breathing and chest pain, like why TF aren’t you at the ER right now?

      1. Bear Expert*

        This calibration is why I am an obnoxious evangelist for nurse hotlines. Most insurance/doctors offices have one that’s free. Talk with a nurse, not to get a diagnosis, but to get a calibration for ER/Urgent Care/drink water and take a nap.

        It’s great for people who will try to treat a gun accident at the range with a bandaid and for people who get super anxious about anything health related.

        That calibration is a measure of expertise that a lot of people lack and you can just call a number and get it.

        1. Rocket Raccoon*

          Nurse hotlines are the best! I live very rurally, and it’s SO nice to replace a long drive with a phone call. I just need someone to say “yes, bring your kid in and we can help” or “nope, we can’t do anything about it, just monitor”. Even better when they let you do a telehealth to check out weird rashes and stuff that kids get.

        2. Minimal Pear*

          Thanks for the reminder that they exist! I’m currently waffling on two separate “wait and see or go to my primary?” problems. (Chronically ill so my calibration is broken in both directions lol.)

        3. Magpie*

          These are so helpful! I actually probably saved the mobility in my thumb recently by calling one. I got a deep cut over the joint and was probably under-reacting, but since it was bleeding so much I decided to call and check and they told me to go get stitches. Turns out I had partially cut the tendon and definitely needed medical attention. (I am on the mend now)

        4. cabbagepants*

          +100 for telehealth nurses!
          -90 for nurse lines that are only staffed during business hours. I get staffing issues etc but it’s a real bummer when I have a nursing line but STILL have to go to urgent care to get my boo-boos checked 75% of the time.

      2. lilsheba*

        I’m in the latter camp, because by now I’m tired of being gaslit and not paid attention to so I don’t go even when my arm hurts for a couple of months like now. I should go get it checked but I’m just so tired.

      4. Blarg*

        The first time I remember hearing and understanding condescension was when I was 7 and cracked my head pretty good. Bleeding a good amount from my forehead. And my mom took me to the pediatrician’s office. And I remember the doctor looking at me, and then looking at her, and saying, “Mrs. Blarg, she needs to go to the hos-pit-al.”

        Sometimes when I notice the scar, I think about the tone of voice the doctor used, like “why the heck am I looking at this child and she is not at an ER??” [this was in the 80s, before urgent care proliferated].

    2. Susan Calvin*

      My godmother was an OR nurse for many years, and my mother specifically went to the hospital in a neighbor town to give birth because that’s where she worked at the time – she wasn’t, I think, there for the main event, but probably the first person immediately afterwards to hold me. First thing she said? “Good veins”

      1. Jay (no, the other one)*

        When my dad was in med school he commuted by subway and he used to spend the entire ride assessing the other passengers for good veins. My husband is not a doc. He’s a geologist who spent much of grad school using a sledgehammer to break up rocks. When I introduced him to my med school friends, two of them looked at his arms and said “Wow. I could hit that vein from across the room.” He was a bit unnerved.

    3. Red Reader the Adulting Fairy*

      With you on the second bit – I’m routinely muttering, “if you made an appointment for three weeks out, and drove yourself to the appointment, and waited quietly in the waiting room, is your pain really 10/10?”

      1. Anonymouse*

        Sometimes, yes. This is a pet peeve of mine…my husband has an illness which will eventually kill him (but probably not for a few years so we vacillate between calling it chronic and incurable and terminal) and he has learned to live with pain. In a normal day, his pain levels probably hover at a range that would make most people seek emergency care. If he were to seek emergent care every time his pain spikes, he would be actively labeled a drug-seeker. He has pain medications and he takes what he minimally needs to function and not be a walking zombie during the day, but the pain is still intense.

        So yes, it’s very possible for someone to be in excruciating pain but accepting that the medical system will punish them for it if they don’t behave otherwise.

        1. Jess*

          yep. living with chronic pain means recalibrating what is normal comfort. also knowing when you push too far on a good day, there will be repercussions.

          no one really understands that i am always, always, in some level of pain. I just get minor meds from my specialist and deal with it bc i don’t want to have to be at pain management every month anymore. I have a life, at some point it just is what it is.

          He’s a badass and i love him for it, even tho i don’t know y’all irl.

        2. anxiousGrad*

          Yeah I had issues with this attitude when I was trying to get diagnosed with a disease which causes debilitating fatigue. I was telling the doctors that I was too weak and fatigued to get out of bed all day and they didn’t really believe me because they were like, “then how are you at the doctor’s office right now.” Well, I saved up my energy for this appointment by not getting out of bed at all for the past two days, even to change my underwear. I was literally losing weight because I was too weak to reach the kitchen to eat most of the time and they still doubted that I was as weak and tired as I was saying.

      2. cabbagepants*

        This comes across as a bit tone deaf. In the US many people struggle to find timely and affordable care. And sadly I have found that sometimes, complaining more loudly gets me better and faster care.

      3. Oryx*

        I know you don’t mean for it to come across as such, but this attitude is one of the struggles people with chronic illnesses deal with all the time and it’s very frustrating. The thing with chronic illness is you get very used to it and build up a tolerance. So yes, it is possible for someone to function at a level 10 pain scale that would have any other person incapacitated with pain

      4. Observer*

        I’m routinely muttering, “if you made an appointment for three weeks out, and drove yourself to the appointment, and waited quietly in the waiting room, is your pain really 10/10?”

        What the others said about finding care and getting used to functioning with insane levels of pain is true.

        But also, pain comes and goes in many situations. That doesn’t make it less real and less urgent.

      5. Red Reader the Adulting Fairy*

        Okay yes, my mistake for answering quickly and not clarifying – I am actively reviewing the medical records in these situations, and I’m not talking about patients with chronic conditions, I’m talking “I tripped over a bedpost three weeks ago and my foot is still a little sore, no I haven’t bothered taking Tylenol, I also went jogging yesterday, 10/10.” Mea culpa.

    4. Bear Expert*

      Just for you, I’m making a note to have this mole looked at that I’ve thought has looked funny for a bit.

      2. Lucien Nova*

        Yes, do! As someone with a family member who had melanoma, which was spotted by her tattoo artist of all people (he was touching up one on her back and wondered if she’d had a mole there checked out – she hadn’t, she went and had it checked and sure enough…) I will always advocate “better safe than sorry” with moles!

    5. Butterfly Counter*

      Oh my gosh. My mother was an ER nurse and her threshold for a serious problem was passed down to me. I feel so bad for my husband when he feels ill with a cold or the flu because I give him about as much care and attention as my mother gave me under the same circumstances. Which is not much…

      I remember I once came all the way home from college because I had strep throat and felt awful. My mom sweetly gave me a pillow and blanket to lay out on the couch and then said, “Bye! I’ll be out shopping for the rest of the day!” And that was her doting on me.

    6. goddessoftransitory*

      My dad was the worst about that–he worked as an ER doctor and thus it was quite hard to impress him with illness or injury unless you had a greenstick fracture or your head had actually fallen off.

      1. Global Cat Herder*

        My mom was an ICU nurse. If we weren’t actively dying right that minute, it wasn’t a real problem.

    7. Merry*

      I once read an article about a nursing student who was attending a hockey game and spotted a mole on a coach’s neck that she thought looked cancerous. She was able to get in touch with the coach via Twitter or something the next day to notify him, and when he got it checked out, it turned out to be something that needed timely medical attention or it could have been much worse.

      So basically, keep doing that, you are probably saving lives!

    8. EcoBee*

      As a nurse, mine is just the basic assessment of everyone I meet. I have to be aware of where my eyes are going when I’m talking to people, because we’re trained to notice deviations from normal.
      The other piece is just being aware of what is acceptable as a social topic. When you spend all day talking with people about their bodies, it becomes normal to talk about our own. Sometimes I read Alison’s advice about acceptable break room conversation topics and just laugh, because some of the things we’ve discussed openly during lunch at 2am go waaaayyy beyond normal coworker conversation.

    9. RPOhno*

      I work in hazmat safety and was a site emergency responder for years, so my “this is an emergency” scale is similarly warped. As in, my grill caught fire last summer, and calm-as-can-be I closed it, shut off the propane, walked inside, clearly and concisely told my fiancée “Grill’s on fire”, and grabbed a fire extinguisher in case it didn’t burn itself out.
      I also read people outside work the riot act about respirators way more often than is normal and notice every DOT placard on every truck and probably always will.

  9. chocolate lover*

    I critique tv shows and/or commercials. Example, when I watch episodes of the original Charmed, some I practically shriek at the inappropriateness of some of Pru’s clothing at the auction house, like crop tops or halter tops. Or commercials about hair dye for men, one that involved a job interview and they were talking about how the man without gray hair had more energy and I’m thinking “age discrimination”!

    2. Jaunty Banana Hat I*

      Having been a teacher, there are some shows about teaching that I just can’t watch. I tried to watch Glee, but I couldn’t even hate watch it after a certain point.

      1. SeluciaMD*

        I think that is true for everyone who watched Glee – teacher or no. I love that show but I also hated it with a passion sometimes.

    3. Corrigan*

      Phoebe has crazy outfits when she worked at the newspaper as well (plus a huge office I’m pretty sure most advice columnists don’t have)

    4. Eat my Squirrel*

      lol, every time I watch a show where someone blatantly ignores protection of classified information, I yell at them.
      Character: “That information is highly classified.”
      Me: “SO DON’T TELL THEM”
      Character: tells them
      Me: “You’re fired and you’re going to jail!!!”

      1. Bi One, Get One*

        There’s a video game forum that has to repeatedly remind people not to post real classified military documents, so this rings sort of true to life.

      2. goddessoftransitory*

        Oh man, I was rewatching Remington Steele on Prime, and it blew my MIND how often Laura or Remington would just ask “is So and So registered here?” or “What room is the Princess Regent who’s traveling under another name in?” at the front desk of a hotel, and the clerk would just tell them! Not even blink!

    5. Thatoneoverthere*

      They all had crazy outfits for work and everyday life lol. Sometimes they looked like they were going clubing on what was obviously a weekday afternoon. Weirdly they always made Piper look somewhat frumpy and she worked in an actual club (not always, sometimes she got cute outfits).

    6. goddessoftransitory*

      I do that a lot, but more with “this girl is in high school and should not be running A BAR” like on Riverdale.

  10. Red Reader the Adulting Fairy*

    I work with ED coding/charging, among other things. My husband took himself to one of our EDs a few years ago (panic attack that he thought was something worse), and I went to meet him there. Sitting by his gurney looking around. He goes “Stop adding up my bill in your head, it’s not helping.”

    Maybe not, but when he got the final bill, I was within $50 of the correct total. (I didn’t know which lab tests they did before I got there.)

    4. But Not the Hippopotamus*

      Took me a minute to figure out what ED was… where I am, that’s what’s used to refer to certain problems some men have.

    5. Armchair Analyst*

      You should totally win the game, but this would be a really weird edition of “The Price is Right”!

    6. Oui oui oui all the way home*

      I first read this as Erectile Dysfunction, then Eating Disorders, and it took a moment to realize you meant something else.

    7. allhailtheboi*

      I worked in a care home. My mum has dodgy knees, and I kept checking on her when she was on the stairs or carrying something bulkly or unwieldy. She had to tell me off because I kept treating her like she was a frail and elderly person. She’s only 50!

  11. Flames on the Side of My Face*

    Well, I’m an editor, so every single blessed thing I read goes through a quick review in my head. I also can’t help editing the dialogue in movies and shows. It’s a bit of a curse.

    I learned decades ago to keep my findings to myself.

    1. stacers*

      Same. But if it’s a corporate/in the public typo, misspelling, etc., I post a photo to Instagram with a #youneedacopyeditor tag. Some of the best/worst I’ve documented:
      *dry-cleaning service van promising ‘promt’ service
      *grocery store selling ‘beefstake’ tomatoes
      *Work truck for a company offering ‘seemless’ gutters
      *handwritten sign promising ‘HUGH’ yard sale

      1. June Gardens*

        Free gift. I’ve left more comments on social posts saying, “All gifts are free.” I need to be stopped. Or given a free gift.

        2. cabbagepants*

          It’s extra funny because the “free gift” is never actually free. It always has a string attached.

        3. Past Lurker*

          I don’t like when they say ‘free gift’ when they actually mean ‘gift with purchase’

            1. June Gardens*

              If it’s a gift, it’s always free. Gift with purchase would work perfectly. See what I mean? I CANNOT STOP.

        4. Acon*

          I HATE went supermarkets use “Buy one get one” offers. It should be either “Buys one get TWO” or “Buy one get one free”.

          1. Wired Wolf*

            I head up the curbside-pickup department at my store; every week we get an email with the customer feedback for the region. There’s at least two people per week complaining about “I ordered a buy-one-get-one item but I only received one?!” That’s on the company; they don’t say on the site that you need to buy two (add two to your cart) to get it to work. The site is a disaster, so I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if it didn’t even show the discount at checkout.

      2. Ally McBeal*

        In my old neighborhood my walk to church took me past a bakery with a mural that was missing an apostrophe. Every single week I had to fight the urge to sneak a white-out pen into my purse and fix it like some sort of weird grammar vigilante.

        1. stacers*

          I recently was reading a book I checked out from the library. A reader before me had penned in closing quote marks that had been omitted, and I wished there were a way I could find that person to say thanks. Much easier to be a grammar vigilante in a book than a mural, however.

          1. Alisaurus*

            Conversely, I recently read a book from my library that a previous reader had copyedited… but stuff that wasn’t even wrong!! I wanted to scream. lol Not only had someone written in a library book (gasp! shock! horror!), they hadn’t even done it correctly!

            2. rebelwithmouseyhair*

              At the translation agency where I worked (so, a place where grammar and spelling etc were all of the utmost importance), we had business cards printed up with the same information as in the phone directory.
              And the same typo in the email: translation-sevices@interword.fr
              It’s not even just a harmless typo, because “sévices” in French means “harmful bodily treatment”.

        2. Silver Robin*

          near me is a restaurant called Margie’s. The font they use does not give the g a curve at the end of its tail, it is just a straight line. Every time I look at it, I read “Marqie’s” and internally shake my fist at whoever made that design choice.

          1. stacers*

            I wish I could post a photo — in my ‘seemless’ gutters example above, the font on the truck was such an abomination that it was almost more painful than the error.

      3. Miette*

        I’m in marketing and proofreading/editing is a large part of my job. My personal fave are “Stationary Stores” like, my dude! How do you not know how to use the proper word on your business’s sign–it is your livelihood!

        2. Sylv*

          I knew a store called “The Fine Furniture” (not sure if it’s still around). It made me scream a little on the inside every time I walked by it.

        3. Frank Doyle*

          Maybe they just want to assure customers that their store isn’t going anywhere.

          But in a similar vein, there was a company near where I used to live called “Milennium.” (Or maybe it was “Millenium.”) Like, are you not going to run your company name through spellcheck before you register it, order custom car signage, stationery, etc??

      4. Former Themed Employee*

        One of the stylists at the place I get my hair cut had printed her own business cards. Not sure that “heir cuttery” was quite what she was going for.

        2. Loz*

          I shared a house with a guy who designed & printed business cards. Could not help pointing out one of his clients was about to take delivery of 5000 cards promising “Quaility Gauranteed”.

      5. Kes*

        Not a copy editor but I do often notice and enjoy typos or misspellings. The best are the ones that inadvertently change the meaning, where I enjoy reading and thinking about what they actually said vs what they meant. I’ve done this with resumes as well, eg ‘responsible to handel money’ has me imagining the composer singing Messiah while throwing bills around

        1. Charlotte Lucas*

          My mother still treasures the photo she took in the 80s of the BK sign. It was inviting everyone to try their “New Beagle Sandwich.”

      6. Shirley Keeldar*

        The hardware store down the street lined up huge (really huge, get-out-the-forklift huge) bags of wood pellets along the parking lot and spray painted letters on them to make an impromptu advertisement. The letters spelled out: WOOD PELLTES.

      7. AnonORama*

        Worst EVAH: there used to be a sign near my old place back East: Office of the Superintendent of School’s. Nooooooooooooo

        1. Miette*

          Misapplied apostrophes are my personal hell, and people that don’t understand the basics of pluralizing nouns are the imps that run it.

      8. merida*

        Hahaha, I feel like we need a whole AMA post about best (worst?) typos, because these are great and made me laugh. But then I also have an editorial background.

        Best typo I’ve seen out in the real world: I live in a major city that years ago instated a controversial “no parking” rule on many streets. It was no parking except by permit, but word on the street was that the permit process was unclear and no permits were getting approved anyway. On the no parking signs (permanent metal signs that that went up throughout the city) the sign read “No Parking Except by Pemit.” Pemit. Photos of the signs (which clearly displayed the typo) were used unironically on the city’s official social media to inform people of parking rules.

      9. Charleston Girlie*

        One of the first things I changed when I started my new role was a portion of our website that stated we had “robotic surgeons.” We have surgeons trained in robotics-assisted surgery.

      10. Lexi Vipond*

        There’s a shop near my work which sells ‘glob artichokes’, which I actually quite like!

      11. goddessoftransitory*

        I am now picturing one lonely guy standing in a driveway with “HUGH-Fifty dollars or Best Offer” on a sign around his neck.

    2. Dualis*

      I wish I could train myself like you have. I am a copy editor in a newsroom and can’t watch the evening news without commenting when they‘ve given the news reader something with a mistake in it.

    3. June Gardens*

      Yes! Even when someone tells a story, I find myself thinking, “You could’ve eliminated that part of this story.”

    4. Miette*

      I was once in a supermarket where the express lane’s sign said “15 items or fewer” and I nearly lost my mind with glee. I took a photo and sent to all my copywriting/editing friends lol.

        1. Laika*

          I’ll still mumble “fewer” when people get it wrong but by now everyone I know just ignores me lol

          1. automaticdoor*

            My husband does that to me even when “less” is actually the appropriate word to use because he thinks he’s funny.

          2. Bronze Betty*

            Ah, shades of Stannis Baratheon. He was a terrible person, but he knew his grammar. (Game of Thrones, for those who didn’t know.)

      2. kendall^2*

        I saw that just last week, and was so happy! (It had been a pet peeve of my dad’s, so I’ve been hyper-aware of this one most of my life.)

    5. ferrina*

      My mom was an editor. I was the only kid in kindergarten whose papers had red pen on it before the I even turned it in. She edited any homework I left lying around.

      It drove me nuts, but it means I can write pretty darn well when I want to.

    6. Charlotte Lucas*

      It’s the “random” quotation marks that get me.

      Not only have I taught Composition, but I currently have a communications role that includes editing. And my mother is a retired production editor. There is no hope for us.

      Anne Fadiman has an essay about compulsive proofreading in her family. It really resonates with me.

      1. Insert Clever Name Here*

        I had a boss who did this constantly. No email from him was without quotation marks somewhere in it. We’re your “Services” team? What “Services” do you THINK we buy?!

        What made it even better was that he was constantly talking about how he was an excellent writer and loved English so much.

      3. Alisaurus*

        Same! Those random quotation marks do nothing to strike confidence in me.

        I’m also similar in my grammar nerdiness. My mother is a huge grammar nerd (surprisingly, she was never a professional editor, but she could be) and raised me that way. I was an editor for a while, taught writing for a brief period, and my last 3 jobs have still had aspects of proofreading in their responsibilities. I’m pretty much doomed to this my whole life.

      4. Tad Cooper*

        I have the opposite problem: I worked in low-dollar fundraising for years, writing emails and letters for foundations and political organizations. There’s a whole fascinating world of psychological tricks and shortcuts behind the haphazard bolding, highlighting, and, yes, “random” quotation marks that goes into each of those pieces.

        And now, even after switching to a new industry, I often have to stop myself from adding quotation marks or bolding or other wonky formatting around words or phrases in my work and personal correspondence. I also regularly catch myself making sentences shorter or swapping out two-syllable words for one-syllable words to make the message “more approachable.” Never mind that I’m just writing someone a text.

    7. tsumommy*

      I was a technical writer for my first career, and I really, really, really wish I could stop rewriting books (in my head) as I’m reading them. “Well, THAT’S not how I would have written that sentence…” Sheesh.

    8. Satan’s Panties*

      Once saw a sign in the lobby at OldJob that announced someone was selling a “manuel” copier. I stuck a post-it on the sign: “I’ll have to see a photo of Manuel before I decide.” Never heard anything back, though!

    9. Donkey Hotey*

      Many years ago, my girlfriend (also a former copy writer) and I took a holiday based excursion train. They gave us each a page on instructions for how to get to and from the train station. It was atrocious. We spent an hour editing the thing on the train. At the end, we mailed one copy to their office and she kept the other to show her co-workers as show and tell.

    10. GingerJ1*

      Also an editor here!

      Peeves:
      –Cashiers calling out: “I can help who’s next!” (Conversely, I take pains to thank the ones who say, “I can help the next person.”)
      –Random Capitalization, part one, folks who think PowerPoint slides are old-style headlines: “Demonstrate Three Types of Headlocks.”
      –Random Capitalization, part two, folks who think most, but not all, nouns should be upper case: Randall was a great Friend, a loving Husband, and a corporate President for a paper company.

      I saw a neighborhood once that I couldn’t live in, even if you gave me a free mansion there: Hunters Ridge. I’d have had to add apostrophes to the neighborhood signs and street signs. Probably could just borrow some extra ones from the local flea market.

    11. Lizzie (with the deaf cat)*

      I saw a real estate advert which said the property was “in a quite colder sack” …

  12. QuincePreserves*

    I used to work for a medical school. It’s been over five years, but I still tense up every March because of NRMP Match Week/Match Day. I find myself waiting for students to come into my office, even though I don’t work for the school and I actually work from home now!

    1. anomnom*

      I worked in a med school for 10+ years and I feel this! I do actually still check the school’s socials in March for the Match rate and to see where people are headed. It’s an emotionally intense week!

    2. Emma*

      My wife was in med school when we met, and at the time they were learning to suture. For practise they all had to cut grapes open and then suture them back together.

      On our first date, she sat there all evening idly practising suturing motions while we talked. She didn’t realise she was doing it.

  13. The Meat Embezzler*

    One of my first ever jobs was working at a golf course where I’d get tips from time to time that we’d turn in at the golf shop at the end of the day to get split up between all the kids that worked that day. One day I turned in a stack of bills and was chastised by the golf pro working that day for the bills not all being faced the same way for ease of counting. 20+ years and many cash handling/bartending jobs later…any time I deposited a stack of bills at the bank or carry cash on me, you can bet your life that all those bills will be faced the same way!

    1. Insert Clever Name Here*

      That is so normal to me now that I didn’t realize this is also from my coffee shop days! But that’s just because I realized that turning the bills to face the same direction made me slow down when counting my drawer so I didn’t make mistakes.

    2. Agree*

      As they should be. It is a way to minimize loss. You can more easily catch the 20 that got put in the 10 slot. I have notices over the years that cashiers who have the messiest drawers are also the ones who have the shortest time at the job.

      1. Peon*

        Yes! I caught a fake $5 one time. I took over someone else’s drawer (always hated that!) and had to face all the bills and one of those 5s was not like the others.

      2. I forgot my user name again*

        I used to work in a retail store where I worked alone all day. in order to quickly use the bathroom, I would sprint from the sales floor and start unzipping my pants as soon as I got the stockroom. when I started working in an office I used to catch myaelf sprinting to the bathroom from my desk and unzipping my pants in the sink area of a shared bathroom

    3. kbeers0su*

      Oooh same. But mine was from waitressing. The managers would only cash out your tips (i.e. exchange all those $1 bills for larger bills) if they all faced the same way.

    5. Panicked*

      Former Bank Teller here. I 100% still do this. Cash has to be face the same way, from smallest denomination to largest. I will actively rough up new bills to make it easier for the bank tellers to count.

      1. M2RB*

        I was a bank teller/vault teller/branch manager about 20 years ago, and I STILL organize my money face up/same orientation. Whether I stack them smallest to largest or vice versa depends on what I’m doing with it. I usually stack mine largest to smallest – doing this for wallet cash means the small bills will be on the outside when I fold it in half, and doing this for payments means the person taking payment can count from largest bills to smallest.
        I also rough up new bills, and if possible, alternate them with older bills so they don’t stick together.

        1. I Have RBF*

          I also rough up new bills, and if possible, alternate them with older bills so they don’t stick together.

          I do this too. Alternating them works better, but if I have to crumple them I do it one at a time, then smooth them lightly and stack.

      2. Karen*

        I still do that from waitressing and from managing cash receipts and deposits at my first office job (20+ years ago). I get bills every which way from the bank now they use an automatic dispenser. It drives me batty. You can spot a counterfeit bill easier if they’re all the same way.

      3. anomnom*

        I still do this also. The cash handling is from grocery and retail work but when ATMs were new and in their own small (15’x15′ or so) glass buildings/enclosures, my dad (who could not stand it when bills stuck together) would withdraw his cash and hand it over to my brother and me to crumple up and throw at each other until they were sufficiently “used”. Seems so bizarre now but I recall several friends/family who did something similar. The only excuse I have is that ATMs were new, y’all

      5. saminrva*

        My mom was a bank teller at the beginning of her career (like 50ish years ago) and I’ve always loved to watch her count bills! They all go the same way and there’s also a rhythmic motion that reminds me of the literal bill-counting machines they have now.

    6. Love to WFH*

      All the bills in my wallet are heads up, and in numerical order, because I had to do that when emptying the cash register. My husband’s wallet is PURE CHAOS.

      1. AngryOctopus*

        My mom’s too! It makes me insane! Like, how much faster would this transaction be were your money in order? Come on mom!!!!

    7. BrokeInCollege*

      I have worked 20 years in food service and retail and I never understood the need for all bills to face a certain way. In my mind, the bills have the numbers on all 4 corners so they’re easily readable at any angle and taking the time to flip them just seemed like extra unnecessary work to me.

      1. AngryOctopus*

        Much easier to catch issues if your money is in order and going from highest to lowest. Also makes it easier to count down deposits. If you have a $10 tucked into the $20s by accident, you’re actually more likely to catch it if it’s face up with the others because your brain will recognize that the front of the bill isn’t the same as the rest of them. Less likely to recognize numbers in the corner.

    8. Beth*

      Hah, I still do that from a volunteer gig at a community center. It drives me NUTS when I get cash from a bank in this area, and NOT EVEN THE BANKS DO IT.

    9. michael*

      Yes! I do this, too, from working in a grocery store during high school. What’s weird to me is the last few times I’ve withdrawn money from a bank – go inside to a teller – even though there’s a machine that counts out the money before the teller does, the bills aren’t faced. They come out upside down, backwards, or both and it drives me up the wall.

    10. Monster Munch*

      My grad school advisor would lose his s*** if you went in there without a pen, even if you had a laptop to write things down. It has taken me years to be okay with going to meetings without a pen, even though I work in digitalization, don’t bring paper/a physical notebook, and only exceptionally rarely take handwritten notes.

    11. No Llama Drama*

      Former cashier and cub scout treasurer. Will automatically face all bills the same way for bank and retail transactions (really irks me that bank tellers no longer do this when loading the automated machines) and sort by denominations when making deposits. I would always count change backwards when making change as the cub scout treasurer too. “That’s 50 cents out of $5, so 50 cents is $1 and 2, 3, 4, $5.” Really confused people but I was trained by an old school cashier who learned before the registers did everything for you.

    1. The Meat Embezzler*

      Ha same! I worked in mid priced casual wear store (think American Eagle, Express) and to this day, all my tshirts, shorts, etc and folded the way I was trained in the store.

    4. Scott*

      U. S. Navy, spent 30 years active and now retired for almost 12 and I still fold my t-shirts the way I was taught in basic training.

      1. Sacred Ground*

        I was active Navy for just 4 years and it was 30 years ago and I still fold shirts the same way.
        It took months after discharge to stop answering my phone with “Hello, this is not a secure line.”

  15. CTT*

    Probably a normal one for lawyers who bill their time – thinking of everything in six minute increments. I’ve definitely been in hard workout classes where the instructor has said “you only have five minutes left in class,” and thought “that’s just under .1, I can do .1 more of this!”

    1. M2RB*

      And public accountants! I had to bill in six-minute increments at one job and in fifteen-minute increments at another.

      1. Jay (no, the other one)*

        I was a primary care doc for 20 years and I have a 15-minute clock in my head. Now I have 50-minute appointment slots and I have to consciously remind myself to turn off the 15-minute internal alarm.

    2. Throwaway Account*

      I taught 50-minute classes in a high school where the start times varied every day and there were random breaks. So, classes started at say 10:08, then 11:03, then 11: 53, then 12:48, etc.

      So the 50 minutes really got ingrained in me. I now teach info literacy at a university and I teach 50 minutes on the dot unless I really focus!

      1. anonymous for this*

        I was a teacher, taught on the 50 minute class schedule. I think of everything in 25 or 50 minute blocks!

    3. SeluciaMD*

      OMG this is what I actually came here to post! I wasn’t an attorney but I was a paralegal and worked for a couple of major law firms in DC. You get so used to itemizing and quantifying your activities! I don’t do it anymore but at the first job I had in the non-profit sector after leaving law, I realized every day I was jotting down notes about what projects I’d worked on with, yes, a time count in 6 minute increments. I did it off and on for WEEKS. It’s an insidious brain worm! Even though it’s been 15 years since I last worked in law, every once in awhile when I have a really crazy day, I will find myself trying to catalog my “billables” for that day. And then I stop and pour myself a drink LOL.

    4. uisce chick*

      This reminded me of my lawyer daughter spending an evening wedding planning w her fiancé and then wondering where the billing code was for the meeting

    5. I Have RBF*

      I picked up the habit working for an environmental consulting firm for seven years. I still think in 0.1 or 0.05 hours.

  16. Blujay*

    Archaeologist. Worked outside in the south a lot managing crews of various experience levels.

    My dad’s main memory of a recent large family/friend gathering is that I regularly loudly admonished people to drink more water because we weren’t going through water fast enough for the number of people/summer weather conditions.

    I have no memory of doing this.

    1. Dust Bunny*

      One of my siblings is also an archaeologist in the south and they are also big on hydration. And on remedies for poison ivy. And checking for ticks.

      1. Mostly Managing*

        I just had an extended family vacation that included an archaologist.
        Ticks and hydration were definitely bigger topics of conversation than I would have anticipated!

      2. Nynaeve*

        I was also once an archaeologist working in the south and, yes. Also, please don’t try to use a shovel in my presence. I promise, you’re* doing it wrong and it will just be faster if I do it. Yes, even if I’m wearing dress clothes.**

        And, I pace off everything.

        *you at large, not you specifically.
        ** this actually became relevant once at my post-archaeology job when we were planting a rose bush in memory of a coworker who had passed. The person failing to dig the hole made me so twitchy, I just grabbed the shovel and finished the hole in the time it took him to go get a drink of water. We’d still be there if he had had to finish it himself.

        1. Blujay*

          I paced off dimensions/garages when looking at houses to rent/buy. It’s a very good measuring tool to have!

    2. Red Reader the Adulting Fairy*

      My theme park drinking game is that if you pass a restroom and don’t need to use it, take a drink of water. If you don’t have water on you, there is probably a drinking fountain between the restrooms.

      1. Dust Bunny*

        I grew up states away from extended family, so lots of road trips. I NEVER pass up an opportunity to use the bathroom, even if I’m not sure I have to go.

        1. londonedit*

          Allegedly the late Queen Mother used to say ‘never pass up the opportunity for a wee or a cup of tea’, which seems quite sensible to me.

          1. Imtheone*

            Decades ago, my father said the chief chamberlain for the Prince of Wales was the source for the quote, “Never pass up an opportunity.”

        2. Blarg*

          My dad was a trucker, and I’d go off on the road with him when I was a kid during school breaks. I learned real quick that I had to use the bathroom EVERY TIME we stopped, because, well … he was a man. Who had more creative options than I did. Now if I do road trips, I split up gas and eating stops so that I have to get out and move around more frequently — but bathroom every time!

      2. Blujay*

        Mostly it’s like a macro that runs automatically after so many years/so many newbies. It’s so automatic that it doesn’t log as a significant part of the day/conversation.

    5. Dinwar*

      I’m a paleontologist/geologist, currently working in the Southeast but also spent a long time in the Mojave. My kids are typically the best-hydrated at any event we go to. At a Cub Scout camp my kids would see me coming and immediately grab a water bottle and drink from it.

  17. D. B.*

    Since becoming a portrait photographer, I notice every time someone in a TV show has one lock of hair out of place. It makes me want to reach through the screen and adjust it.

  18. The Ginger Ginger*

    I’m a product owner for a tech company and I’ve brought kanban into my personal life. But more importantly, I really have to be careful not to try to problem solve literally everyone who just wants to vent to me. The whole – what is your goal, how can I help you prioritize your options, break things down to the smallest usable deliverable is a very difficult mindset to not take home with you.

    Although now that my parents are getting older it is actually becoming more helpful.

    1. Seawren*

      We kanbanned Christmas dinner one year. Each cupboard door was a 1-hour increment, and every person got their own post-it colour for tasks. Dinner was delicious!

    2. ElizabethJane*

      Waitress for years. I still have to fight the urge to yell out “corner”, “heard!” and “behind” when moving in groups.

    3. Cookies for Breakfast*

      This made me laugh! I’m a product owner, and can’t for the life of me bring any of the structure I stick to at work to personal life. Any of the “treat your career / your personal goals / your habit forming as a product” advice I keep hearing makes sense in the moment, and then just goes out the other ear as soon as it’s time to practice. I would love a person in my life that speaks out loud the problem-solving questions I’m so quick at asking others but not myself :D

    4. Al*

      I’m a scrum master. I do this too. I haven’t asked my kid to do a retro after a disagreement yet. Yet.

    5. Cyborg Llama Horde*

      I’ve started doing weekly checkins with my dad to help him triage his to-do list, and I find myself falling into the same patterns I use for 1:1s with my reports. (Though, thankfully, none of my reports go as many weeks in a row without making progress on most of their things as my dad does.)

    6. Aerin*

      Spouse showed some people at work once how we do our vacation planning (Trello board, various categories of stuff to do have lists and then each day has its own list) and they were all somewhat amazed.

      1. I Have RBF*

        I tried to get my spouse and housemates to use a Trello board to handle home projects. They couldn’t/wouldn’t. Drives me nuts.

        1. Aerin*

          I might have to try Trello for home projects. We’ve tried a couple of other tools and I didn’t really click with them, but Trello I get.

        2. J*

          I can’t get mine to use it but they don’t get as annoyed if I use it and just secretly feed them the next task and deadline. “Oh, I’d love to do Wednesday’s dinner out but I’m actually planning on takeout since the closet needs to be painted by then so I can hang shelves over the weekend. I am planning on going out Friday so I can hit up IKEA to grab the shelves though, wanna join me then?” That can sometimes get me an assist on the painting and/or get them to bring me the takeout mid-week.

    7. AnalystStudentWifeMother*

      I am a Business Analyst (and starting to look into Sys Admin or Project Management Roles) and I do the same thing with going through the Problem Solving process with folks who just want to vent. Hubby has to tell me to stop that often.

      But using Kanban skills in my personal life has been a game changer. I am working full time, taking online classes part time, and hosting/planning my parents’ 50th anniversary party this Fall. So much to organize/manage and Kanban has been so helpful with breaking things into steps and time blocking time to work through those steps has been so helpful. :)

    8. Monster Munch*

      I’m inventorying my whole house. I currently only have a few things in my inventory app, but I’m moving house soon and I have Plans to have everything in the inventory. All of it. Where are the salad tongs? They’re in Drawer A of Cupboard 3 in the kitchen. Idk, I feel like I’ll learn something from it and feel good from it.

    9. ClaireW*

      Hah I’m a software dev and I use a trello board for Christmas gift buying! Status columns for like decided/bought/wrapped/etc and cards for each person I’m getting something for…

    1. Dust Bunny*

      And the former veterinary assistant in me still pays way too much attention to her pets’ poops. Hey, you can learn a lot from poop.

      1. Earlk*

        I’ve never worked at a vets and the consistency of my dogs poo has ruined a couple of mornings for me.

      1. Dust Bunny*

        I was on a FB historical group yesterday and a guy bought a letter from the relevant town from the 19th century . . . and laminated it. I literally felt my blood pressure jump.

      1. Kayem*

        Staples are my nemesis. Too much time spent carefully scraping the rusty remains off an antique document.

        My uncle recently gave me a whole box of grandma’s recipe booklets. I’ve been waiting for the right weekend to de-staple all those suckers.

    4. The Prettiest Curse*

      I used to work with early childhood educators, who laminate stuff to an almost unhealthy extent. (I completely understand the rationale for laminating, but it got ridiculous sometimes.) They would have laminated the office furniture (and the laminator itself) if it was possible!

      Consequently, I never, ever want to laminate anything ever again.

    6. Margaret Cavendish*

      I was at a family reunion last week, and someone brought out a bunch of old photos and letters. People started looking at them WHILE STILL HOLDING THEIR DRINKS, and I almost had a heart attack.

      There was no convenient way to swoop up the entire pile, and no polite way to ask Great Aunt Gertrude to please put her coffee on another table while she looked through the priceless artefacts, so I just hyperventilated in silence.

      1. goddessoftransitory*

        I remember watching some Joss Whedon show back in the day where a character, who was supposed to be an archeologist, carried a supposed Elgin Marble ONE handed, without gloves! I was plotzing left and right and I have absolutely no background in this subject.

        1. Workswitholdstuff*

          marble is relatively inert, and arguably, bare hands give better grip for dexterity, so that’s not entirely inconceivable. One handed is defo a no no though for object handling….

          1. Kayem*

            Oh, story time!

            Not me, this is my mom, who worked as an archivist at NARA before later becoming assistant curator at a small, local museum. They had a collection of Ming Dynasty vases that were donated by some notable local’s estate. This was the pride of their collection. One night after closing, mom was dusting the collections. For some reason, her brain went into blank mode and she picked up one of the Ming vases one-handed. This was her first time dusting at the museum and the vase was a lot heavier than she expected. She dropped the vase, it bounced off the pedestal, and back flipped a few times into another display where it rolled under a mannequin dressed up like FDR.

            Miraculously, it didn’t shatter, but there was a chip on the edge and a hairline crack running down the side. She quietly turned the vase around, finished dusting, and went home to polish her resume, convinced she was going to be fired. The curator was Not Happy, but mom wasn’t fired, though she said the curator never let her dust anything ever again.

            I didn’t know any of this back when I was a sarcastic teen. One day, mom was slowly backing out of a parking space and asked if there was anyone behind her. I said “just an old lady carrying a Ming vase.” She slammed on the brakes and gave me a panicked look. I said “just kidding!” and she angrily said “Never joke about that again!” That’s the day I learned about the Ming vase incident.

    7. Chirpy*

      SAME. No post-it notes in/on books, either!

      I also still check for acid-free folders and boxes…

  20. YouwantmetodoWHAT?! *

    I’ve worked at Renaissance Faires for DECADES and asking people if they are hydrated is part of my soul at this point.

    Are you hydrated? Do you need pickles? Have you eaten?

    Yes, I have extra water and snacks, why do you ask? hahahah!

      2. Ally McBeal*

        Probably the salt content. Kinda like Gatorade – if you only drink water and don’t replenish your electrolytes you’ll be in big trouble.

      3. J!*

        My spouse is a runner and they like pickles when they come home after a long run. It’s basically the same principle as gatorade – hydration and salt if you’ve been sweating a lot.

        1. Dust Bunny*

          A friend of ours who used to run marathons almost died once because the sports drink he was drinking didn’t have enough sodium. Under certain circumstances, you really need your salt.

          1. J!*

            YIKES! Yeah, they run ultramarathons (100 miles in a race) and literally eat salt tablets to keep going.

      5. Chirpy*

        Salt and vinegar = good electrolytes for rehydration. Many cultures had some form of vinegar drink millennia before Gatorade was invented. Posca, switchel, oxymel, sekanjabin, etc.

      2. Juicebox Hero*

        They’re a tasty carb-free and low-cal way of getting electrolytes when you’ve been sweating a lot, and the acidity is refreshing and gets rid of “cotton mouth.” They actually sell pickle juice shots for athletes because it works so well.

        I like coming in after mowing the lawn or other hard work and helping to myself to some nice cold dill pickles out of the fridge.

    5. Resident Catholicville, U.S.A.*

      I would be pleased as punch if people asked if I need pickles. No, I don’t NEED pickles, but I sure as heck want pickles.

  21. Jane*

    I literally cannot stop using corporate jargon in my everyday conversations. I’m constantly asking to “circle back,” or “put a pin” in things, and the other day I asked my grandparents what their “general availability” was over the Christmas holiday.

    3. Elsewise*

      My sister called me while she was driving to work the other day to plan a family outing (which involved group texts with us and another family member), and ended the call by promising to cc me on all correspondences. She will not be living that one down.

    4. Gerry Keay*

      I regularly talk about how we can “reduce cognitive load” when it comes to coordinating household chores.

      1. AnonymousArtTeacher*

        Hey, I have ADHD and reducing cognitive load while dealing with household chores (or everything, really) is hashtag life goals for me.

  22. els*

    I am a cataloger in a public library. I have divided my books at home into fiction and nonfiction; fiction gets shelved alphabetically by author’s last name, and nonfiction by Dewey Decimal number. (If I don’t know the number off the top of my head, it’s usually on the back of the title page.) Paperbacks also get their own shelf.

    1. Janice*

      Oooh, I would LOVE to sort my nonfiction ebooks by their Dewey Decimal number but I have a hard time finding it when it isn’t a physical book! Do you know if there’s some website I can search on?

      3. Bunny Watson*

        I use classify dot oclc dot org. It gives you the most common Dewey or LC classifications that libraries use, and you can search by title and author.

        1. LibrarianJ*

          The way I wanted to SCREAM reading this comment, after having classified my entire home library in LC by looking up titles on WorldCat / hunting for individual holdings that used LC.

          I had no idea this tool existed (public services librarian, not a cataloger, though in another life I would have loved to be). But I’m excited to know about it now!

      4. Throwaway Account*

        books printed after 1981 have their library of congress number printed in them. You might use that?

      5. Janice*

        Thanks, everyone! :D I hadn’t heard of a library of congress number system before (non-american) but I will check it out as well!

    2. Apple Townes*

      Former bookseller here — I don’t know the Dewey Decimal system, but I shelve fiction alphabetically by author’s last name and nonfiction by genre. I also have a dedicated shelf for galleys/ARCs!

    3. YouwantmetodoWHAT?! *

      When I got my first Kindle, ages ago, I set up genres – fiction, Sci Fi, Classics, YA etc.

      I’ve worked in book stores and was a volunteer at libraries.

      1. allathian*

        Yeah, when I lived alone I sorted books by genre, author, and for series publication order (or sometimes chronological order if I read the prequels first). I didn’t have very many non-fiction books, but those I tended to sort alphabetically by author, regardless of genre.

        Now with my husband we have so many books that I’ve abandoned all attempts at imposing order on our library, he’s always sorted books by height so that he can maximize the number of books that fit on our shelves…

        When I was in college I worked in a bookstore.

      1. Imtheone*

        I do it too, just as a book lover and someone who spent junior high and high school hanging out in the school library!

    6. cleo*

      My brother and his wife met when they both worked at a book store in a college town. Almost three decades later, they still have the most well organized bookshelves.

    7. bookwisp*

      Librarian here as well. I’m not quite as organized as you but all related NF gets put together and all fiction gets shelved by genre with author’s books put together. PB has it’s own shelf too.

      1. goddessoftransitory*

        It’s not Dewey but my books are partitioned: history and science here, fiction there, the shelves of horror and sci fi, all my Japanese novels grouped together, Mary Stewart mid-fifties romantic thrillers over here…

        1. Firefighter (Metaphorical)*

          In fiction, we have sections for litfic, crime, children’s, fantasy/sf, and women’s domestic fiction (there are a few men in there, it’s about the genre not the gender) which is where our Mary Stewarts would be!

    8. TurtlesAllTheWayDown*

      I spent high school and college working in libraries, both public and academic (plus a stint in a college bookstore), and volunteering at my public library during a year of unemployment. My books are shelved that way too (fiction alphabetical, non fic separate Dewey Decimal), and everywhere I go, I have to fix the books, to my husband’s chagrin. His bookshelf has to be separate from mine because his is all willy nilly and I cant handle it!

    9. ArchivesPony*

      LOL I work in higher ed archives and so non-fiction get shelved by Library of Congress number :D (Fiction is by author last name)

      1. rgkj*

        former university library employee, LC all the way! my friends both think I’m insane for having my books in LC order, and also ask for advice on how to do something similar hahah.

    10. Jaunty Banana Hat I*

      Oh god, I work in academic libraries as a cataloger, and my thing is that I cannot stand Dewey for nonfiction. LC all the way. Fiction the way public libraries do it is the ideal way though, and I wish my library did it that way.

      I have to stop myself from physically cringing whenever someone finds out I catalog and they start talking about Dewey, because I *hate* it.

        1. Dek*

          For real. Like, the kind of racist where even people from his time were like, “Y’know what, hold up…”

    11. wounded, erratic stink bugs*

      … Are there people who don’t divide books at home by fiction and nonfiction and shelve fiction alphabetically by author’s last name??? I guess if you don’t own a lot of physical books, but…? What happens if you need to, I don’t know, find a book you own??

      (Much of my incredulity here is put on, because I know that different people are different and that’s going to be true for all aspects of life, but it honestly never occurred to me that not everyone considers this level of book sorting to be the minimum.)

      1. Resident Catholicville, U.S.A.*

        I shelve all books- fiction and non-fiction- together and alphabetical by author’s last names. When I see books willy nilly or by something arbitrary like color or spine length or something, I’m always agog- how do you FIND things that way?

        1. AngryOctopus*

          Mine are loosely arranged by genre/topic (mysteries, magical realism, romance, food). But I also try to not to have an insurmountable number of books (I don’t have a large house, or else I’d own a lot more books, TBH) and it lets me browse my own books sometimes.

          1. Kimmy Schmidt*

            I’m a librarian and this is also my home organization strategy!
            I am decidedly not a cataloguer.

          2. workswitholdstuff*

            Sorting is first fiction V non fiction.

            Then it’s by genre (fiction), subject area (non fiction), with authors roughly alphabetically within those categories.

            So, main bedroom bookcase is historical fiction (top shelves), fictional takes on mythological middle shelves, sci-fi bottom shelves.
            Spare bedroom has a Pre-Raphealite and Stained Glass top shelf, then it’s classic children’s fiction (Anne of Green Gables, Narnia, Joan Aiken etc).

            Study (small boxroom/bedroom) bookshelf. Mostly Folklore, magic, fairy reference books, a goodly section of fashion history reference books, and most of my Peter Brears food history stuff.

            Understair bookcase – general historical reference, my crossstich patterns, overflow recipe books.

            Dining room – recipe books

            Living Room – classics, mythological or special meaning books (so my old copy of Jane Eyre I bought myself in a jumble say, the Neverending Story a pal bought me for my 21st, the Shakespeare/poetry books my parents used to buy me for presents)

            General histories are cronologically though, even if different authors – as I’m more likely to be looking for a particular period for refence.

        2. kendall^2*

          As a kid, I always knew where each book was, even though they weren’t in alpha order or anything. I guess I just kept track of something that important?

          I still don’t organize my books much, other than children’s, Judaica, and everything else. (I’m down to about 1300 books now, after a big purge; it used to be around 1800.)

          Fun fact: as a child, I went through a phase where I organized books by colophon! It was so nice seeing all those penguins or sowers or whatever in a row :-)

        3. Dek*

          I usually like rainbow whatevers, but rainbow bookshelves just make me clench up. IT’S SO MESSY! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!?

      2. Snow Globe*

        I was recently looking through a home decor website and saw a photo of a bookcase with books arranged *by color*. I was horrified.

          1. Insert Clever Name Here*

            Nope, I am a prolific reader and my books are organized by color. It’s the way my brain processes information. Within each color is where author last name or LC come into play ;)

            1. Blarg*

              Yes! I also organize by color. Not just books. For instance, the apps on my phone are grouped by color. It’s the way I think about things. I don’t know how to explain it, but if I want to find something, the color is the the standout item. I don’t need to think of the title of a book. (When apps change their logo/color, it annoys me cause I have to a) remember a new thing and b) move it to a different folder).

          2. Shynosaur*

            (: I always say the clearest sign of a non-reader is someone who thinks organizing by color would prevent a reader from knowing where their books are

            My home library is organized by Library of Congress classification, but I know where books are because I know where they are, not because I have every LC number memorized. My mom has no organization principle to her books whatsoever and knows where the books are. Readers know. Readers always know.

      3. Hlao-roo*

        I have variously organized my books by size, color (of the spine), and topic. Right now my books are organized by some combination of the three (all books on a shelf that matches their size, then some of those shelves further organized by spine color or topic). I have probably a middling number of books, so it doesn’t take me too long to scan through both my bookshelves when I’m looking for a particular book and it’s pleasant to have a reason to look at all of my books, not just the one I want at that moment. I also have a pretty good spatial memory, so I look for books based on knowing where they usually are on my bookshelves.

      4. Sharks are Cool*

        There are!!! I organize books by sentimental value and then by size. I need the favorite, best books to be in the most visible, eye-level shelves. I like seeing same-size books together, and I am one of those people who get PISSED when books in the same series are not the same size. (I guess I do keep fiction/non-fiction separated but mostly because I don’t have a lot of non-fiction). I recently built a whole new shelf because I’ve been buying a lot of 8″ and 9″ hardcover books, and every bookshelf available commercially is too tall and too deep. 10″ high and 6″ deep shelves display my growing collection perfectly, and my new jam is displaying several books cover-out on the shelf. It makes me feel like I live in a bookstore and it’s beautiful. My non-alphabetized book display situation sparks a ridiculous amount of joy for me. :)

      5. The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon*

        I have about 600 books so not the biggest library, but I have done by color, by last name, and no organization, and it takes me about the same amount of time to locate a book. I just … know where my books are? To be fair, I tend to stare at my bookshelves when I’m thinking, so that might be a factor.

      6. goddessoftransitory*

        This is exactly how I do things! Within are little clusters, like books on writing, or Bill Bryson, or what have you…

          1. Firefighter (Metaphorical)*

            This is the best cataloguing system ever! Authors who would like each other! Books as trans-historical symposium!

      7. LAM*

        I have mine mostly by non-fiction and fiction, yet there is some intermixing with my European literature. Like Kafka, Kundera, Vaclav Havel, and Karen Capek are next to my nonfiction books on Prague. But some of those non-fiction discuss how events affect writing styles or how fiction influences how people see themselves.

        I’m team alphabetical when there is no original order, or it’s crap, but I tend to organize my fiction by author’s style/time period/geographic location and then chronological therein rather than alphabetically by title. Unless it’s Agatha Christie, hers is by detective and then alphabetical.

      8. shelves*

        Most of mine are alphabetical by author, regardless of fiction or nonfiction, but I have one bookcase that has a few categories of special interest (travel memoir, poetry, fairy tales, a couple others) and then another bookcase of “things I really should get around to reading” which is just willy-nilly.

        I’ve moved something like 8 times in the last 15 years and unpacking my books is usually one of the first steps when I settle in.

      9. Rachel*

        I store my books in 4 or 5 distinct places throughout the house and loosely organize them by topic (but I’m not super strict about it). Sometimes I “lose” specific books for a while but I can always find them once I really start looking for them.

        However, I thrive in chaos and would probably do much less reading if I had all of my books organized “correctly” because I would get so stressed out about organizing my books “correctly” that I would never actually end up displaying them.

        (Sometimes I do organize specific bookshelves by color or size gradient because I do want my house to be pretty and the thought that seeing it might cause somebody to clutch their pearls is honestly delightful to me :) ).

    12. Famous Amos*

      I was a library page in high school. I definitely shelve my books fiction/non-fiction! They’re also flush with the edge of the shelf.

    13. Shynosaur*

      I would have thought you were me if not for the DDC! I’m a Library of Congress girl. I’m a cataloger by trade but cataloging is still my definition of fun and my entire home library is organized by LC…and I keep a shelf list. I just added an Oversize shelf this year and it’s made life so much better! lol I tell my friends I honestly think I *am* a library

    14. RetiredAcademicLibrarian*

      I was an academic librarian, but I organize my fiction more like a public library, with fantasy, science fiction, mysteries, romance, and fiction. Nonfiction is by LC.

    15. Penny Parker*

      I did that to my own book collection (which was enormous) when I was a teenager. When I spent about twenty years as a rare book seller the habit came in very handy.

    16. Bumblebeetuna*

      I am the worst librarian. My books are thrown higgledy-piggledy all over my shelves! I work in an academic library though, and not with books, so maybe I can be forgiven?? I bow down to you!

      1. Galloping Gargoyles*

        I am right there with you. I keep meaning to get them organized. Maybe this winter…. :-)

  23. Former Themed Employee*

    I worked as an attractions supervisor in a major theme park. To this day, when I see queue ropes/barriers that aren’t straight, I’ll straighten the posts. And if they’re using actual rope (rather than “tensa-barriers”) and it’s too loose, I’ll try to tighten the ropes.

    Also worked at a place that was themed to the Polynesian Islands. It took months before I stopped answering the phone with “Aloha!”

    2. Aerin*

      Same thing for me with untidy queues. I spent a lot of time on parades/events so I am very sensitive to crowd flow, chokepoints, and obstructions. So if you’re fiddling with something on a busy sidewalk, I will not hesitate to tell you to move to the side or do that later.

      Also it’s been 15 years since the Mouse and I still two-finger point.

      1. Melewen*

        Former Blizzard Beach Ride Op here — It’s been over 25 years for me, and I also still do the two-finger or whole hand point. It’s also where I first learned to use “that’s a great question” as a starting point for answering a question I have no idea about.

        And when I randomly hear a song from the park’s soundtrack, I still anticipate the next track. The music it was basically a mix of Christmas music and the Cool Runnings soundtrack with a few other Reggae songs thrown in.

        1. Aerin*

          OMG yes on the soundtrack. That also made visiting WDW as a DL CM really disorienting for me when I would encounter a familiar music loop. Kind of an uncanny valley feeling.

    1. Not Tom, Just Petty*

      I was going to add this about a friend. He always beeps twice before backing up from his UPS training.

    2. RaginMiner*

      HAHA I do this. Sometimes I even reach for my preshift equipment inspection card. and I have a hard time breaking the habit of reverse parking everywhere since it was a safety rule at previous job

  25. pally*

    Writing the date. On anything. And being very specific about dates for everything.

    We have a very specific format we must follow for our documentation. It is day-month-year format. Always two digits for the day, three letters for the month, and four digits for the year.

    Example: letting my Mom know when I will pick her up. “Mom, I’ll see you Saturday (02-Sep-2023) at 11 am for our trip to the store.”

    1. No Tribble At All*

      My husband teases me for using the ISO standard (2023-08-31) on normal people forms.

      I would appreciate that amount of clarity in texts!

    2. JustMyImagination*

      That’s how I date, too! I used to switch between work date format and standard US date format outside of work but when I had to really think about how to write 02Sep2023 as 9/2/2023, I just gave up. Now everything is DDMMMYYYY.

      1. General von Klinkerhoffen*

        Part of my job is to get people in Europe to sign forms which will be filed in the USA and I just ask them to put the month in words so there’s no possibility of confusion. 5 Jan 2023, May 12th 2023, etc etc.

        So you bet I write the month out when I’m filling in a form (eg today at a British bank physically located in the UK).

        1. Lab Boss*

          I manage two departments, one in the US and one in the UK, that do the same work and often collaborate on a single project or even as single report. I finally had to demand the month be spelled out also.

    3. A Girl Named Fred*

      I do similarly! Worked at a blood center for a while that had to follow certain government regulations for writing (only black ink, MM/DD/YYYY for dates, only one line to cross out, etc.) and I still do most of them today. I’ll at least use different colors of ink now but it feels a little weird if it’s on a work document lol

      1. pally*

        Yes! Error correction! I do similarly to you: cross-off, initial and date, then write the correct word next to it. And I do this for everything written!

        1. A Girl Named Fred*

          Exactly! I’ve mostly managed to stop myself from adding my initials and date, but it’s almost always the single line and then the right word! I used to be a “scribble until it’s a full box” person, so that was definitely an adjustment lol

        2. AngryOctopus*

          When we had paper lab notebooks, you have to strikethrough and initial, then write the proper thing. I’ve unthinkingly initialed many a cross-out on regular notebooks before enotebooks took over!

    4. Agree*

      I do this on all my checks. Today is 31 Aug 23. Started in college when I was dating a guy in the Corps of Cadets.

      1. Filthy Vulgar Mercenary*

        Same here!!! Plus using 24 hour time/military speak with civilian people. Thankfully my family of origin is from a country where “20 o’clock” is normal to say, and half my family and friends are also military, so it works fine.

        1. AnonORama*

          I use 24-hour time; started on an international trip where a lot of the timing for events was posted that way, and never stopped. I feel so much more accomplished leaving work at 18:00 than 6pm!

    5. Dust Bunny*

      Archives: Same. Dates and names on everything, except I do 2023 08 31 so things sort chronologically.

    6. Silver Robin*

      I always do Jan 1, 2023. Not sure where I picked that up but it reduces confusion! I support your clear dating habits!

    7. Magnus Archivist*

      ooh, this is a good one. As an archivist, undated items are incredibly frustrating (can’t assign dates to things based on vibes). I date everything these days, and usually in ISO!

    8. Dragonfly7*

      I love this! As someone who perpetually can’t tell the difference between this Monday and next Monday, I like dates.

    9. Anon in Aotearoa*

      Oh, I love your workplace already. I got into the habit of using three letters for the month (eg 19 MAR 2023) when I spent a year working in the USA, far from my native Aotearoa New Zealand, and was endlessly confused by written dates. Is 01 02 23 the first of February, as I’d interpret it, or actually the second of January?

  26. Sir Nose d'Voidoffunk*

    This isn’t a habit, but my old EMT roommate used to practice IVs on me while he was getting up to speed. This was usually after a night of drinking, so I benefited from it as well. He said I had great veins for it.

      1. Sir Nose d'Voidoffunk*

        Just saline, I believe.

        This guy had the nickname “Deuce” for always needing two tries to hit a vein, so I hope I was helpful.

    2. A Girl Named Fred*

      The last time I had to get blood drawn for some tests, I turned my arm up for the nurse to poke and her response was a delighted, “Oh boy!” because my right arm vein is huge and bright blue in my elbow crease lol

        1. AnonORama*

          I used to be very helpful to the trainees when I donated blood; I have large veins and donate blood every two months, so I’m used to the process. But the last time I had a trainee, she tried SIX times to get the needle into my vein, blood flew up in the air and ruined what I was wearing, AND I had a bruise all the way up and down my arm like a purple evening glove for weeks. Now I ask for an experienced person. Maybe unkind, but hey, I felt proud that I didn’t stop donating at all after that!

          1. Zweisatz*

            Wow. Uh, I’d say consider your services to the nurses of the future rendered. Now somebody else can step up.

      2. goddessoftransitory*

        Mine is too, but it’s actually too tough to hit now due to years of random blood draws–I tell them to use my nice bulgy hand veins instead–smooth as silk.

      3. Bronze Betty*

        I am so jealous. My veins roll. I initially get, “Oh, your veins are fine.” Then, as my veins roll out of the way (I swear they see a needle coming and react instinctively), I get an “Oh, I see.”

        1. Kayem*

          Same here. I tell them every time and every time they don’t believe me until it’s happening. The only phlebotomist who ever got it in one try was 80 and had been doing it since she graduated high school. She was practically a sorceress and I miss having her do my blood draws.

        2. allathian*

          My veins roll too. When I had to get a blood test, the nurse was very inexperienced. She tried for 20 minutes before calling in her supervisor who found the vein on the first try. I felt like a needle cushion afterwards. It was before I was due to give birth and they trained midwives and nurses at that hospital.

  27. Insert Clever Name Here*

    My last day working at the coffee shop was almost 15 years ago (I worked there for 2 years), but I still follow several of the health department habits I picked up there like if a rag falls on the floor, it does not go back to the counter/table. I was a somewhat sloppy person before that job but it turned me into a fairly tidy one!

    1. Pottery Yarn*

      I have a way that I open straw wrappers without touching the actual straw, which I used when I worked at a restaurant to distinguish the Diet Coke from the regular Coke or whatever, and I still open straws this way 12+ years later.

      1. Teaching teacher*

        I do the same, just for myself! Like it’s super important that I don’t touch my own straw or something.

    2. Dust Bunny*

      Used to work for a veterinarian and, hoo boy, can I wash my hands. Halfway up the forearm, all the way around, in between all the fingers.

      1. NurseNo*

        That is such a good habit! During the pandemic I would look at how people disinfected their hands at the store etc, and I could always tell if they had any health care training or not.

    3. Nikki*

      I still obsessively announce when I’m carrying a hot beverage, particularly when passing behind someone. I do it in the office and at home.

      1. Miette*

        Also: HOT BEHIND, followed inevitably by “why thank you :)”

        I worked in a bakery once and we would always do that. But this does come in handy in restaurants–I’ll say it when I walk behind a server.

      2. tsumommy*

        Ha ha, we’ve never worked in a restaurant kitchen, but my husband and I yell KNIFE when we walk through the kitchen with a knife.

      3. starsaphire*

        1000%, along with “OVEN” and “DOOR” and “Knife in the water!”

        Food service jobs stick with you. (Like when you start crying at work, and your first instinct is to head for the walk-in… but you’re in an office…)

        1. Tad Cooper*

          Dang, OK… until just now I thought my husband always said “Knife behind” when we cook at home because it was smart. He worked in food service years ago; that must be where he picked it up.

    3. ZSD*

      A high school friend worked at Denny’s, where they had to yell, “Door!” any time they went through the swinging doors to the kitchen in either direction. One of our teachers had her as a server and thought she was repeatedly calling him a dork.

    4. Ally McBeal*

      Yep – I feel like I sometimes get weird looks from the servers when I’m doing this in a restaurant (haven’t waited tables since 2007) and also from people “out in the wild” who’ve never worked in restaurants, but I’m kinda compulsive about it.

    6. YouwantmetodoWHAT?! *

      I do this EVERWHERE! That habit isn’t going away – it’s been decades since I worked in a restaurant!

      1. goddessoftransitory*

        Do you have a cat that wants to see what’s in the fridge or oven all the time? I swear my Peanut thinks they’re entrances to Cat Narnia or something.

    7. Also Mimi*

      I came here to say this, I have been away from restaurant work for 25 years and still say behind if I’m passing someone with their back to me or if I’m in a kitchen.

    8. ferrina*

      This is so useful! I only did food service briefly, but the habit re-emerged when my kids got old enough to goof around in the kitchen. “SHARP, COMING THROUGH!” “HOT! COMING THROUGH!” The kids immediately move- it’s saved us from an untold number of disasters.

    10. Jay (no, the other one)*

      Hubs is a glassblower these days and he now also yells “behind” pretty much any time, not just in the kitchen.

    11. Name (Required)*

      I’ve been yelling “behind” in the tight quarters in the pottery studio when I started taking classes again. It works great!

    12. Corrigan*

      haha I never worked in a kitchen but I always yell “BEHIND YOU WITH A KNIFE” if I’m putting one away and my husband is jn the kitchen

    13. Ned Schneebly*

      I also do this. And I do it at restaurants when I happen to walk behind a server or busser. Despite the fact that I have not worked in food service in 28 years.

    14. Yikes Stripes*

      I was literally coming here to say that after seven years waiting tables I still instinctively say “HOT BEHIND”, “BEHIND”, “CORNER”, and “DOOR” as the situation demands. I also FIFO the hell out of my kitchen and bathroom.

      1. Yikes Stripes*

        Oh, and at literally any social event where individual place settings are called for (ie a recent bbq at a family reunion) I’m the one wrapping silverware in napkins – it’s been literally 15 years since I worked food service, and I can still do it with my eyes closed.

  29. The Prettiest Curse*

    I can’t turn off my events brain when I’m at an event. I’m always looking at their branding, sponsor recognition, queue management, name badges, lighting … you name it, I’m looking at it and either thinking “hmm, I tried that and it didn’t work” or “that might be something we could try at our events.” And sometimes it’s really useful go to an event that’s not so well-run so that you can see the mistakes they made from the outside.

    1. IrishCatLover*

      I do this as well. Worked in events, mostly large-scale black tie events and awards shows, and some of my habits have been seared onto my brain!

      I don’t work in the industry anymore, but attend a black-tie dinner and award show once a year and still feel the need to comment and analyse the event set-up – cloakroom, table-setup, menu, stage-up, AV, etc.! It drives my partner up the wall!

    2. Kate Lathrop*

      OH hello twin! I run our membership and board meetings for work, and I am always looking out for any tips I can pick up at other meetings I attend. There are times my husband just rolls his eyes when I make a mental note of things that aren’t done so well at other meetings.

      Its interesting to go to meetings in other industries to see how things are done there – sometimes it gets me thinking outside the box on how to apply a thing to our meetings.

      It also has me appreciating all of the hard work that goes into planning events and meetings.

    3. Caramel & Cheddar*

      For me, it’s tables without table cloths or other types of coverings on them at events. Every time I see a naked table, I start to cringe!

    4. workswitholdstuff*

      Heritage, but I do some events.

      I have a pal who does work in semi-related field for nature conservation.

      Both of us make/use/create interpretation in our jobs.

      Our mutal friends laugh at us when we visit any venues that hit either heritage/nature interpretation and we’re half enjoying the visit for the visit, and half having a mutal conversation about the good interpretation ideas we’re going to use…

      (I mean, there’s a reason #DullMuseumSnaps is a hashtag on various SM apps….)

      We both visited a fantastic light show @ Belton last Christmas and half the time we were ‘oooh, pretty!’ and the other half figuring out how particular affects had been achieved…)

    5. J. Jonah Jameson*

      Totally the same – I go to a large event for fun and I’m comparing everything to the large event I do at work. To the point I did a presentation on it this year for my work team.

      1. The Prettiest Curse*

        I’ve never got to the point of doing a whole presentation on ideas from other events, but I will take photos of stuff at other events and send them to the rest of my team.

    6. Bridget*

      Yes! I’ve mainly worked on the venue side (hotel catering sales) and I always judge setups—one of my big pet peeves is attempting to sit 10 people at a 60” round (so tight!!) and I have a deep hatred of chiavari chairs. I love seeing what people do with their linen and centerpiece selections and I fully judge people based on their hors d’oeuvres. My husband now knows not to touch his place settings at weddings so I can get a photo if I want one. He can also point out chiavari chairs now, haha.

  30. Ole Pammy's Getting What She Wants*

    I work in a creative firm with all millenial/older gen z women…. definitely abbreviating everything. Samples are samps, precious is presh, etc. i know this is bigger than our firm but it’s definitely where i picked it up, haha.

    I worked in restaurants for ten years before changing careers and still say “corner”, “behind” etc out of habit. I catch myself tapping my partner on the back when i move behind him the same way we would tap each other behind the bar, lol. he is a cook so he isnt phased.

    1. lilsheba*

      OMG I can’t stand that trend now of making up abbreviations for everything it drives me NUTS. Just say the whole word like a normal person.

      2. Ask Jeeves*

        I was reading some PG Wodehouse the other day and this has been annoying people for at least 70 years!

  31. LovelyTresses*

    I still accidentally greet people who walk into stores while I’m shopping. I haven’t worked in retail in almost 20 years.

    2. Ole Pammy's Getting What She Wants*

      i havent worked retail in maybe 9 years and have been out of restaurants for about five and STILL gets asked sometimes if i work in whatever store I’m currently in

      1. goddessoftransitory*

        I’ve been asked that ever since I was about twelve–apparently I have some kind of aura.

    3. Resident Catholicville, U.S.A.*

      I haven’t worked in retail in 15 years but, I can be pushing a cart with clearly my own shopping in it; in my coat; and have a purse on my shoulder and people still ask me where things are. This was delightful when someone asked if I knew where the Turducken was and it just so happened I did, in fact, know where the Turducken was.

    4. Tegan Keenan*

      Same. Also, my first retail job was at a swanky store known for its customer service. We were not allowed to point to where a customer could find what they were looking for–we had to walk them to it (two-story, large building) and continue to assist them with the sale. It’s a habit that has served me well throughout my life, though. Especially at a job for a municipality where we had two buildings connected by a skywalk. People often came into my office looking for a department across the skywalk (and kind of hard to find). Unless there was something I could not walk away from, I always walked people to their destination.

  32. Ewesername*

    I used to work in a fabric store where we cut and folded fat quarters a lot. (it’s a quilting thing. cut 1/2 yd long, 1/2 the reg width) Anyway, we folded them a particular way. And we’d spend hours doing that during show season.
    30 yrs later, I still instinctively fold my towels in the classic fat quarter fold – long edges to the middle, fold in half so you have a long skinny piece. bring the short edges together, fold in thirds so the edges are contained in the middle. My partner thinks I’m nuts.

    2. Anonymask*

      Is this why my mom folds all her towels this way? Because her mom was a quilter/sewer? And is that why I fold all mine that way, because she taught me? Mind. Blown.

  33. She of Many Hats*

    Face outs. I worked for a major bookstore chain for 5-7 years and we would “face out” multiple copies of certain titles so the shopper could see the cover art instead of just the spine. It took nigh on twenty years to overcome the urge to face out books that had 4-5 copies of a title. Actually, occasionally, I still can’t resist the compulsion….

    I also enunciate my phone number to CSRs because I hated asking 2-3 times for someone to repeat the phone number they just rattled off in a half second.

  34. Dr. Rebecca*

    I admire people’s skulls. Not their face, or their bone structure, no, I spend considerable time musing on what their skull looks like.

    1. Dr. Rebecca*

      I have forensic training–thought I should add that. I’m not being morbid, I just really like bones.

      1. allathian*

        An ex-grandboss had a beautiful skull, which is fortunate for him because he went bald in his mid-30s and shaved the rest of his hair off. My husband also shaves his head and while I prefer the shaved look to the male pattern bald look, his skull is all bumps.

        I realized I’d been watching a few history documentaries too many on NatGeo when I started wondering what random people’s skulls looked like under all the soft tissues…

      1. Dr. Rebecca*

        I think all skulls are gorgeous, but I have particular fun cataloging skeletal anomalies, like, “oh, wonder who broke his nose for him?” or “that’s a *textbook* button osteoma!”

  35. EmcW*

    I used to work at a non-profit that had a real start up culture. We did hybrid Zoom meetings pre-covid, and as a result had developed some hand gestures to use in them.

    If you agreed with someone, you were meant to “wiggle” your hands (think one-handed jazz hands). However, this got so ingrained into the culture, that you’d find yourself doing wiggle hands in face to face conversations while enthusiastically nodding. If someone was speaking in a meeting, they’d say “can I get wiggles for that?” (what a horrible phrase). It got to the point that I’d wiggle at my friends in non-work settings.

    To this day, and several jobs since, I still fight the urge in meetings to wiggle my hands in agreement.

      1. Susan Calvin*

        YES! I only took one semester of sign, 10+ years ago – I barely remember how to finger-spell, but jazz hands as quiet applause has just hardwired itself into my brain. I do that SO MUCH.

        1. sb51*

          And it had a vogue at my church/church youth group for applauding performers when people weren’t sure if applause was really appropriate in a worship service – since it’s silent, it didn’t disrupt solemnly moving on to the next reading or whatever, but also recognized a special performance. Pretty sure it came directly from the ASL sign.

          1. Red Reader the Adulting Fairy*

            Yep, I picked it up at a youth group where they were regularly introducing large groups of people at statewide meetings, and the girls used jazz hands to “applaud” each individual without making it take forever.

            1. wordswords*

              Yep! It’s become a thing in at least some folk dance circles too; I noticed ASL applause starting to spread as a habit some years back. It’s a great way to applaud for each person in a long list of names without slowing things down. Often people do clap at the end of the whole thing.

        2. AnotherOne*

          we did that at a summer camp i went to. there was a reason explained- i wanna saw- was something to do with some people not being able to handle the applause which went totally over my head, at the time.

          in retrospect, there must have been some campers who were neurodiverse and i was just totally oblivious to it.

          but yeah, i’ll still randomly applaud like that 30 years later.

        3. Dragonfly7*

          I still do this when I’m applauding as well! I also took my semester of ASL and my first semester of Spanish at the same time and still have an odd habit of signing white at the same time I say blanco. I never have figured out why I do that.

        1. The New Wanderer*

          Our elem school teaches this to the kids too, to keep noise levels down during assemblies. It makes sense when you otherwise have to choose between “hold applause til the end” or allowing the clapping that happens anyway. I wish it would catch on in more places!

    3. Tinkerbell*

      I worked at a summer camp and we used the same signal. We called it Twinkle Fingers. And if you couldn’t be seen, you could always say “twinkle that!”

  36. Kate*

    I guard against this vigilantly, but the professor version of this is absolutely monologuing without a break in social situations, because you’re so habituated to lecturing for an hour!

    1. ThatGirl*

      Hahaha we have a friend who’s a professor and he definitely can start slipping into lecture mode without realizing it, on nearly any subject :)

    2. Caz*

      My dad has done this all my life. He’s retired now, and stopped actually teaching around 15 years ago, but he still does it. I once took him to a show for his birthday and wanted to pick something up from the merch atand for him – I told my boyfriend (since upgraded to husband) “distract my dad – ask him a question!” With the queues etc I took 15 minutes to come back to them. Dad didn’t notice I was gone.

    3. Perihelion*

      I realized I have a different tone when I start doing this (I try not to! Unless someone asks me specifically). Really, though, my wife asks me to tell her about something I was teaching and I can hear myself go into lecture voice.

    4. Umami*

      Omg, that is my husband! Just last night at dinner some friends joked that they had never heard me say so many words at once because he had gone to the restroom and wasn’t there to interrupt and monologue lol. I sometimes have to quietly remind him to let someone else talk.

    6. Lurkers R Us*

      My dad was a professor for 25 years. He slipped into lecture mode at the drop of a hat, especially if my brother or I got into trouble.

    7. OtterB*

      My father was a lawyer and sometimes at the dinner table you could hear the difference when he moved into explanation mode. We called it the courtroom voice.

      1. Anon in Aotearoa*

        Oh, my husband is a lawyer and he does this. We’ve been married long enough that I know how to get him to slip into “lawyer mode” just for entertainment value.

    9. Newly minted higher ed*

      me too! and I’m always checking the 10% number of pages for any nonfiction book in my possession! I just got a biography for my birthday and the first thing I did was calculate 10% of total pages for fair use purposes. I’m the only one who will ever see this particular book lol.

    11. Dr Life-of-the-party*

      I’m a lecturer (think my job would be called professor in US terminology?) but have never gone for the monologuing for an hour pedagogic style. I like 2-way communication when teaching. Which means that in social conversation I tend to respond to casual queries or offhand comments with a 5-10 minute careful explanation, apologise for not being able to provide citations off the top of my head, then ask for feedback on whether that was sufficiently clear and detailed, and if anyone has further questions. Sometimes I also offer to send them papers so they can do further reading on the topic, and tell them they can email me if they think of something later they want to ask. SMH

  37. Potato*

    I worked at a Trader Joe’s for a couple years, about 8 years ago. The urge to straighten up items when shopping at grocery stores is still STRONG—if I’m shopping in an aisle that has clearly been recently faced, I’ll pull the item I want from the back so as not to mess up the organization. Plus, I still get the urge to go see who needs help whenever I hear two bells rung in quick succession.

    1. saminrva*

      My spouse worked at a Whole Foods years ago and still does the thing where he pulls the items to the front of the shelf after taking one :)

      1. Wired Wolf*

        I always do that. Sometimes I’ll take the item from the back of the row to not disturb the facings at all. I actually had an employee at a small local store thank me for doing that “you don’t know how many times a day I have to re-face things because people don’t realize that just maybe we don’t enjoy cleaning up after them”

  38. MondayMonday*

    I work in buildings that usually have mirrors on the ceiling corners so you can see if someone is coming, so you don’t run into them when turning a corner.
    Every time I am out somewhere that has a hallway, I am always looking up for the mirrors :)

    1. Morning Coffee*

      I was working in a building that had automatic light switches. I started to walk in to all rooms everywhere without turning lights on. I was often middle of the room before realising that this is a private home, lights won’t turn on by themselves.

  39. Ann Onymous*

    I work in a building where we have scan badges to get in or out of the building and also to move between some areas within the building. A few times I’ve walked out to my car at the end of a long day, held my badge up to the car door, and stood there waiting for it to unlock. I also sometimes catch myself reaching for my badge when I approach the doors of buildings that aren’t my workplace.

    2. Mim*

      Haha, yes, last year we installed a keypad lock on our front door because my daughter was starting middle school, and would be getting home before me a couple days a week. (Parents – this was such a great choice! Never have to worry about my kid losing a key, and it’s incredibly convenient for the adults, too. Imagine going on a walk and not having to bring your keys with you!)

      I have definitely tried to swipe my way into my own home. I’ve also tried to enter my clock-in code from work into our keypad.

      1. Wired Wolf*

        One of my petsitting clients has a keypad lock, and one day I caught myself entering my work badge number to get into her condo (keypad lock is only 4 digits so it didn’t work; that resulted in a somewhat amusing text exchange “I got an alert about a failed entry, are you at my place yet?” “yes that was me, this is what I did”). Well, in my defense it is a second job so…

    3. Working Hard or Hardly Working*

      My office elevators are set up that you scan your badge and select the floor before you enter. I regularly get in elevators elsewhere and literally stand in the elevator waiting for it to move without ever pressing the button – I assume I’ve done it already.

  40. OyHiOh*

    I fold towels and sheets the way I leaned to decades ago working in hotel laundry. One hotel used fitted sheets so I even know the witchcraft that is a neatly folded fitted sheet.

    2. FrogPenRibbets*

      I worked at a hair salon in HS as a salon assistant… so many folded towels!

      This weekend I was getting a pedicure and I got jittery staring at the basket of laundered but unfolded towels. If she had left me unattended I would have been up in a flash to grab the basket and return to the spa chair for some towel folding meditation.

      I also worked in an after school kids program in HS. I knew I’d been there too long when in my HS hallway I yelled out (in teacher voice) “Hey, we don’t run here at…oh shit carry on sorry!”

    3. Lizy*

      Ok wait… hotels don’t use fitted sheets?????? Like… what’s the bottom sheet? I’m so confused.

      1. OyHiOh*

        When I started, every hotel I worked in from cut rate up to resort level, used two flat sheets, one for bottom, one for top. Eventually, the cheaper places started using a fitted for a bottom sheet, and now even pretty nice places I’ve stayed, even places that triple sheet (bottom, top, and separating blanket from spread) are using fitteds for bottom sheets. Yes, I look! ROFL

        This makes me sound like a Old, but is a transition that’s happened only over 30-ish years.

  41. Dan*

    I work in a facility that has secure floors so you need a tap pass to use the elevator. When not at work, I basically end up frisking myself trying to find my tap pass every time I encounter an elevator.

    1. Zeus*

      I have the opposite problem lately – my current building, you tap your pass and select the floor in the lift lobby, and then get guided to one of five lifts – no action required in the actual lift. When I’m in other buildings, I just get in the lift and wait for it to take me up to my floor, forgetting that you need to tell it where to go!

    2. Daria Grace*

      At my office you scan your access card and select your floor at a touchpad that is well outside the elevator, there’s nothing you have to touch inside the actual elevator. I regularly get inside elevators elsewhere and just stand there, forgetting I need to press some buttons inside it

  42. Blarblearble*

    I went on a walk with a friend recently who is a primary (grade) school teacher. Never an opportunity went by when he didn’t ask us if anyone needed a wee…

  43. Dovasary Balitang*

    In my days as a baby employee, I left a job at a pizza place for a job at a speciality department in a big box retailer. One day, completely unprompted, I asked a customer if they wanted their [speciality product purchase] “pick-up or delivery” instead of asking them how they wanted to pay.

    I also answer all phone calls, ‘Dovasary Balitang’s Real Name speaking,’ regardless of what hat I’m wearing because it’s difficult to switch it up.

    Biggest one, though, is four years after uni, I worked at a place where 50% of my job was enforcing safety regulations. To this day, I see red when people violate safety protocols or don’t wear PPE in mandated areas – even if said protocols are seemingly arbitrary from the outside!

    1. Dovasary Balitang*

      Sidenote, I’m super curious what internal flags my comment tripped that led it be being put in the moderation queue! Was it the mention of the most controversial food of all time: pizza?

      1. The Prettiest Curse*

        No, comments getting sent to moderation is often a random thing. Earlier this year, it would happen to me around 10-15% of the time, regardless of content, but recently it seems to have more or less stopped. Over time, you do learn which words will activate the system, though!

    2. Zarniwoop*

      Recently stuck in a doctor’s waiting room with one of those TVs you can’t turn off. It was showing a “reality” show of the house flipping variety. Multiple “aaargh!”s. For example someone with a power drill making a hole in th ceiling a foot above his face … no safety glasses.

  44. Carlisle*

    Retired from the library, but I still straighten shelves and put books in the proper place if they’re misfiled when I visit the library now.

    1. irishsurprise*

      Academic librarian here. I do this too – also been known to pull books to the edge of the shelf at bookstores, and very occasionally at friends’ houses.

      1. Our Lady of Shining Eels*

        Public librarian. Always edging books. It drives me bananas when I see them pushed all the way to the back of the bookshelf.

    3. Plpizza*

      Public librarian, I do that, and absolutely overexplain anything to do with navigating computers or websites as a result of helping the public with their print jobs every day

  45. The Wedding Planner*

    I will hold just about anything without thinking! I grabbed a paper bag that another passenger on a plane was trying to hand to her friend to hold sitting to the side of me while she put her bag in the overhead bin. I was in the aisle getting our things settled, as well, and just reached to grab it as soon as I heard “Can you hold this?”.

    1. Not Tom, Just Petty*

      Compared to managing a bride’s train as she was trying to navigate the restroom, you were like, “naw, I got this!”

    2. But Not the Hippopotamus*

      I read this without looking at who wrote it and my first thought was: sounds like a stay-at-home parent.

  46. Thunder Kitten*

    I used to place electrodes on peoples scalps for EEG recordings. I silently appreciate a bald / shaved head.

    I also like to watch peoples’ eye movements on zoom calls when they are facing the screen – you can absolutely tell when they are reading something (eyes ststematically flicker left to right,) as opposed to viewing am image or video (eyes dart around more randomly).

    1. ZSD*

      I feel like someone who worked with ERPs told me bald heads actually give worse readings. Is that not true?

      1. Thunder Kitten*

        I dont know about ERPs. I do know that for the type of electrodes I used and recordings I did (in the operating theatre), the biggest threat to the ability to record was keeping the electrodes secure. Hair pushes the tape off and makes it easier let the wires wiggle around.

  47. Tigger*

    I would lay out apparel proofs with company logos during my first job. When looking at a shirt, a logo going on the left chest would be visually right on the screen. After 5+ years doing it, I now have to do the “L” test with my fingers to remember which is left and which is right because my brain has switched the two around.

    2. desdemona*

      I work in theatre – stage left is audience right. When I’m tired or have had a long work-week, I flip my left & rights…this makes me a fun navigator when driving to new places.

      1. Magpie*

        I have been scrambled by “skier’s left/lookers left” from working at a ski hill. (Looker’s left is left on the hill from the perspective of a person coming up the lift, skier’s left is left to someone descending)

      2. I edit everything*

        Oh! I wonder if that’s why my partner has trouble with left and right. He did theatre tech work in high school and a bit in college. When I’m driving and he’s directing, I always confirm, sometimes with “driver” or “passenger,” if my sense of direction is conflicting with his navigation.

        1. desdemona*

          Yeah, when you first start you have to re-train your brain a little, and then it can be hard to context-switch…

      3. Sacred Ground*

        I was a theater major in college. It absolutely messed up my left/right perception to the point where I had to double check myself every time. For years after.

      4. Wired Wolf*

        I do that too, and I’ve been out of theater (very short stint acting before I realized I liked behind the scenes way more) for 17 years.

      5. Jenny/AdventuresAlongTheWay*

        Me too for stage left and stage right! (And, actually, @desdemona, I think it’s possible we’ve met in NYC in 2005?)

    3. Bebe*

      I am a massage therapist. Before getting on the table, everyone is mirrored. After they are on the table, everyone is upside down and backwards. I have lost all ability to tell left from right!

    4. NforKnowledge*

      I have the astronomer version of this which is mixing up east and west! They’re reversed when looking at the sky, so astronomical images are generally north up and east to the left.

  48. Bookworm*

    It’s not too weird (I don’t think) but I got into the habit of food prepping for the week for one job and I’ve kept up that routine whether I’m working or not (although I take off weeks here and there and don’t on vacation, etc.).

    And not a “habit” but working at a bookstore taught me how to pack a box more efficiently.

  49. Hannah*

    Asking strangers slightly invasive or personal questions at casual gatherings…..former journalists.

    1. Lana Kane*

      And I always thought I should have been a journalist because in conversations I’m always having to self-calibrate, to keep myself from asking probing questions.

    3. Writer Seeks $$$*

      And don’t forget, not allowing them to reciprocate and ask any questions of you during the conversation!

    4. Marie*

      Happens as a therapist, too. It’s bad to do because it’s rude, of course, but also because people might take you up on it, and now it’s twenty minutes later at the barbecue and you know a distressing amount of personal details about your neighbor’s coworker’s girlfriend.

  50. Marmiter*

    I work in public transit. When I’m out and about in the city I eye every bus that goes by to see how full it is. “Wow, that’s good ridership for an 88 on a Saturday!”

    3. Phlox*

      I stopped mid first date once to take photos of bad roadway routing – thankfully he found it charming!

  51. Library Ninja*

    Head counts. I have done so many public library events that any time I’m at another event, or even a conference session or class, I do a head count for stats.

    1. ferrina*

      I had to do this for daycare- constantly counting the number of kids any time I left the classroom. I can go really fast and not lose count for up to 40 moving people.
      Now I use it when traveling with my family.

      1. Rara Avis*

        Oh yeah: ABC. Always Be Counting! I travel with students often enough that I count groups ALL the time.

  52. Nonny Not a Mouse*

    As a web developer, I definitely find myself judging websites that have a bad design or obvious bugs and thinking how much better their website would be if they built it this other way instead

    1. cleo*

      Yes, this. My spouse will sometimes tell me not to look at the website of a new restaurant he wants to try because he knows I’ll be too distracted by the crappy web design.

    2. Dust Bunny*

      My mom’s family includes four generations of sign painters and we all have Opinions on choices of lettering, spacing, graphic design, etc.

    3. NaN*

      I definitely do this. When I have an issue with a website or service, I think about how it must be implemented incorrectly to cause the problem.

    4. Fish*

      I had to order a client gift from an upscale vendor I hadn’t dealt with before.

      Almost lost my mind before I figured out that their website term for “Shop”, is “Acquire.”

  53. cee*

    I work for a university and frequently refer to May as the end of the year in non-academic settings. I can’t seem to get myself onto a 12 month mental calendar.

    Relatedly, happy beginning of the year everyone!

    1. J!*

      OMG yes, the academic calendar is the year in my mind forever even though I’m definitely not on an academic calendar anymore.

      1. Rebecca*

        Oh, yep. My year starts in September, ends in June, and July and August don’t count. I’ve gone into business for myself and doing my finances on a January-January calendar while my clients are paying for September-June classes is doing my head in.

    2. Three Cats in a Trenchcoat*

      Love all the healthcare related ones!

      I try really hard not to bring my “work self” home, but my husband has definitely had to tell me “that’s what a therapist answer, not a wife answer” during a conversation before.

      1. Mollie*

        Ditto. My husband has called me out for going into therapist mode with him instead of wife/normal person mode.

    3. 3DogNight*

      In corporate sales and many companies have fiscal years that do not line up with calendar years. This has infiltrated my every day conversations in weird ways.

    4. Irish Teacher*

      Same here, as a teacher. “Yeah, that happened around the end of last year.” “Oh, last December?” “No, May.”

    5. Potatoes*

      I’m not in education but September always feels like a “beginning” to me, and May is “ending.” Also.. TV shows.

    6. Elsewise*

      I do the same thing about fiscal years! July is happy new year to me. God help you if you ask me the year July-December, because I’m thinking fiscal year. Related, I hope you’re all enjoying your 2024!

    7. Jaunty Banana Hat I*

      Yes! I’ve worked in academia my whole adult life, and on top of that, my birthday is in September, so it just makes sense to me that the year is really August/September to May/June.

    8. ArchivesPony*

      +1
      After growing up in an University town and now having worked in higher ed for over a decade, August is the beginning of the year and my mind refuses to believe anything else.

    9. Policy Wonk*

      I don’t like to admit how long it’s been since I was in school, but same here! And when making plans, I still caution about it being a school night, so I need to get home early.

    10. Mim*

      I haven’t been in school in 20 years, and will never give this up. It doesn’t hurt that I have a kid, so my life is back on that cycle to some extent.

      I started a new journals/planners last week because I was close enough to the ends of the old ones and new academic year will always feel more like a new beginning to me than the new calendar year ever does. I think that the change of seasons also helps — in September the evenings are starting to get cooler (even if the days are still hot), and you can sense that season change is starting. In January, you just go from cold to colder, and it feels like nothing is ever going to change. That hardly feels like a new beginning at all.

      I’ve somehow always managed to to have major life events that involved temporary periods of not working fall during or at least begin during the summer months. It’s like the universe agrees that if at all possible, summer is a time for not working. Baby, 2 separate years with medical stuff, and even unemployment. Summers are for napping, friends. Always and forever.

    11. Dragonfly7*

      Yes, happy new year! This is re-enforced for me not just by the school year, but from growing up in 4-H – the state fair just ended as well.

    13. Tangerina Warbleworth*

      You are my people! Dad was a college professor, Mom was a higher ed admin, I’ve worked in higher ed al my life. YES. January is never the beginning of the year, it’s the middle, between the two regular semesters.

    14. Firefighter (Metaphorical)*

      Ha, me too, then I moved to Australia where the academic year is the same as the calendar year and that completely scrambled my mind for 10 years (I have just about assimilated now).

  54. em*

    I still organize my closet according to the colour scheme of the thrift store where I volunteered as a teenager.

    Now I’m an emergency manager and have become somewhat obsessed with the weather…

    1. Alex*

      I have always wondered why thrift stores organize items by color and not by SIZE.

      Why. Why is this. The first thing I care about when looking at a piece of clothing is is it the right SIZE. Not color. I can see the color!

      1. Red Reader the Adulting Fairy*

        because sizes are not consistent. How many of us have pants that fit in like five different sizes.

        1. Cyborg Llama Horde*

          Yes, but I’d rather look at the 1/8th-1/20th of the rack that is the sizes that are likely to fit me, and pull out anything that’s a promising color, than fruitlessly wander 3/4ths of the rack pulling out very pretty things that are a size 6.

      2. desdemona*

        It may be because 1) sometimes thrift items have had the tags cut out or 2) women’s sizing in particular is ALL over the place.

        Weirdly, a lot of the time if I’m thrifting it’s because I have something in particular I want to find – IE “i need a purple shirt for this work event” or “i need to replace my black cardigan”, so it hasn’t ever bugged me before!

        1. Pocket Mouse*

          I don’t get it – something that is the exact color and style you’re looking for, but not in your size range, won’t work for you!

          1. Hlao-roo*

            It probably depends on what characteristic you’re primarily thinking about. In desdemona’s example of looking for a purple shirt, if the thrift store has a rack of purple shirts, you think “great! I can look at these to see which one fits me,” and start shifting through the rack. If instead you walk into the thrift store thinking “I need a size XYZ shirt” then you’ll be annoyed to see the shirts organized by color (but would be happy to see the XYZ shirt rack and think “great! now I’ll look for a purple shirt”).

            To the sizing is all over the place point, even if the store has a rack of size XYZ shirts, you’re generally going to be saying “now I need to find a purple shirt that fits me” because not all size XYZ shirts will fit the same. Some people might prefer the rack of purple shirts because they won’t have to search through all of the blue shirts and red shirts, etc.

      3. Be Gneiss*

        I am guessing it’s because you can very quickly sort by color, without having to inspect each tag, figure out which tag has the actual size, read the tiny print, figure out if a size 30 pants is a women’s 9 or 10, guess the size if the tag is cut. You can quickly train volunteers to sort by color. Purple is purple. Orange is orange. Done and done.

  55. not neurotypical*

    Saying things at least three times. I taught introductory college courses for many years. When introducing a new concept, you explain it once, rephrase it to make sure everybody understood, and then reiterate it because everybody needs to remember it. Super annoying

    2. What do you think?*

      I was an adult basic ed teacher for years. If someone says “what?” my first response is to rephrase, not repeat myself. I didn’t even realize I did this until someone said, “I know what (word) means, I’m just hard of hearing.” I suddenly realized how annoying this could be in the wrong context!

      1. Zweisatz*

        Honestly as a person whose auditory processing is wonky, I would appreciate the rephrase because sometimes my brain refuses to understand a specific part of the sentence.

  56. J!*

    I used to process incoming phone messages in a government office and now even over a decade later whenever I leave a voicemail for someone at the end of the message I say, “Again this is [first name] calling about [one word about the topic] and my number is [repeat phone number]” because I can’t even tell you how many times I had to listen to rambling messages over and over to try to get the person’s name or because they said their number too fast.

    1. Lana Kane*

      Yes! I had a job where I had to take down voice mail messages and I still do the end-of-message recap. Also, pronouncing each number in the phone number carefully.

    2. Love to WFH*

      I also make sure that I say my name and number at the very beginning of the message, because it’s easy to start over to listen to it.

    3. Staja*

      I picked this habit up after working as a virtual concierge for years and leaving messages for businesses all over the place! (Along with spelling out my email address using words and enunciating phone numbers).

      I still tend to ramble in my messages, but hopefully they can get the important details easier.

    4. Jerry Larry Terry Gary*

      I still leave my number at the beginning and end of a voicemail so it’s easier to catch on repeat.

    5. Sally Rhubarb*

      Oh I finally thought of one. I used to work in a vet clinic so I got very used to what a normal cat/dog (not CatDog) temperature was. It’s about 102-103F if memory serves.

      Anyway one day I was feeling sick so I took my temperature. “Oh it’s low actually, it’s only 101!” I said to my friend, who immediately ordered me to stay home and drink fluids.

    6. JustaTech*

      I picked up this habit from listening to my lab manager in my first lab job. I also learned the “ask the rep how to spell their name so they know you’re writing it down” when you’re having issues with your order. (Also genuinely helps because I can’t spell common names for the life of me.)

  57. No Tribble At All*

    Working in aerospace:
    (1) saying “copy” to mean “got it”
    (2) setting all my clocks to 24-hour time (it’s better and I will fight you)
    (3) using the word “nominal” in way too many situations to mean “expected/OK” … “I took the cat to the vet, and they said she sounded nominal”
    (4) saying “margin” for “leaving early so we get there on time”

    Mr Tribble claims I sound like “we need to leave at 10:30 so we have redundant margin on top of our nominal margin” which I can assure you readers is just slander

    1. Ally McBeal*

      24-hour time IS better but everyone is so perplexed by it! My uncle was an Air Force medic and I thought the way he wore his watch (face on the inside of his wrist, set to 24-hour time) was so cool, so ever since I bought my very first Casio digital watch in the mid-90s I’ve stuck with it. I volunteer with kids and it blows their brains when they ask me for the time and see my phone screen (I always, always translate, but I say 4:30 and they read 16:30).

      1. No Tribble At All*

        I confess I occasionally mis-speak when translating. Reading “16:30” as “6:30” is wrong and will scare people. I guess I run a whole separate 24-hour clock in my head and don’t translate it well? I just know that 16:30 is “Don’t bother starting anything big at work, it’s almost time to go home” o-clock

      2. Mollie*

        I lived in countries for a little while that use the 24 hour system, and it makes so much sense to me. I put everything I can in it, but am used to translating as well.

      3. I Have RBF*

        I’ve run at least partially on 24 hour time since I had roomies who were ex-military. It is just less ambiguous. I also do a lot of clock math dealing with UTC and computers. I use ISO dating (2023-09-01) for file names and such as well – it sorts properly! So if I want a text string date and time, I’ll use ISO, not epoch time – 20230901091500 (September 1, 2023, 9:15 am)

    3. Sparkles McFadden*

      No fight on 24 hour time. It is MUCH better. Also, I do all measurements in metric (because everything at work was in metric) and that drives people in the U.S. crazy.

  58. Ceci*

    In an office setting, I still say things from restaurant days, like, “Behind you” and “corner.” I’ve done that at the grocery store, too.

  59. Miette*

    I’m in marketing and brand communications, so I will copy-edit and proofread literally everything as i read it–even novels! And text messages!

    1. Shrimp Emplaced*

      Editor here — I’m rereading The Martian for the zillionth time and have been seriously considering retyping the manuscript to my liking, just for the next zillion times I read it.

    3. Frankie Mermaids*

      Same here… with a journalism background. I had to stop reading a grocery store paperback copy of a book by a Very Popular Author because it was so poorly edited.

    4. Lalaith*

      I’m not an editor but I do this too! Actually, since I’m a programmer, what bugs me a lot are opening quotes or parentheses without the corresponding close.

  60. Veryanon*

    A couple:
    My first job was as a cashier at Kmart in 1984. I still, to this day, straighten all my cash so that all the bills are face up and oriented the same way.

    More recently, since I work in HR, if friends or relatives ever start complaining to me about something work-related, I put on my “HR hat” and start giving unsolicited advice about what they might need to do. I have to forcibly remind myself that sometimes people just want to vent!

    1. cleo*

      OMG, I also still straighten all of my cash so the bills are face up and oriented the same way. I don’t remember which retail job I learned this in, but it was definitely one I worked in the late 80s or early 90s. It’s so habitual that I didn’t even think of it as something I learned on a job.

  61. Isben Takes Tea*

    After several years of intense book jacket proofreading, my brain zeroes in on straight/”dumb” quotes and apostrophes (‘ “) when they should be curly/”smart” ones (‛ “/’ ”) on signs, museum displays, and bronze plaques—it happens way more often than you would think!

    1. Hlao-roo*

      I’m curious–what are the proper places to use straight quotes vs curly quotes? I’ve never given it much thought but if you had asked me before today I would’ve guessed they are just a function of what font a sign/plaque/book/webpage etc. used. Are curly quotes always preferable?

  62. Lab rat*

    I’ve worked in a lot of labs. So in my home kitchen, when I have too much soup and I want to freeze it for later, I aliquot the soup. I subculture the yogurt, too.

    2. JustaTech*

      Yes to aliquoting food!
      In one lab we had a long lunch discussion about “well what else would you call it” other than aliquoting?
      (Very amused by the spell check suggestions.)

  63. Rebecca*

    I spent a great deal of time and effort cultivating a ‘Teacher Voice’ that I use when teaching language learners, many of whom are children. It’s slow, clear, and full of repetition and synonyms without being condescending or babyish. My husband can hear me switch in and out of it, and it drives him up the wall when I start using it to talk to him about dinner plans. He’s the only one who will catch it and tell me to knock it off, but I wonder how many of my friends I’ve been inadvertently teaching.

    1. Ginger Cat Lady*

      I’ve been called out on using my “teacher voice” too. Usually by my husband, occasionally by my kids.

    2. Esmae*

      I have to be very careful not to use my Children’s Librarian Voice when I’m showing an adult how to do something.

    3. Just here for the scripts*

      My husband calls it my customer service voice since I moved from the classroom to the district’s central offices—also hates it!

    4. Ellis Bell*

      Yeah, I have no problem treating adults like adults and letting grammar and punctuation go uncorrected, but I find volume modulation difficult. By that I mean the task of making my teacher voice go back to a civilian voice, because you get into a voice groove and then it really has a mind of it’s own. I’m hoping that this year I won’t be in a really big classroom where you have to project. That’s the voice that comes home with me.

  64. Oops...*

    I’m an ESL teacher. My parents also both have English literature degrees. Recently, I have found myself CORRECTING MY MOTHER’S GRAMMAR. I may, someday quite soon, be murdered.

  65. Cames*

    After 25+ years as a paralegal, I can calculate time in 6 minute increments as easily as breathing.

    1. Lime green Pacer*

      Ditto! My first real job was doing administration, hourly payroll, and internal WIP timesheets for a public accountant. Knowing decimal hours was very useful when doing long road trips in the pre-smartphone, pre-GPS era. I could calculate ETAs from road signs in my head very quickly

    2. J*

      My quilt I made recently took 39.9 hours. My husband wondered why I won’t say 40 hours and it’s because I know those extra 6 minutes weren’t there and I won’t bill a “client” incorrectly. It also makes it super handy for me to plan projects since I know how long everything in my life takes. You won’t be shocked at all to hear I moved from paralegal to pitches and proposals to now in house operations where I review others’ billings and side eye a 3 hour project that I know should have only been a 1.8.

  66. Ducat*

    Former Box Office Manager. The alphabet doesn’t have the letters I and O for me. Most venues do not use this in labeling their rows as customers think they are in row 1 or zero and complain. (Sad and very true) If I ever have to complete a sobriety field test. I am screwed.

    1. AngryOctopus*

      That is so funny because for YEARS my ballet season tickets have been in row I. I wonder if it’s because the venue is so old?

    1. Not Tom, Just Petty*

      This is the third comment I’ve read that noted “corner.” This is the first one that explained what it meant.
      I know the other’s from Food Network, “hot, sharp, behind.”
      I briefly and badly waited tables, so I know “door.”
      I was trying to figure out what corner meant. I was picturing a right angle corner of a room, is the broom falling?
      So I can imagine startling the hell out of uninitiated coworkers by announcing “CORNER!”

  68. Potato Potato*

    After a few years working on a UK-based application, I can’t remember how to spell anything the US way. I don’t even realise what I’m doing until somebody points it out.

    2. The Prettiest Curse*

      When I returned to the UK after years of working in the US, it took my brain 2+ years to fully implement UK spellings again – and I’m British!

    3. wordswords*

      I live in the US and work for a Canadian company, so I switch back and forth between Canadian and US spelling every day. I do keep track pretty well, but I’m constantly spending a moment on “wait, is it ‘labor’ or ‘labour’ right now?” as I type things.

  69. desk platypus*

    I worked at a movie theater post college and since leaving more than once I’ve said, “Enjoy your movie!” to a concessions worker because holding a popcorn bucket activates my muscle memory.

      1. desk platypus*

        They usually just smile or laugh without saying much. I think they might think I’m parroting back what customers usually hear in the concessions line.

  70. Ginger*

    Any other pharmacy personnel who struggles to not rotate the stuff in their pantry so oldest in the front? Or “x” the open items in the fridge??

    1. Ole Pammy's Getting What She Wants*

      former bartender here – i do the same with my groceries at home from years of practice with prepped cocktail ingredients! FIFO is a way of life

    2. Bear Expert*

      I’ve been out of labs and manufacturing for almost 20 years. FIFO *is* a way of life. (And a good one! Rotate your pantries and fridge supplies!)

    6. Ally*

      Nurse- definitely something I do too!! And checking expiry dates more than is socially acceptable.

      1. Ciela*

        My husband worked in a restaurant before we met. Now ~25 years later, *I* must FIFO all groceries.

    7. Sacred Ground*

      Rotating oldest to the front and labeling dates on perishable items.

      It’s funny to me how many folks here picked up these habits from working in labs. These are standard practices in food service as well, drilled into me when I worked as a line/prep cook.

  71. Midwifelife*

    I’m a midwife and I have to stop myself looking closely at women breastfeeding in public… it’s second nature to look closely to check baby is feeding properly!!

  72. Alex*

    This wasn’t me, but when I was a kid my mom had a job in which she had to record a lot of dictation (do people even do that anymore??). In case you aren’t familiar, when you do this you have to speak the punctuation. So several times after having done this for hours on end, she would start speaking with punctuation. “Alex comma have you cleaned your room question mark”

      2. Indolent Libertine*

        Since some recent update, Siri has started inserting its own punctuation, I guess based on intonation and pauses, so I usually have to go back and delete multiple misplaced commas before sending. Sometimes it also puts periods in where I don’t intend them. Grr.

    2. ENFP in Texas*

      I have found myself doing this while leaving a voicemail, because I am so used to voice to text now…

    3. Observer*

      I don’t do this often, but I do sometimes doing it when leaving voicenotes on WhatsApp and Signal since 90% of the time I’m using speech to text and the actual voicenote is not my norm.

  73. JustMyImagination*

    I work in a high-rise with an elevator bank. You push your floor on a console and it tells you what elevator to take so there aren’t any buttons inside the elevator. So many times I enter regular elevators and just stand there waiting for it to know what number floor I need to go to.

  74. Swivel Servant*

    Taking pictures in washrooms (aka restrooms) I encounter–only when they’re empty of people–when they have clever gender-neutral, multi stall implementations.

  75. Jester*

    I was a camp counselor all throughout my teens. Twenty-ish years later, I still feel compelled to walk at the back of a group to make sure no one wanders off. Even though any group I walk with now are usually other fully grown adults, not elementary-aged kids.

    1. ferrina*

      Yes! Or have one point person leading the way and the other person that knows the way trailing in the back.
      I never broke this habit, and I recently learned that teachers LOVE when I am the parent-volunteer for field trips.

  76. Never Boring*

    I used to work with a bunch of former Soviets and am somewhat of a linguistic mimic, so I unintentionally started speaking with a Russian accent. Luckily it wore off when I left the job, but I can still summon it at will.

    1. Jaunty Banana Hat I*

      I did that when I was studying abroad with a bunch of Brits. It was so weird, and I too can summon it when needed. I have the same thing happen when I’m around my (very southern, backwoods/appalachia) family–my accent just comes out without me even trying. I’m just good at code-switching intuitively, I guess?

      But in my day-to-day, I have a standard American accent.

      1. Ms. Murchison*

        Once in college, I accidentally replied to my British professor in her accent! I was mortified she’d think I was mocking her, but I think it was because, as children, my sister and I loved mimicking accents we heard on TV and watched a lot of British shows (“The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” and “Red Dwarf” come to mind). So it just slipped out.

        1. I Have RBF*

          In college, I got “stuck” in talking with a British accent (possibly because of a TV show I was watching.) I was going through the used book sale, and a professor asked me how long I’d been in the US! That knocked me out of the accent. He swore that I sounded like I was from North London. I still sometimes get stuck in it.

          Another time I really had a problem. The VP of a startup was British, and my boss was from Missouri. Both had very strong accents. I am a vocal mimic. My mind was trying to reflect both accents and cadences. I had to force myself to use my local, California accent just not to sound… scrambled.

          When I talk to my mother in Florida, I drop into that drawl as well, but I don’t get too stuck in it.

    2. Diane Remains the Same*

      I pick up accents too easily. Years ago, I worked with a client from Tennessee with a Southern accent. On our first phone call, I accidentally “acquired” some of his accent, to the point where he asked me if I was from the South. I am from New Yawk. But went to school in Maryland, and basically lied and said that living there for four years changed my accent. It didn’t. I’m just a parrot.

      1. Bay*

        This is nice though! I live in a country with lots of dialects of English as a main ‘foreigner language’ and I find myself so grateful when people can soften their dialect somehow– probably I should think of this as parroting instead of a mysterious and magical gift. I hope I can develop this skill, I feel like it helps support the diversity of English *and* comprehension

  77. Oxford Common Sense*

    Fundraiser here. When I go to museums, theatres, universities etc I always check out their donor recognition lists, checking to see how much my donors have given there and who gave there who doesn’t give to me (yet).

    2. Elsewise*

      Saaaaame! I’ve worked for several nonprofits in the same geographic area, so I’m very used to seeing the same names over and over again. There’s a lot of “hmph, Don Draper only gave $10k to this (museum, scholarship, food bank)? I know for a fact he could be doing way more.”

      (Related, fundraising has really warped my idea of what a lot of money is! Because in my regular life I’d never say “only $10k”.)

      1. Museums*

        I relate to the warped idea of money, too. I’m on the finance side — back in the day when more people paid by checks, I would think, “Oh it’s only $5,000, I’m not going to make a special trip to the bank just to deposit that small amount.” But if someone were to give me “only $5,000” I would deposit that immediately!

    3. Museums*

      I do this too! I’m in museums, but not fundraising. One time I happened to be at a museum in another city that had an exhibition of an artist my org was going to work with. I took photos of all the wall labels and exhibition text (sponsor credits) so our development team could see if there were any collectors or donors to add to their prospect lists. :-)

    4. Lily Rowan*

      Always!! I was just having a conversation with someone who is doing a fundraising event with a program for the first time, and I was like, “You know how at these kind of shows, they have those kinds of ads in the program?” and they just looked at me blank — normal people don’t pay close attention to that???

  78. Goldenrod*

    This one is poignant – after working in customer service for a long time, I realized that I now sometimes smile when I’m mad.

    You can’t ever express anger with a customer, so I developed the habit of smiling furiously when angry.

    1. Bear Expert*

      I have this response due to some not so great childhood stuff and I once had a boss who called me on it and there was a brief, uncomfortable interlude where I asked him to consider why I might have the habit of giving a quiet serene smile when men were yelling in a room around me instead of yelling back.

      1. Observer*

        I now sometimes smile when I’m mad.

        I have this response due to some not so great childhood stuff and I once had a boss who called me on it

        Your boss *called you on it*!? Why on earth!?

        Especially if you were doing it when a bunch of guys are yelling all around.

        That doesn’t sound like it was a great place to work.

        I’m also sorry you had what sounds like a pretty rough childhood.

        1. Morning Coffee*

          Some people start yelling even more if they see you quietly smiling at them, so it can escalate situations and boss has to intervene.

    2. Juicebox Hero*

      This is why I speak very softly and politely when I’m abso-fuming-lutely furious. For some reason it affects people more than shouting ever could. I guess they can sense I’m holding the lid down on the volcano.

    3. Sally Rhubarb*

      Ohhhh yes. The inability to express your feelings about a pigheaded customer is so real. If my voice gets chirpy, it means I’m two seconds away from going ape shit.

      1. goddessoftransitory*

        Yep, I pour on the sugar when I get a really jerkass customer. It’s amazing how many of them don’t realize how close they are to death.

    4. Lana Kane*

      I used to talk to patients on the phone for scheduling, etc. We had acess issues and they were often mad at how long it owuld be for their appointment date. I still recognize the shift that happens in my chest when I’m moving from trying to placate someone to putting a stop to the anger/rant. It really is a physical sensation for me, and I still feel it when a conversation is going south. That’s how my body tells me it’s time to set a boundary.

  79. Dawn*

    I work in legal, and have worked in medical. I couldn’t believe the L&O:SVU episode “Tangled,” in which a medical staffer freely gave Benson and Stabler a patient’s medical file.

    It was for plot purposes. The staffer turned out to be the villain of the week, and gave SVU the file to divert suspicion from herself.

    1. Not Tom, Just Petty*

      I’m reading a silly mystery series right now. One that they made into Hallmark sunday afternoon movies, where it’s more about the romance. The amateur detective called the victim’s psychiatrist to confirm he was a patient and if he’d been there the day he died. “It took some talking, but he relented and gave her the information.”
      Because, of course he would. And yeah, there’d be no story without it, but it is crazy.

    2. I'm just here for the cats!!*

      Oh my the HIPPA violation there!! I work in a college counseling center so I have to abide by HIPPA and FERPA. I don’t know what I’d do if I worked outside of higher ed/medical and was asked about someone?

  80. Silicon Valley Girl*

    Former copy editor, so I’m obsessed with punctuation in signs, menus, etc. Especially apostrophe & comma misuse (serial comma forever!).

    2. I'm just here for the cats!!*

      I had an English professor who taught Grammars and he actually said something to the local grocery store about how their sign for 10 items or less was wrong. AND THEY CHANGED IT!

  81. Youngin*

    Lol… I work with wild animals and have started to feed myself the same way we feed them. As in, I prep all of my food so it’s ready-to-eat and just grab and go, for all of my meals. It works for me rn!
    I also work with dead animals and so my estimates for how long it takes meat to thaw is spot on now. I also disinfect my kitchen after working with raw meat the same way I disinfect my lab after working with dead animals :)

    1. Mim*

      Many years ago I was a volunteer at an aquarium, working in the marine mammal area. One of the main things I did was help to prepare the feeds. Each animal had a different mix of fish and squid that had to be weighed out, and I got incredibly good at being able to select exact weights by looking at the size and then double checking by feeling the weights with my hands. Like, I knew that if I needed 1.5 pounds of herring, I could find two fish of just the right sizes to add up to 1.5 pounds, pick them up to verify, and then put them on the scale to make sure I was actually correct. I was pretty much always correct. And if I wasn’t, I could always eyeball the exact size that would get me to where I needed to be.

      For years and years I was really great at figuring out the weight of things that weighed up to a couple of pounds with precision. I used to test myself for fun at the grocery store, estimating the weight of some apples I wanted to buy, then plopping them in the scale to see if I was correct. Alas, I eventually stopped doing this and have lost my superpower. But it came so easily that I assume if I ever wanted to I could regain it again.

      I literally just realized that there is a perfect pitch / perfect fish pun in here. Decades too late.

  82. Night Owl*

    As someone who works in healthcare admin/is a former clinic worker:
    1. Labeling food in my home with the date I open it (people who have worked in food service probably do this too, I do it because I used to have to with meds)
    2. Noticing the veins of random people on the street and assessing how difficult it would be to draw their blood
    3. Pointing out HIPAA violations in medical tv shows (there are SO MANY)

    1. GeorgiaB*

      My brother and sister-in-law met when they were in line to get into a club and my brother overheard her mention to a friend that he had great veins (she was in nursing school at the time).

    2. goddessoftransitory*

      My dad was a doctor and when he watched medical shows he would just melt down. “They’d be sued to Hell for that! There is no way that would happen!”

  84. WorkerJawn*

    I will say “corner!” when I round a corner in my office, a hold over from working in restaurants.

    I used to work in development/fundraising, so whenever I walk into a museum gallery or similar space, I look for donor signage. I’ll then rack my brain for a bio-sketch of whoever is listed and try to remember what else they have supported in my city. My friends have started anticipating tidbits of gossip while we look at art.

  85. Sleepytimetay*

    After working retail/register off and on for ten years, I can’t stand “still.” I rock side-to-side, alternating my weight to each foot, which I used to do to alleviate the foot pain from standing for hours at a time.

    1. I'm just here for the cats!!*

      Do you also have the urge to be constantly doing something because your retail boss would say “If you have time to lean you have time to clean?” Because I have that urge.

  86. Caz*

    Taking notes on phone calls! I used to have phone calls several times a day with my manager who hated email and had a terrible memory, so expected me to remember everything she told me with no written backup. I would take notes on every phone call…including at home when talking to my dad. My partner found this hilarious (but later very useful, thank you very much!)

  87. Umami*

    Former editor, and I can’t help checking spelling and grammar, even just while watching the news. I can’t read anything without my editor brain engaging!

    1. Ellis Bell*

      The only real cure for this is teaching. When I worked in newspapers I was a fanatical off duty editor, correcting everything in the mind and being driven distracted by the incorrect use of the possessive S. Then when I became a teacher, especially when I changed from teaching creative writing of high ability older kids to supporting younger, low level literacy students, you get trained to only pick up on a few errors at a time, because students can’t possibly process all the possible feedback in one sitting; the corrections should be linked to the last thing you taught them, and you ignore the rest, especially untaught stuff. I went from noticing every imperfection, including things like an extra space, to really only being bothered by the most egregious mistakes, especially if people should know better. I won’t say it makes the other stuff invisible (I definitely still see it), but it feels less intensively of an inexplicable annoyance iykwim.

  88. Kyrielle*

    Answering the phone with a chipper voice and my full name. I *mostly* managed not to answer my personal phone with the company name, and fortunately the only time I did, it was friends and we just had a good laugh.

    I spent a while working with (but not for) emergency services, so when I pass an emergency response I’m very prone to going “huh, routine call” or “yikes, what is going on there” in my head depending on how many units and what type. (I don’t, of course, usually get to find out – not unless it’s spectacular enough to make the news after – and we’d all really rather it not be that interesting.)

    1. Sacred Ground*

      It took me months when I left the Navy to stop reminding callers *to my home* that this is not a secure line.

  90. Thin Mints didn't make me thin*

    I used to work in TV, and my then-husband had to tell me to stop criticizing lighting and camera angles when we were watching shows together.

  91. Maria*

    I always want to add the year whenever I write a date. That’s what we did in my first job. Always “the 31st of August 2023”. (Technically “den 31. august 2023” since it wasn’t in English). In every email and all shared notes.

  92. NewsyNonsense*

    I had a boss who really hated the phrase “reach out,” as in “I’m going to reach out to John Smith to find out his thoughts on X.” Every time someone said it in a meeting, she would mime reaching for someone and tell the person to be specific about how they planned to contact John. After a while of her doing this, the whole newsroom started doing it every time anyone said “reach out.” It persisted after she retired.

    When I changed jobs, I made the motion the first time someone said “reach out” in a meeting. Thankfully, I was off camera.

  93. Susan Calvin*

    It’s pretty mild, but when trying to estimate time difference, I always try to place the other location in relation to either Atlanta or Kuala Lumpur, which I know are 6 hours behind and ahead of me respectively – because they were the location of the two biggest non-european offices of a former employer. I actually had Malaysia displayed as second time zone in outlook for years, because it came up so much.

    1. Tangerina Warbleworth*

      First, I worked in international education for a decade, so I sometimes do this too (“if it’s three pm here, then in Taipei it’s….”)

      Also, LOVE your user name! Asimov is the best!

  94. Beancat*

    Former practice manager who often got questions about medical bills. I still look up CPT codes for our family’s medical bills (though I do remember a few!).

  95. Dumpster Fire*

    I worked at the beach for three summers during college. Lest you think I was some heroic lifeguard or something…. nope, I was the person in long pants and a state-issued polo shirt cleaning up trash and emptying the rubbish barrels. It was several years before I could actually walk past trash and not flinch to pick it up (not that there’s anything wrong with picking up trash, but sometimes your friends don’t quite understand why you’re cleaning up all the trash on a city street!)

  96. alas rainy again*

    I size up people (height and live weight, including muscle fitness -lean) and check their gait (whether they are lame -literally). Everybody. All the time. Of course, I never share my estimate unless invited to do so. I only worked five years as a cattle vet generating data on beef cattle growth and fattening. And as fitness evaluator on horse endurance competitions. We had friendly wagers on the weight of team members (I know, it is as immature as rating girls) and I was not too bad. Then it became a running joke with colleagues working in the same field. We would comment on each other’s weight estimate, including latest developments on the beer belly and recovery of knee or hip replacement surgery. That’s nerd for vets, I guess.

  97. Anon For This One*

    I have retained the academic schedule and still get very tired and need a break in late May even though I’m not an academic anymore.

    A very long time ago, I catalogued Government Publications in a research library and still have to stop and think about whether a . is a period, a decimal, or a mere number separator.

    More recently, I was on a team that had very rigid rules about writing styles. No gerunds. No sentences longer than a certain number of words. No passive voice. I am deeply grateful that I wasn’t on the team long enough to get these habits ingrained.

  98. Texas Teacher*

    I teach music. When “Happy Birthday” is about to be sung, I subconsciously try to hum a suitable starting pitch for everyone to begin.
    It’s a futile attempt, even if I’m asked to lead. Unless it’s kids, they listen better.

    1. Bear Expert*

      My family is practiced and talented at music and specifically vocal music, as a whole.

      We try to pick separate keys for singing happy birthday and still haven’t quiet gotten to being able to end in more than one key. We just want to sing it like normal people once!

    2. Dust Bunny*

      We used to have a dog who would howl with “Happy Birthday”. Eventually he would start to howl if you just said the words “happy birthday”. I’m pretty sure it was because nobody has ever sung it on key.

      1. Jean (just Jean)*

        My family occasionally attends services at a house of worship with a musically challenged congregation–meaning everyone sings just a half-tone off from everyone else. It sounds like like someone playing the piano with boxing gloves.

    3. Era*

      My (musical) family doesn’t usually hum, but we do pick one person to set the starting key! I was nearly grown before I heard my first truly chaotic happy birthday and it was truly painful.

  99. awing*

    I was a bank teller for a few years. Even though I haven’t worked in a bank for 17 years now, any cash I have has to be organized by denomination and all facing the same direction.

    1. Serious question*

      I’ve read several comments about cash all facing the same direction & seriously want to know what does that accomplish? Other than looking tidy? Why is so common in banking and other jobs dealing with cash?

      1. M2RB*

        It allows for more efficient counting. I was trained to count by the faces on the bills, not the numbers on the ends. Can’t count by faces if the bills are all different directions.

        1. Serious question*

          Ok, sure. From a Devil’s Advocate standpoint, does fussing with the bills cost more time & energy than the split second to read the bills afterward? I’m imagining I’m taking cash in a high pressure fast paced restaurant & having to shift around each note. Then, afterwards is counting unsorted money so much slower than sorting in the first place? It must be much quicker to read sorted bills or sorting wouldn’t be such a thing. No disrespect at all – just an engineer contemplating life.

          1. Sacred Ground*

            Facing bills was drilled into me when I worked as a cashier like 30 years ago. Counting hundreds of bills accurately is harder than it sounds. It’s really easy to have to count the same stack three times due to interruptions or distractions. Facing them first makes it faster and easier.

            But it doesn’t seem to be standard practice anymore, judging by how cashiers, bank tellers, and ATMs never give out bills that are facing the same way.
            I think most businesses today that handle lots of cash use machines for counting. Counting machines are consistently accurate, the bills don’t need to be faced, and it’s SO much faster than counting by hand.

    2. The OG Sleepless*

      I’ve been a bank teller and a cashier before, and I do that sometimes, years later.

    3. Lizzie (with the deaf cat)*

      Notes facing the same way also improves your chances of spotting a counterfeit note, as even the smallest difference will catch your eye as they flick past while you are counting.

  100. betsyohs*

    I was an energy auditor at the beginning of my career. Haven’t been going out in the field for audits in years, but every time I go into a new building, I check out their lights – are they fluorescent? LED? Incandescent (gasp!)?

    1. I'm A Little Teapot*

      I’m a financial/process auditor. Those skills get applied to non-work things all the time. Sometimes it’s ok, sometimes it’s not. Current example: getting new HVAC system and the company dropped the ball, so my install (tomorrow!) is in jeopardy. In the background, my brain has automatically figured out what went wrong on their side.

      I do this all the time. It makes me rather annoying to be around at times.

  101. H.Regalis*

    Several:
    -Piling up all the dishes so they’re easier to bus
    -Stripping the bed and bundling up all the towels and bed linens
    -Folding towels the way I was taught as a maid

    1. Pretty as a Princess*

      I used to wait tables and still stack everything up neatly for this reason, and bundle towels and linens when I stay in a hotel I think as a holdover from military field training.

    2. OyHiOh*

      Same with folding towels and sheets, and stripping sheets when I stay somewhere. One of the hotels I worked in, we would bundle all the bed linens into one of pillow cases (easier for laundry room to track how many beds they washed) and I still do that too.

      Oh, and I clean my home bathrooms in the same order/techniques that I learned doing hotel housekeeping. Teach a kid to do that at age 17, perfectly, 20 times in a day, it stays with them for a lifetime!

      1. H.Regalis*

        I do the same-order thing too! When I was first trained as a janitor, it was drilled into us to clean in a specific order so you’re not re-dirtying things you’ve already cleaned, and I still do that to this day: top to bottom (you clean up high first so you’re not knocking dust onto a floor you already swept), and clean to dirty (start with the cleanest parts of the room so you’re not smearing dirt around).

  102. Let's Go Fly A Desk*

    I work an office job after spending several years in law enforcement. I have a hard time not asking people to keep their hands where I can see them when I’m chatting with them. I’ve also been told I often keep an ‘interview stance’ when I’m talking to them (i.e. feet shoulder length apart, dominant foot back, hands up in front of my body). Old habits die hard!

    1. Anon today*

      LOL. Hazards of spending too much time at the range, I evaluate whether or not EVERYONE has a CCW. And also what kind of holster I would suggest for what they are wearing.

  103. Wordnerd*

    Working in higher ed – I struggle to think about how time passes in the real world in any way other than “semesters”. Like, talking about when we want to remodel our bathroom as “next semester”.

    2. ArchivesPony*

      I grew up in a University town and even then everything ran on semester time. And I work in higher ed now too… I don’t know what’s going to happen when I retire and things AREN’T on semester time

  104. JMR*

    This is a niche one, but lab scientists who work with reagents that are prone to degradation will mix up a large batch of something and store it in small, single-use aliquots. More than once I have referred to “aliquotting” the leftovers or grabbing “an aliquot” of chili from the freezer.

  105. Sean*

    After almost 20 years in journalism, I still sometimes will pick up the phone in my own office and just say “Newsroom!” as a greeting. It’s been five years, but man, old habits die hard.

    1. Thin Mints didn't make me thin*

      I have answered the phone “City Desk” at my house. Of course now a lot of papers have gone to remote newsrooms…

  106. Timbellus*

    Oh here we go!
    -Worked in the ER as a medical scribe, I still find myself stopping to check both ways before stepping out of a door in case there’s a gurney or somebody responding to a code ready to mow me down.
    -Worked in an analytical chemistry lab, I find myself crouching down to check the meniscus when I measure just about any liquid.
    -Same lab, I wash my hands a ridiculous amount when I’m baking…my habits still haven’t quite parsed that getting flour on your skin is not the same as acid!
    -I also once found myself forgetting that plastic wrap existed and trying to remember where in my kitchen I kept the parafilm.
    -I’m a bit obsessive over a standardized sleep schedule after a couple of jobs working night shift, I work 8-5 now but i still put way too much thought into ensuring I’m ready to be awake for work…at 8am!
    -After the ER job I once walked into my own hospital room for a routine test and instinctively grabbed the hand sanitizer to avoid…catching anything from myself.

    3. JustaTech*

      My lab did a cleanout once and was going to throw away parafilm (!) so I took it home. Absolutely brilliant for keeping all of your bottles closed when you move – the liquor cabinet, the ketchup, the shampoo, the cleaning supplies, everything.

  107. Eldritch Office Worker*

    I’m always pointing out legal and HR violations in TV shows.

    Also even though I successfully transitioned out of customer service over two years ago I am never going to be able to shake my customer service voice when dealing with something annoying, like calling the pharmacy or whatever.

    1. Nicki Name*

      I had a summer job back in high school which included occasionally being the one to answer the phone, I haven’t had any customer service jobs since, and I still slip into Professional Phone Voice sometimes.

    2. Nonanon*

      My partner had to ban certain shows because I got “too upset” at how scientists were portrayed (typically an omnidisciplinary scientist with a PhD; I have a PhD in neuroscience, but because my research focused on pain and the peripheral nervous system, I can’t really tell you what brain regions are involved in every little thing (broad things like “memory” are fine, specific things like “why does seeing a goose remind me of my mother’s cauliflower” no) NEERTHELESS what planetary alignment you need to stop a nuclear war.

      For the record, it was Eureka. I also have some VERY strong opinions on Professor Oak from Pokemon.

      2. JustaTech*

        Eureka was fine, because it was too silly. But man was my husband surprised the time I jumped up and stood on the couch to scream at Fringe “That’s not how memory B cells work!”

    3. Tiffany Aching*

      YES. I work in HR and I’m always telling my husband/friends how what’s portrayed in TV/movies is super illegal/bad practice/bad management.

    4. I Have RBF*

      I have done telephone based support off and on for years. I have that “tech support phone voice.” I use it when I have to call for appointments, support, whatever – it’s like breathing now.

      The tech support voice, as a variant of customer service phone voice, has an instruction mode in which you hand out instructions, even for simple things, in a clear, easy to understand tone with clear steps. The less technically adept the person is, the more you need to break it down and then verify what they’ve done.

      I know when I’m getting ticked off at people when I start talking to them in the “tech support for idiots” speech pattern.

  108. Emma*

    Writing 7s with a line through them (old boss couldn’t tell difference between our 1s, slashes and 7s).
    Telling people “keep left”.
    Checking electrical equipment before plugging it in.

    1. Buni*

      7s, captial Zs and zeros all get a line through them, 1s get the little serif at the top. Way too many engineers in my family…

  109. Yomikoma*

    I had RSI for a while in the late 1990s, when the best dictation tech available involved a lot of spelling things out in the NATO alphabet (Alfa, Bravo, Charlie…). I’ve used that when spelling things out since, to the degree that my current coworkers once asked if I used to be a pilot.

    2. Lana Kane*

      I was asked once if I’m former military. No, just got tired of saying T as in Tom. (I used to call insurance companies to check on patient benefits and I’d have to spell out so. many. names.)

    3. ArchivesPony*

      oh man that brings back memories. I had to memories that when I worked in a market research center because we used in order to repeat people’s addresses (if the market study had client sending out samples).

    4. Kuddel Daddeldu*

      I do that too – learned it for my ham radio license and it’s very practical. Also used in marine radio which I actually use from time to time.

  110. Camelid coordinator*

    For 20+ years I worked at a higher ed institution that had a 12 week semester with a week-long break in the middle. I’ve noticed I still work at the same pace–6 weeks flat out, rest a bit, 6 weeks again followed by a couple weeks intense wrap-up. Collapse for a while then repeat.

  111. Whale I Never*

    Working in archives, the urge to arrange files in a neat, logical system never leaves me. I created a new filing system at my non-archive job that no one asked for and have BEGGED on multiple occasions for permission to tackle our clumsy, non-intuitive, redundant shared server. One time I went to a seed-sorting event as a volunteer, and towards the end the organizer said “We need someone to tidy up these label sheets and put them in alphabetical order—any takers?”

    I replied “Ooh! Me!!” And the organizer said “Did you just say OOH at the thought of alphabetizing? Sure, they’re all yours.”

    1. ArchivesPony*

      It’s funny because my computer files and my bookshelf is organized but the rest of my apartment? not so much.

      but yes the want to organize and make things usable is there :)

  112. Pillowhead*

    I had a job that required frequent travel with a roommate. I have trouble sleeping and one of my roommates snored. That’s why, more than 15 years later, I sleep with a pillow over my own head, much to the chagrin of my husband.

  113. OrdinaryJoe*

    I work at a nonprofit with a very strong tradition and culture of ‘gallows humor’ and very matter of fact about death, traumatic injury, etc. It’s something that’s not usually appreciated by the civilian population and have to check myself.

  114. Overthinkers Unite*

    As an accountant, I’m always mentally analyzing the businesses (and sometimes individuals) around town for cash flow, profitability and going concern. Examples: (1) Our Mall has several stores that literally can not possibly make enough money to afford a space in the mall. (A wig store and a Tai Chi center). (2) There’s a restaurant on the busiest street in our town that literally no one eats at – how can they afford that location?? (3) Retail stores that have way too much inventory- how much money is tied up in that stale inventory? and my most favorite (4) How does a USPS mail carrier and public school teacher afford a million dollar home and brand new, very fancy cars every few years? (Readers, hold on to your hats for this one.) They afforded those things because they were illegally smuggling turtles into the country. Apparently illegal turtle smuggling is just as profitable as drug smuggling, but much less risky. Now you know.

    1. Overthinkers Unite*

      My conclusion re: all the businesses is usually drugs or prostitution. I come to this conclusion so frequently that my teenager makes snide comments about “the old people selling crack and doing tai chi”

      1. Can't think of a funny name*

        Accountant also…I have these same thoughts about how do some companies stay in business. My boyfriend is usually the one subjected to a discussion about how much their costs are and how much they are charging and did they even do a business plan? Is there that great of market for whatever it is they are trying to sell? Etc.

    2. kbeers0su*

      I want to hang out with you while you roam around town making these observations. This is so interesting!

    3. M2RB*

      My spouse & I do this! We are convinced that several nearby businesses are fronts/money laundering operations. We haven’t heard of anything nearly as interesting as the turtle smuggling, though – wow!

    4. Decidedly Me*

      There was a bubble tea place in town that everyone assumed was some sort of front, as they were in a prime location, but didn’t have regular hours and weren’t open that long each day. I didn’t care – best bubble tea I’d had!

      Also – good to know about turtles!

    5. can't think of a name*

      I used to have a friend growing up who had a mailman father and stay-at-home mother, but still had a big house in an expensive area. I will now assume for the rest of time that they were smuggling turtles.

    6. goddessoftransitory*

      There’s a super fancy fragrance store in my neighborhood that I am convinced is a Mob front because I have never seen a single person shopping in it.

  115. Anne Kaffeekanne*

    Enter a bookshop, immediately check to see what I can spot of my (now former) employer’s books/non-books. Now supplemented by checking how my current company’s products are being presented.

    Also when browsing books, first thing I look at after the cover is the publisher.

  116. BlueInk For Life*

    I was a former Escrow officer and Notary and used to spend so much time making copies and keeping them straight from the original signed documents. So I still can only use blue ink forever. It’s been 15 years. I still shudder thinking of a former coworker who would lick their finger to see if something in black ink was the original.

  117. NurseNo*

    Working in home health we had a questionnaire of info about our patients who were diagnosed with dementia (not medical info, but food preferences, their normal routines etc). I then worked in a nursing home on a dementia ward and saw how difficult it was to care for patients who couldn’t express what they wanted without that info. I started asking questions at family dinner to my grandparents who are in their 80s (what do you normally have for supper? when do you like to get up in the morning? etc). My family eventually caught on and made fun of me for bringing work home.

    1. Thin Mints didn't make me thin*

      It’s useful, though! When my sister was in a coma, some of her friends made a helpful poster about who she was when she was awake, and what she liked to do. One of the things was that she liked having her hair braided, and after that went up on the wall, the nurses braided her hair every day. She may not have noticed, but I did, and it helped to know they were seeing her as a person and not just an inert body in a bed.

  118. Mollie*

    Almost 20 years ago, I waitressed for a summer during college at a fairly busy diner. My coworker, Laura, had worked there forever and put her kids through school waitressing. She was one of those people who knows her stuff and is usually right, but is sort of annoying about it. From her, I picked up the habit from her of saying “behind you” anytime I’m in close proximity to someone who may not be able to see me and we’re both in motion and dishes or other objects are at play, etc. I still do it all over the place–office, restaurant, grocery store, and it happens regularly in the kitchen with my spouse.

  119. Bex*

    I am a stage manager for theater and events and this bleeds into every aspect of my life – responding with a “thank you X” to anything someone tells me (“we should leave in 15 minutes” “thank you 15”) and spelling the word “Go” instead of saying it are pretty deeply ingrained habits.

    2. desdemona*

      I said this elsewhere, but when I’m particularly tired I get my left and rights backwards (reverting to stage left and stage right)!

      I also say “copy” and “heard” due to headset rules at one of my prior gigs, as well as “hold” when I want someone to stop what they’re doing!

    3. Dead Can Dance*

      Was coming here to say this!!! I usually don’t do theater projects anymore, but the urge is strong.

    4. Strict Extension*

      This is mine. I feel like the people who are inclined to think uncharitably about “theatre people” think it’s a cutesy act or a way of drawing attention to the fact that you do theatre, but no, it is 100% a knee-jerk reflex to say “thank you, five.”

    5. A. Ham*

      100%! Also, working box office and FOH management for years, I can see a problem a mile away when I am simply an audience member and have to strongly resist the urge to help. Scanner not working? traffic jam at the bar? ran out of programs? someone in the wrong seat? House held at the top of the show? intermission running long? That person has a ticket for tomorrow? I can help! (no. you can’t. you’re just here to watch the show).

    6. QED*

      I was scrolling to find my theater people! I’m a former stage manager and I also do the “thank you 5”, but I also have to fight the stage manager urge to take over coordination and manage events. And I do clock every transition when I’m at a performance.

  120. HipSaluki*

    I work in a secure area that requires a proximity badge and a PIN to open doors in and out of spaces. I also have a very convenient smart lock with a PIN pad at home. I bet you can see where this is going… MANY, many times, especially after long days, I’ve come home and attempted to badge in to my front door with my work code instead of my house code.

    1. Frank Doyle*

      I often unlock the office door and rarely lock my house door, but when I do, I usually accidentally use my office key first. They look nothing alike! One is painted like the American flag and the other has a silicone luchador mask on it.

  121. Dezzi*

    I worked in residential care for adults with intellectual disabilities for several years, and to this day I have to fight to keep myself from shouting “go back in there and wash your hands, please” across the house every time I hear a bathroom door open!

  122. whocares*

    After working in chaplaincy for a number of years I found myself asking people if they had a Power of Attorney and if they had planned their funeral. Yeah I’m a great person to have at parties.

    1. Thin Mints didn't make me thin*

      My father-in-law had done no planning when he died and it led to huge upheavals and 20-year grudges. So I say keep doing what you do.

  123. Corelle*

    I worked in a factory for a few years. During that time and for a LONG time afterward, I would experience the impulse to put on PPE whenever I entered a large building, and sometimes panic and check whether I had my safety glasses on in the middle of a place like the grocery store, before realizing I didn’t need them there.

    1. Corelle*

      Oh, I also compulsively pick up stray trash on the ground/floor, and I’m quick to speak up and push back (often very bluntly) if someone is doing or being encouraged to do something unsafe, particularly at work.

  124. Can Man*

    Technically habits from a hobby that predated my career, but see the question I sent in about incorporating martial arts at work (here’s where I updated: https://www.askamanager.org/2022/03/update-is-it-weird-to-incorporate-martial-arts-at-my-job.html ). It still influences how I push open heavy doors, get down for low work (though I no longer do the sit and rock back where anyone will be able to see me), how I do physical things like breaking down boxes, and how I balance while I step over lines of separation (we have a lot of precautions to prevent cross contamination between parts of my facility, including dedicated footwear that must stay on one side of a line), etc.

  125. Sleeping Sun*

    A really useful one:

    I live in Mexico City and we have relatively frequent earthquakes so by law every office has to have some personnel trained in first aid practices, safety, fire control and evacuation control. I was on that team at my previous job and now everywhere I go it’s automatic to notice emergency exists, fire extinguishers location and evacuation routes.

    Came really handy last February when we were at a farmer’s market and a small electrical fire broke, I was able to help before it really became a problem.

  126. Once an engineer, always an engineer*

    I was a civil engineer for 2 decades, working in business consulting for 12 years now. But I always notice stormwater – pipes, inlets, ditches, ponds, etc. Especially when there are puddles indicating that something is not working properly. And I know which firms designed sites all over my town so I know who messed up.

    1. Frank Doyle*

      Same, I am always taking notice of different-to-me ways of designing curbs, inlets, basins, basin outlet structures, etc. I only have one friend to whom I can send photos who might actually give a shit!

  127. LadyByTheLake*

    I worked in retail for a short time in the early 1980s and face (turn all bills face up and make sure they are oriented the same way) cash to this day. Forty years and an entire non-retail career later, I still get antsy whenever I see someone fail to face their bills.

  128. Better Butter*

    Lawyer speak. Saying to my spouse ‘For the avoidance of doubt, I am picking up [our child] today and you are picking them up tomorrow.’ Or ‘Barring the unforeseen, I was planning on making chili tonight.’

    1. BreakingDishes*

      I’ve been hearing “for the avoidance of doubt” on Judge Rinder and was having a hard time understanding what it was being used for. Your example helps-thank you.

  129. Becky S*

    I worked with intellectually impaired adults. I’m still in the habit of asking people I’m with “do you have your coat, purse, etc?”, also I scan the landscape for trip hazards.
    :-}

    1. Sally Rhubarb*

      My friend is forgetful so whenever we go out, I say “phone, keys, wallet, purse?” to verify she has everything.

      That does not go over well if you accidentally tell your boss that as you’re both leaving for the day.

      1. I Have RBF*

        We have a standard door check when we go out at my house: Wallet, phone, glasses and keys. Since 2020 we have added “mask”. We are all over 60.

  130. Retired Merchandiser*

    Yes!! One of my merchandising jobs was putting out greeting cards. To this day I still straighten cards in stores. Used to drive my kids crazy. They would yank on my arm, and say,”MOM!! You don’t work here!!” Or if was a store I serviced, “this is your day off. Give it a rest!!” I also find. myself critiquing endcaps and four-ways.

  131. Statler von Waldorf*

    After a previous job where I had to sign a extremely strict NDA, I still have to remind myself years later that I can actually talk about my current job without worrying about getting sued. My friends still make jokes about that time I secretly worked for the CIA.

    Of course, now that I can talk about my job, I still usually don’t, because talking about accounting is about as exciting as watching paint dry on a beige wall.

  132. Don't miss that job*

    I worked on a pornography-detecting project. As part of this, we had to label hundreds of thousands of pictures of adults in various clothing as okay, skimpy, or inappropriate based on very specific criteria. Shortly thereafter, I was on vacation at the beach and was horrified to find myself looking at other vacationers in their swimsuits and absently-mindedly judging them as okay or skimpy.

  133. megaboo*

    Librarian who has to make sure all the chairs are tucked in at restaurants or other places before we leave.

  134. Addison DeWitt*

    My sisters worked at a coffeeshop with, I think Taiwanese owners. They got used to them saying “Homm kling!” which is apparently how you say the phone is ringing, and started doing it at home. It spread to our entire family. We are Irish and German, by the way.

  135. Deborah*

    This isn’t home, but rather switching work contexts: When I left being a preschool teacher to go to library school and started an internship at an academic library, I had to regularly remind myself that it was totally fine that the scissors were just sitting out unmonitored, since all the kids were at least 17 or so…

  136. FormerBanker*

    I’m sure I’m not the only one who counts/arranges money in a specific way after working as a teller/personal banker.

  137. Jane Bingley*

    As an EA, I enter my boss’ personal information on basically a daily basis. Between booking flights and hotels, scheduling meetings via tools like Calendly, and making sure he’s got all the office supplies he needs to do his job smoothly, I use his personal information way more often than my own.

    As a result, I occasionally find myself rattling off his phone number for my insurance application, or giving his date of birth at my doctor’s office. It’s just so stuck in my head!

    1. New Mom*

      Going to prenatal appointments is a smaller version of this. I have my birth date, my due date, and the current date all floating around in my head.

  138. ruerue*

    I worked at a casino for a couple of years, and people who handle chips are taught to “clear hands.” This means that when you are done handling chips, you briefly turn over your hands to show your palm to the camera overhead (otherwise it’s pretty easy to pocket chips by suctioning them in the palm). You do it hundreds of times a day and end up doing it reflexively everywhere whenever you stopped touching a thing–you put your car keys down and clear hands, you put a plate of food in front of your partner and clear hands. I noticed that I particularly did this at shops, like I would pick up a thing off a grocery store shelf to look at and I would clear my hands after I put it back on the shelf. I think it was the subconscious awareness of the security cameras that triggered it.

    1. GoryDetails*

      Wow, I’d never heard of this before! It makes sense, but it would never have occurred to me…

    2. Penny Parker*

      This is the one I’ve been looking for! My partner quit the casino in March 2020 (something weird happened then which shut the entire place down). He still occasionally clears his hands when paying at the grocery store!

  139. RT*

    I’m a high school teacher. I have to fight the urge to give a verbal warning or confiscate phones that strangers’ kids take out in public. I love my job but that element of it is not fun….

    1. Ellis Bell*

      I don’t usually have an issue with this, but recently there was a kid watching really loud TikToks on the bus, without headphones, when everyone else was being really quiet and low key, and the urge to lecture has never been quite so strong.

  140. Anne Shirley*

    I’m sure anyone who proofreads or edits can relate. Whenever a TV ad with lots of text comes on (especially home service companies and health insurers), I have to stop myself from proofreading their ads. “You’re not at work, and these aren’t your clients, Anne!” Show me a bulleted list and I’m in work mode…

  141. LIZZIE*

    Nothing really from this job, but my PT retail job. We used to hand our sale stuff by color, and I do that in my own closet now! it really is so much easier to find stuff!
    I also find myself rehanging and refolding clothes when I’m shopping. Because I KNOW how much of a pain it is when people just dump everything everywhere, for the employees to clean up!

  142. kbeers0su*

    I worked in residence halls for years, where flyers and bulletin boards were standard. Any time I see a bare bulletin board (just the cork) and there are staples stuck in it, I want to go pluck every single one out. It was standard practice that every staple be removed at the end of the school year so it was ready for the next year. I also cringe when I see flyers hung with the tape on top of the flyer, as opposed to a tape loop behind the flyer. And also using anything other than painter’s tape, because masking tape will tear off paint, or dry up and become impossible to remove, and clear tape is impossible to remove in general.

  143. bamcheeks*

    My mum was a school counsellor / youth worker, and when I was fifteen and had parties I’d catch her in the corner adopting her “go on, I’m listening” face when she talked to my friends and have to go over and rescue them.

  144. Llama Llama*

    I work for a enormous company in the corporate accounting space. We really don’t think something is a significant problem unless it’s millions of dollars. We do care about smaller stuff but would still roll our eyes if someone came to us for a $2k problem that has to be fixed now!

    Outside of work, I have to stop myself because people (including me) care about $2k problems.

    1. Can't think of a funny name*

      LOL, Yes! “Immaterial” is a lot larger number at work then at home. My boyfriend like to make fun of rounding too…apparently I don’t use exact numbers very often, haha.

  145. PhyllisB*

    One that’s not work related. I was a member of the PTA and was going to a district meeting with some of the other moms. We passed a field full of cows and I said to the driver, “Look Mary!! Cows!!” Well, they all broke up over that, and told I needed to get out more, and they hoped I wouldn’t try to cut up their meat at lunch.

    1. Anon for This*

      Wisconsinite here – pretty sure it is a requirement to announce the presence of cows to everyone else in the car. (When you are with young children you call them moo cows.)

  146. GoryDetails*

    Number formats: When I started out learning computer programming (um, in the early 1970s…) we had to fill out forms for the code to be entered by the keypunch operators. I picked up the convention of writing my 7’s with a horizontal slash in the middle, and my zeros with a diagonal slash, all to ensure clarity for the data-entry folk. For some reason I’ve stopped writing my 7’s that way in recent years, but I do still slash my zeros…

  147. Alli*

    As a former preschool teacher, I automatically count heads every time I’m in a group. Have to make sure no one gets left behind!

    1. Morning Coffee*

      I used to have random “my head pops up and I do a headcount” because I have younger siblings, younger cousins, nieces, nephews… if everything was good, I continued what I was doing without it being distracting. Until one day I was doing it and I was unable to find my little sister but counted in her husband. It broke my brain.

  148. Mitford*

    I’m a drying cleaning snob. My very first job, in high school, was working at a dry cleaners, and I have my very own roll of red garment tape that I use to mark any stains on my clothes before I take them to the cleaners. Just to make sure, you know. I also will only go to an establishment that does the dry cleaning on premises, instead of one that collects the clothes and sends them to a central location, which means that I drive past three dry cleaners on my way to the one that still does it onsite. And, Lordy, don’t get me started on the whole stapling the dry cleaners number tag to the label in the neck of your clothing instead of using a freaking safety pin. That trend in the dry cleaning industry makes me absolutely mental. I have a Danish butter cookie tin full of safety pins I’ve collected off my dry cleaning thru the years, and I just may have to start bringing them to the cleaners and insisting they use them while I watch.

    The only thing I ever get dry cleaned these days is my winter coat (gone are the days where I wore suits to work), but it’s the principle, KWIM?

    2. CommanderBanana*

      My dry cleaners puts these little teeny tiny barcode stickers somewhere inside the clothes and I do not know what adhesive they use but you CANNOT get them off.

  149. Chem Guy*

    As a teenager I used to wash glassware in a chemistry lab. You’d soak the items in a weak acid and then rinse them out four times. Fifteen years later and any time I need to rinse something out (milk jug, coffee mug, and so forth) I always do it four times.

    1. I Have RBF*

      Interesting. When I was working in an analytical lab, we would have two level of cleaning – rinse 3 times, or rinse 3 times in 3 progressively cleaner washes (9x). I still have a hard time rinsing something only once.

  150. The Beagle Has Landed*

    I work in public transit and I’m obsessed with rolling stock. Any time I see one of our buses on the street I check its number (which tells me its model year and make), and when I’m out of town, I check the make and model of any buses or trains I see.

  151. Lainey L. L-C*

    Worked in a newsroom for years. The moment I hear sirens outside when I’m at work, I have a moment of “What’s happening? Check the scanner!” before I remember no one here cares. LOL.

    1. Frankie Mermaids*

      I do this too! Thankfully I now have a coworker who is married to a first responder so not only does she get it, but she actually has access to a scanner app we can check lol. I also routinely use MyCase to look up new coworkers, potential suitors, old high school classmates…

  152. Eng Girl*

    I’m in manufacturing for the aerospace industry, specifically in seating. I go through and “fix” things that are wrong on the seats around me when I fly, especially if the covers on the seats are messed up. Everyone I work with also does this because it drives us all crazy. I’m shocked we haven’t been pinged by flight attendants for “tampering” with the seats.

    1. i babysit adults in the sky*

      What are you fixing, the way the seat cushions are Velcro-ed down? I’m a flight attendant. This would hardly register amongst all the passenger atrocities we witness haha.

      1. Eng Girl*

        Lol yeah when I can tell is been moved out of position and it’s going to be less comfy, and sometimes the way the literature pocket in the back is attached because some airlines use a lot of Velcro in those areas and it get miss aligned. I just always worry that someone is going to think I’m hiding something dangerous in the seats lol

        I also very much enjoy know where the release usually is for the aisle armrest so I can slide right out and watching the other passengers look at me like I’m some type of genius for figuring it out

  153. Engineer for Life*

    My friend’s husband and I both work in industrial mining/chemical facilities. It drives her bonkers when we’re hanging out and I point out the safety risks inherent in an activity she wants to do (example – riding rental scooter WITHOUT A HELMET!!). Apparently I “sound just like *husband*”. Hate to be a buzz kill but nice work safety culture in the mining/chemical industry.

  154. Nicki Name*

    Safety habits from when I worked in a blue-collar environment. I always touch the handrail when using stairs no matter how icky it is, I will not cross the path of a car when walking anywhere there isn’t a traffic light unless I make eye contact with the driver first, and anytime I see someone working on something more than a couple feet off the ground I’ll check to see if they have proper fall protection.

  155. HonorBox*

    Weird one, but a coworker who passed away last year would sing “tell me what you want from me” any time someone would tell him they had a question. It took a little time, but I’ve started doing that because it always made people smile and it is a nice way to honor him.

    1. HonorBox*

      Sorry… typed too fast. “Tell me what you think about me” was the lyric. It’s “Independent Women” by Destiny’s Child I think.

  156. VinnieVinnyVee*

    I used to be a teacher, and I developed the habit of saying ‘oh, can you tell me more about that? or ‘Interesting; what do you mean?’ after students would routinely say wild things about a book they read (for example, “Can my thesis be Gatsby is an alien?”). It’s actually a super helpful habit to have when dealing with people in public health like I do now! It keeps me from sounding judgemental while letting me get more info.

    Currently I am on the phone all day, so when asked for my personal number, I often give my work one instead. But I think that’s pretty standard.

  157. Panicked*

    I used to work for Child Protective Services and silently judge people’s homes and parenting. I can’t help it. I would never say anything to anyone (unless it was a serious issue), but I can’t walk into someone’s home without mentally checking things off my “adequate home environment” checklist.

  158. marilynorma*

    So many different weird habits I picked up from different jobs:

    -I never enter a store within 30 minutes of closing of my own volition.
    -I will organize carts at the cart corrals in parking lots
    -I once made a toll taker’s day by automatically responding “and have a nice day” to her “thank you.”
    -After so many years working in museums, I don’t chew gum.
    -I have to be reminded that I’m not the tour guide when I go to other museums and historic sites. (I always end up near the front, and talk WAY too much).

  159. Knitting Cat Lady*

    I’ve been a safety engineer in the nuclear industry for 15 years now. My current hat is radiation protection
    -I assess workplace safety in everything because that’s the base of all safety
    -I closely watch how radioactivity and radioactive sources are handled in media
    -I tend to unnerve people by citing which common items are the most radioactive

    Also, every time something goes pear shaped with even a slight connection to anything radioactive or nuclear? Everyone I’ve ever known bombards me with questions.

    1. Darastrix*

      Now I’m wondering if you’ve ever seen the r/wyoming Reddit post where a woman received a radon detector from a friend and found her shared apartment had 224 pCi/l in the main room and over 500 in her bedroom. Her roommate turned out to have a large collection of radium watches and other sources of radium in a cabinet in his room. She used his radiation detector the next day when he was out, and it clocked 70 microsieverts/hr on her bed, and started alarming when she went into Roommate’s room, and went into overload when she put it in the cabinet itself.

      2. Kayem*

        I just did a double take because I used to live in Wyoming and a friend once brought a radon detector to test my apartment’s radon levels because I have a radioactive collection. Though in my case it’s, um, uranium ore and other radioactive minerals.

        Look, I was in the geology field for years and was focusing on radioactive minerals in paleoprospecting until I realized I didn’t actually like the lab work and moved on to a different field.* Collecting radioactive minerals is still a hobby (I was so excited when I picked up a dozen new specimens at the Denver show last year). My collection is proudly on display, much to my family’s amusement (they’re used to it, the alarm having worn off years ago). But I know what I’m doing, so everything is housed safely and the radon levels are all well within safe limits.

    2. Lisa J*

      I did a brief stint as a radiation safety officer, and for years afterward a particular frequency of beep / buzz would put me in to full subconscious alarm mode, raise the hair on the back of my neck – because it sounded like the Geiger counter going in full continuous beeeeeeeeeeep mode.

  160. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain*

    The font game…trying to ID a particular font, silently judge other people’s font choices, tsk tsk at the lack of proper kerning and leading… comic sans is not the worst font choice, but it’s never the best font choice. Silently go over why the flyer/poster/ad …whatever… violates ADA guidelines and is inaccessible to people with low vision, older people, people with cognitive challenges…

    1. Reba*

      Kerning is a big one for me. When I see especially egregious case, I have to point it out to my friend group. There’s a couple of local brands and/or signage that I’ve ruined for them now too. They can’t stand looking at it either.

  161. Juicebox Hero*

    I work in municipal government and my job has to do with real estate. I can rattle off the assessed value, tax status, sales history, and how much of a PITA the owner is to deal with for most of the commercial and way too many of the residential properties in my town.

    As a former retail slave, I also refold or otherwise straighten up messy displays, and thanks to handling cash I have to have it all facing the same way in order by denomination.

    1. Serin*

      I’m an inveterate clothing-folder too — and I haven’t worked retail since the early eighties!

      Once I was at a rummage sale going over a very messy table of very good, very cheap shirts. I quickly discovered that the easiest way to be sure I’d seen everything my size was going to be to pick each one up, and that setting it down folded would help me remember where I’d already been.

      After a while, I realized that the other customers were lining up behind me to see the shirts I had folded.

  162. CRM*

    In my previous career, I worked in environmental conservation with a focus on trail maintenance and alpine ecology. I’m the worst person to go on a hike with.

    3. Tangerina Warbleworth*

      You would get along so well with my husband, who does environmental education. The man cannot walk anywhere outside without checking out all of the plants to see which of them are invasive, and tutting. We were at the movies once, the movie took place in our home city, and there’s this beautiful, peaceful scene showing reeds bending in a light wind, and OUT LOUD he bitches, “FEH! Those are phragmites! They’re invasive, geez!” Because, of course, Hollywood producers are responsible for not showing invasive species……

  163. Serin*

    It’s been ten years since I left my church secretary work, but I still always know all the dates of all the Sundays in a given month. And I still have a little mental hesitation before I say the word “audience” because in a church job that’s not an audience, it’s a congregation.

  164. CommanderBanana*

    I worked for plaintiff attorneys for a few years and I see liabilities and potential lawsuits/injuries everywhere.

  166. SansSerif*

    As a copywriter, I proofread everything. For grammar, spelling, and whether it could be shorter and more to the point. I also internally criticize font choice.

  167. Well...*

    Scientist here, and I def bring scientific lingo into my normal life (I fought it for so long but I’ve given up.)

    Saying things like “plus or minus” or “modulo” instead of “barring.”

    Talking about personal life considerations as “boundary conditions.”

    Talking about how likely something is in terms of “sigmas.”

    I hate it but the war is lost.

  168. Information Goddess*

    When I went back to work at a college library after my maternity leave, I found myself nonsense talking to the students to fill silences like the silence you get when you say click on this link and you are waiting for the page to load— because I’d spent the last few months babbling to my baby.

  169. Emilia Bedelia*

    I work in regulatory for medical devices. My weird habit is that I look at the packaging for any devices or drugs that I use, since writing labeling and reviewing packaging is part of my job.
    It’s amazing how much you can learn about the company from looking at their symbols…. and how many poorly written or noncompliant things you can find on products from very reputable companies!

    1. Grace*

      After 8 years as a city councillor I will always remark on a particularly well- (or badly-) resurfaced road. I don’t even drive

  170. Czhorat*

    A long time ago I did residential cable installations. One thing they taught me was that it was preferable to knock on the door than ring a bell because the latter could disturb sleeping babies, dogs, etc.

    I don’t know if this was actual good advice, but since then I almost always default to knocking rather than doorbell ringing.

    1. Red Reader the Adulting Fairy*

      I don’t know about babies, but every dog I’ve ever had reacted FAR worse to knocking than to doorbells. And right now, my doorbell actually just buzzes my phone/watch, so if my dogs don’t notice someone coming up on the porch, they won’t notice the doorbell either. (But they notice car doors and people coming up on the porch, so there’s no escaping the ruckus. Which is why I have a sign on my door stating my preference.)

  171. RIP Pillowfort*

    I work with roadway construction/engineering and some of the things I do:

    1. Comment on defects or perfections I notice in walls/bridges/pavement structures.
    2. Speculate on the causes of the problems with walls/bridges/pavement structures (because that’s a key part of what I do for a living).
    3. As a passenger riding through construction zones, mentally note what work is being done and what safety steps should be taken.
    4. When I get out of my car anywhere, the first thing I do is look around and note where any big equipment is and where I am in relation to it.

  172. DrSalty*

    Medical writer who does a lot of editing for word count limits here … I have a tendency to mentally eliminate all the extra words in any written text I see

  173. Jennifer in FL*

    I frequently ask grown adults if they need to potty before we go anywhere. I teach preschool.

    As an aside- at the end of last school year a large group of my coworkers and myself went to a local drag show. Those of us who weren’t drinking were constantly counting heads so as not to lose anyone and saying things like, “Friends, let’s stay together!”

  174. ScruffyInternHerder*

    re: Lifeguarding and yelling “no running!”

    I feel either seen or attacked and I’m not sure which!

  175. Cakeroll*

    I’m a product manager (for online products i.e. websites) and web accessibility has always been a focus of mine. Every site I go to, first thing I do is press the Tab key to see whether the site has visible focus indicators which meet contrast requirements, and whether all key interactive elements are keyboard-focusable (it’s just one of many accessibility requirements, but the fastest/easiest for me to do).

  176. NaN*

    My company’s bug tracking system used to be one that called bugs “CARs” (corrective action requests). So we would talk about “I’m working on CAR#XXX” and “have you closed that CAR yet?” and “update the details in the CAR.” We haven’t used that system for years, but to this day, if I need to type something about a car (as in, vehicle) I will always auto-pilot to holding down the shift key and shout CAR.

  177. debbietrash*

    I have a fine arts education (photography, textiles, and fashion), and am constantly analyzing whether those trades are being represented correctly in TV and movies.

    Example: The colour purple was historically saved for royalty and maybe upper aristocracy because it was such a difficult and labour-intensive colour to produce (re: crushed mollusk or bug shells and urine) which made it expensive and therefore exclusive (I’m also sure there were sumptuary laws in place). In the movie Tangled they’re searching for the lost princess, and I’m sitting at home yelling, “She’s wearing a purple dress! She’s right there! How are you missing this?!” I’m sure the creative team knew what they were doing in making Rapunzel stand out from everyone else wearing browns, yellows, and greens, but it still gets me to this day.

    1. Alexander Graham Yell*

      Can you come sit by me during movies? I never catch this stuff and I would *love* letting you rant about it.

    2. Beth*

      I can’t stand live-action historical movies any more — sooo many terrible blunders, I spend too much time yelling at the screen.

      My current #1 peeve: no colour. Everything is brown and grey and muddy dark shades, even for the wealthy. Apparently colour wasn’t invented until the modern era.

  178. cleo*

    I learned a couple things from my mother that I realized later came from her early work experience. She worked in health care before she had kids and to this day I make the bed with hospital corners and I fold fitted sheets neatly (following the system she learned from one of her professors in the 1960s).

  179. MiddleAgeRage*

    Years ago when I drove a forklift in a factory, there were convex mirrors on the ceilings at blind junctions and intersections, so drivers could look for oncoming forklifts, wandering employees, and in general just to make sure the coast was clear before proceeding. This was DRILLED into our safety training to operate a forklift inside a busy factory.

    It took years to train out the habit of looking to the ceiling whenever I entered a long hallway or exited a doorway. More than once I’ve had to explain to people commenting, “What are you doing??” when I hesitated and looked up to the ceiling before stepping out.

    Safety first, man.

  180. ferrina*

    Taking off gloves in the correct way so my skin never touches the outside of the glove.
    I picked this up while working in a daycare- changing 100 diapers a day means 100 glove changes per day.

    In the winter I have to pay close attention or I’ll take off my winter gloves this way.

  181. JustaTech*

    This is one I don’t mind that I’ve brought home from work: I date and initial most of the food in the fridge and freezer. In a bio lab everything needs a date and your initials (so we know who’s in charge of that nasty thing in the incubator), so you just get used to doing it.

    I also write my dates 31Aug23, even though most Americans would write it 8/31/23.

    Oh, and I write my initials as a single motion, because after you have to date and initial 50-100 things in a day, you get really fast at the initials.

    1. Alexander Graham Yell*

      I date everything YYYYMMDD and honestly, my files are SO much more organized now. Thanks, logistics, for that habit!

  182. CardSharknado*

    When I worked as a blackjack dealer at a casino, we were trained to “clear our hands” after handling any money, chips, cards… basically if we touched anything, we had to show that our hands were empty before and after. This was a security procedure to make sure there could be no accusations or actual instances of cheating.

    For years after, I would still find myself flipping my hand over and back whenever I touched money. When I was actually working there, I did it whenever I touched anything at home too. Go to take a drink? Clear my hand. Picking up a fork? Clear my hand. Smoothing sheets when making my bed? Better clear your hand or someone will think you were hiding money or cards in the mattress!

  183. TextHead*

    I work for a company that leases short codes (ie. Text SALES to 333111). There are specific compliance regulations for a proper call to action. Whenever I see a short code in the wild, I’m checking to see if they are following the rules (surprise! Many aren’t)

  184. CJ Cregg*

    I used to work in broadcast news, so there are MANY that persist to this day. I routinely use “standby stations” as a way to say “hang on” or “just one minute.” I also still use city and county abbreviations that my old station used (despite them not being relevant in my current life). Oh, and of course, the constant need to know what’s going on anytime there’s a siren in my neighborhood.

  186. Alexander Graham Yell*

    Oh God, when hearing people traveling outside their home country/currency debate if they should choose local currency or their own I *regularly* chime in. I can’t help it.

    Local currency. Always local. Do not be at the mercy of the acquirer deciding what rate to pass along to you, it will not be in your favour. Choose local, get the spot rate EVEN IF it means you have to wait a day or two for your balance to update in your banking app.

    1. Jaunty Banana Hat I*

      You are doing the Lord’s work there. I can’t fathom why anyone would think they’d even be able to use their home currency in a place with a different one, but I know there are tons of people who don’t even think about it when they travel. No, you cannot just use dollars everywhere. Breaks my brain every time I encounter it.

    2. Tiny clay insects*

      I own a travel company and I always remind my clients of it. when the car reader has the option, “oh, do you want to pay in usd?” it makes it look so helpful, like why wouldn’t you? I am always like, don’t do it, the exchange rate is worse!!

  187. Designers are fun*

    As a graphic designer I am always subconsciously critiquing and redesigning any graphic design I see in the wild. Just seeing a poster an immediately thinking “just nudge that text over a bit and made the headline 5pt bigger”…

    Also if you go to any store or restaurants with me I will let you know what font they’re using.

    1. mh_ccl*

      I do more document layout than full-on graphic design, BUT. I constantly internally and externally critique layout of things. We watch Netflix with the closed captions on, and I mentally redo the line breaks for more balanced lines on every SINGLE one.

  188. Art Department*

    Not me, but someone I worked with: I had a manger with two very young daughters, who was giving me directions over my shoulder and watching my screen. Once I got the task done, she squealed “Good girl!” No one said anything. I was at least 10 years older than her; it just added to the cringe.

    1. Lily Rowan*

      I was dating a guy with a young child, and when I brought the plates into the kitchen after dinner one time, he said, “You’re a good helper!”

  189. jjr*

    Former librarian. Every single time we answered a reference question, we’d need to mark it down (some libraries use an online tracker, some use paper and a pencil). I still have the urge to track how many questions I answer.

  190. Katie*

    I used to work at the Disneyland Resort, which has people working around the clock to make it all work. Due to that, they use the 24-hour clock system rather than the am/pm clock system on everything they schedule internally. It has been 7.5 years since I worked there, and I still use the 24-hour clock system for my phone, my calendar, etc.

    1. ArchivesPony*

      One of my former bosses grew up in the military and He’s the same way. He had everything on military time

    2. OyHiOh*

      Humorous anecdote: One of my very good friends is active duty military, has been in “forever.” Uses military time/24 hour clock always and only. Ocassionally, this leads to mix ups where they don’t calculate my “pm” times correctly.

      I can track time zone changes with ease, but translating am/pm to 24 hour time does not flow in my brain. And one time recently, we were trying to figure out a time zone shift (east to west) plus the ending time in 24 hour format and my brain just got stuck for a minute. “Wait, ‘fall back’ math *and* 24 hour format math?! ACK!”

    3. iglwif*

      I went to school in French for many years, which meant telling time in French as well (“quelle heure est-il?” “il est quinze heures et demie”), and I got very used to the 24-hour clock — especially the way it removes ambiguity.

      I don’t actually say “it’s fifteen o’clock” out loud in English, because that just sounds weird, but I definitely use the 24-hour clock on my phone and computer, and write “15:00” in English-language emails. (I have at least managed to train myself out of writing “15h00” in English.)

    4. Hybrid Employee (Part Human, Part Wolf)*

      A couple of friends worked Disney cruises and spent years training themselves out of smiling, making eye contact, and verbally greeting with every single person they passed, as it was required with guests.

  191. Sola Lingua Bona Lingua Mortua Est*

    I don’t know if it’s weird per se, but almost any promise or assertion now sends my mind to “and if it’s a lie/wrong/changes/reneges/fails/etc” and directly into redundancies, backups, and Plan B’s. Acquaintances and peers act shocked or dumbfounded by what goes wrong that I either shrug off or was prepared for.

    While I’ve always been a defensive thinker to one degree or another, I wasn’t like this 20+ years ago before I got into this industry. I’m pretty sure I can trace it back to repeated, consistent mala fide from upstream.

    I just don’t operate in a reality where things going right is normal any longer.

  192. Spicy Tuna*

    The inability to ever take time off; intense, crushing feelings of guilt for scheduling vacations; the inability to eat lunch or dinner without also sitting in front of a computer and working; the compulsion to answer work texts and emails 24/7

  193. Weaponized Pumpkin*

    As a former lifeguard, I totally want to yell “no running” at kids. I also immediately start counting as soon as I see lightning to calculate how far away it is.

    As a former designer, I mentally rekern signs and headlines and critique bad typography. If you give me access to any business documents, I will probably clean up object alignment and line breaks.

    I use the phone so little now it’s faded but for a long time I would slip into my receptionist voice from my time in the admin world.

    1. JustaTech*

      My husband was a beach lifeguard for a few summers in college and whenever we’re at a body of water (lake, river, pond, canal, ocean) he faces the water – like if we’re talking he’ll just keep scooting around until he’s facing the water and I’m facing the shore. He doesn’t even realize he’s done it.

      1. Weaponized Pumpkin*

        That’s funny! A few years ago I was visiting an old lifeguard friend at a pool, and we joked about how automatically both of us kept an eye on the swimmers. Always scanning! It’s been decades but those grooves are deep.

  194. teensyslews*

    From a years ago job as a cashier: how I scan items in a self checkout (my partner examines the packaging carefully for the barcode and scans, I wiggle it blindly until I hear the beep) and always. remembering. the PLU. for bananas.

    From working as a process analyst in an ecommerce warehouse: I examine all my online order shipments to judge their packaging and how the order was packed (and then explain what I like/dislike and what their process probably was to my partner who is slowly edging away).

    1. Sola Lingua Bona Lingua Mortua Est*

      From a years ago job as a cashier: how I scan items in a self checkout (my partner examines the packaging carefully for the barcode and scans, I wiggle it blindly until I hear the beep) and always. remembering. the PLU. for bananas.

      I spent parts of two summers as a cashier as well. When my kart’s contents come down the conveyor, every UPC is either directly underneath the item or face up to the cashier (for the hand scanner) and organized into like (so cold and dairy together, pasta/bread/pantry staples together, heavy items before light ones, etc. I literally get through the lines in a quarter of the time that those around me do just from the minimal effort to make the cashier’s job easier.

      1. teensyslews*

        Oh yeah I organize my groceries on the belt into like (which does not stop cashiers from picking through anyways… all the dry goods are there why are you reaching for those apples????). I always volunteer to bag if available and when I have to do my own I still build the bags how I was trained.

  195. Generic Name*

    Former field biologist. I automatically identify every plant species I see, look for bird nests, and muse about the hydrological source of wetlands I see and note any human-caused alterations to the landscape.

  196. Christmas Carol*

    I am one of over a thousand volunteers at a major fall festival in my hometown, specializing in selling food/beverage tickets. After repeating, Thank you. Enjoy the festival, “We’re glad you’re here” several hundred times each night, it takes me over a month to stop ending every conversation with that magic phrase.

  197. ArchivesPony*

    Librarian, more specifically an Archivist who’s career is in higher ed and here’s the things I do in public:
    – cringe at the use of tape on documents
    – cringe at people using staples (tape is worse)
    – Lamination ick
    – I have a very hard time not butting into conversations if I hear people talking about what to read next (I love recommending books)
    – As someone with a history degree, people getting facts wrong drives me up a wall. It’s the reason I have a very hard time watching historical fiction on TV (I have a much easier time reading it for some reason and it’s my favorite genre). Don’t even get me started if there’s animals in historical fiction :D

    1. JustaTech*

      I spend a summer working for the preservation department of a large academic library and I learned that the “paper attachment methods” that librarians hate are:
      3: Staples, because at least they are small
      2: Paperclips, because the ones we encountered were so old they rusted through several pages)
      1: Tape. Just please no tape.

  198. The Pleasant Pheasant*

    The lifeguarding one is real! After many summers as a lifeguard, it took years before I could see a running child without immediately telling them no running!

    From my time at a five star resort:
    -I still can’t say “you’re welcome” as it’s been thoroughly brain washed right out of my vocabulary. Acceptable responses to being told thanks would be “certainly”, “absolutely”, “my pleasure”, etc. This one drives my husband nuts that I can’t shake it.
    -I am also still unable to start an email without a “correct” salutation (good morning/afternoon/evening, NEVER hi or hello) and closing (best regards, sincerely, etc).
    -The customer service voice; it never goes away unless I’m talking to a close friend or family member.

    From my time working with animals:
    -Every time I see the type of animal I work with in a non work setting, I still automatically mentally assess the weight/health/condition of the animal and what health concerns it may have and how they could be treated. If someone is handling the animal, I’m also probably judging how they are interacting with it.
    – I obsessively check the weather. At any given time I can tell you the weather (temps, sun, rain chances, storms) for the next 10 days.

  199. Health care*

    I work with stroke patients and have to stop myself from reminding people to speak to their doctor immediately about blood pressure medication if they say they have high blood pressure, and opining about lifestyle changes a person can make to try to lower their blood pressure.

  200. Magnus Archivist*

    Digital archivist here. I make sure any files I create in my personal life — that I intend to keep for a while — have HUMAN READABLE FILENAMES.
    (The rest of my skillset is kind of overkill for personal files, honestly. But being able to search for “halloween 2022” instead of scrolling through a sea of “IMG_482309243098.jpg” is truly great.)

    3. Kayem*

      Definitely not overkill! I even before I was an archivist, I would do that with my files because I hated wasting time opening every weirdly named picture to find one cat photo. I have a whole folder of photos from years that I don’t know the actual dates they were taken because they had been copied from an ancient drive to a (now antique) computer and the original creation dates were completely stripped and replaced with the dates they were copied over. Had I known better back then, the file properties dates wouldn’t even matter.

  201. Ms. Carter*

    My worst sin is commenting unsolicited marketing advice when I see a small business with no idea what they’re doing marketing on Instagram. Usually construction companies for some reason? I hate seeing small business owners waste money!

  202. ThreeSeagrass*

    I’m not sure any of these are particularly weird, but my job as an academic librarian has led me to:
    1. write emails with numbered or bulleted lists, particularly if they contain multiple points. I send so many emails with step-by-step directions (….and yes, I know I’m doing that here)
    2. Related, giving people very thorough directions if they ask where something is
    3. Critiquing (mostly in my head, unless it’s someone I know well) when people post links to sketchy information sources on social media/doing some quick lateral reading before I click on any links

    1. saminrva*

      Fellow academic librarian and +1 on all of these! My spouse is a librarian too and we joke that no one can hang out with us for an evening without receiving a list of links afterward (to things we talked about, recommended, etc.). That meme about librarians citing their sources is totally true.

  203. Just here for the scripts*

    Having been a classroom teacher for 10 years, I’m trained to listen behind me (think when writing in the board, monitoring the room, clarifying questions and correcting misunderstandings kids have, etc). Even though I left the classroom 20+ years ago I still am focused that way—drives hubby nuts when I am (seem to be) listening to the couple behind us at the restaurant rather than focusing forward when we’re out. Gotta admit he has a point—especially on date night.

    1. The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon*

      Okay, but what if the couple behind you are saying something juicy??

  204. Megan Pratt*

    I’m in marketing, more specifically I consult tech companies on their marketing strategies.

    It’s nearly impossible for me to keep myself from analyzing the strategy of any and all popular media. For instance, I gave my husband an entire dissertation-level rant on Taylor Swift, her target audience, her key differentiators, the tactics she uses, etc. He’s used to it at this point so he just nodded and smiled lol

    And yes, I AM very fun at parties, thanks for asking :)

  205. No Longer Gig-less Data Analyst*

    Whenever I get a new prescription or even see a drug commercial on TV, the first thing I look at is who the manufacturer is.

  206. Brunelleschi*

    Over many years of serving/kitchen work during school I was trained to habitually call my location when passing people in close quarters. You call out: “Behind!” This keeps line workers and sous chefs with big knives safe. If holding something hot, you call out: “Hot behind!” Didn’t realize how much of this was still habituated until 20 years later I ducked into a crowded faculty lounge to grab a cup of coffee and startled an assistant dean into a blushing, “Er, thanks?” Still haven’t lived that one down.

  207. Goose*

    Haven’t worked in restaurants in years, but I still replace toilet paper and wipe down sinks without thinking about it. I don’t do it at home, but something about a restaurant bathroom triggers my instincts!

  208. Environmental Compliance*

    I have become known for being the person who subconsciously does a safety assessment and then brings safety gear and/or pushes for changes to the plan for safety.

    IE: field trip planned for graduate class. It’s hotter than hell. No mention of water or snacks provided, or electrolytes, cooling bandanas, breaks, access to AC. So I suggested water/snacks/gatorades/breaks to the professor and brought cooling bandanas, strategically shoo’d the group into shaded areas for discussions, and strategically requested breaks in AC. Another student made the comment that I must be an HSE person. Yes, yes I am. Professor really liked the bandanas.

    I’m also known for being the Identification Wizard. Random frog/plant/bird/bug? Bring to EC, she’ll tell you what it is. 90% of the time, I can. Remnants of being a lakes ecologist and really into species identification. No one ever asks me to ID my favorite things though, small leaf pondweeds. :(

    1. Environmental Compliance*

      Oh – and I have absolutely tried to “badge in” to my house. And my car. And anywhere that has a door that isn’t automatic. I once tried to badge in to my house with my phone. I was very tired that day.

      1. The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon*

        I’m surprised more people haven’t mentioned this! I’ve tried to badge in with a coffee, with my phone, with my actual badge but to a door that wasn’t even locked…

  209. Valkyrie*

    I was a camp counselor and then camp director for a total of 12 years. I stopped sometime around 2014. I STILL do headcounts with friends when we’re all in a big group to make sure nobody has been left behind.

  210. Alexandra*

    I have one habit I’ve never dropped since working in retail. When I am trying on clothes, I always put what I don’t want back where I found it. If I pick up something like a shirt that’s folded on a table, it goes back folded as it was.

  211. Gender Menace*

    I worked at an animal shelter around 10 years ago, and to this day I STILL have to fight the urge to yell “DOG” when I’m going around corners while walking my dog at home.

    1. The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon*

      If we’ve learned anything from this comments section, it’s that most people are restraining themselves from yelling something when they’re going around a corner.

      1. Phlox*

        People who bike as their main transportation do similar but the bike versions while driving. We all have stories of hand signaling, looking at the wrong signal heads etc.

    4. Famous Amos*

      I work with therapeutic horseback riding. One morning at the tacking bays, our hippo therapy instructor had me crying with laughter when he said his wife was upset with him because they were out shopping that week and he inadvertently asked her to “walk on.”

    5. JustaTech*

      I haven’t been riding in decades, only did it a few summers as a kid, and yet I *still* cluck at other drivers!

    6. Environmental Compliance*

      I have absolutely “EHHHHNNTTT”‘d at people. At work.

      I maintain that it’s not my fault they were about to touch somewhere not great and it was the quickest thing that came to mind and, I mean, it worked? They stopped? No one burnt off their fingertips?

      The clucking (which I also do) people at least chuckle at. The ehhnntt-ing scares them.

  213. Buni*

    At the end of any communal event I will automatically start looking for black bags and will almost certainly end up joining in with the washing up.

    More helpfully, after years of presenting in classrooms I automatically reverse all my actions, directions, air-writing etc. so they are correct for a viewer (ie the wrong way round to me).

  214. JTP*

    I’m a graphic designer. In the “wild,” I’m always looking at things like billboards, posters, flyers, etc. thinking how I would have designed them differently.

  215. Andrea*

    I worked at Dairy Queen for one summer a million years ago. I still make the little loop on top of my ice cream when I go to self-serve places.

  216. Sassy SAAS*

    I have two! I used to work in the live events industry, so if I go to a concert, convention, speaking event, theater performance, etc etc, I look at the lighting/audio/staging set up. I used to be able to identify specific lights or speakers I’d worked with, but not so much anymore.

    I also used to work with a dog training facility in an admin capacity, so I’m always guessing dog breeds or willing to offer training resources or general advice (not so much actual training plans to action items as I wasn’t a trainer myself, but I did learn a few things!)

  217. Bluebonnet*

    My friend is paid to take care of three year old boy who is being potty trained and offering encouragements when he uses the toilet.

    One evening after work, she automatically told her husband “good job” after he used the bathroom. Whoops!

  218. Unkempt Flatware*

    From working in banks (and I don’t know why this happened so often only in banks): tearing a paper in a straight line by folding it over the edge of a counter.

    From working at FedEx loading freight at night: how to score a label on a package so you can easily rip it off with only taking the first layer of cardboard.

    From being a teacher: how to smile.

  219. Lunch Eating Mid Manager*

    These are hilarious. I have another version of the hydration one. As a former summer camp counselor, it was drilled into us to drill into the kids to drink more water. The mantra all summer long for three summers in a row was, “Never pass a water fountain without getting a drink!” Fifteen years later, I’m bustling down the corridor in a city hall with a group of colleagues in a hurry on our way to an important meeting. Suddenly I break away from the group, veering off to the side to a water fountain. I slurp down a big slug of water. I turn back to the group, wiping away the drips. Everyone in the group is paused, waiting for me. “Never pass a water fountain without getting a drink!” I chirp. “Does anyone else want one?”

    1. D'Euly*

      I have a sitcom-like vision of a beat of silence, then tight nods at each other as your colleagues all rapidly follow your example. “Bad time to dehydrate,” mutters one.

    2. Hybrid Employee (Part Human, Part Wolf)*

      As a camp counselor in a municipal-funded and therefore underfunded camp, we had to keep the kids outside unless the air quality was code orange or above — even when it was 102°. To get them to hydrate, I rallied my fellow college-age counselors to teach “hydration games.” Somewhere out there, there were a bunch of college freshmen last year who were unexpectedly very experienced at Flip Cup and what they learned as “Water Pong.”

  220. Cat Tree*

    I work in sterile drug manufacturing. A basic principle is that we can’t sterilize equipment as a substitute for cleaning. It has to go through a cleaning cycle and then get sterilized. You can’t just have sterile dirt, essentially.

    So when I had my child and was pumping milk, a common bit of advice was to save time by just rinsing (not washing) the pump parts and then sterilizing them in the microwave bag. Logically I realize that it doesn’t have to be sterile in the same way as a drug that gets injected into the blood. I’m sure it’s fine to do, but I could just never bring myself to sterilize them without washing first.

    1. JustaTech*

      I do a lot of aseptic processing and I’ve had to remind myself that I don’t have to be *that* rigorous with not passing my hand over the open bottle of just-pumped milk like I would with cell media in the lab.

  221. ENFP in Texas*

    I used to work in the two-way radio division of the large communications company, and I had to stop myself from nitpicking TVs shows and movies that weren’t using the push-to-talk button correctly on the radios. If you don’t release the PTT, you’re not going to hear what the other person says!

  222. Jaded Nurse*

    Reaching for my belt to for keys to unlock the doors inside my house after too many shifts working on a forensic unit. Also, counting cutlery back in after meals, and panicking if I spotted a rogue pair of scissors left lying around!

    1. Arglebarglor*

      Oh, I still pat my chest when I need to call someone, looking for the Vocera communicators we used in my last ED.

  223. All in!*

    I work at a casino and also work part time as a food delivery driver. I constantly say “good luck” at the casino and once handed someone their Taco Bell order and said”good luck!”

    1. Took the girl out of the theater...*

      oh, I do this, too. I work in an office now, but everyone knows I am an ex-theater person, so it has an explanation (all of my friends are theater people, so that needs no explanation).

      I did have to train myself out of my stage manager habits of treating every task like it’s mission-critical, with backups and cross-checks and processes to ensure that everything runs smoothly, no matter who is doing it or what crisis is going on. Turns out that the day-to-day of an office is…not always the same level of razor-thin margin of performance/precision that ones goes through when calling a highly technical show. Lots of conversations like:

      Me: So, I typed up my process and saved it here here, so that if I ever get hit by a bus, someone else can take up the task right away
      My manger: you typed up a protocol to do this minor thing that only you do or need to know about? and also….hit by a bus?
      Me: And we should make sure there is a backup version of each file saved in two different places, in case the power goes out and we can’t access–
      My manager: If you get hit by a bus we will not be worrying about this, and also if the power goes out we will just do other things until it comes back on.
      Me: (quietly, to self) yes, but now we will be prepared for everything. Everything.

      1. Hybrid Employee (Part Human, Part Wolf)*

        To make it less frightening for normie managers, I usually phrase it as “I wrote these instructions so absolutely anyone can do this in case I get abducted by aliens.”

      2. I Have RBF*

        See, in IT we need to do this too. DR/emergency planning is a definite thing in IT infra work. Cable cuts, power outages, fires, floods, wind, etc are all considerations. During out current discussions on where our new DR site will be (we arte moving out of the old one), I mentioned that Los Angeles was geographically too close to our main DC in Nevada, that we should use something east of the Mississippi.

  225. Oak*

    I’m not in a tech role but learned the basics of agile at my old company a couple years ago. I’m also the de facto notetaker of a DnD group whose campaign has been going on for years.

    I made a virtual kanban board for my DnD group so we could keep better track of all our objectives, and I’m both pleased and annoyed at how well it’s been working for us.

  226. Le Vauteur*

    “Shoelaces” and a meaningful point at the unlaced shoe, or “your shoes are undone”. To both staff at the school I work at and to the general public.

  227. Csethiro Ceredin*

    I work for a company that runs mental health programs and spent most of my time working with one combating impaired driving. I now am uncomfortably noticing/calculating how much everyone drinks and how much time is passing at any social events when people are driving home. I also side-eye other cars a lot more than I used to, particularly after 10pm.

  228. Bluz*

    I love these stories. My boyfriend is an architect and helped design some of our transit stations. When we go on the subway he will stare at the ceiling and walls and rattle off what they did right or what they did wrong. It’s hilarious to hear.

    1. S*

      My grandfather was an architect, and when some relatives were designing a room in their addition to hold a large freezer, he told them the room wasn’t wide enough to get the freezer in. They ignored him because the dimensions of the room were technically large enough, so the freezer would have fit if you’d somehow built the room around it, but sure enough, when they tried to put it in, it wouldn’t fit because you need some extra space to turn the thing diagonally to put it in place. So now they have a huge freezer that’s awkwardly at a slight diagonal with the walls of the room.

    2. Varthema*

      I’m married to an architect and had no idea that the built world had so many imperfections – too many materials on one facade, useless features, weird flaws. It’s a blessing and a curse! (but mainly a curse)

  229. Penny Pasta*

    I used to have a job that involved correcting article proofs by hand. I had to use proofreaders marks, which involve a series of symbols written on the paper to let the typesetter know what they need to do to the text. For a long time, when writing personal notes by hand, I would use the marks: making a circle around a period or putting a caret over a comma.

  230. Maotseduck*

    My brother used to do health and safety for a truck driver union and he and my mom both evaluate the number of tie downs on 18 wheelers.

    I used to work for a fire department and commented this past weekend about how inaccessible a fire hydrant we saw on vacation was to a truck.

  231. Keyboard Jockey*

    I work in the federal government, and I have discovered the hard way that the phrase “taking leave” implies to my “real world” friends that I’m having a child, probably because “parental leave” is the only way that word really gets used in the private sector. No, I swear, “going to Hawaii” is not a euphemism for pregnancy!

  232. Ama*

    I did a summer temp job in college where for a month all I did was mail out secret shopper reports to franchise owners of the larger company I was working for — this required me to tri-fold hundreds of 5-6 page reports in order to fit them in to the envelope. I am still, 20 years later, really good at tri-fold letters and the best technique to make sure the top part of the letter is what’s immediately visible when you pull it out of the envelope.

    I don’t need it as much these days in our digital world — I used to use it once a year at least to mail back our signed lease renewal to our not very digital landlord, but we bought a house this year so that will no longer be necessary.

    1. Sola Lingua Bona Lingua Mortua Est*

      That reminds me… I spent ~6 months right out of college preparing paperwork to be scanned and digitally archived. To this day, I’m still pretty adept at extracting staples from paperwork by hand, quickly, without tearing or mangling the paper.

  233. frida*

    HR professionals who can never quietly enjoy workplace comedies because they can’t stop thinking about all the insane documentation required…. raise your hands!

  234. DataLady*

    Oh, the business jargon… One day I told my husband I felt a need to “level set” with him. He asked me what that means. I thought about it and told him anytime someone at my then company said it what they really meant was :Let me lower your expectations, because you aren’t getting what you thought you were going to get.

    1. pally*

      I read the term and thought you all were headed to the toolbox for a bubble level or some such thing.

  235. Space misfit*

    One of my favorite of these (though sadly not mine personally) is when you see videos of astronauts when they’re back on earth and they temporarily finish with something (a pen, a mug), hold it up next to them…and drop it. Too used to zero G!

    1. General von Klinkerhoffen*

      Related, but not work, my sister in law admitted she struggled putting my then-toddlers down after a hug – because with cats, such as she was very used to, you just kind of drop/pour them…

  236. El*

    At my first job after leaving many years of work in foster care services, I was always waiting on the Friday of a three-day weekend for things to blow up and for kids to get dropped off for an emergency replacement.

    1. Generic Name*

      Can you elaborate on the timing of the emergency placements. I’ve definitely noticed that my ex seems to create a custody “crisis” around holidays.

  237. Tara*

    I worked retail for a living for 10 years, now I’m in a white collar job with no need for coverage and reasonable bosses. I still have to fight the urge to “sound sick” when I call in, or overexplain my reason when I’m able to email in instead. In retail you better sound like you’re about to die or like you just got done throwing up or they’re gonna argue with you to get you to come in anyways, or sometimes require a doctor’s note. In the white collar world you don’t really need anything more than “I’m not feeling well so I’m going to take a sick day.” You don’t need to sound sick on the phone and you don’t need to explain what’s wrong with you by email.

    1. Arglebarglor*

      Same. As a nurse on some jobs we were required to call the charge nurse to explain why we weren’t coming in. Then switched to a job with a voicemail–as long as you called at least 2 hours before your shift you didn’t have to speak with anyone.

  238. Casual Librarian*

    I work in a processes/policy development position, and every time a friend or family member says something in the vein of ‘I have a great idea about how X should be done’ or ‘ Why can’t that department just…..**something that sounds easy but would require entire systems to be changed, staff priorities to be updated, software to be purchased and trained**’, I immediately respond with something to the effect of, “can you imagine the implications of all of that? How would they even carry out that process?” or so on and so forth. I have been told I am an expert fun-killer since I can’t let people discuss made up ideas without bringing up reality.

    1. JustaTech*

      A friend and I both work in (different) highly regulated industries and when our Tech industry friends talk about doing stuff that would be “easy” and “regulations are unnecessary” we look at each other and do this sing-song “regulations for a reason!”

      Yes, we are raining on your AI drone taxi parade. Not sorry.

  239. Morgana*

    Cleaning knives. I was a dishwasher and busboy at a high-end restaurant in my 20s. We required that dirty knives were announced, washed, dried, and immediately put away. This was critical for preventing any chance that someone reaches into soapy water and stabs themselves (it is also better for the longevity of the knives). During the same period I was washing my girlfriend’s dishes at her house and stabbed myself on a pairing knife hiding in the sink, requiring a late-night run to the ER and a few stitches. To this day I am neurotic about knives in our work breakroom and at home; whenever a coworker points it out I point to my scar.

    The girlfriend drove me to the hospital and waited with me. We’ve been married 15 years and her knives are still sharp.

  240. Crayolahippo*

    I work with the hearing impaired, and sometimes when I leave work I accidentally speak REALLY LOUDLY at the first person I see. I always forget to use my home voice and not my work voice when in public.

    1. Arglebarglor*

      I definitely have a “nurse voice” that is slightly louder and more enunciated than my regular voice and my husband notices right away if I lapse into it.

    2. Former Admin turned Project Manager*

      Ever since starting ASL classes, I have had to be really careful about how I use my face on Teams calls because I trained myself to be super expressive when I sign.

  241. Cookies for Breakfast*

    I used to work a client-facing job for a company that built HR portals for all sorts of organisations. Some were big household names, which I regularly buy from in my personal life. Some of their websites are clearly poorly thought-out in terms of usability, or have long-standing bugs that block users from doing important things.

    Some of the client contacts I had were great to work with, but a small minority were plain unreasonable and impossible to please. I still find myself thinking of the most memorable characters when I have trouble with their organisations’ websites. Something like: “Oh, I wonder what Fergus would make of this. Fergus, who sent an angry email to my manager calling me lazy because the spacing on a text paragraph looked off on his Internet Explorer window. How’s that any worse than your company’s app having been down for the past three days, Fergus?”

  242. WheresMyPen*

    I used to be an EFL teacher and would buy lots of games in charity shops that could be repurposed into English teaching activities. Even many years later I still think about how I could turn a game into a language-learning activity!

  243. trainfan*

    When I was working on the railways for a project I did the mandatory personal track safety training. Where I work, when a train driver sees people working on or near the line they must sound the horn, to which the worker(s) raise one arm to acknowledge and move to a place of safety if not there already.

    Cue me waiting for a train home the week after the training and the driver of a through train sounds the horn… yep I raised my hand up high like a keen kid with a question!

  244. Chief Petty Officer Tabby*

    I always have to remind myself not to monitor every single dog for possible trouble-and-make-it-double when I go anywhere where there are a lot of them together. A good habit when I am actively in charge of dogs, not so much when I’m not.

    Also, I have to remind myself not to take over training dogs, though when meeting a dog who jumps, owners seem to appreciate me sternly going, “No. DOWN.” if the dog is getting too happy and is very large. They’re glad that I’m backing them up, even if I don’t generally mind gentle ups.

  245. thathrgirl*

    I work in accessible design so I judge and critique every bathroom I enter to see if it would be accessible to people with disabilities. My fiance hates taking me to new restaurants because I’ll always go to the bathroom and then talk about the ways they are not accessible.

  247. Helen_of_the_Midwest*

    I worked at a language-immersion summer camp for many summers. Usually, the kids speak a lot of English (we’re in the US), and the adults are supposed to stay in the target language outside of emergencies. Eventually, it wound up getting wired into my brain that when kids speak English to me, I should respond to them in [camp’s target language], regardless of setting. I have definitely confused some kids outside of camp by accident.

  248. WomEngineer*

    I picked up my mentor’s habit of turning off grid lines in Excel, and now I don’t want to stop.

  249. lablablab*

    I used to work in a lab where I had to wash a lot of glassware following specific protocols, and I still habitually rinse three times when I am washing dishes.

    Also this is probably super common, but now that I manage projects, I find myself coordinating social gatherings with the same language I use to schedule meetings

    1. pally*

      Yesss to the glassware rinsing habit!
      Here in CA we have to conserve water. It’s a good scraping and place into the dishwasher.
      But for those items that should not go into the dishwasher, it’s hard to fight the 3X rinse after the soaping and scrubbing steps. Makes me a water-waster, doesn’t it?

      1. I Have RBF*

        My first job was as a lab assistant, washing glassware. Rinsing is always 3x, even if it’s going into a dishwasher.

  250. Alton Brown's Evil Twin*

    I used to work retail – grocery and wine.

    Whenever I buy multiples of something at the store, I have an automatic reflex to “face” the rest of the product – pull it forward, and rotate it so the labels are facing the correct way. And of course I do this when I put things in my pantry at home, too.

  251. Alana Skye*

    My previous job was as an analytical chemist and I still find myself holding the measuring jug up to eye level to get the exact right amount of milk or water the recipe calls for when I’m cooking

    1. carcinization*

      I do this meniscus/refraction check when I cook or bake, despite being a soft science professional who failed high school chemistry. All of these comments about this being specific to chemists and people who work in particular types of labs make me worried about how other people cook and bake if this type of precision is generally only found in folks with chemistry careers!

  252. What's the name of this plant? It has green leaves...*

    I work at a garden center and am the main water person. I can’t tell you how many times I fight the urge to water dry plants when going into a restaurant/business/office building. At one brewery I knew the owner *just* enough that I told him I needed to water his hanging baskets on their patio area. He just laughed sheepishly and showed me where the watering can was!

  253. Varthema*

    Part of my work has been subtitling videos with precision, so that all the filler and false starts make it in (it’s language learning, so that stuff is useful). We also require them to come in bang on time. When I watch movies where the subtitles or closed captions come in a few tenths of a second before or after the speech, or when they don’t align with what was said, my eyelid twiches.

  254. Constable George Crabtree*

    Here for all the service workers yelling “CORNER” and “BEHIND” for the rest of our lives ♡

  255. Long time reader first time typer*

    “However comma” as a phrase when you were going to contradict – think of it as an “unfortunately” alternative. Customer service that had initially started as a chat program – all of our old-timers from the chat days said it because we were taught not to say unfortunately so we would say things like, “I totally understand that you’d like us to give you a credit for your entire bill, however, that isn’t an option. What we can do is……” – which gave rise to a sarcastic “however comma” comment among friends – “I’m hungry”, says I. “I definitely hear you that you’re hungry, HOWEVER COMMA, lunch isn’t for another twenty minutes,” says the trainer I’ve co-trained fifteen new hire classes with.

  256. Mrs. Min Yoongi*

    I work in the film/TV industry and I constantly catch myself talking about whether I like or dislike something in terms of “notes” (i.e. “I love this” = “I have no notes”)

  257. the cat's ass*

    I do a lot of dictations where i have to actually say, “comma” and “period”, and sometimes i slip and say that in conversation with a real person!

    1. KLink*

      I did that on a voicemail, thinking I was text-to-speeching a text. Hope my insurance agent didn’t mine!

    2. PieforBreakfast*

      You just reminded me that one time, after a long day of writing, I said to someone the acutal words “Hello, I said” by way of greeting.

  258. Goose*

    A lot of the first 5+ years of my career involved co-teaching with a partner where we were very physically and facially engaged during their part of the presentation (think miming key phrases of what they were saying, big question arms in response to questions they asked, etc.) to offer more visual interest and reinforcement of the big points for the young audiences to whom we were speaking. If I’m standing next to someone else presenting information it’s STILL a major challenge not to interpretive dance along with them!

  259. Loose Socks*

    I still cringe when I remember this one.

    I worked in Early Childhood Education for nearly a decade before completely switching careers (topped out at $13/hr with no raises scheduled, hourly, no benefits, and no contract).

    In my training class for a new job, we had all just got back from lunch, I leaned over to the person next to me, a full-grown adult man in his 30s, and said “Make sure you go potty before they start!”

    I’m still embarrassed. Things occasionally slip through, like I still sometimes say “Golly, it’s chilly-billy in here isn’t it?” but luckily nothing as bad as that.

    1. ferrina*

      Have you done the thing where you mentally note which of your colleagues need to take a nap? Former daycare teacher, and I caught myself doing this a few times.
      I used to joke/not joke that the biggest difference between toddlers and the C-Suite is you can’t tell the C-Suite to take a nap.

      1. I Have RBF*

        Too bad you can’t.

        I wish that American businesses had the concept of a regular siesta. It would help with the post-lunch sleepies.

  260. Rainey*

    Former food service worker/manager here… following all serve safe protocols. So many rules that I don’t even think about… how to stack your fridge, how to make sure you don’t cross contaminate, proper cleaning and sanitizing in the kitchen, how done to cook certain foods because you don’t want some bacteria to live in your food, expiration dates, oh so much. Drives my roomie crazy when I throw out all the food in the pantry because she hasn’t eaten it. And she will eat it two years out of date…. No.

  261. summerofdiscontent*

    Young child/family therapist here. All things I’ve said or nearly said to my husband or to friends:

    “Sit criss-cross on your bottom!”

    “Do you need to use the potty?”

    “Let me see those catching hands!” (as I’m about to toss something)

  262. A Genuine Scientician*

    I teach college/university level science. I have learned to be *very* careful outside the classroom to only explain things when people ask, rather than as a default to any situation. Also that outside of the classroom, it is better for me to answer questions with direct statements and/or examples, rather than Socratic questions to get the questioner to reason their way through the issue.

  263. Texan In Exile*

    I was a lifeguard in high school and college and even now cannot walk by a body of water without getting stressed seeing unsupervised children on the beach or in the water. I can’t relax until I have walked far enough away that they are out of view.

    I worked in the faculty club in college. We folded napkins in a fancy way. A few years ago, my husband and I were at a restaurant and the young waitress was doing reset for the next day, using the napkin fold the faculty club had used, only she was being really sloppy. I couldn’t bear it. After she went back into the kitchen, I re-did her table, folding all the napkins and placing the silverware properly .

    By the same token, if I can get away with it at a buffet, I will move the utensils and napkins to the end of the line. You don’t need them when you start! You need them at the end. If they’re at the beginning of the buffet, you have to use one of your hands to hold them and then it’s difficult to serve yourself.

    It’s harder to pull the table away from the wall to double throughput with a buffet, but I have been known to suggest it to the staff.

    1. Ginger Cat Lady*

      OMG yes, yes yes on the silverware thing! I hate it so much when it’s at the beginning and I have to juggle it while filling my plate!

  264. Sister George Michael*

    Every time I hear someone say that they screwed something up, I think “Admit nothing!”

    I’m watching the British cop show New Tricks and everyone is so eager to talk to these cops and I’m thinking “It’s ‘Shut The F*ck Up Friday!'”

  265. Hashtag Destigmatize Therapy*

    After working in a bakery, compulsive hand-washing has stuck with me. This isn’t really a bad thing, but I’ve noticed that when I cook I wash my hands much more often than anybody else I know.

  266. PlainJane*

    My personal books are arranged in Dewey order, and I freak out at decorators who like to put them up by color. Like, seriously get angry at it. How are you supposed to put your hand on exactly the book you want when you want it? Books are useful items, not decorations! (I can recognize this as petty, but of course, that doesn’t change the emotion.)

    I also stopped on the street of a town I haven’t lived in for thirty years to give directions to someone who was lost because, well… that’s what I do all day. I can’t stop myself.

    1. Jaunty Banana Hat I*

      LOL, I’m a cataloger and I actually have the bulk of my home library organized by color! I like the way it looks, and it helps me not bring my work mentality into my house (also, I hate Dewey; I catalog in LC). Organizing by color helps me “rediscover” my books when I’m looking for something to read that I haven’t picked up in awhile or am not sure what I’m in the mood for.

      Books that are part of a series are all shelved in their correct series order at one end of my library, however. Also, my three favorite authors’ books are also shelved separately from the rest of my color-organized books. So the books I know I’m going to pick up over and over and want to find easily *are* kept separate.

      1. Jaunty Banana Hat I*

        Oh, and given just how many people use color as a descriptor for the book their looking for, it actually helps more than you’d think to shelve my personal books by color–there have definitely been several times where all a patron could tell me was “it’s got a red cover and a word that starts with an L” and I was able to quickly figure out exactly which book it was.

        1. delaware*

          Yes! When you’re a “visual thinker,” organizing your books by color makes perfect sense. That’s how I find “exactly the book I want when you want it” in .23 seconds– I have the image of the book cover in my head. Some abstract system of numbers to memorize? Not helpful to me.

          1. PlainJane*

            Oh, yes. Sometimes I shelve them by the way the the Library of Congress SHOULD catalog them. (By series and genre, peeps.)

            I do remember in my reference class having to memorize the colors of every book so I could find what was asked for, and my first day on the job, a professor asked for “that orange book I used last year.” Getting it for him in less thatnfive minutes is still one of my proudest accomplishments. But yeah–subjects, authors, sometimes do things by date within. That’s just how I roll.

    2. iglwif*

      I wouldn’t arrange my books by colour for decorative reasons (for starters, series belong together, and books of different trim sizes can’t all fit on the same shelf even if they all have the same colour spine), but I absolutely do find books by spine colour on my shelves.

      1. PlainJane*

        Oh, I recognize them by color, but if I want a cookbook, I don’t want to have to think, “Hmm, it’s blue… and it has white letters and a picture of the author…” when I can just go to where my cookbooks are. (The abstract numbers aren’t all that abstract. They’re just subjects.)

  267. KLink*

    I’m a German teacher, which means I travel with students. Before any family trip, I am going through checklists and checking for passports and researching locations and hotels and best restaurants and looking up local customs and packing a first aid kit and explaining how the airport works–
    this might just mean I’m a mom.

  268. Anon-E-Mouse*

    This is actually a weird habit from my volunteer job photographing rescued animals in shelters, wildlife rehab centers and farm sanctuaries. I’m accustomed to making weird noises to attract my animal subjects’ attention – meowing, squeaking, chirping, sometimes just beep-beep-beeping.

    Well, one day at my day job (at a rather conservative Fortune 100 company), I was asked to take the group photo for a bunch of senior executives at an offsite. I very professionally arranged them in rows and on risers and chairs. But then when I couldn’t get everybody to face me and smile I just instinctively started clucking like a chicken.

    I certainly got their attention, and smiles, too!

    1. Jaunty Banana Hat I*

      Oh man, I’ll have to guard against this! I take the photos of the animals at my local shelter, and I know exactly what you’re talking about. I don’t think I’ve let it bleed into the rest of my life, but…

    2. Arglebarglor*

      I have done a similar thing as a healthcare provider: when examining kids’ ears, I tend to say in a sing-song voice, “Oh is Spider Man (or Elmo or Big Bird or whoever) in here? Is there a cow in here? Helloo heloooooo cow?” and after a stretch of just doing kids I often slip up and do it to adults. They mostly dig it.

  269. Beth*

    My first career was in live theatre, in costuming. In every closet in my house today, every single garment is hung up so that the garment faces to the left — so when you take it out with your right hand, you’re looking at the front.

    I have trouble, when shopping, refraining from rehanging everything that’s facing the “wrong” way.

    1. The Pleasant Pheasant*

      Ohhhh- thank you for this! I hang all my clothes this same way, but my husband hangs them opposite this (facing right). In joking conversations about how the other hangs the clothes “wrong”, we could never figure out why we each instinctively hang the clothes facing different ways. Your comment just made me realize it’s because I am right handed, and he is left handed! We each hang the clothes in the direction that faces us when we grab them with our dominant hand. Mystery solved!

  270. nora*

    I worked at a sign manufacturer right out of college almost 20 years ago and I still get annoyed about badly designed signs, especially when they aren’t ADA compliant. Don’t get me started on putting bathroom signs on doors instead of walls!

    I am a social worker now and I have to work really hard at not being *everyone’s* social worker, especially in the various Facebook groups I’m in.

  271. Shirley Keeldar*

    Massage therapist. I have to remind myself Not To Touch people who are not my clients.

    (Oh, your shoulders hurt? Of course they do. They are not supposed to be actually touching your earlobes. Here, just let me… There. Better now? Sorry, what was your name again?)

  272. Jaunty Banana Hat I*

    I haven’t seen this one yet.

    Back in the olden days when Party Pics were a thing because no one had smartphones, I was a party pic photographer for frat/sorority events. It was drilled into us to always take photos of 2 people portrait-style, and 3 or more landscape-style. Also, to get as many variations of the same group of people as possible, because you got paid by the # of pictures (a whole 8 cents per pic). A good party pic photographer could get 6 saleable pics out of any group of 4 people, especially if they were couples: 1 of each couple, 1 of both girls, 1 of both guys(this was the hardest to get), 1 of all four posing regularly and 1 of all four doing a goofy shot. A great one could also get 1 of both guys with 1 girl, then with the other girl, and 1 with both girls with 1 guy and then the other, which added 4 more pics to get paid for. We were told to aim for at least 100 pics an hour, staying at the party for at least 2 hours, with more always being better; I was poor and relying on this job for my rent, so I routinely took 200-250 pics an hour, and stayed 3 hours.

    To this day I cannot bring myself to take a landscape shot of 2 people (unless there is actual landscape as a feature of the photo), and I have had to work mightily to stop myself from always taking as many variations of pics of the same group of people as possible.

  273. Ex Postal Worker*

    Decades after working at a packing/shipping place, I’m still reasonably good at picking up an envelope and determining if weighs 1, 2, or 3 oz. (and therefore, how much postage it’ll need)

  274. ferrina*

    Back in *mumblemumble* decades ago, I was a referee. I learned all the ways to keep the widest possible field of vision- what angles to stand at, how to move around a space, habitually running sideways or backwards.

    I didn’t realize how habitual it is until I started nitpicking how other teachers/leaders were standing- “you can only see 20% of the group! Why are you standing that way?!”

    1. Sola Lingua Bona Lingua Mortua Est*

      I worked my way through college as a hockey referee. I can still hold conversations while walking backwards and my odometer will probably still read zero when my days are up.

      I also still point with an open hand. Part of the reason I prefer to listen to football and hockey games is that I’ve caught myself officiating them from home when I’m watching them.

  275. Taura*

    I never write casual emails, so I always have to slow down and rephrase if I’m sending something to family/friends. A couple years ago I started a family D&D group, and the email I wrote to send the character sheet templates went like this:
    “Everyone,
    Please find attached the character sheets to use for next week. If you have any issues filling them out or would like to use a different form, please let me know.
    Thanks,”
    As I was trying to decide what signature to use for this (they’re family, do I REALLY need to put phone # and email address on this?) I re-read it for typos and realized that was way too business-like anyway. I re-wrote the whole thing, much more casually before actually sending it off.

  276. Cold Call Catastrophe*

    From my 10 years designing newsletters, I can’t stop identifying fonts. We’ll be 200 miles away at a random town and I’ll point to the “Welcome to Townburg” sign and blurt, “Black Chancery.” The menu at the diner has all the headings in Monotype Corsiva. The school summer program is in Hobo and Cooper Black. The Halloween party flyer used Chiller. The yoga schedule has Freestyle Script.

    1. Sally Rhubarb*

      In another lifetime, I fancied myself a graphic designer. Turns out I have as much design skill as a stick insect but that didn’t stop me from slogging through a miserable 4 yr degree (yay for scholarships)

      To this day, I still find myself ID’ing fonts. I did it so much, my mom turned into a game.

    2. delaware*

      Same. I realized I had weird font spellings memorized (ex. Comfortaa) a few weeks ago, and I turn into the “Leo DiCaprio pointing meme” every time I spot something that so clearly came straight out of Canva. I KNOW THAT TEMPLATE.

    3. iglwif*

      YES. Why do I still remember the exact display and copy fonts used in journals I worked on twenty years ago? No idea, but I do. And I will recognize them in other contexts and point them out, probably to everyone’s annoyance.

  277. Springfield Library how may I help you?*

    I answer questions, even when I know the person I’m talking to doesn’t really care how the weather is, how many calories, or whatever. Too many hours on the reference desk.

    1. ccsquared*

      I can relate – I recently quit my job where one of my unofficial duties as a more tenured employee was to answer questions in Slack. The first two days I was off, I became an extremely active commenter in a couple of Facebook groups before I realized what I was doing.

    2. hmmmmm*

      I went on a cruise with my in-laws once. I could NOT stop myself from helping other passengers find their way around the ship. As I explained to the strangers in the elevator, “I work at a library, I’m a compulsive information-giver.”

  278. Seriously?*

    As a teacher who has been on many field trips with multiple busses of kids, I do tend to remind people to use the restroom. I’m doing an orientation for adults? Here’s the restroom! I do a tour of the facility? Here’s all the restrooms! When we would stop with the kids at rest areas, I would stand at the front of the girls’ line and direct, or we’d be there all day. Open stall, go there! Move, move, move! Until we ran out of kids, and I was directing strangers, who did what I said. I’ve managed not to do that at any rest areas since I left teaching, but I’d like to! Keep the line moving, people!

  279. mreasy*

    It’s been more than 20 years since my last retail job and still the urge to straighten is powerful.

    1. Former Retail Lifer*

      I can’t avoid it. I’ll fix shirts on hangers and fold stuff. Not the whole table, but I’ll fix a pile of jeans.

  280. Somewhere in Texas*

    I did some work in a grocery store and the best way to chat with my boss was to join him for “mid day” which is when they’d walk the eyes and restock or pull the product to the front of the shelves.

    I still want to do it to this day, and actually do it when it’s the holidays and I know they are slammed.

  281. sara*

    I volunteered and worked with kids from when I was about 15 until my early 30s. Sometimes they’d be kids that knew me but I wouldn’t remember their names, so picked up pretty quickly to just call them all “buddy” – it’s gender neutral, not too familiar, etc. This ended up sticking with all kids, even when there wasn’t an expectation that I’d know them, as just a general name for any kid.

    And then my sister and friends started having kids and I’d use ‘buddy’ as my default term of endearment (like instead of sweetie etc). Mostly with my nieces as they’re the ones I see most, and then as they got older, they started to call me out on it – “my name’s not buddy!”, “don’t call me buddy”, “why do you call us buddy” etc. Anyways mostly cured myself of it after many years (they’re 5&7 now) but it definitely still slips out on occasion…

    2. iglwif*

      I call all kids and all dogs “bud” or “buddy” — when I don’t know their names, but sometimes even when I do.

      My spouse, child, and dog are also frequently called “bud” or “buddy”.

      And motorists who fail to stop at crosswalks, but that’s in a VERY different tone of voice lol.

  282. IrishGirl*

    Insurance Underwriter here and I swear every place I go I look for sprinklers, fire alarms, slip and fall hazards and other risk issues and ask myself if I would write this risk.

  283. Mr. Nope*

    I work in Issues Management. In my industry the word “issue” has a very specific meaning. Both at work and in my personal life, I have stopped using the term except in the context of my job, because otherwise I lose track of what we’re actually talking about.

  284. Student*

    After working at a grocery store, I still sort the groceries as I put them on the line the way I would want to bag them.

    Cold stuff together. Big heavy stuff first, if at all possible, so it goes in the bottom of the cart as it gets repacked. Cans mixed with something light, to fill out the bag without making it too heavy. Non-food stuff, especially chemicals, clearly separated from the food stuff. Clothes separate from food. Boxes together, but not too many together, and mind the sizes. Eggs and other fragile stuff at the very end, so it gets a bag with little else in it and goes on the top of the cart load.

    1. Sally Rhubarb*

      Can you please train all the baggers/clerks at my local grocery store? Even when I put things on the belt to bagged that way, they’ll still dump a 5lb sack of flour on top of my tomatoes

  285. SanityIntact*

    I worked for a magazine before I switched to accountancy, and I have to hold myself back daily from correcting minute grammar errors and formatting in non-important internal documents that will only be seen by accountants. Accountants who do not care when you’re suppose to use ‘which’ vs ‘that’ or if they’ve double spaced after a full stop.

  286. Head sheep counter*

    A lifetime ago I did a brief stint as an ADA (americans with disabilities act) Compliance Auditor. Guess what I still notice to this day? Bathroom accessibility, ramp steepness, and path of travel to and from buildings. I notice other things too like how tight walkways are and how good or bad handrails are. Given that its been in code for a very long time… its actually sort of appalling how bad we still are about this.

  287. Survey researcher*

    I refused to answer survey questions with 0-10 scales. There’s plenty of research demonstrating they’re less reliable than smaller scales, and no real benefit to adding the extra numbers.

    Yes, I’m aware these are incredibly common and not going away. Still a big pet peeve for me.

  288. Era*

    It’s fading relatively fast, but my last workplace had a TON of three-letter-acronyms, a lot of them for labeling parts of a database I used frequently. A year and a half later, I still occasionally recognize them on license plates and so forth.

    1. Arglebarglor*

      My mom was the FASTEST eater EVER. She said that when she was in nursing school in the 50s they had like 15 minutes to get to the caf, get their food, eat, and get back on the floor. She could inhale an entire dinner in like, 7 minutes.

    1. iglwif*

      I do that sometimes, too. It’s not for professional reasons, though — I think it’s just from watching hockey and listening to the occasional hockey-related podcast? I’m Canadian and mostly work with people in the US and UK, and I have accidentally deeeeply baffled some of them by saying, for instance, “just ragging the puck until everyone gets here” or “I feel like this vendor is trying to deke around the accessibility requirements.”

  291. mreasy*

    Love this question!!! Worked at a laundry service one summer and to this day I am insufferable about how my household linens are folded.

  292. PurplePeopleEater*

    Sending online calendar invites for social engagements! Friends thought it was weird at first, but it ends up being helpful for everyone that’s forgetful, busy, or both.

  293. Toothpaste*

    Academic historian here.

    When I had a baby, I got so frustrated when the public library put “due date” stickers over the board book publication info. How could I read my baby a book whose publication date I didn’t know?

    1. Just me*

      As a renaissance festival worker I may forget and respond “Quite well, thank thee” to “Hi, how are you?” on the phone during the week.

  295. TravelR*

    Answering the phone, “Good afternoon, this is a non-secure line.”
    I used to be in and work around the military and we had to advise callers if a phone line was not secure, that is, you can’t talk about classified information over it. Sometimes I even answered my home phone that way!

  296. Zephy*

    My husband is an x-ray tech, and he likes to unwind by watching meme/funny video compilations on YouTube. These often include montages of people doing profoundly stupid things and risking injury. Especially while he was in school, he would start speculating about what the person in the clip might have done to themselves and what kinds of x-rays they would need, like what views the tech would take. Like “oh that’s a broken hip for sure, we’d do this that and the other.”

  297. Yellow Springs*

    I used to teach adults, and in my current job I do a reasonable amount of customer service over the phone. (I explain to people how to participate in a very complicated government program.)
    When I’m talking to people over the phone, I always still find myself reflexively telling people “that’s a great question!” before I answer their questions.
    …especially if their question shows me that they’ve really been processing the material like a good student should :D

        1. O-H-I-O*

          Hah. There’s a Yellow Springs Ohio 10 mins from me! That would have been a very cool coincidence!

            1. O-H-I-O*

              and VERY cool little shops and bistros and the like! Dave Chappelle also lives there and you can often see him around the area just…shopping, getting a coffee, he was in front of me at DLM once, etc…and it’s so cool that nobody bothers him.

  298. Here's One*

    My husband spent 26 years in the Air Force. He can NOT wear a dress shirt without a short-sleeved white t-shirt underneath it.

  299. I'll Mother Anyone*

    I think I’m more the opposite–I took HOME to WORK. Even though my children are now grown and have moved out, I still instinctively find myself at work, when a coworker says, “BRB, I’m going to the restroom” saying, “ok wash your hands” and they’re like “….” I’ve been working from home 3 years now so it isn’t a problem anymore, but the younger workers used to laugh (with me, thankfully) and say, “Yes Mom!” It just used to pop out w/o conscious thought!

    1. Yellow Springs*

      I do something similar — I have little kids and I find myself wanting to tell colleagues aloud, “I have to go to the bathroom, and I’ll be *Right Back*!”

    2. Anon for This*

      Similar, but as my kids are older it’s more, don’t forget to take an umbrella, etc.

  300. Yellow Springs*

    At my current job, we refer to coworkers by their initials as shorthand in most communications. As in, “AF said that she’ll take care of the first section and EB will handle the rest, and then we’ll send to MW for signature.” It’s how we label items in the fridge, it’s how we take notes, everyone is identified by our initials.

    It’s really hard to restrain myself from referring to people by their initials out in the world–especially in text messages–because it’s so handy and quick. I sort of wish it were more mainstream.

    2. TANSTAAFL*

      At OLDJOB1 we did this, but with three initials. Not consistently FirstMiddleLast, some people had names that started with “O'” or “Mc” and they would be JOR or TMC. Sometimes. The VP of my department set up the initials used and everyone followed along.

      OLDJOB2 had some carryover of people from OLDJOB1, but the new convention was FirstLast initial.

      OLDJOB3, I caught myself using FirstMiddleLast on many occasions, although real first name was generally used.

  301. Volunteer Enforcer*

    Health and safety is one of my tasks, including resolving slip and trip hazards. I notice the same at my house and my partner’s, yet nowhere else.

    1. Angstrom*

      I’ve emailed the hospital a couple of times after noticing hazards(cords on the floor, etc.) during a routine office visit.

  302. SereneScientist*

    For one summer in college, I worked at one of the two hotels near campus run by our hospitality department. I got trained on being a room housekeeper for about two weeks before I realized I wouldn’t be staying and got moved to the public areas instead. But I did learn a lot about how to make beds quickly, including some tricks for very tight-fitting pillow cases that I still do to this day!

  303. Thank you, Next!*

    Any other theatre folx here that respond to information, specifically numbers, with thanking them and repeating what they said?

    Thank you, 10!

    Thank you, last call!

    Thank you, cookies in the breakroom!

    1. Not Tom, Just Petty*

      There’s a commenter above. S/he also writes that, “I spell out the word go, GO.”
      what is that about?

      1. Squidhead*

        You probably won’t see this but it’s because when the Stage Manager says “GO” you do the action, immediately! SM will say “standby light cue 5, fly cue 2, sound cue 8”. Operators reply “lights” “flys” “sound” in acknowledgement. No one talks when an active standby is open unless there’s an emergency. SM says “light cue 5 go” and the lighting operator pushes the button or does whatever is needed for light cue 5. SM says “fly cue 2 go” and the operator pulls the right rope. But sometimes (this is all over headset, so you can’t see each other for non-verbals) you need to talk ABOUT what to do when the GO is called but not have anyone actually execute their next cue yet. So the SM might say “the performer is a little farther upstage than normal, so on my G-O for fly cue 2 you need to fly the piece faster so it will be out of the way in time.” You don’t say the actual word until you want someone to pull a rope/push a button/move a wall.

    2. OyHiOh*

      All the time! I’m not even properly a theatre pro, just serious community theatre person! It really does get ground into your brain though.

    3. iglwif*

      I’m an amateur choral singer and a lot of us are former Theatre Kids who do that!

      Conductor: OK, let’s take a fifteen-minute break.

      Us: Thank you, fifteen!

  304. Gumby*

    I used to do software quality assurance. When I run across a problem in software or on a web site I automatically do a few other tests to see if I can narrow down when the it happens before I even contact customer support. This is not my job! But I am still the person giving info about my OS, what browser(s) I used, etc. with my help requests. Bonus: changing browsers frequently solves the problem. I still write in though since the web site *should* work on both Chrome and Firefox. Particularly the payment page.

    1. Greasy Grimy Gertie*

      Oof I do this too and I’m a developer. And then me and my coworkers usually share the most egregious missteps on Slack.

    2. H.Regalis*

      I do this too XD Whatever info would be useful to me as tech support, I will hunt that down and try to provide it.

    3. ccsquared*

      Same! Also, it is really hard for me to admit that documentation would be useful whenever I’m trying to use a new app, given that the majority of testing I did was based off a functional description before docs were written.

  305. Anonanon*

    I cannot eat at a restaurant with an open kitchen, or where I can see into the kitchen area. Otherwise I spend what should be a pleasant meal counting all the food safety violations I see.

  306. Person of Interest*

    I used to travel by commuter rail daily for years, and every time I was on an airline flight I had the instinct to show my monthly rail pass when the flight attendant came through doing their pre-flight check.

  307. The Other Evil HR Lady*

    Y’all can thank me now: I worked HR at a nursing/rehab facility, where they taught us to wash our hands and leave the water running while we dry our hands, then use the paper towel to close the water and open the door. I do this everywhere, even though I stopped working there more than 7 years ago. And, if there aren’t any paper towels (say, if it’s an air dryer) I get SO mad!! I hate those things!

  308. CuriousCat*

    I work in career and technical education and have had to catch myself from praising nurses and other skilled professionals for performing a skill correctly in my “civilian life.”

    The number of times a day I say, “Great job!” has marked me.

    3. Phlox*

      I’m finding myself doing similar, but it’s from 7 years of being a manager. I developed strong habits of telling staff specific things I thought they did great on (which, good!) but I’m currently in a low-paying minion job during a life transition, and oof sometimes I can’t stop myself from talking like a manager. Thankfully my colleagues are good people and I’ve decided that $19/hr isn’t enough money for me to put the effort to really stop some of those habits. So they just get compliments!

  309. Nethwen*

    After a decade of library work at a place where the main clientele were 10-17-year-old children on their own, I still reflexively give behavior commands to disruptive children. For cultural context, I’m in a place where parents are very protective of the fact that it is *their* right to discipline/correct their children, not someone else’s.

    It usually goes something like:

    Me, sternly, to the child: Stop.

    Me, horrified, to the parent: I’m sorry! They’re your kid. I’m sorry!

    I’m not sure what the parent’s response to me is b/c I’m so embarrassed I’m avoiding eye contact and they are dealing with their child.

    Recently, at a national park a child climbed up on the guardrail over a steep drop, I turned to pull her down right as her adult scolded her. Thankfully, I caught myself at the turn and stern face and didn’t progress to hands moving towards the child-grab or the vocal, “Get down.”

  310. BreakingDishes*

    I’m enjoying these examples of things from jobs that continue on . . .

    I worked as a waitress/server for one summer. It was our habit to say “behind you” to warn others when working in close quarters. I find myself still doing that. The job was over 50 years ago and was the shortest job I’ve ever had.

  311. ferrina*

    My mom used to write food safety protocols and track food borne illnesses throughout the state. When I left for college, she sent me with a list of the most common food borne illnesses, their symptoms and the lag time so I could report all food poisoning I got. She was so excited when I called saying I was horrible sick and throwing up- she happily started listing all the illnesses I could have gotten.

  312. Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced Bouquet!)*

    I started my legal career in intellectual property, and I’m constantly noticing things that are trademark or copyright violations. Unlicensed Etsy and RedBubble fan art is one that I see a lot.

    1. General von Klinkerhoffen*

      Am still in IP, and same.

      Additionally, if a product ever claims to be patented, I have to look it up.

  313. Arglebarglor*

    As a medical professional (RN/FNP) I definitely check out veins. My husband is always like, STOP DOING THAT YOU VAMPIRE when we are sitting next to each other on the couch and I start palpating the veins in his lower arms (they are VERY juicy tho).
    Another medical thing I do is when holding friends’ new babies I automatically start a “head to toe” assessment (start by palpating the fontanelles and move from there). Usually I can stop myself but friends have noticed.
    Leftover from waitressing/bartending days: I have to sit on my hands in casual restaurants to stop from getting up and clearing tables/ashtrays (back when there was smoking in restaurants and bars)/glasses etc. I haven’t been a waitress in 30 years.

  314. Former Retail Lifer*

    I worked in retail for 20 years before escaping, where we were always expected to greet everyone that came in. I still have the urge to greet people I’m walking past in the mall or in stores that I’m shopping in.

  315. Optimus*

    I work in the space business, and typically, when a launch is delayed, it’s a 24-hour delay. The majority of delays are caused by things like weather or simple technical issues that just can’t quite be resolved during the available launch window, so a 24-hour turnaround can make all the difference.

    One year my toddler came down with strep throat on the day of his birthday party. I immediately started freaking out about all the schedule conflicts that would result from moving his party to the next day. My husband looked at me like I was bananas and asked, Why are you freaking out about tomorrow? He’ll be sick for a few days; no one said anything about tomorrow.

    He was right. I had gone immediately into a 24-hour scrub turnaround. Haha

  316. A Pinch of Salt*

    I worked for a disposable cup/container manufacturer.

    I still lift up my cups at restaurants to check the bottom for their logo.

    1. Nobody U Noe*

      This! I used to work for a manufacturer of electronics used in commercial spaces. 20 odd years later, I still look for the branding to see who made it when I see them in the wild.

  317. renovickie*

    I used to install car seats. I loved that job and left (the position was eliminated) five years ago and the car seat part of my brain will. Not. Turn. Off. Driving down the street. Walking in a parking lot. Kids’ pictures on Facebook. I have suppressed the desire to tell people how wrong it is when I haven’t been asked (3 of 4 car seats are incorrectly installed).

    1. Ali + Nino*

      What resources do you recommend if we can’t get you to come install/correct our car seats personally? Please send help!!

  318. suburbanlove*

    I’m an events manager at a nonprofit. Last week, I had a *really* difficult time with an admin who kept sending out event communications without looping in me or our Comms manager. After a particularly hard day with her, my husband’s cousin texted us a digital invite to a family party, and I said out loud “Who the f*ck said the invites could go out?”

    My husband definitely thinks I’m nuts.

  319. Sally Rhubarb*

    All of you scientists sound lovely. Please tell me all about that plant over there or what that squirrel is communicating.

    1. Firefighter (Metaphorical)*

      I know, right?! I would join an AAM walking club in a heartbeat if enough of you were in regional New South Wales

  320. GhostLibrarian*

    I used to work at a place where everyone communicated over radios. It took years to break myself from saying “copy” to confirm I heard something and was attending to it.

  321. TokenJockNerd*

    I coached gymnastics for years and the instinct to just reach out and catch people who look like they’re about to fall is STRONG.

    With kids it’s funny (and with kids who made a break for it on public transit and then the train started and now they’re gunna crash it’s even appreciated). Literally no one else needs this in their life.

  322. Jennifer*

    I hold things differently. I work at a museum, so I look at not harming the object. so I’ll hold a wine glass by the glass and bottom instead of a stem, for example.

  323. Mim*

    Not weird or uncommon, but so incredibly useful and something I’m glad I accidentally learned on the job: “touch” typing on a number pad.

    I worked a lot of different jobs at my college library, including in the cataloging and acquisitions department. So I typed lots of OCLC numbers, and just kind of stumbled my way into using the keypad because it is obviously the most efficient way to do that. And the muscle memory came very quickly. Typing out long strings of numbers quickly and accurately without looking, on that compact set of 9 numerals, is so intensely satisfying. I honestly wish I had more chances to do it. I learned to touch type letters when I was 11, and I obviously appreciate and use that skill all the time. And it’s kind of satisfying. But the number pad — SOOOOO satisfying. Like on another level.

    1. OyHiOh*

      I worked for awhile for one of those companies that does third party audits and oh man has the number pad touch typing thing stuck with me! Count objects on shelf with left hand, key in numbers on pad with right hand. Also being able to visually group objects in threes, fours, and fives, and count by those multiples

    3. Elsajeni*

      Ooh, yes! I got very good at this when I was a cashier because I often had to type in coupon codes that wouldn’t scan, and I’m much faster at data entry because of it.

  324. Quoth the Raven*

    Oh man, I used to work in a card room (aka a casino without the slots) and we were taught to constantly “clear our hands” any time we had just handled chips. That means flipping your hands with fingers spread palm up, then palm down, so the cameras can see you didn’t palm any chips while you were touching them. Any time I would touch ANYTHING, especially in stores, I would find myself reflexively clearing my hands once I put it down. Took a couple months to shake it once I moved on!

  325. LabRat*

    From the kitchen- saying “behind!” every time I move past someone’s back.

    From the radiological work- wanting to swab any object I see people repeatedly touching to check for contamination.

  326. Cat*

    I worked as a hostess at a restaurant in a fairgrounds with a show. Essentially everyone eating at the restaurant was heading to the show next door afterwards, so I got in the habit of saying “enjoy the show” or “have fun in there” as people left. Unfortunately, that just became my instinctual response any time someone walked away from me, which lead to some awkward moments..
    “Where is the bathroom?”
    “Around the corner.”
    “Thank you!”
    “Of course, have fun in there!”
    …Que some horrified faces and an immediate facepalm.

  327. Cat Lover*

    I’m an EMT and I look at friends houses to see how difficult it would be to get a stretcher in their house and to a bedroom (answer: difficult).

  328. HatBeing*

    I worked as a dresser in live theaters from age 13-23 and nearly 20 years later still have to stop myself from picking stray hairs off my (office) co-worker’s shoulders or adjusting their collars.

  329. I know who died this summer . . .*

    I had a job where I had to read the obituaries to check to see if they mentioned the nursing home I worked for. Four years later, I still find myself reading the obituaries first when I read a local paper.

  330. The Unspeakable Queen Lisa*

    I lost count of the number of times I got home from work and tried to “scan” into my own front door with my office key card… instead of pulling out my analog door key. My office was the kind of place where you had to tap in and out of different areas multiple times a day, so my brain just got stuck thinking that’s how doors open.

    Also, auto-faucets and auto-flush toilets are kind of terrible since they’re not universal. Sometimes I forget for a second that I have to handle flush an analog one.

  331. Anonymous Squid*

    For years after working in a lab where we did experiments at high pressure and high temperature (think thousands of degrees F), I fought the urge to put a face shield on before opening my kitchen oven.

  332. Linda C*

    Not grabbing for falling items (let it hit the floor). I worked in a chemical lab and that was the rule – get out of the way if something falls. Much safer for not getting cut or splashed with things that shouldn’t be on your skin.

  333. Ms. Frizzle*

    I taught kinder in 20/21, and I swear half my time was spent reminding students about masks. Multiple times, I was at the grocery store, saw someone else’s child whose mask was slipping off, and made a face and tapped the bridge of my nose to remind them to put it back on. It always worked and I’m pretty sure none of their adults caught me doing it, but it was 100% unintentional! I think I could have reminded students about masks in my sleep by the end of that year (that and how to mute their computers, since my room was hybrid).

  334. delaware*

    I’m a writing tutor, and in addition to the intensely instinctive proofreading and editing, I automatically say, “Good question!”

    Stranger in the grocery store: “Do you know where they keep…”
    Me: “Ooh, good question!”

    My roommate: “I don’t know how to email this person.”
    Me: “That’s a good question.”

    My brother: “Where did you put the keys?”
    Me: “Good question!”

    And so on and so forth.

  336. Doofus*

    It’s not so much a habit that I keep up as much as everyone else keeps it up.

    I’m a librarian. Whenever I go into another library – another school, public library, sometimes Barnes and Noble – people will come up to me and ask for help finding some information.

  337. slowingaging*

    Defense industry…. I remind new employees … companies get fined, people get fined and go to prison. And point out the current $$ and years for violations.

  338. Weekender*

    Regarding old work habits that follow you home:
    I’m a third generation retailer and I worked in the family retail store from the time I was 14 til I was 31. We had a number of glass showcases that needed to be cleaned often and counters and stools straightened. It was an ongoing job, multiple times daily, for all staff, not just me.

    My take-home habits are to 1) never touch the display glass at a store (and have taught my kids accordingly). 2) I will compulsively straighten/tidy the checkout counter for the items that are customer facing. I tidy gift cards, pick up flyers laying out back to where they below and sometimes even tell the cashier that if they moved various items to such-and-such spot, they would sell more of that product. Cannot help myself (and it’s sometimes they listen and do sell more).

  340. MJZSW*

    I worked in a restaurant 15 years ago that served baked potatoes and abbreviated cheese as “z” in the POS system (C was for chives, P was Bacon, B was butter, S sour cream). To this day, my grocery list will say “parm z”.

  341. Suzanne*

    Years ago we had a system password (now defunct) and it was notforyou$. Any time I hear someone say “ not for you “ I want to reply “ dollar sign” which of course would be meaningless to anyone else.

  342. i like hound dogs*

    I’m a proofreader who also sometimes writes copy.

    I have turned my brain off re: writing errors in personal communication (I notice them, but no, I don’t care if your text contains typos) but I am so critical of lackluster copy. (Everyone wants you to know how you can use their product on the go. On-the-go mini Oreos! Wow, because my regular package of Oreos wouldn’t fit in my car! lol.)

  343. Jack Straw from Wichita*

    I am a former HS teacher who is now working in corporate training. (Aside: 10/10 recommend making the move away from classroom teaching for anyone who is thinking about it.)

    When I’m facilitating training, I still provide everything a person might possibly need so that they don’t need to leave my “classroom.” For example, for a training last week I had in my supply box scissors, tape, tissues, pens, highlighters, printer paper, sticky notes, gum, candy, Band-Aids, and hair ties. For grown adults. The only things missing from that list that I also provided in my Student Station while teaching 15- and 16-year-olds is lotion, hand sanitizer, pencils, tampons/pads, and a mirror.

    No other trainer on our team does this. They are lucky if they remember to bring a box of tissues and one of the candy bins with them. FWIW, people get very excited when they see my name attached to their training because ethery know I’m going to take good care of them. And I also get far more visitors during my in-office days than anyone else does. It’s a great rapport builder, even if it is super weird.

    1. Jack Straw from Wichita*

      Oh, I forgot to add multiple types of charging cables to the list of my supply box items! lol

  344. NobodyHasTimeForThis*

    Because of the location of our office on campus we are sort of the go-to information desk (much more than the actual information desk) . Don’t know where a building is? ask us. Don’t know which office handles something. ask us.

    I have a compulsive need to answer questions for people who are lost or confused in public even if they are not talking to me.

  345. SB*

    At one point I was leading tours for school groups as my job. On my day off I was doing some touristy things with visiting family. I stepped off the train, immediately turned around to walk backwards and counted if my group of ADULTS was still following me. My family laughed and asked “are we a school group now?”

  346. AnonORama*

    Nonprofit grant writer/content creator who ruthlessly critiques all other nonprofits’ solicitations. If you’re asking me for money — particularly via paper mail, which I opt out of if at all possible — it shouldn’t have typos, other mistakes, contradictory info, etc. I know from experience that these orgs aren’t working from large budgets, but you need to check your work!

  348. Half April Ludgate, Half Leslie Knope*

    I worked in retail for years and I’m always tempted to finger-space the hangers in stores. Not tempted in my own home, oddly enough…

  349. LadyVet*

    Oh my GOD, my mom is a nurse and she freaked out a waiter once by telling him he had good veins!

  350. Mallorn*

    My partner is a pilot. As a pilot, when you pass off command from pilot to first officer, you say something like “You’ve got control”, they’d respond “I’ve got control” and then you’d repeat “You’ve got control”. This way you know they heard you and they know you heard them. When our kids were little (we have twins and an older one), we did: “You’ve got the kids.” “I’ve got the kids” “You’ve got the kids.” Or: (Me) “The gate is open” (Them) “The gate is open” (Me) “The gate is open”. There was a lot of sleep deprivation going on, so this was immensely helpful.

    Personally, I analyze airplane failures for my work, so I look for cracks or sharp corners while I’m waiting on the jetway to get on the airplane. Not that I expect to find any, it’s just fun to think about.

    1. Anon for this*

      We do something like this, but instead we say “you have the conn” or “I have the conn” because Star Trek and someone needs to be known to both of us as the person responsible for the child.

  351. WonderWoman*

    I’ve worked in several design fields throughout my career, and it’s very hard to turn off my “designer brain.” I’ll see a logo or an ad and immediately start critiquing it in my head.

  352. CzechMate*

    I once worked at a cosmetology school that was very into its special lingo–for example, they wanted us to refer to students as “Future Professionals,” mistakes were rebranded as “discoveries,” and rather than asking for help, future professionals were encouraged to ask for “support.” This got so ingrained in my general vocabulary that I forgot it was a thing until the fateful day that I saw some random woman struggling to move a table and I asked, “Would you like support?” She looked pretty alarmed and asked what kind of “support” I was looking to provide.

    2. Zephy*

      Oh, the management jargon. There are never any “problems,” only “opportunities.” An old boss of mine had been to one too many such seminars, to the point where she called to tell me she’d be out that day due to “stomach opportunities.”

  353. miss_chevious*

    I waited tables for a long time, so when I’m at an event or something with a buffet, I still carry my plate like I’m carrying a tray ( flat hand with star fingers, elbow height unless close quarters in which case raised to the shoulder). I don’t even realize I’m doing it most of the time, but I’ve gotten a nod of recognition from more than one cater waiter. :)

  354. Kiki Is The Most*

    I was a flight attendant before becoming a teacher–a grazillion years ago–and still stand at the classroom door when the students leave saying “Bye. Bye. Thank you. Bye-bye. Thanks for flying with us.” and other versions of this. I now use a lovely blend of flight attendant announcement voice and teacher voice.

  355. girlie_pop*

    My last job was for an insurance brokerage and I did a lot of work with our commercial department, which provides all kinds of coverage for businesses, from insurance for company cars to insurance that covered them in case of acts of terrorism or a key person dying or being kidnapped.

    Whenever there is a public situation of any kind, I always find myself wondering what kinds of coverage/limits/deductibles they have and how it’s going to affect future coverage. The other day when Elon Musk was doing a live in a Tesla that was on self-driving mode and it almost ran a red light, I thought, “Whoever is in charge of Tesla’s insurance has probably got a throbbing migraine right now!”

  356. VioletEMT*

    EMT here. Constantly evaluating homes for their accessibility. How terrible is this staircase? Can I get a stretcher in here? Is this driveway a winter death trap? Etc.

    1. Cat Lover*

      I made a similar comment, glad I’m not the only one that does this. 90% of places are stretcher unfriendly.

  357. Shelvis Presley*

    I work a job shelving books in a public library. I often shelve my own personal books at home based on what I think its Dewey Decimal number would be.

  358. Brain the Brian*

    We are not allowed to eat fish in our office because of the smell. I used to eat canned tunafish sandwiches all the time (they’re cheap and mildly healthy!), but no more. Even at home, I can’t do it.

  359. Raine*

    I was in broadcasting for eleven years, constantly working with commercial identification codes on paperwork. I ended up developing my handwriting style to be as clear and easily read as possible, so as to avoid the wrong commercial airing in a program (it happened once! curse McDonald’s for having two codes where the only difference was a 0 or an O). I keep crossing my sevens and slashing my zeroes to this day, despite being out of the field for almost a decade.

    1. Kayem*

      I do the same, which started after a stint cataloguing the collection in a geology museum. It’s served me well when I’ve had to write down login info.

  360. ElinorD*

    when I fold a paper in half, I fold it with the printing/copy on the outside. It’s a habit I picked up from working in advertising/communications in the 90s, and we had multiple rounds of drafts of ads with several signoffs going at any given time. A quick way to ensure you pull out the right thing when you have a couple of documents.

  361. captain5xa*

    I worked in healthcare for decades and spent much of my day analyzing / correcting people’s gait patterns.

    I no longer work in that specific field but my eyes still constantly see and analyze gait patterns where ever I go. At the grocery store? Look! that person has a gluteus medius limp. Filling up my gas tank? Look! that person has such terrible pes planus in their right foot that their right knee joint has worn down and gone in to genu valgum!

    Once, about 15 years after I changed jobs from one state to another, I was on a trip with my spouse and we had stopped at a Buc-ee’s for gas. I was in the store getting a snack when my brain said, “Hey that guy’s gait over there looks like the one my old coworker Mikey had.” Then I looked up at the guy’s face and it was indeed my old friend Mikey! We had quite the laugh when I told him I noticed that it was him by his gait first before I even registered his face.

  362. Pendragon Studio*

    I’ve worked at a pharmacy for the last two years so I find myself considering use by dates and excursion data when I’m watching media that involves medication, antibiotics especially because it’s what I do every day. Thankfully my roommate humors me when I start talking about compounding pharmacy limitations during apocalypse films!

  363. Emmy*

    I am an immigration officer in charge of qualifying people for permanent residency. Whenever I hear about a crime, my brain starts automatically flipping through the Immigration and Nationality Act to see if the person would be removable from the country if they happened to be an immigrant, since it’s what I have to check every day.

    Short version, there are a lot of US public officials currently in the news who would never be allowed to get a green card if they were born somewhere else! And it’s only with great difficulty that I can restrain myself from bringing this up constantly in casual conversation.

  364. Dinwar*

    I have a few.

    –If you ask me to mix something I will use the proper ASTM method for homogenization. Taught my kids to do this when feeding the dogs (we do a mix of wet/dry food).

    –Hydration hydration hydration, as others have said. Also salt.

    –I will critique the site safety of any jobsite I go by. And I will geek out over the equipment.

    –We have a box of nitrile gloves in the house at all times. The kids have been taught to use them (mostly by imitation, then by me going “No no no no no, take it off THIS way, see, it makes a little envelope!”). To be fair, the kids are responsible for cat litter cleanup and that’s disgusting.

    –Not sure if it counts as a weird habit or not, but I will read through any contract we get with a construction element (like when we got the fence installed), and I will hold contractors to it (within reason). I HIGHLY recommend this if you don’t do it already. Most are honest, hard-working, diligent people that take pride in their work; there are others, however, who try to charge you for anything. The most ridiculous was “We forgot the equipment, we’ll need to charge another mobilization fee.” That’s the point where they stopped talking to me and tried talking to my wife–who was also trained in contractor oversight. Not a good day for them!

    I don’t count the jargon I use as a weird habit. My wife and I are both scientists, both worked in environmental remediation, both studied geology, etc. It’s just how we talk. The biggest problem is anatomical jargon–my wife worked as a massage therapist for a while, and my paleo background gives me a descent background in osteology (as does my propensity to break bones–I learned paleopathology via first-hand experience….), so we use the real terms. Had a doctor and nurse once try to talk over our heads once, one of those things where they thought they were talking in a way where the patient couldn’t understand. We both joined in, and the attitude suddenly became MUCH more collaborative!

    1. Jules the First*

      I was once asked by an ER doc if I was a medical professional while conversing knowledgeably about the proper rehab for my broken ankle and then had to confess that actually I was just a frequent flyer at the fracture clinic…

  365. HannahS*

    Doctor. I dictate all my texts and emails in a rapid monotone with punctuation and husband finds it both disconcerting and funny.

    “Thanks-mom-comma-let-me-know-when-you’re-on-your-way-period-can’t-wait-excalamation-point”

  366. Fez Knots*

    I was a bookseller at a brick and mortar store for several years. To this day when I shop for books, I’ll rearrange books that are out of alphabetical order (not crazy, lol, just like if Abe is behind Ack I’ll switch them) and when decorative piles are all jumbled up, I have to straighten them.

    I manage to keep it constrained to just the piles and shelves I’m browsing, like I’m not going all over the sales floor, but yes. I do do this lol. I admit it.

  367. Thatoneoverthere*

    I worked at a retail mobile phone store for a major US carrier for a while. While the holidays and black friday were nuts for shopping they were not my least favorite to work. My least favorite time of year to work, was the week after the Spring Forward time change. People are SOOO CRANKY that week. That little loss of sleep really effects people. We actually had people at my store request that week off on purpose, so they wouldn’t have to deal with the mania that was Spring Forward. I still dread that week to this day. I brace myself from crankiness all around, when in reality its not bad, now that I am out of retail.

  368. Laura Petrie*

    I’m an OT. I spend my life outside of work checking out front doors of random houses to see if they’d be suitable for grab rails or an access ramp. I notice people incorrectly using walking aids and have to fight the urge to intervene. If I visit friends at home I notice if their house is suitable for aids and adaptations as they age. If someone mentions having a fall at home, I start asking questions.

    I’m not planning to move any time soon, but if I ever do I’ll be looking for how adaptable it would be in future.

    What makes this stranger is I actually work in mental health so this is all stuff I picked up during my placements when I was at university

    1. iglwif*

      I have a similar habit with documents and websites — I do some accessibility-adjacent stuff in my current job and now I can never again not notice tiny fonts, poor colour contrast, missing alt text on social media posts, and linked text that just says “click here”.

  369. iglwif*

    I worked at a software company that made a product with a CamelCase name (you know, like iPhone or eBay). After a couple of months of typing that product name constantly, I realized that my fingers were also auto-typing that letter combination in camel case in a lot of other words where it absolutely did not belong … and the effect still hasn’t worn off.

    My first few jobs involved answering the phone a lot, which of course resulted in my occasionally answering my own home phone with “Good morning/afternoon, $Department, Iglwif speaking!” or “$Company, how may I direct your call?” or similar.

  371. Not A Raccoon Keeper*

    My partner works in provincial recycling program administration, previously managing components of collection in our area. It meant that we could not walk past any curbside recycling without them checking for contamination, and occasionally swapping things into their correct bin. It meant that a walk on recycling day was just a walk through other peoples’ recycling, and it. was. excruciating. Especially during peak pandemic when we were all walking all the time; I had to plan our walks based on recycling schedules and pick up locations just to get them to pay attention to me (and my stressful covid-related work). Thank goodness they got a new role!

  372. Jo*

    I’ve been on crunch projects that involved long days of system and unit testing (software) and writing, re-writing, proofing the accompanying documentation, during which:
    1) Several of us shared we unconsciously “proofed” the credits of a movie – primarily reviewing the text for size, format, placement, clarity.
    2) I gave a co-worker a ride home late at night after a particularly grueling day of testing. He was relentlessly punching the various buttons on my car radio/dash and realized he’d slipped into testing every combination of the “user interface”.

  373. bah bah black sheep*

    I’m from the Midwest but worked in a small firm with several people from Kentucky. We’d compare accents a lot and the way they said “bye” sounded more like “bahhh.” I started saying it that way to them, first as a joke and then as a habit, and then it carried with me into the rest of my life. I didn’t realize I was even doing it until my mom looked at me quizzically once and said, “Wait, what are you saying? Are you a sheep?”

  374. Alda*

    I’ve worked in quality assurance in banknote printing, and worked there as my country was getting a whole new design of banknotes, so when the new bills got to the general public, I had spent months looking at them and was super excited for everyone else to get a chance. I once had torrestrain myself from snatching them out of a friend’s hand when she was paying another friend, and I’m still itching to give a small lecture on printed security features every time I see someone I know use them (which isn’t super often, my country is very electronic payment focused).

  375. Cedrus Libani*

    I’ve worked in high-level biohazard facilities. The kind of place where there’s a syringe full of antivirals hanging on the wall, because if you screw up…

    Most people just touch stuff. They don’t even think about it. They’ll dig their hands in the raw chicken, then go rummaging through the silverware drawer. Me? I’m honestly below average on the “clean person” spectrum, but my touch discipline is 100% on point. If I’m trying to contain a mess (raw meat, engine grease, paint, etc) it STAYS contained, because I know exactly what’s contaminated and what isn’t. I don’t touch anything unless I have to, I’m aware of everything I’ve touched, and I keep that list to a minimum by cleaning as I go.

  376. GreenDoor*

    In my work I have to make a lot of fact-based arguments and I find myself using a lot of the technical/legal verbiage at home when my kids want to argue with me so like, “Pursuant to our family rule, you may not play outside after dark.” or “The fact that it is dark outside, coupled with the fact that it is a school night, means you may not play outside after dark.” Or using words like “hereafter,” “ergo,” “x relative to y.” My kids are 6 and 8 so I’m sure a passer-by would find it odd that I use such high-fallootin’ wording with small children, but they are logical thinkers like me, so it actually works.

    1. ferrina*

      And then comes the day when they use it against you….
      “Yes, but you will remember that on June 9, the precedent was set that after-dark outdoor play was permissible during situations in which fireflies were present. Given that fireflies are currently present, as evidenced by that one over there, I get to play outside!”

  377. Walking Feet!*

    I work with young children and I’m usually very good at code switching between talking to kids and talking to adults. In the past 15 years there’s really only two instances of work brain autopilot that haunt me:

    1) One time in my twenties when my then boyfriend came out of his bathroom I helpfully asked him if he remembered to flush and wash his hands. For some reason he did not appreciate the reminder.
    2) On a new coworker’s first day, when he needed to go to a department on a different floor, I offered to ‘go with him if he’d like a buddy’. He politely let me know that he felt confident about riding the elevator by himself.

    In a less embarrassing instance, I have also gotten clocked as working in childcare by people at the dog park based on how I talk to dogs: “You don’t want to give me the ball back? That’s okay! You’re not ready! You can keep playing with it and I’ll be right here to throw it if you change your mind!”

    1. Tummy hurt*

      That first one!! Also asking if your s/o needs to try going potty when they mention their stomach doesn’t feel good.. they don’t typically enjoy being asked that either it seems

  378. Union*

    My psychiatrist once recommended going for a walk in town to address some of my anger issues. I did not have the energy to tell him that I’m angry all the time because I work in the built environment industry and can’t see anything other than construction defects and negative byproducts of building codes every time I step outside.

    Real Pagliacci at the doctor’s moment.

  379. Mairzy Doats*

    A previous boss, when frustrated in a situation, would exclaim, “REALLY?!?!?!”. Subconsciously, I started doing this at home, which annoyed my kids. Then one day, I’d offered to drive my boss to an offsite meeting, due him having foot surgery and dependent on others (it was a one-time offer). He was super grateful, we were having a pleasant chat, when suddenly some fool carelessly cut in front of me, way too close, and he exclaimed, “REALLY?’!?!?!?” I busted out laughing and myself exclaimed, “So it’s YOUR fault! Now I know where I got that from!” Then we both laughed about it.
    I worked with him for 16 years until he retired. And I still find myself exclaiming, “REALLY?!?!”

  380. Retired Teacher*

    I worked for a school district that decided the hill they wanted to die on was hats. Religious headgear was allowed, and grudgingly the few students who were undergoing cancer treatments that made them lose their hair were permitted to wear a cap of some sort, but those exceptions were a small portion of the student population, and it seems no matter how styles change, teenagers are fervently attached to wearing some sort of hat. Personally, I don’t care about hats and I had to train myself to notice them after I was scolded for not enforcing the rule. Then for the next 30 years, I was saying some variation of “Hats off!” on at least an hourly basis during the school day. This followed me into non-school settings, and once I was confronted with the shocked and irritated face of a stranger I had sternly told to remove his baseball cap in the public library.
    It took me several months after retiring to return to not actively noticing if someone was wearing a hat or not. Since the reflex to react to a hat was so deeply set, just not paying attention seemed to be the easiest way to prevent further humiliation by accosting strangers.

    As someone above has already noted, speaking to a classroom, means that I developed a voice loud enough to carry to the back of the room, even over distractions such as low level chatter, noisy ventilation systems, or disturbances in the hallway. While it seems like a reasonable volume to me, my family is continually reminding me that I need to lower my voice so that it reaches only those close by, and doesn’t carry above all background noise. Apparently even when I believe I am whispering, I am loud. That did lead to having my hearing checked, but no excuses to be found there. It seems I am just loud.

    1. Not A Raccoon Keeper*

      I laughed out loud about you telling a library patron to take off their hat! Hah!

  381. WorkingRachel*

    From 2007-2016, I worked in a place where you needed a key to get into the restroom.

    As recently as two months ago, I found myself grabbing my keys automatically when I needed to take a bathroom break (including taking them out of my purse automatically when trying to wrap up a conversation with someone in order to go to the bathroom).

  382. Rainbow*

    I am an editor and have been for decades. I now have the habit of writing everything, even personal emails and Facebook posts, in the editorial style that’s specific to my workplace.

  383. 3am_caffinator*

    Not me specifically, but I know a lot of teachers and they’ve all developed “teacher voice” that they don’t seem able to turn off. One of my most soft-spoken friends teaches high school science, and two weeks into her student teaching, she developed a lower, firmer voice that she’s kept in all the years since, even among friends. My aunt has taught elementary students for 40+ years, and the way she clearly enunciates every word and pitches her voice to exaggerate her interest is clearly right out of her classroom. It’s pretty interesting to see how all that classroom experience changes how they communicate.

    1. Former Gremlin Herder*

      This is so real! I’ve been out of the classroom for a few years, but I still have to be careful I don’t sound like I’m talking to elementary schoolers when I’m running a meeting at work. My friend who also teaches has absolutely “teacher-voiced” me before when I’ve done something silly and it’s hysterical! Teaching really does change the way people communicate in profound ways.

  384. Dawn*

    I have to physically restrain myself from opening every email with “Hello, Mom,” and ending with “Kind Regards, Firstname Lastname”

  385. Peep*

    Not sure if this qualifies, but definitely a weird work habit compared to other orgs… we turn off the lights in the (shared, employee) bathroom when we’re done. Unfortunately when my single braincell isn’t working very well, it means I leave the bathroom and occasionally turn off the lights on someone else. >_< (It's rare that more than one person is in there, but you get it.) We're like the organizational equivalent of the bag full of plastic bags and reusing aluminum foil.

  386. AlexS*

    4 that come to mind immediately:

    1 – always giving my postcode in the phonetic alphabet

    2 – In training we were told never to use the phrase ‘bear with me’ and I still don’t. I also tend to use however instead of but – both from the same training and QA

    3 – I had a manager once who hated the word ‘that’ and would remove it from all letters unless you could justify it’s inclusion. I now remove about 90% of occurrences of ‘that’ from collaborative and peer-review documents

    4 – the owner of the company insisted on coasters being used for every drink, we were given 5 each on starting the company so there was no excuse. I instinctively look for a coaster to put drinks on and feel very uncomfortable not using one at my current job where we hotdesk (when in the office) and there are none in any of the meeting rooms.

  387. Elise*

    Professional tour guide here. I stand in the prime spot from which to speak to an audience wherever I go. If I’m on a tour I drive the tour guide crazy by standing where they normally do, whether I’ve been there before or not.

  388. Cinnamon Hair*

    Both my husband and I worked in food service for our first jobs, so we both have done some funny things.

    However, this one night, my husband was absolutely exhausted after working an especially long shift at work and he was also starving, so he stopped at a popular chain restaurant (that my husband had been a busser at a few years prior when he was in college) to grab a late night dinner. I told him I’d meet him there in case he was too tired to drive after, so I did and we ate.

    After we’re done, I get up to use the bathroom, and when I come back out, he has one of those bussing trays in hand (that someone had left sitting on another table) and is full-on bussing the nearly empty dining room. And I’m like, “Uh, honey, what are you doing?” And he looks at me like he’s confused for a second, and then says he fell asleep at the table for a minute and then woke up and thought he was at work. And I say, “No, dear, you don’t work here anymore. You have a new job now.” And he’s just like, “Oh, yeah.”

    He went right to bed when we got home, but both of us couldn’t stop laughing about it the next day.

  389. Sharon*

    Compliance reviewer here – I compulsively read small print and look for misleading or exaggerated language on billboards, advertisements, menus – you name it!

  390. Kali*

    First responder here. Where do I start? I’m now on a desk job, but it took me literal years after I got off the streets to stop reaching up to my personal car’s roof to turn on lights when I saw a car accident or other emergency and longer than that to stop walking with my arms six inches away from my body (so I didn’t swing them into my duty belt that’s no longer there). I still take my seat belt off a block away from where I’m stopping to park (to be ready to jump out), I always drive in the left lane if I can (so I can do a quick U-turn), and I always sit with my back to the wall and facing the entrance in a restaurant. We won’t talk about my extremely dark sense of humor. Yikes.

  391. Goodbye Ruby Toothy*

    Passing a pen, tool or utensil to someone with a slight thwack onto their finger or across their palm. I worked as a dental assistant, and a practitioner in the middle of a procedure needs to feel a definite pass on a gloved hand without looking up. I still do a simultaneous surgical pass with my friends or a tradesperson by taking a pen or tool with my little finger and trading them what they need (with the little thwack) at the same time.
    (It’s usually as handy for them as it would be for someone trained to it, but it’s still unexpected.)

  392. Leftover Chef*

    I still have a few habits I’ve carried from my kitchen work to the office:

    – I still end up calling out “behind!” whenever I’m coming up behind a coworker, though the most dangerous thing any of us here might maybe be carrying is a stapler.

    – I’ve kept my “don’t try to grab the falling knife” reflex, which has gotten me weird looks when it’s a considerably less risky item falling down. (I haven’t bothered trying to deprogram this one, since I do enjoy cooking frequently at home still)

    2. Cardboard Marmalade*

      Omg, yes, the “Behind you!” has stayed with me from my food service days for sure! I use it almost daily.

  393. Lou's Girl*

    Worked my way through college as a Bank Teller. We constantly had “Security Training” which always touched on being aware of your surroundings, making sure you’re not followed, etc. I still to this day, make sure no one is following me home even though I haven’t worked as a Teller or in any sort of ‘security related’ job in 20 years. Actually, I kind of appreciate it all these years later.

  394. WorkingRachel*

    After years as a nontraditional educator, when kids are around, I’m always aware of where they are and whether they need help. It’s not very noticeable, because my boundaries on those things are actually looser than most people’s, but I’m definitely paying attention to that minor squabble between your kid and another kid in case someone starts crying or hitting. Or when “quietly playing in the other room” becomes “too quiet, something’s up.” And I’ve been known to politely ask kids to quiet down in public settings, forgetting that most parents don’t see that as a neutral request.

  395. Vice Principal Jessica Day*

    I currently work at a company that works with DUI offenders. I know all the DUI laws for every state now and I keep RUINING parties.

  396. General von Klinkerhoffen*

    I can’t be the only person who has worked in a British pub and always orders Guinness first.

    (for those to whom this makes no sense: Guinness is a slow pour so you leave it running while you’re listening to the rest of the order and fetching other drinks)

  397. Huzzah!*

    Former coworker and I used to joke about people being loud in our otherwise quiet open office by yelling out “THIS IS A PLACE OF WORK!” At my new job in a similar open office, I feel the urge to shout that but fear no one will get the joke.

  398. New Senior Mgr*

    At least once a day I find a way to work the words ‘inappropriately’ or ‘unprofessional’ in somewhere. Yeah, I pretty much walk around pretending I’m Alison most days. It helps the day go by.

  399. Unfortunate Admin*

    I used to sometimes have to drive a around the city and do an audit of ours and competitors billboards and outdoor marketing. Now I’m very aware of billboards just have a habit of pointing them out.

  400. Donkey Hotey*

    Late to the party but… The Voice.

    I worked in a mostly inbound call center for 8+ years and left it about 20 years ago. To this day, when I call someone on the phone, they think I’m selling them something because of how I speak.

  401. NoIWontFixYourComputer*

    I’m a software developer that used to work for a cybersecurity firm, and one of the things there was “always lock your computer when you walk away from it”.

    So I always lock my computer, even when I’m home alone!

  402. DefinitiveAnn*

    When my mother was the SAHM to four kids under the age of 5, my parents had friends over for a cookout one evening. Sitting around the table, she plated a piece of meat for one of the guests and, instead of passing it to him, started cutting it into small pieces.

  403. Cardboard Marmalade*

    Former library employee and almost 10 years later I am still incapable of not stopping to help someone figure out how to work the copier/printer/Internet sign-up kiosk.

  404. DameB*

    I work at a weird org where you can’t use any word (at all!) that isn’t spelled/used the same way in British and American English. I find myself editing texts to my husband to take out the word “color” or “sidewalk.” It’s ridiculoud

    1. Anon in Aotearoa*

      I picked up a similar habit: in my twenties I travelled a LOT for work, to many countries which were purportedly English-speaking but spoke their own special variant. My own native English is liberally seasoned with terms and constructions unique to my country. I ended up developing my “travel English” variant which was the subset of English words and constructions that would be understood anywhere. Spoken a bit slower than my usual rapid-fire accent, with clearer vowels, I still find myself slipping into it whenever I’m in another country. My husband, who didn’t travel at all for work, doesn’t do this, and comments on how foreigners seem to understand me better than they understand him. (Love, if you’re reading this, a “dairy” is something we only call by that name here).

      1. DameB*

        Sidewalk in British English is “pavement”. same way they say jumper instead of sweater. Amd suspenders mean something VERY different there (they say braces or braces I think).

    3. Kayem*

      I guess a compay memo about people wearing multicolored sweaters selling cookies and chips on the sidewalk would be problematic.

  405. Meg*

    I work in a lab, and when I get home from the grocery store and split out the meat into freezer bags, I will always write what it is (normal), the date (also normal), and my initials (weird). In the lab, we gotta know as much as possible about what we’re making, along with who made it!

  406. Amykate*

    I’m a retired librarian and whenever I see books out of order on a library shelf ( or even a ookstore shelf!) I can’t resist putting them in correct order.

  407. DaveDave*

    It’s not a huge behavior, but after years in retail and restaurants, I make eye contact with everyone and greet them either with a slight head nod, sometimes a ‘hi’ or ‘hello.’

    As a result, I constantly get asked questions about products from the store I’m in. I’ve been out of retail for years, but I’ve walked hundreds of people to products they’ve asked about in the last decade.

    I can’t stop; won’t stop.

    1. YES CHEF*

      I still say “behind” when I walk behind someone standing at a desk or counter after many traumatic years as a kitchen gofer in my family’s restaurant as a kid.

  408. Mimmy*

    I teach touch-typing to blind and visually impaired adults and I’m always silently assessing someone’s typing, either in person or in a scene on TV. Also, my husband has his own (incorrect!) methods of typing, and I occasionally tease him :)

  409. Semi-retired admin*

    After more than 2 decades of correcting teens when they drop F-bombs and other cuss words, I find myself wanting to do it in crowds.

  410. Karisa*

    I worked in restaurants for 10 years and I still say “heard” to acknowledge that someone said something but we don’t need to talk about it.

  411. TG*

    I always say my first name and spell the first two letter – so Christina with a CH because people always ask….
    Also as a former server sometimes I call people Hon and I’m always mortified and correct it immediately and people laugh because I explain I was a server at a family restaurant so everyone there was “Hon”

  412. Jules the First*

    Oh dear. From the days when I walked dogs and exercised horses – I accidentally click-trained my toddler.

    From my days in retail, cash sorted and faced and always count the change for the clerk.

    From my days in construction management, I’m a PPE stickler (and yes, have even called the HSE to report unsafe behaviour on site and then had to confess I was a member of the public passing by).

    And from my days as a site snagger (like copy editing, but for newly built buildings), I can tell just by looking that the new kitchen you’re so proud of has doors that squeak and that the tiler who laid your bathroom backsplash was outside tolerance. I cannot unsee it…

  413. It's happy hour somewhere*

    When I was in college, I had a job in a day care center. There was this local dive bar with $7 pitchers, and when it was my turn to buy, I came back from the bar and very carefully filled everyone’s glass evenly halfway. In my defense, no one argued over who had more, and no one spilled.

  414. Lexie*

    I used to work in mental health. When I started notes had to be hand written, even when we progressed to using computers to do our notes we had to print them out and physically sign them because the laws hadn’t caught up with technology. We were required to use black ink and to this day I will not buy blue pens and seeing something signed in blue ink just doesn’t look right.

  415. ConstantlyComic*

    I work at a public library, and at risk of being a cliche, I definitely find myself wanting to alphabetize or otherwise organize bookshelves when I spot messy ones out and about. I also have to hide my very negative opinion of James Patterson quite frequently.

  416. I Wrote This in the Bathroom*

    I am a SW engineer and anytime the people in my life plan something that involves me, my mind goes through all possible scenarios and I ask a lot of questions and make sure everything adds up. What’s the plan for if X goes Y-shaped? What do we do after the last step? How can we go to the art museum on Saturday when it’s been closed for remodeling for a year? that type of thing. Somehow, the people in my life do not appreciate it and call it “negativity”. They should’ve met my mom. Mom used to take one look at me or Dad getting ready to do something (like a house project) and immediately rattle off all the ways it might fail. She worked in quality control, testing electronic equipment. That was used by the military. In weapons. Catching things that might break BEFORE they broke was pretty important.

    1. zaracat*

      Haha I was just about to write something very similar. I’m ex-military now working in surgery and used to working in an environment where everyone just accepts that things will go wrong (sometimes disastrously) without it being anyone’s fault and you need to think about worst case scenarios, have contingency plans in place and also speak up as soon as you notice a hazard or problem. I find people in my non-work life often get offended and defensive because they equate my assumption that something could go wrong and trying to plan for that with implying that they’re incompetent.

  417. Not that kind of doctor*

    From years as an admin/program manager at a university, I feel the need to summarize any rambling social or family conversation that’s about something we want to do by clearly stating the action items and next steps.

  418. a non*

    In high school I volunteered helping run some kids’ martial arts classes. One thing I did every week was lead warm-up exercises for three classes in a row. I would mirror what the kids were supposed to do, so I would say things like “put your right arm up,” and put my left arm up. I did this for several years straight, sometimes multiple times per week. I must have swapped right and left 20-30 times every week.

    First, I nearly failed my Drivers’ Ed class because I kept turning the wrong way at intersections. Moreover, several decades later, I get my right and left confused. I had no problem with it before this. Every time I think I’ve finally gotten over it, I turn the wrong way.

  419. Sam*

    Scanning my badge to access/open doors. It’s such a reflex! I’ve done it to my car door, the front door on my house, the grocery store…

  420. Nightengale*

    This is a habit I only had AT work:

    I am a pediatrician who cares for children with developmental disabilities. For about 5 years I worked at a combination rehab hospital/school./outpatient clinic. The halls were always full of children who used wheelchairs, some of whom were still learning, and also kids riding tricycles for physical therapy or in one memorable case roller skates.
    I developed quickly a habit of stopping at all hallway intersections like you would before crossing a street and looking both ways for traffic. The children, as I explained to others who pointed out this quirk, did not stop and did not steer.

    Years earlier I had been a teacher for children with behavioral disabilities and got into the habit of counting the number of children in my care. Often. Alloys and on my fingers. People thought I had a counting compulsion. I don’t.

    1. Foila*

      I really love the mental image of a bunch of kids learning to use their various wheels, all careening through the halls in an unpredictable flood.

  421. Wintermute*

    Used to work for a construction company setting appointments for consultations about insulation, roof repairs, windows, etc.

    For YEARS and to this day to some extent I notice when someone’s roof has no snow in the winter. When I was out doing it my best sales tool was a IR thermometer, “Sir, it’s 10* outside today and your roof is 45, you are paying to heat the neighborhood”. also tend to date neighborhoods based on some construction features– neighborhoods from the 50s and 60s with aluminum slider windows were a gold mine, they ALWAYS have airflow and they conduct so much heat even if there’s a decent seal or window film up they still cool the whole room.

  422. Cakeroll*

    Another one – this one from my time working in medical education. The field I worked in would deal with gastroenterology topics very frequently, and frequently reference the word “chyme”, which refers to the partially-digested food inside your stomach – a little bit gross. Now, I cannot hear the word “chime”, in any context, without first thinking about its little-bit-gross homophone. The constant ads for Chime online banking in all my podcasts drives me nuts!

  423. Rear Mech*

    I used to rent bicycles to tourists. I’m very good at estimating heights. When looking at a person I also reflexively note their inseam to height ratio.

      1. Rear Mech*

        Thinking about this, there’s a couple of other things I still tend to notice that I used to use to anticipate people’s needs or get them comfy on a bike that was “wrong” for their height based on a size chart. I always notice folks with stiff or hesitant ways of moving especially in the back, hips, and hands. That definitely helps give me patience on the bus or out in public generally. I still also feel a little worried about people with purses or tote bags that don’t zip shut (an out of town lost keys/phone disaster waiting to happen)

  424. I'm just here for the cats!!*

    After reading some of these I realize that I have more habits from work than I thought. In no particular order
    * always be working on something, or at least look like you are busy. If you have time to lean you have time to clean (Grocery store clerk/bagger/stocker/cleaner/ deli person)
    * a pure jolt of dread when a man with a certain accent calls because I would be sexually harrassed by a certain customer with that accent when I worked at a call center.
    * Hyperaware of cross-contamination and how to clean a kitchen (Campus dining and deli work)
    * Knowing the distinct smell of raw meat & blood, especially if its been left out for a few hours.(From when I worked at a grocery store and had to clean the floor in the meat room, which would be left 2 to 3 hours until I was free from helping customers)

    I’m sure there’s more but I can’t think of any right now.

  425. Birth and Bird*

    Worked as a childbirth educator and doula for many years. Now I work for a company that has the word “bird” in its name. It’s been seven years, and I *still* type “birth” and then fix it to “bird” every single time.
    I also check every document for the word “birth” before I send it on.

      1. Anon for this*

        Happy birdday to you. In January, we celebrate Martin Luther King’s birdday. Anyone want some birdday cake?

  426. Anon for this*

    I’ve never said this out loud, and it would make me a Jackwagon if I did, but I’m ex-military and when a crowd is moving slowly and inefficiently I sometimes itch to call out “move out” and organize the gaggle into columns or something because I know if people formed up in an orderly way and and got them to move efficiently it would be SO MUCH FASTER. (I’m also a woman, lest I tar some of my ex-military brethren with my looniness.)

    1. SB*

      I would not even be mad if someone did this because I get agitated when stuck walking behind people who just meander along like they don’t have a care in the world!!!!!

  427. Literate Fox*

    I work in a library and whenever I pick up a book, I flip through it to make sure that there’s nothing gross in it. I even do it with books at home now.

    1. Harmless Purple Whangdoodle*

      SAAAAAAME (especially books that have a “crunchy” feel-that’s usually caused by water damage and you get used to telling by the feel”)

  428. Researcher9000*

    I’m a researcher and I work on topics that have a decent level of public awareness. It is very easy for me to go into “research discussion mode”. People will ask me about something related to my work and I’m trying to refrain from launching into “XYZ people did a study on that and they found…”. Also forgetting that most people don’t remember what they did in high school math.

  429. peregrina*

    I did research in Central American rainforests for several years, where there were snakes. A lot of snakes. Venomous snakes. One of my field assistants even got bit by one of them (he was ok, thankfully – it was a dry bite)! So we were constantly hypervigilant about anything on the ground that looked remotely like a snake. Which means that now, over 10 years later, I still sometimes jump at the sight of a stick on the ground, despite being in a part of the world with very very few snakes.

  430. RosaRachelJ*

    I’m a social worker who often accompanies clients to medical appointments. I once found myself halfway through writing up documentation on my cat’s vet visit in the very specific language required by my workplace before I realized what I was doing.

  431. MM*

    I used to work in grocery delivery. We worked out of a warehouse directly on top of the actual grocery store. One of the duties I acquired was running out-of-stocks. Running out-of-stocks means that we are out of (whatever) in the upstairs warehouse and somebody has to go downstairs and get what’s needed.

    This meant I was frequently darting through a grocery store with an extremely random list of things I had to get 1-5 of. As a result, I a) knew exactly where everything was, and b) got really good at finding the most efficient path to get to all the items needed on this trip and back upstairs. It was a game to me; if I had to double back for something or make a big detour I’d feel almost offended. I imagine this is how game streamers who do speedruns feel. It appears to have permanently rewired my brain. I am always looking for the shortest path and annoyed if I think I’ve made an unnecessary loop or failed to take an available diagonal, whereas before that job I was just grateful if I didn’t get lost. For years after that job I lived near a convenience store that could only be reached in two roundabout ways, and literally every time I went there (almost every day…for four years….) I’d be furiously debating with myself which was shorter. I think I tried timing them a couple of times.

    I still have those instincts when I go into grocery stores to do my own shopping now, but fortunately I will never know another grocery store that well again, so I am also haunted by the knowledge that a better route exists and I am not doing it.

    Unrelated, I’m sure: I ended up going to get a PhD in geography.

    1. Dancing Otter*

      My mother had a master grocery list (mark what we need this week) in the order of the local store layout.
      She was highly annoyed any time they changed things around.

      1. Corey*

        I do this! It makes for an extremely efficient grocery run, and like your mother, I get extremely anxious when they move things, cause it means I’ll have to relearn the layout.

  432. Leah*

    For some reason, my employer doesn’t use the term PTO. It’s APL (accrued personal leave, I think it means) and I have a hell of a time remembering to say PTO and not APL when I’m talking to my friends who don’t work there.

  433. Foila*

    I worked on a ship for a couple years. The most lasting effects were:
    – Repeating all commands and requests. “Pass the salt?” “Pass the salt aye!” I’ve tried to tone this one down but it persists because it’s useful.
    -Calling windy days “sporty”.
    – Strong opinions about knots. I do judge people who granny knot their shoelaces.

  434. Immortal for a limited time*

    For me, it’s an absolute HATRED of the sound of someone popping their gum. I worked for an IT consulting firm in a well-paying but stressful job; in fact, after several years I ended up quitting in frustration without another job lined up. In that unpleasant work environment, I listened to my manager pop her gum all day long in the cubicle next to me, and apparently my brain will forever associate that sound with extreme unhappiness and burnout. That was almost 20 years ago, and to this day I want to throat-punch anyone who pops their gum.

  435. SB*

    My staff call me Water Nanna because I remind them to hydrate throughout the day. On super hot days I will walk around the workshop with a box of hydration ice blocks (they have electrolytes in them) making sure the boilermakers & fitters are staying hydrated during their shift. This is a hangover from a previous job where I was a nurse in an aged care facility & keeping elderly dementia patients hydrated was without a doubt the hardest part of any shift. 20 years after being a floor nurse I still harp on at people to stay hydrated but in new work roles & in my personal life.

  436. ccsquared*

    I will periodically reach for a badge I am not wearing to try to badge into doors without badge readers. If I see a laptop with an unlocked screen, I will have an overwhelming desire to lock it. I never click on links in emails.

    15 years of annual cybersecuriy training ftw, I guess.

  437. Inkognyto*

    I worked as an electrical apprentice for Father’s business since I was 12 until early 20’s.

    One thing he taught me still sticks. The first light switch nearest to the door, should ALWAYS turn the light on in the room. “When you walk into a dark you want it to be easy to light the room, and not anything else outside the room you are in.” I notice it when I turn lights on in any room, and I smile when someone did it ‘right’

    I also annoyed my spouse when I swapped all ones in our house one day. She didn’t complain after she realized I stopped waking her in middle of the night by accidently turning the master bath fan on because the light was the third one over. Thanks Dad, you may have saved my married too.

  438. Eirishis*

    Waited tables in college, and to this day, still say “behind” when walking past someone who isn’t facing me, whether at home or at the office. Don’t want anyone to accidentally get their plates … erm, papers … knocked down.

    1. Harmless Purple Whangdoodle*

      Ooooh yes, I do this, too, usually it’s “crossing behind!” except in my case, it’s from working on film sets.

  439. spike*

    Architect here, and I look at the ceilings in every new space I enter like a total weirdo. And start touching the walls to feel the materials and try to guess how it was put together in my head… apparently this isn’t normal.

  440. Former call centre worker*

    Working in a call centre handling customer complaints, I learned to deescalate contentious calls by speaking more softly and gently the more a customer raised their voice, like soothing a small child.

    At some point I realised I’d started doing the same thing when dealing with my argumentative parents.

  441. Muscovy Duck*

    Worked with lasers for a few years doing research while I was in college. Still sometimes have the habit of closing my eyes any time I need to duck under a table. (Any time your eyes pass through the height the laser beam is at, you close them as an extra precaution – no matter how sure you are that the beam is aligned right and your goggles won’t slip, better safe than sorry.)

  442. Dancing Otter*

    I did a few consulting projects evaluating disaster preparedness plans. That has definitely bled over into my vacation planning.
    You’d be amazed, incidentally, how few of those plans included off-line documentation for when the power goes out, or the network is down. One famously did not include anyone having a key to the backup site if the office was unavailable – – it was in someone’s desk drawer when they actually needed it for real. (Right next to the list of people to notify.)

  443. Sabrina*

    Data scientist, and I end up using agile terms in daily life. Trying to organize a family member’s medical care I started talking about stories and capacity…

    Also worked on fast food ages ago for about 6 years, and we were taught to always respond to customer complaints with “Sorry” and then ask what was wrong and try to fix it. Decades later I’m still fighting that impulse. Especially since it’s actually a bad thing to do in my current role! We don’t want our team constantly seeming to admit fault that’s not ours….

  444. GingerJ1*

    In school, I worked as a cashier at McDonald’s, lo these many many moons ago.

    We were not REQUIRED to face all our bills the same way in our tills, but it did help the manager who was closing that night, so I did it.

    I still do that with my wallet, ones in front, followed by fives, tens, etc., all with the presidents facing forward and right-side-up.

    Occasionally, I’ll peek inside Husband’s wallet, to get him change or something, and marvel at how he has any idea how much money is in there, as it’s all stuck in there willy-nilly, denominations mixed and everything.

    (Oh, and this is quite possibly the only area in the whole universe where I’m neater than he is.)

  445. software dev*

    I’m a software developer. Whenever I’m on any website, there’s constantly part of my brain that’s noticing any bad security practices, UI antipatterns, accessibility issues, etc.

    One issue I notice very frequently is user enumeration. We get trained that incorrect password or forgot password pages should never tell you whether the email address you entered actually is registered on the site; otherwise, you could enter an email with any random password and instantly find out whether that person has an account on the website. There are so many websites that don’t follow this, though, and I’m constantly noticing it! Etsy is particularly bad, iirc in their login flow you enter your email first and then they greet you with your name and profile pic BEFORE you have to enter a password!

    Also, if I run into a bug on a website, I tend to automatically go into debugging mode (checking the console log for errors, trying different inputs to try to deduce what caused the problem, etc). I will sometimes email the company with details on the bug and what I think is causing it, or info that could be helpful for reproducing/fixing it. For example, I got a generic “something went wrong, try again later” error when trying to set up bill pay for my rent, after some experimentation it turned out they didn’t like me using “#” for unit number in my address but hadn’t put in any validation message that would tell the user it was a disallowed character. Or when I tried to schedule a covid booster, I kept getting a weird error preventing me from proceeding and by trying different combinations of input, figured out that the pharmacy’s date validation rules must have not accounted for the fact that J&J vax recipients would only be able to enter 1 prior vax date.

    We also get trained on physical security stuff (lock your laptops anytime you step away, don’t let people tailgate when you’re badging into an area, etc) so now when I’m in public (especially places like doctor’s offices where there’s confidential info around) part of me is always looking around like “if I was malicious, how hard would it be for me to see someone else’s data or plug in a USB stick to an unattended computer?”

    1. allhailtheboi*

      Related, my old job trained us to always lock our computers if we stepped away from them. I catch myself locking my PC at home, when no one else is even home.

  446. Captain_SafetyPants*

    I used to work in professional theatre technology, and some of the common work etiquette of working on stage has stuck with me even ten years after I changed fields:
    – when working on the actual stage, or any other environment where loud noise would not normally be expected, you yell “NOISE!” before you turn on your power tools. Me, about to blend my smoothie in the blender in my kitchen: “NOISE!”
    – also when working on stage, if there is a batten or other scenery piece or curtain or anything being flown in from the flyrail, or if people are installing/taking down a particularly tall piece of scenery, you call “Heads on deck!” Me, at home, doing anything that could potentially result in something falling on someone “HEADS!”
    – during technical rehearsals, when lighting cues are being programmed, or other circumstances where people are working on stage and you need to turn the lights off temporarily, you call, “Going dark!” Me, turning off the lights in any room in my house for any reason when a person is still in there, “going dark”.

  447. WestsideStory*

    Ten years writing professionally about landscaping, both residential and commercial – I also judged competitions for ASLA chapters as I was also well versed in the hard scape side as that had been the family business for three generations….so yes, I am totally judging your front yard. I can’t help it.
    I do keep my thoughts to myself as I recognize that anyone’s garden is beautiful in their eyes.

  448. Yet Another Traffic Engineer*

    I’m a road safety engineer so driving with me is always fun. I’ll comment, exasperated, about how terribly an intersection is laid out. I’ll comment on the line marking not being clear. I’ll talk about signs being the wrong size or too old or the crash barriers not meeting current standards.

    I was on a new section of highway with my partner driving and let out a happy sigh and said “this is such a good road”, and he gave me one of those loving yet exasperated looks.

    I love going on drives when I’m in other countries because it’s great to see what they do differently.

  449. Harmless Purple Whangdoodle*

    A hangover from my old work on film sets was actually *using* the walkie-talkies to communicate basic requests in our 90,000-sq. ft. two-story building. Think, “a customer would like a stock check for Purple Whangdoodles, but there are only brown ones out here, can someone in the workroom see if they’re back there?” You would think this was The Depths of Rudeness from the reactions I got my first few days working at my current workplace. Turns out, they want you to be wearing the walkie all the time but only use it in emergencies (fire, injury, customer needs a manager to yell at), and you have to find a desk with a phone and dial the workroom (or relevant staff member). Also, several key desks? They have the ringer muted because “it disturbs the customers”.

    The walkies were added to our kit a few years ago and so many people just refuse to learn to use them well, so when there was a real emergency last year it was really inefficient and people ended up talking over each other and unsure who to call. It’s a real gap in our training.

  450. omoshiroku*

    i started going to occupational therapy when i was 17 and newly diagnosed with a disability. my provider saw people of all ages but my timeslot meant a lot of young children (think single digit ages) would also be having therapy or in the lobby with me while i was there

    before one session, a 6-year-old had a meltdown in the lobby and my therapist helped to calm her down, and in the first few minutes of our session a physical exercise we’re doing suddenly makes me feel really sick and i let her know that i need a moment to rest before we continue.

    my OT, still in “conflict resolution with a kindergartener” mode, responds with “oh, whoopsie!” in that high voice you do to a child. silence. she drops her voice down to her normal range and goes “i don’t know why i said that to you. sorry.”

  451. JJL*

    I used to work as a bar manager at a club for veterans which had a rule of no hats worn inside the club.
    Whenever I wasn’t at work and I saw someone walking towards me wearing a hat I had to fight the urge to tell them to take it off – even if we were outside!

  452. Grey Duck 74*

    My friends husband is a Physical Therapist, focusing mainly with lower body rehab patients. Whenever we are in a crowd, he diagnoses gait problems. Oh, her hips aren’t level, one leg is probably shorter than the other. Oh, he has drop foot, likely due to a stroke. He doesn’t put his heels down with a step. She walks on outside of her foot. It’s fascinating. I’ll always ask what he is seeing in the crowd we are in.

    1. alas rainy again*

      Yes, me too! I can’t help checking gaits. Sometimes I am a bit sad that I can’t admire a pretty horse anymore, I am too busy concentrating on that falling hip! (veterinarian here).

  453. Susan*

    I bartended at a medieval themed dinner theater, I’m sure you know the one…after I switched to another liquor selling establishment, I had to constantly fight the urge to call customers M’lord or M’lady. It never slipped out, but only because I was literally biting my tongue!

  454. Amanda Lynn*

    I’m an insurance adjuster and I have a bad habit of yelling “Your at fault!” at other cars when they do something dumb.

  455. coldfeets*

    During uni I worked in a retail job that had a 5 point customer interaction model. Secret Shoppers came through at least once a month, and we were graded on whether we had hit all 5 points (if we didn’t, we were punished by having to re-watch the training video in the very cold break room).

    I carried that on to other retail jobs (consistently surprising managers by turning into a perky and helpful team member as soon as a custom spoke to me), but also make use of it in non-retail roles. In my first science job, the way I answered the lab phone had other groups asking if we had just hired a secretary.

    While in training for my current job, I received a call from an unknown number. I answered with my perfected phone greeting. It was a coworker, calling from their mobile. I immediate dropped the enthusiastic, helpful demeanor and in my normal voice (quite similar to MTV’s Daria) said “oh. It’s you”. My coach cracked up laughing at the change.

  456. Trout*

    I’m a forester and constantly spot re-planted clearcuts on blockbuster movies. Watch Jurassic World and pay attention to the background near Chris Pratt’s homestead. They logged the crap outta that place!

  457. Pdweasel*

    For context, I’m a forensic pathologist, so I’m a medical doctor and do autopsies.

    If I see someone’s baby snoozing in an unsafe sleeping environment (i.e. anywhere that’s not on a firm surface without pillows/blankets/plushies/extra stuff around), I will absolutely speak on it. I’ve seen too many infant deaths due to unsafe sleep situations to keep quiet.

  458. A person*

    I wear a headlamp on my hard hat at work. I will instinctively reach for it when I’m at home or out in public and can’t see something… even though I’m definitely not wearing it.

    I’m also so used to wearing my hard hat that in certain buildings I feel like I should have it on and have an irrational panic that I forgot to put it on for a split second. Usually like big box stores. The high ceiling and exposed bar joists throws me off.

    In college I worked for a maid service. I still fold sheets and towels like we did there. Unfortunately that’s really the only cleaning service habit I picked up…

  459. Hybrid Employee (Part Human, Part Wolf)*

    Logistics, purchasing, and fulfillment for dental technology. There are so many model teeth in my life that there is no context where it’s weird to see teeth, for me. My husband saw me using an anatomical model to hold some pens and I didn’t understand why it was any different than using a spare mug.

    The one that actually impacts my life is the fulfillment part: I manage a lot of orders that are placed well in advance of when they need to be received, so I’m constantly calculating shipping times for upcoming dates. This means I’m so focused on the next 10 business days that I often forget today’s date ISN’T the date two weeks away. Last week I said “Now that we’re in September…”

    1. Dinwar*

      I can as well, but for a less industrious reason. My sister and I used to read Games Magazine together. She was older than me, so she insisted that she got to read it right-side up. After a few…altercations…it became obvious that I wasn’t winning this argument. And now I can read at any angle with equal felicity. Honestly, occasionally I’ll read things upside down just because it’s fun (and really, really confuses the engineers).

  461. Roja*

    It’s really hard not to slip into teacher mode with random kids I see out and about. And since I’m a ballet teacher, I’m always, always looking for alignment issues. So I notice when I see kids with poorly aligned knees or ankles, bad posture, etc (or conversely, when it’s very good). I’m also really used to looking at muscle development patterns to see if kids are using the correct muscles for a step (example–overly muscular quads can point to technique issues), so it’s hard to turn off in public. It’s actually kind of fun to see if I can guess what sport they do based on how their muscles have developed.

  462. Mary Jo*

    My job is predominantly creating surveys for clients, for our iPad app or mobile sites, and so I end up filling out said surveys a lot in the testing process. At the auto show earlier this year I amazed the product specialists at several booths with how quickly I could fill in surveys. I was just like yeah I might have just filled in this survey around 50 times yesterday alone

  463. No Soup For You!*

    I’m a lawyer (I don’t admit that very often!). Although I have never practiced personal injury law, I nevertheless see potential hazards and accidents everywhere I go.

  464. Richard Glou*

    King Charles III’s cousin, the Duke of Gloucester, was trained as an architect and didn’t plan to go into the family business. When his older brother died in a plane crash, he took on royal duties. However, he hasn’t stop his architect mind, and in a media clip he is shown asking a host about insulated roofing.
    link to follow

  465. Theresa*

    If I make a mistake on any paperwork or notes I have to cross it out once and initial and date the correction. NEVER scribble out or write over.

    1. Kayem*

      Oh god, flashbacks to my first office job where I had to do that. I was in compliance, so it was required. I still do that, I just didn’t even think about it being related to a past job until now.

  466. Ambrianne*

    I was an airline agent and still write NN when I mean “need.” It’s SABRE airline computer system code referring to passenger seating.

  467. No lizards allowed*

    In college one summer, I worked in a paper mill (a blue collar, hard hat job). During the safety orientation, I was warned never to step on metal grates because the metal could be corroded and you could fall through. Thirty years later, I still zigzag on sidewalks to avoid stepping on grates.

    1. Kayem*

      I knew there was a reason to avoid stepping on metal grates other than my brother just thinking I’m being weird….

  468. Genadriel*

    The desire to dispose of anything remotely sharp (especially glassware and blades) in a dedicated Sharps bin. Not sure if that’s years of training in chemistry and clinical labs/my extremely short medical career, or just personal paranoia.

    Someone broke a glass in a restaurant? Where’s my Sharps bin?
    Unpacking when moving into a new apartment, dropped a stack of saucers. But I don’t have a Sharps bin!
    To cut a flower stem from my orchid once it’s done, it’s recommended to use a sterile or new straight razor, to avoid fungal/viral infections for the plant. Now I have a used straight razor and no Sharps bin to put it in…

    1. Kayem*

      To be fair, that’s generally good practice. I’ve been cut and stabbed a few too many times by sharp and pointy things tossed willy-nilly in the trash.

      1. Genadriel*

        Sure, but somehow my brain has become used to a yellow Sharps bin as the definitive solution. Whereas there are plenty of other safe ways of disposing of a household sharp, like the disposable jar zaracat suggested below, or wrapping broken crockery in several layers of newspaper or other disposable paper.

    2. zaracat*

      Surgical assistant here – I have an improvised sharps container (ie an empty nutella jar) in my craft room for all my broken sewing needles, bent pins, broken or dull blades.

  469. Kayem*

    Downside of being an archivist is I wind up making more work for myself trying to properly organize anything that can be archived. I can’t just put things in a file box or display case like a normal person. I’m talking full on preparation, archival housing, and formal arrangement in an ever-expanding database I built for this stuff, regardless of whether it’s warranted. Mom’s comic book collection, sure, makes perfect sense, but…I once did a formal archival arrangement on my socks.

    I don’t mess with other people’s stuff though. I just mentally catalogue and arrange it all in my head and do my best to not fuss about staples and lamination.

  470. Not Myself Today*

    I used to tear things in half and drop them wherever I stood.

    It was a very difficult habit to manage, and I have had to stop myself and pick up my (unintentional) litter when walking down the street more than once.

    I acquired the habit many, many years ago working on a trading floor (think something like the New York Stock Exchange, although for those familiar with the exchanges it was actually the CME). Trading cards, used to record trades, were everywhere and used for anything and everything from trades to lunch orders to leaving someone a note. We kept them in our pockets all day.

    *Everyone* had the habit I described. You tore every card in half before disposing of it as a primitive security measure in case the information on it was sensitive. You dropped it on the floor because, well, that was what we did with them. Your hands would automatically rip and release in what was probably less than a second. I doubt anyone who had worked there more than a couple weeks even thought about it.

    After closing at the end of the day, you would start to see the cleaners pushing around enormous brooms through the huge piles of discarded pieces of trading cards. Looking back on it, I’m amazed at the waste we generated and the trees we must have killed, although this was long before anyone would have commented on such a thing.

    Littering, on the other hand, was already a no-no. I often had my walk to the train after work interrupted by the need to stop and pick up the pieces I just dropped on the sidewalk.

    Definitely embarrassing.

  471. Rebecca*

    Not so much a habit, but my first job with a swipe card for security access, I stood at the lift in the public library doing my car and wondering why it didn’t work.

    When I worked in a call centre, I worked occasionally blurt out my opening spiel when my microwave went off, because it was the same noise.

  472. Dr Sarah*

    I completely relate to the IV example.

    Back in my first year of working as a doctor, I was once in a bookshop where there was a large sign up for a horror novel series with a logo that was a very simple drawing of the back of a hand with a couple of veins on, and, after a minute or two of gazing absently at it in my sleep-deprived state, I realised I’d automatically made the assessment of ‘that vein would be the first choice to go for but if that doesn’t work then the other one would probably be OK’. It was my ‘I might have been at this job too long’ moment.

    Now, decades later, I’m a GP and haven’t had to site an IV for almost twenty years, and the other day at a coffee get-together with friends I *still* caught myself automatically assessing the veins of the friend sitting across the table from me. (Which I did not mention to anyone there.)

  473. NotWhoYouThinkIAm*

    Add me to the ranks of “Behind you!” exclaimers from foodservice days. It’s actually really handy at nurses’ stations, in all sorts of volunteer settings, and at crowded family gatherings.

    One of my first nursing jobs was in pediatric Developmental Medicine (think autism, ADHD, Down Syndrome, etc.) These kids are often a high “elopement risk”–risk of running away. They often won’t respond to being asked to stop, and they are often averse to touch. (And touch without permission is drummed out of you in nursing school anyway.)

    So. To this day I am hyperaware of the sound of youngish feet moving too fast, and I am pretty darn good at getting in the child’s way and heading them off/keeping them contained without actually touching them. Have pulled this in stores and restaurants a few times–usually to the caregiver’s relief, but not always!

    I also annoy my husband by looking up waay too many details about any new meds.

    And I am hypercritical of how pregnancy, childbirth, and the weeks after are portrayed in books/tv/film. For mom, there are certain biological realities in the first few weeks after giving birth that most fiction media just ignore. And breastfed babies’ poop is different from formula-fed babies’ poop. It bugs me when writers confuse the two!

  474. Grim*

    Not a habit I’ve personally picked up yet, but… I’m a nursing student, and I did a clinical placement in the operating theatres of a hospital. When you’re scrubbed in for a surgery and wearing your sterile gloves and gown, you have to really watch your body language and be aware of your surroundings to avoid touching anything that isn’t sterile. So that means if you’re just standing around, there’s only a few specific positions you can stand in to keep your hands within a safely sterile area. Folding your hands together just above bellybutton height is a popular one. Putting your hands behind your back or even on your hips is considered as breaking sterility. The point of all this is that one scrub nurse told me that when she goes to the grocery store nearest to the hospital after work, she could always spot a fellow scrub nurse or a surgeon by the fact that they would default to standing and holding their hands in one of those sterile positions.

  475. Tacobelljobfair*

    I used to work at one of the big national pizza chains. when we topped a pizza with pepperoni there was a certain number of slices you had to put on and in a particular pattern. When I make a pizza with my family I arrange the pepperoni or other slices of meat in a particular pattern. I also make sure the toppings are spread evenly.

  476. vulturestalker*

    I used to count birds during migration at a busy hawk watch station. Because I was the intern, I was assigned to the large flocks of slow-moving, easy-to-count species.

    To this day, if a flock of robins or blue jays or gulls or geese flies by, I can’t look away until they’re counted. And it has to be precise.

  477. sewsandreads*

    I am one of those people who, whenever they see a kid with shoes untied and/or running on pebblecrete, will immediately make a comment. “Don’t run!” “Tie your laces!” “Don’t trip, the pebblecrete will get you!”

    Side note, who was the genius who put pebblecrete in Australian schools? Ours claims a new victim every day.

  478. Ex ninja*

    In a former job I used to do a lot of surveillance (on the side of justice and righteousness I assure you). I still find myself (mentally only!!) noting people’s descriptions and actions when out and about, as though I’m going to have to write it up later for evidence. For instance I stopped for coffee on my way to the office today and I could describe the person ahead of me in the queue, and tell you her first name, the price of her order and how she paid.
    Don’t worry though I forget it all fairly quickly and never write any details down – I’m not a weirdo, it’s just force of habit.
    Also if I go the wrong way or forget something and have to suddenly stop/do a u-turn etc, walking or driving, I think, ha that’ll annoy the surveillance team, as though I’m the one being followed!

  479. Jaid*

    The elevator doors close far too quickly, so I have a habit of holding my arm up to intercept the motion sensor and keep the doors open.

  480. Rainbow Brite*

    Not me, but my husband: He used to work at an optometrist, and I greatly enjoy his commentary on glasses in films and real life. “Those have no lenses.” “Wow, that’s a strong prescription, look at the way his face is warped.” “Lots of green-tinted lenses in this movie, they’re good for driving.” On our first(!) date, he asked to see my glasses, looked through them, and went, “Oh, you poor thing.” And that’s how I learned I have astigmatism.

  481. Yikes Stripes*

    Home healthcare worker here, and every single time I go into a new kitchen I check to see if there’s a POLST posted in a highly visible place (typically the fridge.) I also have a mental checklist of ADLs (Activities of Daily Living) in my head that get ticked off as I go throughout my day, and I have a very neat and tidy spread sheet with all my medications, doctors, and emergency contacts both posted on my fridge and in my purse.

    Additionally, every single friend and family member has been asked if they have their advance directive, power of attorney, and will written up – and is the first one on file with their healthcare providers and local hospital? Have they considered pre-paying for their cremation and/or spot in a cemetery, and do their close family know what their wishes are for their death? I’m sure it’s weird as hell to them, but I’ve gone through hospice five times in the last two years, and it’s so much easier on your family if all the paperwork is in place (and none of your loved ones have to decide to turn the machines off, but I know that one from personal experience, not from work)

    And on that note, dear commentariat, is all your paperwork done, and do you have a POLST in clear sight? And if not, why not?

    1. Yikes Stripes*

      Oh, and also, due to the particular kind of client I specialize in, I instinctively watch for signs of Parkinson’s in any older man I encounter. I didn’t even realize I was doing it until my significant other point blank asked me if I was aware that I was tracking an older gentleman’s shuffle across a restaurant, but man, I really do have that habit.

    2. allhailtheboi*

      I am banned from talking to my parents about lasting power of attorney. They say I make them feel old, to which I say, I know you’re not old, but what would you do if you got a severe brain injury tomorrow? At which point I am told I am being morbid.

      1. Yikes Stripes*

        I feel you on that – power of attorney is almost always the hardest to get people to sign off on.

  482. ElliottRook*

    I worked in a call center that was very strict about using the NATO phonetic alphabet, particularly when confirming email addresses. I default to it if I have to clarify letters to other people, and when someone just pulls random words out to spell something to me, it grates on me. Get outta here with your apple, boy, cat, dog, it’s alpha, bravo, charlie, delta!

  483. Quinalla*

    I do mechanical (MEP firm) design for buildings and when I got into buildings, I’m always looking up at the ductwork, diffusers, lights, fire protection, etc. Hardly anyone looks up in a building if they don’t work in this industry unless it is something like the Sistine Chapel, it’s so weird :) I also critique building design and point out code compliance issues every where I go too and get angry when people are crawling around in ductwork in buildings. Most ductwork isn’t large enough for people to get inside and most supports for ductwork would never hold the weight of a person. Also, roofs in TV shows/movies are usually so fake looking. Real roofs never looks like that!!

  484. Just Another Zebra*

    I’m a bit late to this one, but when I was younger I worked for a retail store that had all their merchandise rainbowed. Shirts? ROYGBIV. Yoga pants? ROYGBIV. Perfumes? ROYGBIV. I worked there for 5 years, and haven’t been there for over a decade, but I don’t think things look “organized” or “correct” if they aren’t ROYGBIV. And now my 5-year-old daughter is picking up on the habit.

  485. Friendly Office Bisexual*

    I work in underage alcohol prevention. Every time I’m at a bar and see servers not carding I have to stop myself from muttering about bad public health practices. Also, while everyone else cheered the loosening of alcohol restrictions during the pandemic, I was like BUT IT’S BAD PUBLIC HEALTH PRACTICEEEE

    So, as you see, I’m a lot of fun at parties.

  486. Punkzilla*

    I work in historic preservation, I have for three years now. I am constantly pointing out original windows in old buildings to my husband when I see them.

  487. zolk*

    From my long forgotten retail days: if I need to open a taped box and I don’t have a knife or scissors, I just slam the side of my fist where the top and side meet along the tape. It dents the box enough that you can rip the tape off.

    Doing this in front of people who didn’t work retail however, seems to scare them.

    1. zolk*

      Also less job related, but any time art modelling is portrayed as “sexy” in media: my bestie used to be a nude art model and I went with them to studios as a safety net. Ever since, I heavily critique art modelling in media because everything about it is wrong. (It’s not sexy – it’s mostly holding a very uncomfortable position in a room with a weird temperature. Sometimes it’s funny or silly. Never, never sexy.)

      1. AnonymousArtTeacher*

        I’m an art teacher who’s worked with a lot of nude models over the years, and that also drives me nuts! From the artist’s perspective, the model isn’t “sexy”, they’re a problem to be solved: how will I create a two-dimensional rendering of a three-dimensional subject?

        Artist models are professionals who do very demanding work, and like any group of professionals, they talk to one another. Instructors know that, and we know that part of our job is to keep models safe. If I allowed a student of mine to sexually harass a model – because that’s *exactly* what’s happening when you see characters on TV commenting on a model’s attractiveness or attributes! – not only will that model refuse to work with me again, they will tell their colleagues what happened, and then, their colleagues will stop working with me. Pretty soon I won’t be able to offer classes anymore. And it would serve me right.

        Models are very, very careful who they work with. I’ve had models come to me when they hear when a new facility is offering classes, to see if I’ve heard of the institution or the instructors. I’ve likewise had models come to me if they and other models have had a bad experience with another organization, because they want me to be able to pass that information along to my students if they ask for it.

  488. Marie*

    Used to be in a social work position. Other professionals we worked with would CONSTANTLY try to dump work on us (“the social workers can handle that!”). Because social work is a naturally fuzzy job full of people who want to help, it’s hard sometimes to figure out when to push back, but if you don’t, you burnout.

    Over the years, I got REAL good at quickly sifting through a situation and shutting down what wasn’t my responsibility, and teaching my staff the same.

    So now when friends tell me something normal like, “my roommate asked me to pick him up,” I jump into, “That is NOT your job. HE needs to plan his time better rather than relying on YOU.” I’m not always wrong! But I’m not often helpful.

  489. RobareOwl*

    My husband and I met working at a summer camp, and we both still have the urge to be the last of any group of people walking together, to make sure everyone is still there.

  490. Long Time Lurker*

    Because I have worked in a lot of communications roles where I speak the press, I have a really bad habit of spelling my name for people when I meet them (my first name can be for either gender but tends to be spelled one way for one gender, and one way for the other, and my parents gave me the version that most people think is the opposite gender’s spelling … if that makes sense)
    Anyway, since I have to clarify it so often at work a friend pointed out that sometimes I do that at parties. Like, “I’m Fergus! That’s F, E, R, G, U, S.”

  491. ArtsNerd*

    I used to work in the back office of a venue where everyone, myself included, was responsible for making sure that trashed was picked up, bar stools were tidily arranged, etc. Years after leaving that job, I attended a concert with a friend who knew the opening band. I waited in the house while she went backstage after the show, and started mindlessly picking up cups and cans to toss.

    A horrified venue employee asked me to stop doing his job, please.

  492. Jessica Ganschen*

    This is sort of the reverse, but at my job I have a badge to get into the building, and at my synagogue, a keyfob, and once when I was leaving work, I mixed up my muscle memory so thoroughly that I saw the card reader, kissed my fingers and reached out to touch it, which is what one does with a mezuzah (an object placed on the doorpost of a Jewish home or other building).

  493. Mesquite*

    Check all standing water for mosquito breeding even when I’m on vacation.

    Enter into lecture mode about insects if people ask the right questions and can actively hear my tone of voice and cadence of voice change to friendly interacting with the public mode.

  494. Seashell*

    I worked at a grocery store as a cashier in the 80’s for about 6 months. I always try to put my groceries on the conveyor belt with the bar code facing the cashier and with the heavier items closer to the cashier to make it easier on them, because that’s the way I would want people to do it for me.

  495. Pixel*

    I have a list of quirks, only some retained from various jobs over the years.

    * From mechanical drawing classes in HS, I still roll my pencil when I’m drawing lines with a ruler. I graduated HS in 1988.
    * My non-fiction library is labeled and arranged Library of Congress, because I am a nerd.
    * When I was very young, my grandfather, a retired professional baker, sat me down with the measuring spoons and the jar of salt and had me practice until I could eyeball 1/4, 1/2, and 1 tsp amounts in my hand. To this day I only grab the measuring spoons if it’s something I can’t measure into my hand easily, like baking powder. Everything else I eyeball.
    * From the same grandfather, I use his old beam balance to weigh my ingredients. Also because I am a nerd.
    * Dirty knives do NOT go in the sink (grandfather again).
    * In potluck situations I have to fight the urge to slice baked goods (cake, pies, etc.) into equal pieces. Seeing people hack out random pieces of pie or cake makes me twitch. Gosh, I wonder where I got THAT from?
    * Having been on the internet since before AOL was, it’s e-mail. Always and forever.

  496. Megan*

    I used to work at a video store chain where it was required to greet everyone that came in with “Hello!” or “Welcome to (store name).” Years later, it is instinctual for me to yell Hello! when I am in small retail establishment and I hear the sound of the door opening. I am a good little trained monkey.

  497. Educator*

    I call on my friends and family to share when they fix their hair or glasses. I call it my teacher reflex.

  498. Former Admin turned Project Manager*

    There have been a few times when I put together a holiday card design on a photo website and sent it to my husband with an un-family-like email (“Attached are two options for card; please provide input by EOD so that I can process tomorrow”) Once I go into my professional mode, which keeps me from getting into trouble with annoying colleagues, sometimes I forget that I need to code-switch.

  499. Kuddel Daddeldu*

    Safety shoes – I wear them almost exclusively nowadays.
    Granted, most of the time it’s nice black leather wingtips that have composite toecaps built in, not steel-toed behemoths… They’re utterly comfortable for my wider feet.

  500. Was that a Question?*

    Reference librarian here. After *mumbly, (33) mumbly* years answering questions, I cannot leave a question unanswered or at least unresearched.

    It is a twitch that is not always appreciated in conversation, even though my mom does like getting the answer, she will tell me to not research it right now…as I am researching it. Fortunately most of our conversations are over the phone so she can’t see me searching away at why is the dime thin in the expression, “can you spare a thin dime.”

    1. Alpaca Bag*

      (pauses reading replies to look up why the dime is thin in the expression, “can you spare a thin dime”)

  501. SW*

    I work in rare books and special collections and have been washing my hands every time I enter the department (1st thing, after breaks, after lunch, etc). So a friend wanted to show me this 19th century book he bought after we had breakfast. Even though he said it was OK for me to handle the book, I still had to wash my hands before I could because my hands didn’t feel clean enough.

  502. plumerai*

    Not a habit, but lingo: In journalism, we use the letters “tk” to indicate copy that is “to come” (since no words in English include that combination of letters, it was a signal to printers that the copy wasn’t “live”). We refer to them as nouns; “I’ll fill in the TKs,” and it’s become shorthand for anything that will exist but doesn’t exist yet.

    “The living room rug TK,” “the perfect job TK.” I love accidentally introducing it to non-journalists!

  503. Kelly*

    Architectural lighting designer – I run my hand under bar tops to try to feel what light they’re using and sometimes crouch down to double check (and haven’t stopped, even though I’ve accidentally found gum or other random stuff down there). I also draw a quick sketch of most hotel rooms I stay in so I can remember the control layout.

  504. That HR Chick*

    I still cannot walk into a clothing store and not “straighten up”. I’m forever putting things back on hangars, lining all the hangers up or generally cleaning up. Sigh.

  507. AnonymousArtTeacher*

    I teach drawing, and over the years I’ve taught a lot of portraiture, life drawing, and figure drawing. So, I’m not only a trained observer of the human face and form, but since my job involves helping students solve problems like “my drawing kind of looks like Model, but like a little kid!” or “I aged Model by about 30 years, I hope they’re not insulted*!” As such, I’m used to talking about anatomy, proportion, perspective, light, shadow, etc.

    It’s not uncommon for me to have conversations like this:

    Me: Hi, Acquaintance! How’s it going?

    Acquaintance: I’m OK, how are you? You look kinda tired.

    Me: Not particularly! I have fairly deep orbital sockets, so my eyes tend to be cast in shadow, and this place has direct overhead lighting. I also have prominent cheekbones, and a high nose bridge, so they tend to catch the highlights, which makes the contrast with the shadows under my eyes more dramatic.

    Acquaintance: …

    Me: Um. Sorry about that? Allergies! Also, I have allergies.

    Sometimes it can get even more awkward. I once off-handedly answered a colleague’s question about how I always knew Twin A from Twin B with “oh, I just look at their shoulders; Twin A’s are much bigger…. yes, really! They’re broader, and much more muscular… yes, really, even through that heavy sweatshirt, it’s still noticeable. Whereas Twin B is leaner. They also stand differently. Probably because Twin B is in soccer and Twin A is in gymnastics.”

    New Colleague was giving me side-eye, by this point, and asked if I really thought it was appropriate to closely study childrens’ bodies like this, to the point where I was speculating on what sports they were in. I had to explain that years of short-pose figure drawing means I’m used to sizing up proportions and anatomy very, very quickly; years of teaching the subject had made it a habit to describe it in high levels of detail, *especially when I was asked, as she had done*; and as for what sports they were in, well, I wasn’t speculating at all. Twin A always wore a sweatshirt for Youth Gymnastics Team, and Twin B had several t-shirts for Youth Soccer Team.

    But I get why it was weird. Next time, I’ll leave it at a vague “I think Twin A’s shoulders are bigger… oh, well, I could be wrong, seems to work for me”.

    *If you’re wondering, I have never met a model who was insulted by a student’s work, or who took it personally. They love their work, and they love being part of the learning process. They work hard, so please tip your models!

  508. PunkBookJockey*

    First job was at the movies, for a few years as a young adult. I was taught to use either two fingers or my whole arm to indicate direction (such as to the correct theater), and 25 years later I still do this. One of my former managers at a different job used to call it my “air traffic control” pointing.

  509. Flying Fish*

    I regularly use dictation software, so I’m used to saying my punctuation. Sometimes I leave voicemails that way.

    “Hi Ms Llama comma this is Fish from Aquatic Oncology calling you about your results period I’ll try to call again before I leave period if I don’t reach you comma please call the office and a triage nurse can relay the message to you period have a good evening comma take care”

  510. Blue Balloon*

    From ~7 years in hospital labs:
    1. Slapping my left breast with my free hand when I bend down to pick something up from the floor. I’m used to having a pocketful of pens there!
    2. Using 24-hour time for everything, to the point that I made trouble at a volunteer gig because nobody else could calculate the hours my patrons visited. I tried to convert everyone but they weren’t having it. I did point out that subtracting still works whether it’s 1600-1400 or 4:00pm-2:00pm, but to no avail.

  511. Clawfoot*

    When I was in university, I worked at a manufacturing plant during the summers. I wasn’t on the assembly line; I was a ‘gopher,’ in that they’d call me and send me to go get other people/tools/items/whatever when there was a need. There were computer stations around the plant, and I had to use them to send emails, look up part numbers, and so on. Nobody had a computer assigned to them, and you learned REAL QUICK to always log out or at least lock the computer before you left it. If you left a computer logged in and unlocked, someone would always call up your email and “send all” to the whole company saying something juvenile and obviously made up, like “I enjoy farting in the walk-in fridge. Cold farts = refreshing!”

    So now that I’m in a white-collar office job, I still have the iron-clad habit of locking my computer when I get up from my desk — even if I’m just walking two desks over to get a pen! I wound up working in the financial industry, so this is a good habit to have, but whereas my coworkers think I’m being SUPER DILIGENT (to the point of being almost OCD), I’m just not fighting my deeply ingrained and completely intractable habit.

  512. childcare worker*

    after working with 2-5 year olds for a while, you start to learn to be able to listen to their bodies for them since they really are not aware of it.
    and so now that my partner and I live together, whenever he mentions something like his stomach hurts or doesn’t feel very good,, I’m always catching myself before saying “do you wanna try going potty? it might make your tummy feel better” or just “go potty!!!!” hahaa. except… one time I actually did accidentally tell him to try potty and he just gave me the side eye. (then we both started laughing uncontrollably)

  513. Nodee*

    I was a lab technologist for several decades. We learned really fast that EVERYTHING is potentially contaminated. I haven’t touched a handrail since forever, or a door knob or elevator button without covering my hand – either putting my hand inside my lab coat pocket and then using the lab coat to grasp the door knob or just using a tissue to cover my hand/finger. My pet peeve is public restrooms that are not entirely touchless. It is unsanitary to turn faucets off with your hands (pro tip: leave the water running, grab a paper towel or TP and then turn off the faucet), or have to manually use the soap dispenser.

  514. Unreal Sonia*

    Sadly late on this one, but I’m a seafarer. After a while at sea I find myself looking at shelving on land and feeling anxious that everything would fall if we hit bad weather.

  515. Big Merc*

    When you work in a kitchen, you say “behind” walking behind someone or “corner”going around one to avoid potential collisions involving knives, boiling hot food, heavy boxes or equipment etc. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve shouted “corner” coming out of a supermarket aisle or said “behind” squeezing past someone in public. Definitely gets the Looks.

  516. HeraTech*

    LOL, I am a former lifeguard who has in fact yelled “NO RUNNING” at children in a non-pool setting (IIRC, I hollered at some kids zooming through a movie theater years after I’d hung up my whistle).

    Also, as a former public school teacher, it’s really hard to break myself of the habit of buying my own office supplies now that I’ve joined the corporate world. I do still buy my own PostIt notes and pens, because I don’t like the cheap ones they have in the supply room.

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