‘My manager got caught doing drugs in the store’: Glasgow Uni student job horror stories

Suddenly mine doesn’t sound so bad


We put out a poll on our Instagram story and nearly 60% of our followers have a part-time job whilst studying. We asked what you guys do, whether you enjoy it, and what your worst stories are.

Student jobs are nearly always out of necessity, or at the very least for pocket money to spend on drinking. We as a demographic are underestimated and under-regarded which more often than not results in some pretty nasty jobs. My pals and I complain all the time about our places of work so I wanted to see how common this thought was as I know we each have our fair share of terrible things happening to us at these jobs.

From our extensive research (a few IG polls) we found out that 50% of students work in hospitality, so a bar, café or restaurant, 17% work in retail, 12% tutor or work for the university in some capacity, and 20% do something else, including receptionist work, cleaning houses, and photography. A staggering 63% said they enjoyed their student job too.

We also asked to hear some of your worst horror stories to do with your work and, oh my god, there were some scaries:

‘Someone was arrested inside the shop for dealing drugs.’

‘Needing to attend a Zoom Meeting on Christmas Day.’

‘Getting home at 4am when I should have finished at 12 as there wasn’t enough staff.’

At a bar: ‘Being hit on (borderline harassed) by drunk old men.’

‘Taking two months to pay me.’

‘A customer shat themselves.’

‘I had to clean up blood and piss when I worked on Sauchiehall Street.’

‘Having a child scream at me when I asked them to try on a top – I work in a uniform shop.’

‘A lady got fish and chips and screamed at me because she’s vegetarian and “I should have known.”‘

‘I once took a meeting with a one night stand in my bed.’

‘When I used to work in hospitality, sexual assault would happen and bosses did nothing about it.’

‘A child pouring double cream over me whilst I was on my knees cleaning a milk spillage.’

‘Cleaning up dog piss.’

‘A kid spat on me then wiped their snot on me.’

‘The bar worked in didn’t have an alcohol license and got shut down by undercover police.’

‘I got glass stuck in my thumb and found out there it’s no accident book to sign.’

‘A manager got caught doing drugs in the store.’

‘I had a woman ask me to be her daughter-in-law while her son sat next to her at the table.’

‘A man pissed on our floor. The sight of his tackle at 7pm on a Tuesday will never leave me.’

‘Working ten hour shifts whilst really hungover on a Sunday.’

‘Getting bitten.’

There you have some of Glasgow’s student job horror stories. Follow us on our Instagram to get news, memes, and more.

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