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The original was posted on /r/tifu by /u/blurredspace on 2024-09-16 07:35:51+00:00.

this didnt happen today but a few months ago, i still cringe about it every so often though.

I worked as a pastry chef apprentice at a hotel and as everyone knows; the work is grueling. as the stereotypes go, i started smoking and my health went to shit. i gained 10kgs from stress even though i was more active than ever, my bosses were assholes who made us work 12hr shift even though i was legally not allowed to but i digress- after a year i couldn’t do it anymore and decided to quit. in my last month i got a bit more relaxed, knowing i was leaving and all. one one of my last shifts i was making pretzels with another pastry coworker and the baker.

he had the worst shift of all- 4am til 12pm. he was pretty heavyset, huge smoker and drinker. he told me he had been at that hotel for 10 years, worked as a pastry chef before switching to baking. he had done both pastry and baking apprenticeships (3yrs each) all in all i assumed he was nearing the end of his 50’s- looks wise as well. he was balding and generally looked… older… and from the way he talked i just assumed hes had a long career beforehand yknow? so, in passing i asked him when he was thinking about retiring. both him and the other coworker freeze, look at each other and then he looks at me- i cant really read his expression.

“im 36 years old” he tells me.

i wanted to die so bad in that moment. rest assured we didn’t talk much after that lol im so glad i never have to go back. while i loved the work, knowing that the industry and stress can do one that dirty… good god, shout out to all gastro workers fr

tl;dr: asked my coworker about when he was retiring, not knowing he’s about 25+ years away from doing so 😭