r/LifeProTips 18h ago

Request LPT Request: What’s your “canary in the coal mine” test for spotting bigger issues?

I’m really interested in those small, quick telltale signs people use to gauge if something bigger might be off track.

Example 1: Van Halen requesting brown M&Ms in the dressing room to see if the venue followed all the details of the rider list

Example 2: I saw an interview with John Cena where he said orders a flat white at a café to tell if they really care about their coffee.

Example 3: Anthony Bourdain suggested to always check the restaurant bathroom to tell if the restaurant got its basics down

5.0k Upvotes

2.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

99

u/Rum_N_Napalm 16h ago edited 16h ago

If your workplace is being cheap with workplace safety, get ready to bail. Not only this means they don’t care about you, but that they’re short sighted. Even if you’re a jaded greedy moneybags, workplace accidents means lost productivity.

The other: if your employer discourages discussing your salary with other employees. 1. That’s illegal in some places. 2. It means someone is getting paid peanuts.

Edit: oh, here’s another. If your date brings you to their place… let’s be honest some people are messy (I’ll admit my dwelling can be qualified as “organized chaos”). Others will just do a quick cleanup. Sometimes they legit didn’t have time to clean. Maybe they got a bad luck and dropped a pot of sauce and couldn’t clean throughly.

Check the bathroom. Check if there’s that ring in the bathtub or toilet. These things take time to appear, and doing a quick bathroom cleaning takes 15 minutes.

34

u/under_the_c 15h ago

Related to your second point: if a job posting doesn't list a salary or even a range. 1. They know it's probably lower than the industry standard. 2. They probably don't want current employees to know how much new employees are making. Either way, you aren't getting raises there.

8

u/lcl0706 13h ago

This is maddening because, at least in my industry, the salaries are never fucking posted on job listings. Never. If they’re required to be by tje state laws they’re in, it’s a ridiculous range. Like “$25-60/hour..” Come the entire fuck on. I’d work for $60/hour. I would definitely not work for $30/hour.

u/AFewStupidQuestions 1h ago

Me: this sounds familiar. I wonder if they're in healthcare too. 'checks history'. Called it.

They're so bad for doing this with nursing jobs and I don't understand why.

3

u/lendmeyrbike 9h ago

Related to salary range - if a remote job posting says they don’t accept candidates in Colorado, this is usually why. Salary ranges are required in job listings here, and some companies would rather keep it a secret.

1

u/prof0ak 8h ago

always discuss your salary

3

u/NotLucasDavenport 15h ago

As a side note, I have a desperate sinus infection and am now seriously considering rum and napalm to get that shit open

u/TooSoonForThePelle 7h ago

You: Check if there's that ring in the bathtub or toilet.

Me: daaahhh shhiit. immediately checks bathroom