Buzz
“As a banquet server, I’ve encountered countless middle-aged men who, upon being served Cream of Chicken with Wild Rice, inevitably quip, ‘How do you domesticate wild rice?’” This anecdote comes from Reddit user Krisperrr, responding to the question: ‘What’s the overused joke in your line of work that’s equivalent to ‘It didn’t scan, so it must be free’?’
Anyone who’s held a service job can empathize with Krisperrr’s plight, forced to feign amusement at a joke that’s been stale since the 1950s. Picture Krisperrr, maintaining professionalism, politely indulging each uninspired gentleman as if his remark were fresh and clever. It’s high time these tired quips were retired.
Below are the overused jokes Redditors are tired of hearing. If you’re unfamiliar with them, some might still elicit a chuckle—after all, humor is subjective. However, expecting anyone beyond the age of five to laugh at ‘Why did the chicken cross the road?’ is a surefire way to make them question your sanity.
TokenFroKid:
As part of my job, I’m required to ask visitors if they’re carrying any weapons that need to be declared.
Just these guns!”
flex
leazypeazy2:
When selling lottery tickets, I often ask, ‘What numbers would you like?’ The inevitable response is always, ‘The winning ones.’
Bruh
purplebeeswax:
Working in ultrasound, we handle far more than just pregnancy scans. Yet, during abdominal and vascular studies, patients often joke, ‘Is it a boy or a girl? HAHAHA,’ as if it’s the first time we’ve heard it.
The-Shaffy:
In my role within the Deaf community, people frequently notice the charity’s name and respond with ‘Pardon?’ followed by laughter, as though they’ve just delivered the wittiest remark imaginable.
Good lord.
This one from Redditor brogaant might seem amusing, but only because I’m not subjected to it repeatedly throughout the day:
As a vet tech, whenever I take an animal’s temperature, someone inevitably quips, ‘Aren’t you going to at least buy her dinner first?’
liteultom proves that even your timely jokes are outdated:
Working as a bike messenger, every year during the Tour De France, I hear, ‘You’re lost, buddy?’ All. Day. Long.
BigDawgWol:
Working at a Travel Money Bureau, whenever I verify the authenticity of currency, someone inevitably jokes, ‘They should be fine—I printed them this morning.’ Hilarious, right? Har de har har.
Groovy_Chainsaw:
As a mail carrier, I often hear, ‘You can keep the bills!’ followed by a hearty hur hur hur.
Here’s a less-expected one from IT worker BrotherCool:
When you’re at a user’s desk fixing their computer, almost every time, a co-worker will walk by and joke, ‘Oh, (user who usually sits here)! You’ve changed!’
‘Every single day of my life,’ ShakCentral responds.
it5th3m1ckster:
As a stripper, our go-to line is always, ‘How about I give YOU a lap dance instead!’
dingleberry85:
As a psychologist, I often hear, ‘Are you analyzing me right now?’ The honest response is usually, ‘I’m too indifferent about you to bother.’
Back2Bach:
Being a church musician, I frequently get comments like, ‘How does it feel to have the biggest organ in town?’
Pizza delivery drivers face their own challenges. As sxmanderson puts it:
If you pass anyone on your way to the customer, they’ll inevitably joke, ‘You can just leave that right here, ha ha ha.’
And that’s the best-case scenario. Imagine being so inconsiderate that you’d pull this on ginger_whiskers:
I’m never sure if this was meant to be humorous or just a ridiculously bad scam, but...
When I delivered pizza, nearly every time I had an order for a public location, someone would pretend to claim it. It wasn’t just a quick ‘My pizza! Just kidding, who are you looking for?’ They’d go through the whole process—confirming the order, asking for extra toppings, agreeing to the price, and even pulling out their wallet before revealing it was a ‘joke’ while I stood there sweating.
Then they’d pile on by asking if I had free samples in my car. I no longer work in customer-facing roles.
Wait, imagine being the kind of person who would make this ‘joke’ to 69schrutebucks:
As a cake decorator, customers would often pick up their orders and joke that I misspelled the name on the cake. They’d watch me panic and offer to correct it, only to reveal they were kidding.
Has anyone ever paused to think before speaking? As WSWOP shares:
When I worked in the beer industry (selling to supermarkets), I’d hear ‘You can just load that pallet into my truck’ daily.
Now, in the elevator industry, I hear ‘I bet that job has its ups and downs’ at least once a week.
Okay, I’ll admit, this one always feels like a winner. From d16y8sohc:
As a paramedic, I constantly hear elderly women joke, ‘Oh! My taxi!’ or ‘Are you coming back for me later?’
And wowbaggerjules found themselves on the receiving end of this exchange:
During a recent trip through US Customs, the officer asked me the standard question: ‘Do you have more than $10,000 in cash on you?’
I replied, ‘I wish! HURHURHUR.’
Her response: ‘If I had a penny for every time someone made that joke, I’d have $10,000 by now.’
...I totally deserved that.
Certain overused jokes are universal across service jobs. Every customer service rep, waiter, or anyone asking, ‘Can I get you anything else?’ has heard every tired response. ‘Yeah, a million dollars!’ Hilarious. Every IT specialist, Apple Genius, or repair technician has endured, ‘Guess I get a free upgrade!’ And every cashier has faced, ‘Guess it’s free!’
Even CreativeUsernameUser, a teacher, deals with, ‘Oh, you can’t find my paper? Does that mean I get an A+?’ At least that one comes from actual kids.
Before you deliver your next witty remark to someone just doing their job—or make a joke about their name, appearance, or something else beyond their control—ask yourself two questions:
Is it possible someone has already made this joke?
If this person doesn’t find your joke funny, are they socially required to pretend they do?
If the answer to either question is yes, skip the joke!
It’s not about banning humor—being funny is great! But recycling stale jokes to someone who can’t respond honestly is tiresome and borderline rude. Even if they don’t say it, it makes them think less of you. Don’t complain; just find better material.
If you hear the same joke repeatedly at work, you likely have a silent comeback. Many Redditors shared theirs. For instance, a doctor vented about patients who respond to ‘What’s wrong?’ with ‘You tell me, you’re the doctor!’ User1539 suggested: ‘First, you’re insufferable.’ The Reddit thread offers more comebacks—some you can say aloud, others you can’t.
Krisperrr has their own reply to the wild rice joke: ‘With a tiny saddle!’
Quotes have been edited for clarity.
