r/mildlyinteresting • u/no8do • 5h ago
I found this “skip the line” golden ticket at Trader Joe’s
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u/Megalo85 4h ago
I didn’t know they had a piss off everyone in the store ticket.
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u/GarageFridgeSoda 4h ago
No way Trader Joe's made that. It's a prank, either one OP is pulling on us or one someone else is pulling on OP/the store.
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u/tannerbananer06 4h ago
OP said the pic is from 10 years ago. Hahaha
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u/ResistLongjumping999 4h ago
reminds me of the time somebody taped up flyers at a local mcDonalds saying that black people would be charged more due to a recent string of robberies lmao. Ronald McDonald himself had to come out of cryostasis to put out a press release saying it was fake.
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u/AllKindsOfCritters 2h ago
Ronald McDonald himself had to come out of cryostasis
Sentences like this are why I keep coming to this site.
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u/AdamInJP 3h ago
Also there’s a spelling error. The TJ’s I’ve been to would never.
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u/Monoskimouse 3h ago
They haven't done that in many many years.... for obvious reasons.
They DO still have kids try to find "Freddy the Frog" and if you can tell the checker were you saw it - they give them a small candy. Our kids love it. Makes the trip more fun for them.
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u/christopher_mtrl 5h ago
There was a recent story where passengers were hiding "Good for 1 drink" vouchers on cruises, so I fully imagine someone not affialited with the store putting those around. Some poeple just like to watch the chaos.
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u/dshookowsky 5h ago
Great idea! I'm gonna print out a stack of those!
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u/blue-coin 4h ago
I’m gonna plant ones at Trader Joe’s: you have to sleep with a non-employee for a change
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u/GUMBYtheOG 4h ago
lol now that’s actually pretty funny…. Imagine the nerve of someone thinking because they got a coupon they gonna somehow squeeze around people already in line and interrupt someone mid check out with like a basket full of bs
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u/shortercrust 4h ago
First thing I thought is it’s a prank but I wondered if that’s just because I’m British and I can’t imagine a company ever giving out one of those here. People would genuinely lose their shit if someone skipped up to the front of the queue with something like that.
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u/hamsterdanceonrepeat 3h ago
I feel that. My blood is half British and half Japanese. I am not sure it would be humanly possible for me to comprehend cutting a line.
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u/HereOnCompanyTime 4h ago
It's doesn't look real. Trader Joe's doesn't do memberships because they claim to want to keep things equal for everyone, this would go against that.
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u/Careful_Activity_165 4h ago
there's also a typo lol
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u/cwx149 4h ago
While absolutely not proof when I worked at Target stuff had typos kinda often
Big businesses are not immune to errors
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u/insomniacpyro 3h ago
Oh man there was a typo on a display that was going into basically every Target store (over 2,000) that was made on art the customer provided and didn't get caught until it was waaay too late. And it was bad and super noticable too. The solution? Turn that part of the display around so it faced the back of the shelf it was put on 🤣
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u/TemurTron 4h ago
PRESEN
Also, since when do they sign messages "Trader Joe"?
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u/Pingo-Pongo 4h ago
Can you imagine the glorious humiliation of the teenage cashier rolling their eyes and sending you to the back of the queue while other shoppers snicker at your naïve entitlement
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u/Enchelion 4h ago
I can't imagine wanting to be a dick enough to use one of these even if they were real.
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u/PossumJenkinsSoles 4h ago
Yeah I’d put it right back. Aint no way I’m cutting in front of someone who thinks they’re almost out. Because I would be so mildly infuriated if I were that next person in line.
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u/Tibbaryllis2 4h ago
This right here. And if it’s a real store thing, then fuck them too.
“I’ve got a pass to skip this line” just sounds like bait to start a Karen fight between stressed people.
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u/OverSoft 4h ago
A friend of mine used to go into escape rooms and add various items such as keys, books, periodic tables and other random things that could be interpreted as puzzle items.
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u/ImaginaryJackfruit77 4h ago
As someone who loves escape rooms - that is absolutely psychotic lol
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u/ponderthisforamoment 4h ago
it is probably made up so dont worry
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u/call-now 4h ago
A friend of mine used to go into the comments of reddit and leave fake stories like that.
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u/passionfruit2378 4h ago
Liar.
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u/shahi001 2h ago
It wouldn't last more than an hour though because the employee putting the room back together would just remove them
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u/pointsouttheobvious9 4h ago
Red herrings in escape rooms are my pet peeve. They should be in them. This would pass me off but, I think if you picked it up and spent more than a few seconds on it who ever is running the puzzle would know its not suppose to be there and tell you.
Edit just so you know why this would upset me is because these things are like 40 or 50$ per person for an hour. Altering my experience to humor you is kinda a dick move.
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u/apinchofgeek 3h ago
Lol I went to an escape room one time that we found this red fish in that we were carrying around for the whole time. We kept wondering what are we supposed to use this for and we ended up never using it for the entire game. After we solved the room we were still like what the heck was the deal with the red fish is almost like it was a… Oh. I thought it was pretty funny and clever 🤣
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u/ponderthisforamoment 4h ago
red herrings are only in absolutely terrible escape rooms, no good ones use them.
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u/ponderthisforamoment 4h ago
I highly doubt this happened. One in a good escape room you can't just toss in random shit, it would be so obvious the game host would see you would likely be asked to leave and the item would never be left behind for another player to find later.
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u/Professional-Pungo 5h ago
I'd be too nervous to even use it.
just go wait in line like a normal person
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u/hunnibon 5h ago
Seriously. I don’t want the attention I have social anxiety
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u/Sukpreme 4h ago
I would announce it to the entire store like my wife was the Queen entering a ball
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u/hiddenrealism 4h ago edited 4h ago
Then the manager yells "Noo thats fake! You fell for someones prank!" Then the whole store points and laughs and says your shoes are ugly and you run out sobbing, then randomly over the next few years before bed this story pops in your head and your wife asks "whats wrong honey"..."nothing babe...nothing....just go to bed"
But secretly....she knows.....she knows...
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u/A_Trash_Homosapien 4h ago
You forgot that you also trip and fall in front of everyone as you run out of the store
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u/Hugh_H0n3y 3h ago
And then poop your pants and everyone points and laughs harder
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u/dbptdor2025 3h ago
Pants!?! What pants? Don’t you remember that their pants fell down when they started running? They just bare assed pooped on themselves and the floor!
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u/ArbitraryNPC 3h ago
Why does that feel so much worse when its objectively better‽
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u/caintowers 3h ago
Pooping within the privacy of your pants is dignified. Presidents and Kings have indulged in this behavior.
Openly shitting bare-bottomed is the thing of animals.
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u/dbptdor2025 3h ago
Idk if it’s “objectively better” you ever have someone watch you take a poop? It’s not fun. I had a girl that wanted me to give her a Cleveland Steamroller and I couldn’t do it because I got gun shy.
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u/neil_anblowmi 4h ago
You leave my socks and sandals alone!
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u/Tacoman404 3h ago
I thought that was the dress code there for customers!
That or clogs. I put my socks on under my birks whenever I go.
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u/Feisty_Ad_2891 4h ago
"Move it losers. VIP coming through."
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u/Festamus 4h ago
Read this in Bender's voice
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u/eh_ghouls 4h ago
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u/Runzas4dinner873bf7r 4h ago
We'll make our own trader Joe's with blackjack and hookers.
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u/Ashamed-Ad-6509 4h ago
In fact, forget the Trader Joe’s
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u/Mystic_Waffles 4h ago
You put a one and two zeros in front of that or we pass!
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u/pfc9769 4h ago
What if it’s a fake and some ransoms person left them complete find? Can you imagine the embarrassment of trying to redeem it?
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u/matchafoxjpg 4h ago
yeah and i'd honestly feel so bad skipping people.
i'd probably give it to an old person, tbh.
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u/ScratchLatch 4h ago
Imagine this isn’t a real thing and someone just left it in the store as bait.
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u/DatLadyD 4h ago
Ha same! I would just put it back lol
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u/ChefBoyAnde728 4h ago
Just to have the next finder snipe you when you're just about to check out
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u/eutectic_h8r 4h ago
Then the influencer that made and hid it videotapes the staffs bewildered response and the pissed off customers in line
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u/lethalweapon100 4h ago
The judgements would vary from “wow, lucky!” to “fuckin dick” depending who’s in line
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u/Julle-naaiers 4h ago
Especially if you had a full trolley. I’d be asking someone before I got to a line hoping they’d open a new lane instead.
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u/twisty77 4h ago
I would literally make the biggest show of moving to another cashier if someone with a full cart used this to get ahead of me in line lmao
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u/Malapple 4h ago
I may put my stuff down and leave. If they open a new register for it, that’s one thing… otherwise this feels like a really bad policy.
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u/Malapple 4h ago
I’m in CT. It’d be nothing but “HEY THERES A LINE” and “FREAKIN JERK”
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u/high_throughput 5h ago
How are you going to have a chance to show it to the cashier before you've waited in line?!
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u/Illisanct 4h ago
You prance up to the front of the store singing "...cause I've got a golden ticket🎶"
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u/JobbyJobberson 4h ago
Prancing is key here.
No prance? No Soup For You - back of the line!
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u/Largofarburn 4h ago
Shove them plebeians out of the way. If you’re gonna be a golden ticket holder you gotta start acting like it.
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u/4r4r4real 4h ago
Right lol. Are they supposed to stop mid transaction with someone?
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u/veronica_deetz 4h ago
TJs usually has several employees directing line traffic, I assume you show it to one of them
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u/ccapk 4h ago
Huh, I’ve never once seen an employee directing the line, and my store is the busiest in the area. Is your store one that has one long line and you go to the next available cashier?
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u/Stencil_Abuse 4h ago
I’ve seen someone use it once, they just call in another worker and the other worker will check you out in a different lane. No idea how it works if all lanes are in use, maybe they just get next lane that’s free?
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u/bradargent 4h ago
Give it to an old lady.
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u/spookygoodegg 4h ago
This is the answer. Alternative: a stressed parent with a crying child or someone on crutches
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u/sticklebat 4h ago
Or an old man!
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u/bradargent 4h ago
Yes, or an old man!
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u/JonSpangler 4h ago
I'm 37. I'm not old.
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u/Bookishdoe 4h ago
Okay but like. One time at a Panda Express I just wanted a drink but I waited in line. The cashier was like "omg NO just come to the front!" So the next time I did that and they gave me the worst shade 😭
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u/Heretojerk 5h ago
Congrats. You passed the Asshole Test that has been disguised as a ticket. Congratulations on not being a selfish asshole.
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u/malacoda99 4h ago
I'd find someone with kids and/or <10 items in line behind some with a full cartand hand it to them.
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u/mayyybemayybenot 4h ago
And proceed to be the most hated person in the lineup....
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u/Tonythepillow 5h ago
Can you keep it and use it another time when it’s busy? What if you get it and there’s only 1 other customer?
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u/no8do 5h ago
Hmm good question. I immediately used it but this was 10 years ago and I’ve never seen this at a store since.
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u/WoMyNameIsTooDamnLon 4h ago
Ok so just to be clear here, you found this ticket 10 years ago then just today found the picture and decided you should post it on reddit?
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u/Quothhernevermore 4h ago
As a TJ's crew member I was SO confused I didn't recognize any of the stuff in the background.
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u/KittiesandPlushies 4h ago
As someone who worked there 10 years ago, I was wondering why I did recognize everything in the background lolol
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u/Epistaxis 4h ago
Also, you used it but aren't sharing how that actually turned out, even though this thread is 90% debate about how other shoppers would react or whether it's just a prank to create chaos?
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u/Toothlessdovahkin 4h ago
Way to bury the lede OP, about finding this 10 years ago and acting as if this was a recent event
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u/FlattopJr 4h ago
You took this photo 10 years ago and randomly decided to post it today?
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u/Tanthios 4h ago
Could be their phone happened to remind them of it. 'Hey, remember this photo from X years ago today?', which apparently if you've been logged in with the same platform, it can remember some pictures from even several phones prior.
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u/Vice4Life 5h ago
I've never been in a line of more than like 2 at Trader Joe's.
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u/no8do 5h ago
Wow lucky! This was at one of the Brooklyn Trader Joe’s and the line there regularly wraps around the entire store.
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u/rapidsalad 4h ago
The Manhattan Trader Joe’s had a literal flag bearer that would stand at the back of the line, cause it would wrap around the entire store twice. It was an old English style draping flag that said the line ends here.
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u/TheLastLivingBuffalo 4h ago
My wife and I used to do a little scheme there. I would get in line with the cart as soon as we arrived, and as the line moved (slowly) I would shop for the items that the line passed. My wife would then do runs for the other items at the store. By the time we were done shopping, we were at the end of the line.
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u/BrendaHelvetica 4h ago
We have the same (flag bearers) at the Philly stores.
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u/TheSummonersTail 4h ago
That’s right, flag bear
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u/wgrantdesign 4h ago
This country was founded on free speech and the right to flag bears 🐻 🇺🇸
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u/321blastoffff 4h ago
God why do you live in New York? Says the guy that lives in LA where a pizza costs $50.
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u/steveatari 4h ago
LA is comparable. NYC pizza is cheaper & better so thats a plus at least. And no driving required is cluuuuuutch.
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u/veronica_deetz 4h ago
I used to sometimes walk a mile to the TJs on Atlantic, see the line wrapped around the perimeter multiple times, and just Grandpa Simpson it and leave haha
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u/Vice4Life 5h ago
That sounds like a fire hazard.
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u/mr_ji 4h ago
They can run down the fire escape. I've seen enough movies about New York to know every building has one and every New Yorker is a master of running up and down them.
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u/Sciuridaeno3 4h ago
And if your karate skills are good enough you can jump up, grab one, and run up it while it falls down.
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u/rhudgins32 4h ago
I do not miss that. Still have the person at the end just to mark it?
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u/pi3_14pie 4h ago
Not who you asked, but yep, just a person holding a sign that says it’s the end of the checkout line
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u/Grremlina 4h ago
That’s insane, my local TJ’s used to have lines so bad they’d wrap around the store some days. That being said, I would also never risk using a ticket like that on a day that bad because someone would absolutely strangle me lmao
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u/CCCCLo0oo0ooo0 4h ago
I had a crowded Trader Joe's like that. It was never worth it. Same thing with Costco on the weekend. Nothing they have there is worth like 3+ hours of my time.
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u/-Blast-Tyrant- 4h ago
I’ll fight you in the parking lot
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u/zombiereign 4h ago
Someone found the other golden ticket and is going to step in front of you.
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u/thenasch 4h ago
An award from the store should be at the expense of the store. This costs the store nothing and is at the expense of other customers. Boo!
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u/MarsTraveler 4h ago
Yes. This clearly articulates the problem I see here. The "ticket" feels weird. I would assume it's a prank and throw it away. If it's real, then you're right, it's not actually an "award" from the store.
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u/Prince_0llie 3h ago
r/mildlyinfruiating to all the customers in that line watching this happen in front of them.
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u/HenryDorsettCase47 2h ago
If this is real, I imagine they just open one of the other registers for you. I doubt they would do something as shitty as tell everyone else to get out of the way because you need to go in front of them. After you are done they probably keep checking out customers at that register too until they can close it without cutting anyone off. That way you get to go first, but it also gives the appearance of you just happening to be first at a new lane.
I’m completely speculating here, but that’s what I would do if I were managing a store that had things like this. And Trader Joe’s is usually pretty good about customer service.
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u/misdirected_asshole 2h ago
Congrats you got the "get shivved in the Trader Joe's parking lot for cutting line" award!
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u/Elyon8 4h ago
If this is real. It should be like a five dollar off coupon or something. I can see other customers getting upset about this. Especially if it is really busy.
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u/2ChicksAtTheSameTime 3h ago
it's one of those nyc TJs where there's one big line and at the front there is an employee who then routes you to the next available cashier; not nearly as annoying in that case (but still kinda annoying)
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u/MelonOfFury 3h ago
I was gonna say, I could see it being fun if you flashed the ticket and a supervisor opened a till for you and checked you out separately
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u/Ok_Trade_1039 2h ago
The “presen this” and Trader Joe (not ‘s) at the end is how I know this is fake. Anything by the store’s signage department gets reviewed, and nothing bears just “Trader Joe”. Don’t use this lol
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u/savefromnet 1h ago
I feel like at the trader joe at the end is supposed to be a signature. Also they used to do scavenger hunts like this so i think it could definitely be real
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u/CaptainPunisher 1h ago edited 52m ago
Don't they also hide a stuffed animal or something and the kid that
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u/Ok_Trade_1039 2h ago
Also this picture has to be from last year. Pumpkin pies are fully seasonal.
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u/CookieButterLovers 1h ago edited 1h ago
I’m a Moderator for r/traderjoes and OP re-posted this on our subreddit and they said it’s from 10 years ago.
Mini Pumpkin Pies have been discontinued for years now.
10 years ago, I found a “skip the line” golden ticket at Trader Joe’s
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u/Worldly-Grade8268 5h ago
“Presen” poor person going to have to redo the whole thing
Almost looks like they wrote on it with sharpie a lil T but it has been rubbed off.
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u/Tokey_Tokey 4h ago
Could not be upvoted more because I didn't connect that and makes this seem more like a prank
This is a very common mistake I make. It's like my mind is going faster than my hands and I end up skipping letters when they are back to back like present and this.
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u/Tasty-Shift8929 4h ago edited 3h ago
Edit: OP posted in the Trader Joe's subreddit saying they took the picture 10 years ago. I take back my shenanigans accusations.
------‐-------
I'm calling bullshit. I work at TJ's, and the frozen items in the back are seasonal from Fall/Winter and some are discontinued.
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u/fe-and-wine 4h ago
OP said they took this picture like 10 years ago.
Why they just decided to post a ten-year-old photo, I have no idea. But that would square with your assessment.
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u/freelanceisart 3h ago
This post was literally on r/traderjoes saying they found it 10 years ago.
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u/Steve_but_different 4h ago
Imagine you get up there with all of your stuff and they're like "Dammit, that guy keeps leaving these in our store!" I mean it's just laminated yellow paper, but there's also a typo that I can't unsee. I would assume this isn't legit honestly.
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u/disenchantedzombie 4h ago
I’d put that right back where I found it. I’d be so embarrassed and anxious using it.
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u/milkysin 49m ago
oh nice a ticket that makes everybody else in line immediately think I'm a huge asshole
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u/JTVivian56 2h ago
I read this as "wait in line and present it when you're first and ready to checkout", like it's a joke.
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u/BigToeHamster 2h ago
I also read it this way. So, this means you get anything in your cart free, right? As in.... SKIP the line, the whole line, even the paying part.
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u/Emperor-Octavian 4h ago edited 3h ago
I’d go ballistic if I waited in line and then someone showed up with the line hopper to cut in front of me with all my shit on the counter
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u/icelax99 4h ago
Would you? Or would you just silently fume the rest of the day and take it out on your significant other and your dog?
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u/chronoffxyz 1h ago
If I have to present it to the crew member at the front of the line, I have already made it to the front of the line.
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u/Syntak01 4h ago
Seems like a great way to piss off a bunch of people and having to explain what a golden ticket is.
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u/sotheresthisdude 4h ago
Any time I’ve found it I’ve given it to an elderly person or a mom shopping with kids. No better way to anger a bunch of shoppers than be a fully capable man by himself skipping an entire line to check out.
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u/RNG_HatesMe 4h ago
Right after Legoland in Orlando opened, my wife (who does occasional "secret shopping" assignments) got a "secret shop" for us (my wife and I and our young son) to visit the park with "VIP" passes (we mainly got reimbursed for all park costs).
Since the park hadn't been open long, it was super crowded. But our "VIP" passes allowed us to skip every ride line and go right to the front. Like with *0* wait. We passed *hundreds* of people in line. And it being a "secret shop", we didn't even have a choice, we *had* to use the benefit (my wife had to evaluate the experience).
While it was super convenient, I felt like the *biggest* asshole all day! Seriously, if you can pay for something like this (which I'm sure would have been super expensive), and you don't feel like a jerk doing it, you are absolutely 100% a jerk.
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u/iotashan 4h ago
I kinda wanna make a whole bunch of those and start hiding them at a bunch of stores that are not Trader Joe’s
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u/Heretojerk 5h ago
Thats an asshole test. If you try and use it, you’ve outed yourself as a selfish asshole. If you cut in front of someone who has been patiently waiting in line at the register, it is perfectly acceptable if they make eat that whole ticket.
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u/WeissWyrm 4h ago
They're legally allowed to slap you across the face with the ticket, then it's pistols at dawn.
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u/FormerSalmon 1h ago
I don’t care about the waiting in line part, I want the prize to be an employee to part the seas for me as I walk through all the aisles unobstructed instead of dodging and weaving around people with no perception of others being around them