Have you ever waited so long to ask a simple question that it would then be too embarrassing to ask?

I submitted this to /r/talesfromretail, and they removed it for being "too unbelievable"—which is killing me, because it's a real dilemma I'm facing. I wanted to do it on an anonymous account so I would not get caught for being the dumb fuck that I clearly am. While doing it on my "real" account makes me more likely to get busted, it might help with the credibility. It never occurred to me in a million years that it would be doubted.

I've worked in a very small shop for about a year. I'm the only real employee, as the owners run it themselves most days, and I only work once a week on their day off. When I work, I'm the only one in the store, so I open and close by myself.

On my first day, I was told to empty the trash can if it needs emptied or has food waste in it. If I was told where to empty it, I promptly forgot it. For the first few shifts, it didn't need emptying.

It has now been over a year, and I have never figured out where to empty the trash. It is too late to admit to without feeling like a moron.

There is a dumpster behind the building that appears to belong to the business next door (maybe we share it?), but it is locked. I don't see any other receptacles, other than some recycling bins that also seem to belong to the business next door. A nearby restaurant has outside tables out there, and I feel reluctant to hang around looking for a place to put a trash bag while people look at me.

So here's what I have been doing: either smashing the trash down as low as possible when it's just paper, and leaving it in the wastebasket, or taking it home with me when it's full. Yes, I've been taking home garbage from work. My SO is kind of annoyed with it, and thinks I'm an idiot for not just asking.

I feel like asking about it would be admitting to not having taken out the trash for over a year. Maybe they actually know, and have just made peace with the fact?

/r/AskReddit Thread