IamA Walgreens "photo specialist", and I've seen some s***... AMA

Any chance you can talk to the right people to get the sign on the condom aisle changed from "Family Planning" to "Anti-Family Planning"?

I'll do what I can, but remember you're talking to someone who works for a company whose slogan is "Be Well, Be Healthy", while at the same time having a layout where cigarettes are the first thing you see and make a substantial amount of the business.

And that's why CVS is no longer selling cigarettes. Or something.

I heard about that. At least they're not being hypocritical with their stance!

Whats the weirdest thing you ever saw while developing photos?

This middle aged blonde woman taking a piss near a highway while smiling as cars passed by. One of the few times I literally said "what the fuck" out loud.

What are the other times where you've said "what the fuck" out loud?

S&M bandage with a fat woman and some skinny dude.

Girl who had a 200+ order with the same selfie (I have a feeling that was sent in by mistake)

4 girls standing topless outside of a forest making these weird "earthly" poses. I think they were hippie chicks but that particularly was strange. They gave me the death stare when picking them up too. Crazy bitches.

They know you know now

coming back to what I thought would be a buried comment

Strangely they haven't come back since

Is there no policy about nude pictures?

If there is I have completely ignored them.

Did they look like this by any chance?

About 1/9 as attractive with 1/3 bust

Bandaged fat woman and skinny dude? At the same time?

shivers

Did it happen to be on the side of the road at the continental divide? I may or may not have been present.

No idea!

That's the weirdest? I thought it would be something worst than that

Edit: worse as requested

My store has pretty medium traffic. Sorry to disappoint :/

I do this all the time. Then again, I am a college student, so I love pissing outside

Just please don't send it into Walgreens. Despite my being desensitized, some things cannot be unseen.

This is a relatively normal fetish. One of mine in fact. viewing the pics that is, not taking them.

You should get into my line of work. The pay is shit but you get to tell some occasionally good stories.

We took a prank photo of one of my friends, passed out drunk, with a hot dog poking out of his shorts. Why did Walgreens photoshop the hot dog out of the picture?

Photos sent in via smartphone or tablet tend to auto-crop for whatever reason, iPhone and Samsung particularly. I think it's a glitch in the system. That could be the reason. We don't have the tools to Photoshop anything in my store, so either the picture came in disoriented or auto-cropped, or you just got unlucky and had someone without a sense of humor work on your photos.

You don't? We had this shitty old crt monitor'd computer from the 90s that had a rudimentary photo editing software on it that we used to whiten up the passport photos. This was like 4 or 5 years ago.

We can whiten passport backgrounds and such, but not much more than that. I guess I was thinking of the more advanced Photoshop features.

whiten your passport background

So you can change names from Ahmed Muhammad to Bob Smith?

Edit: Whoa my first gold! Thank you!

I'm gonna try that next time I get a passport order :D

If the "On the Corner of Happy and Healthy" is the address of Walgreens, wouldn't it also be the address for CVS since they are right across the fucking street from each other?

Yes.

What are you supposed to do if you develop pictures that have illegal or questionable content?

If we see anything fucked up (kiddie porn, uncompromising situations), we're supposed to make copies and put them in an envelope to be sent to either claims or the corporate office. Calling the police would make more sense IMO but Walgreens isn't exactly known for critical thinking.

I was in the same position at Walgreens. At our store we made 4 copies. One for the safe, one for local law enforcement, one for FBI/State BI, and let the customer take the original set home to prove intent. Had to do it twice when I worked there, in less than a year.

Holy shit. So how'd that turn out?

Let's just say they got what they deserved based on the sick pictures.

Good :)

That's a weird policy. Would you follow that or would you call the cops, especially if it were a minor or something just awful?

We do have to tell our managers before shipping the copies out, but if I see something like that, I'd definitely call the cops. There's a station less than a mile away with cops not really having much to do, so I doubt I'd be inconveniencing them much. If at all.

So did you actually have to ever send in a claim because of KP? I just wonder who would think it was a smart idea to develop that kind of stuff...

Not me personally, but I know others that have. We would process and sell them to the original customer to prove intent that this was no accident or anything. It's essentially future evidence.

Oddly enough, I've been told the exact opposite as per Walgreen's Corporate.

So what kind of photo development system do you have at your location? WetLab or have you transferred to the DryLab system?

WetLab. It's convenient for customers but when that thing breaks down... Clear your orders for a week or 2.

Have you ever seen photos of people you know nude?

This one pic of my Aunt Cassie spread eagle, but that's none of my business tho.

people aged 6 to 70 popping on the floors

How is it that you remain so calm despite having seen people of all ages exploding in your store?

Gold with 2 points? On my ama?

See what I did there? Nothing surprises me!

Eric is that you? Get back to work.

Sorry boss

"I wasn't even supposed to be here today! "

What smells like shoe polish?

37. My girlfriend sucked 37 dicks.

Meet any famous people at your job?

When working a night shift a few years back, Dennis Rodman came into my store at maybe 3:30 going to purchase beer, but unfortunately my manager told him that we couldn't sell after midnight. He was really cool about it saying "oh ok, thanks." He then proceeded to purchase a couple of Hallmark cards and some "Blender's Gold" cigars. I told him I loved him in Double Team and he seemed pretty excited to hear me say that. He came in with his agent or manager and was just an awesome f*cking guy. Chatted with me for about ten minutes and paid in all one dollar bills. I got to take a picture with him and he went on his way. Friendly guy.

A couple coworkers of mine in the past have rung up people like The Big Show, Rocky Wirtz, and Johnny Galecki back in his "Roseanne" days. Would've loved to have met them.

Did the person that printed the picture take a picture of it or keep a copy of it for himself?

I kept a copy in the break room for all to see.

I read that as both your title and proof as potato specialist somehow and got really confused.

Anyhow my question is do you prefer jacket potatoes or mashed?

Lol

Jacket potato. Yeah that's the ticket.

Is that like a... baked potato?

I literally had to Google "jacket potato" to find out wtf that guy was talking about.

Most like your life: 8mm or One Hour Photo?

Never saw 8mm. I heard it was amazing.

I tried to make a copy of my kid's school pictures but they clerk wouldn't let me keep them because they are copyrighted. What would have happened if I threw the money down, grabbed them, and took off?

Depends on the person working that day. One person could just cancel the order and let it be while another one becomes Batman and runs after the guy getting his license plate or whatever and watching the videos. Most likely it would just be canceled.

Have you ever had to report pictures to the police?

Do you have many regular customers that still use film?

Funniest picture you've ever developed?

Thankfully no pics worth getting the police involved about.

Oh god yes. Older customers love the film machine, as we're one of the few around our city that still does it. You get a lot of rolls from the 80s and 90s that are simply completely worn out, so some people get annoyed, not much I can do sadly. Also those waterproof cameras come in like clockwork from the younger crowd, mostly tweens. Film is a pain in the ass to process though. Worse when a customer brings in 2 dozen rolls and expects them to be completed within the hour. Some people can be real assholes.

Funniest pic? Hmm. Probably a pic where someone snapped a little boy right as he faceplants on the floor. Very random but I did laugh.

Back in my day we could do 80 rolls an hour. What equipment you flying, Fuji Frontier?

Fuji something.

I worked at a Wal-Mart Photo Lab a few years back and by far the weirdest pictures we saw was a home birth, from all possible angles. Did you ever get to experience the secondhand experience of childbirth? (I should also mention that the father, upon receiving his pictures, proceeded to show complete strangers pictures of his wife giving birth. We had to have manager remove him from the store)

Lol wow. I don't recall any childbirth photos. If I did process them I've likely deleted them from my subconsciousness.

I wasn't bothered by them (I have two kids) but the poor teenager I was working with was traumatized.

Ah to be young and fearful again.

One of my exes works as a photo specialist. Are you my ex?

Depends. Is your name Rose?

Is there any way to get them privately developed? Meaning, can I get my photos with a reasonable assurance that nobody has seen my naked gut?

Nope

Did you enjoy looking at my balls?

http://tinyurl.com/oacg2uc

How often do you change out the chemicals in the developer?

For film: A couple times a month. Paper, every 2-3 days

What machine was it? We changed the fuji350 about every 3 months.. if that

I think it's a 400. It's a piece of shit and the paper holder has been broken for a month.

Noritsu is horrible about coming out and repairing systems. The horror stories I've gotten from stores that we've taken over for... damn.

The Fujifilm and Noritsu alliance was the beginning of this shitty quality standard currently set in my lab, and clearly, thousands of others.

Have you thought of quitting your job because of the horrible things you've seen?

Every day since I started.

sfl here, Be glad you don't work at my store...

Edited out video link because job.

What. The. Fuck.

Why are walgreens photos so poorly printed?

Their hardware is outdated with limited controls. Blame the shareholders.

any photos you wish you'd taken?

I mean now and then you do get some extremely interesting ones, like photos of the Taj Mahal or Eiffel Tower, and once in a blue moon I get photos of some unbelievable looking girls, but very few would I actually bother checking out again. The majority of them are babies birthday parties or old folks having breakfast.

I have about 5 rolls of undeveloped film from when I was stationed in Egypt (and used to hang out at the pyramids every weekend) like 15 years ago. I should really think about getting those developed at some point.

Does film ever "go bad?"

If it was taken in Egypt 15 years ago and have yet to be developed, they likely went bad.

Bring it to a location that does film. They can process it anyway and if you're lucky maybe some prints can be saved!

Awww, that makes me sad. :(

Just don't wait another 15 years bro

Are you related to the original Walgreens, or is it just a coincidence that's your last name too? Thanks for the time Mr. Walgreens.

If I was related to him I would be on my private jet banging hot chicks 3x a night, not doing an ama on the crazy shit I deal with every day!

Have you ever seen anything that was worrying, or that you had to report?

The most messed up things I've seen were crime scene photos. Not as bad as what you see here on /r/wtf but they can get pretty grisly.

They develop those photos at a fucking walgreens...? Seems that's something police would do themselves

Edit: if you're telling me it's the perpetrators of the crimes getting those photos developed, I think you might be underestimating their intelligence just a bit, not to say they're geniuses or anything

Not as much as of late thankfully

Do you ever see people on the street and realize you recognize them from their Walgreens photos?

Not from photos, just customers alike. And they're never the ones I actually enjoy talking to either.

Boobs?

Oh yes please!

I have yet to go out and get my photos printed. How much will I be over paying to get (let's say) 4 pictures printed off a flash drive. 12x18?

Walgreens is known to markup photos through the ass, particularly on anything 5x7 or above. Not sure as large and poster sized prices have changed, but likely you'll be blasted in the ass.

Have you seen people take a shit in the hallmark aisle? I saw that happen at CVS. I was a photo tech at the time.

Cosmetics aisle, bathroom floor (all the time), and near the cooler.

I work as a "service clerk" at a Walgreens for 3 years. I made it very clear to coworkers and managers that I am never doing photo.

Last week, some girls tried to print out a calendar of themselves. They were very risque shots, and I think there might have been some nudes. They guy working in photo noticed there was a professional watermark in there, and couldn't sell them. It was pretty funny.

As a fellow Walgreen, what are your thoughts on "Welcome to Walgreens!" "Have a nice day! Be Well!" and "Thank you for calling Walgreens, where we help you live! **** speaking, how can I help you?"

EDIT: Another question! What about pranks on other employees? Sometimes, employees would make a fake account on the Walgreens website. They would then take pictures from the photo specialist's Facebook and print them out while he/she was working.

Welcome to Walgreens/Be Well is some of the most painful corporate bullshit I've ever seen. We have to tell this to everyone passing by even after they came to the store, so the average customer will hear that about 3-4 times per visit. Idiot higher-ups thinking it's a good idea when NOBODY enjoys it. Ugh.

Not a lot of pranks at my store sadly. Lot of stuck up workers here. I might take you up on that Facebook plot though. Haha

If you had to describe 5 pictures that sum up 90% of what you see, what would they be? I'm curious what the most common ones are.

Selfies

Baby pictures

Cars

Wedding photos

Birthday parties

And they almost all suck

Any pics of murder, sex or sex?

No murders. Sex... Based on the angles of the pics, I'm sure.

I went to get some photos printed off of my phone and realized some photos I had deleted were among the others. Is there a reason for this or am I just naive and had them hidden away somewhere, thinking it was deleted?

Well pics can't be deleted using any Walgreens software, soo...I dunno what to say. Do you have Google Drive or iCloud?

Have you ever seen a picture you shouldn't have seen by accident?

When on a kiosk a pretty fit 40-something had some nudes that popped up on the kiosk for a split second. She tried blocking them with her hand but... too late

Have you ever developed a photo that was creepy or you just couldn't find any explanation for as to what the picture was of or it just seemed to have no logical reasoning to it?

Going back to the pissing woman...

What do you do about people with pictures of marajuana? Serious question, in a state where it's illegal would you report to authorities

Well marijuana is much less taboo these days, and everyone does it. If there is a law stating I have to sign a document or report them, I haven't heard of it nor followed it. (Fellow former pothead here)

My gf did this job and is now the wellness guide i heard stories i feel for ya bro btw how much do you love bacon?

Well who doesn't love bacon? You know it's funny you mentioned that, I just watched "Babe" yesterday for the first time in maybe 15 years and the ending to the film (That'll do, pig) gave me some serious feels. I think I might avoid pork products from here on out. I know, I'm a pussy! :/

BABE WOULD WANT YOU TO EAT BACON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! btw are you a wellness guide yet I feel that may happen btw y'all's bacon jerky sucks

What is a wellness guide?

I guess they talk to customers bout vitamins and shit

Yeah we don't have that at my location

Ever had to report any pictures to the police?

Not yet!

I regularly use a photographer friend's photo release to get professional photos that he did not take printed by Walgreens.

Do you realize I'm bullshitting? Do you care?

I don't give a shit