Image : Getty

Your car might seem like a private world where you can fart, argue with your family, or complain about the wait at the drive thru window; in reality, everyone with a headset on inside can hear you.


It might seem like communicating with a speaker is difficult, based on how much people yell when they’re ordering, but the person listening is probably picking up a lot more than you realize. Redditor u/wreckinitralph posted this warning on r/LifeProTips:

When you’re sitting at a drive-thru speaker, we can always hear everything - even if you think your interaction is over. Be careful what personal details you reveal to strangers. As soon as you drive up to the speaker, we get a beep over our headsets and the transmission begins. If we don’t answer you right away - we can hear everything. If we apologize and say we’ll be with you in a minute - you’re not on hold, we can hear everything. If you’ve ordered but the drive-thru line won’t let you pull ahead yet - we can hear every single thing you’re saying. I wish I could forget some of the stuff I’ve heard.

But they don’t always use this trick for evil; occasionally, benevolent workers will throw some extra ketchup packets your way when they can tell you’re having a bad day:

On the flipside, some of the stuff I’ve heard has made me give the customer a nice little bonus on their order when it sounds like they need it.


Commenters confirmed that this was true; some have had the same job and overheard more then they wanted to. Others, like u/infectious10, were busted by the person listening:

I found this out after my sister and I had a whole argument over whether or not something at taco bell has beans in it when the worker came over the speaker to tell us who was right. We were both embarrassed as hell because they didnt hide their laughter at all

Farther down, there was another warning about workers who can see your private thoughts from u/Steve90000—beware the chat box:

This also applies when you’re on any type of support chat. Whatever you type, even if you don’t press enter, is transmitted right to them as you’re typing it. So, if you’re like me and type “Get my fucking internet up NOW you piece of shit!” then quickly delete it and type “Good sir, I sincerely request that you expedite the restoration of my internet post haste!”, then realize you’re not from the mid century and write “I’m having trouble with my connection”, they know you have a hard time regulating your emotions and what era you’re in.


This all means we actually have to consider what we say and type while interacting with people, even people online. What a nightmare.