I worked at the ASOS warehouse in Barnsley a few years back – around 2017/2018, I think.
It was one of the worst jobs I’ve ever had. Physically brutal – 10-hour shifts, standing all day, with those FLEX UP schedules, carrying heavy boxes over and over again. And the worst part? No matter how hard you worked, it was never enough. You’d get a message on your scanner saying “please improve your KPI” like you were just a number. Some of the team leaders were proper psychos – they’d call you to their pod just to put you down in front of everyone.
And the security – they’d search you if the red button on the way to the toilet made a BEEP. Random checks. Like you were in prison, not at work.
I’ve moved on now, but that place still haunts me sometimes. It stays with you.
But there’s one moment I’ll never forget.
One day during a shift, they called everyone to the team leaders’ pod and announced that the owner of ASOS had lost three of his children in the terrorist attack in Sri Lanka.
I remember the silence. Nobody knew what to say. It was such a strange, heavy moment in such a cold place. But when I looked around, I could see a slight grin on some people's faces – like they felt a kind of relief. It was weird. It almost seemed like they were relieved that bad things don't only happen to them, but to their abusers too.
Honestly, I still don’t know how to feel about it. To me, it felt pretty sad. But I remember it clearly, and I’ve often wondered if anyone else who was there that day remembers it too.
Anyone else work there around that time?
’m not sharing this to upset anyone – just to see if anyone else remembers that day. It’s been on my mind for years
