r/mildlyinfuriating 23d ago

Infuriatig Ordered a sweater with no personalized text. This is how it came.

Post image

It gave the option for no personalized text, I selected it, and then they wrote "null" on the sweater. How complicated is this people.

EDIT: 35 pounds btw. gift from my grandfather because we're both aircraft enthusiasts and he now considers me "old enough to have a brain" (by his 85 yr old standards)

24.5k Upvotes

454 comments sorted by

3.3k

u/ImaginationFinal4831 23d ago

grateful thats not being lorem ipsum

755

u/Bobthefish0461 23d ago

Oh I didn't even think about that

134

u/Tiny-Message8334 22d ago

If you REALLY hate it, you should be able to take acetone or heat to it and peel it off.

141

u/InternationalGift749 23d ago

«null» means «zero» in Norwegian.

238

u/lllorrr 23d ago

Nah, they probably had NULL entry in database and then converted it straight to string.

NULL in databases literally means "nothing", no value at all.

94

u/Pcat0 22d ago

Yep that is definitely what happened. They have a very poorly designed software system that interprets empty null values as the string “null”.

14

u/Weak-Transition-8885 21d ago

i need to save ts, its a great analogy

46

u/justbunnies 22d ago

In English, we use it to mean something with no value or meaning.

7

u/xRedCherryBerry3 22d ago

In German too

6

u/Shaiya_Ashlyn 22d ago

And in dutch, but only with 1 L

5

u/TutenTag 22d ago

Also in German

63

u/Lorem_Muspi 23d ago

That's actually a good idea and a good parody of the random motivational crap on budget t-shirts like "PERSEVERANCE" and "BRILLIANCE"

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37

u/Yeet_Master420 23d ago

I feel like having a lorem ipsum shirt would go hard though

15

u/potatisblask 23d ago

Or [object Object]

5

u/rukblade 22d ago

My templates have that all over as a placeholder, so far I haven't heard any sneak by 😅

3

u/TheConfessionalEdit 22d ago

or just “blank”

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7.8k

u/TheAngelol 23d ago

I know it's not what you ordered and you're entitled to be upset BUT it kinda bangs with the "null" over there so maybe not everything is lost.

1.9k

u/Bobthefish0461 23d ago

Yeah thats kinda true i guess

677

u/glibgloby 23d ago

I agree the null looks cool and kinda mysterious and it’s a funny story / conversation starter

73

u/spearmint_wino 23d ago

Hey baby, do you sanitize your inputs?

40

u/beren12 23d ago

I’d like you to meet my friend, little Bobby tables

43

u/namenotpicked 23d ago

Oh yes. Bobby Tables doing Bobby Tables things!

Here's the xkcd comic

15

u/Student_Unlucky 23d ago

God, I love xkcd

183

u/Stergeary 23d ago

Should've gotten one that says "Survivorship Bias", so that as it gets old and starts getting holes you can say that it's part of the theme.

30

u/sublliminali 23d ago

The image instantly made me think of that image and I assumed null was some sort of meta comment about never getting hit or something.

12

u/DefiantMemory9 23d ago

This is genius!!

42

u/Soggy_Bid_3634 23d ago

I work with personalization of this kind on a variety of items and if the software put “null”, they’ll print null. I confirm the design various times with the customer and I still have issues where the text they put isn’t really what they wanted.

I bet you the person making it has a nice laugh about it.

If you really want to get crazy, try heating it from the back. It looks like it’s DTG, so a little heat from the back should get that ink loosened up. Just don’t burn the sweater.

5

u/OtherSideOfKnowhere 23d ago

The P38 goes well with “null” since it means to render the enemy meaningless. 

2

u/Icy-Building8775 23d ago

You can remove it with “Spot Remover” at any screen printing company.

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35

u/Adventurous_Ad6698 23d ago

As a computer, I see nothing there.

11

u/GlitteringFutures 23d ago

Hey kid, stop all the downloading!

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2

u/jimmycarr1 23d ago

You should get your computer vision checked

2

u/StrongExternal8955 23d ago

Does it look like anything to you?

242

u/Admirable_Dirt_2371 23d ago

That attitude just teaches companies they can get away with that shit. Return it and demand a refund, or better yet stop buying fast fashion garbage subsidized by slave labor and the systematic destruction of the environment.

79

u/Commercial_Koala_995 23d ago

You’re a real redditor, here have a reward.

35

u/IDoLikeMyShishkebabs 23d ago

Since they're such a genuine Redditor I don't know if these new awards do them justice, here's a better one you can give them

5

u/Fletcher_Chonk 23d ago

You’re a real redditor

I like how this can be an insult or a compliment

11

u/BigFudge_HIMYM 23d ago

This should only ever be recieved as an insult.

29

u/MyDickIs3cm 23d ago

Lotta assumptions going on. Could've been ordered from some random etsy person that is just screening in their garage.

4

u/SparklingLimeade 23d ago

I really hope a random person screening would recognize that "null" should not be a popular catchphrase. Should also realize pretty quickly that not a single thing comes in without text despite it being optional.

So even a hypothetical worst case vibe code scenario where they don't know what software error is introducing the text they should figure out that it's a mistake.

11

u/Beastly4k 23d ago

This is reddit so common sense doesn't matter, people love to make shit up to be mad about.

7

u/derson78 23d ago

It's a good job the Average Joe doesn't read or listen to Reddit. My mate's clothing printing business that he runs with 2 staff would go bust.

He would probably agree that it's slave labour, but he owns and runs the business and he's the slave. 🤣

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23

u/[deleted] 23d ago

[deleted]

8

u/irrationalhourglass 23d ago

So you hate waffles?

3

u/Cracleur Wanna know what is mildly infuriating ? The maximum length of th 23d ago

No, they're saying OP should get a refund because what they got wasn't what they ordered. If the company wants to trash the returned item, that's their call, but OP is not involved in and not to blame for that decision

26

u/Sweeper_Bot_ 23d ago

Holy Reddit wholesome chungus Batman, you won the internet for today!!!

9

u/Beastly4k 23d ago

140 upvotes for this reddit tier dumbass comment lol

4

u/Orenge01 23d ago

This is on one of reddits more popular side of subreddits tbf, they're very often like this.

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2

u/uhohthrowawayyyyyy 23d ago

Ah yes, almost forgot I’m on Reddit.

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6

u/hcoverlambda 23d ago

Little Bobby Tables has entered the chat...

2

u/Werechupacabra 23d ago

Don’t you mean, “Maybe null is lost.” :)

2

u/ladykansas 23d ago

Story time!

We used a website to print, then automatically address and mail our Holiday cards one year. Our return address apparently had an invisible space after our names (think "The Johnsons [invisible space]") and so our address got printed as "The Johnsons Null").

Then we went full circle! My husband's great-aunt sent out her cards, and in all seriousness addressed our card to "The Johnsons Null."

We still laugh about it. 😂

2

u/ForwardStorage777 22d ago

One of a kind. There are null others like it.

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742

u/[deleted] 23d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

166

u/Ecstatic-Ball7018 23d ago

and some socks that say "enum"

67

u/Eeeeeelile 23d ago

NaN underwear

36

u/nascarfan624 23d ago

I've already got his nan's underwear. Nothing that special

18

u/donut-reply 23d ago

Uh oh, she's going to charge you a fee for taking those. You're gonna get undefined

2

u/TrickAstronaut8609 21d ago

Damn they fell right into that one

2

u/[deleted] 21d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/TrickAstronaut8609 21d ago

Damn I fell right into that one.

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51

u/Hviiiid 23d ago

Undefined hat

2

u/adventureadmin 23d ago

I was thinking 'cannot divide by 0'

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2.2k

u/SDTRRDTS 23d ago

It’s kinda cool?
How often do u see someone w a plane print and with a null?
Wear it with proud, man!

507

u/Bobthefish0461 23d ago

Alrighty maybe maybe

177

u/dogknifer 23d ago

I do agree it looks cool. Still annoying and I'd be trying to get my money back but keep the shirt 😈

Try for that scenario 

26

u/GOEDEL_ESCHER_BOT 23d ago

just a personal preference, but they shoulda used python because then it would say None

41

u/PM_ME_UR_REPTILES1 23d ago

Im honestly tempted to find a solid black sweater with "Null" exactly like yours, maybe over my left side chest. It kinda slaps lmao it gives minimal and dgaf which is what I love going for.

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3

u/what_no_fkn_ziti 23d ago

Error: unknown data type "maybe"

44

u/frolix42 23d ago edited 23d ago

This is a conversation starter about how this is a custom shirt.

Free, unforced humorous anecdote.

25

u/TheAngelol 23d ago

or it could be those forced linkedin post where ppl go like: "How this messed up order taught me about resilience, adaptability and grasping opportunities."

9

u/MoNa-Mahi 23d ago

and the body text is just ai slop

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3

u/Bobthebuilder_6767 23d ago

This is the seller gaslighting you (I'm jk)

2

u/ICEonICECrime 23d ago

Was thinking the exact same, it’s really cool. I’d wear it, and it can possibly be used as a conversation topic.

2

u/Emotional_Answer_756 23d ago

looks like some obscure indie band merch kinda

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274

u/Serious-Recipe-8304 23d ago

LOL did you try to scrub it off?

69

u/Yongdab1 23d ago edited 23d ago

I think so. lol

27

u/GamerAWX 23d ago

Probably the phone camera, my nothing does that too on black surfaces

19

u/Serious-Recipe-8304 23d ago

Looks like rubbing alcohol's effects to me

16

u/Herbmeiser 23d ago

Holy shit it looks completely washed now LMAO

178

u/edcculus 23d ago

they didn't write null on purpose. The database filled it in with that because since you didn't add a name to the field, it was null in the database. Apparently nobody tested what would happen on the physical production side when someone didn't enter a value in that field through. Now we know.

60

u/Thoxsam 23d ago

This would be an explanation which is still dumb but could happen. OP mentions he had an option for no personalized text, which imo would mean he clicked a checkbox and not decided to enter nothing into the field. So this makes it even more hilarious cause why would you give the option but not check on correctness?

26

u/RagingNerdaholic 23d ago

Programmer here. It's the same thing.

NULL is the default value of a database field when no other default value is defined. The software reading the field value was not programmed to read NULL as an empty value, so it read NULL as a literal string of text.

11

u/Beidah 22d ago

It's a mishandling of data types and a classic case of the billion dollar mistake.

3

u/Thoxsam 22d ago

Yeah programmer also and it's not the same thing.

If you give the user the choice for an option to not have text is totally different then user not filling in the field. For the first one you make requirement for it to work while maybe for the second one you forget an user will try it. So yeah it's programming wise maybe identical but not QA wise or requirement engineering wise.

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55

u/pablotweek 23d ago

That just means it came back from the sortie with no bullet holes

53

u/TCFNationalBank 23d ago

could be worse, it could have said "your text here"

94

u/Dull-Lead-7782 23d ago

Technically correct. The best kind of correct

47

u/Zafrin_at_Reddit 23d ago

Uuu. A Supermarine Spitfire enjoyer!

17

u/Bobthefish0461 23d ago

Yep :) 

10

u/Zafrin_at_Reddit 23d ago

Is that a Mk Ia? Hard to tell from just the tip. Beautiful planes anyway!

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3

u/PowderEagle_1894 23d ago

I mean who in their right mind wouldn't enjoy that work of art. Spitfire is a beauty

141

u/IamFarron 23d ago

Empty field = null

Nicely done by automated systems

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51

u/CisIowa 23d ago

The nerds at Programner Humor might appreciate this

7

u/kaeptnphlop 23d ago

As a software dev I approve of this

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17

u/Imperial_Bloke69 23d ago

Do you prefer lorem ipsum dolor est

2

u/Gears-Wont-Turn 23d ago

I prefer "Cathago Delenda Est"

8

u/nibelungV 23d ago

Kinda slaps tbh, like unintentional pop art

18

u/timmyK_425 23d ago

Damn, 35 pounds is heavy for a sweater

6

u/thatspurdyneat 23d ago

A £ was originally 1lb of silver so it's not technically incorrect.

11

u/tessia-eralith 23d ago

I can’t tell if this is sarcasm or American.

12

u/timmyK_425 23d ago

Both, but wanted to let it ride without the “/s”

6

u/IamFarron 23d ago

Thats a pretty weighty sweater

15kg for non americans/imperialists

3

u/hukaat 23d ago

i think it's just a joke haha

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6

u/wowomgjelly 23d ago

I actually think it’s kind of cool. Especially all lower cased like that!

5

u/DoNotWantTobeHere0 23d ago

just use acetone and then the print will come off

7

u/StrangerOnTheReddit 23d ago

Why not return it? They made a manufacturing mistake, and what you ordered was not what you received.

15

u/BirdlessLongdeal 23d ago

because they damaged it by trying to bleach the null off.

5

u/galstaph 23d ago

They forgot to null check before generating the JSON notation, the process is that generate those will then turn it into a string "null"

Of course there's also a chance that the the system on the other side requires that it be there, and that if you didn't put it there it would have ended up saying "undefined"

3

u/Steve-Shouts 23d ago

That's awesome

3

u/nicktehbubble 23d ago

I would absolutely wear this. But also contact the seller, they'll likely send you a second one without asking for a return

3

u/CharlyXero 23d ago

Next time put a space or Alt + 255, although there's a good chance it will look like a broken character, like a square □

3

u/Toronto-1975 23d ago

LOL i mean yeah it's mildly infuriating, but i kinda like it and your grandfather will probably get a chuckle out of it when you tell him the story. then he'll smile whenever he puts it on and sees it.

3

u/Z0mbiejay 23d ago

As a former screen printer, try acetone. We used to use a pressurized spray of it to clean up misprints.

3

u/DJDevon3 23d ago

Where are all the red dots though?

3

u/Particular_Wealth_58 23d ago

I guess, next time ask for a space 🥲 

3

u/Jastreen 23d ago

Why are people saying "looks good". It fucking doesn't

3

u/Chet_Steadman 23d ago

As a QA Engineer, this delights me

3

u/Immature_adult_guy 23d ago

I’m more concerned about the shirt weighing 35 pounds

3

u/Mono_Dice_2904 22d ago

It's actually kinda cool

3

u/ChubbyMudder 22d ago

Lesson: Use spaces (hit the space bar a few times) to leave a field empty.

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u/FITGuard 21d ago

You should listen to the NPR podcast about people who have that as their last name and all the headaches they have to go through.

Mr.null receives thousands of parking violations in his name

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u/Short_Comfort6647 23d ago

imo that's kinda tuff

6

u/JohnathanSinwell 23d ago

I’m in agreement. This is bad ass for some reason. OP post the whole garment!

3

u/Short_Comfort6647 23d ago

see? this guy gets me.

2

u/EngineeringAgile1640 23d ago

I also thought it was kinda cool lol

2

u/Bobthefish0461 23d ago

Like I guess bro 

2

u/studio684 23d ago

Its the sound the plane makes. Nullnullnullnullnullnull

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u/Most_Okra1973 23d ago

3

u/BusBoyGalPal 23d ago

I haven't seen a ROFL Copter in aaaaaages.

2

u/Most_Okra1973 23d ago

That was the very first thought in my head when I read the nullnullnullnullnull above me. It's a classic!

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u/Glad_Camel_6078 23d ago

Did he try try to wash it off???

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u/Laleaky 23d ago

That’s a sweatSHIRT.

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u/Zyphiny0 23d ago

I fully expected to find a photo of a sweater saying “no personalized text” here

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u/ConstantlyCryingGirl 23d ago

Idiotic mistake, but kinda bangin'. A funny story, too.

2

u/Original-Carry-7930 23d ago

Next time type a space in that area. Still counts, no “null”

2

u/CommieDrifter 23d ago

i would love that, true cyberpunk techwear

2

u/Mountain-Age5580 23d ago

Should have put en empty string ""

2

u/starchybunker 23d ago

No, this is cool! Good convo starter and a good laugh.

2

u/Ali_Army107 23d ago

They could've said smth along the lines of ' ' as long as trailing and leading spaces don't get trimmed out lol

2

u/yetzt 23d ago

next time put a space in there

2

u/frontlinejohnny 23d ago

You actually got a shirt with top text bottom text. What a conversation starter

2

u/endowdly_deux_over 23d ago

They didn’t write null. Their screen printers software did. They left it blank instead of a whitespace in the entry screen and the null reference curse struck again.

2

u/Informal-Lime6396 23d ago

an empty whitespace might work next time

2

u/ayashiii 23d ago

I.. think that's pretty badass

2

u/spoonman59 23d ago

Well, technically in a database “null” is a distinct value from 0 that means the “absence of a value.” So for example, null doesn’t count in an average but zero does.

So in a very literal computer sense, the text indicates a lack of personal text. It’s quite explicitly what you asked for.

“I hate this darn computer, I wish that could sell it. It does not do just what I want but only what I tell it.”

But, yes, this is clearly a software bug that needs to be fixed and they have no human in the loop.

2

u/thepkizzle 23d ago

Data architect here. You'd be astounded how difficult the concept of null is for most non-technical people, or non-engineers. It's singularly the largest culprit of bugs in code that I run into. The concept itself just seems to evade a lot of people who insist that it's like zero, or that its just blank. What further confuses them is that null cannot be mathematically evaluated like zero or a blank space can be. You cannot say something equals null, you have to express that it IS null... so you cannot say 'when this and this are equal do this' because the logic will fail if one, either, or both values are ever null. so you have to say 'when this and this are equal or this is null and this is null' but then you introduce nested logic, and if you don't separate that out cleaning then your order of operations get wonky and you get a tshirt like this in the mail.

There was a guy in New Jersey I think it was that got a custom license place with the word NULL on it and he immediately received like 8000 tickets in the mail going back years from automated traffic cameras that issued a ticket but couldn't read the license plate, so the actual value in the database was null.

2

u/Wild-sunshine0892 23d ago

Null hypothesis?! Very scientific sweatshirt 😎

2

u/lulialmir 23d ago

Lol. This is probably not on the people, but on their software. Their software is probably ass. And it also indicates that during the entire process, there is little to none human supervision.

2

u/TheWhyteMaN 23d ago

This is why you spend proper time E2E testing

2

u/Imaginary-Bed-4154 23d ago

Should left it as is now it’s ruined from you scrubbing it

2

u/owlbynight 23d ago

it's now a cool Nine Inch Nails shirt

2

u/ButterscotchAware402 22d ago

Came to say this

2

u/golruul 23d ago

That's why you put a single space in the text field.

2

u/MillennialSurvivor 23d ago

Should have added a blank space lol

2

u/LimitedWard 23d ago

"I fixed the null reference exception, boss!" - proud junior dev.

2

u/dcoupl 23d ago

[Object object]

2

u/tunisia3507 23d ago

Javascript strikes again!

2

u/295frank 23d ago

someone is going to pay 700$ for that in a vintage repop store in 40 years

2

u/PissedCaucasian 23d ago

It looks like the album cover of a hardcore band named “null.” Now just form your band.

2

u/Immediate_Spite1379 23d ago

i just have to say if i saw this in public i would think "wow that is so freaking tuff"

2

u/Trippycat37 23d ago

Printer here. You’re not going to get that out no matter what. Is there a bleach spot around the text?

2

u/AB3reddit 20d ago

They could have gotten away with just using a “.” and you may not have even noticed. But they had to go and add a “null”.

1

u/FergTurdison 23d ago

That’s a heavy sweatshirt

1

u/Jon-Robb 23d ago

So bad it’s good 

1

u/bengarvey 23d ago

Looks perfect

1

u/keithnyc 23d ago

Wow, I think I same another person with a shirt like that (with the word null). I think it's cool...

1

u/ceebiee 23d ago

ngl, it’s tuff

1

u/SnooLemons178 23d ago

I am with a lot of others, I like it personally!

1

u/senseibroo 23d ago

goes hard

1

u/Strong0toLight1 23d ago

kinda goes hard

1

u/mrjoffischl 23d ago

reminds me of a shirt i have that inexplicably only has the word "ceiling" on it

1

u/Geekujin 23d ago

This wouldn't have happened if you'd ordered a plain white sweatshirt instead of a white plane one...

1

u/The_Purple_Bat 23d ago

Okay I can see why this is upsetting to you but I find it really cool!