#as someone who use to work retail i think i would hate if someone said this to me

[grandscrumwizard]

"Please tap or insert your card."

Cashier: all right, your total will be 49.87 you can tap or insert—

Me: hey. I just wanted to say… thank you for selling me these items.

^just a new interaction i was thinking of doing, to make the world a little brighter

[prosperdemeter2]

WIP Wednesday

Not watermark this time but another AU that I am having WAY too much fun writing... I give you a glimpse of Retail Manager!Eddie and Fire Marshal!Buck. I'm actually really excited for this story to be finished, I have so much planned for it.

Eddie was going to commit arson.

Which probably wasn't the smartest thought to be having while the much too attractive Fire Marshall listed out every single thing the previous store manager had screwed him over on but…. But Eddie was going to commit arson. At this point, it would probably help the company out to just burn down the whole store, take the insurance payout, and start over from the ground up. Preferably while still keeping him employed but, well, beggers couldn't be choosers and all that. “Your score is horrible,” the guy said with a tone of voice that meant that he was at least mentally, laughing in Eddie’s face. “Like, seriously, I don't think I should even let you stay open for business with a score this low.”

“So shut us down.” Eddie grumbled, kicking his sneaker against the scuffed up, unfinished concrete floor in front of the management desk.

He had been there a week.

A week. And Eddie had already had to argue with several customers over the return policy because the previous manager - may she rest in absolute hell (no, she wasn't dead, she had just gone to another store down the road and Eddie hated her on principle) - had thought the sign explaining it was tacky and removed it from the registers (which was illegal. They had to be posted). He had already had three workers put in their notice, the assistant manager kept looking sorry for him and annoyed by his questions, and now this. The Fire Marshal's inspection.

Eddie had worked his share of retail jobs and none of them enjoyed when the Fire Marshal visited. Granted, none of his stores had failed as hard as this one was apparently going to, but he figured there was a first time for everything.

The Fire Marshal snorted, “I'm not shutting you down.”

Great. Of course he wasn't. He was just wasting Eddie's time by pretending to care about his job. “Listen -.”

“I get it,” the Marshal said, pen tapping on the clipboard he brought with himself. It had several stickers on the back. Eddie had spied one that had said ‘hello, I'm anxious and I'm trying my best’. It looked like Chris’ folder for school. “It's, what, your first week?”

Eddie tried not to twitch and, instead, crossed his arms firmly around his chest. “Yes.”

“We'll call this a test run. You see what I do this time around, I give you a… Progress report or whatever. I'll come back in a few weeks when you've had some time to settle in and fix stuff up. Give you your real grade then.”

“That's…” Nice. Unfairly kind, actually. Something Eddie really hadn't expected. Every Fire Marshal Eddie had ever had the honor of being inspected by had shown up in a stuffy suit and tie, their badge clipped to their front pocket, and the air of someone who was almost good enough to be a firefighter permiating their being. This guy had shown up without any grays in his hair, a stupidly kind looking professional smile, a crisp white shirt with a small stain on his sleeve and a dark navy tie. He had introduced himself with a quick, firm shake of Eddie’s hand and said hello to the cashiers. He had worn his badge on his belt loop, not his pocket, and he had waited until Eddie was done with a customer before asking go to his office. Eddie didn't have any reason to be being so cold towards him. He almost felt guilty about it.

“Here,” The paper ripped as he tore off Eddie’s copy, signed the bottom, and handed it to him.

A 23%?!

Eddie balked at the score, “Oh, come on, man.”

“You're lucky it's not worse.”

“How is this lucky? It's an F minus.”

“Your smoke detectors don't even work in half the store.”

“They work.”

“See that blinking red light?” The Marshal pointed to the smoke detector above Eddie’s head. It blinked mockingly at him. “Half your alarms aren't doing that.”

Okay, so that… was a problem. “You marked down,” Eddie glanced at the paper, the neat, blocky handwriting in all capital letters. “That our store is too dirty. We clean it every night!”

“Cleary, not well enough.”

Absurdly, Eddie was insulted on behalf of his dusters. “You're just being petty.”

The Marshal bristled, “No, I'm being thorough.” He clicked his pen and shoved it in the front pocket of his khakis, and like it was mocking him, the overhead light in his office flickered, threatening to turn off completely. “I'll be back in a few weeks. Get this stuff fixed, and I'll give you an actual grade.”

“Get this stuff fixed, and I'll give you an actual grade,” Eddie mocked when he had left, burying his face in his hands with a groan. “Fuck you, Fire Marshal…” he glanced at the papers, to the name written out in print first before signed much too neatly. “Buckley.”

@wildlife4life 😘

[lungfuls]

made the mistake of reading replies on drake's twitter. the video where he kisses the 17 y/o and comments on her breasts he was 22 and people are saying that's the same maturity level, the age of consent in canada is 16, the age of consent in colorado (where it happened) is 17, etc. i hate how incapable of nuance people are when talking about this. i have to rant because i'm upset lol

look back on when you were 17. would you or would you not have been flattered if a 22 or 23 y/o was attracted to you? i actually was in a relationship with that exact gap at that age. i do not think i ever would have entered that relationship if i had not been flattered by his attention.

our maturity gap was definitely way less significant than with the 32 y/o i started seeing at age 19, not least of all because i, personally, hadn't attended school since age 15 and had generally been through some more "adult" experiences while he had only slept with one other person before. that didn't change the fact that at 22/23, he had lived in the largest city in america, sans parental support, for 4 years and had a wealth of experiences that equipped him for life in a way that, looking back, i see i couldn't even comprehend. this was generally one of my healthier relationships, but i can see in the rearview mirror that when the relationship was unhealthy, it was due to the maturity gap. (and it was not a "healthy" relationship.)

if you're 22/23 or older, envision a 17 y/o. maybe you have worked with a teenager in food service or retail, maybe you live near a high school and see teens around often. envision those people! did or do you genuinely see them as on equal footing with you physically and mentally? can you imagine being attracted to them? i hope not. i take back the shit i said about never being certain about anything bc i am certain that no 17 y/o actually carries themselves in a way so as to present like an adult

age of consent laws don't reflect this/the actual morality of the situation and are generally designed to be relatively forgiving (of offending adults). our society doesn't value the wellness of minors. shocking! you shouldn't base personal ethics on national or state laws. shocking!

it's true that from a biological and psychological perspective, both a 17 y/o and 22 or 23 y/o are "young adults." i think i recently saw a post saying that the "your brain isn't fully developed until 25" thing is a myth, which is incorrect. your prefrontal cortex finishes developing around age 25, ending "adolescence." but biopsychological markers aren't the only relevant factors here :)

our society (the u.s.) is constructed in such a way that very different activities and preferences are expected of and inherent to someone in their late teens vs. someone in their early 20s. said constructs include but aren't limited to the age of majority (18), college (usually 18–22, with a distinctive shift toward more complex studies around age 21), the drinking age (21), etc. these constructs aren't identical across all western cultures (the only ones i feel entitled to make conclusive statements about) but do mostly culminate in a separation of ppl in their late teens and early 20s.

also, it's not like you enter adolescence with your prefrontal cortex at one stage of development and it stays like that until it magically matures at age 25. it's a process, and someone in their 20s is more mature than someone in their teens. period.

actually, it's shown that "adult" experiences during adolescence impede development/maturation, not speed it up. this is relevant because people in their 20s who are interested in teens often point out that those teens are more mature than others due to their experiences with sex, drug use, etc. in fact, they are less capable of sound decision-making than other teens. huh!

it's fucking weird for a person in their 20s, especially someone whose social circle is on the other side of college and other definitive early 20s experiences, to be into teenagers! period. sorry.

re: the drake incident in particular, he was also in a position of power over the girl, being that she was a fan of his very, very popular music. like, to say it wasn't super fucking odd of him is just creepy! he, himself, says in the video that he would "get in trouble" for it or something like that. he obviously doesn't gaf about not only consent laws, but the maturity and power differentials that contemporary/progressive thought bases distaste for relationships between adults and minors on.

ppl bring up that the girl, now 31, has brushed the incident off. duh! she was 17 and a famous rapper was attracted to her. it was a passing moment between two strangers, she's not a "victim." people are using the video to point out that drake has been into teens this whole time. we don't know if he has victims. also, the # of people who think victimhood is defined by whether or not someone identifies with it is extremely concerning.

in general, i really wish people would think more critically about this topic. i'm lucky in that i had experiences that sort of enlightened me as to why this sort of thing is wrong/harmful to developing young people, but it really fucking sucks that i have to constantly read ppl who don't have the first idea of what going through a relationship with a power/maturity differential, or this particular power differential, is like talk about it like ppl who are against it are being dramatic. it is legitimately hurtful to me. psychic damage. i don't imagine i'm the only one. like. can y'all shut the fuck up? 😭

[irlwakko]

OKAY my thoughts on the punishments that Mal gave all of the alters in Total Drama All Stars! Because @fraudulent-cheese asked and I've been waiting YEARS for someone to ask me about my theories!

(Disclaimer: I know the writers probably didn't put this much thought into this. I know that I'm being one of Those Total Drama fans and I categorically Don't Care because I have so much fun thinking about this.)

The reason I use the word "punishments" first of all is that 1. I need an easy name to call them to group them all together and 2. I do genuinely believe these are punishments Mal gives the alters as revenge for forcing him into dormancy. Because I ALSO think that Mal scaled them to how much he hated/blamed that particular alter.

(As an aside, there's a LOT to be said about Mal spending a formative period of time in juvie and then modeling his punishment for the alters after a jail, as Manitoba says. I wish we knew more about Mal's time in juvie so I could talk about this more.)

The first person we see is Mike, who's just all alone surrounded by (it seems like) miles and miles of nothingness. And I think his punishment is the worst, but we'll circle back to him.

Chester's punishment is really obvious: he's stuck selling skateboards because it's a symbol of the youth nowadays, which he absolutely hates. There's also something to be said for the fact that Chester's working a retail job, wherein you have to be constantly standing, and we know Mal took away Chester's mobility aid (which he had in the innerworld in Season 4 and did not have in Season 5). He probably didn't think Chester was capable of escape, but also put him in a position where he'd eventually become so physically incapacitated that he COULDN'T escape.

And ALSO, to skip ahead a little (sorry I have a lot of thoughts on this), Mal knew that even if everyone began to escape, Chester's legs would give out long before they reached the tower (which requires five people to enter). Mal was counting on the assumption that the others would leave Chester behind once he became unable to walk (more on this later!)

Second up is Svetlana, and though I don't know why Mal picked fish, I know why he picked butter: simple, because Svetlana's a gymnast. You can't do gymnastics if your hands are covered in butter. Being unable to do gymnastics would not only physically incapacitate her but also completely demoralize her. More than the physical impediment, the hopelessness of the situation would keep her from escape. I also think the reason he kept Svetlana under such close surveillance (the ears everywhere) was because he knew he might need physical control of her in the future (which we see when he forces her to co-front in order to fight off Alejandro).

Third is Vito, and Vito is my FAVORITE of these because his "punishment" isn't a punishment at all. It plays to all of his strengths! We already know that Vito loves attention; he would love to perform. Secondly, it's obvious by his reaction to his own joke that he REALLY enjoys cheesy jokes. Third-- and this is where I go from reaching to REALLY reaching, but bear with me-- in a very literal sense, Mal chose Vito as the mouthpiece through which he can speak to the rest of the system (the puppet is the only way we see Mal communicate with the alters, outside of the mirror he uses to talk to Mike, and only once).

Also, on rewatching the full scene to write this post, I wanna say two things I noticed: first, Vito seems... not all that surprised that the puppet can talk. He does clarify that he "didn't say nothin'" after puppet-Mal starts to talk, but he's mostly startled that it flew into the air and caught on fire. Everyone screams in terror when the puppet starts talking except Vito. Maybe Mal communicated more with Vito than we saw on camera. Mal must sleep, but we never see him sleeping, so it could totally happen then (<- completely delusional). And second, especially compared to everyone else, Vito doesn't seem all that enthusiastic. His exact words are "Woah, uh, sure" (in comparison to Chester's "I'm with ya", Svetlana's "hoorah!", and Manitoba's "took ya long enough"). It seems like he mostly just follows along because that's where his "audience" is going and also because he wants to find the club district.

So finally Manitoba! It seems like, besides Mal, Manitoba's the alter who feels the most animosity towards Mike, so it's understandable that he'd give Manitoba the job of destroying Mike's dreams (besides the fact Manitoba has lasso skills, I also think any other alter would probably refuse.) (Also, I think Manitoba's the gatekeeper/dreamkeeper/etc. of the system, so he'd be the one with easiest access to the dreams, but all the reasons I think THAT is a different essay for a different day.)

Also, like Vito, Manitoba's "punishment" actually plays to his strengths instead of to his dislikes and weaknesses, so like Vito, I think Mal doesn't feel too much hatred towards Manitoba either. Also understandable! Because it seems like Manitoba has a lot of the same criticisms of the system's inner workings as Mal does.

So what ARE the criticisms Mal has? They show through at the very start and very end of the journey-- how Mal punishes Mike, and how Mal sets up the guard tower.

(By the way, just for the record, I HATE the reset button. But for this post, let's accept the reset button as canon fact.)

The system has been Mike's coping mechanism and support system for as long as Mike can remember. And as much as Mike hates to admit it pre-season-5, he DOES need them. In Season 4, he got through situations that would've been impossible for him to navigate without Vito and beat challenges that would've been impossible to surmount without Svetlana and Manitoba (and he loves Chester too, even if he isn't always the most outwardly useful). That's not even to mention the emotional support (as shown by Svetlana's "Mike is the best" pep talk in Season 5) that he probably received from them over the years as well. As much as he hated them, they're so important to him.

The worst possible punishment Mal can inflict is cutting off all of his access to that support system.

To be fair, he did this to all the other alters too. But for Mike, it was the only thing he did. He felt that taking Mike away from the alters on its own would be enough to incapacitate and demoralize him. And he probably knew that it would prove a point-- you need them. You need us. And now it's too late.

But keep this in mind-- when Mal went into dormancy, he left behind a system that was constantly fighting amongst itself for control, that couldn't agree on anything (except for getting rid of him), and was bickering every time they interacted. So this is the lens that Mal constructs his prison with.

He doesn't count on the system working together! What he hopes for is that, even if one of them managed to escape, they 1. wouldn't bother looking for the others and would try to do everything themselves, which would leave them shut out of the tower, and 2. even once they did realize they needed to gather up everyone else, they would be too distracted by infighting to actually do anything to take him down.

And that's probably what season 4 Mike-- the Mike that Mal knew-- would've tried to do. He wasn't counting on the fact that the system would now be working towards functional multiplicity by the time he came out of dormancy! And it caused them to defeat him much sooner than he would've anticipated.

(Quick note: I know integration =/= death in DID, but I used the term "kill" here in some places because I feel like that's how Mal would view it. Literally none of this has anything to do with accurate DID because Total Drama is so so inaccurate and the absolute worst.)

Also, here's a theory I like: I don't think Mal would've just built a self-destruct button on his own life. He wouldn't build a button capable of killing him and then put it in a place where someone else could access it, even if the chances (in his mind) of them accessing it would be really remote. So I think the button was set up in such a way that whoever pressed it would become the core. It wasn't truly intended to be used by anyone except Mal. It was a final failsafe measure. Even if the system managed to work together long enough to free each other, reach the tower, and ascend the stairs, Mal was hoping that-- upon realizing that this button could give any of them the life they so desperately wanted as of pre-Season-4, and that if anyone but them pressed it, it would kill them-- the alters would return to squabbling, fighting for their lives, for long enough for Mal to intercede and ultimately take control. Just like Mal never counted on them working towards functional multiplicity, he also never counted on them being able to agree upon integration.

Why didn't Mal just press the button at the first opportunity? I don't know. Dramatic villainous timing? Lingering feelings of affection for the other alters? Perchance.

Anyway. I know TDAS is a horribly written season in literally every other aspect, and also that the writers probably didn't put THIS level of thought into things, but I read too deep into Total Drama as a hobby so I will be putting this much thought into it forever and ever and ever. :)

[virtie333]

Day 5 - Life Day Damerey Celebration

Prompt: Holiday

Summary: A new relationship is tested.

Warnings: This is a Modern Alternate Universe story. There will be more incoming. Fluff and feelings in this one.

AO3

“What do you mean you can’t come because you’re working?” he asked her. “It’s Christmas Eve! No one should have to work a holiday.”

Rey had just started dating Poe Dameron two short months ago. They had met thanks to their mutual friend, Finn, and while things had been going well in their relationship so far, and Rey was exceedingly happy to have finally found someone who actually seemed to ‘get her,’ she knew there would be bumps in the road. Apparently, this was the first one.

“I agree no one should work on holidays when you’re talking about retail or service industries, but some jobs are necessary all the time,” Rey argued. She hated that this conversation was happening over the phone. She would really like to see his expressive face right now, to know what he was thinking.

“Well, of course!” Poe countered. “Hospitals and cops and firefighters and such,” he continued. “They are needed and are hopefully getting extra pay for their service.” He paused. “But Rey, you work for a bank. Why are you working Christmas Eve?”

Rey smiled. There was a bit of a whine in his voice. “I’m not working my regular job,” she told him. “I’m volunteering at the local animal shelter.”

The other end of the line was silent, so after a moment, Rey continued.

“I’m volunteering to feed and clean that night so that the regular staff and other volunteers can have the night off to be with their families. I’ve always done it over holidays since I don’t have family of my own. I had already signed up to do it this year before we started dating and I didn’t bother changing it because I didn’t know if you even celebrated Christmas or not.”

“Well, yeah,” Poe answered her non-question. “Dad and I have always had a traditional Christmas Eve. Dinner followed by presents.” He sighed. “I was really getting excited about the thought of you joining us. I think he was, too.”

“I’m sorry, Poe,” Rey said, and she truly was. “I should be done by eight, if you guys want to do it a little later than normal?” She paused. “Or you could come with me and we could get done sooner..?”

“I… I wouldn’t know what to do. I’d just be in your way.” He sounded surprised but not upset. And he hadn’t said ‘no.’

“It’s not that difficult. I’ve done it so much I could do it in my sleep. It would be easy to direct you.” She bit her lip before adding, “and I know you’d love to love on all those dogs and cats.”

He huffed a laugh. One of the things that had helped them bond was their shared love of animals. Poe’s dog BB had solidified that bond by attaching himself to Rey more than any other woman Poe had dated. Or so he said. “Are you sure?” he asked, his voice still uncertain.

“Poe, I would love to spend Christmas Eve with you, even if it means cleaning cat litter boxes and scooping dog poop.”

His responding laughter made her smile. Oh, how she loved to hear him laugh!

“Okay,” he finally said. “I’ll do it. I’ll just let Dad know we’ll be a little later than normal.”

Rey’s heart thumped hard a couple of times in her chest. She was more sure than ever that she was falling in love with this man. “Thank you, Poe,” she said softly. “For inviting me to be a part of your traditions and for your help.”

“Thank you, Rey,” he responded. “For letting me be a part of your holiday traditions, too.”

This just might be the best Christmas ever.

[rnoonpie]

For almost a month, I've been working retail for the first time as an electronics department sales assistant in a popular bulk warehouse chain. I was so afraid I was going to hate it, that customers were going to make me lose my faith in humanity, that children were gonna be unbearable.

But I don't. They didn't, they aren't.

I love meeting people and talking to people and I love knowing about the products I help sell. I love helping a customer figure out what's best for their needs, not just directing them to the biggest and flashiest, most expensive phones or laptops.

But most surprising to me, I think, is a reminder that I do really get along with children and love talking to them, even little babies. They're so funny and just make me smile. I love little babies in carriers with stout little fat frog legs dangling in the air, with so much fat on their faces they look like a bulldog when they close their eyes. I love the ones who don't have enough hair to style but they've got one little tuft sticking straight up in a bow anyway. I love waving to the ones who stare very intently while they're figuring out how their eyes work.

But most of all, I think I really love getting to be someone I never had for me in public spaces as a child, and that's treating them like a customer just as much as their parents, asking them what they're looking for, if they have any questions.

The transformation is so complete every time. I see how braced they are for an adult approaching them while they're using the display iPads, expecting to be scolded or told to leave it alone. But when I ask with a smile how they're doing and if they're looking for anything in particular, if they have any questions, they transform into such excited and curious things.

"Um! Um, I was wondering, um, what the difference is between the iPad Pro and the others!" this little girl said nervously, her voice high and thin.

So I told her, in simpler terms, but with the same cadence I would have used with her mother.

"So the Pro line tends to have a better processor, which means it's going to be able to handle a lot more apps at the same time. They're really good for games and I know a lot of artists who like to use this app here — " I tapped the demo Procreate icon and opened it up " — to make art! The Pro also has a very clear and bright screen with a pretty huge amount of colours it can display, which is why a lot of artists like it so much. So the Pro does all these things more efficiently than the other iPads do."

Her eyes were enormous. "That's so cool," she whispered in breathless awe. "That's so cool."

"Isn't it?" I agreed. "This stuff amazes me every day."

Her parents came and collected her not long after that and apologised for the trouble.

"Not at all," I said in deep surprise.

Like her parents were afraid their child's mere presence was annoying or bothersome to employees? Like… nah, man. Kids want to know what the electronics can do, too. They're just people learning how to people.

Adults are the ones who annoy me on a daily basis more than children. You know who love to connect to our demo Bluetooth speakers to blast rude music as loudly as they can? Grown ass men, every single time, without fail.

Children are generally very reserved and polite when they need my help with something, saying "excuse me".

It was another grown ass man who saw me counting inventory, decided it would be hilarious to go "forty-nine, twenty-two, eighty-six…" as he passed by.

The stare that I gave him must have been completely dead-eyed because he immediately flushed and mumbled an apology before hurrying away.

But, as a disclaimer, that's not to say that all the adult men who come into the store are annoying or rude. In fact, the vast majority of them are lively and polite and friendly! Even the ones that fuck around with the speakers haven't given me direct trouble (I deal with the speaker issue by just muting it via the laptop it's actually connected to) and no one has ever been overtly aggressive or abusive to me.

I know it's only been a month. I know that getting a Karen is going to be inevitable — people will always be people, after all — but I know that, broadly, people are good and I love them. I love watching them and talking to them, of all ages, gender, background.

People are fundamentally good.

[eartheats]

[@champ-inthemaking] 7 13 20 21

7. whos yr best friend n how much money would it take for u to stab em (knife is complementary)

oh gosh...i mean, not counting all of the people on rotomblr (you could not pay me enough to stab caoimhe or miss bryony or any others!!), k?? madi's pretty close up there too but k and i used to get in trouble all the time together, and we kinda curse each other and owe each other a bit...

but probably?? 20,000 a day for life?? k would understand i think, but i'd probably have to share it for his hospital bills. which like, worth it??

13. most tempting forbidden food (revives soap pods lava that kinda thing)

honestly. there are so many things out there, but shout-out to the ability capsule?? i kind of wanna chew on one and see what happens. k said if i ever do that he needs to be there to record it tho

20. rank all the times u almost died from coolest to least cool

5. the recent mountain trip that i tripped and fell and nearly got frostbite from. 0/10 do not recommend 4. there was this kale tequila i bought that i drank and i heard someone say "pretty sure if you drank more of that you'd be dead" and i couldn't tell how serious they were??? anyway 1.5/10, the headache i got from it after was splitting and if i'm gonna die, i at least want it to be fun and fulla hubris!! 3. so i almost drowned once playing in cinnabar??? there's this weird water that's like, really close to the island and my parents told me no swimming, but lil me was like "but what if...swimming". anyway lulu had to fish me out but i saw some weird shit!! like these ultra weird staticy pokemon?? for that alone, 3/10. 2. so i don't know how close i came to dying but shout-out to the time lulu and i were playing in that old abandoned mansion and a buncha raticate decided they wanted to take a bite and lulu was like "uh, heck no!!". lulu just picked me up and i felt like i was flyin' for a while!! solid 7/10. 1. so one time i actually decided that i wanted to go to vermillion instead of our normal cinnabar trip?? just to kinda check it out. anyway the boat started movin' again and i decided to try and leap out from the top of the boat to try and get onto the vermillion dock but fell in the water and kept trying to swim. it took a while, a couple sailors had their water types bring me up and help me and i'm pretty sure the sailors were worried because i couldn't swim, but shortly after i just went and ran off into the city before bumpin' into this guy in green?? he stopped me, the sailors caught up and he and the sailors talked for a bit and the guy laughed and said something about me being pretty gutsy, bringing out a magnezone, which was the coolest thing i'd seen like, ever, and it helped plop me back on the boat!! my parents weren't too pleased, but man. i hope that guy's still around, he seemed cool and i wanna meet him again!! 9.5/10

21. bare minimum act of dipshittery that would provoke u to fistfight a stranger in a shopping mall

neil. i work in retail. i wanna do this on the daily.

but an~y~way, the second i see someone liter in a shopping mall or leave behind an awful or just easily clean-up-able mess?? it's on sight. cleaning workers are the backbone of all of our lives and i hate hate HAAAATE watching people act like "oh it's their job to clean it up! we don't have to care how messy we're being!!" TAUROS SHIT. CLEAN YOUR MESS UP OR I WILL BEAT YOU WITH MY FUTURE SICK CRUTCHES

[golbrocklovely]

I'm truly sorry for sending an ask about seg. I didnt think about any possible stress you may be under especially since you've mentioned you work retail and it's getting to be that hectic time of year. How do you like to destress when it gets to be too much? Do you have any stories about the absolute best/worst customer you've had to deal with? Does the holiday music lift you while working or drive you nuts? Favorite holiday song?

hey you're fine. i'm not upset at any of the anons that sent in asks about the SEG situation. i get it, yall want to talk about it and inform me. i appreciate it. i just had a stressful day and tbh i just don't care about this subject. seeing snc get needless hate over something that was dealt with is just deeply annoying. not to mention bc nothing is gonna happen until after thanksgiving, i would rather we all just wait to hear what gets said until then or straight up ignore SEG than give him more clout.

so, for all the years i've worked in retail, which now is 5... omg ew, i've actually never worked a black friday. first year my dad passed away, and then the past three year i've done overnights so i'm not around customers at all. this is my first time around customers this year, bc i just couldn't do overnights, and honestly... it's not that bad. it's not great, but it's mostly the store i'm working at that's upsetting me rather than the customers, which somehow is always the case anymore lol

i plan to leave as soon as i can. i can't stand the place i'm working in anymore. i pray i don't have to keep working in retail, but we shall see.

how do i like to destress? nap. like i fucking LOVE napping. i think i also have to nap more now bc i don't really drink caffeine anymore. i'll have an occasional soda or ice tea once in a while, but otherwise it's just straight water for me. so i usually just come home and nap. then when i wake up i'll either dance or sing to some emo music (got me like a 14 hour playlist of all my favorite songs) or i'll just watch some youtube vids.

i haven't had too many bad customers, thank god, but the one that always stuck out to me was during the holiday season the first year i work at my current store. so while i haven't worked really any black fridays, i have worked the lead up to christmas multiple times and i swear, i think ppl forget christmas is when it is with the way ppl coming in like the 23 of december buying all the random shit we have left.

so, i was up at the registers, and we have only self check out. i'm assisting ppl when i can and directing the line bc it's basically to the back of the store almost. the thing is, to literally come into the store, you have to pass the registers. so this shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that it's self checkout only. but these two women are next in line and i direct one to an open register. she immediately says "what, i have to do it myself?" i'm not in a good mood bc there is just too many ppl around (and this was pre-pandemic) and i was like "yes ma'am, you have to."

my thing was always if you ask me nicely to help you, i gladly will. but being a bitch to me will basically get you no help whatsoever.

she starts to scan her items, and scans one too many times. she starts yelling "oh my god, i don't know how to do this, i double scanned" loudly, i come over, clear off the extra item and then direct her friend to the next register, which is coincidentally was the one next to her.

the main lady goes back and forth with her friend, saying and cursing "i can't believe i have to fucking do this myself, i don't like this, why the fuck can't they help us." mind you, i work in basically a kid's store. there are plenty of children around. there is no need to be cursing that much, and i say that as someone who does curse a lot.

finally she finishes up and for some reason the register spit out her change really fast so her coins fell on the floor. she picks up one of the coins turns to me, and basically throws it at me and snidely remarks "here you go, since you clearly need it"

i about swung on her, but she's lucky i didn't.

that was really one of the very few times i ever had a bad customer. as for good ones, i think for the most part most of the customers i interact with are either normal or pretty nice. i did one time have to explain to a man what bluetooth was, which is great bc i know so much about it….. and then he told my manager i did an excellent job helping him understand. so that was nice :)

as for the holiday music…. it's 50/50 depending on my mood. sometimes it's not too bad, sometimes it's annoying. bc we play random pop songs (that most of you have probably never heard of) in between the christmas songs. so for every one pop song, we get two to three christmas songs. and we only just recently started getting mariah carey and actual well know christmas songs to play in the store. before, it was like random covers of popular songs, which is very strange to me but whatever lol

and my favorite holiday song… i'm actually gonna list my favorite christmas songs bc i think i have the weirdest taste in them lol

christmas don't be late by alvin and the chipmunks

santa baby by eartha kitt

last christmas by the glee cast

baby it's cold outside by the glee cast

feliz navidad by josé feliciano

obviously mariah carey and michael buble are the top ppl for christmas music. but genuinely… i love these songs more.

a lot of christmas songs make me sad now since my father passed, especially 'i'll be home for christmas'. so sometimes it's a bit hard to listen to christmas music. but i usually hold off on listening to until like the 23rd lol

[prettyboyeddiemunson]

Hey Sweetheart,

I’m so sorry something triggered you earlier. I’m glad I sent that last letter just in time then. Even if it may have only helped a little. I hope you’re able to sleep well tonight and get plenty of rest. Also, I hope waking up you feel better. I responded to your answers to the questions I asked and answered them too. Figured it would help you get to know me more.

1. I’ve been wanting to read a Stephen King novel for a while but I’m currently reading The Hollow Ones by Guillermo Del Toro and chuck Hogan. I love the show Twin Peaks! I was super unaware there was a book!!

2. That’s so cool you got to go ghost hunting with the cast of ghost hunters! I think ghost hunting is really cool and I definitely plan to do it at least once someday. My favorite memory is when I scared the shit out of a group of NFL players in a haunted maze when I was dressed as a vampire.

3. Picking at/biting your lips can count. As much as I love reading, whether it’s books or fanfics, I have a habit of my eyes skipping ahead on me and reading further ahead. I used to skip to the last page to read the last sentence but I haven’t done that in a few years.

4. Do you have an idea of what kind of book you would want to publish? I would love to finally write a movie script. I don’t care if it gets used or not. Just the idea of finally accomplishing that, would be amazing.

5. It’s terrible that people think it’s okay to yell at or berate wait staff and retail workers. I’m one of those people who go out of my way to stack up the plates and trash at the end of the table when I go to restaurants. The people who think it’s okay to cheat don’t deserve to be loved or be in relationships period. I hate how people don’t realize how easy it is to put in effort to make the relationship work.

6. Pancakes are hands down the best!

7. Vampires are really interesting. I’d definitely pick that one too

8. I have a family that’s so big I wouldn’t want to wish it on anyone. I’d honestly rather be in a small family

9. I never got to grow up in one place, not military. And honestly it really hurt my childhood.

10. Seeing yourself happy, being published, owning a home, and having a family are really great goals. I could definitely say the same for myself with the addition of being more well traveled.

11. My funniest experience involved me getting a C.A.T. scan. So the radiology tech asked if I ever had surgery to have anything removed or metal added in. Without missing a beat I said, “nope I’m still a whole person.” I’ve never heard someone laugh that hard in my entire life. I really must have caught her off guard with that one.

12. Eyes are what I notice first too. There’s so much you can tell about someone with how they express their emotions by their eyes. I also look at body language too. People can lie but their bodies tell the truth.

13. That’s a really good goal. I’ve been feeling nostalgic for the Christmases we had as kids. So I’m really trying to emulate that this year.

14. I’m going to be honest, I was super nervous but excited when I sent the first ask. I get that same feeling every time I hit submit. I’m enjoying getting to know you more.

Honestly if you ever need/want to vent about anything and everything I’m here for you. Just call out to me in a post and I’ll be there.

Song to go with this letter: Do I Wanna Know? - Arctic Monkeys

-Your Secret Admirer

awww thank you, and thank you for providing those answers! if you want some Stephen King recs, my favorites of his are the stand, the dark tower series, the shining, and salem’s lot! the stand is massive, both editions, but I recommend the uncut version! it’s longer, but it includes everything that his publisher made him cut out to shorten the length of the original novel. as for twin peaks, there are actually three books! the secret history of twin peaks and the final dossier (don’t read that last one unless & until you’ve seen season 3!), and the secret diary of laura palmer. i recommend all three, if you’re a big fan of the show!

i love your favorite memories and other things as well! as for what book i wanna publish, im currently slowly working on a horror novel right now! I’d like to try & get it published someday, if I ever get it done and ready. what about your movie script?

[steveneveral]

Things sometimes just work out...(23 June 2024)

Events in my life just have a way of working themselves out.

I don't know I can manifest these things, but I seem to be good at it.

One good example was back after I graduated high school.

To set this up: From my senior year of high school up until I joined the Army at 20 years old, I worked at a Target store. It was a great job for me to have at that time in my life. I learned a lot about financial and personal responsibility, as well as developing a great work ethic. I also developed a hate for stupid people, but that's a story for another time. 😅

Back to the story: I started out as a cart pusher, worked my way up to cashier, and then I finally worked my way to the electronics department. I'll return to this later.

I'm also going to return to my relationship with Ashley for this part of the story. Ashley and I met in our senior year of high school and we were able to keep our relationship going even after we graduated. The main reason for this is because Ashley decided to take a year off from school before going to college since high school burned her out to a pretty high degree. I didn't have plans for going to college at that time because I couldn't even begin to think of affording it. (I'll get back to this as well.)

The pleasant side effect of Ashley taking a gap year before college was it allowed us to spend more time together. Long story short, we had a great year together and learned a lot about each other. At the end of her gap year, she left to go to college in Colorado.

It was heartbreaking for us to split up so she could go to school out of state, but we also understood that we weren't going to get in the way of each other getting out of the working class working world that we knew would trap us sooner or later.

Let's get back to my job at Target. The same week that Ashley left for Colorado, I was back working in the Target electronics department. The thoughts of Ashley's recent departure were weighing heavy on my mind that day when someone came up to me who was looking to buy a TV.

He asked me some questions about what was the best TV was for his budget, and I went into my spiel about the best TVs we had for sale. He then asked me a question that, now that I look back on it, was a key life moment:

"Can I ask you something else: Have you ever wanted to do more with your life?"

I thought about it for a few moments, and said "Yes, I've been thinking about that a lot recently." He could tell I had something weighing heavy on my mind. We chatted for a bit as we made our way to the electronics register. I learned he was an Army recruiter who worked at an office not too far from where I was working.

As I was ringing up his new TV, he hands me his business card: It said "Recruiter, US Army", with his name and all his professional contact info.

"If you're interested in doing something with your life, give me a call."

Later that afternoon I was sitting in the break room looking at this business card, Ashley still on my mind, and slowly realizing the universe just gave me a message: "Steven, here's a way out of this retail-working world. You should consider taking it."

Again, this was in late August, less than one week after Ashley left for Colorado. By that October, I had considered the offer and decided to sign my name on the enlistment contract. Not only did I now have a path out of the retail-working world, but thanks to the GI Bill I would be able to go to college, something I could only dream about before.

Ashley had her way out, now I had my own way out. The universe closed the door on Ashley, but opened the door to the rest of my life.

I still had a few months left to work at that Target store before I had to leave for the Army. By March of the next year I had trained my replacement in the electronics department, and by April I was on my way to Basic Training.

And so, the path to where I am today began.

It's weird. The universe ended one thing I had going, but opened another door to help me move my life forward.

A long-ish story, yes, but it's a good example of how I know that I'm going to be all right.

[tittyinfinity]

aaaaand they're gone now. before i stopped typing this. i assume they did nothing again

there is a lot of commotion going on outside my room and I can't tell if it's the guys who come stand in our empty gutted bathroom for 30 minutes and then leave until the next month (seriously, what the fuck? it's been 6 months and all i've seen are people walk in and walk out without doing anything... they're the same people...)

or if it's the guy (or guys, sometimes he brings a friend) who's been "fixing the piano" for the past 6 months who comes over here, says he needs a part, and leaves. over and over. hasn't gotten whatever part he's talking about. he charges $90 an hour and he spent half an hour taking a shit in our only working bathroom TWICE

i told my mom she's getting scammed by the piano guy and she said that it sucks but she doesn't have any other choice bc he's the only person in town she's found that can do it, which kinda makes sense bc it's a 35 year old synthesizer that cost $3k in 1989 ($7,372 in today's money) AND can record and play back up to 8 tracks at once with like 100 different sounds including percussion. once the speaker works again and I press play on what's recorded..... it will be one of my middle school band songs that I recorded as a teenager, still on there after all these years😭 but yeah it makes sense that it would be hard to find someone to fix that because it has a lot of outdated software on it

it's the most expensive item we own (including both of our cars), bought by my grandparents who bought a house, 2 cars, and raised 4 kids with them both working retail jobs. they didn't go to college, but my grandfather fought in WW2 for a couple of years. their 4 kids got $40k each when my grandma died and that's how we have a house.

okay now i'm mad about this. i'm so tired i just woke up and started typing but YEAH MY GRANDPARENTS THAT DIDN'T GO TO COLLEGE COULD FUCKIN AFFORD $7K PIANOS AND HOUSES but in today's day and age, my two working parents could never afford anything for us and my grandma paid for basically everything until she died, my sister that DID go to college isn't any better off than us bc of student loans (she's actually worse off financially THAN I AM ON DISABILITY), and the only thing getting my mom and I by is the fact that the mortgage here is only $550 a month. And that's only bc we bought it in 2012. If we bought it today it would be more than twice that amount because it was $75k back then, but now, according to Zillow, it's worth $175k. FUCCKKKK I HATE THIS COUNTRY

but FUCK I'm lucky to have the support systems we have jfc

(and the military does not pay people that well anymore unless they become a high ranking general but idc about that I think the military shouldn't exist. I was told my grandpa killed nazis but after reading up on history there were many US soldiers fucking around w the nazis so. But I like to believe that he would have only targeted nazis because despite being raised Christian my family has always had a lot of respect for Judaism and we were told never to disrespect it because Jesus was Jewish (from what I was taught, apparently some churches only preach that he was killed by Jewish people))

wow this post went a million different ways and I started typing 30 minutes ago. look i woke up w my sleeping meds still in my system and i'm manic af

[tealeavesandthorns]

3, 7, 8, 12, 15, 16, 30, 33, 44, 51

@dontcxckitup 3. How often do they show their genuine emotions to others versus just the audience knowing?

Oh all the time. Maria is very open with her emotions generally speaking, especially the happy and joyful ones. She's quite open about being upset, like crying and such. I think at times too it depends on the circumstances because she will hide anger, upset or panic depending who she's with, or if she feels like it might make things worse/she's protecting those around her.

7. What would you (mun) yell in the middle of a crowd to find them? What would their best friend and/or romantic partner yell?

"Tea is better in the microwave." I'd definitely get her attention with that she'd want to slap me.

Best friend - there's a variety of things could be shouted and she'd know who was shouting and go right to them - for a romantic partner- especially Gareth he could shout a Shakespeare quote but this one:

"Eternity was in our lips and eyes."

8. How loose is their use of the phrase ‘I love you’?

Maria says I love you a lot, she grew up in a house where it was used a lot, but it is said with full meaning. She's not just saying it, there's real heart behind it. The idea that she could disappear, die, or something else could happen and she hadn't said it when she should have is a thought that plagues her. She's very free about saying it, but rest assured though she says it a lot it's meaning is never diminished.

15. What’s the most obvious difference between their behavior at home, at work, at school, with friends, and when they’re alone?

Maria is incredibly giving, loving, chatty and maternal when she's around everyone else. A lot of the time she's this ray of sunshine, always offering and taking care of everyone.

When she's alone Maria's mostly very quiet. She likes to curl up under a pile of blankets with a book and some tea.

16. What kinds of people do they have arguments with in their head?

Anyone that's rude to her, to serving staff, to retail staff. Anyone who is an arsehole. I think (especially for Bond verse), she sort of sits safe in the knowledge that a good deal of these people, if she really got into with them, she could take them down. So Maria never really gets into arguments, she more bats people away with false positive compliments. She's very good at saying things in such an off hand way that everyone else thinks she's just being nice, but those phrases are barbed.

30. When they make a mistake and feel bad, does the guilt differ when it’s personal versus when it’s professional?

I think it depends who it is and what the mistake is. Maria feels guilt really deeply, like really deeply but I think she definitely feels it more deeply when it's personal.

33. How do they greet someone they dislike / hate?

With the absolute biggest smile.

44. What language would be easiest for them to learn? Why?

Maria can speak several languages, Italian was the easiest for her to learn because she was really interested in it.

51. What’s a phrase they say a lot?

"Darling." is something Maria says a lot. "There's tea and biscuits if you'd like?" Is another one lol!

[randum-famdoms]

Y’all. As someone who has adhd plus a bad back, bad feet, and sensitive skin:

Yeah.

I mostly chose my college major because I enjoy interior design, but I also chose it because the work is pretty diverse: standing and walking around homes talking to clients, going outside to show clients the options available and also do my own research, and sitting down inside creating models/digital showcases. It’s honestly one of the better jobs given my plethora of needs.

I don’t leave the house without noise canceling headphones. Why? Because shits loud but also shit’s quiet and I hate both. If a job ever tells me I can’t have them, I’m not working there.

I can’t stand still for a long time, or even a medium time tbh because of my back and feet. I can’t lift heavy objects. If I do then my spine turns into a goddamn pretzel, and then it’ll be the company’s problem because I always warn about that shit and I’m not afraid to sue them (more for the heavy objects thing, I’d rather sit down for five and get fired than let something so menial as standing for too long cost me medical expenses since that’s harder to prove in court).

I always look for a chair that has a cusion when I sit down because I’m the boniest motherfucker alive and sitting in a hard chair for any amount of time Hurts. Any chair is better than no chair in the short term, but some chairs hurt more than standing after a while.

My mom has super bad knees (like “doctors are appalled she doesn’t use a wheelchair and they are so bad they can’t even do surgery for fear of making it worse” bad) and yeah she can tell a storm is coming, and she constantly rants about retail workers not being able to sit down. She’s a teacher. She also can’t sit down most of the time. She recently switched districts and was Shocked when her new principal asked her if she would like a lower podium so she could lecture while sitting down on bad pain days.

How fucked up is it that in the 25 years she worked at their old school, no one ever asked that?

Even people who have these issues can become so used to being ignored that we don’t say anything. We might recognise the problems for people with our same disability in other work environments, but in our own we might not think to speak up, or not feel that we can without losing our jobs.

Like the prevs said, this affects more than those who are disabled, and if there are no disabled individuals in a work force then it’s even more unlikely that the ones who are affected by unsuitable working conditions would say anything.

It’s a problem, and to fix it there needs to be more discussion, not just awareness. By talking about this we can help others who are affected but who don’t know to or think they can speak up.

“not being allowed to sit at work is bad for disabled people” true statement but like. you do know it’s inherently bad for literally everyone right? like it kills your joints. what’s crazy is I saw someone in the notes of that post being fucking SHOCKED at articles saying it’s not good for you to never sit at work. idk it pisses me off that low wage workers are so disposable no one even acknowledges this by default, it is an issue of disability as well but you never fucking thought it could possibly be a problem until this issue is brought up, are you dumb?

and i’m saying this as someone who IS disabled and has gone from work to the hospital several times <- only clarifying that for people on this site who will call me ableist otherwise although I should stop caring atp because you aren’t entitled to SHIT about my medical issues as a stranger online

[mangodestroyer]

You know, they say you should avoid toxic people/environments, or leave them if you encounter them. But at this point, I don't really know how that would be possible.

I've come to learn that the world is full of assholes. And tbh, that was one of the hardest things to get used to in adulthood. Especially since I'd let some MAJOR assholes into my personal life. These guys are everywhere. In every profession, hobby, state, country, etc. And they come from all the different walks of life. Sometimes, they became that way because they were spoiled growing up. Sometimes, they just went through it and decided to become what hurt them. Sometimes, they really were just born that way. Point is, they think they're more important than everyone else, and they suck to deal with. And yes, I've even seen psychologists suggest they make up a good chunk of the population. At least an eighth. So they really are that common.

It's something that gets brought up when I look into academia and some of the schools I'd like to attend for my master's. My state happens to have a handful of prestigious institutions (one that's even in the top 20's in the nation). And... surprise! People bring up constantly how these schools are competitive and are full of assholes who think they're the shit.

Thing is... I've already dealt with that before? I took AP classes in hs, but it wasn't so bad then. But at the first school I went to, which happened to be prestigious (just not top 20), there were definitely a lot of horribly competitive, toxic, and egotistical assholes. If anything, I'm surprised the program I'm attending rn isn't like that. It's also above average, but it is online, so it does tend to draw in an older crowd/people who just want to learn.

And like I said, it's not like this shit doesn't exist elsewhere. I've been working in retail for three years. In a shitty small town. The rich snob attitude may not be so present, but there are definitely still assholes. I've legit had a manager call me r*tarded and give me tons of shit until I said something to someone (and she did this in front of other co-workers and customers). In fact, based on the two places I've worked, the co-workers can sometimes be worse than the customers (who you will probably only see for five minute max anyway). If they aren't criticizing the way you do your job or straight up verbally abusing you, they'll just act like you're too weird or annoying and sort of just shun you. Not everyone. But I'm not exactly related to anyone in this small town, nor do I fit in with the culture. So I stick out like a sore thumb. They've only recently started warming up to me a little more, but that's because I really had to learn to suppress who I am around them and be boring/agreeable.

As for customers, grey rocking and being less people pleasy makes customer service easier.

At least in a school environment, with thousands of people on campus, you can maybe look around and hope to find someone you vibe with. Tbh, I actually hate my retail environment more than when I was around those rich snobs. At least people weren't judging me for drinking bubble tea of all things (and don't think that's stopping me from buying more and drinking it at work, I just thought it was weird that my supervisor seemed bothered by it, and it just means that people will always find a reason to have problems with you so idc anymore). And I could actually talk about what I was doing in school, or the fact that I go to school at all (which is another conversation point people seem to loathe, even when they ASK). Retail likely taught me the useful skill of just keeping it shallow and neutral with people until you know them better. I have the autistic tendency to want to overshare and infodump and I've been working on doing that a lot less irl. But being so suppressed like that hasn't been good for my mental health.

So ig my point is that I'd like to pick which assholes I can tolerate more. Campus life can be a lot of fun because there are still tons of people you can try and get along with. And there are lots of things to do and explore as well. Even if you find that you don't like the people, you still might like what you're doing in school, or what the campus has to offer. My other option atm is to not get an education and almost guarantee that I will continue working shitty fucking jobs with no end in sight.

[blue-eyed-bloodstains]

What make up product do you never use? I rarely wear make up, usually only for like certain occasions but one thing I’ve never used is foundation

Do you ever sit with your legs open? more than I probably should lol it’s the tomboy in me...I’m always in jeans so it’s whatever I don’t care :P

Have you ever been offered drugs on the street? no

What is one place you have been to and hated? Clifton, CO...

Have you ever seen a jellyfish? not in person

Do you know who Dylan Moran is? yeah

What’s your favourite kind of soup? alphabet lol no joke

Do you ever put bread in your soup? if it’s tomato soup of course I dip my grilled cheese in it! otherwise no

Would you like me to stop asking questions about soup? lol I don’t mind

Is there anything in the USB key slots in your computer/laptop? no

What advertisements are on your screen at the moment? none

Do you ever get a really itchy nose when you’re unable to scratch it? I mean I can scratch it but it just keeps itching and drives me nuts sometimes lol

Has anyone ever randomly licked your face? not full on lick but like poke with his tongue when kissing my cheek to mess with me lol 

When was the last time you bought a book? Tom Felton’s memoir a few months ago

What question do you hate being asked in surveys? they can get pretty repetitive but I don’t necessarily hate any, it is what it is 

Are you upstairs or downstairs at the minute? it’s a one level house so neither lol

Did anyone ever draw on your face when you were sleeping? no

Have you ever done that to someone else? I’d never do that, I’m not Jigglypuff :P

Have you ever been asked for directions? yeah

If so, did you ever give someone wrong directions? hopefully not, I suck with directions even for myself let alone trying to help someone else!

What’s your favourite brand of chocolate, galaxy, cadburys, or nestle? Nestle since the other two aren’t a thing here lol

Are there any farm animals near you? oh yeah there’s tons of farm land here so lots of people have cattle. closest ones to farm animal around here I’ve seen are goats, sheep, and cows

Are there any lakes near you? a few small ones

Was there ever a time when you felt absolutely terrified? a lot of times actually

If so, why? many reasons, depends on what terrified me at the time

Is there any TV show you watch religiously? Jeopardy, Shark Tank, Hoarders, EVERYTHING on ID (crime shows), Law and Order: SVU, court shows mainly Judge Judy, Bar Rescue, To Catch A Smuggler...just to name ‘a few’ XD

Have you ever been in your local newspaper? one time the first time we moved to CO, I was in 5th grade and our class was in the newspaper for our class pet and I’m reaching toward it to pet it which is the pic they chose for the paper lol it wasn’t front page or anything though

Have you ever called your mother ma or mammy? no

Can you imitate any other accent? yeah Brit and “country” pretty well, I think :P

What is your funniest memory of the 6th contact in your phone? ironically enough that’s my fiance cause I have him listed as ‘Babe’ XD and wayyyy too many to even count or list

Have you ever protested? no

Have you ever participated in a parade? no

Are you going to do anything for Paddy’s day? already passed and couldn’t drink so...sucked

Were you ever chased by an animal? not that I remember

Has anyone ever really insulted you? ha you serious? all my life

Have you ever told an elder to fuck off? not to their face...but I’ve worked a lot of retail so nuff said XD

Do you ever make banana sandwiches? oh my goddddd no but I fuckin love them!

Do you blush easily? ohhh yeah it’s ridiculous lol

Are you single/or taken? taken

Are you happy with that?^ yes

Do you make the first move or do you prefer it the other way around? other way around

What is the most painful thing you’ve experienced? physically I’d say my collarbone being broken, with ovarian cysts bursting and the cramps from that a very tight close second

Do you feel guilty about anything? all the fuckin time

Do you hug someone whenever you see them? my fiance, my dad/stepmom/stepsis when we visit them in NJ

Have you ever been in the accidents and emergency room? I damn near live in the ER...accident wise? yeah, a few bike wrecks growing up and most recently when I totaled my car last year due to a DUI....I should be dead right now, let’s put it that way and I somehow came out with only major whiplash and a few bumps and bruises..

When was the last time you bled? What happened? I won’t state the obvious since I’m a woman XD umm this major basal cell on my hairline that I’m having major surgery on soon to remove with subsequent surgeries for skin grafts given how extensive it’ll be bleeds/pusses all the time even without touching it and rescabs/repeats so...yeah 

Is there anyone you know that gives you the creeps? not that I can think of at the moment

Do you call random objects ‘gay’? no

Have you ever started talking to someone that you thought was someone else? no

When you look behind you what catches your attention the most? the tv tray next to the loveseat (I’m sitting with my back against the armrest and legs stretched out) and the clutter on it :P

[northwest-cryptid]

Something I've learned from my time as a manager (and also my time working retail as everything under management) is that leading by fear will breed nothing more than rebellion. Leading by respect will harbor unity and teamwork.

This isn't a hard concept to understand, the people who worked the hardest for me were the people who saw me taking the initiative to help them with their daily jobs; the people who came to respect me because I would outright tell them that I get paid more, I'm higher on the corporate ladder; and therefore I need to be doing more than them.

These people saw me as a co-worker and not as some loud mouth boss who would boss them around; because I was. I was a team player, I wanted my workers to feel respected not for the sake of productivity but because they're human beings who deserve equal respect regardless of their job title.

If something NEEDED to be done, well guess what; as the MANAGER it is my responsibility to ensure that it gets done. I need to MANAGE the situation, that's my job; not yelling at everyone to make it happen while I sit on my ass getting paid a ton of money to micro-manage everyone.

I was once a part of a wonderful happening at a workplace that I shall not name since it's a larger chain but essentially the wait staff had gotten fed up with managers yelling at us because we'd been working our asses off all day. So when a manager told me to hurry up and clean faster I had told him "there are gloves right next to you, if it matters that much; put them on and give me a hand." He tried to talk back to me but another waiter nearby literally just said "no, fuck you man. We're doing this our way today. What are you going to do about it? Fire us all? Then who is gonna clean around here, you? Yea that's what I thought." The entire rest of the day tables were cleaned and ready for guests, the kitchen ran smoothly with food getting out to customers on time, and the wait staff took regular breaks, we made more in tips that day by a large margin as well. It got to the point the management went to the higher ups, brought in the general manager who took one look at the place and actually just said "I fail to see the problem, they're doing their jobs, customers are happy; we're making sales."

If you try to enforce punishment, if you try to lead your workplace with an iron fist and harsh rules all you're going to do is tell your workers that it's you vs them. That they should resent you, that they should band together against you; and you might think "great yea they're going to learn unity from their hatred of me!" No they won't.

They will slowly learn to hate each other, because one of them will be the first to slack off and not fear punishment, that person will be labeled as lazy and it will put extra work on the others who maybe can't afford to lose their jobs. Now they're at each other's throats, no one is happy to work with "this guy" and eventually someone will quit over it, now you're short staffed and no one is going to put up with your shit forever because guess what, they can get another job. Especially if you're a low paying retail/food service job, and no your tips don't matter trust me.

A good manager who cares about their team and works alongside them and actually carries their weight can take the most dysfunctional group of misfits and make them into a proper team who can run a place so well no one has to even lift a finger to do extra work.

I have managed several locations and stores from big name retail shops to mom and pop adult stores. I used to be humble and say that I'm no expert on how these things should go, but that I'm just doing my best. However given my years of experience in the field I can safely say that actually, no; I am something of an expert at this point.

This goes for all forms of "authority" whether it's school teachers, managers/bosses, or even parents.

If you're someone who shows support to your team in a tangible way; and you lead not by fear of punishment but by respect for your people and their well-being. You will find much more success in being taken seriously, being listened to, and actually getting whatever it is you need done, done.

the whole concept of authority is hysterically stupid to me. "i'm in charge so you have to do as i say!" no i don't lol