#this and the meds I took helped tho

[femme-enby]

Just reblogged a post & rambled like hell in the tags, vaguely mentioning my haunt AU… and then I remembered:

I visited my ppl last night, the folks who switched over to the winter holiday event… and good lord. While I might have to step away from being a haunt actor for a while, I will never abandon them folks.

Basically: all the drama that I mentioned that happened during MY haunt season?

From the brief bits I got to hear from my ppl… expectedly, it’s been worse.

Imagine: you work the haunt event. There’s drama. There’s serious issues. Management sucks. Too many monsters, not enough costumes. The guests are horrendous.

BUT!!! When you get pissed- you can

A) utilize it! Jump! Run! Scream! Let it out baby!!!

B) find one of the many dark and foggy corners, take a breather (or a hit off your vape… or 10.) and get back to it.

At the winter event? No such luck.

Firstly- while during the haunt event you’re nearly ALWAYS hot… during the winter event you’re either both hot and cold, or freezing. Nothing else.

Secondly- you cannot do shit w those negative feelings. There is no utilizing it. There are no dark and foggy corners. You don’t have earplugs.

You’re expected to be smiling, peppy, on 100 the whole time, in character, serving these snot filled guests (literal, the coughing and such is horrendous) and dealin w the drama & shortcomings of management all on your own, with a SMILE! Happy smile! Not murderous smile!

In the past we’ve had plenty of elves, at least the SINGLE season I participated… this season? Not nearly enough. Why? Hired as many monsters as they could for the haunt event, blew the budget. And tf did that get us? A ton of folks w no idea as to what is going on, how to be a haunt actor, management w little to no idea about anything haunt related or experience, and still not enough costumes. Sending up to seven folks to break from a single team at a time (in the past it’s usually been 2-3) so many being minors… and god the drama.

And I don’t even know the actual drama yet of the winter event, but it’s the fact that I was (happily!!! I was ecstatic to help! I love those poor lil employees with my whole heart!) given little quests by at least 2 of the ppl, one gave me 2 themself, bc they truly had no other option. I ended up assigning myself a quest bc I saw ANOTHER person absolutely FIGHTING for their life at one station, looked like a scene out of the walking dead, to the point where I couldn’t even check in with them. Literally tripping over themself trying to get everything done.

Like??? Look, some places that do seasonal events probably got this shit on LOCK. Know exactly what needs to be done, exactly what should be prioritized, handle shit fabulously, blah blah blah.

But god DAMN. No walkies, no management, not enough workers… only option is to call security but ONLY if something truly CANNOT be handled by the basic employees… and security is a damn joke anyway, which we all know FROM HAUNT.

“Dude, you bitch and moan soooo much, tf do you know?”

Valid! I don’t know shit about the numbers. I don’t know shit about what upper upper management is demanding or how you go about negotiating if you even can- which, you should be able to bc yeah yeah they got all the numbers but you HAVE to factor in the ACTUAL FUCKING HUMANS.

That being said?

Let’s start at seemingly the root of all evil, scheduling and planning.

These events, and everything that MUST come before the events, should be planned out to the best of whoever’s ability, THE YEAR BEFORE. When 2024 haunt season starts, they should be planning 2025. They need to be tracking costumes in total, costumes per area, min number of needed monsters for each area, and tracking costume malfunctions, how many ppl struggle to get costumes actually FOR the area that FIT, how many had to be pieces pulled from OTHER areas to make a fitting costume.

They also need to be thinking: most folks who do this year after year likely have some sort of main job… jobs typically want at LEAST a month’s notice for time off requests. Haunt is an evening/nightshift job, that starts at EARLIEST mid afternoonish, but we allow folks to have an availability as late as evening, so these folks likely have either a dayshift job that keeps them away in the mornings, or a nightshift job which means they’re ASLEEP in the mornings. We probably should keep events relating to this within the hours this job would take place.

Then, they HAVE to have ACTUAL auditions. Go in person, the whole circuit of working w a pre-set character & making up your own. Test vocal range, body language range, any fun/weird talents relating to either? This job can be stressful and potentially dangerous although we do everything to keep it safe, we are still scaring people & folks come w no idea/care for their natural reaction towards a perceived threat… do you feel you can adapt to that? They pass, cool next phase.

Ofc training will have to come after a decent amount of folks pass the auditions, that way you have time for auditions AND for those who get a call back to get time off work to attend training.

IMO? If haunt season starts in September, auditions need to start may/june. Folks need to be told starting in February/april, with actual dates to schedule their audition. Training should start in July/august, w the option to tentatively schedule that early, w the knowledge that if they don’t get formal offer that they will be removed from the scheduled training obvi.

Already you’ve significantly increased the chances of hiring quality actors over quantity, and the chances of having enough costumes in a range of sizes has increased.

Security has to go through event SPECIFIC training. They NEED to understand that while we need guests to have a good time, it cannot be at the expense of the actors, bc w/o quality actors the event will suck and ppl won’t be repeat customers.

Boom, you’ve saved money on hiring, and in the long run on costumes too, plus you’re READY for the season come end of august, instead of scrambling in early September. This money can now go to the winter event, where you DO need quantity over quality bc in the end it’s damn near identical to any other service job except you wear a goofy lil outfit, and THAT is what the training should be focused on. The employees are not lil magical creatures of happiness and love. They’re the best at putting on that customer service smile and voice and grittin their teeth till break time.

As for the winter event specifically- shorter time for specialty shows where employees and management are pulled from their posts, min. Of 2 employees per location, at least 1 walkie left during this time, w 2 managers set to roam each half of the establishment for quicker response times when called. Hell, leave $20 tracphones w a set amount of minutes, w the two (SET) roaming manger’s numbers put in. Sticky note w that nights manager written next to the phone, instructions to send “help @ ____” if walkies that can span an entire amusement park are too pricey (why tf a a walkie is like $100 idfk either)

Boom. Haunt is quality, both in skill & appearance. Winter event is staffed & safe.

“Bro, become a manager” if it was a fulltime, all year position, I would have. There’s a reason why there’s never any openings for the office positions. Them shits are easy, reliable paycheck, minimal risk to self. (In-fucking-sane that they get paid near double but okay. Not that they should make less, just that the poor bastards actually risking their mental & physical well-being should be paid more.)

As it is, that’s why I likely won’t be back as a creature for a hot min… the pay is meh, they don’t give ample time to flex my schedule to meet their needs, they don’t schedule prep shit at a time that makes sense (one weeks notice for a ‘required’ attendance? I LOOK jobless bc my main job pays like shit, not bc I am actually jobless) & that I could make work WITH my job on days I work, it’s roughly 2mo out of my year of bending over backwards for folks that clearly could not care less, and I need money to survive.

Basically: the place I work the seasonal gig at is, in fact, dog shit and worse every year. The best year was my first and it all went downhill. The employees are left to play supervisor w none of the power & no one backs them up when they “handle” shit like they were TOLD to do, so even when I can’t be a haunt actor, I will still be a guest, and I’ll be a god damn angel to them, a pigeon messenger, a doctor, a manager, security, idc. Whatever they need me to be, I will be, bc no one else is doing it.

[pain-is-too-tired]

*Baps you. Baps you. Baps you. Baps y-*

Remember y'all. Caffeine is a stimulant. Stimulants typically have opposing affects on those with adhd. If a demigod drinks black coffee they ain't getting a burst of energy. At most they're going be able to focus their adhd more. Or just get tired and have heart palpitations.

Will is not staying up because of 100+ coffees. My man is awake out of determination and pure spite. The fact he hasn't snapped is a miracle.

Also. They're probably low on iron. Get those kids some supplements.

[batfossil-fr]

I’ve been really thinking of reopening my art shop soon… I’ve been taking some practice doodles (hence all the posting lately) while I shake off my rust and I’m finding things I enjoy working on again. I miss trying my hand at more dragons/OCs and colors. my shop’s so broken rn lmao but that’s a problem for a later date it’s just nice getting back into art

[autisticlee]

don't you love when you dream you were stabbed or shot or fell and broke something or some other thing and wake up to some kind of severe pain that makes you wanna cry but you can't do anything about it to stop it. and bonus points if you also have to pee really bad so have to force yourself to get up 😐

also I accidentally missed my volunteering today because I tried to get up a few times but it hurt and I gave up and fell back asleep and kept getting woke up by those pain dreams fbddsjjsjjs I feel so disoriented and out of it. idk what to do about it. Just ignore it I guess 🥲 have to go back to work in a couple hours and mop up salt for 5 hours again. ugh. can the snow and cold stop existing now?????? it's so painful 🥲😭

also I can't tell if I feel like i'm going to throw up because of stomach issues or because sometimes my chronic pains seem to make me nauseous for some reason in general. or both???? I want to disappear for a while. not go back to work 😭😭😭😭

[luna-the-cretar]

It’s weird. I don’t normally cuddle with my other plushies (despite having 20 of ‘em) after the first day or so, even when I’m sick or hurt to the point where i basically have to be on bed rest, and yet. For some reason cuddling the ouaw plushes make me feel better. These little guys did not leave my arms when I was sick, and I keep alternating between Frost and Torbek right now (if not both, depending on my position and how I’m feeling)

I mean, they don’t make the pain go away, but they make it a bit more bearable. Until my grandma comes back with my pain meds, at least

[phagodyke]

aouuugh my uterus......

[adhdheather]

i regularly forget that my 40yo older sister follows me on instagram and the only updates she gets abt my life are:

- outfits im wearing to college & shows

- posters for my weekly movie events on campus

- occasional stories like “finally investing in a high quality clown nose”

which has to look weird in comparison to the other accounts she follows

[tittyinfinity]

bodies are so WEIRD

[viksalos]

anyways i'm on new psych meds that are kinda sorta serving their nominal purpose of turning down the anxiety BUT more importantly have like 90% solved my chronic pain issues cus it turns out they were due to nerve damage and not actually anything wrong with my organs lol. so that's basically why i've been on here less; don't need to be on social media as much to distract myself from the pain. i will still check in occasionally tho cus i miss you all <3

[orcelito]

Determined to finally get my license within the first few months of this year. Gonna get my permit renewed next week. After I get my license, I will look into buying a car... which... ugh. But with my tax return, if I find smth relatively cheap with a decent payment plan, I think I can do it

I just think that the independence of being able to drive myself places will help me a lot. The rest of the things will follow.

[erythristicbones]

having a weird time after this seizure bc like. the docs didn't really tell me what to expect w it

like im not overwhelmingly tired or fatigued, but i can only do like 2-3 tasks before i get that way. but then i also recover quick? like i thought taking a nap would help but i sat for 15mins and then bolted back up with plenty of energy. also one half of my body/joints is more injured than the other, bc my right arm + leg don't have anywhere near as good of range of motion

[milo-is-rambling]

Chronic pain really got me going to bed before it’s even dark out (also my little pink unicorn lights Millie got me look so cool in the second pic)

[naomiknight-17]

Person I don't know on my cat blog: Here's a small essay about how to give pills to your cats spread over several replies! I am sincere and trying to be helpful and explaining as best I can!

Me, who already gave my cats their pills and announced my success on the blog over an hour earlier: ok 🤐

[cocainecowgrrl]

womp womp

[ozz-ball]

basically every day since nov 5;

4am-6am: We are all going to die

6am: Hydroxyzine

7am-onward: ok.

5pm: We are all going to die

6pm: Hydroxyzine

7pm-bedtime: ok.

[shepherdfeathers]

Oh boy oh boy here comes the yearly “are these the early signs of appendicitis or am I just severely dehydrated!”

Haha I am in pain

please just be dehydration I don’t want to go to with this whole hospital thing again for them to tell me “yeah so she’s just really fucking thirsty”