I was the PM/Closing Supervisor at a shady (aren’t they all) Kmart for a few years. That job is the sole reason I will never work in general retail or a department store again. People would come on during the final closing announcements and disregard them completely, continuing to shop for 20-30 minutes even with reminders, and then arriving at the till breathing loudly through their mouths with huge books of unorganized coupons further complicating the transaction. God forbid you comment on the time or their lack of courtesy, lest you’ll be called a fucking racist and/or reported to the clownshow that was Sears Holdings corporate offices.
I manage a produce section at a grocery store and spend all day on my feet with no real personal workspace to unwind, other than a small shared office often occupied by talkative old women. I honestly love my job, am respected by my employer and I’m pretty well compensated (Canada), but even a desk in a cubicle looks kind of cozy to me. Just having a space for your things, a plant or two, a photo of your wife and kid. Not gonna lie, I kind of wish I had a small office and/or cubicle to retreat to. Even if it was just for the paperwork parts of my day.
This reminds me of the anonymous confession thing that made it’s rounds on Facebook several years back. My cousin would post links to his every day with messages like, “Let’s see what you’ve got” or “Give me your worst” attached to it. I suspect he was desperately fishing for compliments, or hoping for anonymous love confessions from the girls he was flirting with, as he would also post scrambled love letters on his wall that he must have figured these girls had time to sit down and eagerly unscramble (ie; I VELO UYO YLSHAE RMOE NTHA HTE UNS VELOS TEH ONOM). I always made sure to anonymously let him know what a stupid, annoying fuck he was being.
I’m yet to encounter the majority of issues I hear Lemmings griping about. Everyone has been pretty civil toward me. Every time my inbox blows up I feel dread, only to open it and find zero confrontation or vitriol. I’m not running into any racists, sexists, bigots, etc., and I certainly haven’t noticed a decline in content (I browse Top ~6 Hours).
I realize my personal experience doesn’t equate to these problems not existing, but I do get the strong impression that people are exaggerating greatly.
I know plenty of people dumb enough to take this as proof. I worked with a young guy a few years back who was standing idly by while I discussed PCs and malware with another co-worker. Idle guy joins the conversation to tell us how just recently he avoided some malware himself after receiving a popup from Microsoft saying his PC was infected. The popup included a number on the screen, which he called.
Relieved to have Microsoft looking out for him, buddy calls the number and follows instructions to give the person on the other end remote access. After which, the malware is allegedly removed, and he’s ordered to fork over $100 USD for the services rendered. Still relieved just to have Microsoft looking out for him like this, he forks over his fucking credit card information to pay for work. He finished the story with this very serious nod. A nod that said I really dodged a bullet there.
I miss hearing cardinals quite a lot. I moved from the Midwestern US to western Canada and have enjoyed learning the new birds (even bought the Audubon western bird guide to go with my old copy of eastern). I haven’t seen a Cardinal at all out here, but they’ve been photographed on rare occasions. I’m honestly just thankful that we still get robins every spring. It’s a nice reminder of home.
I began reading The Dunwich Horror last night and he makes mention of piping bullfrogs, and it sent me down this intense nostalgia trip over how well I know (and miss) that sound since leaving the Midwest. Who would have thought all those swampy BUNKS and GUNKS and BwwAaahhHhh-bwAaaAaahh-BwwAaaHhhh-BwwAaAaaaahhs would become such a cherished part of my past?
Gotta get me a plane ticket next Spring and go bullfrog hunting.
“Ayyye, I cast me evil eyyyye upon me neighbour, Garbbeus Vardicus Melatonus, I ken. Saba-ka-boo, a meta-ga-doo, a bibbiti, bobbiti-GYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! BE THAT A SMALL PENIS DANGLING FROM YOND WINDCHIME?!?”
“Yes,” her black cat whispers from her mounded shoulders, “A tiny penis.”
"Scandalous Effectus Mandellus, neighbour of me neighour, I cast upon you me evil eyyyye…"