"Today was a terrible day because..."

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

Bureaucracy is what I have been using to describe it, but nobody I whinge to knows what it means! Thank you Sarah!

Haha "bureaucracy" along with a sigh has become a saying in my department xD There was also an Aussie comedy made about it called Utopia. It was on Netflix. It's pretty funny. xD One was about the marketing area wanting to update the office's logo for no reason, causing a bunch of other issues that could have been totally avoided. It's all so true!

[pokemon trainer Felix]

well today was pretty bad.

so som context, in my school there is a guy. Lets call him Jason(not his real name)
and he is a bit annoying. he is loud, talks when the teacher is talking and makes som jokes that are not appropriate in a class room enviorment.

so today in Art class things are going as usual and im doing drawing stuff and there where two things that happpen

1. we because the school is a bit cramped we have to have drawing class in the biology room and in the biology room there is a
fresh water aquarium with two swordtails and a gourami. and he constantly harasses the fish. he pokes on the aquarium glass "accidentally" drops things in the tank and
and other things and its super irritating.

2. for an project were allowed to have spray glue with is a bit toxic and most of the people using it do it outside for obvious reasons
but for som reason so were he allowed to do it in the class room and while i don't sitt next to him i still sit semi close to him and he sprays it.
and i am very paranoid and easily scared and streesed out when it comes to the subject of illness and similar things and now i am super
scared and think i might die by horrible brain cancer HELP ME!

i have a very high tendency to over react and think of the most terrifying outcomes and i need help with calming down.

[Suicune's Fire]

well today was pretty bad.

Feeeeeeeeeeeliiiiiix. :C That guy sounds like an absolute pain. D: I'm sorry you have to deal with him. It's so sad that he does that to the fish, too... >:[ Why don't the teachers do something about it?

Also, wow, they let him do that too... Just ridiculous. >.< Sorry to hear that, Felix. It's okay! As long as you don't inhale it directly for an extended period of time, you will be fine. Maybe next time you could ask to sit outside the classroom if he does it because if it's causing you distress, you should be allowed to remove yourself from the situation. Additionally, a lot of people get headaches from chemicals, so maybe he just shouldn't be allowed to do that inside. =/

[Suicune's Fire]

@Desolate Divine that's soooo annoying. People complain about stuff that they could change or do something about, yet they don't. -_- I'm a little scared of your mum. xD

[XaiakuX]

Okay, so I definitely have a rant. I'm pretty sure just about everyone who has worked some level of retail will agree with this.

So, I work at Wal-Mart. I also happen to be the Toys Associate. My issue is this: Parents who bring their children into the store, and send them off to my department like it's the freaking Ronald McDonald play place or some department store daycare while they shop. This bothers me on several levels, and I'm going to list every single one of them right now. First of all, your child isn't my problem. Yes, it is my job to look out for my customer's safety, and you shouldn't just leave your child to their own devices in a public setting like Wal-Mart. Not only do we have loads of dirt bags, idiots, rednecks, and obviously ignorant and stupid parents, we also have pedophiles and registered sex offenders that come into our store all willy nilly. Now, this man/woman could walk up to the kid, look me in the eyes and tell me they were the kid's uncle/aunt, and off they go with your child. I'll think nothing of it because I don't know you, I don't know your child or your child's abductor. There you are, short one child, and an irreconcilable mess because you just let your child wander off without supervision. This is on you, and you get to live with that. THIS is the primary issue I have with parents leaving their kids in my department.

The second issue I have is that it heavily hinders my workflow. Because they are "customers" and they are also children, I have to keep an eye on them because I don't want them to TEAR INTO MY MERCHANDISE and play with every toy they see, which is considered theft, by the way. Granted, when they do this, I'm gonna call you to have you take them away from my department, and now we've both wasted time with this fiasco. I am not your child's babysitter. I am here to make sure my department looks clean and professional, as well as put new toys on the shelf for your little mongrels to tear up.

The third issue coincides with the second issue, and that's the attitudes. The ones that I get from children from, and even better, the ones I get from parents after I call them over to retrieve their misbehaved child. This is where I spout my "terrible parenting" rant. I won't do that, here. But, if your child comes into my area, starts tearing stuff open like it's perfectly normal, then throws a fit about it when I scold them about doing it, there's something wrong there. Even worse, when the parent comes at me with the same kind of disrespect and attitude the parent had. Okay, your child was tearing open a product, or making a huge mess, or upsetting other customers, and I asked them to stop doing that. When I asked them to stop, they mocked me, screamed at me, or threw something at me. So yeah, I called you to come take care of them. If it was my kid, I wouldn't be exchanging word with the adult, I'd be exchanging words with the kid, and probably be some level of discipline when we got home. Look, I get it, you want to defend your child's honor or whatever. But, there were actual illegal things happening that an adult could get arrested for and even face jail time for, and you're perfectly okay with that happening.

This is just my every day, and people wonder why I'm so stressed, or why I hate my job, or why I'm "so angry all the time." This is one thing. One thing I deal with out of my entire day. If any of you are parents, or planning to be parents, don't be this kind of parent. Don't let your children do whatever the heck they please. Thanks for reading.

[Neo Emolga]

So, I work at Wal-Mart.

work at Wal-Mart.

at Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart

Ẃ̝̬͉͔̫̭̯̫a͓͚͚̬͠l̥̪̲̹̠͔̩̱̹͞͡-̴͇͕͜͠Ḿ̖̦͙̪͖̟̬͔a͎̗͇̦̖ṟ̢̛̖̝t̛͚̹͕̯͇̣̘̳ͅ

Dude... ;_;

When I saw that, I already knew there was going to be a whole crapshow to read through.

There are so, so many awful parents out there that are perfectly okay for their kids to be raised like demonic livestock at Satan Ranch. I swear, it really begins to sound like a good idea for people to have to pass an exam before they're allowed to have children. Also, I feel like everyone should try working retail for at least three months so they get to know what it's like.

If I was an executive at Wal-Mart, I would enforce these policies:

- If a customer opens a package, they're expected to purchase it. Not doing so should be considered destruction of property. If the item is rendered in the same way that would cause it to not be accepted for a store return, it should be a forced purchase.

- Kids that are found isolated from their parents should be considered lost. Ask for the parents to pick little Timmy and Sally up using the loudspeaker so the whole store gets to know about how Ms. Parkinson can't freaking look after her own kids.

- If customers give staff a hard time over dumb, stupid nonsense, out they go. Those aren't people I'd even want as customers if every time they show up they think they're entitled to wreck the place and be disrespectful to the staff.

My sympathies go out to everyone who works retail. I haven't ever done it myself, but when I do shop at these places, I try to be as respectful and considerate as humanely possible, especially to the staff who are working long shifts, are tired at the end of the day, and probably have already been dealing with other customer nonsense.

[Noblejanobii]

One of the most influential mentors in my writing and debating careers past away last night. I never got the chance to give him my book either, since he retired before it was officially published. I knew it was probably coming because he was very old (in class we'd make jokes that one day we'd walk in and he'd just be dead in his chair because he loved teaching so much he wouldn't retire until he died) and he had been diagnosed with cancer. I only got the privilege of having him for one year, and I was supposed to have him for a second, but he retired unexpectedly and no one knew why. Months later it was released that he had been diagnosed with cancer (I believe it was pancreatic but don't hold me to that). They did very well in sort of hiding exactly what his status was for a long time and half of us that were his students expected he would die and we would never find out. Even though he was ever present in our hearts and minds, I went my senior year without hearing a word about him.

So fast forward to August of this past year, once again I'm wondering how he's doing as we near the 1 year anniversary of his diagnosis. I email another teacher I had (Ms. O, another VERY influential figure in my life) to see if she knew anything. She explained that they were keeping stuff even from the staff as well and that if she found out anything, she'd let me know. Now fast forward to about eleven this morning. I had come over from college to judge a debate tournament for Ms. O. She's the advisor for the debate team and since I'm the closest veteran available, I've started helping judge tournaments. She pulls me aside while there's a break between rounds and drops the bomb on me. Dr. Z passed away last night. He had apparently been in a coma for about a week and then never woke up. He had been hospitalized in a local hospital for an undisclosed amount of time with only family members being allowed to visit because it was such a stressful time. Naturally, I nearly broke into tears, but I managed to hold myself together. I had to wonder why she was telling me this now, and then I connected the dots. Of the four debate team members that had attended this tournament, only two really knew Dr. Z, one of which wasn't really close to him but knew him somewhat well, and the other was on a first name basis with him. To put this in perspective, Ms. O had known Dr. Z for years and had never been on a first name basis with Dr. Z. This kid is a junior in high school and was on a first name basis with Dr. Z by the end of his freshman year. She was going to have to tell both these students he had passed, and it was going to possibly emotionally shatter one of them.

That just kind of ruined my day. I didn't stay around to hear how he took it, but I'm hoping both students will be all right. I'm currently waiting on word about a memorial or a funeral service, but if it weren't for the test I had on Monday, I'd be writing a lot of sad stories right now.

[ant2011]

I don't ever do this. At all. Opening up makes me feel vulnerable and I don't like feeling that way, but for now I'll make an exception.

I just broke up with my emotionally controlling girlfriend. She would guilt trip me constantly and pouting if I gave her less than 110% of my attention.

When I broke up with her she tried to play all her cards to get me to stay, but I couldn't.

Now that I'm free I don't know... I just feel drained...

[Suicune's Fire]

@Noblejanobii I'm so sorry... when you said a few days ago that someone in your life had passed, I thought you meant a famous person who was influential to you... I didn't realise you knew him personally. I'm so sorry. That's awful. It's nice that Ms. O took you aside to tell you. I would have broken down then and there.

@ant2011 Despite how awful going through a breakup is, I think you made the right decision. I'm sorry it had to happen, though. D: It's definitely hard. I hope that people at the forum can help even just a little!

[Noblejanobii]

@Noblejanobii I'm so sorry... when you said a few days ago that someone in your life had passed, I thought you meant a famous person who was influential to you... I didn't realise you knew him personally. I'm so sorry. That's awful. It's nice that Ms. O took you aside to tell you. I would have broken down then and there.

I wish it was that. My mom went to his visitation for me because I had class. I wanted to break down, I was very close to doing so, but I still had two more hours of a tournament to judge, so I couldn't. It's slowly starting to sink in but I have yet to shed a tear about it.