#and then my old homophobic manager from the grocery store i used to work at works at one of the ones i go to

[brattybottomdyke]

had the most awkward interaction with a girl i was barely friends with in high school at the grocery store today 😬

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA for abandoning my assistant at our new job?

I (22F) am a grocery store department manager and my assistant (26F) is my best friend. We previously worked at nice, low-volume, good work culture type store for a year and a half together while she was still a clerk. The notoriously horrible and constantly-falling-apart store down the street suddenly had two openings for our department for manager and assistant manager. She was definitely overqualified to become an assistant and I had good reports as the manager at this location, and thought we could work some magic on that place and really shape it up. So we made a plan, applied for the transfer and we were accepted. Once we started working there the department started performing amazingly and the people within the department were very happy with us as the new management crew.

Two issues - number 1 there is a store assistant manager who is racist, homophobic, and sexually harasses employees (she has 15+ HR complaints against her and it’s beyond me why corporate doesn’t fire her). She has targeted my assistant and within her first 5 days of working there, she wanted to call for a replacement, and called her lazy. I knew about this person before transferring but my assistant didn’t. I warned her beforehand and encouraged her to use the corporate HR hotline to report any and all behavior. (I have been a victim of this lady too, she asks me invasive sexual questions…)

Number 2 - I am now being worked 7 days a week, 10-12 hour days, and various start times anywhere between midnight and 1 pm. I’ll be off at 4 pm from a day shift, have to go back in at midnight, work midnight to noon, and then cover the evening call out by going in for another 2 hours from 4pm-6pm. Because I’m the manager, I can be worked like a dog but other people are not allowed to even stay an hour of overtime per week. My sleep deprivation has led me to faint, be hospitalized, miss doctors appointments, etc. All around awful. My store managers recognize that I’m suffering but due to corporate standards for scheduling, there is no escaping this, unless I want to make my poor assistant go through what I’m going through, which I refuse to allow another person to experience this.

I can’t take it anymore. I finally broke when I showed up to a scheduled overnight shift 2.5 hrs late due to pure exhaustion, and started having hallucinations on shift. Corporate surprised us at 8 am that day and gave my department a bad review, and I broke down in the middle of the sales floor in front of corporate, customers, and my store managers screaming “FUCK THIS I CAN’T FUCKING DO THIS ANYMORE.”

I was surprised that I wasn’t fired but store management was surprised that I didn’t walk out. I didn’t because I have rent to pay. But the incident finally made me realize that this store is hurting my health and I’ve decided to send applications out to other jobs. Stepping down within the company or transferring back to the old store is not an option because department head is not open and even if I stepped down, they’d still work me like a department manager because they know what work I’m capable of. I want something new, a fresh clean slate.

However my assistant very badly needed this pay raise and guaranteed full time contract. She wouldn’t leave. She has an upcoming wedding and needs to put food on the table for her child. She is my best friend outside of work and we’re very close. I would feel terrible abandoning her in an already shitty work situation that I dragged her into - it was my idea and my reference for her promotion. I made promises to take care of a certain portion of duties if she did another portion. If I left, it would be ALL on her, job of both assistant and manager either as an assistant or if she’s offered manager. Either way, that would be a worse schedule than what I’m going through right now. And she would have to deal with that terrible store assistant alone. Anyways, I’d be scared to lose her friendship if I left. But I can’t take it anymore. She recognizes that too, however, she’s sympathetic to the literal medical faults my schedule is causing.

I feel like it’s my fault that she got harassed in the first place, and I feel like it’s my fault that she’s now unhappy with her job. I don’t want to lose my best friend.

WIBTA for leaving my job?

What are these acronyms?

[phantominsertsandmore]

Modern Pregnancy Series 10/

Something happens

Erik-

It happened to be the middle of winter and it was rather snowy out, the roads were rather icy as well. You knew that Erik would rather you wait until he got home so he could drive you to the grocery store- but you couldn't bring yourself to burden him anymore than you already were. Besides, you thought you'd be fine. You were correct for the most part, but on your way home someone behind you lost control of their car. They rammed into you and you accidentally bumped into the car in front of you, the abruptness throwing you against the seatbelt and hitting your stomach against the steering wheel.

This caused you to panic slightly, tears running down your cheeks and your mouth parted in a silent sob. You were assured that you were at no fault and the paramedics on scene insisted upon transporting you as you happened to be a pregnant woman. You were just worried enough to go with them. You called Christine who immediately agreed to call Erik for you. You weren't thinking straight at the moment and you were scared to call him yourself.  

You'd been able to calm down for the most part at the hospital, especially when they assured you that your baby was perfectly fine after a quick ultrasound. You were still nervous, jumping slightly when Erik rushed into the hospital room. Your usually put together boyfriend looked a mess, even his mask was slightly off angle. "You were in a damn car accident?" He demanded, and though he sounded angry you knew he was mostly worried. His concern sometimes presented itself as anger

"I-It's alright, Erik... The baby is fine-." You murmured, toying with a loose thread on the hospital blanket. Erik made his way to the side of the bed, causing you to squeak slightly in concern when he dropped to his knees. He grasped your smaller hand in his tightly, kissing it repeatedly while he rested his free hand on your stomach. It took you a moment to realize he was trembling and crying. It took you a moment to realize he was worried about both of you. You gently covered the hand on your stomach with your own and murmured apology after apology.

Raoul-

You'd been more than eager to go to the pool party with Raoul, figuring that you might as well get some normality before your son came. After all, you'd be busy taking care of a baby at that point, and though you were excited you were also apprehensive. So, you'd figured that living it up would help. Perhaps you were also just eager to show off your baby bump, as Raoul jokingly pointed out while you were leaving. But there was nothing wrong with that, either.

As soon as you reached the party, you and Raoul went your separate ways. You'd seen one of your old friends by the pool and decided to go sit beside her. The two of you chatted and caught up for around thirty or so minutes. She had to go home early as her day was going to get busier in the evening. She congratulated you on your pregnancy and exchanged numbers with you before leaving.  

You didn't see one Raoul's exes- mostly because you never really paid them any attention. You got along with Christine, but that was only because she was such a sweetheart and they'd remained friends. Alaina, however, was not one of his nicer exes. She'd grown more jealous the longer she watched you and she decided to do something about it. You sitting on the edge of the pool only made it easier. She walked past you and pretended to stumble, knocking into you hard enough to send you into the pool with a startled yelp. She immediately rushed off, her senses returning to her.

Fortunately, Raoul had been only a handful of feet away from you, having come to check up on you and seen everything. He got in the pool with you and realized that you were already struggling to push yourself up. He offered you his hand and you took it gratefully. He pulled you to your feet and immediately into his arms. You clung to him, both you and the baby were fine, you were just shaken.  

Meg-

Sometimes you could become quite tired easily- it seemed that the more babies one carried, the more affected that person was by simple symptoms. Meg had been gone for the last week, visiting her mother and extended family. You'd overworked yourself this morning, waiting for her return. Even though you knew you were at your limit for the day, you kept pushing yourself, wanting to surprise your lovely girlfriend. You'd prepared a special dinner and everything.

Meg entered the house and you rushed towards her, hugging her as well as you could manage with how large you had gotten. Meg had giggled and returned the embrace, leaning in to kiss you. You returned the kiss eagerly, letting it linger. She slowly pulled away and her smile faded, noticing how exhausted you looked. "Y/N? Are you feeling alright? Should I get you to a sea-" Her sentence was cut off with a scream as you went limp in her arms, seemingly have fainted.

The poor girl was hysterical, working herself up. She managed to transport you to the couch with some struggle. She considered calling an ambulance when you stirred and woke up, gazing at her. You frowned when you realized that Meg was in a complete panic, forcing yourself into a sitting position. You grabbed her hand. "Gorgeous, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I just over did it today, that's all. I promise." You soothed her, your voice somewhat raspy.

Meg looked at you wide-eyed for a moment before she burst into another round of tears, lunging at you to hold you as close to her as she can get. "Don't do this again, Please. I don't like it." She implored carefully and you promised her you wouldn't, wrapping your arms around her and stroking her hair.

Christine-

You and Christine had been invited to this year's family reunion and both of you'd been eager to go. You wanted to see your little sister, Maya again as well as you parents. It'd also be good to share the news with the extended family that either didn't use social media or were too young to. Unfortunately, you'd forgotten about your homophobic uncle, Craig.

Almost everyone had been pleased by the news and seeing you again. Especially Maya, she'd been glued to both of your sides for the most part. A couple hours later, the two of you bid goodbye to everyone else. Craig hadn't said anything at all, and aside from his numerous dirty looks you hadn't noticed anything to indicate he was going to do anything stupid, that was until you tried to follow after your girlfriend. He stuck his foot out at the last moment and you went sprawling to your hands and knees with a small yelp. You pushed yourself to your knees, cradling your wrist to your chest.

"Oh my god! Are you alright, Mon amour?" Christine exclaimed, coming over to help you up. Once you were up on your feet, she kept her arms around your waist and pulled you closer against her  side. She was already guiding you away as your family got into a shouting match with Craig, your father making threats that most definitely wouldn't be empty if he was still in his youth.

"Yes, I think I just sprained my wrist in the fall." You answered softly and she gave your hip a gentle squeeze, kissing your cheek. She was relieved that nothing too bad had happened. She already had a splint at your place that you'd be able to use for a while. Christine knew one thing for sure, she wouldn't be allowing you and Craig to be anywhere near each other ever again.

[i-did]

I love your hc about kevin being bisexual aromantic and the part about his relationship with thea! I like hows it not just a "they lived happily ever after" situation, it feels more realistic. You also mentioned how you have some ideas for seth? I'd love to hear them!

Yeah! I'm not super into happily ever afters, I men to an extent sure, but for me they're so unrealistic that it pulls me out. I like how in aftg the happily ever after is that neil gets to live and hes with andrew and just has to pay a shit ton of money but we know that doesnt matter to him. Outside of context that doesn't seem very happily ever after, and I like it. It seems achievable and realistic while still romantic.

I think Kevin loves thea and thea loves Kevin, but out of habit and as partners with shared truama more than anything to do with the person themselves. Thea might not even love kevin romantically and he doesn't love her romantically but they don't really know that. And you don't need to know that because you don't need it. They fight and everything and have struggles but don't ever split up imo.

Okay seth ideas:

I have a lot of ideas for seth, I headcanon his mom was Vietnamese and his dad was white. He grew up with a racist dad who instilled toxic masculinity into him especially as an Asian man and then his dad dipped leaving him with insecurity of not being manly enough as well as abandonment issues. His mom worked a lot a lot a lot a lot to keep them afloat, he had a lot of brothers and the hierarchy was enforced with rough housing, the 2 oldest brothers suddenly parents. None of the kids ever got Vietnamese names legally because the dad wouldn't want them to have "funny sounding names" but the mom occasionally called them pet names, seth was hoping after the dad dipped at least their mom would finally be able to teach them more Vietnamese to close the barrier between them, her finally being able to speak in the language she was most comfortable in, but she was too busy and communication was always simple and shallow.

The whole EC deal with seth, the same family who left him giving him bigger abandonment issues etc etc

What seth looks like in my mind:

Obviosly he looks half Vietnamese half white, but he's a skinny lanky guy with a tooth gap he used to stick dumdum lolipop stick in between when he was little, he's got ashy medium brown hair, its dark when grown out but lightens a bit in the sun, he is one of those people with a lot of moles and freckles he got from his father. He used to be the guy who wore fake tapers and skate shoes, basket ball shorts, and a monster energy drink snap back. He starts to just wear tee shirts and jeans and takes out the fake tapers. He's got nobby knees and elbows he bangs on things and he swears everytime.

If Seth Lived:

Him and allison would have broken up a few more times until one really explosive fight and she says "I can't do this anymore" and he says "I know" and she says "I'm not going to leave you" and he says nothing.

She realizes staying friends with your ex was a promise she couldn't quite keep as much as she wanted to. They drift apart. He relapses but this time Kevin finds him. He's out the rest of the season for rehab, getting his degree online and Wymack pleads with them to let him keep scholarship. They cut him off. Wymack pays for what he can before seth can say no, and just drops off a bunch of applications for scholarships and says "I'm not letting you quit." And someone doesn't leave him.

He becomes a social worker. He actually really loves it. He reconnects with 2 out of his ~7 brothers. One of them died and he didn't even know, and he wishes for a second it was him instead, before remembering that they haven't talked in at least 10 years.

He becomes less homophobic but will still say anything to make someone hurt if he hates them, but he becomes less explosive and more worn out. The second hand trauma from being a social worker weighs on him and kne of his coworkers opens up about talking to someone. Their job doesn't cover therapy. He goes to AA and NA meetings. He's not relapsing, but its free therapy and he knows if he feels tempted he could get a sponsor.

He beats the shit out of someone outside one of the meetings who was trying to sell to the people coming out (he runs away and doesn't get caught,)

He goes on a dating website half assed at around 40 years old.

He meets a woman who is also on there half assed. She's very blunt and it reminds him of allison, but she's no frills and they come from the same type of world. He can relate to her and they don't have screaming matches that start with him refusing to take a gift of a 1200 dollar dress shirt when his from Ross is just fine.

5th date in he tells her he's sober and she says "why don't you think we've never gone to a bar?" And he realizes she's sober too.

10th date she says "i know this was fun, but I have a son and I can't be casual anymore. You have to be in or out."

And he thinks about it. And they talk about it. And he says he's in.

Its years of dating until the mom decides its steady enough to meet the son. He's 12 and says "you're not my new dad" and seth laughs, and the kid is confused, because he was trying to say something that would hurt.

His girlfriend becomes his fiance after she gets pregnant, not just because of the baby but because they've been dating for 6 years now and its been serious. Its a miscarriage and its hard, but they get though it.

Seth gets really close with the son even if he came in later into his life, he recognizes a lot of himself in the kid. He's never like a father to the kid, and seth isn't sure he knows what it means to love someone like a son, but he knows its pretty close and he tries to be the opposite of his dad.

They stay lower middle class their whole lives, her working her way up from grocery self stocker job she had at 16 to store manager just over time, him a social worker, in a cheaper town with not a lot to do, but they have a book shelf were they watch movies.

He turns on a game sometimes and quietly thinks to himself "what the fuck" about the one year of college exy he was benched the most possible drama happens. He'll say "I went to college with that kid" and she'll say "who? Scar face? Isn't he like famous or something?" And he'll say "yeah. He is"

She doesn't tell him he has to do anything he doesnt want to do, but she finds out he's been invited to multiple fox reunions where some of the attendees are rich as fuck athletes and says "i want them to pay for my meal" and so they go. They go in their Walmart dress clothes and they don't feel bad, they think rich people are stupid to spend so much when 20$ is enough for a shirt. Their son is in high school and can watch the house by himself.

Seth sticks to Matt, and then remembers that Dan was always more down to earth and his wife loves dan. Doesn't like the others so much besides Wymack and Matt a bit.

Its the only one they go to, but it reminds him to keep up with the man who had helped him out so much and he stays in contact with Wymack. He feels bad for drifting off but they talk. About once every few months, but its more than before.

Okay I'm ending it about here lol

[cbk1000]

GATHER ROUND MOTHERFUCKERS.

I have dirt on the clinic I used to work for. Under a cut because this is long.

So, one of my former co-workers also got a job with the company I now work for. He works for a clinic they own and I work at the business office so we don’t actually work together, but there’s an inter-office instant messaging system, and most days we check in with one another to see how the other’s day is going (he was one of my fave co-workers at the clinic and we both served as a reference for each other, so he’s one of the few I’ve kept in touch with). Naturally, throughout the course of our conversations, we’ve both mentioned how happy we are in our current jobs, how nice our bosses are, and how relieved we are to be out of that toxic environment, so the clinic and our old bosses come up now and again. Today we’re on the topic of how happy we are in our current positions and how much we both like our bosses, and he tells me, “I’m hearing more and more stuff coming out of the clinic. Supposedly Bob (the husband; also I changed everybody’s names, FYI) and Veronica (the wife) are heading for a divorce, and Karen (the problem child secretary who treated people like shit and caused 98% of the clinic’s issues and was consequently promoted to a manager, as you do) and Bob are having an affair. I don’t want to believe that, but the person who told me is really close with Bob and Veronica.”

Naturally, I text my sister and tell her the latest, because you gotta’ keep your girl in the loop. This is earlier in the afternoon; a few hours later, as I’m pulling out of the parking lot at work, I feel my phone vibrate from a text message, but obviously can’t look at it. I make a stop at the grocery store on my way home, and pull out my phone to see who texted me, and it is a very excited text from my sister, all in caps, informing me that she ran into Veronica at the very same store, and she was going on about all the shit my former co-worker mentioned (she had texted me as soon as she got home, so this was probably half an hour or so before I arrived at the same store, because I’m always just shy of the good shit, dammit). I, of course, call her to get the good shit.

So here’s what Veronica tells my sister.

They are getting a divorce; he’s already living somewhere else, but some of his stuff is still at their house, so he’s been going back and forth. Apparently he will not tell anyone where he’s living, but my sister and I posit that he simply doesn’t want HER knowing where he’s living, because based on our observations of them over many years, we have every reason to believe that she’d kick down his door and murder him with an axe. He’s also leaving the clinic. One of the billing employees (there are only two in their billing office) quit because of all the garbage going on, and the other girl wanted to quit, and was only talked out of it because Veronica moved her out of the billing office (which is upstairs) into the area where my sister and I used to work, which is downstairs and away from all the drama, and Bob (he works in their billing office for most of the day, and while Veronica handles payroll, he handles the actual billing portion, along with these two other employees). Allegedly, he was really mean about their break-up, demanded she sign the divorce papers, caused a big scene, etc.; we highly doubt this, however. It most definitely might have happened, but it was probably her doing all the screaming and making demands. She has a tendency to not only be very aggressive, but also to turn everything around so that it’s his fault. My sister and I worked right around the corner from her office, and overheard many fights. They’d go something like this: she would scream at him while he stood there silently, every once in a while offering a tired-sounding word or two in response. Then he would leave, and once he was back upstairs, she’d come out to our area, and immediately launch into a woeful speech about how mean he was to her, how aggressive, how he completely attacked and blindsided her, etc. etc. To his credit (and I don’t give him much, because he’s no prize either), I never once heard him say anything bad about her. She, on the other hand, was all kissy face while he was in the room, and then as soon as he left it, would start telling my sister and me about how stupid and useless he was, that he was a pussy, that he was worthless, etc. etc., all in a tone I would use to talk about my worst enemy. I’ve had the impression for a long time that she loathes him. If at any point I’d ever come downstairs to find him murdered on the floor, I would have been like, “Ah; saw this coming.”

As to the affair, Veronica claimed that multiple people at the office knew about it, and just never mentioned it to her. She also claimed that Bob forced her to make Karen the manager and give her a big raise, that he badgered and badgered her till she finally caved and agreed. She said in hindsight it makes sense knowing there was an affair going on and he wanted to give her things, but this smells like bullshit to both my sister and me. A couple of reasons: it was long known by several people at the clinic that Karen would have been fired long ago if not for Veronica, because Bob couldn’t stand her. In fact, my sister said he outright told her more than once that he hated Karen because she caused so many problems with everyone. It wasn’t till recently that he suddenly started to take her side on things, which is a point in favour of the possibility of an affair, but let’s go deeper. A while before I left, I overheard a big messy blow-out between one of the medical assistants, Karen, and Veronica. Karen, as usual, had poked her nose somewhere it didn’t belong, acted like a jerk about it, and when the medical assistant stood up for herself, she got in trouble. I talked about this a bit some time back, so I’m not going to go into it again; let’s just say I was sitting across from Veronica’s office and heard a lot of what happened, and that poor medical assistant was railroaded by both of their gaslighting asses. I myself overheard Veronica tell the medical assistant that Karen had done a lot for them, so they really valued her, and that basically she was in charge and could do whatever she wanted, and tough shit. Also, I heard her say that she would fire everyone in the clinic if it meant keeping Karen, and other co-workers said they had heard her express a similar sentiment. Also to the second power: I don’t believe for one second that Bob ever bullied her into doing anything she didn’t want to do. So it’s highly suspect to me that making her a manager was all Bob’s idea when Karen had her nose so far up Veronica’s ass that they were essentially the same person.

So, while my sister is telling me all this, I say, “Well, whether there is or isn’t an affair, I’m guessing Karen doesn’t have a job anymore, because Veronica at least thinks they’re having one..” And my sister goes, “NO, that’s the fucking weirdest part--KAREN IS STILL THERE.” I’m the surprised Pikachu meme at this point. You are telling me that this woman, who gets angry just because Bob may have possibly given another woman a passing glance, is convinced that the manager, who has been her bosom ass-kissing buddy for years, fucked her husband, who is no longer part of the business and therefore has no hand in the hiring and firing process...just...lets her...stay employed??? That makes fuckall sense to me. I tell my sister maybe they’re actually the ones who are fucking; Mr. Jenn’s theory is that both Veronica AND Bob had an affair with her. Additionally: Veronica claimed that one of the other secretaries came to her and reported that Karen had told her she and Bob were standing out in the parking lot of the clinic, and Bob told her he loved her. Now, I believe this may have been said to the secretary; but I have a hard time believing Bob is THAT stupid, so I suspect that was probably Karen trying to stir up shit. Regardless, Veronica now thinks that her husband not only fucked her bosom ass-kissing buddy, but was ballsy enough to make declarations of love to her in the parking lot of their business, in the middle of the day, with patients and employees coming and going...and...she’s not...going to fire her???

I’m only half-joking when I say I suspect maybe there’s actually some torrid lesbian shit going on between them, and she twisted it around so that A. She could be the victim and B. Preserve her image as a Good, God-Fearing, Homophobic Christian. I just can’t fathom why she would keep that lady on, and she has ALWAYS been the driving force behind Karen getting special privileges and keeping her job when she otherwise would have been out on her ass years ago.

And that’s what I got for now, kids. Stay tuned, because I’ve got people on the inside, and I wouldn’t be surprised if more comes out in the following weeks. This is a goddamned soap opera.

[melanieratford]

The Rude And Inaccurate Bullshit Of A Religious Nutter.

@retail-hell @retail-retales I don’t know if ya’ll have done anything on fellow coworkers, or on religious nutters that have crossed ya’ll’s paths... But I’ve got one for ya’ll!

As most of you know by now, I work at a grocery store in my town as a cart runner/grocery sacker. It’s not a big one, but it’s Christian and in a town where you almost can’t throw a rock without hitting a church....

One of my coworkers is a preacher’s wife by the name of Paula. And yes, she is the exact definition of a Bad Christian. She’s old, racist and homophobic... But that’s not all folks!

She has:

Screamed at me as if she’s my manager.

Preached at me when it came out that I’m not Christian.

Told me I’m evil when I said that I like snakes.

Nearly gotten me fired when I accidentally lost my cool ONCE.

Said that science has gone too far because of Wal-Mart getting more self check out registers.

Said that Pokemon is witchcraft.

Gotten on to me for cursing... I was using the word to emphasize my excitement for Pokemon Sword and Shield.

Asked me if I was pregnant (I was feeling like shit).

Told me that it would be the Anti-Christ when I jokingly answered her pregnancy question with “If I am, it’s either immaculate conception or demonic.” (I was bloating for my period btw.)

Demanded that I come to her register and sack for her customer even though I was with another customer that needed my service. (many times)

Talked down to me multiple times.

Body shamed me for having acne scars on my chest. I wear a black tank top underneath my uniform, and if you think I’m not taking that damned uniform shirt off when I clock out, you’re crazy. The acne scars are from period acne.

Slut shamed me for wearing black tank tops and spaghetti strap tops beneath my uniform shirts... Telling me that no one should walk out like that (like what? Showing my tiny amount of cleavage and my arms?).

Told me multiple times that I need to go back to church... Despite me telling her each and every time that “I left the Church because of a bad experience where my last church treated my mother and me like garbage.” and “If I fall back in line with the Church, so be it. Until then, I’m fine where I’m at.”

Shit on my love of Harry Potter, video games, and Superhero movies. I talk about that stuff because it’s all okay to talk about at work.

Told me that she took her kids out of public school and put them in private school because of the rise of Pokemon’s popularity.

Given me nasty looks when I commented on a very pretty girl. I was literally saying that she was a really cute girl.

Taken my worrying about my very sick mother and essentially told me that my mom is trying to take advantage of me and use me.

Told me to stop wearing jackets to work in mid summer and just let myself get tan... I was wearing light jackets to combat sunburn without having to wear as much sunscreen.... Until my boss told me that my white jacket was out of dress code.

Complained to me that the plan for my boyfriend and me to get an apartment together before marriage is wrong.

Made racist comments about a couple of our black customers.

Told me that she wouldn’t be surprised if one of our customers were to get raped... The customer was wearing a skin colored dress that was really short. She literally said that the customer was asking for it.

Treated one of our coworkers like crap... The coworker got into a whirlwind marriage then fell out of love with her husband.

Blamed another coworker for ruining the previously mentioned coworkers marriage....

Treated our old Store Trainer like shit because of her sexuality. She and her wife are super cute btw.

Told one of our stockers that she’s living her life wrong... The reason why Paula said she said this is because of the type of energy drink the stocker drinks.

Because apparently Monster Energy Drinks are Satanic...

Talked shit about that stocker to her fiance.

The stocker believes that Paula does this because she and her fiance are lesbians.

Essentially told me that everything I do in my life is sending me to Hell.

Because “THAL SHALT NOT LIKE ANYTHING FUN!”.

Told me that my hypoglycemia is nothing but the crash of an extended caffeine high.

Told me “You’re young. You can handle it.”

Many, many, more offensive things that I’m sure my coworkers could tell me...

Attempted to excuse all of this by telling her sob story about being brutally abused by her ex-husband and by being a “Good Christian”.

Things I’ve said and done after she’s gotten on my nerves that have pissed her off ROYALLY:

Prayed to literally any other god when I’m hopeful around her. (My favorites are Odin, Cthulhu and The Flying Spaghetti Monster)

Told her about my mother being abused and said that my mom doesn’t talk about it much... And when she does, she’s NOT USING IT AS A CRUTCH FOR BAD BEHAVIOR.

Gone to a manager about her behavior. (As of 07/18/19, I’ve done this twice.)

Sang the chorus to “That Brand New Baby Smell” from Good Omens loud enough for her to hear.

Brought in the Good Omens book and read a couple of pages from it as I was checking out my morning coffee from her register.

Talked about the Good Omens show A LOT.

Snapped and told her to “Go back to the Dark Ages.”

Told her various forms of “You’re not my boss.”

Said “That’s rich coming from you.” when she was preaching one day.

Told her that I don’t care what she thinks about me.

Sassily left the store, black shirt exposed, grin on my face, and looked at her as I left as if I was the hottest thing on the planet.

Said something snappy, called her “Sweetheart”, winked, and walked off.

Told her that I’ll see her in Hell.

Talked about my love of sinning.

A lot of people throughout my store, including a couple of managers have said that she is the textbook definition of a horrible Christian. I have compared how she treats me to a jockey riding a racehorse... And yet... There are 2 things she says she loves, other than Jesus... Scrubs and The Hunger Games... Don’t get me wrong, I like both of those, but damn.... A funny hospital show, and a dystopian fiction series that focuses on kids murdering each other...

[bangtanficrecs]

Lost & Found Batch #20

Can’t start up the blog again without posting the newest batch! As always, if you happen to know the fic the ask is looking for, reply to this post or send us an ask with the request number and title/author. If you happen to know any fics from Past Batches, those are more than welcome as well. Thank you!! ~ Admin P

                                                      --------------

1) Hi! I’m looking for a fic I read quite a while ago and if you can help me i’ll be forever grateful... it was about namjoon having powers and accidentally causing damage, so seokjin (who was a kind of a social worker assigned to him) sent him to live with yoongi as a way to make up for his “crime”. Yoongi was also magical and lived isolated from society. If I remember correctly hoseok was also guilty of something and sent to yoongi with namjoon. Sorry if it’s too vague, but that’s all I remember

2) Hi, I decided to give this a try though I think the fic may have been deleted because I just can't find the fic anymore. Basically its ot7 and the main character (Jungkook?) took the boys to meet his mom. The author had the boys super athletic, tall and in college;they were also from Texas. Jungkook sadly had to deal with homophobic classmates. It was a one shot I believe.

Hey, Momma by CaridwenAngetueur1

3) hi!! i’m trying to find a yoonmin fic i read a while ago, where yoongi lived in this small town and had an apothecary and jimin would come and sing in the town centre, and yoongi would give him something for his nerves before he’d go on stage. i remember jimin would glow and light would shoot out from him when he sung. it was a completed fic on ao3, i can’t seem to find it. thank you so much for your help!!

4) Hello! If you don’t mind helping me, im looking for a jikook fic i can’t seem to find again on ao3. Its a time travel, canon au where present day bts where in japan and Jungkook had went through a shrine? He ends up in the past with younger!bts and acts as like a cousin to Jungkook until they can figure out how to send him back. I remember there being a scene where younger!bts miss their flight to help older!jungkook get back to the future? If you need more details please let me know. Thank you!

5) Hello! I'm looking for a vmin fic where flowers literally grow on Tae and he's really insecure about it and gets depressed. It's super soft and fluffy and the entire thing is pretty much just Jimin taking care and comforting him. I'm pretty sure it's a one-shot and that they are the only two that are explicitly brought up. I love it so much and I hope that this isn't too vague.

6) hi idk if any of u can help me find this fic but imma try: its an au in which kids go disappearing often and i can only remember that one day taehyung is one of them and jungkook takes it up on himself to find him bc he firmly believes that he isnt dead yet. not sure bout this but i also think tae got kidnapped to get tested on? and seokjin is one of the doctors in that institution??? this fic is written by a fanboy as far as i can recall and had a reallyyyyyy hard to remember title sigh 😔

kotov syndrome by wormkun Note: The fic is locked and requires an AO3 account to view

7) Hey so I read this fic a while ago but no matter what i search, i can't seem to find it. Namjoon was a depressed ?college student? and he wrote songs that he only showed to his friend Jimin. He and Jimin go to a coffee shop where Yoongi works and yoongi keeps leaving notes to RM on Joon's coffee cups, but namjoon doesnt' know who RM is. I think it turns out Jimin had been posting Joons songs and yoongi recognized his voice and wanted to encourage him. NJ writes always and almost attempts suicide

8) Hello, I was wondering if you could help find this fanfic I've looking for forever. It's an ot7 relationship fic ( I think it's jimin centric). it was still not completed. The summary was something like taehyung asking jimin if he wanted to be in a relationship with them and jimin saying No. Because technically he already knew they were all in a relationship and he felt betrayed that he was left out for so long. There is something about a creepy sasaeng fan too. I would really appreciate it.

Last to Know by Meadow_Wanderer

9) Hi! Im looking for an au fic where Jungkook was depressed, and was with V who had anger problems bc of past child abuse. Jhope didn’t like Jungkook bc of something about his dark past involving his sister who I think was raped and died. I also remembered RM having a tattoo and being an ex member of a mafia group. He blew a gas station up, and Jin thought he died but he came back, and they had sex on the window. JK attempted suicide as well but Jin saved him. Thanks!!

10) I'm searching for a vminhope fanfic. It was I believe an A/B/O one. It was on aff. Hoseok was a berserker, Jimin was a beta and Tae was an omega.

11) Hi!!!!! I've been looking for this one fic forever. It's about jungkook who's an art student and jimin and taehyung are cops who look out for him. Jungkook talks a lot about suicide and he's a university art student. I think one of the art projects in the fic was a corpse painting with flowers. Jungkook also stole from a convenience store and when jimin and Rae caught up to him they noted he had a red beanie in his pocket. Thats all. Thank you!!!

12) There was this fic where Jungkook was lonely and lived alone in a hut on the woods, and he saw Jimin in a club took him to that hut and Jimin tried to run away but Injured his leg and had to stay. It's wip, and now i can't find it :( help please?

13) i'm having trouble finding a fanfic about taekook, where jungkook finds taehyung in a lake (or any body of water), and it turns out that he's from past times. he shows taehyung around present day, and taehyung at one point dresses up as a cowboy. jungkook gives taehyung's peepee the big succ, they get caught by the police, but they run away. from my memory, that's where it ends, or there may be more to it. even tags from ao3 to jog my memory will help.

14) I read this Taejin fanfic a while ago and now I can’t find it, all I know about it is that Taehyung was in some way abused and Jin brought him to his home, also that Jin had a twin brother, also it had many chapters, if you can find it I’ll be very grateful!!!

15) Hi! I read a yoomin fic in ao3 when I was new in the Fandom and I can't find it anywhere, I remember it being angst, mostly Yoongi's pov, it was set in the I need you era and Yoongi played the piano for jungkook's dance, I also remember Jimin struggled with eating disorders and alcoholism and that at some point they had a big fight when jimin came home drunk in a random cab d

16) Hi! I can't find a fic I read few years ago, so I was wondering if you could help)) It was Taehyung/Namjoon fic, and Namjoon hired him as his fake ex-boyfriend so that his friends (Hoseok and Jimin if I remember correctly) would stop asking him to go on dates or smth like that.

if it bleeds by wertstoffhof (roachprince)

17) Hello! I’m hoping you can help me find a fic, it’s a mental hospital one where all the members apart from jin and namjoon are in the mental hospital and another member (maybe jungkook) arrives and it turns out jin is making up their diagnosis because he thought they’d want to stay longer. If that’s too brief i can remember specific bits but i couldn’t find anything on your tags, thank you! Jin is a sort of like a therapist who looks after them and namjoon is like the manager of sorts i think

Seeking Heaven by fullofsuga

18) Hello, hope you're well! I was wondering if you could help me find a Jihope fic that I've been looking for forever! Jimin was friends with Taehyung and didn't know the rest of the boys until he was added into a group chat. I remember that Jimin worked in a shop that was broken in to, and that Taehyung didn't want Jimin and Hoseok to date? I think the chapter titles were all days of the week as well - thank you!!

19) Hey do you know the name of this historic au fic where Yoongi is a chaebol and I think he buys Jungkook from his abusive dad to be his servant? I remember he teaches him how to read and even gives up his money just to be with jungkook and becomes an author

tear the moon from the stars tonight by euphoriae

20) Hi! I'm looking for a YoonMin fanfic that's a pretend/fake dating au, where Jimin was at the grocery shop and his ex suddenly came up and started teasing/mocking him? Then Yoongi suddenly came up behind him and started pretending to be his bf? Thank you so much and I'm so sorry for the bother!

21) Hey! I've been looking for this fic forever (i've tried every tag on ao3, god help me). It's a v/yoongi fic where tae is really into public sex and yoongi too, but yoongi is shy at first. there's a scene at the beginning where yoongi is on a date with a girl and he goes to the bathroom to masturbate. at the middle they both are in a restaurant with 2 other people (from bts, i can't remember which members) and tae touches him. at the end tae masturbates yoongi in a restaurant/karaoke booth?

Hands-On Learning by pornographicpenguin

22) Hi! Looking for this multi chaptered abo fic where Yoongi is a omega and kookie presents as an alpha during practice and triggers yoongi's heat. Later on jin and joon become mates but it's mainly about yoonkook slowly getting together... Idk if that's helpful but it's driving me crazy because I can't find it

23) Hi, I'm looking for an old jin/yoongi fic that had a magical element in it I read a while ago and need a little help. Yoongi is an underground rapper and he always passes by this shop. One night after a gig he actually stops in front of it and goes in. Jin runs it and gives him a drink. (I think its tea but idk) he also gives him a muffin or cupcake. At the end jin tells yoongi he was looking for love and that's what led yoongi into the shop.

24) Hi! I’m looking for a fic I read a year back. It has Jin as an assassin and he saved the maknae line from abuse and stuffs and they fell in love with him. And he also has a relationship with Suga

25) Weird fic I read but I want to see if more came out. Anyway it's super weird, bts is the a werewolf gang and they go to a party for the higher ranking alphas. There they meet an omega of a high ranking alpha and then more stuff happens that I can't remember. I just thought of it randomly and I wanted to see if you could find it. It's okay of you can't I appreciate the help either way.

26) Ok color me corrected if you manage to find this fic, but I can’t seem to remember anything about it. It’s a red string of fate/soulmate au but I CANNOT remember the pairing. I think it was canon divergent, they lived in the dorm together. I remember that the string was actually tangible and the pair would always trip over it. Thanks haha

27) I am looking for a fic I read ages ago. It was jikook, they were in high school. Jk is really rich and loves taking photos one day he sees jm and is compelled to take a photo of his bright orange hair. Tae sees the photo and hires jk so take photos of jimin as he never sees him smile. Jm is very poor, he is freinds with joon and tae I think. Jin is jks brother. Jm initially gets mad at jk but eventually they become friends and fall in love. There was some past stuff with taegi too I think.

Imperfectly Perfect by whenIseeUsmile

28) Hi. I'm looking for a fic on ao3. It's a historical royalty au and I think it's yoonmin. I think it's incomplete too. Yoongi is a prince and his brother is JK. Jimin and Jin are spys from a neighbouring kingdom that's on the verge of war. The last chapter I remember has the castle being invaded and the royal family being killed, there may have been a fire. I hope you can help

Death In Disguise by pikachoi

[ouraidengray4]

The Mississippi Delta Guide to Gay Pride: Our Life in the Deep South

Kilby Allen and Lindsay Sproul, Wedding Day, Tallahassee, FL 2015

My wife, Lindsay, grew up on the Massachusetts south shore. It’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen, all rocky beaches and moored sailboats, old growth hardwoods and colonial houses built before the founding of the country. Visiting her hometown was like walking into an L.L. Bean catalog.

As a child, I spent a lot of time memorizing photographs in magazines and catalogs, tracing the contours of unfamiliar landscapes, wanting to file these images in my imagination, to remind myself that the entire world wasn’t the Mississippi Delta. To describe the Delta, to really explain the intricacies of rural Southern life and geographical isolation, would take days. To approximate the tourist experience of the Delta, listen to Charley Patton’s High Water Everywhere while flipping through photographer William Eggleston’s The Democratic Forest. But if you can’t do that, just imagine the flattest, muddiest land possible. Then picture little towns, houses huddled together, in a sea of endless, clear-cut farmland. It’s the poorest, most isolated part of one of the poorest and most isolated states, and it is extreme in all things: weather, religion, politics, foodstuffs.

Basically, Lindsay and I grew up in opposite universes, and we probably never would’ve met, but luckily, the recession basically forced us both into graduate school. And I can honestly say that the best thing about getting a PdD was marrying Lindsay.

Photo booth reel, New Orleans, LA Summer 2016

We were married in the city hall annex beneath the Bank of America in Tallahassee, Florida. Gay marriage had become legal in Florida by default a few months earlier, but the Federal Supreme Court ruling was still forthcoming, which meant that our marriage paperwork bore the labels Bride and Groom. So technically, Lindsay may be my husband.

"I can finally pronounce you… married," said Bob, city clerk, skipping over the gendered language in his civil ceremony script. It’s not how I imagined my wedding, because I never imagined my wedding. And even though we were in a basement room with a fake, backlit stained glass window, no family or friends, on the Tuesday after I turned in my dissertation, our wedding really was everything the magazines say: The Most Important Day of Our Lives.

And then the rest of life happens. I graduated, and when neither us landed a full time job, we decided to move to the Hudson Valley. We wanted to be somewhere other than Florida, somewhere with mountains. There were plenty of colleges within commuting distance—so many, in fact, that we had to turn down adjunct work because our schedules were full.

But to condense a very long story, it’s practically impossible to make enough money adjunct teaching to survive in New York, even if you teach at three different schools and work 18 hours a day. We spent the year uninsured and too poor to buy food. When the spring semester ended, unable to make rent on our crappy apartment, we were also homeless.

So like the many millennials, Lindsay and I were forced to move back in with mom and dad. My mom and dad, specifically, which meant that we became a married lesbian couple living in Mississippi, a state that was scheduled to enact HB 1523,"The Religious Liberty Accommodations Act," legislation aimed at not only de-legitimizing our marriage, but also supporting (if not outright encouraging) public discrimination against all LGBTQ individuals.

So last June, on Lindsay’s 31st birthday, we moved into my childhood bedroom in Indianola, Mississippi.

The protesters were mostly overweight, middle-aged people in sweaty t-shirts. The queer people were also mostly overweight, middle-aged people in sweaty t-shirts. Without the signage, you’d hardly be able to tell the two groups apart.

I left the Delta for school when I was 16, half a lifetime ago, and my old bedroom was exactly as I had left it: glow-in-the-dark ceiling stars, a Lisa Loeb poster, and dozens of plastic ponies lining the bookshelves, their eyes staring downward.

In Mississippi, I started to become my teenage self again. I was moody and irritable. I ate deep-fried food filled with preservatives. I sweated when I was nervous. (Or maybe that was because it was 105 degrees outside.) Worst of all, the internalized Bible Belt homophobia that I’d spent years in therapy trying to dissipate reemerged with a vengeance.

In all the time we’d been married, Lindsay and I had the luxury of thinking of ourselves as another boring married couple. We lived in progressive cities, and neither of us were the kind of people who woke up in the morning thinking, I’m gay! But suddenly, we lived in a place where we were constantly reminded of our gayness. "You don’t touch me in public anymore," Lindsay said. I was busy rifling through our suitcases, looking for something to wear that was neither plaid nor baggy, or in any way "masculine"—my mother’s term.

"We just can’t do that here!" I heard myself say, and in that moment, I felt completely defeated, because it felt so true. Then I’m sure I cried. We spent most of the time crying, those first weeks in Mississippi, which is one of the reasons we decided to go Pride. Though we’d both been to various Gay Pride events in New York, California, and even in Florida, neither of us is the kind of person who likes big, drunk crowds or assless chaps. Pride always seemed like a party I’d rather avoid, but I still thought of it as that—a party.

Kilby Allen and Lindsay Sproul, Los Angeles 2014

Last summer, Mississippi held its first-ever official Pride celebration. There was originally supposed to be a parade, but in the wake of the Orlando shooting, organizers (or maybe law enforcement) decided that it would be safer to barricade a tiny park in downtown Jackson and surround the entire event with armed policemen. We weren’t surprised by the security, though I assumed it was unnecessary. The event was tiny: half a dozen tents and folding tables, four food trucks, and a single beer line. When we arrived, there may have been 100 people there.

Then the protesters arrived. We’ve all seen pictures of backward-looking hicks holding "God Hates Fags" signs, but this was in 2016. Weren’t we past this?

Lindsay and I were sitting on the grass, watching drag queens sashay in the noonday sun, when the chanting started. A man with a megaphone buzzed in the background while someone born with a penis danced to "I’m Every Woman" while wearing a sequined evening gown in the 100-degree heat. Restless queer people, the novelty of outdoor, daytime drag wearing thin, began to drift toward the barricades to see the real, live protestors.

Lindsay and I were curious too, so we joined the crowd. The protesters were mostly overweight, middle-aged people in sweaty t-shirts. The queer people were also mostly overweight, middle-aged people in sweaty t-shirts. Without the signage, you’d hardly be able to tell the two groups apart. Good thing there was a chain-link fence and a bunch of people with guns between us. Otherwise we might get mixed up.

I reached out and took Lindsay’s hand. I pulled her close and kissed her there, a few feet from the screaming, sweaty face of a homophobe wearing a sandwich board. I finally realized that Pride isn’t a party, and you can’t show up fashionably late. In Mississippi, Pride is still a protest. By the end of the summer, I managed to get a full-time academic job half an hour from my hometown, and Lindsay got a two-book deal for her novels, so we were able to move out of my parents’ house. But we still live in the Mississippi Delta.

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The week before the election, Lindsay was walking our dogs on the campus where we teach, when a boy in a pickup truck, probably a student, pulled up next to her and yelled "dyke!" from the window. When she told me about it, she was almost laughing through her tears because it seemed so ridiculous. But then the same day, not 20 miles away, an African-American church was burned, and the words "Vote Trump" were spray-painted on the charred shell. After that, of course, more and more incidents like these were reported throughout the country. Now, I make a point to hold Lindsay’s hand whenever we are in the grocery store or walking around town.

It’s February, and though most Deltans have taken down their Christmas decorations by now, many Trump yard signs have yet to be retired. I’m not sure if America’s future will look like the Mississippi of today, but I know that Lindsay and I won’t keep our marriage behind the barricades anymore. We will march down the sidewalk-less streets of the Mississippi Delta, a two-woman Pride parade, until there really is no more need for protest.

Kilby Allen's work has appeared in CutBank, Day One, Nashville Review, and elsewhere. Her tiny book, The Feral Syllables of Affection (In Short Publishing) will soon be available in train station vending machines throughout Australia. Find her at kilbyallen.com.

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