#not a customer to be dealt with

[pendularium]

vaugeposting about one of my closest friends on a site he doesn't use just because I need to get this out and I don't really want any actual advice on what to do thank you very much

in case anyone actually does run into this and read it (unlikely) depression&suicidal ideation warnings I guess

I'm one of the most active members of every groupchat I'm in. The main one I'm going to rant about (because in my other friend group groupchat this Doesn't Happen) has around 15 members, with 10 of those being people who I'd consider actual friends rather than friends of friends.

Of those 10 I see some of them really often - one almost daily. And yet.

In the groupchat I am one of the most active, with two others maybe also being as active as me, I'm going to call the one I'll be talking about L (random letter, yes I know this isn't reddit).

My biggest issue is probably with L in that he responds to basically everything I say with fucking stock responses? Like I love him he's a wonderful human being, and I know irl the reason we're not that close is because neither of us try (imo we just have too similar of personalities...) This is a full on random vent post so. My other main issue with L is that I have tried to do stuff - and while he's been more receptive than Anyone Else (we also go to Uni together, and do a weekly-ish meet up in someone's room to hang out and drink, I have one of the largest rooms of any of us, I have offered it up repeatedly but noooo. Can't have that can we.) he still has very much just brushed me aside? Like he has tea sessions with some others, and he has acted all surprised that I wasn't invited - AS IN another of our friends casually said to me 'oh you know where L's room is, you go over for tea' and he's referenced happenings to me expecting me to get them (have I fucking watched brideshead revisited with you indeed), but he won't actually invite me.

and this + the stock responses stuff? It's partly the fault of online communication - where it is seemingly PERFECTLY FUCKING OKAY to just peace out of a conversation without saying anything?? like am I going insane or is it polite to just say bye. Especially on WhatsApp I can see that you have seen my message. Just say anything?? (But equally he gives me these same responses in person?)

(I know this is a me problem, another friend who's on the gc has said before that he thinks it's rude if people reply saying that they can't attend something rather than just not responding. needless to say I disagree...+ just general life stuff)

Like L is physically one of the closest of my friends at uni, as in we live in buildings right next to each other, but I just. I don't connect with him. He doesn't initiate conversation with me. nobody does.

I remember reading a while ago about a guy who felt like he hadn't really made any friends, and so just stopped responding to the people he knew to test if they'd get back to him, and they didn't. And later on he went to therapy and realised that he didn't initiate anything, and that he was putting the whole burden of friendship on them. I remember reading that and thinking is this me? do I not do enough? But equally, I have suggested outings and been ignored or rejected or have only one to two people respond. I try to start conversations, I tell people about my life, ask them how they're doing. And still I feel like I'm alone.

A few years ago, before I got into uni, I was incredibly depressed. Had a plan and everything. Gave myself an ultimatum. One of the areas that distressed me the most was feeling like I just couldn't connect with my friends. I know now why - I can rationalise it out; one was having similarly dire mental crises, with another our interests had just drifted apart over time, and with a third it was a deeply toxic relationship that consisted of her constantly lying and being cruel, and me silently hating her but still staying friends out of fear? pity?

There's a difference between being lonely and being alone. One of those you can feel even when surrounded by people who'd all call themselves friend.

I'm a lot older now than I was then. After lockdowns, I moved to a new area, met new people, and like. I felt good about myself and life again. I started going on walks, looking up at the stars at night and seeing how light fell across fields of wheat in the morning. Laughed more, was just generally happier than I felt like I'd ever been. And a key part of that was my friends at the time; unlike now, friendship felt easy, uncomplicated.

And now I'm back in the same place, older and ostensibly wiser, but really just stuck. Different location, different people, but there's something always in the way, and that something seems to lie exclusively with me.

My mother also has had a hard time making and keeping friends, ended up in several friendships where she gave everything to the other person in exchange for what would always turn out to be empty words and hurt. I don't want to be like her.

I want to talk to my friends, tell them about this, sit down and just say how I feel. Ask if we're friends, if L knows he's doing this. Get their side of everything! But equally, how can I do that? I know some of what L's been through in the past with emotionally unstable people, I don't want to just be that same person, put it all on him, because who else would listen!

but sometimes I'm not sure I really want to exist anymore. I don't want to die, just...stop. become nothingness, never was, never will be.

if I did die. did just walk into a road one day and get hit by a car, or have an aneurism, or just stopped working one day, act of god style, would they notice would they care? of course. but I'd never change anyone's life, and it feels selfish just saying that but. I'm an afterthought in the friend bubble, something disposable. if I left the group chat today, left the earth tomorrow, they might wonder, might even cry, but wouldn't care. I'd just be a name in a list, someone else gone.

I want to have friends.

I try to.

[issues-oclock]

[toastingpencils37]

I know a lot of fans headcanon that Kai solely looked after Nya, which doesn't make sense... but there are also a ton that headcanon that he solely ran and made the weapons the shop too.... when he couldn't forge a weapon to save his life in the pilots???

Meanwhile if I'm remembering correctly NYA could??? Hence her Samurai X mech??

[torchstelechos]

The more I work customer service, the more I understand SQH's mindset when he wrote the torture scenes

[sherbet-powder]

GUESS WHAT.

CAPTIVE

[energysynergymatrix]

POV u meet len for the first time

[butleroftoast]

Personally I think I am owed a medal for working 17 years in a retail-adjacent sector and not throwing myself or anyone else into the on-site pond.

Not even the rude, entitled customer who outright lied to me today in order to get the booking they wanted.

[shopwitchvamp]

General reminder that this shop is run by just two (2) people, and that we don't answer emails overnight or (usually) on our days off. If you ever don't get a response right away, please do not panic. We will absolutely get to you during regular business hours!

[hush-writes-preg]

I just had a little scenario in my head: imagine you're working as a cashier or sth at a store, you see hundreds of faces every day, but there's this one pretty guy in your age who always smiles at you politely as he pays for his stuff. He becomes one of the regular customers and comes by like once every week.

After a while of working there, you notice sth about him has kinda... changed. He used to be super thin and flat, most of his body still is, except for his tummy. It used to be flat too, but today you notice a slight, barely visible curve beneath his slim-fitted shirt. You shrug in your head, maybe he just gained some weight from eating or sth. But when he comes back next week, and the weeks after, you realize that with every visit, his belly seems to have slightly grown more. Does he look embarrassed and tries to hide it? Is he completely oblivious to this change? Or does he seem proud and confident, arching his back a little extra to underline his new curve?

I've been working at the same grocery store since high school, so suffice it to say I've gotten to know the clientele over the years.  Some were a lot more memorable than others.  There was the Hypochondriac who pushed her cart of rubbing alcohol through the store every week with chapped, badly cracked hands; the Church Lady who loved to tell me about all the reasons I'd go to hell as I tried to process a hundred of her dumb coupons; the sweet Technophobe who always showed up in my line because he needed a gentle hand figuring out those newfangled credit card machines every time he shopped… yeah, it wasn't a boring job by a long shot. 

Of course, there were a lot more of the mundane sorts of customers, too.  Customers whose faces I grew accustomed to and whose looks and habits grew nearly as familiar as my own. 

I remember one guy in particular.  He was around my age and pretty average in terms of looks, but he never caused problems and always seemed to wear a smile.  He usually showed up on Thursday nights to do his weekly shopping, though I'd see him stop by to grab a couple of things on other days, too.  I figured he had a bit of a sweet tooth, because he rarely checked out without at least something chocolate-flavored in his order, but you probably wouldn't have guessed that at a glance since he was such a skinny dude. 

Well, at least he used to be.

It was probably around a year after I started noticing him that I noticed something else-- he'd started putting on a little weight around the middle.  I barely even clocked it at first, 'cause who cares, right?  People gain weight and lose weight all of the time.  But what struck me as odd was the fact that his seemed centered around his belly, and once it started growing, it just kept going. 

At first, it was nothing more than a little bulge that changed the contours of his belly under his shirt, but a few weeks later it poked out far enough to leave a visible little gap under the hem.  If he shifted the right way to grab something out of his cart, I could totally see tight, bare skin and tummy fuzz.  The guy seemed completely oblivious to the changes, though, at least for a while.

I'd started to wonder if he realized just how tight his shirts had gotten when he finally seemed to get the memo. 

He arrived for his next visit in a baggy hoodie, and any time his bulging middle bumped into anything, his face reddened and his eyes darted away.  There was a lot more chocolate on the belt during that trip, and mixed in among the assorted foodstuffs was a box of pregnancy tests. 

Well, that explained a lot. 

I felt his gaze snap to me the moment my hand made contact with it, and I know he was watching me for any sort of reaction as I slid the box over the scanner. 

He jumped when it beeped and the price came up on the display, and I had to bite back a chuckle.  "This is a good brand," I mentioned conversationally, hoping to put him at ease.  "My cousin researched these things obsessively last year when he got pregnant.  He said they were one of the most accurate ones on the market."

"Oh yeah?" he mumbled, not quite meeting my eyes, but I caught the way he pressed a hand against his growing bump. 

"Yep."  Beep.  Beep.  "Oh by the way, that candy bar you picked up is buy one get one free this week.  In case you wanna grab another one."

He didn't say anything, but the smile he shot me was filled with relief and gratitude as his fingers curled around a second piece of candy and tossed it to the belt.  I wasn't about to judge him if he'd gotten himself knocked up.  And if those tests came back the way I figured they might, the dude was gonna need the extra sugar boost.

[multi-lefaiye]

conversations with a customer two weeks ago, summarized:

me: hello! i remember you rented a unit with us yesterday--i was just calling to see when you were planning to move in?

customer: we'll be moved in later today! we're leaving for a trip tomorrow so we're gonna get this done before that.

me: sounds good, thank you for keeping us updated!

[they did not move in that day. i gave them an extra day, then called them to touch base, per company policy, and left a message. they called back three days later.]

me: thank you for calling-

customer: hi, why so you keep calling to bother us? i told you we were leaving for vacation this week, and you've been really stressing me out. we'll move in when we get back.

me: i apologize, ma'am, i was just following up based on what you told me befor-

customer: well stop calling! i told you we were leaving for vacation, so you shouldn't keep bothering us. we already paid for the fucking unit, what more do you need?

me: i just need an update for when you'll be moving in. we generally require units be secured within one week, but-

customer: oh my god. well, we can't this week!

me: -but since you're communicating to me that you can't until you get home, i just need an estimate for when that will be.

customer: well we get home this weekend.

me: alright, ma'am, i'll go ahead and note that you plan to move in sometime next week after you get home.

customer: good. [hangs up]

[mystic-writings]

i am all for being nice to customer service reps as i'm quite literally one of them, but god DAMN do these big companies need to get a grip

[astral-catastrophe]

I will be putting together a list of people to smack with my saber, thanks

[sphylor]

dude one thing i fucking HATE about customer service is when someone comes to you with like a Minor issue they faced with your workplace and you like say sorry and explain why that might have been and then say sorry again and the person is like "mm i dont think thats the answer im looking for here." LIKE OKAY WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT ME TO DOOOOO THEN HUH?????????? IM VERY CLEARLY THE LOWEST EMPLOYEE RANK THERE IS I HAVE NO POWER TO DO ANYTHING??? if you want to speak to a manager the go fucking speak to a manager or ask me to get one for you??????? dont make it my fucking problem and act like im being unreasonable and difficult

[binch-i-might-be]

did a bunch of stuff today already :) most notably I changed my sheets!

[seastarlily]

Random thought is random, but if Mr. Krabs acts as a father figure to SpongeBob (he outright states that SpongeBob is like a son to him multiple times), and Squidward acts as a younger brother figure to Mr. Krabs (not outright stated, but at least heavily implied with the fact that he's been Mr. Krabs's go-to babysitter for Pearl since she was an infant and the fact she canonically calls him "Uncle Squiddy"), then would that make Squidward and SpongeBob like uncle and nephew?🤔

(Not a shipping post - please don't tag ships of any kind)

[allisonreader]

There are two kinds of days that make me think that today is a good day to get a milkshake and a poutine. Those are good days at work (like selling an expensive machine) or bad days at work (dealing with customers who make me cry because they’re upset and not necessarily at me). Today was was the second kind.