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Evidently I'm incredibly mean.
I work in a pet store, which is pretty cool since I love animals. I switch between grooming, pet care and cashiering, all of which have their merits and downsides. Recently I spent a while in the hospital, where it was discovered that I have a pretty severe health issue that will need immediate care/surgery, and I've been taking medication to help with the pain it causes (I was screaming loud enough during testing that they could hear me in the waiting room on the opposite side of the building) but it only does so much, but they didn't give me a work release form (I'm not allowed to drive, can barely stand up and am in agonizing pain most of the time, but hey, clearly that's not going to stop me from lifting 50+pound bags of dog food and contorting myself into unnatural positions to clean fishtanks and stuff!
So, I already wasn't in the best frame of mind heading to work.
I had a few customers that really frinked me off...one was a woman who came in to get a goldfish for decoration. I explained to her, as is our job, that the goldfish (even the 'feeder' types) need at least twenty gallons, forty if they're long-bodied like comets or shubunkins, to live healthy and will suffer if kept in anything smaller. She told me she didn't care if it died, she only wanted it for a little while to look nice while she had someone visiting. I told her, as is our company policy, if we know they're going to be going into an environment that is cruel, we can't sell them. She then goes and tries to claim she's getting them to feed a turtle, and requests a specific fish from the tank (one that was very colourful). I told her we didn't get the feeders from the tank up front, those were the 'pet' fish, the feeders we kept in the back, so I could go get some from there but she wouldn't be able to pick them out, as customers aren't allowed back there. She got mad, started yelling at me and went to talk to the other girl working at the time. I told the girl exactly what I'd been told, and even spoke to a manager, but the other girl is one of those 'who cares? They're just fish' types, and got the woman the fish she wanted, at which point she proceeded to shake the bag in my face with an almost manic grin and stalk off laughing. I have never been so tempted to punch someone in my life, and I think the manager who was there knew that because he kept very close and was throwing worried glances at me, because he already knew about my current medical state and that I am NOT in any shape to tolerate that kind of idiocy. I asked why the hell my coworker had been allowed to let her get away with that kind of crap, and he shrugged and said we can't let customers get upset, because if they complain we'll get in trouble, and if someone changes their story a billion times like she had to get what they want they could end up telling corporate that we were insulting her or swearing or who knows what.
Yeah, so we can prevent animal cruelty unless the people doing it complain. Right. Fuck that noise.
While working the fish wall, there was a group of mostly unsupervised little kids running around that started smacking very hard on the glass. I asked them to stop, and when they didn't, I herded them together and asked if they'd ever seen Finding Nemo. Of course, they said they had (who hasn't?) and I asked if they remembered how when the little girl at the dentist's office tapped on the glass, how the fish didn't like it. They said yes, and I told them that these fish were the same - they didn't like when someone hit their glass, it hurt them and sounded really really loud. The kids seemed to understand that, and stopped hitting the glass. Their mother conveniently showed up just then and went off on me about yelling at her kids (I never raise my voice to anyone, much less children) and complained to the manager. He was in the area and heard how I'd spoken to the kids, though, so I didn't get in trouble for that one.
The last one was this lady who seemed perfectly nice, asked for some advice on fishtanks, which ones get along, algae prevention (I prefer marimo) and stuff like that. She noticed I was moving very stiffly when I was getting fish and asked if I was okay. I explained that I'd been in the hospital recently and couldn't move very well. She said she understood, she was in the hospital constantly for several health issues, and asked what mine were. I told her that there were a few possibilities, all of which can and will be fixed via a hysterectomy, but it was taking a while to get it approved because paperwork. She asked if I was going to be upset about not being able to have kids. I shrugged and said I never wanted them anyway, so it was no big loss. She got that same condescending smile all adults with kids get when someone even a year younger says something like that (Oh great), asked how old I was, and told me that she thought that almost her whole life until she had kids.
God, if I had a dime for every time I've heard that....look, I don't care about other people's reproductive choices, but I don't like kids and I'm TRANS anyway, though I mostly present as female right now since I haven't saved up enough for a name change or anything. I don't want kids. I know that. I don't even have any interest in relationships (Asexual and aromantic) so it's not something that's a possibility, and I hate when everyone tells me that just because I currently possess a uterus at some point something in my brain will go 'Ding! BABY TIME!' and I will be consumed with a mad lust for having children. No thanks, not me, just because I'm a little younger than you doesn't mean you know how my life works. BLARGH.
So, I already wasn't in the best frame of mind heading to work.
I had a few customers that really frinked me off...one was a woman who came in to get a goldfish for decoration. I explained to her, as is our job, that the goldfish (even the 'feeder' types) need at least twenty gallons, forty if they're long-bodied like comets or shubunkins, to live healthy and will suffer if kept in anything smaller. She told me she didn't care if it died, she only wanted it for a little while to look nice while she had someone visiting. I told her, as is our company policy, if we know they're going to be going into an environment that is cruel, we can't sell them. She then goes and tries to claim she's getting them to feed a turtle, and requests a specific fish from the tank (one that was very colourful). I told her we didn't get the feeders from the tank up front, those were the 'pet' fish, the feeders we kept in the back, so I could go get some from there but she wouldn't be able to pick them out, as customers aren't allowed back there. She got mad, started yelling at me and went to talk to the other girl working at the time. I told the girl exactly what I'd been told, and even spoke to a manager, but the other girl is one of those 'who cares? They're just fish' types, and got the woman the fish she wanted, at which point she proceeded to shake the bag in my face with an almost manic grin and stalk off laughing. I have never been so tempted to punch someone in my life, and I think the manager who was there knew that because he kept very close and was throwing worried glances at me, because he already knew about my current medical state and that I am NOT in any shape to tolerate that kind of idiocy. I asked why the hell my coworker had been allowed to let her get away with that kind of crap, and he shrugged and said we can't let customers get upset, because if they complain we'll get in trouble, and if someone changes their story a billion times like she had to get what they want they could end up telling corporate that we were insulting her or swearing or who knows what.
Yeah, so we can prevent animal cruelty unless the people doing it complain. Right. Fuck that noise.
While working the fish wall, there was a group of mostly unsupervised little kids running around that started smacking very hard on the glass. I asked them to stop, and when they didn't, I herded them together and asked if they'd ever seen Finding Nemo. Of course, they said they had (who hasn't?) and I asked if they remembered how when the little girl at the dentist's office tapped on the glass, how the fish didn't like it. They said yes, and I told them that these fish were the same - they didn't like when someone hit their glass, it hurt them and sounded really really loud. The kids seemed to understand that, and stopped hitting the glass. Their mother conveniently showed up just then and went off on me about yelling at her kids (I never raise my voice to anyone, much less children) and complained to the manager. He was in the area and heard how I'd spoken to the kids, though, so I didn't get in trouble for that one.
The last one was this lady who seemed perfectly nice, asked for some advice on fishtanks, which ones get along, algae prevention (I prefer marimo) and stuff like that. She noticed I was moving very stiffly when I was getting fish and asked if I was okay. I explained that I'd been in the hospital recently and couldn't move very well. She said she understood, she was in the hospital constantly for several health issues, and asked what mine were. I told her that there were a few possibilities, all of which can and will be fixed via a hysterectomy, but it was taking a while to get it approved because paperwork. She asked if I was going to be upset about not being able to have kids. I shrugged and said I never wanted them anyway, so it was no big loss. She got that same condescending smile all adults with kids get when someone even a year younger says something like that (Oh great), asked how old I was, and told me that she thought that almost her whole life until she had kids.
God, if I had a dime for every time I've heard that....look, I don't care about other people's reproductive choices, but I don't like kids and I'm TRANS anyway, though I mostly present as female right now since I haven't saved up enough for a name change or anything. I don't want kids. I know that. I don't even have any interest in relationships (Asexual and aromantic) so it's not something that's a possibility, and I hate when everyone tells me that just because I currently possess a uterus at some point something in my brain will go 'Ding! BABY TIME!' and I will be consumed with a mad lust for having children. No thanks, not me, just because I'm a little younger than you doesn't mean you know how my life works. BLARGH.
Oh, if only we could do unto her what she does unto others...she should be forced to live in too small an environment, one that can be shaken like a drink mixer, and forced to live there, wallowing in her own filth, until she dies well before her time...
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