Unintentional SC Anonymous.

[Mytical]

((This is meant to be a lighthearted jab at myself.. please keep it light hearted))

I will be the president, the vice president, the treasurer and the founding member. Ok so as most of you know from my last thread that I am having memory/concentration issues. So let me do this properly.

Hello, my name is Mytical, and I am an unintentional SC.

To all the people in the service industry, and some that are not, I am sorry you have to put up with me. Lets go through the list of offensive I have done, purely because my mind is a fog.

Coming to a closed register. Check. Took me a full 5 minutes to figure it out too. Not going to a just open register when invited.. because I was staring blankly ahead. Check.

Reading a sign, not comprehending it, and asking for what the sign clearly stated was out of stock. Check.

Taking 10 minutes to find the card that I use to pay with, despite it staring me in the face the whole time. Check.

SC time. Thinking it has only been a few seconds/minutes and it has in fact been 10-15. Check. (Never the other way around though. I lose time )

Not knowing what time it is when I go into a store, which is closing, and it not registering that it is closing. Check.

Staring blankly when you ask me a question. Check.

Asking the same question multiple times, because I forgot I already asked. Check.

Coming in too early, and trying the door. Then go to wait in the vehicle, forget I tried the door, and try the door again. Check.

((This one is a really bad one)) Leaving things out of the areas which they belong. I one time forgot my whole cart... Check.

Showing up way too early for an appointment. Or too late. Because dang it it was only 2pm 5 minutes ago, not 3:15! Check

Demanding to see a manager. Why? Oh ... um.. er.. never mind then. Check.

Not making eye contact, not being polite, not being sociable. Actually it is not me being unsociable.. it is me being a zombie.. though that might be an insult to zombies. Check.

I am sure there are many many more, I did mention I was having memory/concentration issues.. right?

So who wants to join the USCA?

[Kittish]

I'll join! I'm not quite that bad in the memory department, though I have my moments. Mostly I tend to get kind of... focused on whatever it is I'm doing. Sometimes to the point where I'm absolutely oblivious to anything else around me. Until something or someone jostles me out of it, then I'm likely to look around and be all 'Huh? Where am I? Why am I here?'

[Food Lady]

You are reminding my to be more patient with my customers and not take it so personally. *hangs head in shame*

[MoonCat]

Hardly your fault, Mytical. And we've all had those moments (and with less reason, at least in my case).

[NecessaryCatharsis]

I would like to join the club, although in a capacity that doesn't involve social skills or words. I seem to have problems with both of those. Some of my worst (best?) SC moments:

Forgetting the words for both the name and description of the product I want the employee to find for me. Attempt to communicate through mime peppered with random unhelpful words

Completely not responding to a cashier who asks how my day is, what the weathers like or whatever. Due to my inability to recognize that they are actually addressing me as they scan purchases for me

Begging to be let in for 'just one thing' as the manager is closing the door (thankyouthankyouthankyou), due to not realizing it was Sunday, and failing to buy baby formula before supper

Not tipping a waitress who was incompetent and hostile, then feeling bad about it for the next 6 years (and counting)

Quite thoroughly telling off the tow truck driver who both 'illegally towed' and 'broke' the truck. Return truck to job site to find out it was a security guard at the site who broke it when he moved it from the legally stopped area to the illegal one. OOPS!

I think there is a place for me in your fine club.

[wolfie]

Quite thoroughly telling off the tow truck driver who both 'illegally towed' and 'broke' the truck. Return truck to job site to find out it was a security guard at the site who broke it when he moved it from the legally stopped area to the illegal one. OOPS!

I can understand that one - you left the truck in working condition, in a spot where it was legal to leave it. Truck got towed, and it was broken when retrieved.

What I'd like to know is WHY the security guard moved YOUR truck, and HOW he broke it.

[kmariem]

I'll join! I have short term memory loss issues due to both medical conditions and medication for said medical conditions. I also have comprehension issues. The worst is needing to have people repeat themselves over and over (current record is atleast 6x) because, though I know the words they're speaking, my brain is translating their speech as Martian. I also frequently can't think of words as simple as "couch", "dresser", "hamper", etc. Luckily, my husband and friends are VERY understanding. I still get made fun of (in good humor), but they just roll with it

[MoonCat]

Forgetting the words for both the name and description of the product I want the employee to find for me. Attempt to communicate through mime peppered with random unhelpful words

I did this not too long ago. Can't remember what I was looking for now, but at the time I simply could not think of what the product was called. God knows what the store employee thought of me

[NecessaryCatharsis]

What I'd like to know is WHY the security guard moved YOUR truck, and HOW he broke it.

I found out most of this after the fact, but:
It was a large commercial complex (10 office buildings, plus shared green space, conference building with short term living suits above etc.). One of the buildings was empty, gutted and being refitted to a new leaser specs. The complex security guards were butt-hurt that the contractor brought in outside security for the building site, because it wasn't practical to train the existing security guards in everything they need to know to enter the construction site. The contractors security team were given special passes for parking in areas outside the parking lots under the building being worked on.

So we parked, with a contractors parking pass, in the loading zone for that building. Turned on the gennie, which was PTO driven, and went inside to check out the work area. A boom truck showed up with stone for several floors, and wanted in the loading zone. So the security guard decides to move our truck out of the boom trucks way. Without checking with the construction security, or checking with the contractor, or checking anything.

YOU CAN'T MOVE A TRUCK WITH THE PTO ENGAGED. Even an inch. So he starts, the PTO belt breaks, the shaft bends, the truck was surely squealing like crazy, and he panics, pulls out of the lot and shuts it off. On the side of the street. On a busy road with no stopping signs every 6 feet or so. He didn't even have a DZ license. Not yours! Don't touch!

[wolfie]

So the security guard decides to move our truck out of the boom trucks way. Without checking with the construction security, or checking with the contractor, or checking anything.

YOU CAN'T MOVE A TRUCK WITH THE PTO ENGAGED. Even an inch. So he starts, the PTO belt breaks, the shaft bends, the truck was surely squealing like crazy, and he panics, pulls out of the lot and shuts it off.

Sounds like a design flaw. Since moving a truck with the PTO engaged will cause damage, there should be an interlock that won't let you put the truck in gear with the PTO engaged, and won't let you engage the PTO with the truck in gear.

As an aside, SOME PTO designs must allow the truck to move, otherwise dump trucks and "live bottom" trailers wouldn't be able to move while unloading (which I've seen them do), and concrete mixers wouldn't be able to have the drum turning while the truck's moving (necessary to keep things properly mixed and delay start of set-up).

[NecessaryCatharsis]

wolfie: It probably wasn't so much a design flaw, as the truck wasn't designed for the generator, that was a retro fit. The clutch worked as a neutral for both the PTO and the truck engine, you put the PTO on or off with the clutch down, you put it in a gear with the clutch down, lifting the clutch engaged anything that was on. Probably not the best that could be done if you were starting from scratch, but it worked well - for people that were actually trained on the vehicle. I stand by my previous statement: not yours, don't touch!

[April]

So Last week I went into the book store knowing what book I wanted and who wrote it. I can't find it where I think it should be, so I wander over to ask if they have it in stock. suddenly, all I can remember is street sign on the cover, about Zombies. And not a damn thing else about the book is coming to mind. Luckily, the lady knew what I wanted.

[mathnerd]

I'll join! I've been known to fail to read signs and not see things that are right in front of me. Lately it's been worse, as the meds I've been on have turned me into a space cadet. Just today I found myself getting irritated that a transaction was taking too long only to realize that the reason was that I had failed to hit enter after typing in my PIN, then spaced out while the cashier was trying to get my attention. Oooops.

Oh, and NC, I agree with you. Design flaw or not, if it's not yours, don't touch it!

[Jester]

Forgetting the words for both the name and description of the product I want the employee to find for me.

I once famously went into a Sears to buy a Christmas present for my stepdad. I marched right up to the counter in the tool area, and without hesitation said to the sales associate, "Hi there. I'm an idiot. I'm looking for something and I don't know what it is. I know it's a new kind of tool that they've been advertising on tv, and I know it looked really cook, but I can for the life of me remember what it is or what it does."

The sales associate smiled at my honesty and ineptitude, and said, "Come with me." And walked me right to the exact item I needed and wanted, but had forgotten what it was.

Not tipping a waitress who was incompetent and hostile, then feeling bad about it for the next 6 years (and counting)

Okay, NC, I've worked in the restaurant industry for 28 years now, and shit like this just makes me mad. What the hell are you thinking?

Seriously, if the bitch was incompetent and hostile to you, she deserved the non-tip you gave her. Fuck her. Time to get over it, forgive yourself, and move the fuck on, since you really didn't do anything wrong.


(At a later date, I'll be including my reasons for membership here.)