If you click on this thread you must post on it...

Started reading my forty-five year old fantasy novella to my writers group this morning. Read a few pages. People asked me to read more pages, so I read the whole first chapter. GUess they liked it. I wrote it for my husband for Xmas back in the days when I had no extra money and plenty of time.
 
I am still in shock that it is 2026.
 
Rath Darkblade said:
Maybe you could send them a return message. They wrote "Smiling doesn't hurt"? Your message could be "Neither does leaving me alone" (with a tongue-in-cheek face). ;-P

Seriously, that's weird ... and possibly a bit freaky. Think about it: whoever wrote that assumes that you don't smile. How do they know? Do they watch your doorbell camera? (That's the freaky bit). I don't know if it's even possible, but Amazon and other Big Tech companies are well-known for collecting all kinds of data about their customers. (And if I was paranoid, I'd go down to the basement and hide until after the Amazonalypse). ;)
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It was really weird. On the rare occasions I do actually see them, I always smile and say thank you. There was one guy a few weeks ago who opened the door to my mud room. I have a bench in there and I will sometimes sit there to write, cross-legged on the bench with my laptop in my lap if I want to get out of the "house" (way too much snow to actually go outside). So I was there and he opened the door and then realized I was there. He apologized immediately, I tried to be nice, but like wtf? I told him packages go on the porch, like it says on the account (other side of the house - near the road). He apologized more, then left. I never saw his face because I couldn't get up without putting myself in a less secure position since the door is immediately next to the end of the bench I was on (Idk man, that's how my brain works) so I only saw his hands and heard his voice. Lots of tattoos on his hands (well done, not jailhouse). I checked cameras after but he was REALLY bundled up (fair, it was snowing its ass off) so he was tall and average build. I immediately checked the cameras to see if it was him because that would make sense, but it wasn't - no tattoos on his clearly visible hands.
 
CatrionaGrace said:
What the hell is it with people telling other people to smile? As if chiding a person for not smiling is going to improve his or her disposition.
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A million years ago when I was waitressing, people said this constantly. And I was a waitress, there was a smile plastered on my face as much as humanly possible. But let it slip for a second (you know, like when you're dodging patrons while carrying dinner for six on a tray over your head because you're only 5'3" so you really have to extend that arm if you don't want to clothesline people) and your smile falters for even a second - there was always some moron who couldn't read the damned room.
 
Oh, I'll bet you heard that plenty, Trish. 🫂

Once, being quite desperate for income, I applied for a receptionist job at H&R Block in Laramie. Sat through the interview before discovering the position had been filled, but they were continuing interviews in case "the new girl" didn't work out. I got up to leave, and the little bastard behind the desk said, "You should smile more," and demonstrated a toothy grin for my benefit. He had no idea how lucky he was that there are substantial penalties for battery.

Another perennial favorite for those of us with resting bitch face is, "Cheer up! It can't be all that bad." I've always wanted to reply, "I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die," but never have.
 
I waitressed for 6 years in my early to mid 20's, and during that time I was working 3 jobs and raising 2 very small kids (waitressing was NOT the part time one). Every time I walked in the kitchen after some idiot told me to smile Juan or Nick (the cooks) would say something like "It's alright honey. We kill them for you" with huge grins. Best guys ever. They always knew when I was near the end of my rope lol.

But yes, the number of men (almost always men) who very nearly wore an entire tray of whatever the hell I was carrying was extremely high. It did always make me smile though, imagining throwing it at them, so I guess it worked 😁
 
Trish, I'm sorry to hear that guy opened the door to your mud room. That sounds scary. :(

And being male, I apologise for all those douchebags that told you to smile when you were waitressing.

For what it's worth, guys like that exasperate me, too. *offers a hug* 🫂 Why harass a waitress? Just let her do her job. Sigh.

Maybe you could've offered them a creepy smile? 😇 Or better still, get one of the chefs to do it (while holding a cleaver or carving knife)...
 
My dingdong former employers haven't shut the majority of my shit off yet after four weeks. Email, OPs system, alarms, POS... all active. Good thing I'm the honest type... I could easily be spreading some mischievous, 12 Monkeys chaos if I was so inclined.

Let's make the price of french fries $100!

Let's rewire the taco joint to print kitchen tickets from the burger joint and vice versa!

Let's rewire the temps at the steak house to print Well Done in the kitchen when the server hits the Medium Rare button!

Let's trigger a low temp alarm in the walk-in at 3 am!

Jesus... I'm might be getting a little aroused thinking about it.
 
Homer Potvin said:
My dingdong former employers haven't shut the majority of my shit off yet after four weeks. Email, OPs system, alarms, POS... all active. Good thing I'm the honest type... I could easily be spreading some mischievous, 12 Monkeys chaos if I was so inclined.

Let's make the price of french fries $100!

Let's rewire the taco joint to print kitchen tickets from the burger joint and vice versa!

Let's rewire the temps at the steak house to print Well Done in the kitchen when the server hits the Medium Rare button!

Let's trigger a low temp alarm in the walk-in at 3 am!

Jesus... I'm might be getting a little aroused thinking about it.
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That's a lot of power lol
 
Trish said:
That's a lot of power lol
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Particularly for a former employee. It's reciprocal, though. I partially left because I couldn't deal with the incompetence anymore, but if they had any brains, I wouldn't have had a job in the first place. Circle of life.
 
Homer Potvin said:
Particularly for a former employee. It's reciprocal, though. I partially left because I couldn't deal with the incompetence anymore, but if they had any brains, I wouldn't have had a job in the first place. Circle of life.
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It is insane they haven't locked you out yet. Does not bode well for their business sense.
 
Despite having spent years of one's life at a job, one not so much as leaves as disappears from the reality of coworkers and employers alike. Spreading chaos could be a fine memorial.
 
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