Former Member

I don’t know about anyone else, but just thinking about this topic made me think about how I’ve dealt with the issue over the years. I’ve realized that I’ve been very successful at times. But when I’ve had hostile or unsupportive managers, I’ve tended to be passive-aggressive and very unhappy. I work best when my manager trusts me to do my job without trying to micromanaging me. ;–) I’ve learned that I can function very well as an assistant manager, but being promoted to store manager was a disaster for me and my employer – I’m horrible at motivating others and my employees didn’t respect me enough to follow my directions when I wasn’t there to monitor them!

I tried to find ‘Heather’ on this page and only found it in your post! I couldn’t figure out if you were channelling me and mixing up two stories or what. I had forgotten Joey’s mom’s name. ;–)

Too soon for Devin to start stealing fries? ;–) Scottie is finally getting to know what it’s like to be recognized positively for his accomplishments. It only took three tries (his parents, his uncle, and now his aunt and cousin). After having been introduced, Alex’s sister just dropped off the surface of the earth… ;–)

But who is Heather?

So Brett goes searching for Joey and we get a cliffhanger at the beginning of the chapter! Such a novel concept. It’s a horrible and mean idea and should be banned from ever being used by any author ever again! ;–) Naughty author! Don’t ever do that again! Bad, bad, bad! ;–)

Dustin believes Luke without any evidence. Luke lies to try to get his way. Luke is an evil disgusting jerk. Mr Taylor refuses to listen to what others might have to say. If he had the opportunity to assist one of the ‘river rats’ he’d refuse while condemning them for their inability to improve their situation. He has no idea that Dustin works two jobs and goes to school, but he’s convinced that Dustin is on welfare and food stamps. Entitled Republicans have made sure that qualifying for social services is demeaning and difficult as well as very limited in duration due to legislation their lackeys have crafted and pushed through. Because of the limitations and restrictions, it is very difficult to transition from assistance to work. Shortsighted regulations create catch-22s that discourage exactly what the regulations were supposedly intended to encourage.

You’re not supposed to have to deal with stuff like that! Whoever prepped your new car before you picked it up really screwed up! They’re supposed to take care of things like that! But I’m sure they found the time to put their license plate frame and cardboard ‘license’ ad on your car! ;–)

There is a group that operates in my area that has arrangements with numerous stores to pick up expired and expiring food. They distribute that food to non-profits that serve the homeless and other low income people. The agency I used to get my psych therapy from was one of their delivery points. I was one of the clients that was welcomed to assist unloading the truck. There were often interesting and tasty things available, but sometimes the food was spoiled or opened (which we tossed out). ;–) There are groups in the San Francisco Bay Area that pick up excess food at restaurants and take it to agencies that serve food to homeless people. (The waste disposal company that serves San Francisco also picks up green scraps from restaurants to make compost. They sell the highly desirable compost to farms and wineries. It diverts the green waste from landfills.) ;–)

I used to volunteer with an AIDS organization. One of the things I decided to do was to make an announcement every week at the local Gay community center about the organization. It helped that I knew many of the guys in the audience, but I also felt like I was putting on my ‘AIDS Project’ mask on when I did it. The person making the announcements wasn’t me, it was that other guy, the volunteer! ;–)

As long as the squash is the sweet liquid, not the gag-inducing vegetables! ;–)

I think Charlie, Kippy, and Max should visit them! ;–) I think the gang could use a little squish! ;–)

I think it’s ironic that California Closets is using a Gay couple in their most recent ad! ;–)

I am an introvert. I prefer to watch from the outside than be involved in the middle. But I’ve shocked my therapists when I’ve described standing up for myself and being very openly Gay when I was homeless and staying in shelters. They could never quite grasp why I was able to do that in that one area, but not in other areas in my life. I did not feel like I could not be Out while homeless (even when I stayed at an extremely conservative fundamentalist-run rescue mission). ;–) But in other areas, I have never felt it was as vital to me. ;–) I used to work in retail sales. For most of my life, I worked in stores that did not have commission. But my favorite job was selling Macintosh computers in an Apple-authorized chain that wasn’t owned by Apple. We had commission, but it was based on how well the store did, not the individual employees, so things were very cooperative. When that store closed (the holding company decided that, although we were profitable, we weren’t profitable enough and shifted money into a sister company and closed all our stores), another company bought the rights to the name. They opened stores in some of the same locations the previous company operated in. The second company paid commission based on individual sales. Things were much less cooperative and some did not do their share of the grunt work, somehow managing never to shelve incoming merchandise. ;–) This second company was much less fun to work for even though the work was nearly the same. I could never close sales the way my more aggressive coworkers did. I was much better at helping people figure out what they needed, not just what I thought they should buy. I’m sure I lost most of my sales to the internet. ;–) Basically, what this all boils down to is that if it’s important, you can almost certainly stand up for yourself. The question is whether your current job is important enough for you to make the effort. Only you can decide. And slight changes can make a huge difference in how your workplace feels. Are there similar employers that you could work for? Do you know anyone who already works there? Networking is often the best way to find a new job.

Will Gabriel create scholarships to award his cousins a full ride? ;–)

Mary always looks like she could curdle the cream! I watched a few of her Great British Baking shows on PBS, but quickly got bored with the hyped up energy of a program based on watching dough rise. It’s another reason why I avoid all ‘reality’ TV shows. ;–)

I hope we’re on a monthly schedule for this story now because that would mean we only have another week or two to go before a new chapter is posted! ;–)

Sunk a shot is colloquial English. It is a common form in the US. I think it would be how the boys would say that line, regardless of the correctness.

I love music, but only as in listening to, not creating the music. In elementary school, I had a misadventure learning how to play an instrument. It barely lasted a year. Unlike my brothers, I never learned how to play the (acoustic) guitar, the instrument of the ‘70s. ;–) I enjoy baroque music, but I’m certainly not a Symphony Queen (or worse, an Opera Queen)! I’m not a Musicals Queen either. I enjoy the music of my generation, basically, the music of the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s. There are other newer groups I like, but they resemble the sounds of earlier decades. ;–) My dislike of rap and hip-hop, and unfamiliarity with ranchera is an anomaly in my city. (Ranchera is the music often heard playing in taquerias.) I did like the documentary about the Lesbian ranchera singer, Chavela Vargas, last year at Frameline41. ;–)

Oh, and I think the ‘lady in England’ is actually a certain gentleman author from the UK! ;–) Granny doesn’t want to admit to secretly reading and writing stories on GA. She trades recipes and story ideas with others from around the world. She’s much more cosmopolitan than Troy thinks. ;–)

Adam’s genetic donor had to make one last appearance to spoil the mood. I don’t know of any manager who would offer a cartload of groceries free! That would be a huge chunk of the day’s profit. If the manager heard the conversation, that would mean that he agreed with the nastiness. That would be contrary to any (non-bigoted) major corporation’s policies of welcoming all customers. In most places, there might be a generic apology for upsetting the customer, but considering that Adam is a model employee and did nothing to provoke the incident, there would be no extra discounts or free anything. Someone other than Adam would ring up the purchase and the disruption would be quickly escorted out of the store to avoid agitating other customers. The store’s management wouldn’t want either those offended by the revelation of Adam’s orientation or those offended by the homophobic rant to be further upset. A good manager would call Adam after it was discovered that he’d left. A good manager would want to apologize to him for the nasty customer’s behavior and to ask him to return to work. A good manager would understand why Adam would have been upset by what happened. No good manager wants to lose a good employee, if only because recruiting and training someone new is expensive and takes time!

Bohemian Rhapsody; amazing performance by Mathieu Terrade on the harpejji. It's a must hear

I knew it! ;–) Scottie needs time to figure out what Scottie wants and needs. This really is Scottie’s second (or third) chance. Can he do what’s right for Scottie?

They never specified at what age the Senior Discount starts. Some discounts begin at 50 or 55. Unlike some of the others, I never actually stole soda by digging a cup out of the trash! I spent money buying other items too, so I do not feel guilty.

When I was homeless, I found out that both McDonald’s and Burger King offer Senior Discounts on a small coffee – BK also offers it on a small soda! (Note: your mileage may vary since the majority of fast food locations are franchises that are not directly controlled by the franchiser. However, the two restaurants I frequented are located in an area with a very high homeless population who try to ‘bend’ every possible rule. On the other hand, most employees are young and have no incentive to challenge you about your age if you even remotely appear to be old.) ;–)

Five years ago, I was moving into an apartment after a little more than two years of homelessness. My ex is good at negotiating and shopping (my brother is a master shopper, but he works and my ex is on Disability). I was shocked to find out that you can negotiate prices at mattress stores! I knew that you were supposed to do it at car dealerships, but no one had ever said anything about mattress stores! ;–)