Me When Comparing Attractive Men With My Best Friend:

Have you ever written a chapter or scene and as you’re writing it you’re thinking “this is terrible.” But you keep writing it because you have to see it through to the end even though you’re already planning to trash it and are working on ideas to replace it with?

Was tagged by @a-lighthouse-a-man-a-city to do the recreate yourself in this image maker: https://picrew.me/image_maker/197122

So here I am: dark hair and pasty skin = basically a fairy vampire xD

Favorite Sonic IDW Moments 💙🦔💨 Part 1

Cashier Irritations

Just a random list of things that annoy me to no end when it comes to cashiering at a grocery store.

1. When customers get mad at the cashier for an item being priced ‘incorrectly’.

Really, people. It’s not our fault. We’re not the ones setting the prices, and not even the people stocking the items are. That is something that is set by the company. Plus all the cashier is doing is scanning the item; 9/10 times, even we don’t know what the price is going to be. So please don’t go around getting angry with us when something doesn’t come up right (or what you think is supposed to be right), because most of the time, there’s really nothing we can do about it, and we don’t deserve your bad attitude making our day harder.

2. When people get into a lane that doesn’t have its light on (indicating that they are NOT open).

Why don’t people pay attention? Did it ever occur to the customer to look up and make sure that the lane they are getting into is still open? Just because we’re helping someone at the moment, doesn’t mean that we are still open and customers are welcome to just start setting a large order of stuff onto the conveyor belt. Because most of the time, we’re rather desperate at that point to have a break, get something to eat, or just go home (having already been waiting to leave for quite some time since said break/clocking out time was due).

3. When someone puts far more than the amounted items at an Express Lane.

Once again, PAY ATTENTION! The whole point of an Express Lane is so people can get in and out of the store as quickly as possible. If the number of items is only a few over, that’s okay. But having someone come over and say, drop over $500 dollars worth of stuff onto the belt kind of ruins the flow, and thus no longer makes it an Express Lane for the people behind them. So please, have some consideration for someone other than yourself. Especially when said self absorbed attitude causes the people behind you to glare at us cashiers like we’re the ones that let you be so inconsiderate (even though our bosses tell us to check them out anyway).

4. When people go around pushing all the buttons on the Self-Checkouts and think the machine is breaking because they’ve confused it.

Self-Checkout is my favorite area, to be quite honest. I love just being able to stand to the side and help people figure out how to use the machines when needed. But when the customers go around not paying attention to how things need to go for the experience to run smoothly....it gets pretty bothersome. The machines are designed for items to be scanned and then placed on the bagging area ONE AT AT TIME. When you try to scan something else before putting the previous item down, it messes things up; ESPECIALLY when you press the ‘Don’t Want to Bag’ button and then place said item that you ‘didn’t want to bag’ down in the bagging area, thus causing the machine to get suspicious of the extra weight and ask you to remove the item that you ‘haven’t scanned yet’. One at at time, people, ONE AT A TIME. 

5. When customers bring a whole cart full of stuff to the Self-checkouts.

Kind of similar to the whole ‘Express Lane’ thing. To me, self-checkouts are there to make the shopping experience quicker. It takes more than twice as long for someone to bag their own stuff than it would have taken a cashier to bag their stuff while the customer was putting things on the conveyor belt, when it comes to large orders. Plus, when you bring a cart to the self-checkout area, it severely clogs up the space, for EVERYONE. Trying to get around a cart to just get to the next available machine can be a challenge, unless you resort to being rude, which is not something anyone should do. 

6. When people hover way too close to another customer while waiting for their turn.

Personal space. Look it up. Whether it’s at a regular lane or at the self-checkouts, give people some room to breath. It will be your turn eventually. Do your fellow human being a favor and just wait a polite distance away. Hovering over them isn’t going to make them leave any faster, and it’s just plain rude to silently imply that they need to hurry up because clearly it’s your turn and they need to get moving.

7. When someone doesn’t move after getting their receipt.

And now for the other side; let’s not loiter, people. Once you get your stuff, it would be quite nice if you at least stepped away if you feel the need to check your receipt. While it doesn’t hurt to check and make sure you weren’t charged twice or anything, it would help if you didn’t stay in a place someone else needs to be in order to complete their purchase. Especially at the self-checkouts! If you don’t want to have your space rudely invaded, than be polite and step out of the way.

So anyway, that’s my rant. Just needed to get it out of my system :)

Movie Tag!

Tagged by @a-lighthouse-a-man-a-city

Name one move release for each year of your life:

rules: list movies you’ve seen according to their release dates each year you’ve been alive

1989 - Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

1990 - Kiki's Delivery Service

1991 - Beauty and the Beast

1992 - Aladdin

1993 - Hocus Pocus

1994 - The Swan Princess

1995 - Sabrina

1996 - Sense and Sensibility

1997 - Princess Mononoke

1998 - The Prince of Egypt

1999 - The Mummy

2000 - Miss Congeniality

2001 - Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

2002 - Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones

2003 - Peter Pan

2004 - The Phantom of the Opera

2005 - Corpse Bride

2006 - Last Holiday

2007 - Miss Potter

2008 - Wall-E

2009 - Sherlock Holmes

2010 - Knight and Day

2011 - Captain America: The First Avenger

2012 - Rise of the Guardians

2013 - Star Trek: Into Darkness

2014 - Dracula Untold

2015 - Strange Magic

2016 - Kubo and the Two Strings

2017 - Coco

2018 - This Beautiful Fantastic

2019 - Spies in Disguise

2020 - Over the Moon

2021 - Black Widow

(2015 was so hard to decide, so many of my favorite movies came out that year. And then 2019 was super sparse xD )

Artist Peeve...

Don't know if anyone else has to go through this, but it happens to me a lot.

And that is when I tell someone I write fiction/draw illustrations, they assume those skills transfer and/or that automatically means I'd want to do a COMPLETLY DIFFERENT MEDIUM FOR THEIR RANDOM PROJECT.

Just because I write fiction, that doesn't mean I'd be any good at writing articles. Just because I do illustrations doesn't mean that I can take photographs any better than the average person.

And did it even occur to the people asking-SAYING I should volunteer to do these other skills/activates that if I didn't mention (and show no evidence of participating in), that maybe, JUST MAYBE, they're not skills I have or activities I enjoy, and I most certainly don't want to do with my time, free or otherwise?

AND CERTAINLY NOT FOR FREE!

This hit me so hard.

As someone who is autistic.

As someone who never had a hometown.

As someone who is first generation Mexican American.

As someone who is half first generation Mexican American.

I’ve never felt like I belonged anywhere or with any group. Because I wasn’t neurotypical enough. Because I hadn’t lived there long enough. Because I wasn’t American enough. Because I wasn’t Mexican enough. Because I was too different.

And finally, it hits me - I don’t “belong”. And that’s okay - great, even. Because that is my Strength.

Thank you, Xiran Jay Zhao, for writing these beautiful words. They mean more to me than I could ever express.

“You want me to spend money? Fine! Let’s go spend an insane amount of money!”

“Where are we going?” ^_^

“To a BOOKSTORE!”

“…” -_-

(A man gives me unlimited funds, I’m buying a library)

[This was originally for just Sylus, but I got caught up in the moment and now its kinda dramatic, so this could apply to Rafayel.]

He keeps trying to make us use his black card, but he doesn't understand why we aren't buying expensive jewelry, or fancy clothes.

Instead were using it for mundane shit like groceries.

Then he confronts us on why there are only a few small purchases when he literally has MILLIONS.

"You have an unlimited card, and refuse to use it..."

"No I'm using it."

"Not anything substantial."

"What, food isn't substantial to you? I'm using to pay for amenities so I can save up for the more taxing items."

"I gave it to you so you could use it for the more expensive items! In fact, you could even use it to pay for the 'amenities' and still have enough left over to buy a nice summer home!"

"I don't need a summer home!"

"My point is you could buy anything! Jewelry, name brand clothing, if you want food you could buy from somewhere nicer! Instead I have a purchase on my card for an 'Auntie Anne's Pretzels...?'"

"First off, their Pretzels are amazing. Second, I dont want anything fancy! I can't wear jewelry on the job and have no where else to wear such gaudy clothing, not to mention all of those NaMe BrAnD clothes are ugly!"

"Couldn't you at least try getting more expensive tastes?"

"My expensive tastes are junk food and plushies! I have no need for jewelry or bougie shit like you!"

"You could get a million plushies! Or even a custom cake!"

"I dun wannaaaaa!!! I don't need a million plushies! I don't even have the space for that many- and no I'm not buying a summer home- and why would I get a custom cake if it's not for something special?? What you want me to buy a cake with lattice work and marbling that just says 'Congrats! You got out of bed today!'"

"If that's what you wanted; YES! I have more than enough for you to buy a whole mall!"

"I don't need nor want an entire mall!! I just wanted to buy some beef for stew!!!"

"Not even a steak?"

"No!!"

"Then I'll just buy all of jewelry and clothes for you!"

"I have nothing expensive I want!! I just wanted to have stew!"

He's just pinching the bridge of his nose and trying to calm down. This is not only the first time he's given his card to someone and they not rack up a bill. But also the first time hes gotten THIS upset.

"At the very least, tell me you didn't look at the price."

"I did not-"

"Oh thank the gods!"

"Because I already knew it would less than $100."

He feels like he just got punched in the gut. He has to leave the room and cool off before he comes back, grabs us by the wrist and pulls us outside.

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere expensive."

"But I don't-"

"Sh! Just... Let me have this..."

There didn’t seem to be an all imcohmpassing comparison for Ahsoka’s face transitions, so I decided to make one myself :3

Ahsoka belongs to Disney

STORY TIME:

I work in a decent sized, local, indie bookstore. It’s a great job 99% of the time and a lot of our customers are pretty neat people. Any who, middle of the day this little old lady comes up. She’s lovably kooky. She effuses how much she loves the store and how she wishes she could spend more time in it but her husband is waiting in the car (OH! I BETTER BUY HIM SOME CHOCOLATE!), she piles a bunch of art supplies on the counter and then stops and tells me how my bangs are beautiful and remind her of the ocean (“Wooooosh” she says, making a wave gesture with her hand)

Ok. I think to myself. Awesomely happy, weird little old ladies are my favorite kind of customer. They’re thrilled about everything and they’re comfortably bananas. I can have a good time with this one. So we chat and it’s nice.

Then this kid, who’s been up my counter a few times to gather his school textbooks, comes up in line behind her (we’re connected to a major university in the city so we have a lot of harried students pass through). She turns around to him and, out of nowhere, demands that he put his textbooks on the counter. He’s confused but she explains that she’s going to buy his textbooks.

He goes sheetrock white. He refuses and adamantly insists that she can’t do that. It’s like, $400 worth of textbooks. She, this tiny old woman, bodily takes them out of her hands, throws them on the counter and turns to me with a intense stare and tells me to put them on her bill. The kid at this point is practically in tears. He’s confused and shocked and grateful. Then she turns to him and says “you need chocolate.” She starts grabbing handfuls of chocolates and putting them in her pile.

He keeps asking her “why are you doing this?” She responds “Do you like Harry Potter?“ and throws a copy of the new Cursed Child on the pile too.

Finally she’s done and I ring her up for a crazy amount of money. She pays and asks me to please give the kid a few bags for his stuff. While I’m bagging up her merchandise the kid hugs her. We’re both telling her how amazing she is and what an awesome thing she’s done. She turns to both of us and says probably one of the most profound, unscripted things I’ve ever had someone say:

"It’s important to be kind. You can’t know all the times that you’ve hurt people in tiny, significant ways. It’s easy to be cruel without meaning to be. There’s nothing you can do about that. But you can choose to be kind. Be kind.”

The kid thanks her again and leaves. I tell her again how awesome she is. She’s staring out the door after him and says to me: “My son is a homeless meth addict. I don’t know what I did. I see that boy and I see the man my son could have been if someone had chosen to be kind to him at just the right time.”

I’ve bagged up all her stuff and at this point am super awkward and feel like I should say something but I don’t know what. Then she turns to me and says: I wish I could have bangs like that but my darn hair is just too curly.“ And leaves.

And that is the story of the best customer I’ve ever had. Be kind to somebody today.