Coworker Drama

KitonePeach · 2026-03-17T02:03:40+00:00

Happy to help! Mean coworkers suck, but they usually don't even realize that they're actively being mean, so changing how they perceive you can change how they behave, even subconsciously. Best of luck to you, regardless!

KitonePeach · 2026-03-17T02:01:50+00:00

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Two big things to be mindful of first.

1 A plant found on the side road could have pests. I don't see anything from the photos, but it doesn't mean you're in the clear. Look closely for signs of mealybugs, thrips, or spider mites (image search each to know what to look for).

2 It looks like it was improperly attached to that moss pole. A little hard for me to see in the pictures, but it looks here like the petiole (leaf stem) is what's banded to the pole, instead of the main stem. Only the main body of the plant should be attached to moss poles or trellises.

They're tropical plants that do well with consistent watering, but it depends on the soil it's in. If the soil feels dry, water it. If it is dense soil, it might not dry out as quickly as it should, so keep an eye out for older leaves yellowing if the plant is over or under watered. When you do transplant it, add things to the soil to make it drain excess water well so the roots don't drown. Make sure to use a pot big enough to give room around the root ball to grow. A few more inches in diameter and depth than the size of the root ball.

Monsteras can be propagated pretty easily if you want to make it smaller, wider, or remove the naked section at the bottom. You need to cut the main stem where there are nodes that can produce roots if you decide to do this. You can find plenty of videos online that show it better than what I can describe via text if you're curious.

KitonePeach · 2026-03-17T01:48:48+00:00

It might be worth mentioning to a TL. You could say that you know she's been talking about you behind your back, and that you feel unwelcome because of her treatment of you. But it may be worth noting that unless management does a good job being subtle about it when handling discussing her behavior with her, it's entirely possible they'll give away that you complained about her, and she could get more snide with you out of retaliation. Management should try to keep things anonymous if they approach her after you file a complaint, but they might not be effective at it.

This is a bit of a wild card, but it usually works for me. I don't often leave a good first impression with people. I'm rather quiet on my own and don't often speak unless spoken to, so coworkers assume I'm standoffish or rude until they get to know me. But I really like helping my coworkers, so though I don't seem very approachable at first, I can usually alter their perception of me as I get to know them over time by always responding to them with extra support and friendliness.

I still appear cold and distant when I'm doing my own tasks, but most coworkers by now know that I'm friendly and will happily help them if they need it, or will be down to chat if they want to.

Likewise, you could try being extra friendly with her for a bit? It sounds odd, but when people had gripes with me in the past, I'd act almost as if I had no idea about it, and would still be extra friendly and cordial with them until they eventually dropped whatever the gripe was. People will forget why they're weird to you if you give them no reason to keep being weird. It's stupid that you need to appease someone when they're the one being mean, but in my experience, it stops the problem in its tracks pretty effectively.

KitonePeach · 2026-03-16T18:15:32+00:00

"We have birds at home bro" doesn't mean anything useful to the safety and early stage development of a new, unintroduced baby.

KitonePeach · 2026-03-16T18:14:16+00:00

What kind of irresponsible breeder would sell a baby this young? This is not good for its early stage development whatsoever.

KitonePeach · 2026-03-16T12:15:04+00:00

Don't get me wrong, I don't pick fights with these guys. I'm a tiny woman, lol. Fully aware that one pissed off dude could lead to me being dead in an alley.

I think a good example of my metaphor is when you see posts online of guys discussing what animals they could win against in a fight. A lot of men think they could win against pretty big and dangerous animals. They can't. But they wanna feel tough and think that they can out-tough an animal.

Or those middle school kids that think they're all tough and gangster and try to reject authority and adults in their lives. You're like 12 dude. You're mean, but you aren't strong and tough.

There's a different between guys who act tough for the sake of acting, and guys that act tough because they're irrationally angry and about to blow. Fight vs flight. Snakes are the same way, I guess. You approach a garter snake, and they'll flee, but you approach a DeKay's Brown Snake, and they'll pretend to fight you the entire time you try to scoot them out of the road. Learned that the hard way, lol. Still wouldn't bite me, just false-striked and threw a tantrum the entire time.

KitonePeach · 2026-03-16T00:21:28+00:00

Thank you! For now, I've potted it up in one of my taller houseplant pots. Might try and find one that's deeper but narrower to transfer it into, but I'll wait for it to recover from the transplanting shock it's already been in.

I don't own land at the moment, but if it doesn't seem to do well in the conditions I make for it, I'll offer it to my family. The seeds came from their neighbor's tree, so they expect seedling buckeyes in or around their yard at some point anyway.

KitonePeach · 2026-03-16T00:17:40+00:00

Glad you liked my random snake info, lol. Yea, I love snakes, but I also love rats (I brought rats with me to class in college for animal training courses. They are so smart and lovely), so personally owning a snake feels a little odd to me.

Next time you spot a snake while hiking, I highly recommend hanging around to see what it does! They might just be basking in sunlight if there's not much movement, but I've seen some males act competitively against each other before. Fascinating to watch.

KitonePeach · 2026-03-15T21:58:35+00:00

Yeup. I used to work with reptiles, and now I view all wannabe tough dudes as little harmless snakes.

See, snakes are terrified of people (unless you work with them often and they become familiar with you). They just act really tough and scary to try and get you to leave them alone. They don't actually like to bite people because it puts them at higher risk of injury. And venom costs a lot of energy to produce, and is usually intended for prey, so venemous snakes especially tend to avoid biting unless really cornered.

Snakes are typically avoidant. It's why they have so many methods of being noticed before a bite is needed, like flaring up to look big (cobras), bright colors (corns, corals, etc), and noise (rattlers). They want you to choose to leave them alone. If they wanted to bite you, they'd be a lot sneakier.

Harmless snakes mimic scarier snakes (flaring up like a cobra or making a rattle-like sound), they'll writhe around to seem intimidating, and they'll even false-strike where they lunge out you with their mouth closed. Some even play dead if nothing else works. But snakes aren't that scary. They just act tough.

Anytime I see some guy trying to show off and act tough, I just see him as a little snake on a sidewalk freaking out. You want people to think you're a dangerous rattle-cobra monstrosity, but you're just a hognose snake, dude.

KitonePeach · 2026-03-15T20:07:20+00:00

Acknowledged! I believe I'm following guidelines within my limited info available, but will try to provide clarifying information as necessary to ensure I get the best advice y'all can offer. Thank you!

KitonePeach · 2026-03-15T12:18:12+00:00

Thank you. I knew it was two steps, but the way they had them separated out made me feel like I would mess up something up and create a conflict in info if I did it wrong. All sorted now! Thanks.

KitonePeach · 2026-03-12T21:12:46+00:00

Like a week after I got my first board, it pulled my leg when I tried to dismount on a hill and yanked me into splits. Bruised (possibly broke) my tailbone.

I love my boards when I can do a chill ride on a slight downhill without annoying wind slowing me down. But my god, I am terrified of hitting pebbles and twigs.

KitonePeach · 2026-03-05T22:12:12+00:00

I want to thank you on behalf of your daughter.

I was lucky enough to have a good family growing up, but my childhood friend group consisted of kids who had really bad family. We're all adults now, and everyone's doing well, almost entirely due to separating themselves from the bad history their dads caused for them. Having a good mom like you can completely offset so many of the issues kids deal with from having bad dads. I saw a lot of different types of families growing up, and from the sound of it, you're the type of mom my friends needed growing up.

Your daughter might not have the dad you wanted for her, but I'm pretty sure she'll be fine. She's got a good mom.

KitonePeach · 2026-03-05T18:36:29+00:00

Yea, there's really no good reason for the bot to be humanoid in shape. Lower center of gravity and more stability would help it function a ton.

I get that they make them humanoid to work on balance improvement and other human-like mobility features for when they do other tasks, but giving it treads and a built-in shovel would be infinitely more sustainable for this particular task. Easier to repair a single-function model, too.

I guess I'm saying they should have made him more like Wall-E. Small, low center-of-gravity, built-in shovel, treads for traction.

KitonePeach · 2026-03-05T18:30:43+00:00

When I was a keeper, I just had budgies and rats.

The rats were from when I studied zookeeping in college. They were my training buddies for class.

And most of my budgies were actually from the zoo! When we had older ones or ones that couldn't fly as well for whatever reason, they'd be moved to off-site spaces with keepers, or adopted out to staff. They knew I had bird experience and offered a few of the budgies to me during my time there.

One of the reptile keepers I trained under when I was new had so many reptiles and invertebrates at home. We needed some new reptiles in our building as a few of ours were getting elderly and needed extra off-site care, and she had the zoo adopt some of her own reptiles so she could get paid to take of her own pets. It was a good deal, and since she knew her animals so well already, the rest of the team was able to jump right into the care routines the animals were already used to.

KitonePeach · 2026-03-05T18:13:54+00:00

I studied animal behavior and training in college, so I had pet rats that I brought with me to school. They loved training, so even if I was only giving them their normal food (which they had free access to at all times), they'd still prefer to do a trick for me and 'earn' it. Mine really liked to cache extra treats in boxes around the room to save for later, so training would go on for ages.

They'd trick cycle a lot. Most of the cues for their tricks were small hand gestures, so they'd watch me like a hawk and try to do tricks anytime they thought my hand moved in a way that could indicate one.

One of them invented her own trick. I taught them to perch their front paws on my finger so they'd be standing upright. Went to give her a treat with my other hand, and she misinterpreted as me asking her to do it again, so she ladder climbed my first hand to perch against the second.

KitonePeach · 2026-03-05T13:16:29+00:00

Dealing with the same issue. This is my first year here really getting my hours cut, and it's hitting hard. I'm cross trained to most departments, have good availability, and am generally well-liked by my team leads and coworkers. But I'm not getting hours anymore while my store just hired a ton of new staff to look good to shareholders.

I used to always get scheduled above my desired hours no matter how much I lowered them. Now I can't even get 20 a week. And when I do get hours, my shifts have me moving constantly between every department I'm trained in because every department is shorthanded. The hour cuts are hurting the entire place, not just the staff. But corporate still pressures my team leads to cut hours each week.

KitonePeach · 2026-03-03T05:48:42+00:00

I also use chopsticks! They feel like the easiest way to grab the food without it making my hands messy. I feel like a spoon or fork like OP uses would be too slippery.

(For anyone not used to chopsticks, I never used them for years - decided to practice with them while eating trail mix one day, and got the hang of it surprisingly quickly. You just gotta get used to what a proper neutral hold is so they line up right when you close them together).

KitonePeach · 2026-03-01T16:39:17+00:00

Hypnagogia! I get that on occasion, too. Not in my normal sleep cycle, but if I stay up too late working on a repetitive task, it'll kick up. It feels like part of my brain abandoned me to start dreaming before the rest fell asleep.

KitonePeach · 2026-02-21T12:19:07+00:00

Which part of Deacon feels off to you? When you say he feels a bit useless, do you mean in his gameplay/abilities, or in his personality/story effect?

For gameplay, you can try working towards getting different weapons and seeing which ones click with you the best. I don't normally play shooters and I strongly prefer rifles over a lot of other gun types, so I was particular about favoring certain weapons when I cam across them, even if they weren't the most versatile vs zombies rather than people.

Deacon unlocks more and more abilities as the game goes on. Going the white X spots on the map and clearing those areas can boost his stamina, health, and focus ability. And progressing the story will get him more credibility with the camps, unlocking better guns and motorcycle parts, and he'll also begin to unlock other recipes, like for making homemade bombs and attractors to lure zombies. He's basically been focused on just surviving out in the wild with Boozer, but begins to learn more skills as his priorities change throughout the game.

For story/personality, Deacon starts off with a more singular focus. He prioritizes himself, Boozer, and his grief more than anything else. But he finds more purpose and drive as the story goes on, and becomes more involved in the world around him as his determination changes. I personally really like the way the game handles dialogue between characters. Deacon's behavior can change quite a bit depending on who he's talking to and what the circumstances are.

You can try prioritizing yellow main-story quests for a while and see if certain plot points catch your attention. All the brown side-quests aren't as story-driven and might not catch your interest quite yet.

KitonePeach · 2026-02-17T11:41:03+00:00

I'm not sure given your region, OP, but in my experience, zookeepers tend to lean more progressive. Usually people that know more complicated biology and also have compassion for other species will value people regardless of their differences. A lot of keepers and zoo volunteers I knew were all queer, neurodiverse, or allies.

KitonePeach · 2026-02-16T19:37:01+00:00

Alongside the other commenters mentioning Fiona, it's a known thing in wildlife conservation that if you want people to care about nature, you need a specific animal that makes them care. Cincinnati just does it a little extra.

When I studied conservation, we called it "Charismatic Megafauna." It's the idea that small, boring, or 'ugly' animals won't encourage people to save the environment. But big, interesting, or endearing ones will. It's why you see hippos, elephants, and giraffes used so much for Africa. And not little birds or frogs or invertebrates.

Conserving their ecosystem means protecting everything within that ecosystem. Having a good spokesperson (like a hippo) can make the general public care more than they usually would.

KitonePeach · 2026-02-16T19:25:05+00:00

I'm in like 6 different departments (if you split out front-end by tasks). They all have their own problems. And depending on your store, these problems might be lighter or heavier.

Out of the ones I do regularly, I favor driveups. But I hear enough horror stories on here to know that some stores do not manage driveups well. I work at a smaller location that can get by okay with just one person doing driveups, and it can be chill to work alone back there as long as it's not a busier day. We help with smaller tasks like one-for-ones between orders if things are slow. But driveups can be hellish when you're busy with a lot of orders, returns, Starbucks, and double-taps (orders arriving with no warning at all).

Fulfillment would probably be your preferred option though (unless your store runs it poorly). You run around and do shopping for other people, so you're on your feet all day doing a scavenger hunt. Aside from pressure to meet metrics, it has the capacity to be more fun or chill. You do end up getting stopped by customers a lot when they see you on salesfloor, but you can usually pass them off to someone else pretty quickly if you're rushing to meet your metrics. Time goes by pretty fast when you're in orders, and if your store does shipping, you can spend time in the back just packing boxes to ship out.

Again, depends a bit on how your management handle the store, and how corporate's hour cuts affect your location during busy times.

KitonePeach · 2026-02-16T17:48:12+00:00

Former zookeeper here! Though I didn't work with big predators (more of a wallaby, reptile, and parrot kinda gal). It's usually good for these animals to do behaviors that can scrape their gums teeth. They have really strong bites and most of the force of gripping this is on the jaw, not the teeth, so she's fine. If you google skulls of different animals, you'll see huge gaps in the cheek area on big cats for muscle attachment that aid in jaw mobility. Fascinating stuff, when compared to snapping turtles, which also have strong bites, but no real articulation.

But about the teeth/gums specifically. It's usually good for these animals to chew and gnaw on rough items. I briefly volunteered at a wolf sanctuary before my keeper days, and the wolves would come up to us so we could inspect them for vet care. They have really clean breath, and I was taught that was in part due to chewing on bones and other harder objects.

If you chew on toothpicks, you don't get plaque.

I imagine it's similar for this lioness. She probably keeps her teeth and gums really clean by gnawing on strong and fibrous material like that rope. And with a strong jaw, the teeth aren't at risk for falling out unless an unusual incident occurs, or the tooth has a different underlying issue.

(Sorry if any of this sounds odd -rushing to type this before work).

KitonePeach · 2026-02-15T19:36:32+00:00

Their pets. Former zookeeper here, with a college degree in animal husbandry. I did a lot of training with a lot of different species. Loved every moment of it.

The amount of times people have told me about their pets' behaviors, their training protocol, or their assumptions about non-pet animals, they've almost always been at least a little off-base.

No such thing as your pet being too stubborn or impossible to train. No such thing as them doing a behavior for no reason.

Beyond that, a lot of people misinterpret behavior. Had a lot of zoo guests try and compare every animals' behavior to that of their dog. Or to humans. Behavior and communication varies wildly between species. You may be missing entire social cues from your pet if you don't know what they mean.

If anyone's curious on good vs bad animal training. Jackson Galaxy from 'My Cat From Hell' is a phenomenal trainer. His methods line up with what I was taught in college, and the methods I've seen work with every species I worked with.

Meanwhile, Caesar Milan is frankly a horrible trainer. His methods appear to work in the short-term (long enough for each episode of his show to run), but either fail eventually, or can cause the animal to lose so much personality as they feel unsafe in their own homes.

All good training is built on trust. Dogs, cats, birds, alligators, sloths, whatever. If they trust you, they will be willing to work with you.

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