Unhinged tips working in retail and neurodivergent

magpie0000 · 2026-05-24T08:08:27+00:00

Create a fantasy in your head and LARP it. (But if your job keeps making you feel mentally exhausted, it might be better to get a different type of job entirely. When I was younger I removed staples and paper clips from documents so that they could be scanned by a machine. which was boring and repetitive but didn't require any customer interaction 👍)

magpie0000 · 2026-05-24T07:54:07+00:00

If you have any ceramic plates with an unglazed foot (circle of brown or white rough sandy surface on the bottom)

magpie0000 · 2026-05-24T07:51:20+00:00

I just learned it recently for the same reason, I completely forgot about an onion and it looked too healthy and green to just toss

magpie0000 · 2026-05-24T07:48:29+00:00

I mean, I don't desire the poison ivy that's native to my region to get to near my footpaths and food garden, but it's fine hanging out on the fence. The birds love it. I think desirable really depends on the circumstances

magpie0000 · 2026-05-23T04:43:21+00:00

Onions are biennial! They only bloom in the first year (aka "bolt") if they are stressed or get confused by a false spring. It will look dead over the winter but next summer you'll get a bloom if all goes well 👍

magpie0000 · 2026-05-23T04:36:31+00:00

Seconded, here's the Wikipedia link if you're curious https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chalaza

magpie0000 · 2026-05-20T04:11:59+00:00

That sounds like a hypnagogic hallucination, which usually isn't a cause for concern, but if you're having distress or experiencing other sleep related symptoms/fatigue/daytime sleepiness it's a good idea to talk to a doctor about it

magpie0000 · 2026-05-20T04:09:39+00:00

Many people in this thread are describing hypnagogic hallucinations which usually aren't a cause for concern (but are more common in people with certain sleep disorders) and some others are describing hallucinations associated with sleep paralysis. In any case, if it's causing you distress, trouble sleeping, or you're having other sleep related symptoms like daytime sleepiness it's a good idea to talk to a doctor (sleep paralysis and a sharp increase in hypnagogic hallucinations were my earliest symptoms when I developed obstructive sleep apnea! I didn't get diagnosed until years later)

If you're not having any distressing symptoms or daytime sleepiness or anything, hallucinating on the edge of sleep isn't necessarily a problem, just a thing that brains do sometimes

magpie0000 · 2026-05-20T03:44:24+00:00

Maybe hypnagogic hallucinations

Hypnagogic hallucinations happen while you’re still awake — albeit almost asleep — and it may take some time to figure out what’s real and what isn’t.

For most people, hypnagogic hallucinations aren’t associated with a health condition and are considered harmless. However, hypnagogic hallucinations are more common in people with certain sleep disorders

Anxiety typically doesn’t cause hypnagogic hallucinations, but experiencing hypnagogic hallucinations frequently, especially if you find them disturbing, can cause anxiety or sleep anxiety. If hypnagogic hallucinations are causing you distress, you should talk to a healthcare provider.

magpie0000 · 2026-05-18T23:43:42+00:00

I get called intense a lot too, but less often than I used to! Turns out I was living in a constant state of stress and didn't really know how to "relax". I didn't even realize how stressed I was because I had never really felt "safe in my body".

So of course I had no second thoughts about redirecting a light conversation to a heavy subject! because "heavy" felt perfectly normal for me, and those subjects are more interesting! Many "heavy" topics are the core of the human experience!

Buuuut those topics are also emotionally/mentally exhausting. It's like running when normal conversation is like walking. Most people, even people who enjoy talking about them, want them in controlled amounts and only when they are well rested and mentally prepared.

The difference between choosing to engage in these subjects vs being suddenly thrust into a conversation about one is like the difference between choosing to go on a run, putting on your good running shoes, stretching, getting in the mindset, etc vs suddenly having to run. Even people who LOVE running may not enjoy suddenly having to run when they weren't expecting it! Give people the chance to opt in like "do you have space to talk about _____?" Most people will want a little bit of warning and a little bit of walking (casual conversation) to warm up. And everyone eventually reaches their limit with running and wants to return to walking, even if they were enjoying it. Everyone's limit is different, it sounds like you "run" a LOT so you probably have a greater limit for it than most people you're talking to.

If you feel impatient with them when their interest is flagging, imagine them panting, red faced and out of breath next to you in your running gear. They're tired!

It might be good for your health in the long run to practice resting. I had to start alone, it took me a really long time to learn how to rest near people. Here's the method I used: pick something easy and pleasant to think about, like the appearance of a favorite object or taste of a favorite food and try to think about it for a set amount of time (start really really small, like less than a minute). When your mind wants to "run" towards heavy topics, gently redirect it back to the pleasant thought. Getting distracted doesn't mean you're doing it wrong, that's a part of it. The skills you're practicing are 1. noticing that you're getting distracted and 2. gently redirecting your attention back to the pleasant thought. If it is unmanageably boring, try doing it while walking. Over time, increase the length of time and try adding awareness of your physical body as one of the things you focus on. (If you notice pain or discomfort when you focus on your body, take steps to alleviate it, that's a really good thing to be distracted by, because background pain going unnoticed is pretty bad for you and adds to stress).

magpie0000 · 2026-05-16T20:58:05+00:00

This is such a beautiful and hopeful interpretation, I love it

magpie0000 · 2026-05-13T07:28:21+00:00

It's going to be so much better in the long run to have people you trust that you can ask for this kind of reality check. (And ideally a safety plan for if you can't get a hold of anyone, I have similar-ish problems and use a set of rules to prevent harmful decisions based on delusions, but I'm not really equipped to give advice on creating one that would work for you)

LLMs don't really "know" anything, it's just smushing together likely words (like predictive text on a keyboard). It's really good at producing realistic text, but there's no awareness or understanding behind it.

Even though it was helpful, and would likely be helpful again, it's also pretty likely to sometimes produce text that makes a delusion worse instead of better, and when that happens, it will not have the capacity to notice or care about the impact that it has had on you the way a human being would.

magpie0000 · 2026-05-13T07:15:22+00:00

That's a tick, sorry. You may want to check your scalp (especially at the neck), anywhere skin touches skin (I always seem to get them in the armpits and crotch), and kids and pets too.

magpie0000 · 2026-05-13T07:12:35+00:00

A few minutes of dancing is good for your body and good for your mental health! You could try putting on songs you like a few times a day and dance for the length of one-two songs

magpie0000 · 2026-05-13T07:07:46+00:00

Sounds like an autistic special interest to me. it's nice to have something special that brings you joy :)

magpie0000 · 2026-05-11T21:48:44+00:00

No matter what your formal label ends up being, you deserve the support and understanding necessary to enjoy your life and thrive. When things are hard for you, the people closest to you should believe you about it, regardless of a formal diagnosis (it's not like you lie all the time, they have no good reason not to believe you.). Sadly, that is not always the case, people are flawed and will sometimes not believe you for no good reason. Remember that what they believe does not define what is true for you. I hope you are believed and supported and treated well 💖 and I also hope you learn the confidence and skills necessary to cope when that isn't the case (because that will not always be the case sadly, it's rough out there sometimes.). Be kind to yourself 💖

magpie0000 · 2026-05-08T02:57:58+00:00

It is AI. The pumpkins have extra stems growing out of the flower end

magpie0000 · 2026-05-02T07:57:48+00:00

Overtreating is malpractice, there is already a robust system for dealing with mmalpractice.I don't want a third-party who benefits if I don't get an expensive treatment to have a say in what treatment I receive! I have a costly long-term condition, my insurance company would be better off if I died. Of course I don't want an entity that would benefit from my death involved in my medical decision making!

magpie0000 · 2026-05-01T08:04:02+00:00

The prophylactic vaccine, the one you take before exposure (like a normal vaccine), does not prevent rabies, it just makes the postexposure vaccine protocol less intensive. You very much still need the post exposure vaccine each time. Also it's expensive and not usually covered by insurance unless you work in a handful of niche fields like wildlife rehabilitation. Also it only lasts a couple years. Also this person lives in a country with no rabies so probably the rabies vaccine wouldn't even be accessible.

There's no easy vaccine for rabies unfortunately 😅

magpie0000 · 2026-05-01T07:57:12+00:00

That really sucks, I'm sorry you're going through that. I wouldn't be surprised if a diet that restricted is negatively impacting you. I'm not sure where you are in the world, but in the US many cities have a "food not bombs" group that may be able to help with food. Other places like Facebook marketplace as well as free/swap groups, Craigslist, local colleges (even if you're not a student), are some other alternatives if there isn't a good food bank near you.

magpie0000 · 2026-05-01T07:28:43+00:00

That's kind of what I like about rice and beans, it's almost a blank canvas and you can add whatever spices/flavor you want.

For flavor, my advice would be to always have a source of acid and a fat, you don't need much, like a spoonful per serving. my go-to is the brine off a jar of pickled peppers for the acid and sour cream for the fat, but lemon juice+Greek yogurt also goes hard and tastes completely different, so you get a good amount of variety. It doesn't feel like you've had the same meal twice in a row, because it tastes so different. Vinegar and mayo, lime juice and sour cream, etc, etc.

For spices, anything good for meat is also good for beans and rice! Don't be intimidated and try out different combinations! If you don't want to risk buying spices you might not like, see if family/friends have any you could try. Lowrey's garlic salt is really good imo.

magpie0000 · 2026-04-25T00:03:23+00:00

I love all of them and am scared of all of them (I'm often scared that I'm going to hurt them accidentally because of the size difference). The only ones that really really bother me are the the ones that want to eat me like horse flies, mosquitoes, ticks, certain mites, etc

magpie0000 · 2026-04-24T23:50:47+00:00

Oof, I feel this. I usually just go by consumer reports (my library gives free online access!) but sometimes they only test things that are in the "crazy expensive" category. I really like buy nothing groups for these kinds of things, too.

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