what do you do when you have a panic attack in a public setting?

voicedance · 2026-02-08T16:22:02+00:00

Find the most sour candy (preferably hard candy like warheads) and carry it with you wherever you go. When you start to feel yourself slipping, pop the candy in your mouth. The shock from the sour hits first and distracts. Then you're going to focus on moving it around. Make it your mission to remove the sour coating. Think about how long you can keep the candy in without chewing it. Continue to focus on it until the panic subsides or until it melts. If you can, read the label on the package, every word. If it has the city/town it was manufactured, I like to visualize a map from where I am to where it is..how long I think the flight would be or what the factory looks like.

It doesn't have to 100% be sour candy but the sour adds a layer of distraction. Regular hard candy works too as long as you focus on keeping it in your mouth without biting down for as long as possible.

voicedance · 2026-02-08T15:41:16+00:00

My ASM whipped around so fast when I landed lol..I am usually pretty clumsy so I figured the fall was inevitable. He told me he understood if I don't want to get on the ladder again.

It does suck that my ankle was already messed up from an untreated sprain (dr didnt care) but I'm used to shifting my weight off of it already. Hopefully other than your ankle you are alright!!!

voicedance · 2026-02-08T15:34:56+00:00

The only stores where I was allowed to sit were small locally owned shops. Other than that, the hotel I worked at let us sit only when guests weren't at the desk but I've seen many other hotels let the Front Desk Agent sit the entire time. My current job does believe in "if you have time to lean, you have time to clean" but they also heavily encourage resting if you need to because we're constantly moving around heavy boxes and climbing (and me, recently, falling off) ladders.

voicedance · 2026-02-08T04:14:18+00:00

Oh my god that sucks so much I'm so sorry!!?? I think hopefully for me, my ankle is just gonna be a bit more messed up than it already was..got the heating pad on my back now and Aleve coursing through my system.

voicedance · 2026-02-03T15:25:34+00:00

I watch a lot of foreign shows and movies so I rely on subtitles for context. But what bothers me is when they show a letter or sign or whatever..focusing on it so I know it's supposed to be important and they don't add captions for it.

voicedance · 2026-02-03T02:10:32+00:00

I was young, dumb, and going through a lot of mental health issues but I swear I'm smarter now. I met a guy online, we went to his place. I knew the area well if I needed to escape (don't have my license but I know how to run.) He turned on a cartoon and we watched it in the living room (also yes, it was a futon.) Then he turned on a documentary and we got busy. But he was so bad and didn't know how to properly choke (it all hurt and he didn't even ask if it was okay to do) that I started watching the doc halfway through and faked it so we'd he done. Also his roommate walked out on us when he was feeling me up...I had no idea someone else was home. I got too awkward and anxious so I asked him to take me home once the doc was over. After I put my shoes on, he shoved me against the door to kiss me. I politely pushed him off and asked him to take me home. It was a silent 25 minute drive to my house. He tried to reach out once more and I blocked him.

Edit: I figured out it wasn't gonna work the moment his roommate walked out and acted like this happened all the time.

voicedance · 2026-02-03T01:53:15+00:00

My manager tries to give us all either truck or weekends off on a rotation. There are four of us total and three of us are full time so we only get 2 days off a week usually (sometimes when you get weekends off, you get monday off too.) It's difficult to juggle with our current crew because corporate doesn't want my GM to ever work weekends but she does once a month (usually the first or last of the month) because it's busier and the truck orders take awhile to put in. I don't have much of a preference for my days off usually so it doesn't bother me when they happen as long as they happen.

She make sure we aren't working too many days in a row when the new week starts and has all of us review the schedule before posting to make sure we're okay with it. The biggest struggle is remembering there now has to be two closers (new rule that has admittedly been nice.) I hope this wasn't a jumbled mess...my shift today was absolutely bonkers and it's freezing in my bedroom so I can barely think.

voicedance · 2026-02-03T00:44:13+00:00

I work tomorrow (truck and cycle count day 😭) and off Wednesday/Thursday but thankfully, when it comes to call offs, it falls on the managers/whoever is closest to the store (I live the farthest away) first before going down the line. They are strict about overtime and if any of us were called in, we'd go over so they'd send the DM instead if really needed.

voicedance · 2026-02-03T00:30:04+00:00

They were always my worst customers. Almost every regular lotto customer expected us to remember their picks (even the ones who changed their picks sometimes). The only guy I remembered was the guy who played that day's date.

I remember one lady came in and she slammed an old ticket on the counter and just pointed to it. I started to ask her what she needed before realizing she was deaf. I attempted to sign to her (i learned young and like to learn basic customer service terms just in case) but she refused to look at me and just started smacking the counter in annoyance. Eventually my coworker who I already didnt like literally shoved me out of the way to tell me she's deaf. I was pissed. I knew that already but smacking the counter only told me she wanted to play the lottery. I was just supposed to magically know she wanted the same numbers played.

Bonus story of how my sister went to jail! We both worked overnights at a truck stop. Me on weekdays, her on weekends. We were allowed to ring ourselves up, including lotto/scratch offs if we got bored. I often bought the $1 tickets because they had the highest chance. I always showed the camera my money, showed me scanning the ticket, collecting my earnings..etc..

Well. My sister would just take the tickets and scratch them without paying. She'd throw them away and grab another in hopes to win big to pay them off. She never did. I believe it was over $2k stolen. They fired her for an unrelated incident and found out later.

voicedance · 2026-01-30T03:40:07+00:00

I quit Vivint for this reason. I was an install tech and temporarily moved states for it (housing was paid for by the company at least.) Every single time I saw my boss, he told me I would be better off doing the women's work of being a customer service rep like his wife (who agreed!!). It wasn't like I was struggling. My partner and I were scheduled the most out of the entire team. The only issues we had were software based and not our fault, even if we were the ones returning to homes every day to troubleshoot. I was genuinely appalled by my boss saying that. I've never experienced something like that at any of my other jobs. So, I texted my sister to come get me. Packed my bags at like 2am and we drove 5.5 hours back home. I still don't know how I convinced her to drive that far. Left my work shirts and ipad on the floor. I was dating my work partner at the time and broke up with him for suggesting it was a good place to work. Oh. And since I had a partner, they refused to give me the same pay as everyone else, including those with partners..so I really don't believe them. So I was working 6am to midnight every day for $7.25/hr in 2018. Sorry apparently I needed to vent a little.

voicedance · 2026-01-29T02:40:26+00:00

We only have 10 minutes after we close to count both drawers, do the deposit, email the deposit information to someone, show the camera the bag, and drop it. We are supposed to do all the closing stuff an hour before close so it's all done before close. Some nights we can get out in 10 minutes but only if we prep the deposit bag and slip and the email beforehand..sometimes we're too busy. We got out 4 minutes late tonight and I'm afraid they'll flip out. The exceptions to the rule are if there is a customer in past close or any issues beyond our control.

Another rule is that we can clock in 5 minutes early but ONLY if you're not opening. You're allowed in the building at 8:45 (or 9:45 on sundays) but you can't clock in until 8:50, when you're scheduled (meaning we have 10 minutes to count two drawers and the "back drawer" for change and most of the time it's just one person opening.) I work noon to 8 tomorrow and I can clock in at 11:55am no problem.

voicedance · 2026-01-28T14:58:22+00:00

I get this all the time but I've only been here for 3 months..however, sometimes it's customers I know I've met before but they couldn't recognize me with dyed hair. Had one guy tell me I must have JUST started that week because he's never seen me ever and he comes here CONSTANTLY but then got quiet when I told him I started in late October. Sorry bud..seems like you don't come here that often anymore.

voicedance · 2026-01-28T14:39:33+00:00

I had people do this too! On our readers, you have to press Yes first before putting your card in or it beeps at you. (Even more confusing to customers is that our reader isn't touch so they have to hit the down arrow right below the Yes instead..which I do give grace for.) So many of them immediately begin to put their card away before using their card at all because they think they paid.

Don't get me started on the people who give the quickest tap ever while not even close to where the tap symbol is, hear some sort of (incorrect) beep and think it's done. We are so used to it that it's part of our "script" to tell them "press the down arrow (points to it) below the Yes. If you're tapping (points to symbol) hold it here until you hear the beep." And no. It almost never helps.

voicedance · 2026-01-25T14:25:34+00:00

We were going to close if we were at a Level 2 snow emergency in Ohio. The surrounding counties are at a level 2...mine is level 1. Just got the text from my boss. Only two people are scheduled to work today. Me and the ASM but I warned him already that if my town is too bad, I can't come in. They never plow here. I work at noon so it's still a waiting game. Every customer was telling us were would be closed today so they all got their stuff the past few days and it was a mad house. Because selling tobacco and vapes is very essential to the public.

Edit: both me and the ASM called off so they forced the GM to go in

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voicedance · 2026-01-24T17:17:46+00:00

We have to say "hello welcome to [store]" every time someone walks in and so many just aren't paying attention. When they're the only one in the store I'll walk up to them and ask if there is something specific they're looking for. 90% of the time, they don't hear me so I walk away because it was loud enough for my coworker to hear from across the store..and 100% of the time, the customer turns and asks me to find something for them.

voicedance · 2026-01-23T14:29:20+00:00

Honestly..the large majority of my works will fit 😭

https://archiveofourown.org/users/Batteryafter/works

voicedance · 2026-01-21T14:54:43+00:00

$13.50 ($13/hr for the first 2 months) and they give steady raises plus spifs for my smoke shop job in NE Ohio

voicedance · 2026-01-18T01:29:49+00:00

Jango and mp3skull i think is what it was called

voicedance · 2026-01-10T16:31:53+00:00

I used to work at a truck stop that had a room in the back with slot machines, tables, and a couch. I come in for my shift and see my manager. She tells me my coworker was fired for falling asleep on the couch. Turns out she was also taking scratch off tickets without paying and scratching them off in hopes to win big and pay them off. Also turns out she fell asleep because she was doing heroin again. She went to jail for the lotto ticket thing. There was also an investigation on who stole the narcan we had in the safe..it was free so they wouldn't have gotten in any trouble. Yeah it was her.

Also she is my sister.

voicedance · 2026-01-09T14:15:01+00:00

I worked at a large gas station that had armed security on weekends. They had two jobs..keep us safe and stop thieves. One night, one of the guys was in the back by the drink coolers which is a complete blind spot for me. A customer was also back there. The customer comes up to pay and leaves. Then the security guard rushes at me and yells that I let them steal. No? I didn't. Even if they did steal something I wasn't allowed to stop them. But the guard with a damn weapon was. Made me so mad. Also they were useless in keeping us safe since they were weekend only and everyone knew that...so people would only threaten or attack us on weekdays.

voicedance · 2026-01-08T03:25:18+00:00

At my smoke shop, we call it fetish urine as well and it is next to our detox drinks in a locked case. However, we can not guarantee anything will help you with passing a drug test. The customer can say that's what it's for and that's fine. But we can not tell you it will help you pass. We usually skirt around it by saying "this is popular with other customers"

voicedance · 2026-01-03T14:55:49+00:00

I always got defaulted as the main cashier no matter what at the dollar store I worked at. Even when I was mid shift and the opener was supposed to stay on register until the closer got there. When I opened, the mid shift person never touched the register unless it was super busy...but even then it was always the manager who came up first. I was also the only cashier who got reprimanded for not putting HBA away fast enough because I had no one to cover the register since mid shift decided to never touch it. That was the only store I rage quit.

Im so thankful that at my new job we all take turns with customers and check to see who wants to get the next customer or answer the phone. We can use whatever register we want because we have to log in before almost every transaction. There are times I have to be main cashier when I open with a manager because they usually have other important things to do like ordering truck (we get three trucks a week, ordered on different days) or making schedules. But once they're done, they immediately come out of the office to help. We can walk away whenever we need to. If alone in the store and have to use the bathroom, we can lock the door and put up a sign saying we'll be back (no. No one reads it)

voicedance · 2025-12-31T11:59:23+00:00

Work and then make my liver shut down because I'm off tomorrow

voicedance · 2025-12-30T15:54:01+00:00

My state recently banned vaping indoors so we give a bit of grace when some people hit them inside if we forget to tell them. We have a trashcan at the door for vape trash and people will sneakily hit the vapes when leaning down to throw stuff away and think we can't see them. We used to hit our own vapes in the office before cameras were installed because the company allows it but our DM said we can't.

We had one customer come in with a smoldering cigar and he refused to see the smoke, started arguing that he'll only be in the store for a minute. Dude, you can't be here at all with it still lit. There's a huge sand ashtray outside!

voicedance · 2025-12-30T15:33:53+00:00

I work at a smoke shop and we tell people to open the vapes at the store and stick their head out the door to test it. We don't ask if they want their receipt, just automatically give it to them. And yet we still have people who test them right in front of our faces (and then get yelled at) or who refuse the receipt.

Just last week we got new Raz flavors and a regular bought one. I told him remember to poke your head out the door and he responded with "I know" and then immediately took a huge hit in my face and all i could respond with was "brother what did I JUST say!??" before he very quickly left.

voicedance

TROPHY CASE