For starters, it’s a minimum wage food service job and I only make $14.25 /hr. It’s not like it’s incredibly intense or anything but I just absolutely hate this job.
My schedule is completely unpredictable, as I’m opening at 5am some days, closing at 10pm other days.
And I feel like I’m being dramatic when I say this, but often I feel we are very understaffed, and I’m stuck doing the work of what should be multiple people. I’m a cashier but I’m expected to also make drinks, clean the dining room, prep food, etc etc. And some days we have more than enough people working. But it’s the weekends that are always lacking people, which inevitably becomes our busiest days.
And the one thing that has honestly annoyed me the most is that they hired me under the pretense that Sunday would be the ONLY DAY I am completely unavailable. My availability has changed since then but I have stated several times that Sunday is the one day i do not work. And yet, I find myself constantly getting put on the schedule for Sunday. I ultimately cracked and told them if they were desperate for someone or needed a cover that they could call me or schedule me, but even then, only evenings. They ended up scheduling me for 6am on Easter Sunday, and I think that’s when I realized that they really could not give two shits about my schedule. I have worked holidays before, thanksgiving and Christmas Eve, but this was so ridiculous to me. I told them I wouldn’t be working on Easter and they had to scramble to find a cover. Verbatim, I texted that manager “I won’t be able to work this Easter, and I’d like to change my availability to not available on any Sunday” The scheduleing manager told me “you know you will HAVE to work some Sundays” and I’m so non confrontational I just agreed, but this has been an issue since I started. (Almost a year ago)
My coworkers and managers are really good, and I even told my manager that I had no plans of leaving when getting some info for my resume, but I’m so jaded with this job that I know I am not enjoyable to be around when Im there.
I know I’m replaceable and they probably won’t miss me in the long run, and I know I can get paid more working elsewhere, but idk I feel guilty for leaving after I said I wouldn’t. And I’m nervous about getting a good reference if I put in my two weeks out of the blue.
My ask for advice would really just be this:
1) is it unprofessional to leave after telling the manager I had no plans of leaving?
2) should I give my manager a heads up that I’m searching for a new job elsewhere? (I’d think not but idk)
3) am I asking too much to be taken off the schedule for Sunday when I work every other day of the week?

“I am definitely going to break up with this guy in two years” I planned, but then he beat me to it.
This was exactly how I felt when I was laid off by Google.
The other day I posted my layoff story in Linkedin and all of sudden it has got 450k+ impressions, going viral. I've again realized that there are so many people who are just like me and can relate to my layoff story. Since I was laid off in 2023, I have become a gig worker at Silicon Vally -- cashier at Trader Joe's, a barista at Starbucks, and a Lyft driver...and sometimes a pet sitter. and I wrote a book about my experience. The book is in Korean, titled "From Google to Gig", so I am sharing its summary in English as below.
(from my medium blog from Google to Gig
“I am definitely going to break up with this guy in two years” I planned, but then he beat me to it.
This is the exact answer I give when people ask me how I felt when I was laid off by my employer. In early 2023, Google announced a layoff of 12,000 people just like other big tech companies. I was one of them, along with the team I had painstakingly built and nurtured since coming to the states five years ago. Although layoffs are so common these days that one in every two American workers have experienced being let go, it's not easy for those affected workers to accept and process it in a calm and composed way.
When I was informed of my layoff via a late night email, I went through the five stages of grief — denial, anger, negotiation, depression, and acceptance — just as many people were doing at that time. In the beginning, I dismissed it thinking that, "This email must have been sent by mistake.” Later, I complained "Why my team?” and “why me?” Then I thought, "Okay, let's take this opportunity to do some things I haven't tried before."
Finally, I decided to embrace a "gap year" after 30 busy years of corporate jobs. During this gap year, I became a Silicon Valley gig worker who had many part time jobs at the same time. While I was experiencing various jobs first-hand, I wrote and recently published a book titled "From Google to Gig(구글임원에서 실리콘밸리 알바생이 되었습니다)" The core message of this book is three ways to take initiatives in our lives, even when we encounter unexpected and forced changes, such as layoffs, breakups, or illnesses.
First, create your own "gap year project". This is a way to try new things you've always wanted to do. Consider that this opportunity may not come again. This might be the only and last time in your entire life to do something like this. Soon after I got the layoff notice, I made a list of things and activities that I had wanted to do for the past 30 years but couldn't because of my full-time corporate work. Every activity has one thing in common — I wanted to engage customers directly.
So, I kicked off my so-called "Meet 10,000 People" project. To do this, I started working part-time as a cashier at Trader Joe's, a barista at Starbucks, and a Lyft driver. Over the past year, I have met more than 10,000 people and walked about 5,000 kilometers, the equivalent distance as the US coast to coast. I also gained extensive knowledge and in-depth insights into diverse industries like retail, food and beverage, and logistics. These firsthand experiences are also helping me greatly in the communications consulting services that I am providing.
Second, keep up your daily routines. On the first few days after being laid off, you habitually click on your corporate calendar and email icons only to find them empty, which evokes bitter feelings of emptiness because of your situation. It might feel like your value is being denied and you are not needed any more. When you feel you are not helping anyone, your self-esteem can drop. At this time, it is necessary to build some new routines to keep yourself busy. Get up at a regular time, exercise, go to the library, meet people, polish your resume, and prepare for job interviews. Also, try volunteering and joining book clubs or hobby groups, which you couldn't do before because you were too busy. If you need to improve your English, it's a good time to do that. Fill your calendar with these routine activities.
Third, inform your friends of your situation, meet with them, and extend your social circle. In Korea, people tend to avoid telling others when they are unemployed, whether by choice or not, until they find a shiny new job. However, networking with people is always important for professionals, especially during these challenging times.
When experiencing emotional fluctuations due to unexpected changes, it is essential to find emotional stability and support by talking openly with people around you. In addition, networking is practically helpful as well. By letting people around you know what kind of job you are looking for or what kind of gap year project you are interested in, you can easily connect with people who want to work with you. You can also receive referrals from them when applying for a new job.
The layoff offered me a profound opportunity for self-reflection. During my 16 years at Google, I realized that I had unknowingly prioritized stability over adventure, relying on the company's reputation rather than valuing my own worth. Over the past year, I've transitioned from a Google Director to a gig worker, deliberately stepping away from the security and prestige of corporate life. Embracing this new identity, devoid of the labels associated with a large company, I've discovered that life is brimming with countless exhilarating and inspiring moments. Through this journey, I've learned that I can reclaim control of my life amidst unexpected changes. Now, I say this, "Thank you, Google, for letting me go!"

“I am definitely going to break up with this guy in two years” I planned, but then he beat me to it. This was exactly how I felt when I was laid off by Google.
The other day I posted my layoff story in Linkedin and all of sudden it has got 450k+ impressions, going viral. I've again realized that there are so many people who are just like me and can relate to my layoff story. Since I was laid off in 2023, I have become a gig worker at Silicon Vally -- cashier at Trader Joe's, a barista at Starbucks, and a Lyft driver...and sometimes a pet sitter. and I wrote a book about my experience. The book is in Korean, titled "From Google to Gig", so I am sharing its summary in English as below.
​
(from my blog)
“I am definitely going to break up with this guy in two years” I planned, but then he beat me to it.
This is the exact answer I give when people ask me how I felt when I was laid off by my employer. In early 2023, Google announced a layoff of 12,000 people just like other big tech companies. I was one of them, along with the team I had painstakingly built and nurtured since coming to the states five years ago. Although layoffs are so common these days that one in every two American workers have experienced being let go, it's not easy for those affected workers to accept and process it in a calm and composed way.
When I was informed of my layoff via a late night email, I went through the five stages of grief — denial, anger, negotiation, depression, and acceptance — just as many people were doing at that time. In the beginning, I dismissed it thinking that, "This email must have been sent by mistake.” Later, I complained "Why my team?” and “why me?” Then I thought, "Okay, let's take this opportunity to do some things I haven't tried before."
Finally, I decided to embrace a "gap year" after 30 busy years of corporate jobs. During this gap year, I became a Silicon Valley gig worker who had many part time jobs at the same time. While I was experiencing various jobs first-hand, I wrote and recently published a book titled "From Google to Gig." The core message of this book is three ways to take initiatives in our lives, even when we encounter unexpected and forced changes, such as layoffs, breakups, or illnesses.
First, create your own "gap year project". This is a way to try new things you've always wanted to do. Consider that this opportunity may not come again. This might be the only and last time in your entire life to do something like this. Soon after I got the layoff notice, I made a list of things and activities that I had wanted to do for the past 30 years but couldn't because of my full-time corporate work. Every activity has one thing in common — I wanted to engage customers directly.
So, I kicked off my so-called "Meet 10,000 People" project. To do this, I started working part-time as a cashier at Trader Joe's, a barista at Starbucks, and a Lyft driver. Over the past year, I have met more than 10,000 people and walked about 5,000 kilometers, the equivalent distance as the US coast to coast. I also gained extensive knowledge and in-depth insights into diverse industries like retail, food and beverage, and logistics. These firsthand experiences are also helping me greatly in the communications consulting services that I am providing.
Second, keep up your daily routines. On the first few days after being laid off, you habitually click on your corporate calendar and email icons only to find them empty, which evokes bitter feelings of emptiness because of your situation. It might feel like your value is being denied and you are not needed any more. When you feel you are not helping anyone, your self-esteem can drop. At this time, it is necessary to build some new routines to keep yourself busy. Get up at a regular time, exercise, go to the library, meet people, polish your resume, and prepare for job interviews. Also, try volunteering and joining book clubs or hobby groups, which you couldn't do before because you were too busy. If you need to improve your English, it's a good time to do that. Fill your calendar with these routine activities.
Third, inform your friends of your situation, meet with them, and extend your social circle. In Korea, people tend to avoid telling others when they are unemployed, whether by choice or not, until they find a shiny new job. However, networking with people is always important for professionals, especially during these challenging times.
When experiencing emotional fluctuations due to unexpected changes, it is essential to find emotional stability and support by talking openly with people around you. In addition, networking is practically helpful as well. By letting people around you know what kind of job you are looking for or what kind of gap year project you are interested in, you can easily connect with people who want to work with you. You can also receive referrals from them when applying for a new job.
The layoff offered me a profound opportunity for self-reflection. During my 16 years at Google, I realized that I had unknowingly prioritized stability over adventure, relying on the company's reputation rather than valuing my own worth. Over the past year, I've transitioned from a Google Director to a gig worker, deliberately stepping away from the security and prestige of corporate life. Embracing this new identity, devoid of the labels associated with a large company, I've discovered that life is brimming with countless exhilarating and inspiring moments. Through this journey, I've learned that I can reclaim control of my life amidst unexpected changes. Now, I say this, "Thank you, Google, for letting me go!"

I’ve applied to everywhere and I don’t get responses, I get declined, or they tell me they don’t have that job open. It’s like bs that is can’t find a job and it’s really making me think that I’m the problem in general. I’ve had professionals look at my resume so that’s not the issue. Like it’s exhausting that no one will hire me. I’m going to college in the summer and like I have nothing to do for the next 3wks I hate not being able to do anything. Is anyone having similar issues? Am I doing something wrong? Am I the problem?
Edit: I’ve been a cashier( 3ish years) and a receptionist (6 months for school). I don’t want a job for just 3 wks I want a job in general I’m just have open availability for the next 3wks.

Hello I am currently an Employee at NYC Pizza @ 151 W 34th St. New York and I am making it my duty to let it be known we are hiring
https://careers.delawarenorth.com/job/30820/Restaurant-Cashier-Pizza-NY-Patina
Benefits * Weekly pay * Employee assistance program * Training and development opportunities * Employee discounts * Flexible work schedules
Please if your interested feel free to apply having a resume will boost your chances.

A few minutes after I step out of the office and into the streets of the city I live in I find myself walking past various people on a busy street. I am a decent distance away from the office and I have the ability to truly appreciate the assorted abilities I purchased.
My enhanced senses, which with every passing second grow incrementally stronger, allow me to fully soak in how powerfully alive a city is. I can hear the sounds of everything from insects hiding away in small crevices and cracks where they hope to be undisturbed by humans, to the whispered conversations people not far from me are having as they walk ahead of or behind me. I can see the seams of clothes worn by people around me even from a distance, including seeing them in their full, true breadth of color, colors beyond what I can name and identify.
I can feel the changes in the location of nearby air caused by people moving around me. If I shut my eyes I could effortlessly navigate this place, as busy as it is without sight. And the smells... Well, the smells are a lot less pleasant than everything else, but my sensitivity to them is still something that astounds me. The active simulation of my senses serves as training, and this makes even the act of walking around serve as something that will slowly morph and change me for the better.
I allow myself to wander, gaining valuable experience all the while, as I turn inward and glance at my class menu. My class menu right now only has three options for me to choose from and they are pretty basic: mage, rogue, and fighter.
Mage is the default magic class, and the first "Class ability", one of the main draws of the "Class" mechanic in the first place; abilities that every class offers those who invest in them, with new options becoming available whenever you level up, it offers me is a simple and minor boost to my ability to regenerate magical energy. Rogue is the default subtlety class and it has not been selected so I can't yet determine what basic "Class ability" it offers me at first level. With a simple burst of focus and intent I switch my active class to rogue, after dealing with "Tutorial Sprite", and I feel myself gain a very minor boost to my ability to be unnoticed so long as I am standing still and an increase to the effectiveness of subtle actions I take, like trying to pickpocket somebody.
I repeat this again to make my class "Fighter" and I am surprised to see a text box appear that asks me to pick a "Fighting Style". I get the chance to pick a single buff out of several, all of which relate to fighting in various ways. I ultimately pick a buff that strengthens my unarmed strikes, since barring something truly horrible I'll always have my hands ready to go in a battle.
I switch my active class back to that of a mage, after dealing with "Tutorial Sprite" once more. As I continue to explore the city I mentally muse about the sorts of actions it'll take for me to actually other classes. I saw a few examples in the description of the actual perk description back when I was selecting it, so I know that if I behave as something that is usually enough for me to gain it as a class, but that raises some interesting questions in the context of classes like "Ranger", "Monk", "Paladin" and other fantasy RPG classes. Perhaps I can't unlock them in this jump? That'd be a bit boring, honestly, but it'd at least give me something to look forward to, I guess.
I quickly reach into my inventory and pull out my phone, though the gestures I do to mask this are to reach into my pocket and "withdraw" it from there. I effortlessly and deftly navigate the thing as I begin to venture a touch farther from my home than I'd like. I'm about to turn around when I spot a decently large gym in the distance. This makes me smile, and I use my phone to check out how much money I have in my bank account.
I have a few hundred dollars to my name and nothing else of value. Funnily enough prior to my time in this jump having just a few hundred dollars would worry me a bit but I actually just smile at the sight of the funds I currently have. This is for two reasons: it's more than I had back on my homeworld, but also it's more than enough since I'm staying in an apartment where the first month of rent has already been paid and I don't need to eat or drink. I elect to head to the gym and to see if I can gain a class or two tonight. As I walk I install several social media apps on my phone and set up accounts for the sake of making it easier for me to establish a social media presence later. I still need to do stuff like take pictures though...
In minutes I am in the gym's store and I feel the eyes of several people on me. At this point I've already done the minor stuff like signing up for the gym and paying registration, which I did by interacting with a beefy-looking gym employee who was happy to get my personal details. I am studying the available outfits, looking for the ones that will draw the most attention.
I'm hot now, why not flaunt it? My charisma is one of my most handy stats, and I can train it as easily as I can train my other stuff, so I should. In future jumps being able to attract followers could be life-saving, and in this jump being able to attract new friends will make the days pass by quicker. I grab a few different combinations of clothes, a towel, and a water bottle, as well as a duffel bag. The pants and shirts I pick are clothes that will emphasize my lean build, as I don't have anything like a bruiser or berserker's body type but the wry, lean build of someone who focuses on skill more than raw power. The size of the clothes actually doesn't matter, thanks to a trait from "Inventory" which will automatically resize things I equip, like clothes, to fit me when I store them away.
I take the stuff I've decided to purchase to a cashier and she rings me up while studying me. She is a cute looking but young, late teens young, blonde girl who skillfully takes my goods and scans them.
"So are you new in town?" She asks. "I've never seen you before and most of the people who bother shopping here are regulars." She adds. I laugh lightly and nod at her.
"Yep! I work over in downtown and I decided to check out the rest of the city. I was looking for a gym and saw this one so I figured I'd become a member. This is the closest gym to my work." I remark, probably inaccurately. She nods as she hears me talk. Her name is Jasmine according to the name tag on her uniform. She and I exchange more small talk before she tells me how much I owe her. The amount is almost one hundred dollars which is a bit less pleasant than I'd hoped, but not such a bad price it dissuades me from buying the stuff. She takes my card, does the stuff to get it to pay off what I owe her, and gives it back to me with a receipt. I thank her for her time, tell her I'll see her around and make my way to the gym's locker room while I put my stuff into my new bag.
The place is tight and I can smell the scent of sweat, dirt, and other unpleasant stuff. It's not fun, but a part of my perk that improves my senses is that unpleasant sensations do not have the same delibating effects on me that they would on others. This allows me to tolerate it even as I study my surroundings and look for security cameras. I manage to spot a few so I make my way to the men's bathroom which is connected to the locker room, check for cameras and this time I find none. I reach into the duffel bag I have purchased for myself and I grab the clothes I placed in them, immediately click the resulting notification away, stuff them in my inventory, and then touch my own clothes and store them away in my inventory.
I immediately equip my new outfit, a pair of red pants and a tight blue shirt. I don't bother admiring myself but I do take a quick picture so I have something for social media to hint at my newfound nature as a gym rat. This gives me a "Photography" skill, which I fully plan to take advantage of over the course of this jump. I walk over to the locker room and pretend to store my duffel bag in a locker I was given as part of my package for being a member of the gym. Once my duffel bag is safely in my inventory I shut the locker door and head out to the main floor of the gym, exiting the locker room out a different way than the way I came in.
I step into a large area filled with a multitude of machines for cardio workers, many of which are occupied by various people. Professional trainers stand next to some of the people working out and encourage them while cautiously watching to make sure they don't hurt themselves. Next to some of the areas where people are working out are glass walls showing various studios for classes like Zumba and other sorts of dance-heavy methods of getting workouts. I study the sheets on the glass walls of those rooms, looking to see if any classes are happening soon. I grin when I see a Zumba class that is less than five minutes from starting, in a room where a handsome and fit Latin man is idly stretching. He is being watched by several women, some of whom look at him unwholesomely. I walk over to the place where the participants in the Zumba class are gathering or stretching, uploading the picture I took to different sites and apps at the same time, while I enter the studio, grinning almost uncontrollably as I appreciate the wisdom of choosing The Devil's Own Luck as one of my perks.
______________________________________________________________________________________ Juan is the first of the room's inhabitants to notice the newcomer. The figure steps into the room and immediately begins to approach the instructor, a large grin on his face as he walks over to the middle of the class.
The striking figure has an air that is passively attention-getting and as Juan studies him the man turns his light eyes on the Zumba instructor. The two figures appraise each other as Lucas approaches the instructor and asks him if this is the classroom for Zumba. Juan grins at him and tells him to go ahead and pick a spot in the room. Lucas thanks him and picks a spot close to the glass wall of the room so that way the eyes that got glued to him when he walked through the large gymnasium can continue to appreciate him.
Lucas has movie-star looks but they are wholesome movie-star looks. He looks like the sort of figure that a big studio would hire to star in rom-coms, rather than a sort of strikingly sexy figure who might appear in modeling campaigns or as the star of action movies. His looks aren't designed to attract anyone seeking a specific type of attractive person, aside from maybe a wholesome boy next door type allowed to age and mature a touch. This gives him a generalized level of attractiveness that many, regardless of their gender, sex, or sexuality, would be able to admire, and that several people in the gym are currently admiring.
Juan is not surprised when a few more people enter the studio last minute. The instructor wonders whether Lucas will be a net negative or a net positive for him in the weeks to come if he becomes a regular at the gym and in the class...
"Bienvenidos mi gente!" The instructor shouts as the six-thirty class begins. Multiple people, including Lucas, return the greeting, with Lucas surprising multiple people by returning it in accent-neutral Spanish. Juan gives his pre-class spiel, all about working out at a pace the individual exerciser is comfortable with and about the importance of staying hydrated, and the class, for the most part, listens attentively. Juan then presses a button on a small remote control in his palm which turns on the music.
"Alright class, let's start off nice and slow with some stretches." The instructor says, his voice naturally carrying across the room. He guides the class in a series of simple, light stretches to an instrumental song that combines elements of hip-hop and some other genres. Lucas is able to keep up with this hilariously easily, and the man smiles all the while. There is a look on his face of serene and calm joy, one which he keeps up as the music shifts and Juan begins to guide the class in a simple dance. Lucas keeps up and even feels his mind adjusting to the music and to his instructor's rhythmic moves, emulating the same grace and dexterity as the instructor thanks to a number of perks mixing together and allowing him to move with quite literally supernatural ease.
As the music plays Lucas gains a new skill, "Dancing", and as he trains and hones this skill he is powerfully aware of the impact of several perks that work in conjunction. "Super Sensory", "The Devil's Own Luck", "Well Of Wisdom", and "Beautiful Mind" work with "Jack Of All Trades", "Experience Booster" "Master of All" and "Skills" to hone Lucas's instincts and ability to predict what Juan will do next. He matches the instructor move for move even halfway through the song, and when the song comes to an end the instructor is smiling at the young dancer. In Lucas's mind time freezes when he gets a notification alerting him that he's earned a new class: "Dancer". Internally the young jumper cheers in excitement as he clicks off the notification and makes the class his "active" class, which grants him a bonus to his agility.
The music seamlessly transitions into the next song, and Lucas watches the instructor while gracefully freestyling a series of idle, low-energy moves that still make him look good. Juan watches the man and gets the sense that Lucas is a veteran dancer, which is closer to the truth than most people would suspect when glancing at Lucas either pre-chain or now if he wasn't moving. When Juan begins to dance Lucas immediately replicates him, and the for the next hour the two dance. There are other dancers in the room, some of them are actually quite good, but none of them can match Lucas or Juan.
The two dancers are on another level, and Lucas's mind is hungry to absorb as much as he can, to learn as much as he is able about his own body and what sort of physical limits exist, right now, for the newly liberated performer. Lucas delights in having a body that can move the way he wants it to, and he gains enough experience to level up, time itself freezing for a brief moment about three-quarters of the way through the class. Lucas internally grins with delight when he gets to pick a new class ability.
The way this process works visually is that as time freezes three text boxes appear in front of the dancer. Each one denotes a new ability or buff that the figure could earn. In this case each of the options is a fully new skill or ability rather than a simple buff.
One ensures that once per day a dance can be performed that will be rewarded in some way, with the reward depending on the quality of the dancing and the means of the audience. Another option is an ability to incorporate dancing into one's strikes which makes them harder to predict or block akin to Capoeira, and the last one is a strange ability that allows Lucas to infuse his performance skill with his charisma, which will massively increase how good a dancer the athletic office worker could be. Each of these skills is radically different and Lucas allows time to be frozen while he makes his decision.
Lucas could take advantage of this early moment to gain a new way to interact with his environment, he could get a nice boost to his ability to defend himself, or he could lean into his build... He ultimately opts to give himself a bit of a secret tool in combat, deciding to invest in his long term security, rather than doubling down on what he knows he can do well. Time resumes and he continues dancing.
For several minutes after the class comes to an end he is badgered by people who saw him dancing. He politely answers questions, exchanges names and contact information, and he even gets formally introduced to Juan Romero, the class's instructor. The two have a short, somewhat awkward conversation, wherein Lucas senses Juan's interest in him but also the fact that the figure doesn't love being upstaged in his own class. Lucas doesn't blame him for having come to that conclusion since Lucas was undeniably the better dancer. It's not Juan's fault that "Jack of All Trades" gives Lucas the knowledge and base skills of an average Zumba instructor, and then Lucas's other perks push him past that. Still, Lucas remains polite and thanks the instructor for a good lesson before he decides he's had enough exercise for the night.
In minutes Lucas, still wearing his somewhat skimpy outfit, is out of the gym and slowly making his way back home. The apartment is over an hour away walking at a brisk pace, but Lucas is happy to walk, since that's a thing he can do now. The fit gamer walks through the now artificially illuminated streets of the city armed with his handy mini-map. The figure diligently studies the map as he cautiously, patiently explores his new home, noting the occasional appearance of icons of different colors which is a signifier that they have different relationships to him than either being his friend, or neutral towards him. During this time the man familiarizes himself with this world's social media scene, and he is happy to note the immediate popularity he has garnered thanks to his first post being a thirst trap.
"If 'catfishes' exist in this world so many people are gonna try and use pictures of me..." The man mutters at one point, all while navigating the roads of the city like he was born here.
The next few minutes pass by in a blur, with the figure only stopping for a beat to pick up some groceries. Once he gets enough ingredients for a few simple meals so he can see if he can earn a skill, if not a class, he returns to the streets of the city. A scant few minutes later he deposits the items he purchased into his inventory and finishes walking to the rundown apartment building where his new home is located.
_______________________________________________________________________________________ I step into my apartment after walking up a small flight of stairs and curiously study the cramped, only somewhat livable space. It's a studio apartment outfitted with a very small handful of furniture pieces, namely a bed, a small chair, and a tiny table that is covered in different outfits, my outfits. It has a kitchen, which is thankfully fully outfitted with older looking but hopefully functional pieces of kitchen equipment, which I plan to cook in new utensils that I purchased earlier tonight. I close the door behind me and opt to make sure I fully understand my living situation by walking over to the one door in the apartment that doesn't just lead back outside, and I open it only to see a dirty, unpleasant looking bathroom.
"Well I'm getting what I paid for..." I complain as I realize that if I ever want company over, of any sort, I'll need to clean this place up. I close the door to the bathroom and opt to take stock of my situation.
On the bright side: I have an apartment all to myself and that's always nice. On the not-so-bright-side my apartment is a rundown mess and actually cleaning it won't be fun, plus for any of my furniture to not be generic as hell I will need to invest some of my hard earned money into this place, and right now I'm hardly wealthy. But if I look back on the bright side again... it seems that all sorts of activities earn me skills and classes, so there's probably opportunity to be had here.
I decide to tackle things one at a time, so I go to the kitchen and methodically check the kitchen equipment my landlord provided me with. I also use my cellphone connect to the place's wifi, and plug my phone in so the thing can get some charge. I carefully fiddle with each of the devices in my kitchen, eventually determining that they each work which is truly fantastic news. I cheer when this happens, and I dump out the ingredients I purchased so I can begin to cook a simple meal.
As I cook I turn my phone onto this world's version of YouTube, which is something that has a thematically similar name: OurChannel. I explore the app with one hand while I use my other to prepare the ingredients I selected which consist of some healthy greens and a nice broth so I can make a nutritious soup. I wasn't the healthiest eater in my past life, and I don't need to eat, but I want to gain as many skills as I can which means being much bolder in this life than I was before I became a jumper.
I explore the app on my phone until I find a playlist which promises to allow me to listen to today's hits. I tap it and the music begins to play as I continue to prepare what should be an easy to make dinner. At some point I lose track of time and begin to improvisedly sing along to a song I don't know before I place the ingredients in my meal into the pot, which now sits on top of the stove and is filled with boiling water. As I do this time freezes right when the song I was singing comes to an end. I click through the drawback that was just invoked and see that I have received two skills: singing and cooking. I'm disappointed but not surprised to see that I have not yet gotten any new classes, but singing is a fun skill for me to have unlocked so I'll take it.
"Singing could be a lot of fun..." I remark as my cellphone's app begins to play the next song on the playlist. If I level up my singing I could easily use that in a lot of ways, especially in future jumps.
The next few minutes pass by quite speedily thanks to the music I'm listening to. In less than fifteen minutes I am tasting my simple creation and I am pleasantly surprised to find that I quite like the taste! My enhanced senses allow me to appreciate the flavor of the healthy foods, and I can take pride in the fact that I have made the food myself. Plus this skill, if properly cultivated, can open a lot of doors for me in the future. I drink only half of my soup, as a part of me wonders if the fact that what caused me to become a dancer earlier was the fact that I was in front of other people. If so if I give food I made by hand to someone else that should be enough to allow me to become a chef! I store the soup, while it's still fresh, in my inventory. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to give someone lunch.
When I'm doing making food what I do next is simple. I sit on my kitchen countertop and I proceed to browse the web. I don't do this trolling for any site to read or use, but for one specific thing: I surf the net looking for places where I can find books to read. My easiest skill to farm and hone is my reading skill, and thanks to Master of All I can grind the skill while also grinding everything else. I eventually find a website that allows visitors to read great American classics, which marks the first time I've heard or seen the word "American" in this world. I begin to explore the site, and I spend the next few hours happily reading classical literature and honing all of my skills and perks all the while.
A small part of me wonders if I've made the right choice, but I quickly silence that internal voice. Being here in this room is making me feel things, things that won't help me over the long run, as my presence here means that what I've done is real. The fact that I don't wake up in my tiny apartment back on my native Earth means that my decision nearly a day ago has weight and consequences, which is still a bit hard to believe given that I now have gamer-style abilities and traits but my disbelief doesn't cause me to suddenly shoot up in my bed back on my native Earth. Even when I heard a small voice in the back of my mind wonder if I'm actually here I don't suddenly awaken or get a strange foreboding feeling in the pit of my stomach. I'm still here, still honoring the agreement I made with my boss earlier today. As fantastical as some of this feels, I know that I'm actually here, actually in possession of a super body, and that there is still much work for me to do if I want to grow.
When I finally stop this to get ready for work enough time has passed that I've gained several levels in many of my skills, with cooking and singing having both leveled up. I walk over to the table where my clothes are laying on top of each other and I pick out a new outfit. Once I select it I equip it and slip out of my apartment so that I can begin my walk to my new place of employment for my second day, which should be my first real day of work. As I make my way towards the office I can't help but smile. There's an almost childish quality to my excitement as I move closer and closer to a place I know I'll probably loathe by the time I leave this world. I eventually spot the outside of the office building I work in, and relax as the nasty reality of the boring job I have and will be doing diligently for the next decade washes over me. Still, a decade and then retirement, complete with free money for as long as I want is a pretty sweet deal, one I'd be a fool to pass up. And as I reach the front door leading into and out of the office, I smile cleverly and remind myself that for all of my flaws I am not a fool.

TLDR version: Ran into store for yogurt. When trying to check out a manager repeatedly interfered with my SD despite explanation and requests to leave her alone. Then as I was checking out said they were going to make her son’s dog an SD and say the dog can get her son’s meds because they just want to take him everywhere. The whole thing made my blood boil to the point that my dog “pulled” me to the exit without any verbal or hand command.
I want to send a letter to those above store level but I don’t even know what to say. This isn’t really an access issue but more of a dumb human problem.
The whole story:
Ran into store for yogurt and as I was trying to find an open check out an employee said, “what is that?” I responded, “A standard poodle.” She rambled on about how poodles don’t come “in tall” and another employee waived me over to check out.
I turned and headed to the open register only to be met by #1 blocking me and continually shoving her hand in my dogs face - in a way you let dogs sniff you. My dog kept stepping to the side to avoid it. #1 said oh it must be my lotion. I calmly said no it’s because she is working, as you can see, and is trained not to be distracted. Please don’t distract her. #1 then reaches to pet my dog, no more hand sniffing, and my dog backs up. The woman squats down and says to my dog, it’s okay you can trust me, I paid $3500 for a Bassett Hound with AKC papers, so I’m safe.
Finally get my basket on the register for the world’s slowest checkout. Of course I had to buy 15 different yogurts.
As the cashier is doing her thing #1 keeps on with her banter. My dog was $3500, how much was she? I responded, the average service dog is $20k - $30k.

1 - no it’s not. It’s $2000.

Me - yes for one class
Please know I’m trying to avoid conversation but she just keeps on and on during the world’s slowest yogurt check out.
She talks about how “dumb and stubborn” her dog is and then proceeds to say they were going to “make him a service dog.” I said that’s why you don’t see them used as SD so if you’re serious about SD you may want to consider another dog more suited. Her response was. “Well it’s already done so he better learn.” She then said her son needs meds so they’d make him a dog that “could like get meds” but really all they want is to be able to take him everywhere because he’s so cute.
That’s when I hit my limit and gave a lecture of what a service dog is, their purpose, fraud and how it harms those that need a service dog. She kept back peddling. Thankfully my yogurt haul was done. I paid and the minute my hand touched the bag, my dog “pulled” me out the door. I was so embarrassed that she was acting out of character until I realized she found an exit for me. Once we were out of the store she resumed her usual self.
The whole interaction was strange, but her interference and the casual mention of her intentions with her own dog was not okay. She’s a store manager.
Note: My dog does have an on/off “switch” and I can release her and retask her easily, but at no time did I release her or make any indication that she was not working.
The on/off switch is because we’re around a lot of kids and I’d rather let her interact and let me have the chance to talk to the child/parent, when possible, instead of a hard no.
I bring up the “switch” only to say, I’m very generous with how I interact, especially if I have extra time.
Also, yes I’m in my yogurt era 😂

Stalked by a creep who has personal docs
Salut / Hi everyone,
Sorry for the long post TLDR at the end.
Posting this on behalf of my gf.
She works part time as a cashier in Eaton while studying for her masters at university. She’s been actively looking for a job as her graduation is near and often find fintech people as customers who happily refer her to jobs making the job hunt process easier.
A guy started a conversation with her and asked about what she does etc and she just told him she’s looking for a job as she’ll graduate soon and the person happened to work as a CPA and needed someone for documentation so he said he could offer a part time data entry job and as it’d be better than a cashier she was interested in it.
She sent him her resume and phone number to discuss it. Over this email trail the guy invited her to discuss the position in a public market. She went there and he said he’ll show her the tools etc in his office a few days later.
When she went to his office (which is a coworking space) and they met in the conference room he was professional and explained the tax tools etc and most importantly as an example they filed her tax together on that software. After this they went to his office to discuss and that’s when he started acting creepy. He said things like “So you live in downtown, can we go to your place or mine how do you want to do this?”,”We can be like boyfriend girlfriend”. She said she’s not there for that and only went there for the work opportunity and she’s not interested and came back home. After she reached home he emailed her “it was nice meeting you. Think about it”.
Since then the guy has been trying to email her every now and then to invite her to the office or saying stuff like “we need each other, let’s figure something out” and she foolishly replied to a couple emails with “we never decided to meet” , “I’m not at work”. She emailed him “I am not interested in the job, thanks” and the next day he came to her work asking if they can have dinner if not job to which she replied not interested. he still regularly visit her place of work to buy stuff and tries to talk to her. She has ignored him lately and he just emailed “I need to talk urgently about your resume” and next day tried to talk to her at her work again. He’s apparently scared if she’s talking to anyone else but otherwise doesn’t hesitate to approach her.
I know his name, email address and his CPA office location, we also have the email trail but it doesn’t explicitly state his advances. Her coworkers has seen him try to talk to her and her refusing. My gf is extremely worried because he literally has everything about her in the tax file, sin, address, phone, school, place of work etc.
What should we do in this case, it doesn’t seem to be an immediate threat but it’s rather unpredictable!!
TLDR: Guy offered her a part time data entry job Called in for showing tax tools, she filled her tax with his software as a “practice run”. Tried to make advances on her, She refused Comes to her work daily to try to talk to her Emails her daily trying to make different excuses to talk to her or call her in his office Wtf should I do? Report to police?

Salut / Hi everyone,
Sorry for the long post TLDR at the end.
Posting this on behalf of my gf.
She works part time as a cashier in Eaton while studying for her masters at university. She’s been actively looking for a job as her graduation is near and often find fintech people as customers who happily refer her to jobs making the job hunt process easier.
A guy started a conversation with her and asked about what she does etc and she just told him she’s looking for a job as she’ll graduate soon and the person happened to work as a CPA and needed someone for documentation so he said he could offer a part time data entry job and as it’d be better than a cashier she was interested in it.
She sent him her resume and phone number to discuss it. Over this email trail the guy invited her to discuss the position in a public market. She went there and he said he’ll show her the tools etc in his office a few days later.
When she went to his office (which is a coworking space) and they met in the conference room he was professional and explained the tax tools etc and most importantly as an example they filed her tax together on that software. After this they went to his office to discuss and that’s when he started acting creepy. He said things like “So you live in downtown, can we go to your place or mine how do you want to do this?”,”We can be like boyfriend girlfriend”. She said she’s not there for that and only went there for the work opportunity and she’s not interested and came back home. After she reached home he emailed her “it was nice meeting you. Think about it”.
Since then the guy has been trying to email her every now and then to invite her to the office or saying stuff like “we need each other, let’s figure something out” and she foolishly replied to a couple emails with “we never decided to meet” , “I’m not at work”. She emailed him “I am not interested in the job, thanks” and the next day he came to her work asking if they can have dinner if not job to which she replied not interested. he still regularly visit her place of work to buy stuff and tries to talk to her. She has ignored him lately and he just emailed “I need to talk urgently about your resume” and next day tried to talk to her at her work again. He’s apparently scared if she’s talking to anyone else but otherwise doesn’t hesitate to approach her.
I know his name, email address and his CPA office location, we also have the email trail but it doesn’t explicitly state his advances. Her coworkers has seen him try to talk to her and her refusing. My gf is extremely worried because he literally has everything about her in the tax file, sin, address, phone, school, place of work etc.
What should we do in this case, it doesn’t seem to be an immediate threat but it’s rather unpredictable!!
TLDR: Guy offered her a part time data entry job Called in for showing tax tools, she filled her tax with his software as a “practice run”. Tried to make advances on her, She refused Comes to her work daily to try to talk to her Emails her daily trying to make different excuses to talk to her or call her in his office Wtf should I do? Report to police?

Previous / Next
I’m back, still alive!
So, I saw another animal, but first, let me talk about my discussions with Andrew. He seemed relieved that I wanted to stay on after meeting Miss Giant Spider. There were several occasions that she was the reason a new night security person had quit, mostly because she was often the first to come say hello once we were able to see her. She was social, or at least the version of social that things like her could be.
At that, Andrew told me he’d decide to resume tours. Apparently I’ve been doing so well, and I’d handled meeting Yui with such grace (I didn’t tell him I almost pissed my pants) that he figured I’d be sticking around. He was right, of course. And it was encouraging enough to hear it from him that I got a little boost of self-confidence. I know y’all are probably older than me, but this is my first real full-time job, so that was really cool to hear from him.
I know continuing to work here does make me the world’s biggest hypocrite considering my pet peeve of people who lack common sense, but it seems the universe found my weakness. I can’t help it. I’m a wildlife biologist at heart and these animals are devastatingly fascinating, and if I quit I wouldn’t be able to learn all about them. I’m hoping Andrew will eventually let me ask Suzanne for books about them, from wherever they’re from. Plus, the scariest thing I’d ever seen in my life didn’t kill me, so maybe I can put this in the ‘common sense win’ column, hm? The spider wanted to eat me, she didn’t eat me, therefore the wards are solid and she can’t eat me. Right? I’m going with that.
Apparently Roger, the last guy who ran the night shift, ran a tight ship. He interacted with the animals on a purely basic level, never falling for their tricks, never getting killed or even hurt. Some of his job, and therefore what was becoming my job, was ensuring that the animals were doing well. This meant he needed to be able to see all of them, and so once they realized he’d reached his limit at eight, Suzanne did some wand-waving (no, I don’t know if she has a wand, I’m being facetious), and he could see the rest. According to Andrew, that had something to do with letting our minds stretch and reach its natural limits before stretching it further.
Most nights I arrive early, just before Andrew leaves, and I ask him questions I have. After seeing Yui’s human form, I did ask Andrew about her intelligence, but he just smiled and shook his head. He explained that there were dogs smarter than any the animals at the zoo, at least when you were comparing them to levels of human intelligence. Her appearance was just a disguise and her polite words to me were intelligence of an impressive border collie the filtered through the skill of a parrot. I wouldn’t be able to converse with her on any real level.
However, saying all of that lacks accuracy, because comparing animals to humans always leaves out quite a bit. For example, humans realized ants can figure out where they are and where to go from the position of the sun, while humans would need trigonometry for that. It doesn’t mean ants are capable of learning trig.
Something notable that I brought up with Andrew was enrichment. The layout of the zoo isn’t exactly typical, because for most of the animals, it backs up quite a ways into the forest that surrounds the zoo before ending at a tall fence. That means there’s more of a natural existence for them, and with a lot more space than even the most generous zoo, it likely feels to them like they’re still out in the wild, and they don’t get bored too easily.
That was the reason Andrew gave for having so few enrichment ideas, that they already had space to roam and engaged with plenty of animals including some that burrowed, various birds (and snatching eggs from nests), and climbers like racoons, opossums, and squirrels. The big thing my boss considered enrichment was putting specific live prey like goats or turkeys into the enclosures for some variety, which made sense. But I couldn’t help thinking that it was still important to make like any other zoo and give them some bonus fun occasionally.
When it came to Yui, I asked Andrew if he knew whether she’d prefer something to play with in her human form or her tarantula form. That’s when I learned the human form was a disguise, to get prey to come closer, which was exactly the honey trap of death that my subconscious had imagined it to be. (Yay.) So, she remains a tarantula most of the time.
On that note, did you know many pet tarantulas like ping-pong balls? Check it out on YouTube if you’ve got some time to kill. On that note, I thought it’d be worth a shot to see if Yui liked it.
My first image was of that meme of George R.R. Martin in a giant hamster ball, the person who’d shared it giving the photo a caption that scolded him from goofing off when they wanted him to be writing the next Game of Thrones book. The thing is, that was approximately the right size, but most of those are inflatable. Yui has little claws at the end of her feet, so I needed something plastic. That meant making some calls around to manufacturers (by email, since I was doing this in the middle of the night) for something custom made.
I do have to say, looking to have a giant plastic ball for a huge tarantula to play with had not been on my list of likely things to happen at my new job, but it was highly entertaining. I wish I could have told the people I was emailing, but at least I can tell all of you.
I wrote a list of other enrichment possibilities in my phone, and one morning when I arrived early, I spoke with Andrew about them. It wasn’t much of a list yet, but I’d gotten started from what I knew about Yui and figured I’d throw some other things at the wall to see what stuck.
Andrew did seem iffy about introducing new things, saying, “If it ain’t broke, I don’t like trying to fix it.” But part of my job was allegedly enrichment, according to the job posting. It just seemed like over the decades of the zoo’s existence so far, they counted on prey to be that enrichment. Not that I’m saying they were neglecting the animals, of course; honestly I still have a lot (or rather, everything) to learn about them. But I figured doing the kind of enrichment I’d been taught in my college classes could be great.
“By the way, this might sound stupid, but does Leila need any enrichment?” I asked with a grimace. “I don’t know a lot about ghosts, but I would assume it’s a boring existence. I can only go on stories, and a bored ghost gets into trouble, according to the popular culture.”
Andrew smirked and nodded. “Yeah, they do in films, but this isn’t that kind of situation. With Leila…her soul isn’t actually here. The ghost is more of an echo of her, left behind, imprinted when she was attacked,” he explained.
“Her soul isn’t here,” I repeated. “That’s…interesting.”
“I’m not in charge of the afterlife,” he said with a shrug. “Gratefully, Ripley, I only have to manage this one business. Whatever goes on with that side of things must be more stress than I can imagine and I’d turn down the job if offered, no matter the pay.”
Once I received an email confirming a company’s ability to create a lightweight but solid plastic ball, much like a super-sized ping-pong ball, Andrew approved the purchase of the toy. I was eager to get started on stuff for the other animals, but until I got a good look at them, I felt I didn’t have enough info to go on. And Andrew still didn’t want to educate me on things I hadn’t seen yet, calling it learning on a ‘need-to-know basis,’ since I’m human, so he’ll be waiting before spilling all the weird, freaky beans. I’ll have to be patient.
What he had done was given me a summaries that Roger had written down, but actually they weren’t much help. This was because Roger had a background as a security guard rather than being educated in wildlife, as I did. Andrew said the man had been extremely capable at his job, but looking for someone with a degree this time was a choice he was happy with.
Roger was concise, I’ll give him that. On this list of his, taking Yui as an example, it said ‘spider woman - enclosure 7 - Yui’, along with the animals she liked to hunt. It hadn’t taken him that long to figure out what our animals most enjoyed hunting, mostly from wildlife cameras that were installed in the forestry. They were all omnivores (or rather, you could say they had degrees in being omnivores with a specialization in being a carnivore, because Andrew said they could eat almost anything someone might toss into their enclosure), but some of them had special preferences on top of that.
Another description for animal I hadn’t seen yet was, ‘centaur - enclosure 10 - Arnold’. For any animal that didn’t have a given name (Yui was able to introduce herself, since she’d been named before, I was told), Roger made one up, and Andrew told me that Arnold was named after Arnold Schwarzenegger because he had incredible muscles. Also notable was that he was not a centaur, that was just the closest approximation that Roger’s mind was able to label him, because his most notable feature was that he had no skin. The part of my brain that was a biology major crawled all over that fact, but couldn’t make sense of how it could be beneficial to survival. Then again, since they came from another world, I had no environment on which to base my evolutionary ideas.
Yui has looked out at me from the forest on two more occasions so far, both times in her spider form, though she didn’t attempt communication again. I was extremely grateful, because even as I reminded myself that she hadn’t so much as attempted to hurt me, and that there really was an invisible wall there, I still wanted some more time to get used to her appearance. There was a near certain chance she would love to have me as a meal, just as any predator might, so my hindbrain trembled whenever I saw her. But each time, I reminded myself that this was why I’d been hired, because I showed a healthy amount of fear for the animals. Then I took a deep breath and moved on.
However, I did see another animal on the cameras, and then on a walk, a few days ago. This one wasn’t as terrifying as Yui (though that’s a high bar), but it was freaky. I saw it when I passed the area that led to the small lake, where I’d been told several animals had access from their enclosures bordering it. I zoomed in to get a better look, the cameras doing the impressive job of making the animal many times bigger and perfectly crisp on the screen.
At first glance it seemed like some sort of dog-possum hybrid, the size of a Doberman. Most notable was the hand at the end of its tail, like that of a racoon but larger and with claws. I recall thinking that the animals in our world with prehensile tails have nothing on that. It had small ears and black and grey fur covered its body, but the animal had shaken itself after coming out of the water, and when it had done so, its hair stood up on end like it was infused with static electricity. The thing was, having done that, it looked like the hair down its back had become a mohawk of spines. Wondering if it had the skills of a porcupine, I mentally took in as much information as I could about its appearance.
Later that shift, on another walk through the zoo, I thought I heard an animal crying. I say animal, but if I hadn’t been a major in wildlife biology, I would’ve said I heard a human baby crying. There are a surprising amount of animals that sound like humans shrieking or crying, which can make for a disturbing experience if you live in rural areas with lots of forestry. If someone grew up there, they got used to it. If they were unfamiliar with that weirdness, however, they might get worried some psycho had left a baby in the woods and went looking for the source, but those folks were probably candidates for a Darwin award.
This was definitely an imitation of a human baby crying, and it was spot on. It was coming from Spike’s enclosure, but I just stopped a couple yards from the fence for a long, thoughtful moment before moving on to walk the rest of the zoo, ignoring the sound. Two hours (and therefore two laps) later, it gave up trying to draw me in.
Anyway, the first time I’d seen the animal, I’d returned to the security room, double-checked, and confirmed that this animal was named ‘Spike’ (no points for originality, Roger). Apparently its food of choice was fish, but musing on that didn’t give me many hints as to what it might enjoy as enrichment. Clearly the sound imitation was a form of drawing in prey, so that didn’t help much either. What did give me hints was the fact that, according to Roger’s notes, it was known to not just kill the fish and eat the meat, but also the scales.
In addition, it didn’t just eat fish, but also turtles, lizards, and snakes, and if it killed a human, it had been known to specifically go for our nails and hair before making like a carnivore on the rest of us. That meant keratin was an important element of his diet. So, any fish or reptile made nutritious prey, which was convenient since the lake was stocked regularly and the reptiles were plentiful throughout the forest.
Determined to find something for it to enjoy, though, I considered what its instincts might prompt it to appreciate. That’s the way to go with all enrichment, even for humans. Just think of all the games we play as kids. Hide and seek. Tag. Red light, green light. All things that tested our ability to avoid predators and catch prey. We play these games since we enjoy them, and we enjoy them for a very good reason: our brain gives us happy-hormone feedback because it’s good training for our ongoing survival.
With that in mind, I considered possibly giving it foods that were difficult to eat, to mimic the difficulty of pulling nails and hair out of corpses. I know, it’s a gruesome train of thought, considering I was one of those animals that he’d probably be delighted to snack on, but that’s what happens when you’re in charge of animals like these. I considered things like pomegranates, artichokes, avocados, or pineapple, but definitely nuts like pistachios, pecans, peanuts, and hazelnuts. Its claws were made for attacking prey, but they could also be useful when opening nuts. And I didn’t get a good look at its teeth, but I figured it was similar to a squirrel in that way.
Those items were easy to fetch from a big grocery store, and there was a Walmart on my commute home, so I stopped in to buy some. The cashier was probably confused as to why I was sampling a bunch of things, but I was using the zoo’s business card for this, and didn’t want to overdo it.
I’d asked Andrew if he wanted to get them himself or reimburse me, actually, and he’d just handed me the card. “I doubt you’re the type to head to Vegas,” he’d said with a smile. “Keep it in your wallet for the future and I’ll get another. Just bring me the receipts from your purchases and I’ll file them in the system.”
The diet of the zoo’s animals didn’t wholly consist of animals they hunted. Some was delivered, and near the dumpster was a pile of boxes that had been broken down, so I grabbed one of those and taped it back together to bring the food out to Spike. I put the fruits in, and then a handful of each of the nuts. Then I folded the flaps closed, walked through the zoo over to enclosure four and, from two yards away, lifted the box to my shoulder and chucked it as hard as I could.
The box landed with a thud, and I waited around for a minute but Spike didn’t show, so I headed back to the security room. He’d emerged from the trees shortly after I’d left, wandering over to the box. I pulled up the view of the camera and enlarged it on the screen, zooming in, watching hopefully as he prodded at it. It didn’t take him long to open it, though he used his claws rather than following the strategy of simply unfolding the flaps like a human would have done.
Spike was definitely curious of the variety of new, potentially edible things splayed across the ground. He took a minute to look through them before settling on the pineapple. The spikes seemed to intrigue him, and he used his claws to open up the fruit, carving out a slice. Eating it, I couldn’t really decipher his reaction through facial expressions, but he dropped it and backed up at step before swiping at it with a hand, flinging it yards away, as if it had insulted his mother. So, it seemed he was not fond of it.
The same thing went for the pomegranate and avocado, unfortunately, and I slumped in disappointment, but I was happy to see that the artichoke was one in the win column. He looked like he was enjoying peeling of each leaf individually, and then ate the heart last. By that point I felt like I’d gotten a small sense of reading his body language, and I think he enjoyed the heart.
The smaller foods came next, and I leaned in closer, folding my arms on the desk. The pistachios are what Spike went for first, presumably because the gap between the shells let him get into it pretty quickly. Those were a no-go too, unfortunately, which wasn’t that surprising to me considering their distinctive taste. But when he tried the pecans next? Holy crap, he bounced from foot to foot in an undeniable happy dance, finding the others and gathering them all in a pile.
Cracking each shell open with his claws, he went through every single pecan, one by one, often opening several and eating them together. I leaned back in my chair with a satisfied smile as I watched him go through all of them. After he’d finished them, he moved onto the peanuts, which weren’t appealing, but the hazelnuts were.
My eyes widened when put the nut in between his teeth and chomped down enough to crack the shell. I swore under my breath. Those shells are tough, so that was terrifyingly impressive. And again, the hazelnut was more appealing to him, whatever quality of taste it had prompting him to go through each of them just as he had the pecans.
“So, that was a job well done,” I spoke to myself out loud.
Taking my notepad from my pocket, I added in Enrichment: artichokes, pecans, hazelnuts, on the page that I’d titled Spike and mentally patted myself on the back.
I know it’s unlikely that I can find enrichment items for every animal at the zoo, and Andrew was right that they don’t have typical enclosures, since they have their own little forests. But it was fulfilling to finally use my degree for something, to add something to the life of an animal that didn’t get to hang out with others in its species, as was typical for animals. Or at least was typical for animals on Earth. I figured these things at least had a drive to mate. These things might be terrifying, dangerous cryptids, but they are starting to feel like my terrifying, dangerous cryptids.
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So I'm 31 years old and I don't really have any work experience. The closest thing I have is:

• In my early 20s I briefly worked for a company that was selling legal highs - I don't think I want to mention that for obvious reasons. I never had a contract or anything it was just help them with some spreadsheets and get sent money to my bank every month.
• I did 2 weeks of teaching English as a foreign language (I live in Eastern Europe) but never got paid for it because I decided to quit as my boss-to-be significantly lowered how much he was offering to pay me 2 weeks in, and then was asking me to do a bunch more than we agreed
• I made a full-time living off YouTube for a few years, before my channel died in popularity. I'm now living off my savings from those years, and they're quickly running out hence my need for a job.

That's it, at 31 I've still never worked a proper job. I also don't really have any qualifications, just GCSEs that I don't even remember my results in and a BTEC Certificate in IT from a community college type place. I left school at 17.
I'm also a former addict who is house-bound and hasn't socialised once since 2019. So my life story is basically a lot of drugs and partying in my early 20s, then getting clean and being stuck in my house on my computer doing nothing because of the crippling anxiety it left me with. Something I'm trying to face now with medication and therapy but I've only got as far as walks outside the house, no interactions with people or anything beyond cashiers at the store.
I have absolutely no clue how to write a CV/resume in the first place, and especially not how to write one with my lack of anything good to say about myself, that'll actually make me sound hireable.
If it's relevant, I'm mostly interested in jobs that would involve my English skills as a native speaker like possibly teaching or maybe working at a call centre or helpdesk dealing with English customers. I'm also interested in content writing or voice-over work.

I want to write a resume for a cashier job, I have no idea what to write at all since it's not my niche 💀 can anyone give me ideas what to write besides education, language and skills in ms excel and ms word.

I have ~2 months of experience as a cashier. I have 3 years of construction labor experience in my fathers business. I have a 4.0 GPA in community college for Computer Science (not graduated). No sales experience. I read multiple books on sales, but I know experience is much more valuable.
I want to learn sales to use the skill in making a future business. I want to get as much sales experience as possible (preferability in person).
I don't care about making money from this job, only learning sales skills.
It seems like my best opportunity is Cintas, as I see people say their training is the best.
What should I include in my resume and what's some advice on how I can get hired as a Cintas sales rep. Can I even get the position? Are there any other good opportunities for me?
Sorry if I sound ignorant, I want any criticism/advice you can give please and thank you.
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I'm trying to apply for my first internship as a first-year comp. sci. student (good luck to me 😂) but I've been privileged enough so far to have never worked before. Obviously I have projects under my belt and have mentioned relevant coursework and extracurricular activities in my resume, but the blank work experience portion makes me feel underqualified for everything. I was wondering, what would you typically even put as work experience for someone at this stage? I have friends who work at fast-food places or cashiers but would jobs like those even help out a resume if you're trying to apply at an internship in a completely separate field such as computer science. Should I try to work at a minimum wage job for a bit before applying?

(i am 17 years of age) hd offered me 2 jobs so far, ofa and freight associate. i received the freight associate position first and when i accepted the position they asked me if i was 18. said no and then was no longer considered for that position. same with ofa. i put target fulfillment and target general merchandising in my resume. i have also done cashiering and order carryout as well. and i added my age in my resume. why cant they offer me a job that i can actually do because i am 17? is there anyone i should contact? thank you in advance 🙏

I'm a 20 year old guy, currently attending a well-known university in my city, but can't land any jobs. I've been rejected from two cafes, drugstore cashier, and just now a walmart stocker. The last one surprised me since walmart was my fail-safe. I've even had a grocery job 2 years ago, so its not like I don't have the experience on my resume.
Like, it can't just be me right? I'm really doubting my self-worth if even walmart won't accept me. I took a semester off to work over the summer since I'm hurting a bit on money, but it's looking like I won't get a job at all

I’m 17 and really really depressed. I spend all day in my pitch black room doing nothing. I’m in online school and I so desperately want to attend but I just can’t bring myself to. I used to love drawing, but I haven’t drawn in a year. I leave my house maybe once a week, to go on a ten minute walk to a store and come back. I’ve been on so many different medications and not a single one has helped.
It’s ruined my life. I have absolutely no friends and no social skills. I’m not exaggerating when I say this at all, I struggle to communicate even to the cashier at the store I go to. I’m so far behind on school, even if I got my shit together and started going to school daily I’d still be graduating at least two years late and I doubt I could make it into any university.
I’ve accepted that I’m wasting the best years of my life. That’s one thing, it’s unfortunate but I could get over it. But I’m finally realizing that what I’m doing now will affect me for the rest of my life. I’m probably never going to graduate high school. I don’t know how I’ll ever make friends, even if I get better. I haven’t been able to build up anything for a resume because I don’t do anything. I feel like if I was normal this realization would make me work harder to get better and start improving my life. But as much as I want to I can’t, it just makes me more miserable but I can’t change anything.

I finally f*cking did it. I got hired to an entry level basic job after 5 months of applying to nearly 500 places.
I moved to Australia from the US 5 months ago to be with my Aussie fiance. I am very VERY qualified when it comes to retail, customer service, hospitality, service, etc (5+ years experience with all) and even after hiring people to perfect and manage my resume, I was unable to even get a single interview for 5 months, applying to 20+ basic retail places, entry level reception roles, waitressing positions, cashier positions, etc a day. I would tailor cover letters for each position. I had to get a job by next month or else we were fked because I wouldn’t be able to apply for leases to new places to live.
Two weeks ago I was so fed up, I cried in the shower. I decided then and there that I would print out 30 copies of my resume, put on some makeup and something cute to wear, and march down to the local shopping mall down the road to hand out resumes. Every single place I walked into and introduced myself was happy to take my resume, and I ran out of resumes within an hour.
That week I received FIVE callbacks asking for an interview to get me started. All places I walked in physically. I did great and got a job offer for all but 1. I was able to cherry-pick the one I wanted the most. I start tomorrow training to be a server and floor staff at a popular chain sit down restaurant for 27$ an hour.
I am telling you, please if you are desperate for anything, go in person with a nice resume looking spiffy and walk into places to ask if they are hiring and hand in your resume. I promise you that managers are biased, they will hire the good-looking applicant who took the time to come in and introduce themselves, over pixels on a screen. Online application job sites like Indeed and seek have gamified, hammed up, and saturated the market so much that it’s become a circus. Just. Walk. In. (And of course I’m referring to basic jobs like retail, cafes, etc. This won’t pan out as well for degree level jobs.)

Nagtapos ako ng college sa course na BEED last July 2022, pero April 2022 pa lang that time ay nag pa part time na ko sa isang tutorial center. Nag resign ako after 7 months dahil mag te take na sana ako ng LET kaso di ako naka kumpleto ng papers na kelangan. After non ang dami ko pinasahan ng resume pero wala tumatanggap saken. Akala ng parents ko di ako nag hahanap ng work kase nasa bahay lang ako kahit sinasabi ko naman na araw araw ako nag papasa ng resume, di naman ako maka labas at mag pasa ng resume ng personal dahil wala ako budget at ayoko naman mang hingi na sa kanila. Nag try ako mag work sa factory (office staff) last year August 2023 pero di ko kinaya yung pressure, ibang iba yung environment dun. Isang buwan lang ako dun pero naka tulong ako sa bills sa bahay kahit papano, pambayad ng internet, pambili ng bigas at pang tuition ng kapatid ko. Then after ko mag resign dun, nag start ko na mararamdaman yung pag babago ng parents ko, ng pakiki tungo at pakikipag usap nila saken. Thankfully last Feb 2024 nag kapera ako so nakapag pasa ako ng resume sa isang school, at na schedule ako for demo teaching this coming June. So di na ko nag intindi mag pasa sa iba kase gusto ko muna mag focus dun sa opportunity na yun. Kaso di okay sa parents ko, gusto nila mag apply pa din ako sa iba (cashier or any job) kaso ang point ko kase pag nag hanap ako ng ibang work at natanggap ako tas pumasa ako sa demo sa June edi mag re resign ulit ako dun sa isang work. March 2024 di na ko kinausap ng Nanay ko, para akong hangin pag kina kausap ko sya. Katapusan ng March may kumuha saken as private tutor sa kabilang barangay, pero yung kita ko napunta lang sa pamasahe at gamot dahil nag kasakit ako. Isang beses sinundo ako ni Tatay galing ako sa pag tu tutor, nabanggit ko sa kanya yung kaibigan ko tinanong niya kung may work na ba daw yung kaibigan ko, sabi ko meron (Apat kami mag babarka, lahat sila maganda na ang work at income except saken) sabi niya buti pa daw yun ako daw napag iwanan na. Naririnig ko din sila minsan mag usap ni Inay na yung iba nila na kumare mga sinuwerte daw sa anak, mga nakapag ibang bansa na and everything. Yung nag trigger saken ba't ako napa rant dito ay dahil sa nangyare kanina, (May 05, 2024) for context I have a weak body talaga. Sakitin ako bata pa lang. Kanina may pinuntahan kami (Ako, si Tatay, si Inay, Tiyahin ko at Tiyuhin ko) motor ang gamit na sasakyan, si tatay di kaya mag angkas ng dalawa kaya sa tiyuhin at tiyahin ko nila ako pina sabay. Pag dating sa place san kami pupunta I fainted, nauna kami dun kase mabagal si tatay mag drive. Pag gising ko naka higa na ko sa mahabang upuan tas ang dami na tao sa paligid, nung dumating na parents ko wala sila naging reaction. Nanay ko di ako nilapitan (naka higa pa ko neto kase nanlalambot pa ko pero conscious na ko) nilapitan lang niya ko nung sinabi ng tatay ko na lapitan ako. Then people started asking them questions, "lagi ba sya ganto? Kumain ba sya? Puyat ba sya?" My parents said "Wala nga yan ginagawa sa bahay, kain tulog lang yan" "Wala yan trabaho, di nga yan board passer" Then someone said "Ipa check up niyo na" my mother replied "Matigas ang ulo" Hiyang hiya na nga ako na nahimatay ako dun at nag cause ng commotion, mas nahiya pa ko sa sinabi ng parents ko. Nung naka upo na ko, di nila ako tinanong kung kumusta ba ko kung ano nararamdaman ko. Yung Nanay ko umupo dun sa malayo naka talikod saken. Di ko alam ano nangyare, close naman kami ng nanay ko dati. Wala ako maisip na any other reason except na jobless ako, kase yun lang din naman yung naririnig ko sa kanila na napag iiwanan ako na buti pa mga tropa ko. Ayun lang, gusto ko lang mag rant. Sana pumasa ako sa demo.

Good day everyone, I am a domestic student studying at Carleton university. My parents live in Brampton and i had to come back home since it’s summer break now. I have been trying to find a job for around a month now. Applied to 100+ openings and still didn’t get a single interview. I don’t know what I am doing wrong, or if i should send my resume to an employment agency.
Please let me know if there is a job opening that i can apply to. I have four months of experience as a cashier.
Any sort of help is greatly appreciated. Thanks :))

I I atake dual enrollment classes through a local college and we are given an email througoh thh them. I was contanticting my professor when i saw an email saying, "Hello Student,
This Job is available to any interested Students of the Southern University System. This is a Part time job offer that you will earn $400 weekly and allowance of $50 by working from anywhere of your choice and 6-8 hours weekly job description includes sending of gifts, data entry and bookkeeping & Collection of my commissions you are required to Apply here to have more information about the job description and the benefit of the work.
Best Regards
" I obc applied a, (f filled out a brief survey, sent my idID and resume,a and then was hired all throug h email. It frubs me the wrong way but ithe job itself sdoesn't sound to outlandshish given the pay btuut then tthe most recen temt email i received did sonudound to good to be true.
from someone with the college a a college email too outlandish given the pay, but the most recent email i received did sound too BENEFITS
. AD & D Insurance
. 401(k)..(After 3 months with us, plus an increase in your weekly paycheck)
. Free medicals..(After 1 month with us, plus an increase in your weekly paycheck)
This will probably take like 2 hours a day (or less depending..) which can either be in the morning time or evening. You will always get your paycheck of $450 weekly Its less stress and this does not disturb
your other schedule(School/work) First Task:
I make donations to 3 orphanage homes every month and in your capacity, you will purchase some toys and other gift items for the orphanage homes. I will email you the list of all items to be purchased at the store and all the necessary information on how to get it mailed out to the orphanage homes
I will provide the funds which you will use to purchase these items. The fund will be in the form of a (Bank deposit or Cashier Check) and it will be issued to you along with your paid weekly allowance($450). As soon as you have received the check payment, you will deduct your paid weekly allowance($450) payment from it and you will use the rest to purchase the toys.
NOTE: It's a Flexible part-time job where you will determine your working time. All the tasks are work from home/on campus job, you don't need to travel somewhere and also you don't need to have a car to get started.
Ensure you check your emails daily so you can keep in contact with me because I will be communicating with you mostly through email. It is nice to have you on board as my Personal Assistant.
(a (a ilink to a survey) I then told thehmm the bank iI usue e (no personal information) , my po box, and said thank you. I ltold them my uncle works at the bank to try to be safe. I will be contacting my bank to tel alert them of possible fraudulent activity the whole The whole thing sounds like as a scam but its;s's through the college e so =I h ave ave mixed gfeelings. ANy any and all feedback is greatly appreciated. IPO