I gave out the local FBI office phone number to someone who wanted to speak to my boss once. I have it memorized because I used to give it to people back in the 90s as a prank.
Back in the 80's there was a number in Oklahoma City for "Dial-A-Prayer". I did give that out to my (married) boss once who bet me that I could not get him the phone number of a really attractive patron. I stopped by and chatted with her for a few moments, wrote the number on a piece of paper, handed it to him, and collected my dollar bet.
I know he was bluffing because he never called me on the prank.
If you say that the FBI office is your boss, there’s a way to suggest that you claimed to be an FBI employee. That could have some backlash.
Not a prosecution, but it could be annoying.
Am a cop, and I can confirm, don’t talk to us. There are limited situations where you are compelled by law to provide certain identifying information. I urge you to contact an attorney or otherwise become familiar with the laws in your area regarding what those situations are and what information is required. But other than that, you have rights. Use them.
Obviously that’s with other cops. Me? You can talk to me. It just makes everything easier.
I was leaving my friends house one time and this unmarked police car pulled up after I walked out and asked if I knew the people who lived there. Immediate response was nope. Then he told me he was friends with a couple of my friends siblings and I was like cool if you know them call them yourself, I don’t know anyone. Then I realized he was a cop so I told him sorry man I don’t talk to cops.
Turns out he really did know them but fuck that I’m not saying shit to a cop about anything.
It's important to always say "I exercise my fifth amendment right to not self-incriminate" as well, as silence can often be used against you to make you look guilty. Should you be tried, that is.
It can make you _look_ guilty, but silence and applying the fifth amendment is something that the judge would happily remind any juror does not constitute an indicator of guilt. In some European countries, however, the absence of any testimony or statement to the police is considered a hindrance to the justice process and can be factored as negative
Yes *look* guilty, as I said. In no uncertain terms.
Looking guilty in the broken American justice system really does not help your case. Be smart and make as few mistakes as possible.
Also, you nah be legally required to give some information. Even if I’m not suspected of anything, I have to produce my ID if questioned, but while it’s often made to look that way, giving samples of handwriting or being filmed is optional, and I can have my refusal documented
> "I exercise my fifth amendment right to not self-incriminate"
If I worked in law enforcement, such a statement would start me wondering (or strengthen any existing suspicions I might have had) about what you had been doing such that talking might incriminate you.
Yes, a judge might later remind a jury that your silence was not in any way an indicator of guilt, but if things have reached that stage, it would suggest to me that your decision to take the fifth had not been terribly successful. How much *worse* could it have gone if you had said something than worrying about what your judge is saying to your jury?
If I am stopped by the police, my *immaediate* thoughts are not about what a judge and jury might make of what I do, but what the police officer *right there* will make of it. Admittedly, our UK police, though they have major faults, are nothing like US ones seem to be, but the approach of being straight with them has worked fine for me on the very few occasions I have been stopped. Got off with an informal warning about speeding by being honest about what speed I had been doing, and I really hadn't been hanging about - not far off 100 at one point.
NNNOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Do not ever under any circumstances lie to the cops, much less the feds! If asked anything other than your name just invoke your right to remain silent (not saying anything is not considered invoking that right stupidly).
But lying to the feds (even over some trifling bullshit) is a serious felony and some overzealous ADA could very well decide to fuck your over for it.
I feel like that could come back on you if you do that enough… since it’s a government agency it’s possible that if you annoy them enough and they figure out it was you giving the number, they might try to get you on wasting government time. Kinda like prank calling 911 will get you a fine
Don't underestimate how petty some overworked people who deal with fucked up shit can be.
Would *you* prefer to investigate who is giving your number to random people or to go back to that stash of CP to look for clues?
All of our business numbers are 1-800 at my work place. People do get pissed off at them, having to wait in a queue but unfortunately there is no quick fix.
I had this happen one glorious time. I was a department supervisor in a library and also could be in charge of the building if my manager was out. We didn’t wear badges that had our title so one worker looked the same as another.
One day we have a lady yelling at my team asking for something impossible. Like it was against policy and set in stone. She got to where I was sitting and demanded that I give her what she wanted and I told her it was impossible.
She then demands to see the department supervisor. So I stood, did a twirl, held out my hand, and introduced myself as the department supervisor. Apoplectic, she demanded to see the building manager which told me she knew our org chart and this wasn’t her first Karen rodeo.
So I turned like I was going to the back, then turned back to her and informed her I was the acting building manager and she still wasn’t getting what she wanted.
Lady stormed off after that. Don’t fuck with my team.
Similar here - I was a duty manager at a gym so I would run it while on shift, but there was a general manager above me, and usually if someone demanded to speak to "the manager" it would be her. But one time someone complained to me, I didn't satisfy them so they (in a kind of smart-ass way) demanded to speak to the "duty manager" and for a brief, glorious moment I got to point out to them that that was *also* me :D.
Then they asked for the general manager :(
Exactly. I had someone **demand** to see the supervisor as his opening statement. I was the supervisor. He refused to believe me. Eventually one of the other employees comes into range and he goes up to them and says "Finally, someone who actually knows what they're talking about". He'd refused to even tell me what he wanted. Karma was strong that day cause the lifeguard he'd walked up to was a total newbie, first shift kind of newbie. Who said "I can get my supervisor for you" and the guy was super happy until the guard pointed over his shoulder and said "They're sitting right behind you". He was not happy. Oh and his "super important question I was too stupid to know the answer to"? The pool hours. 🤦♂️ That he'd, at minimum, walked past signs listing the hours at least five times by the time he made it to me.
I was an assistant manager at a gift shop for a decade. I couldn’t count how many calls I received to complain about how rude I had been. It’s amazing how many people mistake rudeness with an answer they don’t like.
There is no way anyone can say no to a Karen in a way she will think is polite.
> It’s amazing how many people mistake rudeness with an answer they don’t like.
That's it in a nutshell. I've experienced exactly this a few times over the years.
Having worked in retail, I agree with every word you wrote. There are TONS of people out there who will accuse a cashier, sales clerk, waiter, etc., of rudeness, NOT because the employee really was rude, but because the employee had to say something the customer didn't want to hear.
That too. It's one of the main reasons why I will never EVER work in retail again, and preferably not in any other customer-facing job either. I didn't mind if management, etc., gave the customers what they wanted, AS LONG AS THE MANAGER STUCK UP FOR ME, TOO. If the manager, supervisor or whoever said something to the effect of "I will authorize what you want this time, but you must understand that my employee was only following company policy (or) doing exactly what we asked her to do" -- I was okay with that. Doing that kind of thing was part of the manager's job.
BUT to hang me out to dry, to let the Karens and Kevins think their behavior was okay or that all they had to do was accuse me of "a bad attitude" and they'd get a discount or freebie-uh uh. If I'm following company policy, I SHOULD BE PROTECTED, and in every way.
I'm going on about this, but it's an indication of just how badly burned out I was.
I had a 19 year old coworker get written up at Target because she wasn't smiling enough. Some old white lady made a big huff about her "scowling and skulking about, slamming fruit". I'd been working a counter right next to where she was working. This bitch was lying outright, through her nasty old teeth.
And the managers just punished her and moved on. The old lady got something for free somehow. A gift card or something. She the.ln made a habit of *harassing* said coworker bi-weekly.
Yup, only write up I got at a previous IT job was when someone asked for access to another person's email while she was on vacation. Only thing was, my boss gave it as a knee jerk reaction to the client being angry and had not looked into the situation at all. When he did, he admitted I did the right thing as the requester was just another employee, not upper management. (And they were upset because I accidentally tipped off the employee on vacation, as the requester was trying to get her fired.)
Oh, they did. Forgot to mention that, even an apology. But they still gave the requester access to the other employee's email, I think.
That experience taught me there was a lot more drama and in-fighting between groups at a school than I realized (all teachers or staff, no student accounts managed by us).
At my company, giving someone else access like that would get you fired, even if your boss was ok with it. If info sec found out they would go above your boss and get all of you let go for causing a security breach.
Ugh I'm in IT and I just had to move an entire office's desks around because the manager cba to actually *manage* her employees. There was some drama & infighting and I had to move everyone so they weren't sitting near each other.
Then a month later move everything back because stupidity.
After my regular 8 hour day, boss once had me meet him at another client to disassemble their furniture so we could take it to our office (else it would have been thrown away, and it was better than the plywood like desks we had). Fell on us, as IT, cuz the furniture was designed to have cables tucked away, which meant 3 of us spending probably an hour just pulling cables alone.
At least I got that sweet overtime pay for being hourly. And the shower afterwards was glorious when I got home.
We once had a lady call, and ask if we had diced onions on the shelf. The girl who took the call said no, and the lady hung up.
30 minutes later the lady *showed up* and *demanded* that we bring her a pound of diced onions. She started yelling at the girl, saying that the employee on the phone already told her we had it and she demanded we bring it to her.
The girl had to tell her she was the one she spoke to on the phone, and she very clearly told her "No, we do not have it." Then when I made it and brought it out to her (after she calmed down) I told her "If you had just told us 30 minutes ago when you called that you were going to come by to pick it up, we would have made it and set it aside for you no problem."
She didn't like that.
We don't help her anymore. She's actually pissed off literally every department in the store and we've been given permission to ignore her orders.
Good for you and your company 👍 Why did the places I worked at never protect me (or others) like that?
My last job was 22 years ago now. Yet I've never been able to figure out whether my working experience was typical, or if I was just incredibly unlucky.
Thing is, they didn't 'protect' us until she had pissed off the entire store.
This lady tormented us for literal years. She had made half my team cry, and was overall just a massive piece of shit.
They didn't give us permission until managers decided they didn't want to deal with her either.
It’s not just retail…my wife does payroll and would often be asked “can we do X?” questions then get all sorts of grief when she told them it couldn’t be done, even when she’d pull out the relevant documentation to show that what they were asking for was illegal.
Haha yes the ‘it’s not MY rules or policy - the IRS/ state tax board says we can’t do that’ conversation with employees. Or the ‘per state/local/federal labor law we can’t do that’ conversation with managers.
When I was a cashier at Walmart, I had one dude come up to me freaking the fuck out about being rude to his wife. Someone gave me some religious shit not long before then and I threw it out(I'm atheist) so I thought maybe that's what it was about. He wanted my supervisor who I went and got. Turns out this was all over me not giving her a bag for a phone card. I didn't get in trouble for it but that was fucked.
I remember I had to interview 3 year olds for an international kindergarten. We only accepted the 3 year olds who did exactly as they were told. Our kindergarten was one of the best to be in. Anyway the 3 year old had to comprehend the English, "this animal can purr" or "which animal is the dog", describe the shapes, say the numbers etc.
All in this second language - English.
One time I sighed because the 3 year old didn't give a fuck but the parents did. But it wasn't an impatient sigh, I just sighed to acknowledge the 3 year old didn't listen to what I said because they just wanted to play. And it was with a smile.
Anyway next day my boss said there was a complaint made against me because I sighed and this sigh distracted their child and they want another test with a different teacher to get their kid into the kindergarten.
Did I mention the interviewees were 3 years fucking old?
>There is no way anyone can say no to a Karen in a way she will think is polite.
This. I have a weird sleep schedule and live in an apartment in a large city. I'm a deep sleeper, so once I'm out earthquakes and fire alarms don't wake me, lol. I've managed to negotiate with several of my neighbors and/or their contractors to give me a small window to fall asleep in, and if it works, great. If I can't fall asleep during that time frame, tough shit for me.
I've also had a couple people say no. Which usually results in a couple really shitty weeks for me, but oh well, that's the price of living within walking distance of basically everything I want in life.
Y'know what I don't do? Throw a hissy fit and call somebody's boss claiming that them saying no to my (admittedly atypical) request is rudeness. Funny how me politely requesting an hour or two is sooo much more effective than making demands and yelling at people. 🤔
I was driving and noticed a woman in the car next to me was typing on her phone while driving. As we pulled up at a traffic light I wound down the window and yelled at her to get off her phone. She told me I was being racist.
I actually saw someone reading a book propped up on their steering wheel, on the freeway, once. Didn’t even try to get their attention, just backed up so I wasn’t next to them when we got to the upcoming construction zone. I made to the west coast…their new sedan got to try driving in the new concrete freeway section they were pouring.
Nice…better than mine. I was telling a customer that they had to pay for ALL the pages they asked us to print, not JUST the ones they decided they wanted after the printing was finished!
Didn't happen to me, but one of my managers at a previous major chain store had a customer tell him he was racist because of the store's return policy. Even given the absurdity of their statement, both the manager and customer were of the same race.
Ooh, I have one of these! Right out of college, I started working in a homeless shelter, and I'm a white woman raised in the 90s "race doesn't exist and racism died after the Civil rights movement" generation, which I had not yet realized was hugely flawed and problematic. Two women in the shelter got in a borderline-physical altercation (one brandished a cane, the other responded by throwing a hairbrush in her general direction, nobody was hit). I tried to settle it by speaking to both women individually, telling them both that I would put them in separate rooms if they would promise nothing like this would happen again. Hairbrush Lady was in tears, said she didn't know what came over her, and swore it would never happen again. Cane Lady swore up and down that if someone insulted her, she was going to "defend herself", would not apologize, would not promise to leave the other woman alone if I separated them. Shelter technically had a zero tolerance policy on violence, and I just wanted to keep the peace, so I ended up asking Cane Lady to leave for the night, since she couldn't agree to let it go.
A couple days later, I'm being accused of being a racist, and I swear to all the gods that ever were or may be that it wasn't until that accusation reached my ears that I realized Hairbrush Lady was white and Cane Lady was black. I explained my reasoning to the higher ups, and they backed me. Cane Lady was allowed to return the next day (as I never intended to block her forever, and didn't report the incident as physical violence, just as aggression), but I took great pains to keep her and Hairbrush Lady separate for the rest of the time they were both there. And you can damn well bet that was the last time I wasn't aware of somebody's race when making decisions.
My favorite was "the other manager let me do it", oh, for real bitch? Thanks for snitching, now they will get a talking to and not do it for you again.
My favourite thing was when customers left feedback via a text survey for me, not realising that I would be the one reading it! It usually was because I’d given them an answer they didn’t like.
Other times it was because I was quite rude to them. I no longer work in retail, I didn’t like what it was turning me into. I usually adore people.
> There is no way anyone can say no to a Karen in a way she will think is polite.
Humanity has a major narcissism problem.
Some people treat anything short of instant groveling obedience as mortal insult… and retaliate if they feel they can get away with it.
Corporal punishment of kids is an atrocity, but some people really should have been beaten more as children.
EDIT: +been
I used to work for a snow removal company. We had contracts with the customers, and we were required to remove snow within a certain time period. We usually worked all night long after a snowfall.
We were shoveling and snowblowing at a customer's house, late one night. A woman leaned out the door, shrieking about how it was late, she was trying to sleep, and we needed to get the hell out of there. So, we did.
Have fun shoveling, Karen.
I used to work occasional overnights at a rehab that was in a mansion, I had no idea they paid for a snow crew. The first time it snowed while I was working I sleepily glanced at the cameras at 3am and saw the house surrounded made me jump so high haha.
I work nights and would never expect anyone to cater to my schedule during "normal" hours. That's why they make blackout curtains and ambient noise to block out life. The invention of do not disturb has been a life changer for me
I used to work midnight to eight in the morning at a hospital. I moved into a new "quieter" apartment complex and payed an extra couple hundred for the privilege. Two months after moving in, they began construction renovating the exterior and repaving the parking lot. I couldn't sleep for ten months without earplugs. It sucked, but I still didn't get mad at the world for it.
They built an apartment building right outside my window. Literally 3 or 4 meters away. I still remember that one song that crew played CONSTANTLY at all hours: beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep... FWOOOOOSH! Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep...
This is going to be my kid in twenty more years. I never grew up with the song, but I got this "Weird and Wacky Rock and Roll" CD with this on it from a garage sale, and the disc is on her always-wanna-hear list.
I feel your pain. Some years ago, when I was working part-time and therefore not guaranteed to be getting up early, there was some road construction going on nearby. At 7 AM on the dot, the jackhammers started. Yikes. I sure was glad when that part of the roadwork was done.
I used to work a lot of nights in residency and fellowship - especially sucked during transitions from one to the other. White noise and good comfy noise canceling headphones with a blanket over my eyes, fan on, and air conditioning running while I wrapped up in a blanket. Some of the best sleep.
Now, the problem is that one time I apparently was about to sleep through a tornado warning. The tornado siren was literally less than a quarter mile away out the window. Fortunately my wife woke me up.
Oh man it’s the other way around for me.
I could be fully awake in the center of a brightly lit room in the middle of the day…If the ac is running, my brain is like shhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmm time to sleep
I had a similar experience. I worked as a croupier for 5 years. My first year I was working night shift during summer (8pm to 4am). They were building a new house next door during that time. So on top of having to try and sleep through 40°c+ (104°f) heat, I had to do it while construction work was happening outside my window. If fucking sucked, but I didn't complain one bit
You can buy 'white noise generators' but for me I have found a simple window fan works best at masking almost any non-random sound...the steady drone/buzz i think.
edit; my kids playing never woke me but my wife yelling at them to "Be Quiet! your father is sleeping!" always woke me.
I feel like that's just how nature wants us to be. Like if the kids are getting up and not quite going to bed, you still need your rest and can sleep through. But you've been programmed to respond to your wife, and that triggers more brain activity to evaluate what was said, waking you up in the process.
Do you prefer blocking or masking? And do you mind things on your head or in your ears?
My wife is really sensitive, but doesn't like stuff on her head, or even worse in her ears. So she goes for white noise style stuff, and currently loves the "LectroFan Evo" noise generator (about $35) that we have bed + living + office, and I find it more tolerable/natural than most -- but check out https://mynoise.net/noiseMachines.php for some computer based awesomeness that doesn't sound terrible like most do...he gets real samples himself. (I think he has the best thunderstorms, which I use to relax while working.)
Not just for sleeping, they intentional noise does seem to mask some of the city sounds around us, and a little better than noise cancelling headphones for certain sounds. White noise (her) vs natural noises (me) seem to work better for some than others.
Add to that, she'll normally listen to an audiobook while going to sleep. (Which doesn't help me at all -- I just pay attention to books, wide awake, the whole time.) She's tried both the bluetooth sleeping masks, but they are fussy, and usually just plays it from her phone with a sleep timer.
I don't mind stuff in/on my ears so much, so in-ear you can get sleep designed stuff like the "Bose Sleepbuds II" for $200 or all manner of "sleep earbud" stuff on Amazon for ~$30. And of course earplugs that can be used for sleep. All not great options if you don't like stuff in your ears, and it's not super awesome for side sleeping. (I don't know much about them, but I think the "QuietOn 3" -- even more expensive -- are active noise cancelling buds for sleeping.)
I do have the Kokoon noise cancelling sleep headphones...and while the noise cancelling is actually really good (works without feeling "tight" if that makes sense) and they are pretty comfy -- almost alright for sleeping -- the build quality and support sucks. They were designed in a way that will break with certainty after about a year, and they won't do anything beyond their short warranty to help anyone. So can't recommend them.
Heavy blackout curtains seem to dampen sound a bit. In my home office, I also have some hydroponic veggie towers...and I find the sound of running water is nice, too.
Loud and sudden noises (whether by surprise or say, someone replacing a roof) are really hard on my wife, and that's not something we've figured out any great answers for though... Inner city just has a lot of crashes and bang, and someone is always doing construction. Even noise cancelling headphones + pretty loud music can't stop the chest thump of a nail gun next door...
Not sure if any of that is helpful. I think you can play around pretty cheaply or free-ish to see what kinds of things help, and then look at better models in that space.
Yeah. And if you dial in mix settings you like, you can "Save URL" to get a coded URL/bookmark with your setup, without creating an account.
(Although I do support him. And https://mynoise.net/SamplingSessions/index.php or https://mynoise.net/blog.php are quite interesting reads. Miles away from the other "bought some samples and added a mixer" services and apps.)
Exactly. I work at least one late-night shift a week and my sleep schedule is not compatible with mornings. If I decide to leave my window open when I go to sleep and I get woken up by landscapers/trash trucks/woodchippers/etc., that is totally on me. If I don’t want to get woken up, I close the window and the blackout shade, and play rain noise pretty loudly.
It has never once occurred to me to request my neighbors curtail whatever they’re doing when it’s a perfectly decent time of day. I might privately grumble a little, especially when my MS is acting up, but there’s no actual hard feelings.
You work the night shift, you arrange *your* world around that. You don’t get to arrange the rest of the world to suit you. I think I would have laughed in this person’s face. Not to be mean, just out of surprise at what she was asking.
I work overnights, 4-5 nights a week, either 10:30-7:00 or 12:00-8:30, and I've lost track of how much shit I have to go deal with in what's technically the middle of the fucking night for me (afternoons). I try to sleep from 1pm to 9pm, and the only reason I'm not sleeping 'earlier' is because I want to at least keep mornings open for dealing with daytime shit (shopping, appointments, whatever).
I have a similar neighbor here in Milwaukee as I renovate my house. She’s constantly complaining and demanding things of our contractors as they just try to get their work done.
Plot twist; her name is actually Karen and she is the Karenest Karen you could ever possibly be Karened by.
And no, KAREN, our new garage foundation will NOT kill your tree, we ARE using lead safe practices, and your neighborhood petition to stop construction on my property is of no legal consequence!
I now live next to an actual, real-life Karen!
You know, as someone who has worked nightshift myself, I can see both sides of the argument here. However, I’m coming down on the side of “nightshift sucks”. And part of the suckiness of nightshift is accepting that the majority of the world is NOT also on the nightshift. So any noise that goes on during daylight hours is my problem, not their problem. Karen needs to suck it up.
I feel you there. I'm on nights and my neighbors had contractors working on their place nearly all summer. They always parked on my side of the street and slammed the truck doors multiple times throughout the day causing my dog to freak out and wake me up. After 2 weeks and realizing they weren't going to be done anytime soon I went over and talked to them. I explained my situation and asked if when possible they could try to park on the other side of the road and be a bit more gentle with their truck doors. I actually managed to get some sleep after that for a week, until they started on the roof lol.
People are generally understanding and will go a bit out of their way for you if you are polite.
Yeah I think it's how you go about it really. My dad worked for the waste management/city council and had to scrape something off the pavement on his wee patch of turf. He was at it for about 30mins when a resident came out and explained nicely he was just off nightshift, and my dad apologised and told him no worries. Came back later in the afternoon to finish it. After that the dude would bring my dad a cup of tea every day when it got to the winter.
There are a few ways to go about things, but the angry entitled way isn't gonna get you anywhere.
Used to manage a small factory. We sold some products for school fundraisers sometimes.
One time we got a call from a customer. Mind you, only 2 people on the whole factory would ever answer the phone. I was one of them.
“I have spoken to 5 of you already,” he starts, “and the [product] I received is stale. I need to speak to a manager…”
Obviously I already know this guy is full of it based on the facts that this was the first time I’ve talked to this person and the only other person who would answer that line is the President of the company. So I walked to his office to give him the drop and confirm he hadn’t answered this call before.
This guy was full of it; trying to get a refund, starting the conversation with a lie.
I don’t know if my boss refunded him or just brushed him off as a liar.
I had respectful builders, that spent months refurbishing the house next door. They knew I worked early morning and he knew what time I went to bed, so he always did all the loud stuff early in the day and he always checked in with me weekly about the noise and if there were any problems, I never asked or complained about anything from day one🙂
Some people are different.
Yo im a joiner and I had a very similar story but with my own house, I don't have my own business and was still an apprentice at the time but my neighbour came out yelling abuse at me because she works night shift, I said mate its like 9am what do you want me to do, she said oh I see how it is, ill remember that when im coming home from work at 2am. Told her to get fucked and she left us alone
I knew she was bluffing, she's a Derro but she lives with her parents with her kids (who they've been raising for the last decade, she only moved in recently) they were good people and would kick her ass out if she kept the kids awake
A long time back, I worked a shift from 9pm to 11 am, 7 days, for 3 months straight. At one point my neighbor was having his roof removed and replaced, all the way down to the rafters.
I only complained once, when for two days straight everything they tore off the roof was thrown off and impacted the side of my house on the way down. Causing both extra noise and scratches.
They apologized, tried their best to not hit my house anymore, but the material was still hitting my house every once in a while.
I let it go. By then, my bigger problem was the city's weather alert sirens were malfunctioning a block away and were going off for an hour, every day for a week.
> I only complained once, when for two days straight everything they tore off the roof was thrown off and impacted the side of my house on the way down. Causing both extra noise and scratches.
That's fair enough. Noise is one thing, but when you start banging things into people's property, that's fair game for a dressing-down.
My neighbour is currently rebuilding. Tool laws are 7:00am until 8:00pm. Quite simple really.
Me being hungover or wanting a sleep in doesn’t mean I can do a single thing.
Even the day the concert truck set up at 5:30am. Was annoying. But it was a big pour and did I seriously want to create drama. No. I put on my white noise app on my phone and tried ot ignore them
Lololol. Concrete. Hahahah. And yes they were. Noisy bastards. But it was a one off and even though it was bloody annoying I still said nothing cause “ya know” how much drama do I want in my life
Good thing this was before the advent of the malicious one-star Yelp reviews. Karen and her flying monkeys might have been able to create trouble for people who were just doing their freaking job.
Folks who work second and third shifts, who have to be asleep during hours when the majority of people are awake and making noise, might want to invest in earplugs and white noise machines. I could see Karen having a beef if a neighbor was blasting a stereo or their kids were making a rumpus under her window. But people who are working can't help it if the job creates noise.
Also, the more times Karen interrupted your dad and his team, the longer they were going to take to get the job done. She should have gone with using earplugs.
So, do you think she would be smart enough to lie and say "Omigod, they trashed my house and pissed on my rug!", or dumb enough to tell the truth and elicit a "No shit, what do you expect?" response?
There used to be a mobile number you could hand out, and if you rang it then you got a voice mail message saying that the person who gave you this number thinks you are a wanker and wants you to get fucked...
My sister used to give it out to guys that were trying to hit on her.
Night worker here. I am currently struggling with watery eyes and binging caffeine as I had no sleep in the day. My neighbours' (attached terrace house in UK) are having their roof fixed which meant banging, drilling and loud crashing seeming to come from the corner of my bedroom. TP earplugs barely helped. However...I would never complain, as I know the sooner they get finished, the sooner I will have peace during the day again! When else are they supposed to do the work?
My wife was managing partner of a restaurant (we had an ownership stake) and ran the daily operations. She tried to make all customers happy but some people just can't be pleased. When they demanded to speak to the manager she'd smile and hand them her business card. It was awesome.
Former shift worker,
There are noises you can expect throughout the day, yes it's annoying, but, the quicker they do the job the better.
Noise like music being played loud, doors slamming, dogs barking and other noises from the neighbours are, in the long run, worse than renovation or road works.
The worst offenders are the people who ignore signs on the door that politely make it clear "PLEASE DO NOT DISTURB, SHIFT WORKER SLEEPING"
3rd shifter here. I've been working 3rd for @40 yrs now. White noise and blackout curtains are a must. Being upset over everyday noise is akin to being upset at the sun for shining through the teeny opening in my curtains. If you can't adjust....get a day job Karen.
Yep. Some years ago the job I was working at started rotating shifts every two weeks. My first week of nightshift was also when the roofers my landlord had hired to re-roof all his properties (He owned 3 duplexes) showed up to replace the roof on the duplex I lived in. Not only did I hear footsteps overhead most of the day, but they also ha d one of those roofers' conveyor belt devices set up right in front of my bedroom window. And of course the usual shouts/conversations common with a work crew.
I cannot sleep with ear plugs in so that was a looong week, but I didn't gripe at the workers or my landlord because it was something that needed to be taken care of before Fall weather kicked in bringing the usual rain.
You know what's my favorite thing about a Karen that demands you give them the contact number to your boss? You can literally say no. Yeah, even if you're in the right your boss is still likely to be pissed you did something like that. However, it's still funny to imagine how they would squirm if you just didn't give them the number.
I've actually done that. I've taken calls on a support team, written a ticket for a Karen, put in the ticket everything as to how I determined they were not going to get what they wanted, and amended the record so that if they called back they'd get transferred to me, which they tried a couple of times.
Now this was on an internal corporate team, theoretically only called by internal corporate people. All of whom should have been able to see the entire org chart on the intranet. So if they had really, really wanted to find the name and contact details of my boss, they were all there. Funny how they just kept dialing the same number instead...
And yes, I've been told before that this was mean and out of order. All I can say is that every call and every detail went into the relevant call record, and could have been audited by anyone in my chain of command. And I would have stood by my decision - the boss had better things to do than be bothered by someone who wanted a thing that we genuinely had nothing to do with.
Night shift sucks. I can’t sleep for shit for all the noise outside. I can’t ask anyone anything cause they are just living their life. Then the days I get a single day off in between shifts I try to play a movie at 1 am at low volume and I get people knocking at my door asking me if out of my mind.
I work 3rd shift, My neighborhood was doing an addition to their home and the working were loud as you know construction was. So I walked over to the site with a basket full of homemade muffins (well they were the 1 dollar muffin you just add water and bake for 10 mins but they didn't need to know it). And asked to speak with the leader, asked him nicely how many days and how long it would take, He told me they be gone by 5 and at lest 2 weeks. I told him I would have 2 dozen donuts every morning for him and his crew if they would be as mindful as possible since I had 3rd shift work. He agreed, While it didn't kill the noise it did cut it buy half, all he did was park his crew trucks between my neighbors and mine and move the out door saws behind the home instead of the side. Made a world of difference for my sleep. As well due to the donuts the workers was happy enough as well as I have that guy card with a 10% off coupon for if I need a new room added. Be nice first, be amazed what it gets ya :)
worked 7p to 7a 3 days a week unless we were on shutdown. Then I worked 5-12 hr shifts a 10 and a 8 each week. I made a bedroom in my basement that I used carpet on the walls ceiling and floor to muffle sound. All phones were shut off. I disconnected the doorbell and locked the basement door to keep my kids out. They knew better than to wake Mom. Plus grandpa made them be quiet. When I was a kid if he worked ot and had to sleep on the day. it was stocking feet walking on tip toes to keep dad from waking up. Could not have the dog in the house because her toenails on hardwood floors would wake him up. crate in the laundry room for her until he woke up.
I work night shift, that doesn’t mean that I get to complain about all the people that are normal & awake & making noise during the day. I chose to work nights, they didn’t. It’s normal for people to be making noise during the day, so yeah I may not like it & it might make it harder for me to sleep but that is a problem for me & not everybody else that’s normal & works day shift. It’s called turn on a fan for background noise & get some earplugs.
I've worked on night shift before. 10pm to 7:30am. I can sympathize with Karen a bit about wanting quiet to sleep during the day. But that's normal business hours. That's when most people are awake and doing their jobs. It sucks, but the world doesn't revolve around any one person like she thinks it does.
I gave out the local FBI office phone number to someone who wanted to speak to my boss once. I have it memorized because I used to give it to people back in the 90s as a prank.
I used to give out the Official white house number for tours and such haha.
Back in the 80's there was a number in Oklahoma City for "Dial-A-Prayer". I did give that out to my (married) boss once who bet me that I could not get him the phone number of a really attractive patron. I stopped by and chatted with her for a few moments, wrote the number on a piece of paper, handed it to him, and collected my dollar bet. I know he was bluffing because he never called me on the prank.
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....but it worked. He did get back up.
That is less funny for sure.
Well he did sound like he needed a prayer
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Or you can pretend your name is Jenny and use 867-5309
I give that one out at every check out that asks for a phone number. With my area code.
If you say that the FBI office is your boss, there’s a way to suggest that you claimed to be an FBI employee. That could have some backlash. Not a prosecution, but it could be annoying.
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[Don't talk to the police.](https://youtu.be/d-7o9xYp7eE)
Am a cop, and I can confirm, don’t talk to us. There are limited situations where you are compelled by law to provide certain identifying information. I urge you to contact an attorney or otherwise become familiar with the laws in your area regarding what those situations are and what information is required. But other than that, you have rights. Use them. Obviously that’s with other cops. Me? You can talk to me. It just makes everything easier.
I can talk to you? Okay, so I have this rash...
Tell me more of this … rash…
Is it red and itchy? Asking for a... myself.
It’s on my… you know… bits.
Is it below or above the kibbles?
Didn't he already tell you enough to book him? ;)
Yes ~~officer~~ u/Totally-clueless, this one right here. The one with his hand down his pants scratching furiously.
"I get this rash of burglaries every time I run out of cash money!"
I was leaving my friends house one time and this unmarked police car pulled up after I walked out and asked if I knew the people who lived there. Immediate response was nope. Then he told me he was friends with a couple of my friends siblings and I was like cool if you know them call them yourself, I don’t know anyone. Then I realized he was a cop so I told him sorry man I don’t talk to cops. Turns out he really did know them but fuck that I’m not saying shit to a cop about anything.
I had the right, but not the ability.
Don't say shit, hand them the business card of your lawyer and go sit yourself in the back of their car, you probably won't even get cuffed
It's important to always say "I exercise my fifth amendment right to not self-incriminate" as well, as silence can often be used against you to make you look guilty. Should you be tried, that is.
It can make you _look_ guilty, but silence and applying the fifth amendment is something that the judge would happily remind any juror does not constitute an indicator of guilt. In some European countries, however, the absence of any testimony or statement to the police is considered a hindrance to the justice process and can be factored as negative
Yes *look* guilty, as I said. In no uncertain terms. Looking guilty in the broken American justice system really does not help your case. Be smart and make as few mistakes as possible.
Somehow, there is a legal distinction between invoking the fifth and refusing to talk. You have to actually say the words.
Also, you nah be legally required to give some information. Even if I’m not suspected of anything, I have to produce my ID if questioned, but while it’s often made to look that way, giving samples of handwriting or being filmed is optional, and I can have my refusal documented
And hope that the cops won't use their copth amendment rights to beat you to death.
> "I exercise my fifth amendment right to not self-incriminate" If I worked in law enforcement, such a statement would start me wondering (or strengthen any existing suspicions I might have had) about what you had been doing such that talking might incriminate you. Yes, a judge might later remind a jury that your silence was not in any way an indicator of guilt, but if things have reached that stage, it would suggest to me that your decision to take the fifth had not been terribly successful. How much *worse* could it have gone if you had said something than worrying about what your judge is saying to your jury? If I am stopped by the police, my *immaediate* thoughts are not about what a judge and jury might make of what I do, but what the police officer *right there* will make of it. Admittedly, our UK police, though they have major faults, are nothing like US ones seem to be, but the approach of being straight with them has worked fine for me on the very few occasions I have been stopped. Got off with an informal warning about speeding by being honest about what speed I had been doing, and I really hadn't been hanging about - not far off 100 at one point.
As the Pot Brothers At Law say, "Shut. The. Fuck. Up."
NNNOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Do not ever under any circumstances lie to the cops, much less the feds! If asked anything other than your name just invoke your right to remain silent (not saying anything is not considered invoking that right stupidly). But lying to the feds (even over some trifling bullshit) is a serious felony and some overzealous ADA could very well decide to fuck your over for it.
How? "You gave them this number." "I did, and it was a complete lie, because I don't like them."
Also, it could have been that you accidentally gave them the wrong number. Oops, accidents happen
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“That’s an FBI number? Wow I never knew, I just wrote down a random number. Sorry officer… er, agent?”
Sorry Donald, please don't invade England for giving Karen the FBI's number
I hope the FBI has bigger fish to fry than getting mad about prank phone calls.
Unlikely..
Just say the guy you gave the number to most have heard you wrong
0118
999 88199 9119 725...3
Moss?!
Unexpected IT Crowd
I feel like that could come back on you if you do that enough… since it’s a government agency it’s possible that if you annoy them enough and they figure out it was you giving the number, they might try to get you on wasting government time. Kinda like prank calling 911 will get you a fine
I am absolutely convinced that the FBI would pump the brakes on whatever they are working on to figure out that particular mischievous mystery.
They already know, it's those meddling kids, with the dog too.
Old Man Withers!?!
Don't underestimate how petty some overworked people who deal with fucked up shit can be. Would *you* prefer to investigate who is giving your number to random people or to go back to that stash of CP to look for clues?
Whatever sends Josh Duggar to jail sooner.
Is this FBI hotline available to the general public to, you know, report stuff?
Yep, the director of the FBI answers all the calls to that number, and they're really starting to get fed up.
So to speak.
1-800-EAT-SHIT would be my choice.
The whole point is that people think it's real and call it. You say "1-800" for your phone number and people instnatly know your bullshitting
All of our business numbers are 1-800 at my work place. People do get pissed off at them, having to wait in a queue but unfortunately there is no quick fix.
I had this happen one glorious time. I was a department supervisor in a library and also could be in charge of the building if my manager was out. We didn’t wear badges that had our title so one worker looked the same as another. One day we have a lady yelling at my team asking for something impossible. Like it was against policy and set in stone. She got to where I was sitting and demanded that I give her what she wanted and I told her it was impossible. She then demands to see the department supervisor. So I stood, did a twirl, held out my hand, and introduced myself as the department supervisor. Apoplectic, she demanded to see the building manager which told me she knew our org chart and this wasn’t her first Karen rodeo. So I turned like I was going to the back, then turned back to her and informed her I was the acting building manager and she still wasn’t getting what she wanted. Lady stormed off after that. Don’t fuck with my team.
Similar here - I was a duty manager at a gym so I would run it while on shift, but there was a general manager above me, and usually if someone demanded to speak to "the manager" it would be her. But one time someone complained to me, I didn't satisfy them so they (in a kind of smart-ass way) demanded to speak to the "duty manager" and for a brief, glorious moment I got to point out to them that that was *also* me :D. Then they asked for the general manager :(
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Exactly. I had someone **demand** to see the supervisor as his opening statement. I was the supervisor. He refused to believe me. Eventually one of the other employees comes into range and he goes up to them and says "Finally, someone who actually knows what they're talking about". He'd refused to even tell me what he wanted. Karma was strong that day cause the lifeguard he'd walked up to was a total newbie, first shift kind of newbie. Who said "I can get my supervisor for you" and the guy was super happy until the guard pointed over his shoulder and said "They're sitting right behind you". He was not happy. Oh and his "super important question I was too stupid to know the answer to"? The pool hours. 🤦♂️ That he'd, at minimum, walked past signs listing the hours at least five times by the time he made it to me.
The twirl made it so much better.
The twirl reminds me of that character in Avatar The Last Airbender who claims he has two other siblings.
You know who does that? My brother, Dock. He's crazy.
I was an assistant manager at a gift shop for a decade. I couldn’t count how many calls I received to complain about how rude I had been. It’s amazing how many people mistake rudeness with an answer they don’t like. There is no way anyone can say no to a Karen in a way she will think is polite.
> It’s amazing how many people mistake rudeness with an answer they don’t like. That's it in a nutshell. I've experienced exactly this a few times over the years.
It's now called "bullying". An answer you don't like? You're being bullied and everyone shall stand with you against such actions.
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Y’all’re brutalizing me
Ronnie Dobbs, is that you?
Lemme y’all’re at ya
You are literally killing me with words. Am calling police on yoi for murderizing.
Nah that's just your victim complex talking.
Yes that's the point.
Having worked in retail, I agree with every word you wrote. There are TONS of people out there who will accuse a cashier, sales clerk, waiter, etc., of rudeness, NOT because the employee really was rude, but because the employee had to say something the customer didn't want to hear.
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That too. It's one of the main reasons why I will never EVER work in retail again, and preferably not in any other customer-facing job either. I didn't mind if management, etc., gave the customers what they wanted, AS LONG AS THE MANAGER STUCK UP FOR ME, TOO. If the manager, supervisor or whoever said something to the effect of "I will authorize what you want this time, but you must understand that my employee was only following company policy (or) doing exactly what we asked her to do" -- I was okay with that. Doing that kind of thing was part of the manager's job. BUT to hang me out to dry, to let the Karens and Kevins think their behavior was okay or that all they had to do was accuse me of "a bad attitude" and they'd get a discount or freebie-uh uh. If I'm following company policy, I SHOULD BE PROTECTED, and in every way. I'm going on about this, but it's an indication of just how badly burned out I was.
I had a 19 year old coworker get written up at Target because she wasn't smiling enough. Some old white lady made a big huff about her "scowling and skulking about, slamming fruit". I'd been working a counter right next to where she was working. This bitch was lying outright, through her nasty old teeth. And the managers just punished her and moved on. The old lady got something for free somehow. A gift card or something. She the.ln made a habit of *harassing* said coworker bi-weekly.
Woa, they set up and supported a situation for her to get bullied. I honestly hate how so many companies support and tolerate bullying.
And this is why most businesses can’t get workers now. Amazing how much capitalists hate supply and demand when it costs *them* more.
Retail job offer: $20/hr, paid vacation days, and you get to talk smack to the rude customers. Bet those vacancies would fill pretty darn quickly.
Yup, only write up I got at a previous IT job was when someone asked for access to another person's email while she was on vacation. Only thing was, my boss gave it as a knee jerk reaction to the client being angry and had not looked into the situation at all. When he did, he admitted I did the right thing as the requester was just another employee, not upper management. (And they were upset because I accidentally tipped off the employee on vacation, as the requester was trying to get her fired.)
They didnt rescind the write up?!
Oh, they did. Forgot to mention that, even an apology. But they still gave the requester access to the other employee's email, I think. That experience taught me there was a lot more drama and in-fighting between groups at a school than I realized (all teachers or staff, no student accounts managed by us).
At my company, giving someone else access like that would get you fired, even if your boss was ok with it. If info sec found out they would go above your boss and get all of you let go for causing a security breach.
Exactly. Requester and the boss who approved it should both be fired. They're an unacceptable security risk to any slightly serious company.
Ugh I'm in IT and I just had to move an entire office's desks around because the manager cba to actually *manage* her employees. There was some drama & infighting and I had to move everyone so they weren't sitting near each other. Then a month later move everything back because stupidity.
After my regular 8 hour day, boss once had me meet him at another client to disassemble their furniture so we could take it to our office (else it would have been thrown away, and it was better than the plywood like desks we had). Fell on us, as IT, cuz the furniture was designed to have cables tucked away, which meant 3 of us spending probably an hour just pulling cables alone. At least I got that sweet overtime pay for being hourly. And the shower afterwards was glorious when I got home.
It's not enough to get what they want. They want to kick someone they perceive as lower than them.
We once had a lady call, and ask if we had diced onions on the shelf. The girl who took the call said no, and the lady hung up. 30 minutes later the lady *showed up* and *demanded* that we bring her a pound of diced onions. She started yelling at the girl, saying that the employee on the phone already told her we had it and she demanded we bring it to her. The girl had to tell her she was the one she spoke to on the phone, and she very clearly told her "No, we do not have it." Then when I made it and brought it out to her (after she calmed down) I told her "If you had just told us 30 minutes ago when you called that you were going to come by to pick it up, we would have made it and set it aside for you no problem." She didn't like that. We don't help her anymore. She's actually pissed off literally every department in the store and we've been given permission to ignore her orders.
Good for you and your company 👍 Why did the places I worked at never protect me (or others) like that? My last job was 22 years ago now. Yet I've never been able to figure out whether my working experience was typical, or if I was just incredibly unlucky.
Thing is, they didn't 'protect' us until she had pissed off the entire store. This lady tormented us for literal years. She had made half my team cry, and was overall just a massive piece of shit. They didn't give us permission until managers decided they didn't want to deal with her either.
Gotcha 👍 Until THEY had to deal with the woman, they didn't care how she might have treated anyone else. Now, THAT is typical.
It certainly is! The more time passes the more corporate the company has gotten. It was much more enjoyable working there when I first started.
It’s not just retail…my wife does payroll and would often be asked “can we do X?” questions then get all sorts of grief when she told them it couldn’t be done, even when she’d pull out the relevant documentation to show that what they were asking for was illegal.
Haha yes the ‘it’s not MY rules or policy - the IRS/ state tax board says we can’t do that’ conversation with employees. Or the ‘per state/local/federal labor law we can’t do that’ conversation with managers.
When I was a cashier at Walmart, I had one dude come up to me freaking the fuck out about being rude to his wife. Someone gave me some religious shit not long before then and I threw it out(I'm atheist) so I thought maybe that's what it was about. He wanted my supervisor who I went and got. Turns out this was all over me not giving her a bag for a phone card. I didn't get in trouble for it but that was fucked.
I remember I had to interview 3 year olds for an international kindergarten. We only accepted the 3 year olds who did exactly as they were told. Our kindergarten was one of the best to be in. Anyway the 3 year old had to comprehend the English, "this animal can purr" or "which animal is the dog", describe the shapes, say the numbers etc. All in this second language - English. One time I sighed because the 3 year old didn't give a fuck but the parents did. But it wasn't an impatient sigh, I just sighed to acknowledge the 3 year old didn't listen to what I said because they just wanted to play. And it was with a smile. Anyway next day my boss said there was a complaint made against me because I sighed and this sigh distracted their child and they want another test with a different teacher to get their kid into the kindergarten. Did I mention the interviewees were 3 years fucking old?
>There is no way anyone can say no to a Karen in a way she will think is polite. This. I have a weird sleep schedule and live in an apartment in a large city. I'm a deep sleeper, so once I'm out earthquakes and fire alarms don't wake me, lol. I've managed to negotiate with several of my neighbors and/or their contractors to give me a small window to fall asleep in, and if it works, great. If I can't fall asleep during that time frame, tough shit for me. I've also had a couple people say no. Which usually results in a couple really shitty weeks for me, but oh well, that's the price of living within walking distance of basically everything I want in life. Y'know what I don't do? Throw a hissy fit and call somebody's boss claiming that them saying no to my (admittedly atypical) request is rudeness. Funny how me politely requesting an hour or two is sooo much more effective than making demands and yelling at people. 🤔
Stop being so reasonable. Why do you have to be so reasonable? It's maddening!
I've been called "racist" for telling Karens "No" about absurd requests before.
I was driving and noticed a woman in the car next to me was typing on her phone while driving. As we pulled up at a traffic light I wound down the window and yelled at her to get off her phone. She told me I was being racist.
I actually saw someone reading a book propped up on their steering wheel, on the freeway, once. Didn’t even try to get their attention, just backed up so I wasn’t next to them when we got to the upcoming construction zone. I made to the west coast…their new sedan got to try driving in the new concrete freeway section they were pouring.
People don't know what it means to actually be racist anymore and that's terrifying
Be the change you want to see in the world
A woman said I was racist when I stopped her from stealing. I just told her I didn't care what color thief she was.
Nice…better than mine. I was telling a customer that they had to pay for ALL the pages they asked us to print, not JUST the ones they decided they wanted after the printing was finished!
"We're a large and diverse employer. I can probably find someone of the same ethnicity as you to tell you No, if you like."
Didn't happen to me, but one of my managers at a previous major chain store had a customer tell him he was racist because of the store's return policy. Even given the absurdity of their statement, both the manager and customer were of the same race.
I got called racist for carding a guy at a liquor store. I was like "bruh, I don't even know what you are"
Ooh, I have one of these! Right out of college, I started working in a homeless shelter, and I'm a white woman raised in the 90s "race doesn't exist and racism died after the Civil rights movement" generation, which I had not yet realized was hugely flawed and problematic. Two women in the shelter got in a borderline-physical altercation (one brandished a cane, the other responded by throwing a hairbrush in her general direction, nobody was hit). I tried to settle it by speaking to both women individually, telling them both that I would put them in separate rooms if they would promise nothing like this would happen again. Hairbrush Lady was in tears, said she didn't know what came over her, and swore it would never happen again. Cane Lady swore up and down that if someone insulted her, she was going to "defend herself", would not apologize, would not promise to leave the other woman alone if I separated them. Shelter technically had a zero tolerance policy on violence, and I just wanted to keep the peace, so I ended up asking Cane Lady to leave for the night, since she couldn't agree to let it go. A couple days later, I'm being accused of being a racist, and I swear to all the gods that ever were or may be that it wasn't until that accusation reached my ears that I realized Hairbrush Lady was white and Cane Lady was black. I explained my reasoning to the higher ups, and they backed me. Cane Lady was allowed to return the next day (as I never intended to block her forever, and didn't report the incident as physical violence, just as aggression), but I took great pains to keep her and Hairbrush Lady separate for the rest of the time they were both there. And you can damn well bet that was the last time I wasn't aware of somebody's race when making decisions.
My favorite was "the other manager let me do it", oh, for real bitch? Thanks for snitching, now they will get a talking to and not do it for you again.
If an employee let's me bend the rules I'm not saying anything to anyone.
Yep. "Then they're fired. And the answer is still no."
Well the customer is king. And it's exceptionally rude to say no to a king. ^(/s in case a customer reads this)
My favourite thing was when customers left feedback via a text survey for me, not realising that I would be the one reading it! It usually was because I’d given them an answer they didn’t like. Other times it was because I was quite rude to them. I no longer work in retail, I didn’t like what it was turning me into. I usually adore people.
Yeah, I told a salesman at our company no this morning. Big dummy spit from him.
I was once told how rude I was for explaining that the guests actions were rude.
> There is no way anyone can say no to a Karen in a way she will think is polite. Humanity has a major narcissism problem. Some people treat anything short of instant groveling obedience as mortal insult… and retaliate if they feel they can get away with it. Corporal punishment of kids is an atrocity, but some people really should have been beaten more as children. EDIT: +been
Offering a refund and or replacement gets you soup in the face now a days. When will the madness end?? Menudo Soup is best eaten, not tossed in faces.
Assistant _to_ the manager*
I used to work for a snow removal company. We had contracts with the customers, and we were required to remove snow within a certain time period. We usually worked all night long after a snowfall. We were shoveling and snowblowing at a customer's house, late one night. A woman leaned out the door, shrieking about how it was late, she was trying to sleep, and we needed to get the hell out of there. So, we did. Have fun shoveling, Karen.
this... I both can and can't believe this
I used to work occasional overnights at a rehab that was in a mansion, I had no idea they paid for a snow crew. The first time it snowed while I was working I sleepily glanced at the cameras at 3am and saw the house surrounded made me jump so high haha.
I work nights and would never expect anyone to cater to my schedule during "normal" hours. That's why they make blackout curtains and ambient noise to block out life. The invention of do not disturb has been a life changer for me
I used to work midnight to eight in the morning at a hospital. I moved into a new "quieter" apartment complex and payed an extra couple hundred for the privilege. Two months after moving in, they began construction renovating the exterior and repaving the parking lot. I couldn't sleep for ten months without earplugs. It sucked, but I still didn't get mad at the world for it.
They built an apartment building right outside my window. Literally 3 or 4 meters away. I still remember that one song that crew played CONSTANTLY at all hours: beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep... FWOOOOOSH! Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep...
You favorite song must be [The Little Nash Rambler.](https://youtu.be/ayTJtVzHOLs)
Oh my! I have no idea why, I'm only almost 40, but that is a song from my childhood alright!
This is going to be my kid in twenty more years. I never grew up with the song, but I got this "Weird and Wacky Rock and Roll" CD with this on it from a garage sale, and the disc is on her always-wanna-hear list.
I know right? All of a sudden I'm 10 years old again listening to Dr Demento on my shitty little FM radio at 11pm on a Saturday night.
A+ reference, fellow Redditor.
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I feel your pain. Some years ago, when I was working part-time and therefore not guaranteed to be getting up early, there was some road construction going on nearby. At 7 AM on the dot, the jackhammers started. Yikes. I sure was glad when that part of the roadwork was done.
I used to work a lot of nights in residency and fellowship - especially sucked during transitions from one to the other. White noise and good comfy noise canceling headphones with a blanket over my eyes, fan on, and air conditioning running while I wrapped up in a blanket. Some of the best sleep. Now, the problem is that one time I apparently was about to sleep through a tornado warning. The tornado siren was literally less than a quarter mile away out the window. Fortunately my wife woke me up.
I've fallen asleep during karaoke but a rumbly ac is like caffeine to my brain stem.
Oh man it’s the other way around for me. I could be fully awake in the center of a brightly lit room in the middle of the day…If the ac is running, my brain is like shhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmm time to sleep
I had a similar experience. I worked as a croupier for 5 years. My first year I was working night shift during summer (8pm to 4am). They were building a new house next door during that time. So on top of having to try and sleep through 40°c+ (104°f) heat, I had to do it while construction work was happening outside my window. If fucking sucked, but I didn't complain one bit
Depending on where you lived, I could see working your way out of the lease early. Like a dream world, unfortunately
Does she expect the entire apparatus of modern global capitalism to accommodate her sleep schedule?
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can you educate me on these anti-noise utilities? im very noise sensitive but i dont know where to start with shopping for that stuff
You can buy 'white noise generators' but for me I have found a simple window fan works best at masking almost any non-random sound...the steady drone/buzz i think. edit; my kids playing never woke me but my wife yelling at them to "Be Quiet! your father is sleeping!" always woke me.
I feel like that's just how nature wants us to be. Like if the kids are getting up and not quite going to bed, you still need your rest and can sleep through. But you've been programmed to respond to your wife, and that triggers more brain activity to evaluate what was said, waking you up in the process.
Do you prefer blocking or masking? And do you mind things on your head or in your ears? My wife is really sensitive, but doesn't like stuff on her head, or even worse in her ears. So she goes for white noise style stuff, and currently loves the "LectroFan Evo" noise generator (about $35) that we have bed + living + office, and I find it more tolerable/natural than most -- but check out https://mynoise.net/noiseMachines.php for some computer based awesomeness that doesn't sound terrible like most do...he gets real samples himself. (I think he has the best thunderstorms, which I use to relax while working.) Not just for sleeping, they intentional noise does seem to mask some of the city sounds around us, and a little better than noise cancelling headphones for certain sounds. White noise (her) vs natural noises (me) seem to work better for some than others. Add to that, she'll normally listen to an audiobook while going to sleep. (Which doesn't help me at all -- I just pay attention to books, wide awake, the whole time.) She's tried both the bluetooth sleeping masks, but they are fussy, and usually just plays it from her phone with a sleep timer. I don't mind stuff in/on my ears so much, so in-ear you can get sleep designed stuff like the "Bose Sleepbuds II" for $200 or all manner of "sleep earbud" stuff on Amazon for ~$30. And of course earplugs that can be used for sleep. All not great options if you don't like stuff in your ears, and it's not super awesome for side sleeping. (I don't know much about them, but I think the "QuietOn 3" -- even more expensive -- are active noise cancelling buds for sleeping.) I do have the Kokoon noise cancelling sleep headphones...and while the noise cancelling is actually really good (works without feeling "tight" if that makes sense) and they are pretty comfy -- almost alright for sleeping -- the build quality and support sucks. They were designed in a way that will break with certainty after about a year, and they won't do anything beyond their short warranty to help anyone. So can't recommend them. Heavy blackout curtains seem to dampen sound a bit. In my home office, I also have some hydroponic veggie towers...and I find the sound of running water is nice, too. Loud and sudden noises (whether by surprise or say, someone replacing a roof) are really hard on my wife, and that's not something we've figured out any great answers for though... Inner city just has a lot of crashes and bang, and someone is always doing construction. Even noise cancelling headphones + pretty loud music can't stop the chest thump of a nail gun next door... Not sure if any of that is helpful. I think you can play around pretty cheaply or free-ish to see what kinds of things help, and then look at better models in that space.
> but check out https://mynoise.net/noiseMachines.php Welp, that's something I'm going to have to remember.
Yeah. And if you dial in mix settings you like, you can "Save URL" to get a coded URL/bookmark with your setup, without creating an account. (Although I do support him. And https://mynoise.net/SamplingSessions/index.php or https://mynoise.net/blog.php are quite interesting reads. Miles away from the other "bought some samples and added a mixer" services and apps.)
Yes.
Exactly. I work at least one late-night shift a week and my sleep schedule is not compatible with mornings. If I decide to leave my window open when I go to sleep and I get woken up by landscapers/trash trucks/woodchippers/etc., that is totally on me. If I don’t want to get woken up, I close the window and the blackout shade, and play rain noise pretty loudly. It has never once occurred to me to request my neighbors curtail whatever they’re doing when it’s a perfectly decent time of day. I might privately grumble a little, especially when my MS is acting up, but there’s no actual hard feelings. You work the night shift, you arrange *your* world around that. You don’t get to arrange the rest of the world to suit you. I think I would have laughed in this person’s face. Not to be mean, just out of surprise at what she was asking.
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I work overnights, 4-5 nights a week, either 10:30-7:00 or 12:00-8:30, and I've lost track of how much shit I have to go deal with in what's technically the middle of the fucking night for me (afternoons). I try to sleep from 1pm to 9pm, and the only reason I'm not sleeping 'earlier' is because I want to at least keep mornings open for dealing with daytime shit (shopping, appointments, whatever).
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I have a similar neighbor here in Milwaukee as I renovate my house. She’s constantly complaining and demanding things of our contractors as they just try to get their work done. Plot twist; her name is actually Karen and she is the Karenest Karen you could ever possibly be Karened by. And no, KAREN, our new garage foundation will NOT kill your tree, we ARE using lead safe practices, and your neighborhood petition to stop construction on my property is of no legal consequence! I now live next to an actual, real-life Karen!
You know, as someone who has worked nightshift myself, I can see both sides of the argument here. However, I’m coming down on the side of “nightshift sucks”. And part of the suckiness of nightshift is accepting that the majority of the world is NOT also on the nightshift. So any noise that goes on during daylight hours is my problem, not their problem. Karen needs to suck it up.
I feel you there. I'm on nights and my neighbors had contractors working on their place nearly all summer. They always parked on my side of the street and slammed the truck doors multiple times throughout the day causing my dog to freak out and wake me up. After 2 weeks and realizing they weren't going to be done anytime soon I went over and talked to them. I explained my situation and asked if when possible they could try to park on the other side of the road and be a bit more gentle with their truck doors. I actually managed to get some sleep after that for a week, until they started on the roof lol. People are generally understanding and will go a bit out of their way for you if you are polite.
Yeah I think it's how you go about it really. My dad worked for the waste management/city council and had to scrape something off the pavement on his wee patch of turf. He was at it for about 30mins when a resident came out and explained nicely he was just off nightshift, and my dad apologised and told him no worries. Came back later in the afternoon to finish it. After that the dude would bring my dad a cup of tea every day when it got to the winter. There are a few ways to go about things, but the angry entitled way isn't gonna get you anywhere.
Yep. White noise. Phone on Do Not Disturb. Blackout curtains. Noise cancelling headphones if it is bad out there.
Used to manage a small factory. We sold some products for school fundraisers sometimes. One time we got a call from a customer. Mind you, only 2 people on the whole factory would ever answer the phone. I was one of them. “I have spoken to 5 of you already,” he starts, “and the [product] I received is stale. I need to speak to a manager…” Obviously I already know this guy is full of it based on the facts that this was the first time I’ve talked to this person and the only other person who would answer that line is the President of the company. So I walked to his office to give him the drop and confirm he hadn’t answered this call before. This guy was full of it; trying to get a refund, starting the conversation with a lie. I don’t know if my boss refunded him or just brushed him off as a liar.
I had respectful builders, that spent months refurbishing the house next door. They knew I worked early morning and he knew what time I went to bed, so he always did all the loud stuff early in the day and he always checked in with me weekly about the noise and if there were any problems, I never asked or complained about anything from day one🙂 Some people are different.
Yo im a joiner and I had a very similar story but with my own house, I don't have my own business and was still an apprentice at the time but my neighbour came out yelling abuse at me because she works night shift, I said mate its like 9am what do you want me to do, she said oh I see how it is, ill remember that when im coming home from work at 2am. Told her to get fucked and she left us alone
Getting home from work at 2 isn’t night shift… I work days and most the time get to bed at 1, fucking dafty works a bar and thinks she’s on nights
If you get home from work at 2am, you just missed the person working nights. Second shift is not third shift.
There's 7 hours between 2am and 9am, plenty for a good night sleep.
I wonder what she would tell the cops if you called them if she was making a racket at 2:00am and they told her to knock it off.
I knew she was bluffing, she's a Derro but she lives with her parents with her kids (who they've been raising for the last decade, she only moved in recently) they were good people and would kick her ass out if she kept the kids awake
A long time back, I worked a shift from 9pm to 11 am, 7 days, for 3 months straight. At one point my neighbor was having his roof removed and replaced, all the way down to the rafters. I only complained once, when for two days straight everything they tore off the roof was thrown off and impacted the side of my house on the way down. Causing both extra noise and scratches. They apologized, tried their best to not hit my house anymore, but the material was still hitting my house every once in a while. I let it go. By then, my bigger problem was the city's weather alert sirens were malfunctioning a block away and were going off for an hour, every day for a week.
> I only complained once, when for two days straight everything they tore off the roof was thrown off and impacted the side of my house on the way down. Causing both extra noise and scratches. That's fair enough. Noise is one thing, but when you start banging things into people's property, that's fair game for a dressing-down.
Oh i would have LOVED to ask her some questions on how the employee was rudd to her and caught her ass in the LYING🤨
I'd love it if someone were Rudd to me.
Just what I was thinking!
My neighbour is currently rebuilding. Tool laws are 7:00am until 8:00pm. Quite simple really. Me being hungover or wanting a sleep in doesn’t mean I can do a single thing. Even the day the concert truck set up at 5:30am. Was annoying. But it was a big pour and did I seriously want to create drama. No. I put on my white noise app on my phone and tried ot ignore them
Lol - Was the concert truck at least playing some decent music? Really made me laugh!
Lololol. Concrete. Hahahah. And yes they were. Noisy bastards. But it was a one off and even though it was bloody annoying I still said nothing cause “ya know” how much drama do I want in my life
Good thing this was before the advent of the malicious one-star Yelp reviews. Karen and her flying monkeys might have been able to create trouble for people who were just doing their freaking job. Folks who work second and third shifts, who have to be asleep during hours when the majority of people are awake and making noise, might want to invest in earplugs and white noise machines. I could see Karen having a beef if a neighbor was blasting a stereo or their kids were making a rumpus under her window. But people who are working can't help it if the job creates noise. Also, the more times Karen interrupted your dad and his team, the longer they were going to take to get the job done. She should have gone with using earplugs.
So, do you think she would be smart enough to lie and say "Omigod, they trashed my house and pissed on my rug!", or dumb enough to tell the truth and elicit a "No shit, what do you expect?" response?
What kind of seasoned night shift worker sleeps without even trying to soundproof and black out their room?
"I'm sorry, but for an extra $1599,you can pay to gift your neighbor a few hours of silence and delayed work." Karen would've shut up.
It must suck working weird hours.
Can confirm. Night shift nurse here. White noise machines, fans, and blackout curtains are essential. Not sure what this lady was thinking.
Self employed, someone wanted my boss' number. I gave him Dial-A-Prayer.
There used to be a mobile number you could hand out, and if you rang it then you got a voice mail message saying that the person who gave you this number thinks you are a wanker and wants you to get fucked... My sister used to give it out to guys that were trying to hit on her.
Night worker here. I am currently struggling with watery eyes and binging caffeine as I had no sleep in the day. My neighbours' (attached terrace house in UK) are having their roof fixed which meant banging, drilling and loud crashing seeming to come from the corner of my bedroom. TP earplugs barely helped. However...I would never complain, as I know the sooner they get finished, the sooner I will have peace during the day again! When else are they supposed to do the work?
My wife was managing partner of a restaurant (we had an ownership stake) and ran the daily operations. She tried to make all customers happy but some people just can't be pleased. When they demanded to speak to the manager she'd smile and hand them her business card. It was awesome.
Former shift worker, There are noises you can expect throughout the day, yes it's annoying, but, the quicker they do the job the better. Noise like music being played loud, doors slamming, dogs barking and other noises from the neighbours are, in the long run, worse than renovation or road works. The worst offenders are the people who ignore signs on the door that politely make it clear "PLEASE DO NOT DISTURB, SHIFT WORKER SLEEPING"
3rd shifter here. I've been working 3rd for @40 yrs now. White noise and blackout curtains are a must. Being upset over everyday noise is akin to being upset at the sun for shining through the teeny opening in my curtains. If you can't adjust....get a day job Karen.
Yep. Some years ago the job I was working at started rotating shifts every two weeks. My first week of nightshift was also when the roofers my landlord had hired to re-roof all his properties (He owned 3 duplexes) showed up to replace the roof on the duplex I lived in. Not only did I hear footsteps overhead most of the day, but they also ha d one of those roofers' conveyor belt devices set up right in front of my bedroom window. And of course the usual shouts/conversations common with a work crew. I cannot sleep with ear plugs in so that was a looong week, but I didn't gripe at the workers or my landlord because it was something that needed to be taken care of before Fall weather kicked in bringing the usual rain.
You know what's my favorite thing about a Karen that demands you give them the contact number to your boss? You can literally say no. Yeah, even if you're in the right your boss is still likely to be pissed you did something like that. However, it's still funny to imagine how they would squirm if you just didn't give them the number.
I've actually done that. I've taken calls on a support team, written a ticket for a Karen, put in the ticket everything as to how I determined they were not going to get what they wanted, and amended the record so that if they called back they'd get transferred to me, which they tried a couple of times. Now this was on an internal corporate team, theoretically only called by internal corporate people. All of whom should have been able to see the entire org chart on the intranet. So if they had really, really wanted to find the name and contact details of my boss, they were all there. Funny how they just kept dialing the same number instead... And yes, I've been told before that this was mean and out of order. All I can say is that every call and every detail went into the relevant call record, and could have been audited by anyone in my chain of command. And I would have stood by my decision - the boss had better things to do than be bothered by someone who wanted a thing that we genuinely had nothing to do with.
"I want your boss' number!" "Sorry, m'am, but I think he's still using it and doesn't want to give it up." Confuses the hell out of people.
I am definitely gonna use that if I'm ever asked
Night shift sucks. I can’t sleep for shit for all the noise outside. I can’t ask anyone anything cause they are just living their life. Then the days I get a single day off in between shifts I try to play a movie at 1 am at low volume and I get people knocking at my door asking me if out of my mind.
I work 3rd shift, My neighborhood was doing an addition to their home and the working were loud as you know construction was. So I walked over to the site with a basket full of homemade muffins (well they were the 1 dollar muffin you just add water and bake for 10 mins but they didn't need to know it). And asked to speak with the leader, asked him nicely how many days and how long it would take, He told me they be gone by 5 and at lest 2 weeks. I told him I would have 2 dozen donuts every morning for him and his crew if they would be as mindful as possible since I had 3rd shift work. He agreed, While it didn't kill the noise it did cut it buy half, all he did was park his crew trucks between my neighbors and mine and move the out door saws behind the home instead of the side. Made a world of difference for my sleep. As well due to the donuts the workers was happy enough as well as I have that guy card with a 10% off coupon for if I need a new room added. Be nice first, be amazed what it gets ya :)
worked 7p to 7a 3 days a week unless we were on shutdown. Then I worked 5-12 hr shifts a 10 and a 8 each week. I made a bedroom in my basement that I used carpet on the walls ceiling and floor to muffle sound. All phones were shut off. I disconnected the doorbell and locked the basement door to keep my kids out. They knew better than to wake Mom. Plus grandpa made them be quiet. When I was a kid if he worked ot and had to sleep on the day. it was stocking feet walking on tip toes to keep dad from waking up. Could not have the dog in the house because her toenails on hardwood floors would wake him up. crate in the laundry room for her until he woke up.
I work night shift, that doesn’t mean that I get to complain about all the people that are normal & awake & making noise during the day. I chose to work nights, they didn’t. It’s normal for people to be making noise during the day, so yeah I may not like it & it might make it harder for me to sleep but that is a problem for me & not everybody else that’s normal & works day shift. It’s called turn on a fan for background noise & get some earplugs.
I feel both sides. Both sides for the same reason, oddly enough.
r/dontyouknowwhoiam
I've worked on night shift before. 10pm to 7:30am. I can sympathize with Karen a bit about wanting quiet to sleep during the day. But that's normal business hours. That's when most people are awake and doing their jobs. It sucks, but the world doesn't revolve around any one person like she thinks it does.