When reflexes acquired in your job are invading your daily life.
-When i was an intern in a retail, i had to fight against the urge to store the shelves during my own shopping sessions.
I was previously in management consulting - if I see a ppt, I will harshly criticize the design/through line. I prefer planning heavily via a nicely formatted Excel document/Google sheet.
Graduated a couple years ago with an English PhD: when I go to read anything, I always pick up a pen or pencil as if I’m going to annotate it. I still have to hold one but don’t click it out, like a security blanket, otherwise I feel immensely guilty.
Did a literature Master’s. Cant not skim unless I’m actively stopping myself from it. Also, the internal literary critic never shuts off, but I think that it’s a good thing to always be in critical thinking mode in this day and age, even if it means I can’t “it’s just a story” anymore.
We called that “reading diagonally”
One of my first jobs was in a call center with a scripted greeting using an assertive voice because the customers always tried to dunk on us. My friends and family would laugh so hard when I answered my personal phone with the script/voice.
I used to work in a call center with a very long spiel for answering the phone. I never used it when someone called me, but one time I had a dream that my phone was ringing at work. I woke up (sort of), picked up my cell phone, and recited the script … Only to finally open my eyes and see I was talking to no one but my befuddled dog.
I can’t watch anyone cook without steeling myself from mentioning their risky knife grip, mess-inducing lack of flow, slapdash mis, etc. 😵💫 On the positive side, I always call my status (“behind”, “hot”, “knife”, etc.)
I had an ex that asked me to show her how to cook and then proceeded to have a complete mental breakdown while screaming about how judgy I was being.
Turns out she lived off of turkey on flatbread, plain, every.single.night. We didn’t make it more than a month. My (now) wife went from only being able to bake, to a full on Sous Chef. Most nights I don’t have to say a word, we’re just on a mission to get dinner for 5 ready.
That’s romance right there 🥰🤘🏼
Yeah detaching your cheffiness in your personal life is a job in itself, I had OJT all throughout my children’s lives until they moved out, THEN my wife and I opened a BBQ joint and it’s just her and I and HOOOOO BOY the shoe is on the other foot!!! lol…we have fun.
we have fun
NGL, y’all seem to be livin’ the dream! 🥳
oh absolutely, had to leave the US to live the American Dream, and can’t say it was a bad decision!
Oh, please do share the how-to on that! 😅 Before it’s too late? 🥵
Sold our house at the right time (Trump presidency #1), funded a year & a half in the EU with ‘no income’ (you need to show income plus have enough funds to show independence -and family send letters of assurance & their bank statements for support, plus private insurance, etc. & patience.
Found an amazing town in 3.months and have been here for 7 years, restaurant opened 4 months before COVID lockdown, the landlord was amazing throughout the whole ordeal, didn’t charge the 3 months closure, we paid half rent for the 1st year and were able to repay it within a year). Neighbors were amazing (again) very supportive through the whole deal.
This is when we found out we can do it just by ourselves…the kids then some casual employees PT during the high season. This year we had 2 neighbors kids work with us for their first ‘real job’.
Great community, we work very hard but have some awesome quality of life (Mediterranean is 500m away) and more than anything got lucky.
I wish others the same!
500 meters from the Mediterranean?! Luuucky 😱🤩🖖🏼
37 years in the industry, I knew when I was a young cook I wouldn’t make jack shit for pay, so I always looked at places where I could enjoy life: N. Florida, Buenos Aires, Bermuda, Bonaire, Seattle, Los Angeles (ok, that was for straight up pay…never again!) now Spain. Hard work, a good partner, and dumb luck.
So many keyboard shortcuts.
Tab, end, shift+home, del
I delete things en masse that I don’t mean to, just out of habit.
Do you also have that reflex to do Ctrl+z when you screw something in real life ? Like, you broke a glass, Ctrl+z. Oh shit, doesn’t works…
Used to work in underground mining, every time there wasn’t enough light, I’d reach for my cap lamp on my head
We also used left hand drive cars in a right hand drive country and when I went home I’d get in the wrong side of the car
Lol oh dear. I assume you twist the lamp to turn it on. Does it look like you are grabbing an invisible dick and giving it a twist? At least it is dark so no one else can see you.
It’s a button…
Lol. Pressing a button on your forehead. Still humours. Sry. I’m easily amused.
Lol I do this too especially when I’m wearing a helmet while it’s dark out. The creeping dread once you realize you don’t have a cap lamp then the slow relief after you understand the situation is definitely an experience.
I often donate plasma. Sometimes while stressed I will start to unclench and clench my fist as if I’m donating.
I want to assume that you are not a heliophysicist 😬
On the plus side, blood draws at the doctors office are a breeze!
Used to be an Amazon delivery driver. Cursed with the knowledge of what all those stickers mean on my packages.
Also you’ll start noticing their massive delivery trucks everywhere.
Okay, now I’m really curious. What do they say?
I worked in a warehouse, they’re mostly just storage locations.
We’re not mentioning the disco sticker, for obvious reasons.
The yellow sticker usually correspond to what tote they belong in and the order they’re in for the delivery route, first thing you typically do is unpack a tote in the truck and sort them by number for ease of access.
My brain wants to trigger this sorting mode whenever I grab my packages, and it just reminds me of that terrible job.
Amazon has a system of desperate contractor companies that are absolutely reliant on amazon since they own the warehouses, trucks, and everything, but are also a moment away from having their contract ended, basically destroying the company. As a result you’re not really respected even if your employer tries hard to, they just can’t care for employees at risk of dissolving.
I notice people’s gait, stability, and their DME
So you are a butt guy.
Nice!!!
I still sometimes face the shelves because I’ve been there and I want to show solidarity.
The unconscious urge to post up in a bouncer position when I’m just waiting for someone in any casual situation. I can’t imagine it makes me look like a chill person
Bad shoulder from working a McDonald’s drive thru window that was too low to the ground
Unless someone reminds me to sit, I will eat standing up with a plate in my off-hand.
Used to play Trumpet.
I still do the fingerings when thinking about music once in a while.
Not catching things. I worked at a leather shop with a lot of very sharp things.
I will just watch stuff fall. Even if it’s a friend tossing me my keys or something. Watch it sail thru the air and land right on the ground. Then I normally say “don’t throw shit at me” as their regular reminder that my instinct isn’t to catch things.
Also the phrase “heads up” doesn’t encourage me to catch something either. It encourages me to check the position of me feet for possible stabs.
