So much this. I have sister who is this way, and after years of my mother waiting for her, when I started hosting these things, I served when I said I was going to, regardless of who was/was not there yet. When my sister finally showed up, she complained that everyone had already eaten*, and she had only what was left…

This happened to me at a concert (open outdoor venue) when I was with my sister a long time ago and knowing nothing else, we locked arms, basically not to get separated (we are both fairly tall, which is the only way we managed to lock arms). At the time, we did not realize actual danger, sort of laughing about it, I…

I have found my list of non-negotiable sides has varied by number of guests expected and are they bringing some of them? When I am the only one cooking and cleaning up for 15 people, that list shrinks dramatically. (I also find that the ones who complain the loudest are the ones who will not help in any way.)

Myth: Girls can’t drive stick.

Satans Salad. (Laughing at the salad bar seed kit.)

Satans Salad. (Laughing at the salad bar seed kit.)

I would like to add to the list “Home for the Holidays: (1995). Great cast, many dysfunctions and so relatable to anyone held hostage over pie and Xanax.

You are SO right about it being a good thing if you are rejected for having been vaxxed saving you a lot of hating your job/the culture. I am fully vaxxed but I still wear a mask, and would to an interview, and if they don’t show the same concern and precaution, I would not take the job anyway.

I had not even thought of putting it on my resume. It is definitely getting added this weekend. 

Successful negotiation isn’t about win/lose, its about everyone getting something they want. Yes, calm yourself down, it is important t come from a place of clarity, but recall that you are the parent, not a friend and sometimes parenting means saying “No”.

This is a real problem for me which I am working on, but years long habits (born of fear and responsibility) are hard to break. I have ended up “scheduling” down time (I am still a work in progress) and I will say from X time to X time (usually less then an hour) I will sit in my favorite chair and read a non…

I have considered one of those, but I wondered about its ability to actually wake me up. I cant even use music as my alarm since it just becomes the sound track for whatever I am dreaming at the time it goes off.  Is it effective for you even in REM sleep? 

I won’t go through another winter without them. If you have a lot of trouble with SAD, I recommend a light therapy box. There are some that are not terribly expensive and mine really does help me. I even replaced some of my light bulbs at home with very white light bulbs to help (don’t put them in your bedroom or it…

Don’t say anything* to a coworker that you would not say to your boss/HR, since people gossip so much, it is very likely to get back to them, and since gossip grows larger as it goes down the line, probably an embellished version will sooner or later reach their ears.

Only loosely related to legal. I have worked in many industries from manufacturing, retail, service, logistics, IT and more, and its still the norm in most jobs. I am not even saying its because I am female, as male coworkers have been in roughly the same boat, but when you add sexual harassment into it, it makes the…

Take heart, have faith and look around, paying attention to the atmosphere and other employees. I am looking now too and its scary, but I am holding out hope, not for perfection, but certainly for improvement.   Good luck!

You are 100% correct there. I am in “management” so there really was not a union for me to join anyway.

“You always feel like you are walking on eggshells or that at any minute, you make one false move and that’s it, you could be fired.”

I would (in some respects) like to learn that, but, I will admit, the productivity is so handy.

I agree, at least in theory, but I can’t even “do nothing” on my days off. You also point out “idle time to do whatever you want” which is still doing something. I freely admit I am severely over-productive, but, I grew up in that mindset (we called it work ethic, especially in a rural background), and as you point…

I am glad to see this is a thing and not just me. The stress they refer to I feel as guilt for what I perceive as “wasting time” when I have so much I could or should be doing. I have to be severely sick to do “nothing” and even then I have to tell myself that healing is not wasting time (but it still feels like it).