u/Ashamed_Fox_4757

Ok first off. How is the prosecutor over here defending beach body acting like it’s just a great workout service and that doesn’t mean it’s a predatory MLM? To me points to lack of intelligence- mlms/pyramid schemes can have great products! It doesn’t mean they’re not scams. It seemed like she thought she had a gotcha moment to make him look like a jerk for saying what he said about it.

Second why even bring it up?! It didn’t seem to add to anything other than maybe trying to show the jury that he was mean or something? But like…. Anyone with base level knowledge of pyramid schemes knows how predatory they are and how they’ve evolved to sell products to shroud them from legal liability.

It was just so incredibly random to me and I think pointing to a lack of understanding of how society thinks about these things overall.

Edit: it sounds like prosecution as detracting from it because they felt defense was using it as proof of mania… thoughts???

Hi, I am a senior UX strategist. I’ve worked in the field for a bit over a decade and I handle UX strategy to research to wireframes sometimes do high fidelity design work. I work for a busy and reputable web development agency. I’m also an accessibility specialist which my company doesn’t have great expertise in so I do feel I have a lot of value to bring but it’s not respected at all.

Since having my baby I left my full time role and I have been working part time as a contractor at an agency. I am losing my tolerance entirely for the culture here and am finding it to be really toxic. I honestly am so close to quitting but I know it’s probably not wise given the current work environment and that during my maternity leave I can’t really work. I am having a second baby in November. A few things:

- I have worked in agency my entire career so I am hardened by the typical issues however the culture here is becoming too much for even me
- UX gets hardly any budget and I often feel on an island by myself. It will be insane I look at the estimate and I have maybe 20 hours for very complex wireframes and then see the developer was somehow given 300.
- in order to get the bid the sales team will shirk on design and UX time and then it’s never course corrected and there is a culture of blame against the design team who are working in impossible constraints
- there’s a passive aggressive culture of blame. I’m constantly flagging and covering my butt in regards to needing more time however certain PMs will still point the finger at me and blame me for going over when I literally told them I was going to and they never told me to stop working
- the BAs have a toxic relationship with UX here I’m not treated with respect they withhold information, won’t collaborate and try to trip me up in meetings. Historically UX wasn’t a job here until maybe the past decade or so and BAs are threatened by us even though our roles are different and integrating the user is so important. They act like they know better and ignore the user research. I was literally flown to another city to do user testing and the BA fought me every step of the way in my report and didn’t want to implement the improvements in her tickets and acted like I was a thorn in their side for inquiring about the status, thousands of client dollars down the drain
- everyone is extremely busy but I feel like because UX comes first in these projects I’m ignored entirely until there’s an issue and even if I flagged it it becomes my fault. I don’t feel like a respected, valued member of the team even though I’m moving mountains and directing the entire UX of complex apps and websites with the most insanely low budgets it’s truly insane that the BA will spend even sometimes a hundred hours developing specs on MY WORK and I literally will get 20 it’s absolute insanity
- I just had a meeting today where the BA was being aggressive and withholding details I needed acting like I was being so annoying and in the same meeting the PM publically blamed me for going over on my hours when I literally have multiple receipts in writing even with my manager on then in slack outlining everything before I even used the time and I had been flagging these issues for months while she ignored me
- this is all done very passive aggressively by busy people who don’t want to take blame so it’s very difficult to point out in a direct manner because they do it under the radar and it’s making it so difficult to do my job or to remain respected in the company I feel like I’m constantly a scape goat. It’s hard to be like “I didn’t like it when you said X” because they do everything in a way that is passive and covert.

I know things like this can happen at agencies but I’m going on maternity leave in November and I don’t get any benefits or pay while I’m gone and I wanted to work as much as possible before I go however I’m getting so burned out by these dynamics. Half of me wants to quit but I know that is not smart. It will be tough with one income but we could definitely make it through. We own a few rental properties and live in one of the units. I don’t live in a HCOL area so I’m not making the big bucks doing this but it should cover the basics while I’m inbetween work but then my brain is thinking maybe it would be career suicide exiting at this time. My original plan was to go on this maternity leave and while I’m gone aggressively apply to new roles. The issue is I’m wanting out now and I’m feeling really impatient.

Has anyone experienced this with agency? Did you decide to stay? Also in this job market I feel like I have no options :(

I’m wondering thoughts on my situation with my cat I’ll call him Otto. First off I love him and he’s a part of our family. I got him with my ex and initially he was bonded with him, not me however when we broke up my ex was unable to take him so I did. Over time he became very bonded to me.

I then met my now husband who has a dog. Since moving in together 4 years ago it’s been terrible with the animals. His dog is very docile and never bothers the cat yet he hates him. We also have a baby which bothers the cat as well. And I have another one the way and I’m very scared for how this will go. We have another cat who is an angel who is bonded to Otto however since the dog came into the picture Otto has not been himself and it’s been years.

For the cats behavior and health he pees daily if not multiple times a week all over the house, poop is involved as well. We have five litter boxes to try to help him but it’s been to no avail. Our house is very old and has wooden floors that need to be redone. The pee has permeated the floors in multiple places and it’s difficult to clean. He’ll poop where I sleep, if we have the dog bed out he’ll pee on that, he will pee all over the babies clothes and his bed. Due to this we have to close doors all over the house which is small already which makes everything even more cramped. Yesterday I discovered he peed into one of our vents which they need to be replaced and are very corroded and I can’t clean it properly so now our vents smell like urine. I will also add I used to have a high needs cat with kidney failure so I am accustomed to handling that, this is far beyond anything I ever dealt with with that cat.

I have spent thousands of dollars on testing, anxiety meds and he’s currently on Prozac which doesn’t seem to be improving the situation. I’ve improved his food with wet food and he gets plenty of water. His fur which was once really lustrous is now ratty and he has patches all over his fur due to stress licking. The doctor says there’s nothing wrong with him other than stress.

I feel selfish for saying this but the stress this has caused me as a new mom has also been huge and I’m really scared for how he’ll react to another baby. Constantly I am looking for pee and needing to deep clean areas which can take hours. I no longer have friends over because I’m so embarrassed by the house and smells and the stress of this really impacts our whole family.

I am getting to the point where I’ve given this my all trying to help him but I feel like his environment needs to change and no amount of treatment I give him will do anything.

I have a few family friends who are great with pets who I believe would consider taking him and it would be a better more quiet situation however it’s breaking my heart the concept of getting rid of my cat :(.

Any perspectives here? I feel so bad but I’m at a loss. Part of me thinks giving him to a family member or friend where I can visit and he’ll be happier will be ok, I know I couldn’t give him to a stranger. I just feel so terrible and like I’ve failed him. I’ve cried over this so many times.