u/Slow-Complaint-3273

Seven years ago today, I had my rogue boob evicted. No issues since - other than the cascade of side effects from our treatments. 😵‍💫

All told, I think I’m doing ok.

Hey breasties, I have a question about TSA and airport security. I went flat after my double mastectomy two years ago and will be traveling for the first time since I lost my breasts. I'm extremely stressed about going through the TSA body scanner because from what I've read they will flag you if you're missing a body part or if your body contour doesn't match your gender. I know I need to tell the TSA officers or show them a notification card before I go through the scanner but sometimes the line move so fast, I don't know if they will listen or just be annoyed. Do any of you have experience going through TSA after surgery?

EDIT: Thank you for all the responses! I feel much calmer now!

If anyone will be in the Indianapolis area on June 7, there will be a Flashion Show featuring incredible breast cancer survivors who live flat. The event is sponsored by Flat Out Love, a resource and Facebook group that supports aesthetic flat closure visibility and accessibility.

EDIT: Link removed to respect advertising restrictions. If you would like more info on the event, please DM me for the link. Thanks!

Hello plumbers! A couple of times a year, the upstairs bathroom sinks (one in master bath, one in hallway bath) get clogged and drain slowly. When I take apart the pipes underneath, it’s this weird buildup that feels kind of like mushrooms. I clean out the fixtures (all plastic pieces under the sink leading into the wall drain which I don’t mess with), reinstall them, and everything is fine for another 6-8 months or so until I need to do it again. It’s kind of tedious, and I would like to stop needing to do this maintenance.

Is this kind of “mushroom” buildup normal for residential families of four? We use regular soaps and cleansers, no niche products or bizarre fads. Is this just something to deal with? Thank you!

The biggest challenge with MTs unionizing is we don’t have a national union. We have microunions at individual spas and studios. Because the situations are so different from place to place, the managers/owners are so different, and all the teams have different needs, we can’t put together one contract that will support all the teams and still be feasible for all the spas.

Some common themes of complaints to consider for your team are:

Payroll

• a set pay scale (this helps protect longer term employees from being paid less than new hires - if new hire rates need to go up, so will the rates for loyal employees)
• regular raise schedules
• pay for unbooked hours on shift
• pay for cancellations and no-shows
• pay for required internal training - definitely for onboarding, but probably not for remedial training (e.g. reviewing draping with a MT if a client complains about being accidentally exposed)
• pay for taking CE courses - could be a small stipend for free courses online, or covering partial or full tuition for in person training

Time Off - Double check federal and state time off requirements for your area. Many unpaid time off requirements are already required by law, but not every place follows them.

• paid time off - push for at least some form of PTO rollover or year-end PTO buy out. Otherwise, you could fall into the trap of generating PTO hours in December, but lose them in January because the spa blacked out TO for the holidays.
• unpaid time off - can include whatever is important for your team. This can include: illness or injury, death in the family (including pets!), personal emergency, specific holidays, etc.

Breaks and scheduling - Here also, check federal and local payroll laws. Some breaks are already mandated.

• rules for employees to request changes in schedules, and rules for managers to make cuts or changes to schedules
• minute intervals between sessions (This is time spent cleaning the room and writing client notes. It is labor for the studio, so it should be paid. Protip: always call it an “interval”, not a “break”. Otherwise, they’ll claim you aren’t working during that time and try to make it unpaid.)

Workplace

• for cause termination only - this can be negotiated into a contract even in at-will states
• rules for refusing to work with or banning a client
• rules for expectations around side-work
• rules around reporting safety issues (e.g. broken equipment, HVAC and temperatures, etc.) and timeframes for getting the issues addressed

Benefits

• health insurance
• 401k or similar
• full or partial coverage of licensing fees
• full or partial coverage of personal liability insurance
• free 1-hour session every month. The MT performing the massage gets paid like a normal client session

This is just a list of suggestions. The contract you negotiate may include only some of these, but might also include others. A lot of it depends on what your team needs to be safe and secure in your space.

I highly recommend reaching out to a union organization like UFCW or SEIU. They have experience with building and negotiating a union contract and can support you through the process. They will be able to help you avoid traps and get protections you didn’t know you needed. Good luck!