u/jazi_stew

Sometimes phone calls can put people off if they have any questions (Gen Z mostly) and emails can sometimes feel too formal / take too long to get a response. Does anyone have an option for customers to text for enquires / ask availability for bookings? I want to try and integrate this if appropriate. How do you go about this? Have you found it worthwhile to have as another option?

(To note I am also Gen Z and used to avoid making phone calls until it became part of my job and now it doesn’t bother me ofc. But in my personal life, if I can text instead, I’m not making a phone call 🤣)

I 24F have two half siblings both 17M, same dad different mums. Long story short the parents bought driving lessons for both boys, meanwhile I’ve been struggling to pay for mine for going 3 years now on and off (because I can’t afford to) They’re 17 and have already passed AND have a car each (which they actually did save and pay for the cars themselves so props to them really) meanwhile I’m over here selling my uni laptop (now graduated thankfully) and other bits to keep paying for my lessons just to get me over the finishing line of actually getting my license. Not that I can afford to get hot wheels let alone an actual car.

I haven’t lived with my dad since I was 16, and from what my brothers will let on, they can’t wait to leave either. But at least they get way more help I have ever had. My dad and I have had a rocky relationship but we’ve been on good terms for about 3-4 years now.
Me and dad were chatting a few months back and he said “ah yeah I’m skint, just paid for both your brothers to have driving lessons, £1200 each” and I said half joking “oh nice wanna help me with mine?” Which he replied “nooope”

I bring this up now because my dad and his wife have just bought another dog. Ranging from somewhere along the lines for just under £2k. The dog they bought a year and a bit ago was £2k and apparently the new one was “a little cheaper” not sure I believe that. Not to mention the breed is a Labrador. They don’t even have a garden and live in a terrace house. Now there’s two of them. Just to paint you more of a picture of his decision making.

I don’t want to cause a scene but there’s so many discrepancies I could go on. He’s also only visited me once since being out of a 2 week hospital stay due to chronic illness and thought I was going to die. I also had to fight for him to even MESSAGE ME to ask if I was okay. His excuse? “I was waiting for you to update me”. Last time he visited was to drop off Christmas gifts beginning of December. He got me tickets to see a show I was gagging to see, turns out he actually bought them for my brothers too lol. I love my brothers endlessly of course, but rarely is anything just for me. He also has taken them on holiday every year for their birthdays. Depending if we’re on talking terms that year I’m invited too.

When I bought a house with my partner last year, he offered to do this and that, but never pulled through. Said he couldn’t contribute financially (which I would never ask him to do) but he’d help with anything else, painting, moving, decorating. Bought the house officially in August, moved in end of December, it’s now May. He’s not even seen the house since we moved in.

My brothers see how differently I am treated, but whether they ever say anything I have no idea. I doubt it and I wouldn’t want them too. I’m just glad they see it.

I’ve always come up with excuses, “I’ve never always lived there” “I mostly lived with my mum” “he married someone else and had a family and I wasn’t part of it” but that literally makes no sense still. I don’t know why I try to find ways around his behaviour. I also don’t have the energy to fight with him about it. He has never and will never change. Once when I was maybe 12 I called him out on it. The holidays, the iPads, consoles, trips out, more holidays… i was never on the receiving end of it. I can’t remember what his response was but it clearly wasn’t plausible. He also didn’t pay my mum any child support! I don’t know how he got away with it when I was a kid. Anything I wanted in life I saved and bought myself, with help from pocket money from my mum. When I moved in with him (my bio mum had mental health issues and couldn’t look after me) for a short time I was already in an afterschool club paid for by my mum, then I had to move to his and then he stopped paying for it after a few weeks and they almost kicked me out and that’s a whole other story which actually lead to me leaving his home. As well as not letting me have bus money to get to college. Baring in mind we lived in the butt fuck middle of NOWHERE for me to get a job, believe me I tried. My head hurts from trying to justify why he treats me so differently. Part of me wishes I could just say “I was a bad kid who didn’t deserve nice things” but. That’s just not the case.

I feel very lucky, I’ve been on biologics for about 3-4 months, our family also has two small children who are at different schools / nurseries and through winter it is just a constant cycle of bugs and colds, never knowing where one has ended and another one begins. 5/6 of us where constantly ill, apart from me?! I was even in hospital for 2 weeks end of November start of December and I didn’t catch a single cold, but my partner did after 2 days. I was expecting to be sick and snotty round the clock but it’s now spring and I’m avoided all the colds?! I am very confused. Maybe my body has enough to deal with. I have fistulas, abscess (not infected now), had a structure and was on a liquid diet for 100 days.

I don’t mean to flex if this isn’t normal, biologics are very new to me! I’m on azathriopine and infliximab