u/nolifecrisis

I caught up with an old friend from college today, 26 years later. She was my roommate's girlfriend of 2 years, she got pregnant in her senior year, right after my roommate graduated.

My roommate was the nicest guy in the word. A little dumb, but a super nice guy. He moved back home, to another state, shortly after the kid was born, but I somehow told myself he was a part of his daughter's life. It was confirmed in my mind on facebook a couple of times when the girlfriend posted pictures of their daughter and he'd respond with a comment.

I asked her how much my old roommate's been in the (now grown) daughter's life and she said "Not at all. He hasn't seen her since she was about six months old."

My friend said he's never talked the daughter, and has only talked to HER a total of two times since their child was born, drunk dialing her after a couple of his relationships had gone south. When the daughter turned 18, he wrote her a long letter (sent to the mom), which basically said "The reason I never got to know you was because your mom wouldn't let me," which according to her was NEVER the case.

She offered the daughter the letter, asking if she wanted to read it, the daughter declined. She said she has a father, my friend's current husband who adopted her at age 5.

I've never met the daughter, she seems like a good person. But I just can't get over how two and a half decades later he's the kind to have never seen his own kid. I said to my friend "That's not the guy I knew, that's not like him at all" and she said "It's not the guy I knew either. He just wasn't ready to be a father."

Same position for the last 10 years, but that's fine. It's comfortable pay I have and luxuries like a consistent roof over my head and healthcare.

But in the industry I'm in, I came from a series of small companies. That meant a lot of autonomy, a lot of "We need an answer now!" emails which I could only answer. I probably complained at the time, and I know I said more than once "What the hell is going on here?" There was adrenaline, uncertainty and some chaos.

These companies didn't last, but I impressed the right people. When I was unemployed it became "Hey, I remember what you did, I put in a good word for you." And it worked. I landed the same job at a big company, one I didn't have to worry going out of business every other week.

But because of the size of this company, the duties have became completely rudimentary. Things that would have taken my position a week can now be done in 20 minutes with today's tech.

And I know the response. "You're making money. You're comfortable. Just go with it." Which I get, and I do.

And that's not what gets me. What gets me is that I'm now treated like I'm not capable of handling the big problems when they arise and I'm the only one around. I picture Will Hunting burning a formula saying "Do you have any idea of fucking easy this is for me? This is a joke!" Regardless of the size of the company, I've dealt with something much worse than than what you're bringing my way.

But of course I don't say that. I check my bank account, I remember the bonus I got. I remember how much unemployment sucks. I go on.

So, I'm old enough to have been on the tail end of the days of using FAX machines in office and on my first day a fellow assistant said "And you need to put cover on it with the name, lets see... Sarah Cockburn."[first name changed for the story]. We joked a the name for a second, I double-checked and said "Is that right right? Is that really her name?" The assistant was like "Yeah, I had to ask my first time seeing it, too."

The executive I'm working for later says to me, "Did you get the fax out? The one Sarah CLOCKburn?

I said yes, but I practically shit my pants. Did I just write "Cockburn" on fax meant to go to someone named "Clockburn?" The other assistant wasn't around, but I learned how to check paper files of past orders, so I ran over and checked almost every single one.

Her name was Cockburn. And as I'd later learn, the executive I worked for was a fucking idiot, because she said "Clockburn" the rest of the time I was there.

I first met her like 7-8 months ago and she was like "Oh you're [Name]? I'm Sally (not her real name). I'm on your weekly emails."

Well, there's like 350 people on my weekly email so that narrows it down. I laughed it off at the time, mentioning there were a lot of people on my distro list and she has me at an advantage.

Then came the company holiday party. I said something like "Oh hey, Sally!" Blank stare. Later in the elevator, its "Oh hi, Sally" with a quick stare and then a turnaround. Then in the cafeteria at lunch it was an "After you, Sally..." with a complete ignore.

All right, this young woman just doesn't like me, that's fine. I'm really not trying to impress her in any way.

But then last week in the cafeteria is what really creeped me out. I was there to get a sandwich, pay, and walk out and I just felt some eyes on me. I glanced over from across the cafeteria dining area and she's sitting with about three other women her age, she's the only one not taking. She's just blankly staring at me as I walk out of the place.

I'm guessing that it's not an office crush thing, unless she's into guys shorter than her, who are also twice her age and weigh twice as much as her. My only conclusion is that someone in my family wronged someone in hers and that she will have her revenge or something.

THEN:

• Cashier: $6.47, please.
• Customer: Here's 10.
• Cashier: Out of 10.... 3.53 is your change. Thanks!

---

NOW:

• Cashier: Do you have a phone number with us?
• Customer: Yes, hold on... * enters phone number *
• Cashier: Would like to join our premium savings club for $5 a month and we'll give you a coupon for $10?
• Customer: Can I use it on what I'm buying right now?
• Cashier: Yes!
• Customer: Okay, even though the line of people behind me is now 10 people deep, please take your time in signing me up.
• Cashier: Okay, let me cancel everything you purchased so I can ring you up for this.
• Customer: Great, let me pull out my credit card that I could have had out this entire time.
• Cashier: Okay, now let me ring up everything again. That'll be $13.73
• Customer: What about my discount?
• Cashier: It'll be applied after you pay.
• Customer: Okay, let me pull my credit card out again, the one I knew I needed to use again, but put back in my wallet.

I'm friends with a franchise owner across this country and is pissed off beyond belief at corporate for how they're handling this. But he's also getting review-bombed on Google and Yelp.

Yes, you can argue that him that paying franchise fees supports this POS company, but keep in mind that most franchisees never had an issue with corporate until now.

Also keep in mind that you normally can't just walk away from a franchise and create your own store, there are clauses on top of clauses in these agreements. The best you can do, aside from suing the franchise yourself, is letting your franchise rep know.

On top of that, most franchise owners have to go into a big debt with the loans they need to take out to start up a store, and those loans can last years.

I know I sound like an apologist, and to the individual franchise owners who have nothing to do with any of this, I am. They're people who are just trying to pay for food/rent/insurance like anyone else.