Meraki

Very much did in the sense that I literally do not know where my job is at the moment. But, for the time being I haven't been let go because nobody else including the store owner knows where it is either.

So, I don't wanna risk doxxing myself by posting pictures but goddamn am I tempted because this is not a believable event. This is a cartoon problem. For looneytoons.

But yeah, so, I work(ed?) at a kiosk selling boba tea, right? Freestanding kiosk in the mall with full water and electrical hookups and multiple fridges and sinks and a mini kitchen and the works. Fully functional tea shop. Very important to note that it was there last night, The work chat was discussing another issue last night at closing time. I'll get back to this.

It's been showing signs of being on the way out with how business is being handled lately and I've been considering other options, which is probably why I'm not as torn up about this as I should be, but maybe it just hasn't set in yet, but that's not the point. The point is there's been a lot of shit breaking and not being replaced and nobody mentioning anything about it until I walk into work in the morning and have to figure out why shit like the fucking cash register isn't there today. So I'm kinda used to having to ask questions about big things that nobody bothered to update me on. I was out for two weeks recovering from a surgery, so I came to work this morning assuming there'd be some kind of bullshit, yeah?

So, the question I had to ask the chat this morning was:

Not a text I ever thought I'd have to send in sincerity, but there it is. Because what I found instead was a fenced off patch of discolored tiles and a few holes in the floor where my entire place of employment used to be.

And the answer? Nobody knows! It was there last night when the mall closed, and every single trace of the structure and all its contents including drink making supplies and our safe and cashbox was gone when it opened again. And when I say nobody knows, I mean everyone from last night's closers to the actual (former?) owner of the store jad no fucking clue about this until getting that text from me this morning. For once I am actually the first to know. 🎉.

So. I guess I didn't so much lose my job as had it stolen. Not by AI, but good old fashioned hands-on human beings picking it up and carrying it away somehow. All mall security would tell me was that they were instructed not to tell me anything and have us contact our management. Who also don't know anything. And later on I came across some construction workers around the gravesite of the kiosk discussing filling in the holes, asked them about it, and was told that they "weren't at liberty to say".

So, not only is my job gone in the most literal physical sense of the word, but it was taken in some kind of super secret kiosk extraction in the dead of night without any warning or witnesses and nobody is allowed to speak of it. The store owner said she was gonna figure it out 10 hours ago and still no word back.

My mother in law thinks the FBI took it.

Not any of the other stores around the state. Just the one little kiosk.

Why? Because she loves a conspiracy and is just a little bit extra.

Also because she was around for the massive crackdown on Yakuza-owned businesses in Waikiki (in her homestate) that did actually involve the FBI seizing stores (no confirmation of making kiosks cleanly disappear in the middle of the night though).

Still no word from my job on what's actually going on, but the most likely theory so far is that maybe the kiosk was on lease and got repossessed? The mystery continues

According to the owner, based on what she's been able to find out, the kiosk was not removed legally and they're starting a potentially long process of legal action. I hope she gets to sue the shit out of whoever did it but for now at least I know for sure I'm unemployed.

Really hoping for more details in terms of who/why/how, so I'll keep updating if I learn anything.

For now the summary is: An unnamed entity that is most likely mall management (on account of mall security cooperating with them) stole an entire kiosk and all the contents including money and machinery with barely a trace in the middle of the night grinch-style, with zero warning or explanation, and ensured the silence of both security and the construction crew, in an action that was definitely preplanned and illegal, and as far as I know nobody knows its whereabouts.

Enjoy the unintentionally funniest text I've ever sent in my life

Aaand a close-up:

But no, apparently Skip are straight coded. They're toned down to be palatable to the more homophobic viewers. It's totally the characters/writers/actor's fault that you're all but calling one of them the woman in the relationship.

There's something very...idk...insecure about how certain Shane/Ilya Shippers (#notallhollanovshippers) treat almost everyone else in the story - via their headcanons and analysis and straight up rewriting of actual canon.

Like, Shane and Ilya *are* exceptional, yes. They're the main characters of the show, the main characters of one of the books, sure. But that's not enough apparently. They have to be the only ones ever, the only ones that can do anything, and to make that happen, everyone else has to be torn apart.

They can't just be young phenoms, really, really great, fresh players who stand out amongst the top players in the world. They have to be the *only* actually good players. Everyone else sucks. Every other player on their team and on opposite teams Actually sucks at hockey. They have to win everything, all the time, and if anyone else dares to win a cup, or an award, or a game, well, they didn't deserve to. They wouldn't if Shane or Ilya had been there. Oh, Shane and/or Ilya were there? ...Well, they were distracted. It doesn't count.

(but also. Ilya's just chirping guys. *You're* the asshole for assuming that he's an asshole just because 90% of his interactions with another player are him shit talking them. He's right, of course, everyone else does suck, but he's just a Little Guy and no one is ever allowed to dislike him for it or push back ever. Others can't be angry or afraid or projecting. Only him)

And of course, no one else can be gay. They have to win at that. They have to be the only Valid gay characters (in the book series about gay characters). And so Skip is lame, boring, practically straight. *For* the straights. Them being verse is homophobic actually. They're going to get divorced. They're also Problematic at the same time. And Cringe. Scott's a monster, a predator. He's abusive and controlling now. He threatened Kip (in this scenario you've just made up). He's going to cheat. He did cheat (in this scenario you've also just made up) and so he should be humiliated. He should be mocked. He should lose everything while Shane and Ilya point and laugh and win at being hockey gays. He should *kill himself*.

Shane can't have friends. He can't have anyone but Ilya. Hayden and JJ can't be flawed, complex guys who maybe aren't enough, who maybe feel hurt that Shane didn't trust them, who have only gotten to see asshole Ilya so that's who he is to them until proven otherwise, who don't react well at first, but who ultimately care about Shane. Have loved him for years. Who think about him as family. Who fuck up and react badly but then immediately apologise. Who come to Shane's defense. No, they're monsters too. Cartoon, 2 dimensional assholes, and in fact, Actually, Shane never even *liked* Hayden anyway.

Everyone must love them, everyone must be theirs, even people they don't know, even Kip's circle, even people they have no business interacting with. But they're not actually friends because Shane and Ilya are better than everyone else, don't you know. They're *above* everyone else. They look down on everyone else.