Commission for @toatsdakots! I’m so happy with how this turned out. Thank you so much again!! 😁

She told me that story after a man came in and asked for when an employee, who recently quit, would be coming in. I told him she doesn’t work here anymore and he said to me “Okay, well I’m her dad so if you see her tell her I’ll be across the street at the gas station.” He left and my boss IMMEDIATELY came out and scolded me for it, then told me that story.

She gave me some advice on what to say or do in that situation:

Don’t just deny knowing anything, deny the person asking. Example, “When is ____ coming in?” “You can’t know that information.” or “Can you tell me when ____’s shift is?” “Schedules are only for employees.” Additionally, saying “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” can usually work, it may piss them off but it can work.

Continue on with the customer service. “I can’t help you with that, do you need help (with clothes, finding a product, ordering)?” or “Can I take your order?/Can I help you find (a product)?”

If they persist, insist they leave the store. “If you’re not going to order, please leave the building.” or “I can’t help you, have a nice day.” and, if you can, leave. If you can’t leave, call for or help the next customer.

If they still persist (by now they may be aggressive), threaten to call the police on the basis of them becoming aggressive and refusing to leave the premises. Some people will leave at that point, others stay. When the police get there, explain the situation but still do NOT confirm the existence of the employee they’re looking for to the police until they have been escorted out of the area.

Regardless of if the customer know the employee’s name, description, or daily (not hourly) schedule, even if they look like the same race and claim to be family, you NEVER confirm the employee’s existence.

The only exceptions are if the employee tells you themself they’re expecting someone to come in for them (ASK FOR A DESCRIPTION OF THE PERSON), and if you personally know who they are in relation to the employee. When anyone I know has to come in because I asked them to come in, I describe what they look like and what they usually wear. I go into deep descriptions, even including how they walk.

If youre in the US it is against federal law to give out anyones personal information (this includes numbers, names, and schedules) without writen and signed permission.

STEVEN SEES A GHOST :  various sentences  (  157  )  from the first episode of the netflix series “the haunting of hill house”  –   feel free to adapt to suit pronouns.

whatever walked there, walked alone

it’s okay ____, go back to bed

do you want me to wake up mom and dad ?

i’ve got it

you okay, ____ ?

you scared ?

i get scared too sometimes

why are you awake ____ ?

what was it ?

ugh, her again ? where was she ?

big brothers are good like that

maybe she’s hiding

i guess everybody can go back to bed now

kid’s dreams are special, they’re like an ocean

dreams can spill out sometimes

i know that bent-neck lady is really scary

how long do we have to live here ?

i love you, sweetie

sweet dreams

pandas, huh ?

pandas don’t eat macaroni

is everyone alive ?

_______’s sleep-talking again

anything good ?

do you remember that storm ?

the car flipped over and you couldn’t see it from the road

so, when did it start ?

it started with drops of water, like rain drops, falling on to my face

you just stare at it like you’re an idiot

it wasn’t a scream

i should probably scream

i tripped and i looked back and he wasn’t there

that’s a very interesting story

i’d like to look around your house

i’m sorry, i should have told you

i’m a fan

i can’t imagine what it was like living there

you got me beat

you’ve seen more than i ever have

i’ve never seen a ghost

well, i hope tonight is a game changer for you

how are your brother and sister’s doing ?

won’t you miss your brother ?

i’d rather sleep here

i’ll stay with her a bit

*forehead kiss*

feel free to change pronouns etc as needed.

CALM / QUESTIONING.

“ tell me, what happened?”

“ did you see anything?”

“ what do you remember?”

“ do you remember anything unusual?”

“ please, try to remember as much as you can.”

“ every detail is important.”

“ and what happened next?”

“ and what did you do when all this took place?”

“ what were you doing around __ am/pm?”

“ where were you around __ am/pm?”

“ can anyone verify that?”

“ was someone with you?”

“ and you had nothing to do with it?”

“ and you weren’t involved?”

“ did you see it happen?”

“ did you see who did it?”

“ did you see or hear anything? anything at all?”

CARING / UNDERSTANDING.

 “ you seem scared… is that why you don’t want to talk?”

“ did someone hurt you?”

“ it’s okay. you can tell me.”

“ you were just trying to defend yourself, weren’t you?”

“ we can take a break, if you want.”

“ everything will be okay, i promise. but you need to talk to me.”

“ it’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it. but it really would help if you did.”

SUSPICIOUS.

“ there is something you’re not telling me.”

“ i think you’re lying.”

“ you looked away just now when you said that. are you sure you’re telling the truth?”

“ except what you’re telling me doesn’t align with what we already know.”

“ seems to me like you know more than you’re letting in on.”

“ what aren’t you telling me?”

“ who are you trying to protect?”

“ so you really don’t know what any of it means? no clue at all?”

“ they must’ve told you more than that.”

“ you have to have seen more than that.”

“ and you want me to believe you don’t remember?”

“ and you want me to believe you had nothing to do with it?”

“ an accident? is that what you’re going with?”

DEMANDING.

“ i need you to tell me the truth.”

“ i need you to tell me what happened.”

“ i know you’re not telling me the truth.”

“ that doesn’t line up with the evidence. so… you wanna try that again?”

“ stop lying. i already know that’s not what happened.”

MAKING A DEAL / ASKING FOR HELP / DEMANDING HELP.

“ what do you want in exchange for this information?”

“ i’m listening…”

“ you’re coming with me.”

“ since you’re the only one who knows how to find them, i don’t really have a choice but to take you with me.”

“ fine. i’ll take you with me, but if you try anything…”

“ i can’t give you that. you know that.”

“ if we’re going to make a deal, you’re gonna have to ask for something a little more rational than that.”

“ okay. we have a deal.”

Sometimes you can’t help to remember your teen years, when adulthood didn’t take away your time and energy for friendship.

That certain evening slowly turning into night was definitely cold, you remember. Everyone’s breath fogging up the air. You remember lots of nuisance and your friends talking over each other, but it was fine. Because back then, you had the ability to understand without words, to understand simply from the atmosphere and feelings alone. It was a memorable night. Maybe not the most outstanding memory of your teen years but, somehow, the memory stayed with you after all these years. And even though you know it had been cold that night, the memory feels warm. It feels like your soul is grasping after youth.

When I was in high school, a man who I’d thought was the parent of a school friend followed me out to the grocery store parking lot greenhouse where I worked. It was dark, and late, and it was me, alone, in a chain link enclosure with one exit and a register full of cash. He called me up to the fence and asked if I wanted to get dinner, or go dancing. I was scared and shaking and told him no several times, and he only left when I falsely said I had a boyfriend. I was very aware that if he were to come over the fence, or just wait at the exit until I eventually had to leave, I could do nothing about it.

When my hair was very short, a hairdresser sent me to the barber’s side of the store so they could get the back of my head with clippers. The barber followed me out to my car to ask me out afterwards. I was very aware that we were the only people in the parking lot when it happened, and that the lot itself was tucked behind the building with no clear visibility to the road.

Today, a man I’ve met once made it very clear he knows where I live, and used that knowledge to express a romantic interest. If he ever decides that he’s unhappy with how I responded, he knows where I live. He knows what my car looks like. It is impossibly easy for him to determine when I’m home alone, and now I have to live with that knowledge.

Every woman I know has at least one story like this. My roommate had to be escorted to her car every night when she was a waitress, in case some man was waiting for her or a coworker’s shift to end.

If the person you want to ask out cannot physically run away from you when you are asking, YOU CANNOT ASK THEM OUT. You cannot ask someone out if they are at work. You cannot ask someone out if you’ve followed them to a remote/unoccupied/enclosed area. You cannot GO TO SOMEONE’S HOME UNINVITED to ask them out. You are not being romantic. You are not “taking initiative”. You are terrifying the person you want to woo. If they say yes, it is not because they want to, it is because they are terrified of what might happen if they say no.