Cowards

I'd always gotten the asshole vibe from this regular customer at work. He'd made fun of me before, & I'm sick of seeing his ugly face. I work as a lumber cashier at Lowe's, & I see some customers everyday or nearly everyday: frequently multiple times a day. It sucks. This guy is 1 of those customers.
When this guy is there by himself, there aren't problems. But when he has an audience, watch out. He's been there with his kid(s), & asked me, "Are you having fun?" & I've said, no, & he's laughed, which might not sound so bad (Certainly, trust me, it's boring & typical.), but context is everything sometimes. I'm real; that's how I am. If I'm miserable, I have neither the energy nor the inclination to act happy. & I'm frequently miserable at work for good reason; my job sucks.
Lately, this asshole has been coming into Lowe's with a young guy: a teen. So they come to my register. While I'm doing my job, the asshole asks me, "Do you like your job?" He's such an asshole, I was expecting him to laugh when I said, "no," but he didn't. "What's your passion?" he asked. As I mentioned, I'd gotten the asshole vibe from him before, so I didn't answer. he said, "not this?" I said, "no." The teen said, "Are you certified in anything?" "No," I said. "He don't give a fuck about you," the asshole said. "He's angry," 1 of them said as they were leaving. It was humiliating. They ganged up on me. If you don't see it, you had to be there.
I'm such an easy target. I stand there, they approach me, & I have to deal with them. Realistically, to be a cashier at my age means I'm a loser. & that's how they treated me. & people are so shitty, they don't care WHY you're a loser, just that you ARE 1, & therefore, it's OK to treat you like 1. Maybe I'm a loser because I'm the result of a teen pregnancy, my father left when I was 2, my mother has always been cold, selfish, lazy, uncaring, stupid, etc, & I was molested by a family member (the short version).
So that in itself sucked, but it wasn't over. That occurred at the "front end" of the store, where the main exit is. Then, as usual, I moved to the lumber register to relieve the woman who starts there at 6:00 am. So they returned. Fucking great, I thought. Even though he's well into adulthood, I saw the asshole jump onto a cart & ride it a bit.
So they approached me again. The asshole said, "hi." I was still pissed at them, so I said nothing. He laughed & so did the teen. Then he asked, condescendingly, "which register do you like better: this or the other 1?" Again, I said nothing, & again they laughed at me. I'd had enough.
"I don't appreciate you hassling me while I'm trying to pay my bills & keep a roof over my head!" I said very angrily to the asshole. I had bagged his purchases & tossed them hard onto the counter, which may have hit him a little bit, & there was hard stuff in that bag. He looked shocked; I didn't care; I was furious.
"You got it wrong," he said. "I was trying to be nice." "You laughed at me!" I replied. He said, "Yeah, but- (don't recall the rest)."
Then he called me a prick. Obviously, you can get fired for cursing out a customer, so I said, "You are!" The whole time, the teen is smirking at me: so fucking disrespectful & shitty. Then the teen bought an energy drink. I virtually always hand the change to the customers: not this time. I definitively put his change & receipt on the counter; our hands touched a little. I did not thank them for their purchases; again, I virtually always do that. The teen continued to smirk, as he said, "Have a nice day" (sarcastically) to me.
As they were leaving, the asshole loudly said, "What a fucking asshole!" or something like that, which was obviously meant for me. The teen laughed.
For quite a while, hours, afterward, I felt sick: possibly the result of an adrenaline dump. I also had, & still do, some fear. What if they come back to beat the shit out of me? I spend a lot of time alone over there: especially at night. What if 1 or both of them know Karate, etc.?
That's why I titled this "Cowards," because that's what people who fuck with other people while they're working are. It's not fair. He can call me a prick, an asshole, but I can't unless I don't mind getting fired, which doesn't seem so fucking bad, & hasn't for a while now.
Now I can "look forward" to dealing with them again (& again & again).

Maybe They Just Don't Care

How appropriate

I like Stephen Colbert, because he's funny enough to make me laugh, but it annoys me that he jumped onto this bandwagon.  He, and other members of the media, have said it's great that New Yorkers didn't let the 10/31/17 terror attack stop them from going on with their plans to dress up for the annual Halloween parade. 
This is something I've touched on before.  When horrible things happen to people and animals (especially animals), life just goes on, because many people only really care about themselves.  The boyfriend of one of my coworkers recently died.  She was out for a week or so; then she returned to work.  What did she come back to?  Coworkers, and customers, smiling and laughing.  Who knows how upset she is, and for how long?  But that's all part of the nightmare of this society.  Something tragic happens in your life, and nearly everyone around you doesn't care.  They just keep smiling and laughing.  Maybe they'll say, oh so sincerely, that they're sorry for your loss, and, once that's over with, they will go right back to smiling and laughing.
If you suffer a horrible loss in your life, turn off the TV, put your phone down, and go into the wilderness.  There you will find the peace and respect you need.  If you go far enough into it, you won't be surrounded by cruel, selfish, money-hungry human jackals. 
Adults dressed up for Halloween the same day that a terrorist killed 8 people and injured at least 11 in the same city.  Do what you want to do.  But should they really be given a pat on the back for doing that?  Perhaps it was just selfish, insensitive, and disrespectful.          

Everyday, Acceptable Evil

Today, as I was browsing Twitter, looking to return the likes and retweets of those who had liked and retweeted things I wrote on my "animal liberation" twitter account, which is here: https://twitter.com/TheBaldVegan ,I saw horrible images of animals suffering at the hands of humans.  I had seen such images before, of course; it's why I became a vegan.  Nevertheless, they are horrible images.  One video bothered me especially.  It showed a chick hung upside down by her feet: moving along in a factory-like setting.  I've seen stuff like that before: chicks on conveyor belts: literally being treated like they are things: not living, breathing earthlings.  Not only are they treating animals like that; they are baby animals!!!  Evil!!!
When people treat animals horribly, it is evil.  That's the right word.  We have every advantage over them.  They are the underdogs.  It is the same thing as a large man imprisoning, beating, and torturing a tiny, young child repeatedly: with no relief.  Animals like pigs, cows, and chickens are helpless against evil people.  They only have the rights we choose to give to them.  Pets get some (not enough), and "food" animals get nearly none.  If people knew about the Holocaust and supported it financially, there'd be no question that they were evil.  They'd be tried as war criminals, and they'd probably be executed.  But that's what meat eaters routinely do.  Every time they buy meat, they support the holocaust against animals.  They support heinous animal cruelty.  And it's so acceptable, that many of them don't even feel badly about it. 
I mentioned here that a couple of coworkers wanted to have dinner with me.  I said okay, but only if they agreed to at least eat vegetarian that meal.  They refused indignantly.  How dare I ask them to eat vegetarian for one meal!  That's completely unreasonable!  I certainly wasn't willing to compromise my principles, so I didn't join them.  At work, I have to be around people that are eating meat.  I refuse to do it in my free time. 
Even though it happened years ago, I still recall this incident when I went out to eat with some coworkers.  One of them ordered a meat dish, but he didn't finish it.  He left a pile of beef on his plate.  It didn't bother him at all that the flesh was going to be tossed into the trash.  He was smiling, laughing, and having a great time.  That really bothered me.  I think people eating meat is wrong, but I despise when they waste it.  It is so disrespectful to the suffering the animals, that were the source of that meat, were forced to endure.
I'm not popular.  I have no friends.  There are plenty of coworkers I don't talk to.  Why should I?  They eat meat with smiles on their faces.  I saw a coworker dancing while he was eating chicken: so disrespectful.  They contribute to the suffering of animals without a second thought.  They are evil.
And the literary expression of my anger, depression, and frustration about animal crutelty is Veganman, which is here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZSHNT5I                

Taking a Stand

To be sung to the tune of the chorus of Jethro Tull's "Skating Away on the Thin Ice of the New Day-"
Taking a stand
Taking a stand
Taking a stand on the new land with a plan

A couple of work friends asked me to have dinner with them in a restaurant.  Not surprisingly, both of them are meat eaters.  I insisted that they order no meat at the restaurant. 
"That's not fair," my coworker replied to my request.  Your meat eating is not fair to the animals you're eating.  She also said, "You're around people eating meat here."  We were in our workplace's break room. 
"I have to be around it here," I replied.  Because I have to work and make money to support myself.  I don't have to be around shit like that on my free time.
I hardly ever eat out anyway, and that's fine.  I don't enjoy being served by a server who's being fake nice to me in order to get as big a tip as possible: not my idea of a good time.  It ain't cheap, either, and I am.
My coworker thought my request was unreasonable.  So, instead of being at the restaurant with them tonight, I'm alone, writing, and listening to metal.  I don't want to sit at a table with people who are eating meat.  People eating meat and wearing leather offend me.  What's even worse is when it's wasted.  How can I enjoy myself when I'm worried one, or both, of them is going to waste meat?  Throwing meat in the trash is so disrespectful.  The animals who provided that meat suffered in vain whenever that happens: truly heinous.