Ever be in the zone at work when suddenly your boss dumps 17 preschoolers on you? It's hellish. I'm on day 3 of being awake on amphetamines. Normally I can do this and deal with customers no problem. But when you take someone with anxiety who's been high & awake for 3 days then drop them into this situation with absolutely no time to plan anything it's gonna be bad.
All I got was a 60 second phone call from my boss saying "Hey Azzan, there's 17 kids up front waiting for you. Dave (other manager) called in sick so it's up to you to do it. I'll be down there in about 5 to 10 minutes. Thanks, good luck." Then he hangs up. I'm blindsided. He's right, I'm the only one working the small animals department for another 2 hours. I can hear my heart beating, feel my hands shaking, & face twitching, my teeth are locking up, and I'm starting to sweat.
I slowly make my way to the front and bring everyone back to the sitting area. The chaperones are making remarks like "Oh where's Dave? We always have Dave do this." or "Does this kid even know what he's doing? He looks way too young to be doing a show like this." Hearing that just makes me so much more aggravated and anxious. I don't really remember my intro besides the fact i didn't have a set of keys. Everyone was seated and quietly waiting but I had to awkwardly walk across the room to grab a set.
I start taking out animals and I'd ask the kids "Do you guys know what this is?" or "What does this guy have that we don't?" Little things like that to kill time and make it more about the kids than me. As soon as I even started a question every kid would open their mouth and talk at once. They just kept getting louder too because they were trying to talk over each other. I will never forget this one god damn girl that answered every question with "IT'S A LIZARD!" Even after I called something a snake or whatever. I would ask if they knew what a certain body part was called and she would still say "lizard". Then, if it was a lizard, it would always be an iguana. I honestly can't tell if I was more irritated at her for giving the same answer every time or because I was trying so hard to not start geeking out.
I went to put a snake back when my manager finally shows up. He brings out a ferret and I slip across the room to my water bottle. I check the clock and I've been doing this alone for almost 20 minutes. I take a moment to look myself over and my sweat is starting to become noticeable. "
... keep reading on reddit β‘As it turns out the impossible has occurred, not only has humanity kept peace and cooperation between their beloved pets, they are also the race who holds the record for having the largest number of pet species in the entire known galaxy
Need something to record their weight on over time.
One of the reasons I love collecting vinyl is because it feels like I actually OWN art when I have a physical copy of a record I love. For metal, punk, hardcore, etc. Amphetamine reptile has always been a reliable (when they don't immediately run out) source of good music for me. The recent AmRep albums I've bought have been designed and hand screen printed by the artist HAZE XXL.
Here's my AmRep/HAZE XXL pics.
The only thing better than killer tunes is having them housed in a high quality sleeve that took a bunch of time and creative energy to make. THIS is the kind of record that I will gladly pay a little extra for. I don't have the money to buy paintings from a gallery but I will gladly spend $30 to get a deluxe, limited edition run of an album that was hand watercolored or screen printed by a cool underground artist. I'm not talking about paying $10 extra for having a record pressed on some shitty, colored, non-virgin vinyl. I'm talking actual artwork. This is what I can do to support the arts.
I'd love to hear some other examples of bands/labels/artist who take the extra time to make excellent handmade artwork for their records. Whatcha got?
(no I don't work for AmRep)
