It’s tricky when you thought for years that they were a safe space and then it ends up not so much when push really comes to shove.

I’m confused why people keep bringing up sugar when OP says they drink the sugar-free ones.

The acidity from carbonated drinks is not great for your teeth tho.

What does this mean? I don’t know of any association swith soft drinks and severe constipation.

It’s ok to feel awkward about it. Even if you are “overthinking”, it’s a perfectly valid reaction to the scenario. It would make a good number of people out there uncomfortable.

I can’t masturbate so I don’t have a ton of advice, but I think the shower is going to be your best option like others say.

It’s no problem. I appreciate the help! Not sure if they mostly got bored or not anyway!

Yeah if you’re using them up that quick, you’re not likely to really come across it which is good!

You’ve never experienced freezer burn? It’s not when it feels too cold to touch.

Freezer burn is when “unwrapped” food in the freezer gets ice crystalized all over it. It turns the texture into a disgusting mess when it’s cooked…overly chewy and even messes with the taste.

It happens more often when food has been opened and then placed in the freezer for a prolonged period of time.

I say unwrapped because it doesn’t necessarily mean just open without a container. Like for example I have a bag of chicken nuggets in the freezer. The bag has a re-closable ziplock type closure. However, sometimes over time, if I’ve opened and re-closed the bag, sometimes some of the remaining nugs get freezer burned.

If you’re using up said bag of nuggets relatively quickly, then it’s not a concern. But if you’re only having nuggets once and a while, then freezer burn is more likely to happen.

Curious if the brand was the same or different as OP

A huge bounce back, if you ask me. I hope you are proud of your accomplishments.

Which part of that is your lowest point lol? Wrong post??

Thank you. That is kind of you to say. It is weird because my supervisor isn’t a bully anymore. It took me a long ass time to believe it tbh. I’ve never seen someone make a change like that before. So despite HR treating me like shit, they must have actually did something in the background.

Yes, time itself seems to be key in wound healing…even if it’s painfully slow lol.

I’m sorry to hear. Curious on who is taking advantage of you in life? There are definitely plenty of people who will do that to others. The goal is to find a home in a group of people who don’t and leave as many of the toxic people behind as possible.

I’m so happy to hear this for you. What sort of field did you end up in?

I feel like there has always been a new lowest point for me in life lol.

Maybe this seems mild to some, but I worked my way into getting a well paid career after going through hell in grad school. I never ever had friends growing up or after…seemed to develop severe social anxiety that never went away.

At my job, I thought I finally found an irl deep friendship in my coworker. I had never had that kind of a relationship before. Maybe surface level stuff with others, but nothing like that. We seemed to always have each other’s back. I thought I had a best friend.

Well through the years, my supervisor seemed to get worse and worse with nitpicking my every move. I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt at first for many years…assuming things were a misunderstanding or something. But it kept getting worse and worse.

My coworker and I actually bonded over having mutual difficulties with my supervisor’s poor and unreadable attitude.

Well I got to a breaking point when my supervisor admitted to pushing me one day and I ended up eventually complaining to HR about her. I basically asked for a shift change because of all of the issues.

My friend/coworker was initially somewhat supportive of my struggles because she also knew what it was like to be on the receiving end of my supervisor.

Unfortunately, HR turned it into a multiple months long debacle and clearly was on the side of my supervisor. HR decided to involve all of my coworkers in the mess. My coworkers slowly lost support of me in this and I became more and more erratic as all of this was happening.

During all of this, I had tried to get mental health support as well. I was in therapy which I didn’t find overly helpful and was trying out various forms of medication.

But it was all too much…HR pulled me aside one day to talk to me about my distressed behavior a month prior. Instead of compassion, the woman outright called me selfish and then subsequently threatened termination in a written document that I had to sign the following day. The following day, a debacle also happened with my friend where she said that she wasn’t sure if she could be my friend anymore. None of my coworkers would speak to me.

It felt like my world ended. Everything from my daily life…my job and my friendships…I felt threatened and abandoned by all of that. I felt so hopeless and simply beyond destraught.

For two days in a row, I tried to go into work, but I would immediately go home “sick”. I could not perform my job. I contacted my mental health provider and they were able to put me on an emergency FMLA leave for around 1.5 weeks. So luckily my employer could not fire me right in that moment and I could have time to recover from being inconsolable.

In that time off, I volunteered near daily at the food pantry. I visited relatives and friends I didn’t realize I had. I got my first tattoo. I started wearing wristbands daily with positive messages on the inside. I told myself I would not touch a drink of alcohol outside of social situations. I applied to and interviewed at a different job as well during that time (tho I didn’t end up getting it).

The food pantry stuff helped me a lot. Something about trying to do something good while I was at my lowest instead of giving up on life helped. I’d recommend it. It helped distract me from being constantly consumed by my thoughts.

I have never done well with one on one therapy. My therapist did help me in a very important way, but overall I generally find it rather limiting. I started an intensive group therapy program several months later which I find was more helpful to me than most standard one on one therapy. My only regret is not starting it earlier. It was using the therapy modality called DBT which I highly highly recommend. But maybe I wouldn’t have been as receptive to it then I suppose. I’m also on a different medication now.

Been nearly a year since those few earth shattering days with the HR lady and my friend. I’m still employed at the same company and it’s been a long road with my friend, but we are friends again. My supervisor doesn’t treat people that way anymore. It’s been a long fucking road and I still struggle from that experience, but I’m still here and doing much better.

Sorry for the wall. What is your situation, OP?

Hello fellow dingus!

Very confusing when you manage to find a reverse threaded bolt

Seriously, I give it a small prompt sometimes and it tells me a life story. Bro, I did not ask for a 10000 word essay.

Honestly, I’m with you on that.

Idk maybe it’s because I’m a millennial who has boomer parents who never “got ahead” in life. One of my parents is unlikely to ever be able to retire. I never got the “rich boomer” hate because my parents continue to work and struggle financially in their mid to late 60s.

Gets a bit tiring to hear large swaths of people shit on other large swaths of people all the time. Such is the internet, I suppose.

OP, I wonder if you’d like to start experimenting first with some more androgynous dress styles. You can find out what direction to go to best express yourself.

Your experience is valid. There are many things to consider in terms of transitioning.

Luckily OP hasn’t even dipped their toes into anything yet. Experimenting with dressing differently is a pretty small step.

People don’t even have to ever fully transition even if they like to express themselves differently. Experiment. Find what suits you.

Best of luck to you and your journey!