Lumpy_Space_Princess

I get a ton of these calls at work. I write down every phone number they call from so I know not to answer if they call again (some are persistent for a few days before getting shut down or moving numbers). Because it's a government office I answer '[bureau name] how may I direct your call' and most of them hang up after that, but every once in a while I get a recording, at which point I transfer the call to the last scam number that called. My hope is that one day I'll get two robots taking to each other and fry the systems. A lofty goal maybe, but I can dream

State government employee checking in. I work in a huge print shop. There's a dude in the back who's super creepy and has said and done some fucked up shit. He calls all the women in the place "critters". When someone asked him why women were critters he said, "because they belong in the woods". (???) Has told other employees things like "if you want to spice up your sex life you should put down a tarp and have your wife pee on you". Once said about me "that Lumpy_Space_Princess is a critter, she needs her ass spanked". (I wasn't around for this but was told about it later. I hit the ceiling, I was so mad. Management assured me they had talked to him and it wouldn't happen again. Pff) Also used to sneak off and take regular naps in offices around the building.

He eventually got close to a physical fight with one of the other guys that resulted in a disciplinary hearing. Other guy didn't like the result he got, so went to HR and the union with all the other shit that creepy guy was notorious for. We had a full blown HR investigation, they interviewed everyone in the building, and... nothing. He still works there, still creepy as shit. Unfortunately you can't have anyone arrested for being a fucking gross weirdo. I've told other people this story and they say "wow, if he was up to that kind of shit at my workplace he'd be gone yesterday" and I'm like yeah, welcome to government employment...

You ask what has held us back from seeking counseling... my answer, because the number 1 way my anxiety manifests itself is a near total inability to speak on the phone. I can talk to my mom and that's about it. When I absolutely HAVE to do it, I'm anxious the whole time leading up to it and I'm so exhausted afterwards that I often need a nap, even if it's literally a 2 minute call to my bank or something. So how would you find a counselor if you can't call anyone? When you say "talk to them on the phone about (literally anything) before you go in for an appointment" my brain is already like "welp, that's out."

I switched jobs because I was the person in the office responsible for answering the general phone number given to the public and I hate hate hated it. I ended up in a print shop where only supervisors are even supposed to answer the phone and I'm so much happier.

Does the plaquenil make a big difference, and how long did it take to start working? My mom has a lovely cocktail of autoimmune stuff herself (raynauds, scleroderma and hashimoto's thyroiditis) and has been on it for a few months but it doesn't seem to be doing anything. I know it takes a while, just wondering if it's worth the wait.

Also, do you have any family history of autoimmune things? We found out when my mom was diagnosed that my grandma also had some kind of skin thing in that category although no one remembers specifically what it was, and my cousin has raynauds too. So I have something to look forward to, hooray... Sounds like you have a good attitude about it though, which is half the battle. Sorry your body hates itself!