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So there was a domestic terrorist attack in Orlando last night. A heavily armed man walked into the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando and opened fire, taking hostages. There are at least 50 people confirmed dead, and 53 injured. This has been labelled as the worst mass shooting in United States history. Just goes to show that US terrorists come from this country, not other ones. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2016/06/12/shooting-orlando-club/85785254/ This is incredibly horrifying news, and my heart goes out to everyone negatively involved. MOD EDIT: This thread is for about talking about the VICTIMS. If you want to talk about the shooter, his motivations, his religion, anything to do with the shooter, and further more politics on guns, america, etc, go to Orlando: The Shooter This thread has opened up again after posts that are off topic, or unserious, have been hidden. At this point in time, no punishments have been given. Please keep using this thread for its intended purpose, and the other thread for its intended purpose. Thank you.

As I feel more and more like the customers I deal with think of me as some 30-year-old teenage punk, and after being reprimanded over a complaint from some old lady for 'seeming distracted' on a day when every system was going haywire, I'm really beginning to consider the (rather scary) option of doing some kind of self-employment. I would have put this under Rants and Raves, but this is a -little- more serious than that. I know a furry forum probably isn't the best place to ask about fiscally-oriented decisions, but I feel a little more comfortable tossing around the idea here. So I've been working the same part-time job for the past six years about, and getting by just fine. I make no exaggeration when I say I'm probably the most competent person there (employer included), yet at the same time I feel as though I'm on the thinnest ice of anyone working there. I mean, an entire branch of our work typically grinds to a halt when I'm not there, but I'm the one who most needs to act SUPER-MEGA ENTHUSIASTIC to be working a retail job where I deal with bitchy old ladies all day. Nevermind the one who texts in front of customers (who I'm certain I got confused for in that earlier complaint), or the one who can barely do the basic tasks required by our work; the guy who's exit would render thousands of dollars worth of equipment nearly useless is the problem. But the thing is, I seem to get the vote of zero-confidence in everything I've ever done or decided, to the point that I'm certain I can no longer gauge the validity of a decision because the 'default' answer is always "you're a ditz and you shouldn't do that," regardless of the outcome. And if little old ladies are going to complain to higher-ups because I fall just shy of some model youngster from 'Leave it to Beaver,' I'm thinking I may as well quit and do something where I'm answerable only to myself. I don't have tatoos, I don't have piercings, I cut my hair relatively short, and while I do have a beard, I try to keep it trimmed and reasonable - in case some of you are picturing an overly sensitive goth/punk kid not being allowed to wear their lip rings and eyebrow studs. It's not like I make tons of money now, but I'm concerned whether or not I'll be able to come up with a skill to make bank. I can draw, I can build and paint miniatures, and that's about my list of self-employable skills. And while there is indeed a market for painting miniatures (customers are typically people who like to play tabletop war games, but don't have the time to make everything themselves), it involves a lot of social media outreach and striking the right veins, something I feel I'm not exactly competent in. This is one of those scenarios where I have a lot of skill and know-how, but just don't know very many people - for those that know the old adage: "It's not WHAT you know, but WHO you know that determines your success." And of course, I can't organize my thoughts on all this because I can barely sit still for more than half an hour at a time to type all this out. I guess I'm just looking for any advice on self-employment, and how practical/fulfilling it is. I do NOT want to work retail/customer service until the day I die.