Post here!

[MagmarFire]

Or 4chan will.

[Keaton]

by wry ah ju

[Keaton]

by wry ah ju

[Hi no Seijin]

Be wary of Anju?

[Keaton]

it's a puzzle, but that's not the answer.

[Darth Wyndisis]

I'm terrible at puzzles.

[Keaton]

I'll give you a hint:  universal constancy is key.

[Darth Wyndisis]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand over a month later, I am still stumped.

[Hi no Seijin]

I just forgot about it.

[MagmarFire]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand over a month later, I am still stumped.

*gasp*

Someone cut Fluttershy in half!?

I'LL SAVE YOU, MY LOVE

[Zelda Veteran]

I've been working with this guy recently. A new cook. His name is Brad, and we've already had our differences. Let me tell you the story real quick if you'd be kind enough to read.

The first night we worked together, I saw him, but said nothing- he was talking with my manager, and I'd find a better time to introduce myself. He looked to be older than me- high twenties. He had a shaved head, and multiple tatoos. He wore a pair of square frame glasses, and he looked to be the roughneck individual. Ex military probably. Anyways, I clocked in and got to work. About three and a half hours later, I was standing outside with my manager, the new busboy, and Donny, a regular that has stopped in every night for several years. We were enjoying the cool night air, when Brad steps outside holding his hand. In the provided light, it looked like he was rubbing some kind of cream on his palm.

Burn cream? I didn't know. I was the first to speak:

"Did'ja burn your hand?"

Without missing a beat, he shot back, "No, I just like f***ing playing with my hand." I was a bit taken aback by the immediate hostility, and he started to walk back inside, but not before shouting, "You ask dumb f***ing questions, you get dumb f***ing answers."

We all just kind of stood there shocked. I looked around at everyone, and we all just shrugged. I was a little pissed off, but whatever. I brushed it off.

Inside, I was taking a drink when he walks around the corner, sees me, stops, and says, "Not be rude or anything, but when was the last time you saw a f***ing barber?" The bottom of my cup was still high, and I made eye contact with him. With my cup still tilted up, I decided one of three things was gonna happen here when I stopped drinking:

A. I finish my swig and tell him off.
B. I beat him with a skillet and put him in his place.
C. I say nothing, and move on.

While I mused over option B for longer than I should have, I decided to go with option C. I decided to leave it alone- but before I could put my cup down, he said, "Yeah, I'm an a$$ hole."

I just stared him down, and finally responded, "I realized." I tossed the cup in the bus tub, and before I could walk off, he walked off instead. I just shook my head, and stared at my manager. My manager just laughed, and walked away. I watched Brad round the corner, and push through the kitchen door.

That night, I decided he needed to die. Or at least suffer a little. So I did some research. I deal in favors and secrets, and I have my city wired. I have eyes and ears everywhere, and I've never deleted a contact, save for one of my ex's. I had a lot of information gathered, and found that his name was Bradley Elwell, and my suspicions were more than correct- he wasn't just ex military...

He's an ex marine.

So option B immediately went out the window and into the garbage... forever. I'm a damn good fighter, and I'm confident I won't lose to anyone I can see eye to eye with- but I know better than to throw bones with a marine, a professional boxer/mma, or Aeneas. So I decided I'd leave him a voodoo doll in his bag with a black pin in it, and cause him all sorts of bad luck from the shadows, and watch him slowly unfurl. Sure, I don't often operate through indirect means... doesn't mean I don't know how.

But before I could get my hands on an authentic voodoo doll, I had to work with him a few more times. I just got home from my third day of work with him. I'm overcome with a different feeling towards him. Not anger any more. Not hostility, nor malice... but...

Pity.

I pity this man. I heard him in the back conversing with himself. No bluetooth or anything, I checked for that when I nonchalantly strode back there to check if he had a bluetooth my schedule. I saw him with his face in the wall, and I think I heard him sobbing. He won't make eye contact with anyone if he can help it... I know that condition all too well. I think he's seen some seriously bad things. I mean, you think "Yeah ZV, he was a F%&#@NG MARINE." But I think it's deeper than that. I thought back to what he said to me earlier in the week.

"You ask dumb [expletive] questions, you get dumb [expletive] answers!"

It sounds like something an abusive father might have said to him when he was young. I've put together the pieces of information I've dug up on him. It's not much, but I know he was raised by a man who beat his mother. The guy was probably desensitized by the time he was a teenager. I also found that he was kicked out of the marines for "an attitude problem" which is really difficult to do. Getting kicked out of the core for having a bad attitude? Jesus... He must have cussed out president Obama or something.

I'm now confused on how to deal with the situation. He picks on me still, and I don't know why he chose me. I don't get picked on by anyone... ever. It's just foreign to me. And now I don't want to cause him any retaliatory harm... What the heck do I do?

[Keaton]

Befriend him.  When he's a jerk to you, smile and be a jerk right back to him, jokingly.  If he throws a punch at you, he's fired, and the problem is solved.  But if being an ass is just his way of communicating with people, then he might appreciate someone firing retorts back at him, and having an ex-marine with an attitude problem for a friend can be... useful.

[Darth Wyndisis]

dont post his reel naime dood or heel kill us aall

[MagmarFire]

I think I'm with Tach on this one. Try showing him some love, even though it's hard.

Alternatively, if things get out of hand, you could summon a platoon of police officers after twenty minutes of waiting to your aid.

[Darth Wyndisis]

Thirded.