Working in fast food puts someone around all kinds of people, even the President in some cases. No one tells a cashier that they will be forced to contend with the funniest elements of society, or the dregs that humanity willingly forgot. My current soft spot is for the unhoused, largely because I despise how homelessness is criminalized, but I am learning that boundaries matter in all circumstances. However, mental health affects more of the population than anyone is willing to admit, and pretending that someone can just “walk off” issues like hallucinations is stupid, not “enlightened.”
For example, there are two people who come in regularly, and different employees have had various responses to them. When they are well-medicated, they can be loud, but they generally eat their food and leave others alone, just like any other customer. Sadly, when they are in the throws of their episodes, they make messes, harass staff, and demand that customers feed them for free, refusing to leave unless someone threatens to call the police. I have never had to do so, but usually, someone other than the police convinces them to leave without incident. Three out of five times, these individuals have been no different from anyone else, but those two times left bad tastes in the mouths of my managers, and one has been banned.
Someone close to me emphasizes that while people think they can stock up on beans and drinking water, all it takes is one month without mental health medication to make people lose their minds. It is not a sign of health to be “okay” in a sick society, and most people should be enraged enough to take steps to change reality. Those who deal with more aggressive forms of mental health need aids because the “elites” enjoy manipulating the masses. However, the little people like myself will continue to do what we can without failing to see the humanity in the most vulnerable among us.
Chasing A Dying Empire 