Round 2? Seriously? Are you new?  Anodyne is mine.  Its content is whatever I choose.  It differs from a magazine or newspaper in that those cultural forms are produced by paid creators who at least are theoretically interested in satisfying a known audience.  Anodyne, on the other hand, is produced by me, for free, in my spare time.  Sometimes it will be my writing, and sometimes other people's writing.  Sometimes my photographs and sometimes other people's pictures. Sometimes cat photographs and/or pornography and/or climbing trip write-ups and/or Steely Dan setlists.  All of these things are interesting; all of these things are equal.

But, but, but! The customer-service stories are so funny!  I suppose.  Unless you have to do customer service sixty to eighty hours a week.  Then the last thing you might want to do in your spare time is reflect on the week's psychological outliers.  Because that's what these transactions really are.  It may be tempting to believe that everyone lacks rudimentary social skills or basic cultural knowledge, especially if you've never worked a retail job, but the truth is otherwise.  Customer-service horror stories don't unfold every day because, your expectations notwithstanding, most folks interact with retail with little or no trauma.  PFB sways creaking in the wind like Howl's Moving Castle, but it moves along steadily enough over the economy's rocky ground with significantly less drama than it used to, and hopefully more satisfaction on the part of staff, customers, and me, too.

But the stories--!

Don't like what's on offer?  FUCKING LEAVE.  Problem solved!
- posted by cjb @ 6:19 PM