Telephone SCAM ALERTS!!

There are so many deceptive and even threatening phone scams and many otherwise smart people have caved into these high pressured and even threatening scam artists.

u And don't be polite: Hang Up on Them!! They are thieves!

The following have scams I have received in ONE month!

FIRST Scam:

I am sure everyone has received the robo calls for your car warranty. I actually answered n played along until they asked my name and I replied, "YOU called me! If you have my warranty information surely you SHOULD have my name and all car info!

u One poor guy who answered said that 'he gets paid minimal wage to do this.'

u I felt bad for him but still hung up.

But the following have been so intimidating n could have cost real money.

SECOND Scam:

I just happened to be there when my friend received a very aggressive call allegedly from JCP&L demanding his account numbers, and personal information as he had a $130 credit due him.

I took the phone, caller confirmed he was from JCP&L n insisted that I must answer all his questions and GIVE them all the account numbers!

I hung up--THEY called back angry that I did so!

Finally I demanded that he say my name, "Since you called me regarding my account, you must know my name...What Is My Name!"

The next day I reported the numbers to JCP&L n asked if they would check my friend's account as he did give out his numbers

THIRD Scam:

Social Security called me about alleged criminal activity on my account and am now being investigated by the Federal Marshall's office and the DEA!! Wow something about my account being connected with terrorists!!

Woke me up!! I was urged to call an 866 number immediately!

I am pretty sure if all that was happening; a SWAT team would have showed up at my home first!

I reported it to Social Security, a simple online form.

FOURTH and FIFTH Scams:

Both Microsoft and Apple called alerting me that "my computer called them." Seriously!! I'm going to assume they would insist on a very expensive repair or warranty issue and let them have all my personal info and credit card numbers too!

My reply was to laugh and ask "Which one called?" I then rattled on about all my equipment plus iPhones and iPads. Caller stammered and I hung up.

These callers are so aggressive, demanding and threatening. The JCP&L caller almost scammed my friend for his information. He is elderly and not as sharp as he once was. He later told me he had received another similar call and followed my advice to simply hang up: which he did. Whew!

Millions of dollars are reported scammed every year, don't be intimidated by high pressure salesmen or be embarrassed if you have lost money, be aware and report it n maybe help close these jerks. Yes, it's like cutting off the heads of the mythical Hydra, but you just can't assume someone else will do it and it's not your fight.

Mean Bosses Suck!

Many eons ago, before Desktop Publishing was a glimmer of hope on the horizon, we artist labored over drafting tables, bright lights, galleys of typesetting outputted on film drying off a ledge, hours in real darkrooms creating or enhancing photos (no Photoshop yet), all of these things were carefully sliced apart with single-edged razors, exactor knives often balanced against T-squares. I actually had a slightly calloused middle finger from the way I held a single edge razor:  and I was like a surgeon with a blade, and deadlines were pretty intense.

We had a smart mouth manager, who just loved to insult us, our skills, time spent on jobs, and of course any errors AND what they cost. Loudly in front of our coworkers, long drawn out details, just belaboring the issue—all with a mean goofy grin. He even loved to stand under the open stairwell and listen in on our conversations—NOT even embarrassed when we caught him!

And one afternoon it was my turn to be lectured and he just wouldn’t let it go. My desk was alongside that open stairwell, and as he was slowly walking down those stairs, repeating the criticism and letting the sarcasm just linger in the air.

No worry, I was ready.

Barely taking my eyes off my work on the drafting table, holding a single edged blade in my hand, I slowly turned to stare at him and stated, “You really shouldn’t piss off a woman who really ENJOYS playing with razor blades.” And I held his gaze until HE became uncomfortable and his smirk left, then he slowly turned and made his way down the stairs. The squint and anger in my eyes must have spoke volumes because he kept looking back at me without another word.

Later, that day or soon afterwards, I gave a direct demand to both the owner and that jerky manager: No longer should any of us tolerate either of them ripping us in front of the entire staff. It is wrong. “I do not want an audience when either of you are criticizing my work and I sure as hell did not want to be the audience for someone else! “

They mumbled somewhat, kinda discussed it, then that jerk made comments for several days later, but I held my own! We were ALL DONE with his sarcasm, even mocking our children and their health! Seriously, he had the fucking nerve to gossip about a coworker’s daughter’s emotional health, accused her of drug use and worse. That teenage girl was also the owner’s niece.

Moral: There will always be jerks in your life, stand up to them, sometimes you will win and sometimes you may be fired. Damned if I will be a doormat for mean people and their insecurities.

Bullies: Narcissistcs from Hell

What Is Bullying

Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Both kids who are bullied and who bully others may have serious, lasting problems. 

In order to be considered bullying, the behavior must be aggressive and include:

An Imbalance of Power: Kids who bully use their power—such as physical strength, access to embarrassing information, or popularity—to control or harm others. Power imbalances can change over time and in different situations, even if they involve the same people.

Repetition: Bullying behaviors happen more than once or have the potential to happen more than once.

Bullying includes actions such as making threats, spreading rumors, attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding someone from a group on purpose.

Types of Bullying

There are three types of bullying:

Verbal bullying is saying or writing mean things. Verbal bullying includes:

Teasing

Name-calling

Inappropriate sexual comments

Taunting

Threatening to cause harm

Social bullying, sometimes referred to as relational bullying, involves hurting someone’s reputation or relationships. Social bullying includes:

Leaving someone out on purpose

Telling other children not to be friends with someone

Spreading rumors about someone

Embarrassing someone in public

Physical bullying involves hurting a person’s body or possessions. Physical bullying includes:

Hitting/kicking/pinching

Spitting, Tripping / pushing

Taking or breaking someone’s things

Making mean or rude hand gestures

Where and When Bullying Happens

Bullying can occur during or after school or in the school building and classroom, a significant percentage also happens in places like on the playground or the bus. It can also happen travelling to or from school, in the youth’s neighborhood, or on the Internet.

https://www.stopbullying.gov/what-is-bullying/index.html

---

Although this website suggested a few comeback lines, I truly disagree with any. The bully wants ANY attention, anything to fuel their destructive and narcissist for ANY kind of attention. But I will include some below and truthfully no snappy comeback ever worked!

Some great comeback lines against bullies are:

Whatever!

Do you feel better now?

If you're talking about me behind my back, clearly my life is a lot more interesting than yours is!

Let’s move on!

Here we go again. This is boring. Let me know when you’re done.

I've been called worse from better.

Wow, did you come up with that all by yourself?

Pardon me, but you seem to think that I care

Your Rights Against Bullies

NO MATTER, you deserve to feel safe. Everyone has the right to live in a safe and violence free atmosphere both at home and at school.

https://www.stompoutbullying.org/get-help/about-bullying-and-cyberbullying/are-you-being-bullied

---

students who bully are lacking the skills they would need to attain status and attention in adaptive ways—skills like emotion regulation, self-regulation, communication skills, and social thinking. As a result, they seek status and attention in ways that prove harmful to others. Yes, bullies would like to avoid detention and suspension, and they would if they could. But detention and suspension don’t teach skills; the bully returns with no more skills than she had when she left, and so cannot behave any differently.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/changeable/201904/different-take-how-stop-bullying

---

1. Acknowledge that it's OK to feel bad.

Bullying is a form of mental abuse. In fact, it's a violation of your human rights. It's completely normal for you to feel bad about it. Nobody likes to be mocked or treated with disrespect, so it's absolutely natural for you to feel hurt by it.

2. Remember that it's not about you.

It's about them. People who bully do it because they believe it makes them feel better. Somehow, they have got it into their head that by making others feel bad, they can feel better themselves. Basically, it's a reflection of their insecurities, not your shortcomings. Perhaps they are threatened by you and want to make you feel more insecure. Other times they are afraid of the kind of change you're causing, and they try to stop it by taking you down. Whatever the scenario, bullying is never the right way to resolve it, and it's never justifiable. Mature adult conversations, on the other hand, are.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-path-passionate-happiness/201806/what-adult-bullying-does-you-and-how-overcome-it

---

Preventing Bullying and Child Abuse

Who are the Bullies

At some time or another, we all have encountered a mean kid who says something that hurts our feelings.  Is that kid a bully?  Well it depends.

      A bully doesn’t know when to stop.  He or she hurts someone over and over again and knows he or she is inflicting pain on another.  A bully intends to hurt another and has usually established a pattern of hurtful behavior. A bully can be big or small, a boy or a girl, have good or bad grades in school and can be older or younger than you.

 However, there are some things that most bullies have in common. :

      like to have power and control over others

      think they should always win

      think they should always get what they want

      intend to humiliate others

      lack empathy

      are very comfortable with their behavior and feel pretty good about themselves

https://capsli.org/parents/bully-prevention-center/about-bullying/the-bullies/

---

When Bullies Grow Up

That is the very sad part, unless they have a life changing epiphany, they become just mean, sad and often controlling adults and parents. Their need to control everyone in their sphere, from family to coworkers, neighbors or the poor salesclerk at the local stores will never cease. They will die as angry and bitter as they lived, never attaining what they so desperately crave: Love, acceptance, peace.

Just Sad.