Just autistic person working front end retail things

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these are my experience, feel free to add your own!

- being super overstimulated when there's endless lines at the register and trying not to be the biggest as*hole in the world (all you can manage is being withdrawn and grumpy looking instead)
- vocal stimming in silly ways when you think no one is around
- walking around when the lines are sparse cuz you're going stir crazy
- running to the restroom to get a couple minutes away from the chaos
- having fidget toys in your pocket
- your ADA work accommodations for extra breaks being denied when it's too busy but that's when you need them the most
- being socially burnt out and not wanting to see another person ever for the rest of your life
- oops! you rambled on about a topic to your customer but failed to realize they don't give a darn until Too Late
- the register surface is now a drum - play sick beats for the customers!
- a Manager asked you to do your usual tasks out of their CORRECT order and now you're pissed but can't say so
- You empathize with the kid having a screaming meltdown even if he's kinda sending you in that direction too
- uh oh! silent meltdown ensues! you are pissed off beyond measure and your sense of being overloaded is off the charts, but there is no escape. you sink into your consciousness while going through the bare minimum motions of helping customers out. so this is what hell is like.

I've had a few different jobs, and retail for me was by far the most difficult. I suspected I was autistic back then but it didn't occur to me that that was the reason I was overwhelmed and exhausted when I got home at night. I'd also sleep whenever I wasn't working, and looking back it was completely unsustainable. I'm not sure how I lasted as long as I did!

I worked at Taco Bell for ~6 months and almost always tipped my hat down so I didn't have to look at people while I took their orders