Late tonight a bunch of staff are playing a game called role call and if you thought fugitive was wild just w a i t until i tell you how this goes cause role call is absolutely terrifying
We aren’t letting the campers play it so that lets us up the scare factor by 147%
Ok so the game had to be pushed back a few days so we can figure out scheduling so heres the gist of it.
The more people you have for this game, the better. It has to happen at night. The people get into a straight line, and begin to walk in that line all around the area. They cannot turn around and look at each other, and cannot speak; with the exception of the person at the front of the line.
That persons job is to begin the role call. They simply say, “Role Call!” And their name, then each person down the line says their name in turn.
Here’s the kicker: there’s one person not included in the line. The Taker. They have the job of stealing away the person at the end of the line as silently as possible. The game’s sole purpose is to instill a sense of fear and paranoia in whoever is in front, because as more people get taken, there are less and less people to say their names during the Role Call.
The front person decides when they want to start the Role Call. Obviously, the more often it’s said, the less scary it is. But as more and more people disappear, they become Takers and can then do more damage than just the one.
Some Takers can replace the person they stole, making the person directly in front of them either incredibly paranoid or safe. At least until the Role Call. Takers cannot say anything during it, so it usually ends up more terrifying to know that the person behind you is silent. Again, everyone in the line cannot make a sound except responding to the Role Call.
The game is over when the person in front is taken. There is no winning, only waiting. Waiting for your turn to go. Imagine the fear that person in front has, when they softly announce “Role Call” only to find that everyone behind them is gone.
If you have to regularly give your cat meds or otherwise interfere with them and you find they are avoiding you even for friendly contact, establish a password.
The goal is to use the word/sound to signal “no bad thing,” so they don’t panic and try to run away/hide.
For instance, Etrigan hates being medicated and will hide under the bed for hours to avoid it, and become evasive if approached, even though he is normally a VERY friendly cat.
I established “I’m gonna gitcha gitcha gitcha!” as something that means “I will be touching you but not in a bad way.”
This works.
Start by using the sound every time you love on your cat. Use it many times per interaction, not just once. Use treats to reinforce it at first if you need to, and practice often (as often as you love on your cat which is hopefully often).
Do not ever ever ever use it to fake them out. Respect it, respect the cat, always keep the interactions positive.
This is a virtually effortless thing to teach your cat (and yourself) and can make a huge quality of life difference for a cat who deeply resents pilling (or other necessary cat maintenance tasks).
It actually makes giving them meds easier sometimes because they aren’t ALWAYS expecting to be grabbed and pilled. They don’t have to be vigilant and wary of every single interaction.
Reblog to reduce kitty anxiety!
Good luck!
I’ve watched Etrigan do an immediate about-face on multiple occasions. I approach, he thinks I am going to do THE BAD MOUTH STUFF and starts to run away. I use the signal and he turns right around and lets me approach. This tactic can be super-duper effective.
I’ve found telling mine beforehand that I need to give them meds or cut their nails also works, since while they don’t generally run away, they aren’t happy about it. It’s just a way to let them know this Thing™ is going to happen and not think the Thing™ can happen anywhere or whenever. I mean, just think about what you would prefer: Someone telling you something is going to happen before it happens or it happening randomly whenever they’re around?
It also helps if they’re sleeping and you have to wake them up. “I need to give you your meds” lets them know there’s a reason you woke them up and separates it from the times you may accidentally wake them up by petting them or making a loud noise or moving them off your lap when your bladder is about to bust while your foot has fallen asleep.
I also use the phrase “Just need to do one more” (or some variation, but “one more” is always part of it) when doing their nails and they’re fidgeting. I don’t like letting them go when they start struggling because they learn quickly how that gets them out of getting their nails trimmed, but I don’t like forcing anyone – human or animal – to remain visibly okay in a situation they don’t like.
So I tell them I need to do one more nail then they can go. The reaction? They stop struggling and I can do one more nail then let them go. It’s a bit inconvenient for me when they have to be done in multiple sittings, but it’s a way to build and keep trust. One of my current cats was extremely skittish when it came to being held or having his nails done, and by never pushing him into his panic zone but asking him to hold on for 5 seconds longer after 11 years I can do all his front nails in one go and he’ll happily purr on my lap for as long as I let him after.
This from the cat where for years I would have to do his nails when he was sleeping because he’d panic if he was held. (He was feral up until 6 weeks old or so, maybe even more).
Cats are smart. If you communicate with them your intentions, they will start to figure things out. Their brains are actually similar to a human’s, and most cats value dignity and personal agency. They lose both if you need to give them meds or do their nails or anything else they deem unpleasant. But give them a phrase or word to connect to it and respect them the rest of the time, and they’ll come around.
Because cats largely do want to be social and trust their main human. I can’t speak as to how cats perceive the world, but as someone with loads of anxiety, there’s a world of difference between someone who gives you a heads up about things and someone who gives no indication what’s going to happen when. Even if both are lovely people, I’m going to gravitate to the former because I can trust them more and know they’ll reliably communicate things.
I can’t stand when a friend shows up unannounced wanting to do something, how do you think I’d feel if a friend suddenly grabbed me and shoved a pill down my throat, you know?
Goddamn, this is some first-rate advice. Thank you. I’m going to start teaching them to understand about clipping their claws.
Proposition: when one person has to cover a shift that is normally done by two people, they get paid double. This is both to compensate them for working twice as hard, and to remove any temptation for management to think “hey, actually that wasn’t so bad, maybe we should do this more often.”
YES
Make the pay **more** than double for that one employee so that it’s more costly than hiring 2 people like they’re supposed to do in the first place
Hey is the build a bear employee supposed to force us to jump up and down or are we getting hazed
as a build-a-bear employee it is my honor to happily inform you that we get to make everyone do whatever the fuck we want during a heart ceremony. jump to get that heart beating. rub that heart to your knees so your furry friend always needs you. rub it to your toes so it’s totally awesome! shake it up so it’s got enough energy to hang out with you all day! close your eyes, make a wish, and give it a kiss you helpless motherfucker
