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This Weekend

So this weekend turned out really well. English corner was canceled Friday night, so I went swimming. The water seemed a bit cold at first, but I got used to it. It definitely had warmed up a bit, which is nice. Back in March, the water was really cold.

I was able to do 30 lengths of the pool. Definitely rebuilding my stamina.

I had dinner and walked home. I did a bit of grading and then relaxed. Need to redo that process though. If I can swim Fridays, I need to not grade later that night. It was so nice to swim, eat, and then go home. But grading was easy because it was a short quiz.

Saturday was nice too. I stayed home until I went out to have dinner with some new people I met. We had a great time eating and talking about her fingerprinting experience. I had to do that in Xiamen, and I did it by myself. However, this person went to a notary office, who charged her 400 yuan, or $56. She didn’t need her prints notarized, she just needed to get some clean prints to send them to the FBI for a background check. You’d think in China, all that would be computerized, but it isn’t. You download the form from the website, print it off on cardstock (several copies; you’ll need to practice) and then do the fingerprints. It’s hard to do by yourself. Plus, you get ink all over your fingers.

Then, we walked around. The restaurant is located in Three Lanes, Seven Alleys, a place where some important people lived a long time ago. The area is now a cultural area with museums, and lots of little shops. I found the handbag shop I’d seen many months ago. I restrained myself; I didn’t buy anything. But boy, what a great shop. If you have a handbag fetish like I do, it was paradise. And the prices really didn’t seem that bad for genuine leather.

We walked some more and checked out a donut shop, but since it was nearly closing time, they didn’t have a huge selection. I didn’t even know they had that. I’d been to that mall, but only the first floor. My new friends were familiar with the shop, which I will definitely have to check out. I’m not really a donut person, but lately, I’ve been craving them.

We also found another handbag shop, and I think they sold pre-owned designer bags. It was a much bigger shop than I expected it to be. It was nice to walk around and check out what they had, which was a lot. It sort of reminded me of Second Hand, which is a resale shop in Hong Kong, except this store didn’t sell clothes, just handbags.

The weather was absolutely perfect for once—nice and warm, clear skies, full moon.

We finally got tired out and took a Didi back to campus. I ended up getting another snack, because I was hungry.

Sunday, I spent quite a bit of time prepping. Prior to doing that, I went into town to get lunch. I have been having some cravings for forbidden food. I also stopped to look at glasses. I’ve repaired my Prada frames so much, it’s depressing. But I’ve been saving up money for a while, and I think I have more than enough money to get regular prescription glasses and prescriptions sunglasses as well.

I’m lucky enough to have a three day weekend because of my schedule. So today, I slept late like I usually do when I have the day off, then had my nice long walk. Ate lunch, then I got some food for the week. I usually bring my lunch for my long day on Tuesdays. But sometimes, I don’t feel like eating too much, so I just pack a little bit. I got some little tubs of flavored cream cheese, some Greek yogurt, and some fruit. On a low-carb diet, you shouldn’t eat fruit, but last week, I tried to eat bacon and some tomatoes, and ended up throwing quite a bit of the bacon away. It just didn’t taste good to me.

I picked up some more tomatoes today, and also sweet potatoes, which I’ve developed a taste for. I also walked home, and I was proud of that. I hit over 11,500 steps today. Trying to hit 10,000+ steps per day five days a week. Need to get back to my core workouts as well.

I know I feel better when I eat better. It’s depressing to eat carbs and feel sleepy, but if I don’t want to feel sleepy, I know what I need to do.

And this evening, I worked some more on prepping and grading.

So it was very satisfying, this weekend. I wish my new friends would stick around, but they are leaving in a month. It figures.

But things seem to be good for once. I’m happy about that.

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Timmy Hortons and the Badly Handled Drive-Thru Coffee Order, Part Seven

Simple. Calm. Not hostile. For all I know, they just had a baby and didn’t get any sleep last night and they don’t have the luxury of maternity leave. Or maybe they just suffer from insomnia and are a bit foggy. Or maybe they are having a day when nothing seems to go right. It doesn’t ruin my day if they mess up my order. I just calmly tell them what went wrong, and they fix it. (Why don’t I go inside? Because the weather might be absolute balls, or I’m feeling particularly lazy.)

And then there’s the dreaded “clopens.” Anyone who works retail knows what I mean, but for those of you who haven’t had the pleasure, that’s when you are scheduled to open maybe two or three days in a row. Then, you have to close. Goodbye regular sleep schedule! Then there was the time I worked nine days in a row without a break. No overtime pay, either. I got off at 3:30 p.m. or so, and was asleep by 6.

There’s also people saying that Tim Horton’s is not a safe place and should be closed down. Rick from Pawn Stars (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2kchnK4J3Y) said so himself.

And there’s a relative of Anita Grayson who had this to say on Facebook:

“The mask has finally slipped, and the truth is out for everyone to see. ​For years, my mom and my auntie talked about the aggression, the abuse, and the mistreatment they endured when they lived with Anita Grayson. And what did the Graysons do? They tried to cover it up. They denied it. They tried to paint this public picture of a helpless, weak, 75-year-old woman with congestive heart failure who wouldn’t hurt a fly. They wanted everyone to think she was too brittle to do anything….. This video from the Fort Wayne Tim Hortons shows exactly who she really is. That is NOT a weak, fragile woman. That is the exact same aggression she took out on my mom and my aunt for years. The only difference is, my mom and my auntie were defenseless and vulnerable.”

There’s also speculation that the woman had dementia, or some sort of psychosis, low blood pressure, low blood sugar, or had something going on to put her on blast. Having an incorrect order just sent her over the edge.

So who was right and who was wrong?

This case has it all.

Read part six here: https://nowaylaowai.home.blog/2026/05/27/timmy-hortons-and-the-badly-handled-drive-thru-coffee-order-part-six/

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Timmy Hortons and the Badly Handled Drive-thru Coffee Order, Part Six

So yeah, mistakes were made. I’m thinking with incidents like this nearly a daily occurrence, corporate America really needs to have de-escalation training, pronto. And yeah, perhaps this sounds sexist of me, but maybe hire some tall, solidly built men for shift manager/general manager positions. Because if working retail or a customer service job means you have to deal with customers willing to throw punches, I’d much rather call a manager who is 6’5” and a solid 250 or so, than someone who is maybe 5’5” and 130. Either that, or teach them martial arts or something. But if you look like you can kick someone’s ass without really trying, I’d rather have that as my managerial backup. The 20-year-old shift manager was maybe a third of the size of the customer, but she came out swinging.

After I was hit twice, I started dressing like a punk/goth. Hair ratted out, black eye shadow, chains for jewelry, and I think I stuck safety pins in my ears. It wasn’t really my style, but people seemed to be more polite when talking to me, and I was never hit again.

I haven’t been this invested in a case since Luigi Mangione. I got obsessed over that, and I’ll probably be obsessed over this one too.

So who is at fault? It’s a bizarre case. For one thing, we don’t know what happened in the drive-thru. Who showed attitude? Or was ANY attitude shown? What was ordered? Was it a case of not hearing the customer clearly, or was the customer confused as to what exactly she wanted to order?

When I go to McDonald’s and order chicken nuggets, my go-to dip is honey. NOT honey mustard, but honey. When the drive-thru employee repeats my order, it seems like they always say, “one McNugget meal, with honey mustard sauce. I always calmly repeat my order, emphasizing, I want HONEY. NOT honey mustard, but honey.” Usually, this does the trick. I check my bag before pulling out. If something is wrong, I just circle around to the drive-thru again and say, “yeah, I was just in the drive-thru, you got my order wrong, I ordered blah blah, blah…” and they usually say okay and to pull forward.

Read part five here: https://nowaylaowai.home.blog/2026/05/26/timmy-hortons-and-the-badly-handled-drive-thru-coffee-order-part-five/

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Timmy Hortons and the Badly Handled Drive-Thru Coffee Order, Part Five

Customers laid hands on me, but I never touched anyone. Even in my current job, I try NEVER to touch anyone. For starters, I hate being touched. Secondly, you never know how someone will interpret your touch. A gentle, encouraging pat on the shoulder can be twisted into an “inappropriate massage” and mess you up. The 20-year-old employee never should have touched the woman. I understand what she was trying to do, but no matter how gently you touch a person during an altercation, some people will scream that the older woman was “shoved” by the younger employee.

To me, it was just a gentle hand on the woman’s upper chest near her shoulder. I’m surprised no one has claimed sexual harassment.

So yeah, the Tim Horton’s employee never should have touched the woman. Mistake number one.

The elderly woman shoved the 20-year-old in a not-so-gentle way after she was touched. Mistake number two.

Immediately after being shoved, the 20-year-old leaned right up in the older woman’s face. Mistake number three.

Older woman punches 20-year-old employee. Mistake number four.

The 20-year-old comes charging out of the swinging door, with a series of punches. Both she and the customer end up on the floor. Mistake number five.

After the 20-year-old is pulled away by the combined efforts of two employees, the woman gets up under her own power and sits down at a booth.

Supposedly, one of the employees brings the woman some water. The video doesn’t show that part.

Read part one here: https://nowaylaowai.home.blog/2026/05/22/timmy-horton-and-the-badly-handled-drive-thru-coffee-order/

Read part two here: https://nowaylaowai.home.blog/2026/05/22/timmy-horton-and-the-badly-handled-drive-thru-coffee-order/

Read part three here: https://nowaylaowai.home.blog/2026/05/24/timmy-horton-and-the-badly-handled-drive-thru-coffee-order-part-three/

Read part four here: https://nowaylaowai.home.blog/2026/05/25/timmy-hortons-and-the-badly-handled-coffee-order-part-four/

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Timmy Horton’s and the Badly Handled Coffee Order, Part Four

I hate to see anyone die in fast food altercation, and I didn’t expect to see it in my hometown. This incident seems like Detroit-level shit. But as someone who has worked retail, things could have been handled better, but they weren’t. So we have a dead woman, two very young employees who probably are too young to exercise impulse control (a 20-year-old shift manager? Are you fucking kidding me?), and Tim Horton’s, who probably didn’t bother with any training as to how to deal with these situations, should they come up. Usually, the only training is, “call the manager.” Well, when the manager is 20 years old, that doesn’t make me feel very confident.

When I worked at Lowe’s, I was hit TWICE by customers. Not in the face, but I got whacked in the shoulder by someone upset that the coupon we found in a box of trash bags happened to be expired. I also got swatted by someone wielding a set of temporary blinds.

And I can’t forget about the various men/little boys who have barged behind the paint desk, or the woman who accused me of not sealing the paint can lids on properly. Lady, that wasn’t me. I hammed those suckers ON. I always wanted management to put small doors that could LOCK on the little pass-throughs that split the paint desk into four sections. Frequently, the little plastic chains were never hooked, and anyone could unhook it even if they were hooked.

Read part three here: https://nowaylaowai.home.blog/2026/05/24/timmy-horton-and-the-badly-handled-drive-thru-coffee-order-part-three/

Read part two here: https://nowaylaowai.home.blog/2026/05/23/timmy-horton-and-the-badly-handled-drive-thru-coffee-order-part-two/

Read part one here: https://nowaylaowai.home.blog/2026/05/22/timmy-horton-and-the-badly-handled-drive-thru-coffee-order/

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Timmy Horton and the Badly Handled Drive-Thru Coffee Order, Part Three

What’s wild is that there’s no statements or anything from the staff at Tim Horton’s. It’s very possible they were told not to talk to the press.

But the customer died, and no one has been charged. The coroner is supposedly doing his thing. Apparently the woman had heart problems. And the city is divided.

The case has many interesting aspects, I think. The woman’s heart condition. The ages of the staff involved. The videos that have been circulating. Claims of racial discrimination (the customer was a 75-year-old black female.) The Go Fund Me for Anita Grayson’s family. A family member claiming that Ms. Grayson was an actual terrible person, and was abusive. Customer service. And the fact that so many different people have so many different interpretations of what went down.

There’s also claims of false narratives, anger at Tim Horton’s employees, anger at the woman herself, notes of “FAFO” criticisms of Baby Boomers, and also, “all this for a cup of coffee?” And as one of my friends on Facebook said, “and the coffee ain’t that good.”

So WHO WAS at fault?

Read part two here: https://nowaylaowai.home.blog/2026/05/23/timmy-horton-and-the-badly-handled-drive-thru-coffee-order-part-two/

Read part one here: https://nowaylaowai.home.blog/2026/05/22/timmy-horton-and-the-badly-handled-drive-thru-coffee-order/

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Timmy Horton and the Badly Handled Drive-Thru Coffee Order, Part Two

The 20-year-old then goes after the customer, and they end up on the dining room floor. The 17-year-old and another employee (could be male, not sure) walk out into the dining room and attempt to pull the 20-year-old off the customer. There is a fourth employee who appears behind the counter, as well as a customer on a cell phone.

The 20-year-old is dragged behind the counter, and the 17-year-old takes what looks like the customer’s bag (looked like a small lunch cooler-type bag) and sort of tosses it toward the front door, but didn’t quite make it. The 17-year-old, now behind the counter, yells one last thing at the woman, who is still on the floor. The woman gets up on her own, and grabs something on the floor. Reports say it was a fistful of hair pulled out of the 20-year-old’s scalp. The video stops with the woman now seated, but her feet and legs are the only things visible in the camera frame. The male customer is still there at the counter, probably 20 feet away, on the phone. The video source I used is visible here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0k6uu7aJM2U. It was posted by the Fort Wayne Police Department, with a pinned comment saying, “This is store security video. There is no audio.”

A few minutes later the woman died.

Missed the first post? Read it here: https://nowaylaowai.home.blog/2026/05/22/timmy-horton-and-the-badly-handled-drive-thru-coffee-order/

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Timmy Horton and the Badly Handled Drive-Thru Coffee Order

So my hometown made the news, and is it ever a juicy story.

Tim Horton’s is a Canadian coffee shop chain that made its way into Fort Wayne several years ago. I guess there were a few locations around the city, but there’s just one now. It’s near the ice rink built on the north side of the city.

I remember eating at that location, I think, a couple of times. I love ham and cheese sandwiches, especially if the cheese is Swiss. I’d get a sandwich, warm potato chips, and a Coke. Maybe some Tim Bits as well.

Anyway, about a couple weeks ago, an older woman went into the shop because staff had incorrectly made her order. She’d ordered something in the drive through, but went into the shop to correct it.

That’s when things went south. Some videos claims she “stormed” into the shop, but the footage I saw shows a woman just walking into the shop. She went to the counter, then waited at the part of the counter that had one of those little swinging doors that silently say, “Employees only beyond this point.” The woman (reports say she was 75 with a heart condition) was right in front of the door when she began gesticulating in a manner that suggests she was monumentally pissed her order was wrong. There’s no audio—the footage is supposedly from the one camera posted in the dining area—but the position of her right hand and the pointing finger would indicate she wasn’t politely asking for her order to be corrected.

The footage isn’t exactly top quality. There’s only one camera in the dining room, and it shows the woman’s left side. Anita Grayson was her name. An employee, supposedly 17 years old, moves a bit closer to explain the situation, and her body language indicates she wasn’t responding in the most calm way either. Here’s where it gets a bit confusing.

It’s Okay, the Kids are Minding the Store

The 17-year-old employee, who had dark hair, was talking to the woman from behind the counter and the little door I told you about previously. Another employee, supposedly a 20-year-old shift manager, comes to try and deescalate the situation. Looks like she has red hair. She steps in between the 17-year-old and the customer, and starts communicating with her. The 17-year-old backs away. The 17-year-old returns on the 20-year-old’s left side, still behind the counter.

It looks like the customer stabs her right index finger in the direction of the 17-year-old, but it’s hard to see if any actual physical contact was made. The customer was trying to lean around the 20-year-old to better address the 17-year-old. As this is happening, the 20-year-old, places a hand on the upper chest of the customer, in a sort of, “hey, you need to calm down” gesture. Was it a shove? I think not. It certainly wasn’t a slap.

The older woman wasn’t having it and shoved the 20-year-old back. The 20-year-old leans against the little door, opening it a bit. Then the older woman punches the 20-year-old in what looks like her nose.

To be continued…