Whole Foods Employees Miserable: "Seeing Someone Cry At Work Is Becoming Normal" | Zero Hedge
Description: "Terrified employees report constant fear over losing their jobs over the OTS 'scorecards', which anything below 89.9% can qualify as a failing score - resulting in possible firings."

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# Whole Foods Employees Miserable: "Seeing Someone Cry At Work Is Becoming Normal"

Whole Foods' new inventory management system aimed at improving efficiency and cutting down on waste is taking a toll on employees, who say the system's stringent procedures and graded "scorecards" have crushed morale and led to widespread food shortages, reports Business Insider.

The new system, called order-to-shelf, or OTS, "has a strict set of procedures for purchasing, displaying, and storing products on store shelves and in back rooms. To make sure stores comply, Whole Foods relies on "scorecards" that evaluate everything from the accuracy of signage to the proper recording of theft, or "shrink."

> Some employees, who walk through stores with managers to ensure compliance, describe the system as onerous and stress-inducing. Conversations with 27 current and recently departed Whole Foods workers, including cashiers and corporate employees — some of whom have been with the company for nearly two decades — say the system is seen by many as punitive. -BI

Terrified employees report constant fear over losing their jobs over the OTS "scorecards," which anything below 89.9% can qualify as a failing score - resulting in possible firings.

> 'Seeing someone cry at work is becoming normal': Employees say@WholeFoods uses "scorecards" to punish employees for failing to comply with its inventory management system https://t.co/AqpEaKPcbC pic.twitter.com/m16jHKznnW

> — Business Insider (@businessinsider) February 1, 2018

Store managers test employees twice weekly, according to company documents, while corporate employees from the store's Austin, Texas headquarters conduct monthly walkthroughs which stores must themselves pass.

"I wake up in the middle of the night from nightmares about maps and inventory, and when regional leadership is going to come in and see one thing wrong, and fail the team," a supervisor at a West Coast Whole Foods told Business Insider. "The stress has created such a tense working environment. Seeing someone cry at work is becoming normal."

Despite the heart-palpitating shortcomings of the OTS system, employees, supervisors and industry analysts have said that Whole Foods' previous inventory management system was inefficient and needed to be updated.

"Whole Foods had a very decentralized approach, which adds complexity, and complexity adds cost," said Jim Holbrook, CEO of private label and retail consultancy Daymon Worldwide, which recently started working with Whole Foods.

Under the old system, buyers at the store and regional levels had more sway over what to sell. With OTS, however, those decisions have been shifted to the Austin corporate offices - a similar approach to conventional supermarkets like Safeway and Kroger.

> It remains to be seen whether this business model — and OTS — will work for Whole Foods. Holbrook believes it will. He said Amazon, which purchased Whole Foods last year for $13.7 billion, would be able to help Whole Foods work out the kinks with OTS.

> "Amazon is very good at managing logistics behind the scenes," Holbrook said. "Whole Foods will be a better shopping experience as a result."

> Many employees are also hopeful that Amazon will fix the new system.

> "We all just hope that Amazon will walk into some stores and see all the holes on the shelf," a 12-year employee of a Midwest Whole Foods said. -BI

In their defense, Whole Foods says it's order-to-shelf (OTS) system allows employees more time to engage with customers - a poorly thought out response.

"The team members are really excited about" order-to-shelf, said Whole Foods EVP of operations David Lannon last year on a call with investors, adding "They're really proud when they're able to achieve that, which is lower out-of-stocks, less inventory in the store, being able to be on the sales floor talking to customers and selling more products."

Boston Whole Foods (Paul Fantoni)

Whole Foods employees around the country thought that was hilarious. One such disaffected West Coast supervisor said "On my most recent time card, I clocked over 10 hours of overtime, sitting at a desk doing OTS work," adding "Rather than focusing on guest service, I've had team members cleaning facial-care testers and facing the shelves, so that everything looks perfect and untouched at all times."

> Many Whole Foods employees at the corporate and store levels still don't understand how OTS works, employees said.

> "OTS has confused so many smart, logical, and experienced individuals, the befuddlement is now a thing, a life all its own," an employee of a Chicago-area store said. "It's a collective confusion — constantly changing, no clear answers to the questions that never were, until now."

> An employee of a North Carolina Whole Foods said: "No one really knows this business model, and those who are doing the scorecards — even regional leadership — are not clear on practices and consequently are constantly providing the department leaders with inaccurate directions. All this comes at a time when labor has been reduced to an unachievable level given the requirements of the OTS model."

Other employees have complained about a lack of training as a key reason as to why the OTS system is failing.

"The problem lies in lack of training and the fact that every single member of management from store level to corporate is over tasked and overburdened," according to one former corporate employee who conducted walkthroughs at East Coast locations.

Some even suggested that Whole Foods corporate had no clue about working in stores - and that the new OTS protocols were absurd.

> "In the beginning, we actually had a checklist where one task was to initial that you initialed off another task."

> I worked at Whole Foods several years ago and left right as they were implementing on the spot quizzes and inspections for all departments. That family feeling was going away as team leaders left due to poor scores. I think Amazon just added to the issues.

> — Bullet Proof Uncle (@BikingTech) February 3, 2018

Tags
Business Finance
Labor
Food Retail & Distribution - NEC
Internet & Mail Order Department Stores
Supermarkets & Convenience Stores

## Comments

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SloMoe Feb 6, 2018 9:50 PM Permalink

Too much gluten in their diet??

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peddling-fiction SloMoe Feb 6, 2018 9:52 PM Permalink

Have they been Amazoned?

Robots will soon pick up the slack...

In reply to Too much gluten? by SloMoe

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BabaLooey peddling-fiction Feb 6, 2018 9:58 PM Permalink

Dr. EvilBezos strikes again!

The shit fuck......

In reply to Have they been Amazoned? by peddling-fiction

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NoDebt BabaLooey Feb 6, 2018 10:14 PM Permalink

Shhhhhh. Shhhhh. It's OK. It'll all be over soon.

In reply to Dr. EvilBezos strikes again!… by BabaLooey

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Cognitive Dissonance NoDebt Feb 6, 2018 10:15 PM Permalink

This is gonna hurt...a lot.

In reply to Shhhhhh. Shhhhh. It's OK. … by NoDebt

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Four chan Cognitive Dissonance Feb 6, 2018 10:30 PM Permalink

THE NERVE OF THESE FUCKING GOY TO QUESTION THE JEW METHODS IMPINGING ON THEM. BEZOS

In reply to This is gonna hurt...a lot. by Cognitive Dissonance

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ThinkerNotEmoter Four chan Feb 6, 2018 10:38 PM Permalink

McDonald's is hiring. Good luck.

In reply to THE NERVE OF THESE FUCKING… by Four chan

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Gaius Frakkin'… ThinkerNotEmoter Feb 6, 2018 10:39 PM Permalink

My money is on White ingenuity, not Bezos and his robots.

When he fires the last human, everything he owns will be nationalized and seized (like a corrupt sandnigger) for the good of us all. So thank you in advance, Mr. waxhead.

In reply to McDonald's is hiring. Good… by ThinkerNotEmoter

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HRH of Aquitaine 2.0 Gaius Frakkin'… Feb 6, 2018 11:04 PM Permalink

+1 for Mr. Waxhead! Hahahaha! These are snowflakes. Life and math are hard, see? Work? Waaaaaah!

In reply to My money is on White… by Gaius Frakkin'…

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IH8OBAMA Cognitive Dissonance Feb 6, 2018 10:32 PM Permalink

From Amazon workers, delivery drivers and now Whole Foods workers, it sounds like the Beezer is a real tyrant to work for. I'm surprised unions haven't been able to penetrate that organization. It is certainly big enough.

In reply to This is gonna hurt...a lot. by Cognitive Dissonance

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JimmyJones IH8OBAMA Feb 6, 2018 11:03 PM Permalink

Just might happen with whole foods

In reply to From Amazon workers,… by IH8OBAMA

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erkme73 JimmyJones Feb 6, 2018 11:11 PM Permalink

Wife is an ER MD. The physician leasing firm that employs her, which has the contract at the local hospital, recently got bought out by a new group. Suddenly she has a new director who assigns quotas to everything, and grades every aspect of her performance. It is quite stressful, and takes much of what little joy there was in her profession, and flushes it away. She is actively entertaining head hunters' calls again.

In reply to Just might happen with whole… by JimmyJones

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Lost in translation erkme73 Feb 6, 2018 11:22 PM Permalink

The joy of everything in the US is circling the bowl. By design.

People need to stop producing and stop contributing.

No more workarounds - starve the beast.

In reply to Wife is an ER MD. The… by erkme73

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Laowei Gweilo Cognitive Dissonance Feb 6, 2018 10:36 PM Permalink

Efficiency, bitchez!

As someone that has shopped at Whole Foods for years -- mostly because it's the only grocer anywhere near me downtown =/ -- most of the employees have always treated their jobs like a social gathering to discuss quinoa, fair-trade, and yoga.

I'm no fan of Amazon but since they took over, prices are down and employees actually look busy.

So can't say I give a shit if they cry themselves to sleep.

OH BOO HOO A FUCKING SCORECARD.

Anyone that has any portion of actual liability for business earnings and people's pay cheques would see a fucking scorecard as a beach vacation.

God forbid they have some accountability in their libtard world.

In reply to This is gonna hurt...a lot. by Cognitive Dissonance

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HRH of Aquitaine 2.0 Laowei Gweilo Feb 6, 2018 11:06 PM Permalink

You have my sympathy. There is no fucking way I would shop in that overpriced, snobby, shithole store. I have an awesome local Kroger. Union employees that are well paid and work hard. Store is clean, staff are friendly, produce and meat selection is excellent. I can get organic dandelion greens, beets with the greens attached much of the year.

In reply to Efficiency, bitchez!… by Laowei Gweilo

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MozartIII NoDebt Feb 6, 2018 10:23 PM Permalink

It will be over soon! Good luck building productive lives!!

In reply to Shhhhhh. Shhhhh. It's OK. … by NoDebt

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Whoa Dammit BabaLooey Feb 6, 2018 10:17 PM Permalink

That produce checklist is laughable. It has no thought as to what customers want, which is fresh produce with plastic bags to put it in, arranged in a manner that makes things easy to find. And customers don't want to "interact" with the store employees.

In reply to Dr. EvilBezos strikes again!… by BabaLooey

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Buckaroo Banzai Whoa Dammit Feb 6, 2018 10:38 PM Permalink

Yeah, if I have to "interact" with a supermarket store employee who isn't manning a cash register or behind a meat counter, something has gone wrong.

In reply to That produce checklist is… by Whoa Dammit

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yogibear BabaLooey Feb 6, 2018 10:55 PM Permalink

Bezos fits the part, perfectly.

Dr evil.

In reply to Dr. EvilBezos strikes again!… by BabaLooey

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BobEore BabaLooey Feb 6, 2018 11:03 PM Permalink

Couldn't happen to a bigger bucket o phucks!

For years these scrub assholes rode high n mighty over the jungle which the world o 'natural foods' had become... gobbling up the market share of independent owners who stuck to the organic only format instead of the sneaky... blend n pretend which would be become the hallmark of the new style 'organic-lite' - avocadoes 'organic' one week... conventional the next... cause the price at farmgate went up. Sleepy do-head customers who never read the small print on the signs would never clue in to the difference.

And everybody was a winner- cept the now extinct local store... the growers who didn't water down production practices at the 'suggestion' of big buyers... and the customer base which now gets to feast on the debris left by BIG K\osher/ ABBLALISMs takeover of the table as well as the finances of TARDNATION.

cRy me a river crybabies... then die like the silly shits what you always knew yu were!

In reply to Dr. EvilBezos strikes again!… by BabaLooey

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Justin Case peddling-fiction Feb 6, 2018 10:43 PM Permalink

Imagine a pilot crying b/c he has an extensive check list and set of procedures that he must do every time he is scheduled to fly. Waaawaaa. I don't have faith in the future of North American population. This place will turn out to be like "Escape From New York." Wait till these dipshit kids have their own off spring.

In reply to Have they been Amazoned? by peddling-fiction

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ReturnOfDaMac peddling-fiction Feb 6, 2018 11:18 PM Permalink

Crying at work? Snowflakes ...

In reply to Have they been Amazoned? by peddling-fiction

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Saucy-Jack peddling-fiction Feb 6, 2018 11:21 PM Permalink

It's called work for a reason.

In reply to Have they been Amazoned? by peddling-fiction

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Juggernaut x2 SloMoe Feb 6, 2018 9:53 PM Permalink

Laugh it up now, MFer- you're next for this kind of treatment at work. Don't like it- tough shit- they'll hire some Indian or beaner for half of what you make now

In reply to Too much gluten? by SloMoe

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Mr. Universe Juggernaut x2 Feb 6, 2018 10:00 PM Permalink

Just wait until they receive their new wristband trackers that will tell them how where and when to do any job required. So easy even a refugee can do it.

In reply to Keep laughing- you're next… by Juggernaut x2

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Juggernaut x2 Mr. Universe Feb 6, 2018 10:02 PM Permalink

But Drumpf is going to stop immigration and reopen factories and MAGA and other assorted BS

In reply to Just wait until they receive… by Mr. Universe

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Billy the Poet Juggernaut x2 Feb 6, 2018 10:08 PM Permalink

Do you also refer to John Kerry as John Kohn?

In reply to But Drumpf is going to stop… by Juggernaut x2

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NoDebt Billy the Poet Feb 6, 2018 10:15 PM Permalink

Yes, that's right, worry about the beaners taking your job when it will, in fact, be a robot.

In reply to Do you also refer to John… by Billy the Poet

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Implied Violins NoDebt Feb 6, 2018 10:23 PM Permalink

Who are they going to serve once the workers they replaced can't buy anything and starve to death? ...Or is that the plan?

In reply to Yes, that's right, worry… by NoDebt

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peddling-fiction Implied Violins Feb 6, 2018 10:27 PM Permalink

They only want to serve a sustainable 500M.

In reply to Who are they going to serve… by Implied Violins

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Billy the Poet Implied Violins Feb 6, 2018 10:30 PM Permalink

Couldn't the former employees avoid starving to death by working for themselves and the other former employees? If Jeff Bezos builds a robot army to sell crap to other robots that doesn't mean that everyone else just has to sit and sulk until they die.

In reply to Who are they going to serve… by Implied Violins

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Implied Violins Billy the Poet Feb 6, 2018 10:36 PM Permalink

That's what needs to happen, but if people don't organize themselves against this bullshit soon it will be too late. There aren't enough Hedgeless's who have already taken that jump. And soon it will be impossible to get the land and materials to do it if Bezos gets his way and runs off all competition so he and his ilk can basically decide who lives and who dies.

It's going to take a revolution to stop these motherfuckers at this point. Or an act of nature...

In reply to Couldn't the former… by Billy the Poet

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Oldwood Billy the Poet Feb 6, 2018 10:57 PM Permalink

Your fallacy comes from the use of the word "work".

Our liberties are dissolved and washed away by convenience. We will abort our children, hire illegals, buy imports and elect politicians who will PROMISE us what we KNOW can never be, all because it so CONVENIENT. EASY.

NOT WORK.

In reply to Couldn't the former… by Billy the Poet

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Billy the Poet Oldwood Feb 6, 2018 11:03 PM Permalink

You channeling Maynard G. Krebs?

Work!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgecgpCfAYo&list=PLhBqvFTJCaGRJ3FXszs_7…

In reply to Your fallacy comes from the… by Oldwood

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Oldwood Billy the Poet Feb 6, 2018 11:20 PM Permalink

I've spent my whole life working, most of it physical labor and have witnessed a large percentage of those I have "worked" with or employed who will go to any lengths to avoid "work", many actually putting far more effort in it's avoidance that the actual work would have called for.

Principled abstinence I think is how they see it. It has become our dominant religion now. Just as accepting charity was once perceived as low character and now is revered as "smart".

We're doomed. Let's not pretend this is as it always was when it is anything but. This is not the world of my father or his, who WORKED to build a life for himself and his family.

Today we are far too self absorbed to even consider the hardship or feared inconvenience of children or even the labor of actually remaining faithful to a spouse. No, it's all about ME now and there is no sacrifice too small to fail rationalization as beneath one's self esteem or potentially benefitting another.

Doomed I say.

In reply to You channeling Maynard G… by Billy the Poet

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Oldwood Implied Violins Feb 6, 2018 10:39 PM Permalink

Entitlements funded by debt and money printing...until most if not all are dependent....on a completely unsustainable construct that as it fails will create the desperation that leadership needs to impose the complete elimination of any semblance of liberty.

In reply to Who are they going to serve… by Implied Violins

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WillyGroper Implied Violins Feb 6, 2018 11:11 PM Permalink

" Who are they going to serve once the workers they replaced can't buy anything and starve to death? "

the one's that starved to death, dummy!

in the food chain, everyone gotta serve someone.

;)

In reply to Who are they going to serve… by Implied Violins

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Oldwood NoDebt Feb 6, 2018 10:53 PM Permalink

Illegal aliens and automation are a direct response to cost of labor. Every action that government has taken has been to increase the cost of labor while simultaneously providing cheap labor alternatives as well as cheap imports.

This isn't higher math here. We allow our government to impose regulations and easy lawsuits that drive up our costs under the premise of protecting us. We allow them to hold our borders open claiming some higher humanitarian motives while we apparently ignore how much CHEAPER they work.

We look the other way while they impose trade deals that allow cheap imports to flood our markets and as long as OUR job ain't fucked, we applaud it while denigrating American producers as price gougers producing inferior products.

We are NOT that STUPID, we only pretend to be as a means of rationalizing our own selfish self destruction.....just like any good drug addict would do.

Now that illegals are achieving parity with domestics, automation is taking hold....and will take what is left using debt and redistribution to attempt to anesthetize us from the disease eating us alive.

None of this can touch us anymore than drugs. All we have to do is abstain. Just say no.

But we can't, can we? Too weak. Too insecure. Too lazy. Too indoctrinated to deny the rationalization that makes sense out of suicide.

In reply to Yes, that's right, worry… by NoDebt

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Billy the Poet Oldwood Feb 6, 2018 11:15 PM Permalink

I could listen to you talk all day but stop bogarting the joint, man.

In reply to Illegal aliens and… by Oldwood

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peddling-fiction Mr. Universe Feb 6, 2018 10:03 PM Permalink

Everybody is already RFID'd.

Cell (mobile) Phones, ID cards, Clothing tags.

Debit/Credit cards.

Yep.

In reply to Just wait until they receive… by Mr. Universe

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bonin006 Mr. Universe Feb 6, 2018 10:28 PM Permalink

Those wristband trackers sound awfully similar to what happened in a scifi story written by a guy named Marshall Brain. Not sure when he wrote it, I read it may be 5 years ago. Instead of robots replacing workers, a software app turned the workers into virtual robots.

http://marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm

In reply to Just wait until they receive… by Mr. Universe

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heavens-door SloMoe Feb 6, 2018 10:06 PM Permalink

Whole Foods employees are among the laziest in the supermarket world. When all these Whole Foods snowflakes quit, more efficient workers from Publix, Aldi, and Save-a-lot will take their place and have 25% less work than where they were previously employeed.

In reply to Too much gluten? by SloMoe

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snodgrass SloMoe Feb 6, 2018 10:36 PM Permalink

Too much Bezos in their diet. Wait until they have to wear ankle braclets so the "boss" can tell if they are efficient enough. Maybe it will come with a zapper so he can eliminate those that don't work hard enough.

In reply to Too much gluten? by SloMoe

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Cluster_Frak Feb 6, 2018 9:51 PM Permalink

Winning.

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hedgeless_horseman Feb 6, 2018 9:52 PM Permalink

Sometimes, when I am milking the cow and spill a little bit, or let the dogs get at an egg in the henhouse, I also cry.

The stress is unbearable!

Just kidding.

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peddling-fiction hedgeless_horseman Feb 6, 2018 9:54 PM Permalink

<grin> is this a sign of your rebellious streak?

I would love to see someone TRY to remove an egg from any dog's jaws.

In reply to … by hedgeless_horseman

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hedgeless_horseman peddling-fiction Feb 6, 2018 10:03 PM Permalink

They won't dare to sneak one, if mrs_horseman is around.

But they know I am soft, and think I can't count so good anymore.

In reply to <grin> is this a sign of… by peddling-fiction

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peddling-fiction hedgeless_horseman Feb 6, 2018 10:06 PM Permalink

<chuckle>

In reply to … by hedgeless_horseman

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hedgeless_horseman peddling-fiction Feb 6, 2018 10:20 PM Permalink

She trained them well. Remind me to tell you sometime about the dead chicken and the car battery.

In reply to <chuckle> by peddling-fiction

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peddling-fiction hedgeless_horseman Feb 6, 2018 10:28 PM Permalink

Lots of Amps for a chicken (for a human as well for that matter).

In reply to … by hedgeless_horseman

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