The Stratagem’s Archive

Category: Work and Life

  • Take Control When Adults Don’t Listen: Lessons from the Rage Room

    When Adults Forget the Rules

    Working in a rage room is unpredictable.

    People come in to let off steam, but sometimes they forget that rules still apply.

    That night, a group of adults ignored my instructions entirely. I had told them their time was up. I made eye contact, warned them, and walked away.

    They slammed their weapons against the metal anyway.

    It was infuriating—but it taught me a critical lesson: how to handle adults who can act like overgrown children.

    And when this happens, you need a method to reclaim control.

    Using Controlled Force

    In a noisy environment like the rage room, yelling doesn’t always work. So I used controlled force: I firmly pounded my fist against the door to reinforce my presence, signaling they needed to pay attention, then entered the room.

    When I asked them again if they were done, and they said yes, I moved them out of the room.

    Simple, firm, non-negotiable.

    It wasn’t aggression, not in a visceral sense—it was clarity, presence, and boundaries in action.

    If you’re like me and are learning to set boundaries and be firm as an adult, then know it will feel uncomfortable at first, but it is a necessary muscle that needs exercising.

    Lessons You Can Apply

    • Be clear with your instructions: People often ignore rules because they think someone else will enforce them.
    • Use presence over physical force: You don’t need to tap anyone’s shoulder to be taken seriously. Body position, gestures, and a calm, firm voice go a long way.
    • Assert your boundaries: You don’t need to explain, apologize, or justify. Enforcement is the signal people respond to.
    • Learn from one-off experiences: That night was a one-off, but they are bound to repeat. Learning now equips you for similar situations.

    These are skills I practiced in real time—calm authority, controlled force, and follow-through—and they can apply anywhere you face disregard.

    Take Action Today

    Next time someone ignores your instructions or crosses boundaries, try controlled presence:

    • Stand in a visible position.
    • Use deliberate gestures to signal attention.
    • Speak clearly and firmly.
    • Follow through without apologizing or overexplaining.

    This works in high-stress jobs, meetings, or even day-to-day interactions where people try to push you around.

    Apply This Now

    Have you ever had to assert control when someone ignored the rules?

    Try using controlled force method, share your story in the comments below. If you found this post helpful, feel free to like it, share it, or hit the wave button to support the archives!

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    Want To Explore More Rage Room Takes?

    Below you can explore with me how rage rooms can be an essential tool to our mental health and how they become a place where people leave their mark in plain sight.

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  • Staying Safe in Extreme Weather: When Work Keeps Calling

    When Work Won’t Close For Your Safety

    Have you ever been trapped in a storm, sitting in your car, gripping the wheel so tight it feels like your knuckles might explode, thinking, “I could be anywhere else right now—safely”?

    That was me at 4:30 a.m., driving through torrential rain, lightning flashing 18 times since I parked, and wind so strong it felt like it might push me off the road.

    Heavy rain, high winds, and floods had been battering our island for over a week. Sure, we need the rain to keep the greenery alive—but Mother Nature was working overtime.

    I work in a warehouse, and part of my job means hauling freight from the yard into the building. In ideal conditions, that’s fine. But today? Not so much.

    By the ninth lightning flash, one of them was so bright I felt momentarily blinded. Luckily, the road was straight and empty—but it made me think: why do jobs expect us to risk ourselves in conditions like this?

    Why Am I Working During a Storm?

    Simple question. Complicated answer.

    I can’t afford to look for another job right now.

    Life throws curveballs—rising rent, bills, fractured sleep, and jobs that expect you to treat your safety like an optional bonus. My assets are already set to go to my parents if something happens. Because nothing says “good morning” like questioning your mortality at 4:30 a.m., right?

    I’d love to work from home, write, or do something dry and safe. But my current job literally pays me to work out—just not under these conditions.

    So the goal for today? Survive. And maybe, just maybe, make it home in one piece.

    The Reality of Hazard Pay—or the Lack Thereof

    A little extra compensation in extreme weather would be nice. Even if it only happened once in a while, it would show management that they value our safety. But wishful thinking aside, the storm doesn’t care about your paycheck—it’s just going to keep raining. And we just keep working.

    If You Made It to the End

    Thanks for reading my work rant.

    Most of us have had days when we’d rather be anywhere else than at work—especially in extreme weather.

    And while this is my personal experience, the underlying reality touches many: jobs sometimes expect us to treat ourselves as invincible.

    If this story resonates, feel free to like, comment, subscribe, or share with someone else questioning why they’re out in the storm.

    What’s the worst weather you’ve had to work through?

    Explore The Archives

    I write about more than just questioning my life choices at 4 a.m.

    You’ll find posts on:

    Feel free to explore the archives or check out some of my other posts.

    Otherwise, I’ll see you all after I survive Mother Nature—and my job’s decision to stay open, rain or shine.

    Wish me luck.

    Update: Mother Nature is Off The Clock

    Never mind. I woke up earlier this morning, the rain had settled, the clouds were slowly dispersing, the sun was slowly peaking through the haze, and now it is hot!

    Like clothes sticking to your skin uncomfortably hot.

    At least I don’t have to worry about getting struck by lightning or drenched to the bone in the torrential rain anymore.

  • The Writings on the (Rage Room) Walls — Are We Striving to Leave Something Behind?

    The Walls Are Covered in Writing From Ceiling to Floor

    When I first started working at the rage room part-time months ago, two things immediately caught my eye:

    1) how my eyes burned from how bright the black lighting was.

    2) how much history—from names to social handles to straight-up graffiti—had been scrawled across every wall and ceiling over the four years this place has been open.

    As I became an employee, I never questioned why people were more excited to write on the walls than to break plates or spray neon paint.

    It took me over five months to realize something quietly profound—somewhere between the crashes of sledgehammers on glass and the clang of crowbars on wood.

    I started to wonder:

    Why do we write books? Compose songs? Build companies? Contribute to something larger, even in small ways?

    And then it hit me.

    I was asking the same question I’d been quietly asking about my own blog, The Stratagem’s Archive.

    Is my blog really all that different from a rage room wall—an ever-growing collage of words, reflections, and fleeting marks? An attempt to leave something behind, knowing it could just as easily be painted over one day?

    The more I thought about it, the more I realized how similar it was. The excitement of writing something meaningful, not knowing who will see it—or if anyone ever will. And yet, we do it anyway.

    Maybe, in the end, we’re all just trying to leave some kind of proof that we were here.

    People’s Excitement is Palpable Towards Those Bright Neon Pens

    Every group that’s come through before and after my time here has one thing in common: they always write something on the walls.

    I’ve seen names, birthdays, and declarations of love written in neon pinks and greens. I’ve seen angry messages—“I hate your guts and hope you suffer”—scribbled right next to doodles of anime characters or someone’s best friend’s name with a heart around it.

    Once, a couple came in for their anniversary. After their session, they asked if they could write on the walls. I said yes.

    When I checked back, I saw their names written in a gorgeous, looping scrawl right across the mural of angel wings—the one spot we ask people not to touch because it’s meant for photos and memories.

    My coworker wiped it off minutes later. We both knew it had to go. But as the ink faded, I couldn’t stop wondering if, for that couple, those few neon words were their way of saying, “We were here. We loved. We lived.”

    When I brought that up, my 21-year-old coworker told me, “Don’t think too hard about it.”

    So, naturally, I thought too hard about it—and wrote this instead.

    Would It Be So Wrong to Not Be Remembered?

    Let’s ask something uncomfortable:

    Would it really be so bad if we weren’t remembered?

    We’ve built entire systems to preserve names—colleges, hospitals, parks, cars, snack brands. Hershey. Ford. John Hopkins. Epicurus. Confucius. We build monuments to the idea of being remembered.

    But what if the quiet act of living fully was enough?

    I don’t advertise my real name anywhere on my blog. I don’t have social media. I’m practically a ghost in the modern world. And honestly? I like it that way.

    Sure, The Stratagem’s Archive is public. Anyone can stumble across it, read my reflections, and wander through my archives. But this is my mask. My little corner of anonymity and freedom.

    I don’t want to be famous. I just want to leave something honest behind—something that glows quietly for a while before it fades under the next coat of paint.

    Because maybe that’s enough.

    Maybe we don’t need to be remembered forever—just long enough for our light to touch someone else’s, even for a moment.

    Reflection and Call to Action

    Thanks for spending a few minutes here in the Archive with me. If this reflection sparked something in you, share it, like it, or subscribe to follow along for more quiet musings, prompts, and experiments.

    Or, if you’d rather stay anonymous, you can always send me your thoughts directly at—whatimtryingoutnow@gmail.com—I read every message. Whether you write publicly or quietly, we all leave our marks somewhere.

    Here’s to leaving them with intention, even if they someday fade.

    Reflections of Rage Rooms and Memories: