Local store sign about 'triggers' ignites debate on Reddit: 'Nobody's responsibility but your own'

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A Reddit poster ignited a debate about what it means to be "triggered" after sharing a sign at a local store with a warning for employees. 

"Your triggers are your responsibility," the sign read, according to the post from user xxScubaSteve24xx. "It isn't the world's obligation to tiptoe around you."

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The store owner posted the sign as a sort of parting message to a former employee, according to the user.

Social media users who saw the sign had different descriptions of what it means to be triggered. 

"I do feel like the term ‘trigger’ has been trivialized once it's started to see mainstream use," one user wrote. "There's a difference between triggers that are rooted in deeply traumatic events and things that are just annoyances."

In this April 14, 2019, photo a now hiring sign is posted at a Domino's Pizza in Jersey City, N.J. AP Photo/Jenny Kane) (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

Others supported the message, saying sometimes people who complain about triggers are trying to shut down discussion.

"I feel like this was catalyzed by a specific incident or person," another said. "And while I normally am fine respecting someone's triggers it gets ridiculous when people use that word to mean ‘things that generally upset me’ or use it to shut down discussion or get what they want."

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"Mental health is not your fault but it is your responsibility," one user, Superb_Victory_2759, wrote, which set off a sub-discussion about how people should conduct themselves in the workplace.

"Being responsible means both limiting the situations in which you get triggered, by choosing safe environments and asking for others' assistance, and developing techniques for dealing with the effects on yourself should the trigger not be able to be avoided," one user replied. 

"As few triggers as possible is the goal, as is being able to manage your responses and seek help if your symptoms need it."

Close up detail of a businessman working at a desk with a smartphone and laptop computer, taken on January 31, 2019.  ((Photo by Neil Godwin/Future via Getty Images))

"This. I have OCD and a lot of things can trigger me. I do my best to mitigate what I can and if I need a break or a boundary, I let it be known. I never ever expect people to cater to my needs," user VagueSoul agreed.

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Some argued that while one should not expect others to "cater" to their needs, one's coworkers should at least be mindful not to intentionally antagonize them.

"Absolutely agree. Whatever mental health issue you have isn't your fault, and you deserve sympathy, but it's also nobody's responsibility but your own. On the flip side of this, if you're doing something that you know is triggering someone around you, maybe stop doing it."

"In the majority of instances the general public is not responsible for filtering every possible scenario that might trigger someone. But if I work with you and I know a trigger that will cause you discomfort, or possibly even anguish, of course I will try to do everything I can to avoid it."

Unrecognizable woman has her hands together during a job performance review. Her manager is unrecognizable in the foreground taking notes. (iStock)

One user creatively compared it to being cognizant of those with peanut allergies.

"It's like peanuts," the user said. "There are lots of folks that need to avoid them. It's ultimately their job to avoid them, but we make a note if they are going to show up unexpectedly. It doesn't seem unreasonable to treat commonly troubling topics the same."

The Reddit community engaged in a similarly robust debate last week about employee behavior. A user posted a picture of a colorful local job ad warning applicants not to bother applying "if they oversleep, have no alarm clock, have no car, have court often, have no babysitter every day, have to give friends rides to work later than we start work, experience flat tires every week, have to hold on to cell phone all day," among other factors.

Employers amused by the sign shared some of the most entertaining excuses they'd heard from employees who tried to get out of work. Their reasons ranged from questionable health situations - such as one young woman who said she had a burst appendix, though it turned out "she was just hungover" - to an employee who said they had totaled their car, but it was in mint condition the following day.

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