Sorry to be a bother...

Imagine seeing one of these and believing you're so special that you don't drain other people's social batteries. So you get offended when you learn that you do.
- You've just charged my battery!
- Not everyone feels drained by talking to people. I'd say most people don't. Some people, a lot of people actually, get energized talking with people.
  
  Not everyone feels drained by talking to people
  And those people wouldn't be wearing this pin.
  People that feel drained from socializing feel that way with everybody.
  
  I think you described quite accurately the difference between introverts and extroverts.
  Extroverts gain energy with social interaction whereas it costs energy for introverts to be in these social interactions.
  
  I believe scientific studies say it's somewhere around half of each.
  The reason you don't see that, is because it's considered socially unacceptable to get socially drained, so we learn to hide it, usually from very young.
  
  This pin is not made for them. What is your point?
  
  oh i get energy alright, the energy and will to leave as soon as possible

Mine would always be red.
- Well maybe if you remember to plug it in every once in awhile
  
  So that's what I was doing wrong, just needed to use a plug to recharge!

Ive been considering getting one of these honestly. as an introvert there are just some days where I really don't want to talk to people but retail doesn't care about that and I need money. at least having some kind of gague seems better than just glowering and hoping i don't have to deal with small talk
- You'd just be drawing more attention to yourself... Or inviting a challenge
  
  I'd rather take that then yet another soulless 'how are you today'
  
  "let me fix that for you"
  drags it to positive

imagine flirting with someone and she slides her genderfluid pronoun pin from she/her to he/they
- That would be awesome for a person with a compatible gender. Like, you are so interesting and attractive I'm willing to expand my horizons.
- Thats gotta be the funniest fucking trans joke I have seen in A LONG TIME.
  IM NOT BEING SARCASTIC BTW, I MEAN THIS. God I wish I could give awards...
- Is this supposed to be indicating a problem because like if you like a person why should it matter what gender they are?
  
  i honestly have no idea what this would indicate i sorta spat it out automatically like an llm
  
  I thought people agreed about being born gay and stuff? Are you saying you think it's a choice?

isn't that how batteries work though

I wouldn’t take it as a slight. If they’re like me, any social interaction, even a pleasant one drains my battery

I've actually bought some of these for some autistic children I used to work with. It gave them agency, even if they weren't able to communicate it verbally.

I was thinking about gamifying spoon theory in a similar manner.
It's in Balatro style. Normally, you have a limited number of spoons each day, which you need to spend on doing things. If you overspend one day, it will raise your burnout levels and your meltdown chance, as well as having less spoons for the next few days. However you can gain various extra spoons and/or kitchen utensils, so you can have a better chance at surviving the day.
- Isn't spoon theory just a convoluted way of saying you have limited energy for daily life activities?
  
  Yes. Why spoons? Makes no sense.
  
  Yes but for some reason when you tell people you don't have energy they don't believe you. Because they think mental energy is an infinite resources you can just force out or something
- I'm a big proponent of fork theory.
  Basically, fork this shit we are all forking forked.
- spoon theory
  Thanks for introducing me to a new concept (or at least a term for it), always nice to learn something new.
- One spoon is enough for me thanks
  
  I'm literally eating with my hands right now.

I’d quite like one of these so I can adjust it down when someone says “happy Friday”.
- And it has a sharp point on the pin for when someone uses "a case of the Mondays".
- Happy Thursday

Looks like various places sell them, here's an Etsy one I found: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1596896586/my-social-battery-funny-lapel-pin-hard
- Cheaper on Aliexpress - https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805606378142.html
  
  How are they so cheap? Also how can that other person just resell them marked up and not feel like an asshat?

At first I read it as "Sorry to be a brother..." It's hard to be a sibling sometimes.

I need this exact pin. You can save some money and make it without any moving parts.

"how are you doing?"
"I'm alright"
"Oh, just alright?"
Social battery falls to zero

Everyone should own one of these.
- I came in here for a store link. 🤣
  
  Look up "social battery level pin" (through eg. Qwant or Startpage, and don't use an Amazon link or such). You'll find it.
- Extroverts dont have that AFAIK
  
  They have it the other way around
  
  They can just leave it at full.

Imagine a barista with a pin that says "Here are some of the soft skills that this job demands and which I lack."
- Yeah, this really is one of those things where if you're not okay with a little idle chatter, it's probably not the right job. And I say that out of admiration for baristas and other service workers. I tried working a service sector job when I was young and I didn't last long. I just wasn't any good at it.
  
  I feel bad for folks who are introverted and not particularly strong. Almost every job with a low barrier to entry demands a lot of physical or emotional labour.

Why is the side that says "I want to be alone" red and the social side green though?
- There is a difference between having a smaller social battery, and being asocial.
- Because it's directed at other people and instructs them on how safe it is to approach you
- this comment broke my brain

If I see anyone wearing this I will make it a mission to get it down to zero. Then I'll come up with efficient strategies to grind it down. I'll try and beat my new best time. I see this as a challenge.
But the best part is? Once it reaches zero, I leave them alone. Because I still respect them as a person
- Buddy, this is a good way to get some unlicensed dental work.
  
  Facts.
- Just wearing this isn't an open invitation for people (read: you) to be pieces of shit and nothing anyone is wearing gives you the right to monopolize their time or energy.
  What the fuck is wrong with you?
- What if they're working, or have other obligations that require social battery charge? Your personal mission may have ruined their day.
- Are you an energy vampire?
  
  YES
- semi-related but my economics teacher on the first day said "you can't offend me, I've been a national football/baseball/other sport coach for 20 years. I've been called every name in the book!"
  3rd week of school as he was talking about how socialism is the devil, showing videos of cubas abandoned builds and stuff, I said "I did the math and you make 0.0006771% of what Jeff bezos makes in a year."
  He admitted defeat but still didn't give me extra credit like he said he would as a joke :/
- Joke's on you, I would slide it down all the way to zero as soon as I leave home
  
  The smart thing to do
- "One of the best ways to drain people's energy is via the internet." —Colin Robinson
- If you were given me that attention, my gauge would go green.
  
  I am a very interesting person
- I really like brutalism, especially when contrasted with greenery. A set of brutalist apartment blocks, with ample space between each of them, which contains native flora would be rather beautiful. The space between the blocks could also be used as a communal barbeque place. Or a fitness trail.

if you can't handle dealing with endless insufferable people and decided to sign up for a barista job, then that's definitely on you
- Sometimes you have to do what you have to do to pay the bills!
  
  That probably includes not offending the customers lol
- No matter how endless or insufferable people might be, that job may still be preferable for someone than the alternative opportunities available.
  
  Assuming that the person has any other opportunities.
- Let me translate that.
  If you get overworked at an exploitative minimum wage job, then that's definitely on you
  
  There are many different minimum wage jobs out there. Speaking as an introvert who has had several of them, if small talk is that taxing for you then you should consider a job with less intrinsic social requirements.
- this just drained my battery
- Hey look it's a comment from the parallel universe where we live in an anarcho communist society and don't have to work to live. What's it like being able to make coersion-free choices about how to spend your time?
- Exactly, just be born to rich parents smh my head
- Very classy, victim-blaming people that need to eat and pay rent.
  
  i was a barista for well over 10 years (as an introvert to boot). it's 100% a side gig. it may cover some food and gas, but NO ONE is paying rent with barista pay, especially since they cut labor every time it's "slow" for 20 minutes.
  i stayed there because of the free pound of coffee every week and flexibility, but don't act like it's always the only thing between the workers and homelessness
  
  on the one hand, victim blaming is bad, and we shouldn't do that. On the other hand, there isn't a shortage of bullshit dead end jobs that don't require previous experience, so you can absolutely get a job that is more or less customer facing if need be.

Someone has seen that in german? Hard to find in all that noise of psychology books.

- Red = I inform people on my current mental state
  Green = I inform people on my current mental state
  Wearing pin at all = I inform people on my current mental state
  Taking care of yourself is step 1 to being good to others. Ignoring your depletion only leads to growth of anger and worsening relationships with people around you. Ain't it better to let them know you're not in the mood and this has nothing to do with them personally?
- It isn't supposed to say "I don't want to talk to you", but rather "I'd love to talk to you, but I'm exhausted". They'll also probably still talk to you, but just won't be able to be as energetic.
- How is 🙂 an asshole mood though?

YES