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FREAK OUT FRIDAY – September 25, 2020

I remember the days when a week could go by and you wouldn’t even register the fact that we had a president, much less be aware of some stupid thing that he had said or done.  Unfortunately the past four years that hasn’t happened.  It seems not a week has gone by where Trump hasn’t found a




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FREAK OUT FRIDAY – OCTOBER 2, 2020

We will not laugh. This is serious business. We are * heh * we are adults here and we will not laugh at the situation.  There are * heh heh * there are lives on the line and we will not chuckle, guffaw or otherwise spread any sense of amusement over the… …the… BWWAAAAAHAAHAHAHAAHAAHAHHHHHHAAAAA Ha. Okay.  Okay,




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FREAK OUT FRIDAY – October 8, 2020

It’s astounding how election day seems to both be speeding toward us and simultaneously taking its own freaking sweet time.  As fast as it’s moving, it’s also taking forever.  We are becoming that desperate to get Trump out of office that every day he’s still there seems like ten. It’s also been ten days since Trump came




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FREAK OUT FRIDAY – October 16, 2020

I did as I said I would:  I watched “Supernatural,” and don’t regret it for a moment.  I then tuned in to watch the last half hour of Biden:  he seemed natural, relaxed, and sane. Then, in order to write this column, I sat down and watched the Trump town hall on Youtube.    I am producing this commentary




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FREAK OUT FRIDAY – October 30, 2020

We have neighbors down the street with whom we had developed a sort of tradition.  Every year we’d go over to their house on New Year’s Eve.  We’d celebrate the end of the old year, watch the ball drop in Times Square.  I’d sing “Edelweiss” for some reason because the wife loved the way I did that song.  It




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7 More Things That Should Never Be On Cake

And now, as a service to our readers' dieting endeavors:

7 MORE Things That Should Never Be On Cake

7. Anything that looks like a spleen

Also, why is the spleen the go-to organ for icky descriptions? You never hear someone say, "Hey, that organesque thing sure looks like a gallbladder!" Which begs the questions: is "organesque" a word? 'Cuz if not, it totally should be.

6. Shrimp

Because shrimp.

5. Nipples

Hey, don't get me wrong; nipples are great. Heck, I even have one myself. But cake should not have nipples. It just shouldn't. And the fact that I had to bring that sentence into the world makes me seriously question the direction this country is going.

4. Ants

Because anything I spend time and money trying to kill should not be something I have to pick off my cake.

3. Actual Feathers Plucked From Actual Birds

Let me get this straight: you jammed real feathers into the icing you expect me to eat?

So how about I fetch a beaver pelt and throw that sucker on there, too? Because if there's one thing we've learned about cake decorating, it's that animal outsides are both appetizing and completely sanitary!

2. Mold

BAKERS WHY DO I EVEN HAVE TO EXPLAIN THIS WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE.

1. Back hair

Actually, this is kind of hilarious.

Assuming those are chocolate shavings, of course.

***

SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME THOSE ARE CHOCOLATE SHAVINGS.

Thanks to wreckporters Kathryn B., Kerrigan W., Ashlee, Kelly G., Rocky J., Tami F., & Anony M. for the inspiration to just have a salad today.





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Romantic Times Rewind: October 1988 Ads & Features

In this week’s podcast episode, we’re looking at the glorious  ads and features for the October/November 1988 issue of RT Magazine. Thank you to Amy M. for this issue! You can also find all the RTRW content at our category page for Romantic Times Rewind.  If you want to listen and follow along with this entry, we have more detail in the audio, but you can click play and listen and read and absorb all … Continue reading Romantic Times Rewind: October 1988 Ads & Features




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637. RT Rewind October 1988 Ads & Features

It’s time for the Ads & Features of the October 1988 (!!) issue of Romantic Times Magazine. Y’all. We’ve got: Vintage gossip! Blind items that are very easy to guess! Danielle Steel’s two blue Mercedes! Fuchsia covers with giant flowers and startled animals! Riverboat gambler romance heroes! And a truly paltry obituary for an extraordinary author. It’s 1988. Fuchsia. So much fuchsia. Blanket content warning for romances written in the late 80s. Be ready for … Continue reading 637. RT Rewind October 1988 Ads & Features



  • Romantic Times Rewind

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Book Beat: A Cozy Camping Romance, a Fantasy Mystery, & More

Welcome to Book Beat! Book Beat aims to highlight other books that we may hear about through friends, social media, or other sources. We could see a gorgeous ad! Or find a new-to-us author on a list of underrated romances! Think of Book Beat as Teen Beat or Tiger Beat, but for books. And no staples to open to get the fold-out poster.




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SBTB Bestsellers: October 5 – October 18

This week’s bestseller list is brought to you by sweet and salty snacks, a weighted heating pad, and our affiliate sales data!




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Hide Your Wallet: October 22nd Release Week!

Happy Tuesday! A bit of a bite-sized Hide Your Wallet this week, with one release leftover from late last week that I neglected to include. I can hardly believe October is nearly over! Time to consult my November TBR pile, so it doesn’t sneak up on me. Which releases are you excited about this week? Let us know in the comments!




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HaBO: He’s Described as a Lion with Tawny Eyes

This HaBO comes from Kiruthika, who is trying to find this Mills & Boon romance. Content warning for mentions of abuse and rape: It’s a 70s or 80s Mills and Boon that my mom had that I sneakily read as a 12 year old! The cover was white with a couple embracing, fair haired woman and darker haired man. He’s described to be lion like in movement and has tawny eyes. I remember that part … Continue reading HaBO: He’s Described as a Lion with Tawny Eyes



  • Help a Bitch Out

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Strange Beasts by Susan J. Morris

Strange Beasts is so much fun that the minute I finished the book, I downloaded the audio for my husband to listen to. This is a paranormal adventure meets gothic mystery with a sapphic love story intertwined in all of that. It has shades of Penny Dreadful, non stop action, and it’s just a blast to read. The novel takes place in an alternate Victorian era where paranormal creatures openly exist with human beings. Sam … Continue reading Strange Beasts by Susan J. Morris




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Whatcha Reading? October 2024, Part Two

Happy Saturday and welcome back to Whatcha Reading! Here’s how we’re wrapping up October: Lara: To quote my psychiatrist, ‘pregnancy is a potent and unique stressor’ so I’ve temporarily abandoned my ARCs and I’ve started a reread of Murderbot. Ten out of ten! Shana: There’s no better comfort than a Murderbot reread. I just finished a m/m Beauty and the Beast retelling, Briarley by Aster Glenn Gray, where the father who finds the cursed castle … Continue reading Whatcha Reading? October 2024, Part Two




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Hide Your Wallet: October 29th Release Week!

Happy Tuesday! It’s a short and sweet release week for us at SBTB HQ! For us, there are only three books that make the list this week. From here on out, things seem to slow down a little bit as we approach the end of the year and the major holiday season. What books are on your list this week? Let us know in the comments!




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639. RT Rewind: November 2015 Reviews

It’s time to take a look at the new books in November 2015 inside Romantic Times! We’ve got spanking and small towns, and a magazine that seems more targeted toward aspiring writers than readers. That yielded a mixed bag! But we have some books to talk about so let’s get to it! So many small town contemporaries, so many historicals, so many Four Star reviews with word salad. And some cat poo. TW/CW: very brief … Continue reading 639. RT Rewind: November 2015 Reviews



  • Romantic Times Rewind

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November 2024 Queer Romances

The temps are lowering, the holidays are coming, and ’tis the season to treat yourself! (Note: for a solid self-gift this month in the queer romance realm, check out the new edition of Alyssa Cole’s How to Find a Princess, coming in trade paperback for the first time on November 12th!)




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SBTB Bestsellers: October 19 – November 1

Our latest bestseller list is brought to you by crunchy leaves, discounted bags of candy, and our affiliate sales data.




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Cover Awe: Immaculate Vibes

Welcome back to Cover Awe! Cover illustration by Syd Mills From Cleo: Just look at it! It’s gorgeous. And it fits the book perfectly – a moody, sexy Sapphic UF romance between an ex-demon hunter with angelic blood and the demon sent to seduce and destroy her. Sarah: jaw hanging open. Amanda: It gives me renaissance painting vibes. Cover art and design by Katie Anderson Sarah: Hits a LOT of the trends Amanda and I … Continue reading Cover Awe: Immaculate Vibes




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Hide Your Wallet; November 5th Release Week!

Welcome back to Hide Your Wallet! Just a small handful of books for us this week. I also wouldn’t blame publishers if they decided to bump release weeks to another Tuesday. We have dark fairytales, cozy fantasy, ponies, and more! Which books are on your radar this week? Let us know what’s on your TBR pile!




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Whatcha Reading? November 2024, Part One

Welcome back to Whatcha Reading! This is where we talk about what we’ve been reading, if you couldn’t have guessed. Lara: Still Murderbot and I could not be more happy about it! May it last forever! Sarah: I mentioned this in the post for Election Day but I saved three Richard Osman books and didn’t know what I was saving them for. Now I know! I think I’m starting with the new one We Solve … Continue reading Whatcha Reading? November 2024, Part One




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Be Yay Do Crimes

Yay has the worst poker face(s) in history




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Beyond Top Secret




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maybe if you smiled

Today on Toothpaste For Dinner: maybe if you smiled


This RSS feed is brought to you by Drew and Natalie's podcast Garbage Brain University. Our new series Everything Is Real explores the world of cryptids, aliens, quantum physics, the occult, and more. If you use this RSS feed, please consider supporting us by becoming a patron. Patronage includes membership to our private Discord server and other bonus material non-patrons never see!




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just vibes

Today on Toothpaste For Dinner: just vibes


This RSS feed is brought to you by Drew and Natalie's podcast Garbage Brain University. Our new series Everything Is Real explores the world of cryptids, aliens, quantum physics, the occult, and more. If you use this RSS feed, please consider supporting us by becoming a patron. Patronage includes membership to our private Discord server and other bonus material non-patrons never see!




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little free libraries should have beer

Today on Toothpaste For Dinner: little free libraries should have beer


This RSS feed is brought to you by Drew and Natalie's podcast Garbage Brain University. Our new series Everything Is Real explores the world of cryptids, aliens, quantum physics, the occult, and more. If you use this RSS feed, please consider supporting us by becoming a patron. Patronage includes membership to our private Discord server and other bonus material non-patrons never see!




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anyone can be a father

Today on Toothpaste For Dinner: anyone can be a father


This RSS feed is brought to you by Drew and Natalie's podcast Garbage Brain University. Our new series Everything Is Real explores the world of cryptids, aliens, quantum physics, the occult, and more. If you use this RSS feed, please consider supporting us by becoming a patron. Patronage includes membership to our private Discord server and other bonus material non-patrons never see!




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liberal leftist

Today on Toothpaste For Dinner: liberal leftist


This RSS feed is brought to you by Drew and Natalie's podcast Garbage Brain University. Our new series Everything Is Real explores the world of cryptids, aliens, quantum physics, the occult, and more. If you use this RSS feed, please consider supporting us by becoming a patron. Patronage includes membership to our private Discord server and other bonus material non-patrons never see!




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my past life was better i think

Today on Toothpaste For Dinner: my past life was better i think


This RSS feed is brought to you by Drew and Natalie's podcast Garbage Brain University. Our new series Everything Is Real explores the world of cryptids, aliens, quantum physics, the occult, and more. If you use this RSS feed, please consider supporting us by becoming a patron. Patronage includes membership to our private Discord server and other bonus material non-patrons never see!




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people should be less greedy

Today on Toothpaste For Dinner: people should be less greedy


This RSS feed is brought to you by Drew and Natalie's podcast Garbage Brain University. Our new series Everything Is Real explores the world of cryptids, aliens, quantum physics, the occult, and more. If you use this RSS feed, please consider supporting us by becoming a patron. Patronage includes membership to our private Discord server and other bonus material non-patrons never see!




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before you say no

Today on Toothpaste For Dinner: before you say no


This RSS feed is brought to you by Drew and Natalie's podcast Garbage Brain University. Our new series Everything Is Real explores the world of cryptids, aliens, quantum physics, the occult, and more. If you use this RSS feed, please consider supporting us by becoming a patron. Patronage includes membership to our private Discord server and other bonus material non-patrons never see!




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im not doing my best

Today on Toothpaste For Dinner: im not doing my best


This RSS feed is brought to you by Drew and Natalie's podcast Garbage Brain University. Our new series Everything Is Real explores the world of cryptids, aliens, quantum physics, the occult, and more. If you use this RSS feed, please consider supporting us by becoming a patron. Patronage includes membership to our private Discord server and other bonus material non-patrons never see!




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shouldnt be worried

Today on Toothpaste For Dinner: shouldnt be worried


This RSS feed is brought to you by Drew and Natalie's podcast Garbage Brain University. Our new series Everything Is Real explores the world of cryptids, aliens, quantum physics, the occult, and more. If you use this RSS feed, please consider supporting us by becoming a patron. Patronage includes membership to our private Discord server and other bonus material non-patrons never see!




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believe in yoursel

Today on Toothpaste For Dinner: believe in yoursel


This RSS feed is brought to you by Drew and Natalie's podcast Garbage Brain University. Our new series Everything Is Real explores the world of cryptids, aliens, quantum physics, the occult, and more. If you use this RSS feed, please consider supporting us by becoming a patron. Patronage includes membership to our private Discord server and other bonus material non-patrons never see!




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spelled bubes

Today on Toothpaste For Dinner: spelled bubes


This RSS feed is brought to you by Drew and Natalie's podcast Garbage Brain University. Our new series Everything Is Real explores the world of cryptids, aliens, quantum physics, the occult, and more. If you use this RSS feed, please consider supporting us by becoming a patron. Patronage includes membership to our private Discord server and other bonus material non-patrons never see!




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just because i said

Today on Toothpaste For Dinner: just because i said


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ill probably be normal

Today on Toothpaste For Dinner: ill probably be normal


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Mother bans adult daughter from family Thanksgiving after she refuses to host the event: 'I made it very clear she needed to stay true to her word and if she dumped it on someone else she wouldn't be going to Thanksgiving'

Hosting events is a lot of work; there's a house to be cleaned, food to be prepped, and a lot of general setup that needs to be taken care of. When it's family, it's even more so to do—it's probably a good idea to hide the things your family won't approve of and save yourself the judgment.

Family hosting schedules help to ease the burden of any one person having to host too often, and the reality is that for a member of the family to drop from hosting duties places a disproportionate amount of responsibility on the other members of the family to host additional events.

The problem is this assumes that each member of the family is equally able to host in the first place. The reality is this is never the case. Some people, usually older members of the family, have homes with more space for hosting more people and the space to store the things necessary for hosting a large family. Many of us, particularly in our younger adult years, live in spaces that we'd be horrified to let our family into.




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After being denied a raise, employee resigns and accepts job at rival company, boss rejects the resignation and offers a 50% raise instead: ‘I couldn't refuse’

When you know you are a valued employee, one your company cannot afford to lose, you have a lot of leverage when negotiating benefits and pay. The problem is, unless you actually threaten to quit, companies will not be in a rush to give you more than they think you deserve, which is usually much less than what you do deserve. 

So employees threaten to quit, and some manage to get what they want from their current company, and some end up actually quitting and getting a better deal somewhere else.

The employee in this Reddit story (OP, original poster) got the best of both worlds, since they already had another job lining up when they handed in their resignation letter. Their boss, who previously refused to give OP a raise, decided to reject the resignation and offer OP exactly what they wanted, which meant OP now had two offers, and a big decision to make.

Scroll down to read how the story ends. After you are done, click here for a story of a food company that refused to listen to their QAs' advice, and launched a terrible new sauce nobody wanted.




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'My dad’s beautiful brain started thinking': Karen neighbor insists HOA remove neighbor's boat from view, neighbor maliciously complies with her demands

Minding your business? This woman has never heard of such a thing. She's being a rather nosy neighbor, as u/Ok-One-3240 shared in their family's story of malicious compliance

Some people just can't help being busybodies. They have too much time on their hands, and they're going to make it everyone else's problem, too. This person shares that their family enjoyed living in a gated community, and they spent a good amount of time using their boat. Each weekend, they'd take the boat out for a few days, then store it again for the rest of the week. As long as the boat wasn't within view of the street, their local HOA had no problem with it. That's a common issue that people seem to have with their HOAs… who cares if you can see someone's boat? It's a pretty frivolous rule in the first place, and this person mentions that their HOA didn't really enforce the rule too strongly.

Then along comes this busybody neighbor who decides to make it her mission to bug the boat family. Read the whole dramatic story below. 

Up next, read about what happened when this 17-year-old babysat her aunt's kids and helped herself to a piece of cake… from a dessert that cost $90! 




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'Leaving was the best thing I did': Employer of 3 years hires new employee at $30k higher than experienced worker, they quit

It's no secret that a lot of employers in as many industries allocate more budget to hiring than they do to staff retention. This is a bit silly when you consider that large organizations will go on to spend tens of thousands of dollars on recruiting, onboarding, and training processes—in addition to value lost due to lost time and productivity of vacant roles. Though some of this cost is silent or not immediately apparent on the books and, in contrast, the idea of approving even half that money in the upfront cost of giving a raise is daunting. While this is an organizational flaw that often occurs, there are, of course, more intentional reasons why employers choose not to give their workers even deserved raises.

Whatever the reason or cause, unfortunately, this ends up with a turnover of the most experienced staff who are frustrated at their own lack of advancement and pay that is falling behind the market rate, discovering that new hires are being paid more than them despite their experience and contribution.

That's what this worker in a "niche" field discovered had happened when they learned that their employer of 3 years had hired a new hire at $30k more than they were currently earning. Frustrated, they found a new job as fast as possible.




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'McDonalds Karen yells at my kid': Top Karens of the Week (November 10, 2024)

One thing remains true: the Karens of this world will always be lurking around, ready to pounce as soon as they feel entitled to do so.

On one level, how could you not envy the complete lack of a filter and the audacity to start drama without any fear of consequences? But of course, on another level, who wants to carry that much negativity around with them at all times? This week, we have compiled a brand new collection of amusing Karens pulling the same old tricks. We've got the classic Karen who parked her car in the wrong space, a fast-food Karen customer who threw a temper tantrum at a child, and even a Redditor who didn't realize she was a Karen until folks in the comments section gave her a reality check.

Keep scrolling below for the top Karens of the week. For more compilations like this, take a look at this list of employees who got petty with their entitled customers.




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30 Memes to Cheer You Up Before the Workday Drags You Down

Hello, fellow employees, it's time for another day of corporate purgatory. It's the same every single day, like we're living in a never-ending Black Mirror episode. We wake up, contemplate whether or not to call in sick, decide not to, stumble in late to work anyway, and end up sitting at our desks getting paid to send emails and watch the grueling minutes tick by until 5 p.m. Then we commute home, spend the rest of the evening dreading another day of work, and repeat. 

If this sounds a little too relatable, you're in desperate need of some meme therapy. Make your morning a little less dreadful by checking out this compilation of memes made for those of us running on fumes. This week has been tough, to say the least, and we're still trying to adjust to the time change that snuck up on us (like it doesn't happen at the same time every year). So, let's take a collective mental reset and grab some much-needed laughs from these memes below.




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‘I got extra pay, a box of chocolates, [and] an apology': Karen gets fired after screaming for 40 minutes at a customer service rep because they refuse to break company policy

Is it really so difficult to be kind to the customer service person trying to troubleshoot your problem over the phone? I get it, everything's falling to pieces on your end, but it doesn't make any logical sense to be unsavory to the one person who can actually help you.  

This Karen in our next story proved that being aggressive over the phone doesn't get you everything you want, and sometimes it can get you fired…. Or maybe even investigated by the Feds. 

Imagine, this customer service employee was about 15 seconds from clocking out for the day–it was Friday at 4:59:45 PM and they were grabbing their coats on their way out and the blasted phone rang. Seeing that the number was from an internal caller, as in, someone within their company, the employee thought this would be a simple thing to solve and that they could make quick work of their coworker's problem. Except, the woman on the other end of the line wasn't looking for solutions, she was looking for a customer service rep to break the rules for her. 

Keep scrolling to see how a 40-minute IT support call turned into an apology letter, a box of chocolates, and an immediate, dishonorable resignation. 




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'I didn't even think it was possible to get fired at orientation': 20+ Employees who were stunned to be fired for their big mistakes

In case you've never considered it before, yes, you can get fired at your job orientation. It probably makes things easier for the hiring team. Why bother hiring a person who can't even make it through the first few days of the gig?

Some people get hired at a job, but they make it clear from day one that they're just utterly uninterested in doing work for even a minute. One guy chose to only work from 10 AM-12 PM each day, which is iconic of him, and I wish him all the best. Another woman became notorious for her habit of refusing to work, and only riding the office tricycle all day! It's pretty startling that some people make it so blatantly obvious how little they want to work. Have some subtlety! Just do what a lot of higher-ups do and work half a day, grab a long lunch with your coworkers, then claim you're taking a phone meeting and leave at 3 PM. How hard could it be to get away with that? Keep scrolling to read some of the funniest stories about coworkers getting fired early on. 

After that, read the tale of the babysitter who ate about $25 of a $90 cake, and the woman she babysat for (her own aunt!) wants to be repaid ASAP. 




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28-year-old employee flirts with supposedly single 40-year-old coworker, turns out she's been married for 16 years: 'She was lying about being single'

Here is another example of why one should never try to form a romantic attachment with a coworker. It never works out for a plethora of potential reasons. In this instance, however, the reasons had less to do with the professional side of things and more to do with this lying coworker's personal life.

The Redditor described how their close friend, a 28-year-old male employee at their company, had been engaging in continuous flirtations with his 40-year-old female coworker, who had led everyone in the office to believe that she was single. These weren't assumptions; she was actively advertising her single lifestyle to anyone who would listen. The younger employee even took her out on several dates, and the two seemed to be keeping their romantic lives and their professional lives separate.

Unfortunately for the younger guy, he and the Redditor discovered that she had been hiding her marriage of over 16 years. When the employee decided to get even with his coworker, things went south very quickly and HR ended up getting involved. Keep scrolling below for the full story. For more, check out this post about a company that tried to steal a job candidate's idea.




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Boss contacts former employee asking for forgotten passwords, employee refuses to comply without being paid the $10,000 they were owed before leaving: ‘Pay me first’

When one leaves a job in which they didn't like their boss, there are two things they might hope for any future interaction with said boss – Either no interaction at all and completely severing any connection with that person, or getting to see them one more time and proving to them just how much that boss missed out on by letting them go.

Out of those two options, the best stories obviously come from the latter, much like the story we have here. OP (original poster) was contacted by their former toxic boss and was asked to retrieve old passwords for an email and Instagram account. Considering how OP left that company, they weren't too eager to help their former boss, especially since they were still owed $10k of unpaid commissions. The people in the comments were quick to tell OP to use this opportunity and get that money in exchange for the passwords.

Keep scrolling to read the full story. Up next, check out this story of a job candidate who got a second chance by creating a new email address.




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25 of the Best Test Fails This Week (November 11, 2024)

No one forgets the experience of seeing a question on an exam and realizing you have absolutely no idea what to put down. If you could cough up a decent answer, you would. However, this time, you are completely stumped.

Perhaps you're not used to this phenomenon. Perhaps you were the kind of student who always studied and yet, for whatever reason, the topic presented in this one question was a complete blind spot for you in your preparation. If you're clever, you can find a way to connect the question to an adjacent, related topic that you do know something about. Unfortunately, sometimes, there is no dancing around the reality that you can't smooth talk your way out of this one. A lot of these students had fun with the fact that they were 100% failing their exams. After all, if you're going to fail, you might as well fail gloriously.

Keep scrolling below for this collection of exam fails. For more content like this, check out these employees who got petty with their customers.