therealadri

therealadri

99p

120 comments posted · 69 followers · following 0

8 years ago @ The Toast - An Open Thread, and Se... · 0 replies · +7 points

Late to this because I've been traveling, but this question means a lot to me and I want to pay tribute to the Toast and this community on this day.

The past year has been NOT GREAT. (Well, the past three years, if we're being honest.) I've had carpal tunnel for 18 months. I've had a lot of job issues, finally ending with unemployment to deal with the carpal tunnel. My boyfriend and I decided to break up a month after moving in with each other. I later moved in with my mom, who is challenging. All along, I was dealing with anxiety and depression and the realization that I had no idea what to do with my life.

I started reading the Toast every day to distract me at a toxic job with no HR where my man-child boss would frequently yell at and belittle me. I was constantly on edge, always bracing myself for a random outburst. I hated everything about the job and felt so trapped. This delightful oasis of kindness and misandry was the only nice part of so many sad days.

When I badly needed a creative outlet, I found out about the Iowa MOOC here and joined the Toastie group for it. The lovely Toasties there made learning the online format less overwhelming and sharing my work less scary.

More recently – and more happily – Toasties gave me tips to prepare for a move to NYC. This is a big positive change for me and I have no idea where else I would get to crowdsource genuinely great information from thoughtful people.

Even though I was never very active in the comments, I felt like I was part of this community. And this community made me feel like the world was sane, like I had value, and like things would be all right. I am so deeply grateful to all of the people who made this space so beautiful. Thank you, the Toast. No words can ever be enough.

8 years ago @ The Toast - Link Roundup! · 1 reply · +1 points

I'll be flying!

8 years ago @ The Toast - Link Roundup! · 0 replies · +28 points

Yeah, the real problem here is the arrogance and entitlement the intern displayed by submitting a PETITION like some sort of organized rebellion of interns against their overlord. They should be there learning, asking questions, helping out, and getting help. They're not there to change the company. (Note that I had an extremely bad experience when an intern who could not even do any of his own work competently OR on time felt the need to email me, the marketing director of the company, with a list of things he thought I could be doing better. My brain short-circuited.)

8 years ago @ The Toast - Link Roundup! · 0 replies · +11 points

I was not going to buy a tote, and then the totes sold out and I was filled with regret and realized I needed one to commemorate the Toast, and now the totes are back and I have fixed my mistake.

8 years ago @ The Toast - Open Thread! · 2 replies · +9 points

Luckily, he was an extremely disorganized individual, so we didn't have meetings nearly as often as we should have. The downside was that the company was always in a state of complete clusterfuckery because no one ever knew what was going on, because we never had meetings or any other form of communication, but it meant fewer instances in which I'd have to sit through long-winded tangents spoken mushily through banana.

While I was still with that company, Mallory tweeted something to the effect of "there is no worse sound then someone you dislike eating a banana" and I felt so understood.

8 years ago @ The Toast - Open Thread! · 1 reply · +13 points

YES IT WAS TWO IT WAS TWO BANANAS SO WHEN HE FINISHED THE FIRST I HAD TO BRACE MYSELF FOR A SECOND

8 years ago @ The Toast - Open Thread! · 7 replies · +8 points

My last boss, who was horrible in every imaginable way, used to bring two bananas (TWO!) to meetings and eat them while talking. Imagine the grossest possible way that could go down and you've pictured it. I would literally gag and then try not to make eye contact with him while doing so.

8 years ago @ The Toast - Open Thread! · 0 replies · +2 points

I died at "He copied and pasted his tweets to her in text messages."

8 years ago @ The Toast - Open Thread! · 0 replies · +5 points

Thank you for creating the absolute perfect gift for an Oscar Isaac-obsessed friend of mine.

8 years ago @ The Toast - Link Roundup! · 0 replies · +2 points

I got a little teary watching it too, especially since I had just watched the Jesse Williams speech which incited the same reaction.