On the bright side, it's Great Falls. No one cares what happens in Great Falls. And Butte and Billings do stupid shit, too. Missoula is just too stoned to care.

Still applicable.

And, like, the WHOLE POINT is that if you have to be extraordinary in order to get paid the same as mediocre white men, THAT’S UNFAIR.

I was once sat at a table of women during a business development seminar-y thing and every single one of us believed that we were fundamentally not that good at anything and we’d only achieved the things we had due to luck. I was really shocked by how little faith the women had in themselves... but I felt the exact…

A moose ate him.

I think I’ve spent 10% of my academic career puncturing humblebrags. My favorite thing to do is to act like what the person said truly is sad and terrible.

I like the specificity of it. “Photoshoot model.”
It’s like saying “meat butcher” or “tooth dentist.”

This is where I am. You hit a certain age/level of self awareness and you realize “I’m pretty good at some stuff, I’m vaguely competent at most stuff, I’m laughably bad at a few stuffs. Like it’s GD hilarious how bad I am.” Once you embrace the general idea of “I’m just going to be over here doing me”, I feel like you…

How about some well-placed self deprecation to divert attention from your actual faults? Like when you go, “Oh my God, I haven’t gotten my eyebrows waxed in three weeks, I look like a caveman” to distract everybody from the fact that you haven’t showered in a week and a half?

What is called then when I constantly post about how many Netflix marathons I managed to squeeze in during the weekend while also not showering/removing my sweatpants? Anti-bragging? Non-boasting? Or as I call it, “living the fucking dream, baby!!!”

Once, an 8-top of Christians left one of those “Here’s a Tip for You!” pamphlets on my table, in lieu of a cash tip. I was sort of used to this, so I didn’t remark much, just tossed it into the bus tub with the rest of the debris, and a glower.

Steakback Outhouse

I’m a little late but here goes. I worked in a Gay Dennys in Arizona and soon after gay marriage became legal, I had the most adorable elderly couple of men, one white, one black. They were seated at the counter and had on these beautiful leis. I asked if I could feel the real flowers and asked what the occasion was.…

I used to work at Starbucks, most often opening with a supervisor. One cold winter Canadian morning, I arrive to open and my supervisor is not there. I wait a little then call her, repeatedly, with no answer. Now I only live about 3 blocks away, so I could walk home, but I don’t want to be accused of leaving or not…

I love most of these, but I have mixed emotions about the apology pizza story. I’m glad in the end she completely apologized, but it was only after she realized she had the card in her own wallet.

I am now imagining Eddie Vedder taking his daughter to have tea and it’s adorable. I’m also imagining them sitting at a toddler sized table and drinking out of tiny flower-patterned teacups.

AMEN. At first I was relieved to serve at Steakback Outhouse, which had no lunch service back then, but imagine my horror when they decided to open Sunday lunch several months after opening my location. Oh, the hatred.

Reading these, I wish there was a BCO-type thing for housekeeping/hospitality stories. I’ve worked for ten+ years as a housekeeper, and you see some weird shit when you’re a housekeeper for that long.

This is the first time Behind Closed Ovens has made me almost weep with ‘my God, they’re not all assholes” joy.

Jamie Layton’s story reminds me of a famous story I heard when I was working at a regional theater festival.