"A Graphic Novel is Still a Book" (to the tune of "A Secretary is Not a Toy" from How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying) A graphic novel is still a book Yes, a book Take a look Stop telling your students That they shouldn't read them If they were just taking a look, yes! Remember that even you Once hated Hemingway too For god's sake just be glad It's a book. "JSTOR"…
Email us questions at advice@the-toast.net, subject line “businesslady.” Previous installments can be found here. Dear Businesslady, Should I stay with a stable, rewarding part-time job in the field I hope to get into or leave it to pursue greener (and more fun) pastures? Some context: I am 21 and will be graduating with my bachelor's degree this June. I am currently working at a part-time job in my college town I…
Email us questions at advice@the-toast.net, subject line “businesslady.” Previous installments can be found here.
Dear Businesslady,
I am set to graduate on the Annual Dean’s List in June. I will have a B.A. my major being Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences: Politics, Philosophy, & Economics, with a double major in IAS: Law & Policy. These are rather open ended, more general-skills degrees. I can research and write well, and I
Email us questions at advice@the-toast.net, subject line “businesslady.” Previous installments can be found here. Dear Businesslady,I work in a small office that has seen a lot of turnover in the past 8 months. Half the staff has moved on to other jobs and we're still working on filling some of the open positions.I have become the most senior staff, which is scary because I have been on the job for less…
Feel free to ask Aunt Acid a variety of questions at advice@the-toast.net. Previous installments can be found here. Hi Aunt Acid, I need your advice please. I am 37 years old and am in my 8th office job. I've always left my jobs because I think the grass is greener on the other side. For me it gets to the point where I feel bad waking up every morning to go to work. There…
Marissa Maciel's previous work for The Toast can be found here. After I graduated from college, a newly minted, twenty year-old psychology major, I worked at a sleep disorder clinic. The job put me in bedrooms with strangers, people who couldn’t sleep and wanted answers, and I was there to help figure out what was going on. Mostly, these people were here because they snored. When some people snore, their breathing can also slow…
Email us questions at advice@the-toast.net, subject line “businesslady.” Previous installments can be found here. Dear Businesslady,I've recently divorced my husband and moved back to my hometown to accept a job at an office where my mother used to work. She got hired when I was about six and left to start grad school when I was in high school.In high school, I had my first part-time job at this office, working…
At this point in my life I can say with confidence that I have seen a lot of penises. I have seen penises that are circumcised and uncircumcised. I have seen penises that are long, that are short, that are wide, that are narrow. I have seen penises with weird things growing off of them, with weird holes cut into them, that have been broken into a few different pieces, that have swollen
During a fundraiser, a congressman catches my eye and waves me over. He’s in the middle of a conversation but reaches out for a two armed hug as he says my name: “HEATHER!” He holds me by my shoulders and asks me how I am. “And how is mom?” Mom is good. Mom is away at Columbia University earning her Master’s in Journalism.
Dear Businesslady,My roommate is preparing for an interview for a position with a different team in the same large organization where he works. He met up with the person who referred him to the position, a former colleague, for coffee and learned for the first time that this very same person would be his supervisor if he were to get the new position. This understandably changed the tone of the conversation, and it turned…
In Colorado the lowest point is three thousand, three hundred and seventeen feet above sea level, where the Arikaree River finds Kansas, and the average elevation is just shy of seven thousand. Spanning from the Great Plains to the Colorado Plateau to the Rocky Mountains, Colorado is a floating quadrangle in the mountain west.
The summer after my freshman year in high school, I took my first real job. Not the first time I’d be working really hard or getting paid, but the first time I needed paperwork. I was 14, uncomfortable with every inch of my body, shy.
Minimum wage was $4.15 an hour, at least in Alaska, but without expenses like a car or kids or booze habit, the money added up nicely.
A few nights ago, while having drinks with friends at our rural Iowa bar, I suddenly smelled hot lavender wax. It took me a moment to realize that it was a synesthetic reaction to hearing the opening groove of Smokey Robinson’s “Cruisin’.” In the summer of 2003, that song played every hour in the soundtrack loop of the spa where I worked in New York City. Whenever Smokey came on, I would begin
Stephen Lurie's previous work for The Toast can be found here.
The modern economy requires new twists on the classic meet-and-greet office games. Use these great ice breakers to help new hires contend with the realities and demands of the ‘10s work environment, streamline workflows, and identify HR challenges.
Trust Fall
Original versions of the “trust fall” had one blindfolded participant fall backward into the arms of a
Dear Businesslady,I am deeply, frustratingly, maddeningly in love with my female boss. I am also a woman, and I identify as "mostly straight" -- I have only dated men but have had two other deep, frustrating, maddening, ultimately unrequited crushes on women. My boss is five levels above me. She is one of the heads of our company. She knows how I feel, at least in a jokey sense, because our office is…
