It seems that one of the most challenging aspects of being a father is getting a genuine laugh out of your kids. It's as if children are conditioned to be embarrassed by the very utterance of words in public from their fathers. Even when dads crack the occasionally great joke (which, in and of itself, is admittedly a rare occurrence), most kids stifle laughter. At best, they have trouble suppressing the slightest guffaw. For a dad, that slightest guffaw means the world. In fact, it says so much…

A Christmas miracle doesn't always need to stem from a theatrical gesture

At some point, when you've been around the workplace for a while and seen plenty of other people come and go—possibly a great many, depending on your company's turnover and staff retention policies—you'll be asked to start training. Of course, this won't necessarily mean that you're any closer to a promotion, but theoretically, it could—just don't count on it. Not only have you been there for a while, but you probably haven't gotten a raise in a while either, so when the new hire lets slip how…

It's the holiday season once again! Families around the world will gather together to celebrate. Maybe you look forward to these holiday parties yourself! Walking into a warm cozy home full of smiling faces, gifts for all, and plenty of delicious food is the start to a great holiday. However, once you start seriously dating someone, you realize that you'll have to choose where to spend the holidays. Everyone has a different approach to this: some continue to go to their respective parent's home…

As if dropping $100k+ on your first downpayment isn't stressful enough...

Merry Christmas to this project manager, who successfully showed his arrogant bosses what's what. Sometimes, the only way to prove your value when you have been repeatedly wronged in the workplace is to make your bosses feel what business is like in your absence. Here , we have a contractor who built himself up from someone with no construction experience to the most valuable project manager at his company, working as foreman, superintendent, and project manager for a wildly lower salary. After…

It only cost one tree for this man to destroy his entire online presence—personal and professionally.

Work holiday parties are a delicate concoction of forced holiday cheer and awkward social experiments. Case in point: the infamous White Elephant gift exchange. For those who've never played, it's a game where everyone brings a wrapped present, and the fun begins as gifts are opened, stolen, and swapped in a battle for glory—or, at least, the coolest gift under $20. Sure, seeing who ends up with what is fun (bonus points if you get to steal from the office food thief ), but let's not sugarcoat…

"He starts yelling on the phone to the point where I almost had to remove my headset."

Worker benefits these days just aren't what they used to be. Instead of a lifetime job at one company, making enough money to feed a family of 5 and have leftovers for vacations and cars, a lot of workers these days are struggling. The working force of America is working two or three jobs, many have to live with roommates instead of owning property, and they dream about having a 401k someday. That said, a lot of employees do still like their jobs, benefits or not. But it's not like you can forc…

Let this story serve as a friendly reminder that no matter what anyone says about it, you are entitled to discuss your salary with others in the workplace. Of course, that kind of transparency is exactly the opposite of what your employers want you to do. That kind of transparency, however, can expose systemic flaws that all employees should be aware of regardless of whether or not those in charge want you to know about it. Here , we have an employee who knew his rights and advocated for himsel…

Good teachers are extremely hard to come by, so when a school gets a hold of a teacher who is loved by the students, the parents, and other teachers, you'd think the school would do everything to hold on to that gem of a teacher. However, a school is no different from other places of work, which means that the people in power often make stupid decisions. Decisions that make absolutely no sense to anyone involved, like firing extremely good employees. The teacher in this Reddit story was sure sh…

If you don't understand something, it's probably best to seek to gain an understanding of it before undertaking it or using it. This simple concept is a great way to approach all aspects of life—especially if the thing isn't yours. The problem is that people who are older or senior to you tend to think that just because of their position, they don't need to consult with subordinates or those who are lower or younger than them. Unfortunately, time spent on this earth doesn't mean time is used wi…

Let's take a peek behind the curtain: what are these families squabbling about right now? No two families are alike, and none of them are perfect, either. Whether your family is just two people and a pet, or two parents and 2.5 kids, or a giant mixed family with stepparents, there's plenty of love to go around. Each family has to figure out how to navigate their lives together: for example, some families have dinner together each night, and they work out any issues while eating a casserole. But…

Desmond Tutu once said: “You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them.” what you can do though, at least to some extent, is choose your workplace. This (together with a lesson about ignoring red flags ) is what this story is all about. The original poster (OP) of this story posted on Reddit a while ago, He was asking Redditors why it is a red flag when a hiring team member tells a job applicant that the “company is like family.” he ended up taking the job that ma…

Working in IT often means being constantly undervalued and under-appreciated. This, of course, should not come with the territory, considering nothing could run properly without a functioning and knowledgable IT department, but alas, other employees seem to take advantage of what it means to actually have a good IT guy. Unfortunately for this Redditor , he had to endure the classic biases against IT on top of a totally unprofessional new CFO who was gradually replacing everyone around her with…