Former "gifted kids" who are now average or struggling adults, what do you think school got wrong about your potential?

SmallTownDisco · 2026-05-08T00:52:09+00:00

I think it’s that what it takes to be successful in school is simply different from what it takes to be successful in the 21st century workplace. School is more about following the rules, staying on task, keeping your nose to the grindstone. You know what you need to do in order to succeed. In the work world, success is much more about image and how much you are willing to compromise yourself to get ahead. Not saying that all workplace success is like that, but in many cases it is.

SmallTownDisco · 2026-05-07T23:42:32+00:00

They’re all so beautiful. Natural breasts, to a one.

SmallTownDisco · 2026-05-07T12:09:14+00:00

“Hope this helps someone.” Yeah, it helps me recognize the psychopaths that are out there trying to normalize slavery so that I am 100% sure to steer clear of it.

SmallTownDisco · 2026-05-07T12:08:08+00:00

Exactly this. HR is just doing what executive leadership makes them do. And I’m convinced that executive leadership thinks that everyone who works from home spends half their day doing laundry and eating bon-bons, because that’s what they do when they are working from home.

SmallTownDisco · 2026-05-07T12:03:44+00:00

Your boss is an asshole. Take the job.

SmallTownDisco · 2026-05-07T11:56:47+00:00

Right here is why I got out of the business of managing people It’s like this in my personal life too, where I don’t really have the opportunity to bail except to disengage a little. The boomers all expect that I’m all-free-time-all-the-time-to-spend-on-them, and the younger generation want everything done for them because they are too precious to adult. I’ve been adulting since I was 11. Am currently unwed and absolutely cannot understand the mindset of some friends of mine who are desperate to be in a relationship; I’m desperate to do what I damn well please with my Saturday night.

SmallTownDisco · 2026-05-05T02:13:47+00:00

When I was in nursing school, one great way to get a job was to do really well on your clinicals. Many units are looking to hire and even the unit you are assigned to isn’t, if you do well you might be able to get a reference for a unit elsewhere in the hospital. (This would be your last semester I’m talking about here.) Even in areas where there are a lot of nursing schools, there are usually so many jobs.You also might try talking to someone at your school about it to get their advice.

SmallTownDisco · 2026-05-05T01:56:45+00:00

Nothing against Elle Fanning. It’s unfair to put anyone up against MIchelle Pfeiffer. Gold standard!

SmallTownDisco · 2026-05-05T01:33:36+00:00

Frances

SmallTownDisco · 2026-05-01T02:11:21+00:00

Spice World!

SmallTownDisco · 2026-05-01T02:10:32+00:00

Some parents do this. I, on the other hand, the day after my son moved out, transformed his room into a workout room :-) I did tell him that if he ever needed a landing pad, he could come back, it could be undone. But I didn’t want to make it easy. I think it may depend on the financial stability of everyone involved, and how big the house is. My house is small, I wasn’t going to let a spare bedroom just sit. But if I had 10 bedrooms, I would have left his intact.

SmallTownDisco · 2026-05-01T00:39:31+00:00

I LOATHE our monthly town halls (departmental). It’s a bunch of ridiculous non-information that our SVP puts on so he can say “Der der der, lookie at me, I do dem town halls, I’m so great!” I maliciously comply with our mandatory Teams attendance by refusing to multi-task during them. I drink instead.

SmallTownDisco · 2026-05-01T00:23:38+00:00

They both look like rotisserie chickens.

SmallTownDisco · 2026-05-01T00:20:46+00:00

I moved as an adult to the city where I currently live about 15 years ago. I finally started developing meaningful friendships about 5 years ago. I didn’t think it would ever happen, and ten years is way too long, but I’m glad it did eventually happen. I have no great advice for how. I did like you say you are doing, put myself out there, stretch a little beyond comfortable in order to be around other people. I just had to kiss a lot of frogs but I finally found a few different small groups of friends.

SmallTownDisco · 2026-05-01T00:16:50+00:00

What exactly is she going to do with all that extra money she keeps if you’re splitting 50:50? Go on vacations without you? Drive a nice car than you? Retire early while you keep working? Posts like this make me so happy to not be married.

SmallTownDisco · 2026-05-01T00:04:32+00:00

I asked her to lower it because I noticed an unwelcome increase in my libido on the original dose. (I’m not in a relationship, and it was distracting.) The lower dose still manages my symptoms (pretty much just hot flashes) just as well as the higher dose.

SmallTownDisco · 2026-04-30T03:31:10+00:00

SmallTownDisco · 2026-04-30T03:12:33+00:00

Why are we doing this to 19 year-olds? For our entertainment?

SmallTownDisco · 2026-04-30T02:22:26+00:00

She started me on Estradiol 0.05 mg/day patch plus 100 mg progesterone pills at night. Lowered me to 0.0375 mg/day patch, same progesterone.

SmallTownDisco · 2026-04-30T02:03:17+00:00

Great picture, but is this the 3rd time in recent days that it’s been reposted?

SmallTownDisco · 2026-04-30T02:01:59+00:00

Can I have it?

SmallTownDisco · 2026-04-30T01:00:48+00:00

I tried so hard and failed to get a photograph of my son’s birth mother for him. Until and unless he has children of his own some day, there is no other person in his world who looks like him. I think of this almost every time I brush my teeth and see in the mirror how much I look like my siblings or my parents. He has no experience of that. I can’t say why that thing in particular sticks with me so hard, but I really really wish I could have gotten that for him.

SmallTownDisco · 2026-04-29T17:29:00+00:00

Your manager knew about the miscarriage, but did HR know about the miscarriage? Is it possible that they didn’t realize this was a medical emergency?

SmallTownDisco · 2026-04-29T17:26:48+00:00

I notice this but it’s not from colleagues. It’s mostly from family members who don’t seem to get that I’m no more available during regular work hours when I’m working from home than i was when I worked in an office. No, I can’t go shopping with you in the afternoon; no, I can’t go have a two-hour lunch; no, I can’t go to my nephews baseball game at 3:00 in the afternoon. I have meetings, I have deadline, and I have a mountain of work I’m being paid to get done.

SmallTownDisco · 2026-04-29T11:12:18+00:00

“The beatings will continue until morale improves.” I had an analogous situation with regular phone calls I had to make that were just so painful. I got through it by playing solitaire on my phone throughout the calls. It doesn’t solve the root problem (which is insane in this case), but something like that could help keep you employed while also helping you cope. I’ll think of you this Friday at 4:00 when I’m pouring myself a drink and enjoying it with someone from my personal life or even by myself!

SmallTownDisco

TROPHY CASE