No one wants to be told just before the end of the work day that they need to stay back for an emergency. 

Sure, unforeseen circumstances do happen, but nine times out of ten, these occurrences are more directly the result of poor management than anything else.

In this instance, an employee was sick and tired of being told at around 4:50 PM by their manager that "something came up" and he needs to complete a significant task at the last minute. It did not take long for this employee to realize that his manager was either testing his work-life boundaries or majorly disorganized.

If the answer is the former scenario, then this guy needs to stop power-tripping and find a better way to manage his team. If it's the latter, then senior management needs to take note and get this guy out of there. His methodology is not good for morale and it's certainly not good for business either.

While we cat lovers might not like to outwardly admit it, our feline friends are emotionally complicated. Well, usually anyway, and when they go off for prolonged periods, seemingly never to return their stories tend to be filled with feline fueled turmoil. But today we bring you a cat rescue story that is so sweet, so simple and so heartwarming that it has far more business being a made up Disney story than it does a real-life story sourced from Reddit.

But that is the case as it stands, the tale of a cat who disappeared for three years and who came home with the help of the most wholesome cat family, the kind that goes out for walks each and every day and then cuddles up by the fireplace. So make sure you take your insulin because this story is full of some seriously sickeningly sweet stuff.

This overnight flyer instantly became the least-liked person on the entire plane after deciding it was time to watch her shows at top volume — without any earphones at all. 

There are a lot of theories about why people watch videos at full volume on their phones these days, declining to put in earphones even when that would benefit every other person around them. We all don't want to hear the bubble-popping sound from your mobile game, pal. We simply do not want to listen in on your 20-minute commentary YouTube video. Rest assured, no one else you're traveling with is excited when you turn on your latest Netflix show at a volume so loud it renders your phone speakers blown out and squawking. 

I actually don't think people do this to be impolite though (although it is impolite!), but instead because most phones don't have headphone jacks anymore. Sure, you can buy a dongle adapter, but I've had so many of those break on me that I just bought a pair of AirPods. And I don't know about you, but my AirPods don't last more than like 90 minutes to 2 hours. Sometimes they lose battery life mid-commute! If you're a busy parent who's got 30 childfree minutes to themselves while they're on the train, I kind of understand why they still want to watch their shows, even if they don't have or can't use headphones. Or if you work 60 hours per week and you just cannot fathom going to work without your distractions, you aren't going to be bothered by the glaring looks of everyone else around you — you're just focused on your own entertainment. Without headphone jacks, this problem is here to stay. 

However, this overnight flyer really took things too far. What she did at her big age of mid-40s to early-50s is just inexcusable. She reminds me of those people who decide that the perfect time to clip their toenails and file their feet is midflight. They haven't given a second thought to literally anyone else on board, and instead, they're acting oddly antisocial. 

December has rolled around, and now we are fully locked in for the festive season. There is no more dilly-dallying, no more waiting around, it is time to get out all your Christmas goodies and fully lean into the spirit. But before you go full tilt, we wanted to offer up a little reminder of the classic conundrum which is what to do with your Christmas tree when you have cat children at home.

For it is not the easiest thing to strike the balance between holiday season joy thanks to a full and well-dressed tree and keeping that tree from hitting the floor because your cat child has decided to call it home or use it as a climbing frame. And we are most certainly not claiming to have come up with any kind of solution. Because if you ask us, there is no happy middle ground. Sometimes you just have to pay a price to have nice things, and sometimes that means those nice things come down in a blaze of glory, along with your cat.

The author tried to explain to her boss that she was snowed in and that there was no way she was going to be able to access her car to drive to work. It sounds like she lives farther out than her other coworkers, who were not as affected by the storm as she was and were able to show up. Still, local authorities recommended that the author stay inside during the storm, a fact that she raised to her boss as well… to no avail.

Instead, he insisted that if she couldn't get herself to work that day, she would have to use one of her paid time off days. She tried to reason with him by saying she could work from home. After all, her internet connection was still strong and all her meetings that day were virtual anyway. Still, this man showed absolutely no compassion for her situation. 

Keep scrolling below for the full story and for the best reactions from members of this online community!

It's not every day that we get to read a story with so many coincidences that needed to happen to facilitate its happy ending. We're sure some invisible strings of fate were pulled by the mysterious Cat Distribution System to make it all happen. After all, that's how it works - from the shadows, from behind the scenes, making sure every coincidental situation occurs just as it should, so all cats in its care would get to their furrever homes - safe, sound, and loved.

But these two specific fluffy feline souls needed a lot of nudges in the right direction to arrive at that very happy end they're in right now. First of all, they both needed to be found individually - each by their own designated hooman. But the CDS made sure both of these people were close friends, who would communicate with each other about their rescues - the lone kitten and the sweet stray mama who lost her litter. Then, the fateful meeting between the two cats needed to happen, and… well, you already know this one has the happiest of endings.

Having one person who cares for a stray cat is one thing, but having two of them is something else. And having them take care of the two in the most optimal way together? Now, that's phenomenal. We wish the mama cat and the kitten many years of happiness together.

Buying your first home is so exciting. New homeowners dream of what they'll do with the extra rooms, debating game rooms, home theaters, or a nursery for their future offspring. One thing that new homeowners never imagine in their freshly ordained space is their mother-in-law, rooting herself as a permanent resident in their upstairs guest room.

For better or worse, we all try to love our parents, but when this woman overstepped her welcome, she made her son and his wife think twice about their family loyalties. 

After a rousing day of cooking and with a full tummy of turkey, new homeowners, a son and his wife, were put on the spot by their mother-in-law, her son and his wife, on the spot. She loudly got everyone's attention at the table and was proud to announce that she'd broken her lease and started packing. Where was she moving? Everyone wondered. But when she exclaimed she was moving into their "unused" guest room, jaws dropped so fast they shattered the dirty dishes on the Thanksgiving table. 

So with that intrusive news dropped, who's ready for dessert?

Just imagine - you're moving to a new place, all excited for all the new experiences you're going to have there, the new furniture you're going to decorate your house with, the new neighbors you're going to live right next to, the new… cat that's going to appear on your porch? Well, some new things are truly a surprise when you move to a new place.

And apparently, this is something of a regular occurrence. Sometimes, it seems the cat is sent to the meeting place prior to their soon-to-be human by the Cat Distribution System. It's as if the cats themselves know they're about to meet their forever human, but some force of nature (the CDS, truly) makes them aware the human is moving. So they simply wait for them to arrive - and adopt.

It's true that sometimes the cats simply announce their presence at your home, a kind of "I live here now" moment - like this cat who simply invited himself inside. The similar thread that runs between these CDS cases is that the cats know how to adopt themselves. The humans? They just need to accept their new fate.

And this new porch cat story? She took her time, but she was destined to be adopted by this new resident of the house. She waited patiently, and got adopted as all cats deserve. We wish her and her human many happy years of indoor living.

Look, having children is no easy thing to manage; they take a lot of time, energy, care, and a level of patience that most of us would wear through in 5 minutes.

Life's already difficult enough without having kids; heck, even without children, it takes enough energy to get through the work day and still have enough energy for the basic tasks and chores that come along with adulthood. 

But, still, although there are massive costs, it stands without question that those with parents already receive preferential treatment in the workplace, be it the opportunity to leave early or arrive late, or even having first dibs on holidays that center around the school holidays, which are consequently during major holidays and usually the time that everyone is trying to take leave.

Particularly in areas where the managers themselves have children, they'll be sympathetic to other parents' commitment. This might even afford fellow parents more opportunities and career mobility since management sees them as "grounded." "mature" or "reliable" in ways that they think someone without children possibly couldn't be. Especially where they view the act of having children as a pivotal moment in their own lives that set them on the straight and narrow.

None of this is surprising; everyone's path through life and values are different, but without question, we find ourselves more easily and readily relating to those who have shared similar experiences and are currently in the same stage of life that we are. 

This can all, of course, create issues in the workplace, as can any instance where personal beliefs and circumstance intersect with the professional space. I have particularly seen instances where it all comes to a head over disagreements over leave, where parents attempt to book vacations with their children at the last minute, which is the issue we have seen come to light here.

This coworker thought herself entitled to take leave over Christmas instead of her childless coworker, who had already booked their vacation during that time. The way she approached the situation, her request, and specifically the way that she escalated thereafter by making outrageous allegations meant that not only did the team's manager have to get involved, but that HR also had to get involved, which might see her out of a job in the near future once the fallout concludes.

The coworker in question shared their experience here, with this account of events that detailed the rise of tension in their office.

No one should spend Christmas alone, whether they're hooman or feline. We feel especially bad for all the kitties sitting alone in shelters during the holiday season. They could be snuggled up next to their pawrents, sleeping in, or rushing down to climb the tree and nearly ruin Christmas. But instead, they're all stuck in tiny cages… except this beautiful black baby below. He's been in the shelter for nearly a year now with 0 adoption applications, until one of the volunteers decided to take him home. Now, they'll get to spend Christmas together!

Cats are the gift that keeps on giving, but we do feel a need to say that you should not give a cat as a surprise to a family member or friend. A cat is a 15+ year responsibility, and although they are relatively low-maintenance, they still change your life in many ways. Everyone needs to be on board with that change, or else the cat, and the hooman will suffer. 

You have no idea how many cats are returned to shelters after the holidays because people either weren't prepurred or weren't aware of how much attention cats require. Instead of surprising someone, talk about it with them first, then take them with you to the shelter and pick out the cat together. Then everyone gets a happily ever after this Christmas!

Christmastime for those with big families can break the bank! 

Many of us save up money throughout the year so that we're prepared to buy our loved ones the things they want most. It's helpful to write it all out in a list, so that your loved ones can buy you exactly what you want, minimizing returns. Everyone's smiling, everyone's happy, and whatever money you spent on your gift-giving will probably come back to you in the bundle of presents you receive. 

But for those with big families with tons of kids, it can be logistically and financially impossible to buy every child a good gift every year. Sure, you could buy every kid a little $5 gift or some mittens or something… but if you're going to spend money on a present, you'd ideally like it to be something that kid is going to be psyched about. 

For this big family, having 9 kids is making the holidays a bit harder to navigate. It's good to make a list for each kid, but their Mom is demanding that her sibling buy every kid a $100+ present. That's where this all starts to break down. You can't just demand that your sibling spoil your kids. It would be much more reasonable to ask that sibling to spend maybe $20 or less per kid — there are Goodwill stores or garage sales where you could find some cool and unique stuff for a low price. Or perhaps the sibling could give them all a gift card to somewhere fun, like a movie theater or a Chuck E Cheese location. Since this person also noted that they're not even that close with the mom of 9, it's not possible to plan a few outings with like 3 kids at a time, but the parents could take the kids out using those gift cards. 

This mom is clearly expecting way too much! It's going to ruin the holiday cheer if she's being a Grinch about gifting, which we all know is about the thought that counts, rather than the dollar signs next to the present. 

Let's be real - cats are purrfect. They're almost too purrfect. They're graceful, beautiful, with luscious fur, ameowzing hunters, always smell good, and they think they're better than everyone else (they are). But, it's impawssible to live with something that's purrfect because it's setting a standard that's unrealistic. Even Ceiling Cat knew that the cats they were creating were too good, so they added a little extra flavor to their feline souls that made them purrfectly ready to be paired with hoomans - derpiness.

As someone who has lived with cats for most of their lives, we can tell you that underneath all that meowjestic beauty is the brain the size of a walnut that is too curious for its own good. Cats are nature's glitchiest and silliest creation, and we love them for it. It adds some chaos and fun to their feline purrsonalities. Some cats are obsessed with potatoes, some fur babies love to hang upside down, and those are just the ones we can think of off the top of our heads. 

But it really is this combination that makes cats truly special. They're silly, funny, beautiful, adorable, and surprising all in one tiny package. The purrfect package.

Offices always have at least one guy who treats the workplace like his own personal podcast. In this case, it is a mid-40s coworker who has been planted at the same job for 15 years, drives a flashy car, lives in his parents' apartment, and spends his days narrating how rich, connected, and important he supposedly is. Shady friends, sponsored vacations, hostile messages framed as jokes. It is less intimidating and more like being stuck next to a low-budget crime documentary that never ends.

What really grates is the self-assigned mentor role. Because the younger coworker is from a smaller city, this man decides he must be the wise urban success story, smarter than anyone else, here to teach life. The arrogance lands harder when the younger colleague actually comes from a self-made family, already knows how to work hard, and is not impressed by someone whose main achievement seems to be repeating the same story about powerful friends to whoever cannot escape the room.

There is also that quiet little sting of comparison. One loud, braggy man has been married twice, waves money around, and gets attention. A younger, more reserved coworker wonders if that is the trick. Act bigger, talk richer, pretend to have dangerous friends, maybe women will notice. The sad truth is this is not allure, it's noise. People do not respect it, they just tolerate it.

We think that every cat owner can relate when we say that we wonder sometimes… when we leave our cats alone, say for a long vacation, if they would remember us. Logically, we know that they probably will. We know that our cats love us, and that love like that would be nearly impawssible to forget. But we can't help feeling that tiny bit of nervousness. What if they forget us? How long does it actually take for cats to forget? Do they ever? We've always wondered, and we think that today, we have officially gotten our answer. 

Never. That is the answer. Cats remember those who show them kindness. Cats remember the people that they have grown attached to literally forever. That is the only thing that could explain what happened in this story. Years. It had been years since this cat ran away and didn't come back. But the reunion between this cat and its owner didn't happen like they normally do. The cat wasn't found. The cat was the one who found the human. After years, the cat recognized his human, and he made his way back to them. 

When your boss classifies an event as 'optional,' we all know what that really means…if you don't attend, it will most probably be held against you for your whole career…but again, it's completely up to you…Most of our coworkers, including us, would likely attend to obtain that 'reliable' and 'cooperative' reputation. Undoubtedly hoping our boss remembers seeing our faces at the beach clean-up, or sandwich packing event when considering our raises!

But what if every single one of those unpaid 'volunteering' events occurs on a Saturday…and if instead of genuine charities, all the "team building projects" involve tasks that specifically benefit your boss's immediate circle of family and friends? Well, now we understand how this version of 'giving back' might not appeal to every employee! Especially this employee. There are only so many times she can clean her boss's friend's cafe, or paint her boss's sister's daycare, without eventually feeling like she's completely being taken advantage of by her boss! We're just not quite sure her other coworkers are ready to stand their ground and fight for their weekends! 

You know how we always joke about the fact that our cats own us instead of us owning them? Well, we're not actually joking. Sure, to an extent, we are, but we're also not. Because our cats do own us. Maybe not physically, but they sure do own us mentally. When we're not home, we're thinking about them. When we're talking to other people, we're constantly hit with the urge to show them pictures of our cats. When we are at home, all we do all day is touch our cats, even when they don't want us to. And, of course, one of our favorite things in the world is scrolling through cat memes. 

Our cats really do own us mentally. Nothing else would explain the amount of funny cat memes that we have laughed at during our lifetime. And no matter how many times we see the same one, we still love it. Even working here at ICHC, and putting together listicles full of silly cat memes on a daily basis has not stopped us from being obsessed with them. And we think that means something. 

In 2025, it's hard to justify not having basic computer skills in a modern office environment.

Yes, we understand that some folks have lived longer than the existence of the internet. Of course, everyone deserves grace and patience as they learn to adjust to modern technology. Still, there are some folks out there whose incompetence and inability to learn have absolutely nothing to do with their age.

In this office environment, a small but mighty IT department had instilled a simple, user-friendly process for reporting technical issues. Tech support requests could be submitted via email or over the phone, but according to this author, there were still a handful of individuals who refused to fill out those requests on their own. They needed their hand held every step of the way, including describing the problem they were having.

To combat this, the IT department decided to band together and collaborate with HR in order to enforce mandatory tech training. That way, these entitled coworkers wouldn't be wasting the IT department's valuable time with non-issues that they could easily fix themselves. You'll have to guess how this mandatory training turned out…

In an office full of people, it is also filled with different talents and skills that everyone has acquired over the years. One employee is a great cook, another is a wonderful makeup artist, and a third is secretly a tech genius. People have lots of hidden skills that don't necessarily shine in their lines of work.

Should they use it at their job if they get the chance? That's up to them.

The employee in the story below has a helpful skill: she speaks another language fluently. She never got to use that skill at work, but recently her coworkers discovered that skill, and one coworker decided to use it to her advantage. It started with translating an email for her husband, then a few paragraphs, which continued to a whole pile of papers.

At that point, the employee refused to continue doing free labor for this coworker's personal affairs. But that didn't stop the coworker, who decided to report this to the manager, claiming the employee refused to help the team with their international communications.

Keep scrolling to read how the employee set the records straight.

Cuddly kittens are everywhere; we just don't always see them. Clever cat lovers know the tiny mews and the beady-eyed stares of a kitten are always only a few meowments away, but it's always up to the cats whether or not they wish to be discovered. 

Cats are mysterious that way. Born to be predators and bred to be lap cudders, cats are the purrfect mix of salty and sweet, hiding in plain sight until they summon their humans for a whiskery kiss, a feather duster toss, or even a 3rd round of dinner. While we may think we have cats all figured out, it's not until the CDS plops another kitty in our midst, testing our fortitude and competency in the kitten department with one small meow, a casual trip to the parking lot, and a surprise flea-bag kitten. Behold, the kitten trials have begun. Will your self-proclaimed cat-loving self step up to the plate? Will you answer the call of the cat council and become a feline's indoor servant? 

When the CDS has decided you're ready, you'll know.