No matter how you've been let down after a first date, I can guarantee you it's not as bad as what this dude wrote to this girl before sharing the messages publicly. 

Bad dates: we all have them. To say dating is hard is an understatement. It can feel impossible to connect with someone who's virtually a stranger to you, presuming you met them through an app. 

This woman seemed to have a particularly difficult time while on a date with this guy. She apparently kept asking this guy if he thought there might be a second date. (Please don't do that.) She also apparently started crying at some point during the night. 

A second chance turned into the best kind of glow-up for these two kittens. 

These two kittens got a real second chance, and they ran with it. After being rescued from a tough situation, they spent time getting the care they needed and slowly started to come back into themselves. It wasn't instant, but with patience, consistency, and a lot of attention, they kept improving day by day.

By the time they made it home, they were ready for something new. They joined a full house of furry siblings and quickly became part of everyday life. There were bowls always filled, soft spots claimed within minutes, and plenty of attention to go around. They were not just settling in. They were stepping into a completely different kind of life.

You can see how much they have changed in the way they look now. They're more relaxed, more playful, more curious. Whether it is stretching out in a sunny spot or following the rest of the crew around, they look like they know they are exactly where they are meant to be.

Now they are fully living the spoiled kitten life. Loved, safe, and surrounded by everything they need, plus a little extra. It is the kind of outcome that feels really good to see, watching them go from uncertain to completely at home.

We understand that it's hard out there in the dating world, but this single lady was not thinking things through.

On one level, it's sad to think that someone would feel the need to use her so-called "pretty friend's" pictures and pass them off as her own when crafting her online dating profile. At the same time, however, the sympathy ends quickly when you think about the fact that this woman is using her friend's photos without permission while actively misleading folks online into thinking she is someone that she most certainly is not.

What's more, this lady then has the audacity to mislead a single guy on Bumble for weeks and then finally set up a first date, only to invite her best friend to join her for support. Yes, this is the same best friend whose pictures she has been using for her profile. What did this woman think would happen?

The second you start cooking the cat clocks in.

Cats become sous chefs the second you step into the kitchen. No training, no invitation, just immediate involvement. You turn around and there they are on the counter, already in position. Watching closely. Supervising. Full purrfessional energy like they've been hired for this exact role.

They take quality control very seriously. A bag opens and they're instantly involved. You start chopping, they lean in. You stir something, they shift closer. Every move gets inspected. If anything drops, they're on it before it even hits the floor. Very meowthodical. Very hands-on. Nothing happens without their approval.

They also have strong opinions about where they should be, which is always exactly where you need to work. The counter space you just cleared is now occupied. You move them, they come right back. You try again, same result. Clearly this is a collaboration, and they're not giving up their spot in the kitchen.

And at the end, they expect compensation. A taste, a treat, something for their effort. In their mind, they supervised, inspected, and assisted every step of the way. A full shift completed. Just another successful day in the culicatary world.

Toe beans are the main event every time. 

Toe beans are doing way too much for something that small. A cat is just lying there, then one paw stretches out and suddenly it's a full bean situation. Tiny little pads, perfectly lined up, like they showed up just to steal the spotlight. You were not planning to care this much, but here we are.

They also look extremely touchable, which is a trap every single time. The second you even think about going near them, the paw disappears. Gone. Tucked back in like it was never there. No warning, no second chance, just a quick flash of beans and that's all you get.

Meanwhile, those same paws are responsible for everything else. Quiet little steps across the floor, then ten minutes later something is getting pushed off a table for no reason. Same feet. Same beans. Completely different behavior. The beans stay cute through all of it like they're not connected.

And when you do get a full stretch, it's over. Two paws, maybe four, full bean lineup like a limited time event. Doesn't last long, but it doesn't need to. It already did enough.

Putting a note on your personal mini fridge that says "PRIVATE" should be more than enough to deter your coworkers from stealing, but this man's office chose not to read the obvious signs, resulting in a powerful display of free will.

With nothing but a snarky Slack message and a $6 combination lock, this employee kept his private fridge just that: Private. 

Sometimes coworkers miss the obvious signs of distrust that their colleagues put off in the workplace. Whether by choice or by naivety, these are often the types of coworkers who overstep boundaries, accuse others of being "Karens," and bring microwavable fish to the office with no regard for their workplace. There's a part of me that envies that nonchalance and lack of concern for the group, but there's another part of me that rages when people don't realize how their actions affect others. 

Infringing on another coworker's space, belongings, and property is a whole other boundary line crossed. Beyond your typical office invasions, usually ranging from workplace gossip or endless stories about someone's kids, encroaching on someone's mini fridge territory is a completely unforgivable office offense. 

If you mess with a worker's snacks and refreshments, you're going to witness the worst side of them. 

No more professional decorum, no more "sharing," and no more Mister Nice Guy. 

It was love at first sight, even if one party only has one eye.

When we first laid eyes on our beloved cat, back when she was still a stray with no home or family, we didn't really know what to expect. We remember thinking she was a beautiful kitten, and admiring her from a distance, but we didn't want to scare her or make her run from us, so we were very cautious about our next steps.

The first step was to pspsps, which surprisingly worked wonderfully. As soon as we pspspsed, she immediately ran our way and started talking to us, and we were over the moon. Before we knew it, she was climbing all over us, demanding pets and head scratches, and basically telling us how long she had been waiting for someone to show her some love. 

It took us less than three hours to decide that we are in love with their furry feline and that we must bring her home. It truly was love at first sight… or maybe at first pspsps for her.

When the awwdorable hooman in the story below first saw their soon-to-be furrever cat, they also didn't know what was in store for them…

What is it with all of the frivolous NDAs that service workers are being forced to sign?

Every day, you hear and read more stories about baristas and other service workers who have been forced to sign an NDA in order to work entry-level service industry jobs, with half-baked excuses being given around protecting business operation and preparation processes, like they're dealing with a cure for cancer or some other miracle discovery.

While these are probably just elaborate scare tactics, the fact remains that being taught how to brew a cup of coffee or toss pizza dough during your first jobs as a teenager is not some great secret that you are able to, or need to, protect by strong-arming some teenager. We have been preparing these foods and beverages for at least the last 100 years, and their practice is common knowledge. 

And I'm sorry, but your processes don't need protecting either. It's no secret that running a successful restaurant is a miserably unforgiving line of business to be in, with razor-thin margins and both supply and demand that are treacherously vulnerable to shifting economic landscapes. But managing these businesses is more about tact and tenacity and not some great secret discovery like a miracle-cure or new technology that needs to be protected at all costs to keep the business, well, in business.

This employee's on a "fully approved PTO" for his wedding day, so why is he still checking in with the boss after walking down the aisle? 

Here comes the bride… And don't mind the groom, who's checking his phone. 

I can't imagine checking my phone for even a second on my wedding day. A day that you and your fiancée have presumably spent months, if not years, planning. A day that you've spent thousands of dollars on. A day full of every friend and family member you hold so dearly. There's quite literally no need to check your phone, because you have everyone you love right there at your fingertips. 

If you thought it would take more effort to find loving homes for nine kittens than it would to dump them, then this story will show you just how quick;y people pounce at the opportunity to adopt kittens.

As suggested, this story starts with the dumping of nine kittens plus their mother in a box. A terrible way to start life for the tiny kittens and an incredibly tough set of circumstances for this mamma cat who had a larger than average littler to feed and take care of while not having even remotely decent conditions to do so.

One can only imagine how tough it is to find a decent meal while nursing nine little ones, let alone having to find that meal in a dumpster full of construction debris. But luckily this feline family was saved by a cat lover who knew just what to do for them and how to help ease the load on mamma. Giving us cat lovers a happy ending and quite likely also quite the hankering for some kittens of our own…
 

A freelance audio engineer spent six weeks doing twelve-hour days fixing an entire EP for a locally famous musician, sent over the watermarked previews, and was told that the honor of having this man's name on a portfolio should count as partial payment. He still has the filesExposure is one of the oldest and most creative forms of not paying someone. It has been offered in place of money for so long that it has developed its own entire vocabulary. Opportunity. Visibility. A chance to be associated with something bigger than yourself. The person receiving the offer is supposed to feel grateful rather than underpaid, which is a very efficient reframe when you have no intention of writing a check.

There's nothing more wholesome than seeing the love of your life, your significant other, showing the same level of affection for your other love of your life - your cat. And that's even better if your cat falls in love with your significant other just as much as you did. And honestly? It's even more heart-melting when you take everything with humor, just like this one woman did.

We're constantly grateful that we have found our significant other, the person we chose to spend the rest of our lives with, to love and to be loved. We're grateful for a lot of things about them, but we're most thankful for our cat - who chose them just as much as we did. When a cat chooses you, it's a big deal. But when a cat is able to choose the love of your life, after you choose them, it's a bigger deal than most cat deals (and cats have a lot to deal with already… we're looking at you, midnight zoomies).

This wife has it easy, and that's wholesome - her husband is in love with their cat, who's in love with him. That's just pure clawmedy. But this woman probably doesn't know how easy she has it - some women are jealous of the cat who loves their partner. That's an awful situation to be in - because a bond with a cat is something truly special. And if your partner is jealous of that connection, are they really capable of having a jealousy-free relationship at all? It raises a lot of tough questions.

This woman who shared this love triangle, though, doesn't have to deal with the tough questions of relationships. Because it seems that both she and her husband know that a love triangle with a cat is nothing to worry about. It's just the most wholesome situation to be in - one that's full of love, affection, and cats. Because cats make everything better - even human relationships.

Should employees give any notice before they quit their jobs, or should they simply resign and refuse to work even one minute after that?

In the span of two weeks, the employee below would have changed their answer from the former to the latter. Those two weeks were the exact duration of their notice, and in that time, they learned a valuable lesson about employment and its rules. The main thing they learned is that no one waits around for you, no matter what. If you want something to happen, you've got to make it happen as soon as possible, and not let time have the opportunity to sweep in and mess with your plans.

This employee, being the responsible adult that they are, was looking for a new job while they were still working the job they wanted to leave, so that they wouldn't find themselves jobless. A few weeks ago, they got a job offer and were happy to sign with this new company and start this new journey. 

However, they were contractually obliged to give their current workplace a two-week notice, so they had to make sure that the new workplace was willing to wait those two weeks before they were able to come in for their first day. After some back and forth with the HR of the new job, it was confirmed that the employee will come in for their first day this week, and they even signed a new offer letter with the new date to set it all in stone.

Since then, the employee hasn't heard from the new company anything at all, until the day before they were supposed to start their new job, which was also the day they officially left their old one. Apparently, during these two weeks, the new workplace decided they didn't want to wait for the employee to make themselves available, and hired someone else for the job. 

That is how the employee found themselves quitting their old job while simultaneously losing the new position. Which brings us back to the question: Should they have provided a two-week notice in the first place?

Only people who have raised a cat at some point in their life know that some things are just Very Cat™. It's both things your cat is doing, that you had no idea were possible, and also just regular mundane things that you realize are cat in nature. And knowing through the plethora of cat memes that the online feline family leaves us around the interwebs, we know we're not alone in this.

So what's Very Cat about what cats are doing? Cats do a lot of things that are especially cat - the random hour zoomies that ensue for no reason at all, the yelling at a blank wall in odd hours of the night, the climbing on curtains as if they're their sworn enemies - all are very cat things that happen only if you have a feline friend at home. It's like the weirdest things you can discover are pawssible only after the adoption is complete. The cat is comfortable, you are comfortable, and only then does the true cat character shine through.

Other things you might have been doing regularly just become colored in cat colors once you realize that, "hey, that's what my cat is doing". An uncontrollable urge to nap in the middle of the day? That's a cat thing. That intrusive thought that you must have a yummy snack right now? Absolutely cat behavior. And you might pet your cat, but your cat pets you too and you enjoy it. That's the cattest.

So what is it about cat memes that makes us feel less alone? It's not that we're struggling with having a cat (or seven) in our house - we enjoy every second of it. But knowing that all cat pawrents share the cat weirdness has some comforting effect. Especially because we all laugh it off through memes online. And dealing with anything with comedy is already better.

Abandoned stray cats are different from other strays. They don't get along quite as well with them. And this sweet cat… all he wanted was to make a friend. 

Abandoning a cat is one of the worst things that you can do to it. Put aside the fact that indoor cats don't know how to live life on their own, that they depend on us for food, comfort, shelter and everything else. Even if they did know, their lives would be different than that of stray cats. Because they no longer understand these cats' way of life. They don't fear humans in the same way. They don't know the dynamics that street cats have with one another. These abandoned cats know comfort, and that is what they keep looking for outside - in others, in cats who are generally not willing to give it. 

This abandoned stray cat simply wanted some friends. We don't know exactly when he got abandoned or how long he was outside, but we do know that he wasn't very good at being a stray cat, and the other cats knew it. In his neighborhood, he was bullied by the other cats. The looked at him and saw something soft, an easy target. And the fact that he wanted to make friends so badly, the fact that he kept trying to connect with them, despite them not wanting to connect with him, gave them plenty opportunities to hurt him, emotionally and physically. 

He's lucky that there was a human around who saw him and cared enough to give him a chance. This woman couldn't stand looking at him getting bullied and hurt for one more second. So, she took him in. To the vet, then to her home, where she carefully got him first comfortable with her and then with her other cats. 

The road was a little bumpy, but eventually - because this cat's desire to make friends - never went away, he made a friend. One of this woman's cats. And then another cat friend. And another. Now, this sweet kitty has a home where he is loved, a human who takes care of him, and three whole friends who he can cuddle with as much as he wants. 

This entitled guy next door kept tossing dog bones onto the new homeowner's backyard. Did he really think he'd never get caught?

The homeowner discovered these bone chunks when he was cutting the grass in his backyard, but at first, he wasn't entirely sure who the culprit was. While his yard was fenced in, there were numerous potential neighbors who could have been behind this. However, he wasn't going to point fingers until he had more evidence that might narrow down the possible offenders.

Eventually, he figured it out based on how large these dog bones were. Only one dog in the neighborhood could have been large enough to chew on these bones regularly, and it turns out that the dog's owner was an entitled curmudgeon who had been living in the suburb for decades. It all checks out.

Still, what the curmudgeon next door underestimated was the homeowner's ability to patiently wait until the perfect opportunity for payback.

These two cat siblings know what it is like to need a home, and now that they have one, they help the kittens that their momma fosters find that same feeling. 

At first, the woman who adopted these two cats was only intending to foster them. It's something that she does a lot, helping cats and then finding them homes. But these two siblings were special. They stole her heart, and she was unable to let them go. And they, in return, felt so much gratitude and love that now, they are helping her share that love with other foster kittens. 

These cats have become the best foster parents. Every kitten that their momma fosters, they take in as if it were their child or sibling. These cats show so much love to these kittens, helping them get used to it - to being loved by other animals and by humans. Which, in turn, makes it even easier to find them a forever home. 

The best browsing break at work is filled with one thing and one thing only - cat memes. 

Here you are, sitting at work, facing another day of meetings, files, and typing, and you find yourself on your break, wondering… what could uplift you right now. We have the answer, and it's quite a simple one. In fact, you're here because you know what the answer is. Because if there is something that can always put a smile on our faces, it's adorable and silly cats. 

We could be having the worst day in the world, but spending five minutes scrolling through funny cat memes will turn our frowns upside down. Because we can't help it. Because cats, in any and all forms, improve our mental health. And in times like these, when it feels like the world is going to blow up, finding the time to take a break and enjoy some funny cats, is the best thing that you can do for yourself. 

Whoever first started rolling their eyes at boomers hasn't met the right ones. Sure, like any older generation, some have outdated ideas. But others are empathetic and caring. They are living life for the first time, just like the rest of us. So when this dad realized his local HOA wasn't showing empathy for his community, he decided to step in.

So he became the HOA treasurer and fights for his neighbors. When the board tries to take advantage with unfair penalties or uses their fines as a tool for borderline extortion, he shows up and nips that in the bud immediately. He's had one president step down, and another relent to his ways after being forced to realize his villainous behavior. 

Once, a young widow came to his house in tears, saying that the HOA would not accept her payment for a few small dues, and she was desperate to sell the house, but was unable to until they accepted it. He accepted her check right then and there and shamed the board for their behavior. And the way he responds to their emails is epic. If he used today's lingo, it would basically mirror Gen Z's feisty not-having-it attitude. We love it! 

In Istanbul, a cat went viral after politely asking a tourist for a taste of his dinner; the cat's gentle gestures and distinguished, tuxedoed appearance made everyone swoon, which, of course, means he got that tasty treat he was looking for. 

It's just about summertime soon, and cat lovers know what that means: European catventures. 

Strays in Europe are a different breed of feline; they're brave, they're chic, and they're quite frankly, everywhere. Basking in the Mediterranean sun and lounging on tourists' mopeds, Euro strays are living the life of luxury on their purrsonal Côte D'Azure and they wouldn't have it any other way. With gingham-clad tourists giving them every treat imaginable, these are the kinds of kitties that are always on vacation, living it up in ways that our lowborn Americana felines only dreamed. 

As the tourism season begins to bloom abroad, so do the audacious tendencies of the local felines. Stray cats can sense when kind cat lovers are near and amp up their natural-born charms, burning hotter than the summertime sun to melt the hearts of everyone around them. 

Istanbul, known for turquoise waters and the remnants of the Ottoman Empire, is also known in the cat community as a haven for outdoor kitty colonies. Cats surge through the streets in droves, running their local bodegas with an iron paw and stampeding into the open luggage of every tourist they find. 

While every street cat acts as if they have it all together, every feline secretly craves the love and affection of their human neighbors, and likewise, this Istanbul cat went viral for his strangely human and oddly polite behavior at an outdoor restaurant. Without hesitation, this cat gently caressed the shoulder of a man about to enjoy his dinner, asking if he could have a meager taste of his yummy-looking entree. And because the cat was so gosh darn adorable and polite about it, how could he deny him? 

Who are we to deny the local street cats a courier of favor? Aren't cat lovers mere mortals with love in their hearts and fish fillet on their plates? Oblige the cat. Give him a taste. He was at least polite enough to ask…