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Professional feedback is one thing, but there is a special breed of person who thinks that they have some special knowledge about you that they just have to share. For your benefit, of course. At best, it’s annoying, at worst it’s so wildly off-base that you have to wonder what fantasy world they inhabit.

Content design consultant Amy Hupe started off a viral Twitter thread when she shared the most ridiculous feedback she had ever received in a creative way. She asked people to introduce themselves with the offensive things clients, coworkers, and managers had told them when trying to be “helpful.” So upvote the worst examples and comment your own terrible feedback stories below.

Bored Panda has reached out to Amy Hupe via Twitter, and we’ll update the article once we hear back from her.

More info: Twitter

Image credits: Amy_Hupe

#2

Offensive-Feedback-Professionals-Received

sarah_beutel Report

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The happy frog
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What. If you have something to say you should be able to say it, and if you responding quicker then the men hurts their ego, then what are they? 5 year olds?

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#3

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JimGR Report

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EJGeewhiz
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Glad to see you haven't let being Scottish hold you back, Jim! Keep practicing that English and soon you'll sound just like a native speaker!

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Both scientific reviews and many of the examples listed here together disprove the notion that experience and education will somehow stop a person from saying something deeply stupid or rude to a fellow professional. One study indicated that in scientific peer review, aka how most of our research is disseminated, people will still get personal attacks from anonymous peers (hence the term peer review). This tends to happen to women in male-dominated fields or people with feminine-sounding names. It seems that being a literal scientist isn’t enough to prevent childish prejudice. 

Giving useful feedback is a skill in itself, but the main predictor of its usefulness, or lack thereof, often lies on the receiving end. If the receiving person expects judgment of performance, they are less likely to actually absorb the feedback. If the feedback is perceived as a side effect of a learning experience, they tend to perform better. This has been demonstrated in a 1995 study where two groups of students were made to solve math tasks. The first group was simply told this exercise was to help them learn, the second group was told it was designed to measure their knowledge. The first group performed better. 

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#4

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AnnOlivarius Report

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Nilsen
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And that's why Dr Ann Olivarius is an international feminist attorney

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#6

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BWRBooks Report

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QuirkyKittyGirl
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Take heart. I had it said to me by my own SON! (Happy note - since then, I have lost nearly 100 pounds, only to prove my son wrong. I'm not gorgeous. I'm old. And a Mom.)

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Obviously, a smart adult will understand that feedback will happen, regardless of context. Australian academic Phillip Dawson has a few strategies he suggests to make even genuine negative feedback feel more “toothless” and, as a result, be more effective. He recommends allowing oneself to feel whatever negative emotions we naturally feel when hearing something bad. Anger, despair, whatever, just get it out of the way. Then note down whatever was said so you can learn from it when you are in a better headspace. 

#8

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DrJulieAMiller Report

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Nea
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And you didn’t only become a surgeon, but also a queen!

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#9

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melstarry Report

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TonyTee
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Equality for women is very important and something I very strongly agree with and support. It’s something going strong now, but should’ve already been common place 60 years ago. Let’s face it, men have a history of dominating women. Speaking as a man, if it wasn’t for women, there would be no men in the world.

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Now, that about the many elements of useless and downright offensive feedback shared here? A true optimist would perhaps think that the feedback-giver is just trying to be helpful, whatever that means. But the focus on specific negative traits could point to the classic psychological fallacy of projection. Basically, a person who can’t really deal with their own flaws and insecurities will just “project” them onto someone else. So if a person is very concerned about their own body image, they will be the first to point out what they think might be wrong with your body! And if you are wondering, what does body image have to do with professional ability, then you are one step closer to understanding the bewilderment of some of the Tweets here.

#10

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michelleames Report

#11

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GarethLuTheryn Report

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Cosmologist wannabe
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

homosexuals, heterosexuals, transexual, bisexuals, pansexual, and asexuals are humans. Humans are who they are. Being different is good. Being indifferent from everyone is bad. Change is good. I am a heterosexual 14 yo male. I am pro-human. I believe that humans should not be repressed for who they are, or what they are, or who they where.

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#12

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D. Pitbull
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well, at least they begged and didn't simply, you know... ensure that you suddenly had to do everyone else's tasks and backed up work since you obviously "had too much time on your hands"

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Now, if the feedback-giver and receiver share a similar issue, field or experience, there is an argument to be made that the data could be valid. However, studies show that, for lack of a better word, the “projectors” tend to not absorb external information and just work with their own experience. Hence the downright useless and generally offensive feedback, as their primary motivation to give it comes from waiting to feel better about themselves. Simply put, projection is a defense mechanism and you are the unfortunate soul caught in the crossfire. 

#13

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SharonMuthu Report

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D. Pitbull
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sounds like the sudden feedback of "You don't sound quite right for the part of the white cheerleader"....after they see my picture and see I'm not Caucasian (and this is for a Voice role... aka: no one ever sees you). Raised in Canada, (unfortunately) can't speak any dialects of my ethnic background...yet... they... 'hear an accent'. Uh huh. I'm sure you do...

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#15

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reneetwhite Report

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EJGeewhiz
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm just sitting over here in the corner, being alarmingly inarticulate. So far, so good.

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All told, it’s a pretty silly mechanism, since at best it just distracts the person from their own issue for a little while, all while sabotaging a potential relationship with another person. It’s particularly dumb because projection is a pretty well-known and documented psychological phenomenon, as a result, it only makes the person’s insecurities stand out even more. Our brains can recognize patterns and if we see someone always talking about other people’s bodies, professional abilities, or anything else, it’s safe to assume this topic is on their mind for a reason particularly, when they conflate these things with feedback. Because, as mentioned before, projecting makes them momentarily feel better about themselves, and “giving feedback” is, they think, a good way to do this without unmasking themselves. 

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#19

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newsprof1 Report

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Scrolling Panda
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Another teacher both ignoring a disability AND trying to stomp the drive,life, and creativity out of a young person...charming.

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#22

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jengolbeck Report

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JJ Mai
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Any accomplishment a woman has, this line is always sputtered out. My old manager cried about how I must have slept my way to the top when I got promoted over him. I had suffered under him for almost 2 years so all I said was "You probably lost our because you're throwing a tantrum" in the most deadpan voice. And yes, our boss did hate that guy's guts and said he spent too much time talking over doing his actual work. He also passed off 50% of his duties to his employees to finish.

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#24

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Jack S
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ah that explains it. I knew it wasn't my fault I set the kitchen on fire. Damn you Jen.

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#25

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Dr_Paulevj Report

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ShyWahine
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've been told my Spanish is really good for someone who looks so Asian, my Portuguese sounds almost like a native and my English surprisingly has no accent 🙄 (Maternal grandma is half Spanish and my paternal grandma is half Portuguese).

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#29

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DrCABerry Report

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Bobby
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I know not everyone involved in hiring practices is a bad person. I have to just assume that the laws or company policies in place on workplace diversity just scare them into shady hiring practices sometimes so the numbers look good. At least I imagine that is true. Anyone out there involved with it that can correct me if I'm wrong?

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#30

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Trish_Crain Report

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Cassi Lyris
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Seeing as it's the norm now, it's not that big of a deal. Back in the 80's though... Jesus, we were all crucified for existing. That's the difference.

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#31

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BradGudger Report

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Delphine Johnson
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Welcome to womanhood where your ability to be taken seriously depends on your dress sense....

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#33

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emsico Report

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Isaac Harvey
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

[shouts across room] “GOOD LUCK WITH FIXING THAT WITHOUT MY HELP!”

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#34

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Mikel_Jollett Report

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Mysterie
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Okay, so...you should never just let people push you around even if they are "in a position of authority" (of course respect should be earned), however, if someone is in authority over you (ex. in an office setting) if you blatantly disregard anything they ask of you because you disagree with it then yeah you're not really going to get anywhere

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#36

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nataliapetrzela Report

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Jennifer Norton
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So they are saying her voice is too sexy? I would love to hear a sexy voice teach me history!

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#40

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HeathaT Report

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Pheebs
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oh, mine: I only married my husband because I wanted a sugar daddy. It doesn’t matter that we work in the same job, or that I’m actually above him in rank and make more money.

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#42

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gailendavid Report

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rob
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I got rejected once for the opposite reason. Girl told me I was the nicest guy ever and she would date me when I gained at least 10kg. Yeaaaaah never mind.

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#45

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drjudymelinek Report

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rob
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Speak about holding a grudge. I don't even remember anything I did in first grade.

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#46

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keith___m Report

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Nikki Sevven
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Keith, you should have made it clearer that you make yourself unavailable to your workplace when your wife is in labor, because I first thought you were unavailable to your wife while she was in labor.

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#48

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felixsalmon Report

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FlatEarf2.0
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I kind of love some of these for great insults to use, if you can't find a good moment to say "You appear so bright and intelligent, yet your so average really"

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#49

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ashkenaz89 Report

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RMA
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I think ‘empty egg carton’ is one of the most vicious things I’ve heard said to a woman.

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#50

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drmalcolmadams Report

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Bobby
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

People who think they know everything are really annoying to those of us that do

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#52

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SportyNeesy Report

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The happy frog
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Her face isn’t fat. The person who said that is blind. Wth are people shaming people for facial shapes???

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#53

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dfkris Report

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John Schneider
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You’re an Elementary School Teacher. That alone says you have the ability to change the world.

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#56

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BerryFLW Report

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Michael Largey
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If you know what intellectually unsophisticated means, you probably aren't.

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#57

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happygeek Report

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James016
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I used to read this guy’s columns when I had a PC Pro subscription.

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#62

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stevenshehori Report

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S A
Community Member
1 year ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

“Hi, I’m Steve and I’m a humble bragger”

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#64

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Kinetics Loves Apples
Community Member
1 year ago

This comment has been deleted.

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#65

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Scrolling Panda
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Smile too much= they think you are too happy. Don't smile enough= you aren't endeavoring to please them enough. Can't win with sexism....

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#66

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#67

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skampy Report

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Joe Standford
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What's wrong with that? Everyone wants to feell validated

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#69

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jswatz Report

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Em
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

ngl this is exactly why I'm awesome at my current job.

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#71

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BeckyFromAlaska Report

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Marion
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well becky, if you were my friend and you would have too much dry shampoo in your hair making it look weird, i would tell you too..

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#72

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#73

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ConnieSchultz Report

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Tortuga Woman
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

For those of you unfamiliar with her work (ahem, John Schneider) Connie Schultz is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist.

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#79

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epicciuto Report

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Cosmologist wannabe
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I remember when my kindergarten teacher had to go on her pregnancy sabbatical. We missed her, but we had another good teacher instead.

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