Correct, as per yesterday’s post, it rhymes with “toad.” Pronounce it the same. F.O.A.D. …toad!
Oh, Mac Guru and I have had some laughs with this one over time. Although, the F.O.A.D.© is not a laughing matter. Oh, no. However, sometimes you don’t know whether to laugh, or to cry, so you endeavor to achieve the former.
Our conversations via email, or in person when we could get together would generally go like this:
PA: “So, how did it go this time?”
Mac Guru: “Ah, another F.O.A.D.”
PA: “Oh, I’m sorry.”
Mac Guru: “Yeah, well…”
You see, Mac Guru had been out of work for a long time. Whenever he would apply for a job, if he even managed to get a response from a prospective employer, when they weren’t interested any form of notification was given the esteemed name of the F.O.A.D.
F.O.A.D. stands for “Fuck Off And Die.”
Well, you’ll be happy to know that poor Mac Guru finally found employment. However, the tables turned several years ago, and PA had to deal with her fair share of F.O.A.D.s in the same manner. I’ll get to that after I sort of deviate for a moment–or longer–in my typical, rambly manner.
I was thinking outside the job application realm, and where else one might experience a F.O.A.D. I suppose, in your personal life? I’m trying to recall…have I ever been on the receiving end of a F.O.A.D. from someone in my personal life? Well, perhaps?
Friendships were always so difficult when I was young! As an adult? I don’t know if any of my ex-partners ever gave me a F.O.A.D. No, getting dumped was always painful. Absolutely! Still, I don’t think casting a F.O.A.D. in my direction crossed any of their mind/s.
I don’t think any adult friends have F.O.A.D.-ed me, either. No, I would like to think they would have been more mature than that, and have simply just…I don’t know…haven’t seemed to have been around, or available. Some adult “friends” in my life really just turned out to be acquaintances anyway so that’s different. If you see them, it’s casual, but if you don’t–even if it’s for ages–it doesn’t matter. That’s non-F.O.A.D.-able. It doesn’t make sense as the relationships don’t carry enough merit for a F.O.A.D.
So, probably the worst F.O.A.D. that bowled me over takes us back to the business world. This award winning F.O.A.D. came from the people that fired me for being mentally ill. Of course they didn’t actually use that as the reason, but everyone knew the score! Oh, don’t you agree? That’s one clanger, isn’t it?
F.O.A.D! F.O.A.D! F.O.A.D!
It was truly awful, and so traumatic. PA works hard. She’s never been fired from a job! Well, she never had been up until that point! The manager and I started at the company together, and we were friends. Hmmm. That’s maybe a “Combo F.O.A.D!” Business and friendship!
I guess you might now be thinking, ‘Does PA issue F.O.A.D.s?’ No. F.O.A.D.s are not PA’s style at all! Although…I was pretty tempted to hurl a rebound F.O.A.D. right back at those bloody, discriminatory, ignorant, insensitive, immature, assholes that tossed me out the door like a sack of trash. I didn’t, though.
On the fun front, I was kind of wanting to F.O.A.D. something at work the other day. Things were all screwy, and…not working! In jest, I sent an email to a colleague completely full of inside jokes regarding a job responsibility that we both deal with, and laugh about all the time! I got really F.O.A.D.-y in my silly email.
This isn’t so fun. Last night, I pretty much wanted to give my headphones a great big F.O.A.D. as after all of the problems I’ve already had, they finally “went.” I started losing sound in the right ear.
Unbelievable! If I wiggled the cord, tilted my head just slightly to the left, it seemed to be alright. If I took a breath? Bye, sound!
After work today, I dragged my sorry excuse for a human body* down to the chichi store where I bought them. I thought I might have received a F.O.A.D from the sales guy I first encountered when I went in to moan about how unhappy I was. I launched into my speech as he sat with a stone face, and then told me to go to the “Service Desk.” Like, service as in repairs. No, that’s not what I want.
I spoke to the woman there and she definitely didn’t give me a F.O.A.D., but it took some finesse to (hopefully) get what I wanted. Let’s just hope that Sennheiser doesn’t give me a big F.O.A.D.!!! She is going to send them back to Sennheiser (not for a repair as she originally suggested–I told her I didn’t want the same model–repaired or not!) and see if they would just take them back, fix and repair, return to store…whatever. If so, I can then get the balance of the price as a credit and buy something else! Oh, that is definitely not a F.O.A.D.
The only bummer is, now I am stuck without headphones. I tried to use my earbuds that came with my iPod but it was terrible. Ouch, they hurt…kept falling out…
I guess my ears might have been giving a couple of F.O.A.D.s to the earbuds?
* - I am still extremely exhausted and tempted to go to bed immediately after I finish this post. That actually might be a very good idea. When will I stop being so tired?
Hmmm…is my body now rebelling against me and giving me a F.O.A.D.?