Jay💖

This is the first AI cut. And it will send shockwaves. Remember: Jack is one of the greatest founders of all time. He created this platform that we’re all on, and has been early to many technological shifts. And Block was doing very well as a business. So, for him to cut 40% of headcount in this way is a signal to everyone in tech: get good now. Become indispensable. Work nights and weekends. Learn the AI tools and raise your game. Or you might not make the cut, as an employee or as a company. I know. That sucks. But capitalism is natural selection. The market is unforgiving, because you are the market. After all, it’s not like you’re buying some random gallon of milk from the store; you’re always buying the best product at the best price. So too for apps: your customers are always installing the best piece of code they can get. And because AI is going to create new winners, if you aren’t the best in your market, someone may become better with AI. Particularly with the new agentic workflows. To be clear: Block’s severance is generous by any measure. 20 weeks of pay, six months of health insurance and vested equity, all of that goes far beyond any typical package. Jack did his level best to cushion the disruption. The laid off are a temporarily unfortunate class, as opposed to a permanent underclass. But had he not leaned into the AI transition, he might have had to lay off more people, slowly, and over time, as faster competitors went after his market share. How would they do that? Sure, AI isn’t a panacea by any means, but the closer you are to software engineering the more aggressively you need to embrace agentic workflows. The AI companies are already doing that, and places like Stripe, Shopify, Coinbase, and now Block are pushing hard on this area. There will be overcorrection. But the fundamental technical innovation is real. And you need to either disrupt yourself or get disrupted.

For almost two months, I was convinced my friend group had a separate group chat without me. Plans would get mentioned casually, “oh yeah, like we said earlier”, and I’d just stand there like 🙂 earlier where? If I walked into the room and they stopped laughing, my brain immediately titled it: Season 2: The Quiet Exile. I started analyzing delivery times, inside jokes, who viewed my stories but didn’t reply. Every late response felt intentional. Every “we forgot to tell you” felt strategic. One night I finally joked, “So what’s the name of the secret group chat?” They all looked confused. Turns out there was another group chat, but it was for planning a surprise birthday thing for me. The reason they’d go quiet? They were terrible at lying. The “earlier” conversations? About work, not me. The late replies? Two of them had just started new jobs and one was going through a breakup. Meanwhile, I had already mentally written a betrayal arc, drafted my villain origin speech, and emotionally distanced myself for protection. The stupidest part? Nobody was excluding me. I was just overprotecting myself from a threat that didn’t exist. That’s when I realized, sometimes the only person putting me on the outside… is me.

Why force Cristina to have a baby just because Meredith has a baby.

Last last everybody will reap the fruit of their labor. When I find a picture, I’ll be back. You will be as miserable as I am and that’s a promise.

Last last everybody will reap the fruit of their labor. When I find a picture, I’ll be back. You will be as miserable as I am and that’s a promise.

guys I’m like so sorry to disappoint because I know a lot of people were rooting for this fairytale love story between me (26, smart, trilingual, blonde, funny, bass guitarist, 5'9, in the prime of my life) and this man (42), but that date was kind of a nightmare

A big revelation I've had is that Romantic men are actually losers

Dudes act so shocked when your skin is soft. Who are y'all used to dating... Alligators??

ladies… have you ever bought a man a bottle in the club?

A husband will run through a brick wall for a wife who: -is warm towards him -smiles at him -is sexually interested in him -doesn't nag him -cooks food he likes -dresses femininely -literally just likes him It's not complicated, ladies.