I have a theory about 2020.

Bear with me...I’ve done the math and it checks out, but I have no way to prove it, so it’s purely theoretical.

At this time.

1/

Here’s the thing...it wasn’t supposed to be this bad.

There are safeguards, you see? Many times when things were going dark, heroes, mostly reluctant heroes, would appear from elsewhere to save us. To set things right.

But this year, they didn’t...why?

2/
When things go bad., it’s because someone messed with the timeline, and someone else has to set it right.

A thousand alternate timelines have been stopped before they could happen, because these chronsl plumbers showed up to fix the leak before it floods the house.
3/
The general public never knows what they have fixed because the alternate timeline has disappeared, vanished, into a limbo none of us ever touch.

But this year, something happened.

4/
You can’t break the laws of reality forever.

Eventually, the gatekeepers find you.

And their revenge is terrible.

5/
They arrive in broad daylight at the moment of meddling with the time stream.

It took them a long time to find our guardians.

And they arrive, eyeless, with glittering, silver teeth and the sound of cereal being chewed by a gaping, all-consuming maw.

6/
The Langoliers.

It took ages.

But they found our guardians.

And they followed them.

7/
And their rage at seeing their sole purpose tampered with is unspeakable, horrendous.

One by one they chased our rescuers down.

There is nowhere to hide, no WHEN to hide.

They came for each one, ravenous and implacable.

Eternity was not big enough.

8/
One by one, they chased them down.

A police call box. A phone booth. A DeLorean.

Nothing was fast enough. Nothing went far enough.

Teeth that tear through steel found our guardians and showed no mercy.

9/
We already have come to believe they never really existed, that they were merely stories to amuse us.

Soon, we won’t even remember their names. This thread will fade and vanish, the toys and books will disappear. The streaming services will be diminished.

10/
Sam Beckett.
Ted “Theodore” Logan.
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
H.G. Wells.
Marty McFly
Doc Brown

There were more, many more.

But their names are already lost to us.

Eventually, the Langoliers took down the Doctor, bits of multi-colored scarf in their glittering teeth.

11/
Don’t ask me how I remember what it was like before, when they set things right, again and again. I can’t explain it.

And I don’t know how long this knowledge will stay in memory.

I only know that there was a better time, where kindness and knowledge were valued...and...

12/
...I’m sorry, what was I talking about again?

And what is that godawful SOUND?

?/

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Always. No, your company is not an exception.

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And by the way, you should never be worried that an offer would be withdrawn if you politely negotiate.

I have seen this happen *extremely* rarely, mostly to women, and anyway is a giant red flag. It suggests you probably didn’t want to work there.

You wish there was no negotiating so it would all be more fair? I feel you, but it’s not happening.

Instead, negotiate hard, use your privilege, and then go and share numbers with your underrepresented and underpaid colleagues. […]