updates: my boss sent me a message urging me to follow Jesus, and more

by Alison Green on November 29, 2022

It’s “where are you now?” month at Ask a Manager, and for the rest of the year I’ll be running updates from people who had their letters here answered in the past. Here are four updates from past letter-writers.

1. My younger employee doesn’t know professional norms

Thank you to Alison for your advice and to the commenters as well. I wasn’t able to be in the comments in real time, but appreciated the feedback (and drubbing haha). I’m happy to report that my employee continues to thrive in his role and that we sorted out the issues in the letter. The most important thing to address was being on time to our check ins, which I brought up and we haven’t had an issue since. I mostly decided to let the “boss” thing go, although I did let him know that it should stay in internal communications. Finally, I learned from my employee (and from my brother and in the comments) that there are actually a few different interpretations of the 😤 emoji! He intended it to communicate “Yes, I’m hard at work!”. Like, you are grunting from the exertion of doing your task. I let him know that since there’s a few different interpretations of its meaning, that we should probably keep it out of social posts. (We had a separate funny conversation about how millennials use 😂 but Gen Z prefers 🤣. Still learning a lot about which emojis are in these days!)

Overall, I’m very happy with my hire for this role. In addition to the coaching I provide him as his manager, we also secured funding to hire an outside consultant who has been helping him shape his work plan, which I think has been invaluable professional development for him. His role is one that we haven’t had a dedicated staff person for in years, so it’s a huge boost to our organization’s impact to have him there. Excited to see how he continues to grow into the role!

2. I’m taking six months off to hike — should I tell people what I’m doing? (#2 at the link)

I did end up telling folks why I was taking off for 6 months and it was pretty much a non-issue. People were generally excited for me, supportive and curious. I recently got back after completing the trail, and have gotten absolutely no negative feedback, even though I ended up extending the trip by two weeks. My one remaining team member had a fairly miserable May/June but she is more frustrated with my boss than me, b/c he also took off for more than a month in her busiest season. I also ended up getting the promotion I had anticipated (while I was on leave already, gotta love those sloooow government processes) and have had overwhelmingly positive responses to that – my team member/new direct report has been particularly effusive as have all our internal partners.

3. My boss sent me a message urging me to follow Jesus

Unfortunately I never texted back or reported but as the job was a a grocery store I still shop at I have run in to her. When it happens we both have acted like it didn’t happen. I don’t really want to risk her being fired as she retires this year. But I did tell a lot of the coworkers there about it.

4. My coworker/friend keeps coming to work drunk

Unfortunately, my story did not have a happy ending. Despite my and my coworkers’/supervisor’s best efforts, my friend ended up being caught drunk on the job a second time and was terminated back in the spring. She has recently started to look for work again but did no additional substance abuse counseling and I’m positive she’s still drinking. It’s really very sad.

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{ 105 comments }

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  1. Hall or Billingham*

    As an ancient Millennial, I appreciate the heads up that the steam-from-nostrils emoji can be used to indicate “working hard,” because the only interpretation I had ever known was “irritation.” ~*The More You Know*~

    1. Kes*

      I definitely would have read that as annoyed as well. Also a millennial. It’s interesting to see the different ways people perceive them.

      I use both of the laughing emojis but I read the second (rolling laughing) as funnier than the first, so I use the first more as that’s funny and the second more as that’s hilarious. But I think they’re pretty interchangeable overall

      1. AFac*

        I read the first laughing emoji as ‘laughing while crying’–i.e. it’s just so sad/hopeless/futile/ironic there’s nothing else to do but laugh about it. Tragically funny, as it were.

        The second laughing emoji is ‘crying while laughing’–i.e. I’m laughing so hard I’m crying. More hysterically funny.

        But that’s just me, I’m sure.

        1. Gen X*

          Hmm. I interpret the first one to be laughing so much/so hard I’m crying. (Not in a sad way.) Then the second one is even funnier — I’m laughing so hard I’m crying *and* rolling on the floor

          And I would only interpret the steamy nostril one as “I’m angry.” Even if the worker meant it to be “I’m working hard.” it still seems like a misplaced reaction to a request for a timesheet.

          1. anon24*

            Younger(ish) millennial, I agree with your interpretations of all 3 of those emojis. I’ve never used “steam coming out of nose” but definitely interpret it as irritation, and your explanation of the laughing emojis is exactly how I use them.

            1. Myrin*

              Same on all accounts, even age (with the exception that I occasionally use the “steaming” emoji and it’s always been to express irritation, even if meant in a joking manner).

          4. MCMonkeyBean*

            I agree. I’d say my laughing emoji translations are:
            = “LOL”
            = “LMAO”
            = “ROFLMAO”

            1. MCMonkeyBean*

              Ok I wasn’t sure if that was going to include the emojis or not lol. The first one is the one with the “><" eyes and the D grin. Then the others were the two in the letter…

        2. Luna*

          I use both. Though the former I do use when it’s a case of “I am laughing through the tears because there’s no other way to deal with it”.

      2. Timothy+(TRiG)*

        The steam from nostrils emoji is actually supposed to convey “triumph”. Such assumptions are, of course, culturally mediated, and emoji are originally Japanese, though the newer ones are created by an international process under the Unicode Consortium. Emojipedia speculates that the association of steam with triumph (or frustration or disdain) may be derived from Japanese anime and manga.

        It’s also worth remembering that emoji are text. No one gets too disturbed if you see a single-storey a when you’re writing on your device, but the person receiving sees a double-storey a. You know that different devices may use different fonts. But emoji are text, and also look different in different fonts. So some subtleties may get lost in translation. (Emojipedia is also good at showing a bunch of variants.)

        1. pope suburban*

          Huh, that’s interesting that that’s how it was meant to be read. While I can certainly see frustration/anger, it always seemed to me that it could also convey pride or resolve. Now I’m wondering if this is the latent influence of the anime/manga I consumed during adolescence, and the four years of Japanese I took in high school. It’s kind of a trip to me that my bog-standard white American self would have hit on the intended meaning along with the way people here tend to read it. Culture and expression are wild things. Thank you for sharing this; I learned something today and that’s rad.

      3. RabbitRabbit*

        Younger generations are also using the skull emoji as an extreme version of the laughing/crying emojis, to convey “I am dead” because of laughing so hard and/or extreme levels of cringe. And please please please if you do this, do not put it in your job’s social media unless instructed.

        1. Ana*

          Idk about younger generations because I’m pushing 40 and use it that way LOL but I work in Social Media so maybe I keep up with emoji trends (fully against my will, I do not care)

      4. Elenna*

        Agreed, I also use them both but I use the second (rolling) one for things that are funnier than things I use the first one for but they’re pretty similar. I guess that fits OP’s theory, since I’m on the cusp of millenial and gen Z…

    3. emojis*

      I am an Elder Millennial (albeit, Very Online as well) and def knew that steam from nostrils could mean hardworking. It shows up in folks’s workout posts.

      1. Nom*

        TBH i had no idea why people were using that emoji in workout posts, always thought it was weird! now i know :)

    4. Gato Blanco*

      I am a young millennial and I would have never interpreted that emoji as anything *but* “working hard”. That post was eye-opening to me that OP and some of the commentariat thought it was exclusively “irritation”. We’re all learning new things about communication here!

      1. Goldenrod*

        So interesting! I’m Gen X. It never would have occurred to me that that emoji meant anything OTHER than *I’m about to explode from anger*!

          1. londonedit*

            I’m an ancient Millennial/one of those stuck between Gen X and Millennial and I never would have interpreted it as ‘working hard’ – to me it absolutely looks like ‘so angry steam is coming out of my nose’!

      2. Sir Nose d'Voidoffunk*

        I’m an old millennial and interpret it the same way you do. I’ve hardly ever seen it without the phrase “built different.”

    5. Dark Macadamia*

      I’m an old millennial and to me it conveys “snorting cartoon bull about to charge” lol. I was completely shocked when the comments on this original letter suggested it means effort/determination rather than anger/frustration!

      1. DyneinWalking*

        Exactly! I swear it comes from comic/cartoon convention – when you see a bull with steam coming out of it’s nostrils, you know that it’s about to charge and that the characters are in big trouble now. Or if it’s a character depicted like that, it means they finally snapped and someone else is in trouble now. But regardless, it means “big trouble for someone on the level where a huge bull is charging right at you”.

        I can’t find any well-known examples right now, but I swear that comics and cartoons are full of this trope!

    6. AJoftheInternet*

      Elder millennial here and I would have seen the steam-nostrils emoji as irritation in that context, but I also use it for a sort of “triumph” feeling. Like, “I conquered that thing and am pleased but restrained because I’m also exhausted.”

    7. Marion Ravenwood*

      Older millennial here as well. I really think there needs to be some sort of ongoing emoji dictionary – as this thread shows they can mean so many different things! And personally I slightly dread the day I make a massive emoji faux pas…

      1. Irish Teacher*

        I’m very young Gen X (like some definitions have it ending about 10 weeks after me) and also aphantasic and that first one would…just confuse me. I’d think “guy with a beard?” That is probably more due to the aphantasic thing than anything else though.

        The other two strike me as more or less the same. I’d interpret the first as “crying with laughter” and honestly, the latter as “crying with laughter and I can’t find the first one so had to use the sideways one.”

        I had no idea they expressed so much. I could definitely do with that dictionary! I tend to use them fairly rarely though and mostly with people who know my general awkwardness with anything even vaguely visual, so…hopefully I haven’t inadvertently given offence.

      2. lpuk*

        Or we could just use our words? I love language and the nuances you can get by selecting the right choice of words. Though I am all an oldie and rarely use emojis because I haven’t invested the time the learn what they all mean – they are like hieroglyphics to me and about as intelligible Im afraid. Scared to use anything but thumbs up frankly

        1. Phoenix*

          Using emoji to add context to words is a staple of online communication and actually increases nuance when used the way younger generations use them, rather than flattening meaning. People use emoji as tone indicators, ways to get around online censorship, to replace what would be a facial expression without words in an in-person conversation, as an Uno reverse card that totally flips the meaning of the actual words (which is really like a sarcasm flag I guess)…all kinds of things.

          I also love language, and I’m especially excited by some of the academic research I’m starting to see being done around online dialect and language shifts and what that means for human language development. I’m 32 and I feel like I’m finally old enough that the online dialects and patterns being used by teenagers are becoming less intelligible to me because we spend time in different online spaces, but I find that exciting and fascinating.

    8. Boba Feta*

      This update and comment discussion is shockingly timely and relevant to me for two connected reasons: 1) I teach art history and visual literacy to undergraduates and 2) *literally yesterday* we had a lengthy class discussion about how frequently people use emojis instead of words to communicate via text or social media nowadays under the assumption that those visuals are more effective than words to convey *exactly* what we’re thinking or feeling, despite the fact that visuals are, by their nature, open to diverse interpretations and readings depending on any number of unpredictable factors. (Ah, reception theory). I like to think I gave my students some food for thought that might make them pause, even just a moment, before assuming the emoji or meme they were going to send out will actually communicate what they assumed it would, and thereby perhaps avoid the situation that prompted the need for this update!

      1. Timothy (TRiG)*

        Have you read Because Internet, by Gretchen McCulloch? It covers a lot of stuff about online communication. (I only bought it recently, so I’ve not properly read it myself yet, but it looks fascinating.)

    10. nonethefewer*

      I know it originally means “working hard”, because that emoji used to be called “Face With Look of Triumph”, and a call to change the name voiced a concern that it’d change the interpretation in Japan.

      It turns out I’m a nerd.

      1. Becca*

        Once it was explained I know the cultural context why it means that. But I still can’t help but see it as angry cartoon with steam coming out of its nostrils as people above were saying.

    11. Nom*

      Honestly, i thought it was the irritated emoji but i would have read it as a joke and not thought much of it.

  2. CTA*

    LW #4

    I’m sorry to hear your friend lost her job because of her drinking even though you tried to warn her. Please remember that she has to want to get help. Her not wanting to get counseling is not because you weren’t clear when you tried to talk to her.

  3. Katty*

    Re update #4: I just wanted to say that even sad and short updates like this one are appreciated. Thank you, LW, for letting us know! And I agree, it really is very sad. My heart goes out to you for having to see your friend go through this and being unable to “fix” the situation for them.

  5. I'm Just Here For the Cats!*

    How did I originally miss #2. And I hope we can get an update on the third letter in that original post! Stalking 10years later!

  6. Veronica+Mars*

    Digital communication between generations can get pretty confusing. We had a GenZ intern who used “ofc” a lot in communication to mean “of course,” which is how it is interpreted by people in that age bracket. I, however, as a Xennial and internet elder read it as the old-school, three-word acronym. I didn’t have a big chat with him, but did let him know that, while I was aware that he wasn’t intending it that way and that people his age would read the benign version, he might want to drop “ofc” at work, because some of the Olds would think he was swearing at them. We had a laugh about it and moved on.

        2. Where’s the Orchestra?*

          Yeah – ofc does not translate to Of Course to me either.

          Also a Xennial, but never understood the whole social media thing.

      2. Veronica+Mars*

        In OG internet abbreviations, every letter always stood for its own word. You won’t find any three-letter acronyms that mean two words. And pretty much any internet acronym with an F in it was meant to be read as a swear. It’s just changed over time to the non-swear version amongst the Youths.

        1. Becca*

          IDK I’ve never read it as an acronym and often put a period after it so it reads more like a shortening (although it’s also kind of a contraction so maybe an apostrophe would be more appropriate even though it seems kind of strange at the end of the word?). Figured it just lost punctuation as many things on the internet/texts do. I’m slightly younger than OP though, so I guess I just wasn’t around when it was an acronym.

    2. Persephone Mulberry*

      Huh…I’m a Xennial as well and wasn’t aware there was a NSFW interpretation of “ofc”.

      1. goddessoftransitory*

        It’s like that meme where the mom texts her son that Grandpa died, LOL, and she thinks it means Lots of Love.

        1. I need a new name...*

          Well, in her defense, it did briefly. I remember it changing meaning before my very eyes in the early 2000s.

          1. Not Your Admin Ass(t)*

            I first started chatting online in the mid-90s, and it already meant “Laugh(ing) Out Loud” in all my online spaces back then. It was generally accepted that LOL online was “Laughing Out Loud” while LOL in a handwritten letter was “Lots Of Love.” Then in the late 90s, most all of us teens I knew were handwriting LOL in our notes to each other (and sometimes saying “LOL” as “loll” aloud), and it always meant “Laughing Out Loud.” I don’t recall anyone using LOL to mean “Lots Of Love” past, like, 2000, which tracks with your comment.

            1. I+went+to+school+with+only+1+Jennifer*

              lol…. I was online back when Usenet was a Thing, and LOL, ROFL, ROFLAO, etc, were common and people had fun lengthening them in a mildly competitive manner. I had to cudgel my brain with math for awhile, but this would have been back in the mid-1980’s.

              https://www.howtogeek.com/745082/what-does-rofl-mean-and-how-do-you-use-it/ (but they say it dates from the early web, but they’re wrong, because like so many, they think “the web” and “the internet” are the same thing. Kids, the “web” is a user interface that lives on the “internet”)

              https://www.liveabout.com/what-does-rofl-mean-2483551

        2. Vanellope*

          For that generation that is what it means. My MIL signs emails that way and my husband had to translate for me at first because I’d be like, why is she laughing…

    5. DiplomaJill*

      Hahaha we had a big discussion about this at work via slack and it opened my eyes that there were folks NOT reading that as oFc!

  7. Tinkerbell*

    Story a friend of mine told me just this weekend:

    He works for a small company, driving dump trucks. We’re in Alabama, so it’s pretty common for people to be openly evangelical Christian here and to assume that everyone else does the same. The owner of this small dump truck company is one such individual – he’s always encouraging his employees to find Jesus. Nicely, in legal ways, but still.

    Last week he sent out an email with a link to a video, with the promise that this explainer on “why you should switch to Christianity” will change your life and if you reply to let him know you watched the video you will get a $10 bonus in your next paycheck. (No requirement to engage, no proof required, just say you watched it.)

    The URL for the video in question must have been mistyped, because it linked to a music video Danish heavy metal band.

    My friend mentioned this to his boss, who said “Don’t tell him!” Rumor has it, this is the first of the boss’s videos that 100% of the employees claim to have watched :-D (And he did get his extra $10!)

      1. Becca*

        I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure that “I’ll pay you $10 to watch a video validating my religious beliefs which for you may feel like a betrayal of your own religious beliefs” is not one of them.
        Maybe if you talk about it and what it means to you (maaaaaybe why you believe it, but that starts to sound like trying to convince others in a lot of cases), but that’s not the same as encouraging employees to do it themselves. And you probably still shouldn’t do it as a boss, especially the big boss.

          2. Not Your Admin Ass(t)*

            Yep! And if you try to push back on it and make people obey the law in ‘Bama, you’ll find yourself out of a job AND ostracized from your community. I never got pushed out of a job for this because I never ever talked about religion and always deflected the topic, but I definitely faced social repercussions when people outside work found out about my lack of religion. I also have known many people who were unfairly fired or pushed out when it became known they weren’t Christian, or the “right” flavor of Christianity (usually along the lines of the “all Catholics are going to hell” in a previous AAM post about religious discrimination).

            Signed,

            Agnostic raised in Alabama

            1. Tinkerbell*

              Yep – plus the people tasked with enforcing this (from your company’s HR all the way up through the judicial system) are likely to be on the side of evangelism than the law anyway. If you complain you run into a lot if “well I know that’s what the law SAYS but it doesn’t apply to good Christians who are just doing their duty!”

              This particular business owner has generated a LOT of similar stories for my friend. (Another recent one: a $50 bonus for all employees who promise to use Listerine 3x/day because he read that it’s even better than Ivermectin at preventing COVID.)

              1. Not Your Admin Ass(t)*

                Oh, my nonexistent god. I stopped being surprised by the rampant, willful stupidity in Alabama decades ago. But I will never stop groaning when I encounter a new instance of it. D:

        2. goddessoftransitory*

          I also can’t help but wonder if Jesus is down with people having to be bribed to watch stuff about His message.

      2. linger*

        Well, I can certainly think of occasions and people for whom “Go Find Jesus” would be far more workplace-appropriate than what I want to tell them to go do.

  8. Bunny Girl*

    #2 – Can I just say I am both incredibly happy for you and insanely jealous? I had dreamed of hiking the Pacific Crest all through my 20’s and then my 30’s hit and I got hit with a lot of health problems preventing me from going in the foreseeable future. So I’ll just live through you and be happy.

    1. Slow Gin Lizz*

      Same re: jealous. I’m sorry about your health issue. In my case it’s more I don’t want to take a full six months away from the life I have where I live (and my cats) but I still wish I could freeze the world and take those six months and return to life right where I left off. Congrats to that OP for getting to hike the PCT!

      1. #2*

        It was great. Definitely recommend living vicariously through folks’ instagrams or the Trek. Quadzilla is still out there doing a Calendar Year Triple Crown (the AT, PCT, and CDT in one calendar year) and has amazing photos. Same with Professor Carl. Also, you may both check out section hiking – not quite the full thru-hike experience but I met lots of people doing the trail in smaller increments (state by state, two weeks, etc.) and then you can do what your health or interest allows.

  9. Frank*

    Re: Update #4, I’m so sorry for you as both her friend and coworker. You clearly have love and concern for her, and it’s so tragic that this didn’t have a happier ending.

  10. Dragon*

    The comic strip “Pickles” features retired couple Earl an Opal Pickles.

    Opal sends a condolence email to a friend, and includes “lol.” Her daughter sees it and says uh, I don’t think that’s appropriate. Opal asks, “It doesn’t mean “lots of love”?

  11. ReallyBadPerson*

    Re: #4 Your friend’s story might not be complete. I know a 54 year old man, who we all thought would die of his addiction, who has now been sober for 3 years. He had become sober many, many times in the past, but the difference now is that he is working a program, giving back to his community, and helping other alcoholics find sobriety. Everybody’s rock bottom is different. I hope your friend finds hers and they it’s not too deep to climb out of.

  12. OK with a bit of chaos*

    It breaks my heart that LW#3 let her ex-boss get away with that terrible behavior. I highly doubt it’s the first time that boss has pulled that ish, especially with that comment about knowing that she’s not supposed to say these things at work. Imagine how many years she’s been doing this to coworkers! I just don’t understand LW#3’s reasoning that because she’s old she doesn’t have to be held accountable anymore.

    2. allathian*

      If the ex-boss is about to retire soon, I get that the LW might not want to report her and risk her getting fired now, when the LW only has to interact with her ex-boss as a customer. If she’s still proselytizing to other employees and they report it, it’s not the LW’s responsibility.

    3. Empress Ki*

      Me too. She may not get fired, just get a warning.
      Even if she gets fired, it will be consequence of her own actions.
      If I was the shop owner, I would want to know my employee does that.

    4. Jigglypuff*

      THIS. I don’t care that the person is 1 year away from retirement. If that person wants to be sure to make it to retirement, they can stop proselytizing at work. That’s pretty simple.

  13. curmudgeon*

    #3 dude who cares if she’s 19 or 90, your boss was being inappropriate. Point blank period. You had every right and justification to report her bad behavior.

  14. The Lexus Lawyer*

    OP1 – you might be a little behind the times. I almost never see those laughing emojis anymore.

    The kids use the skull emoji to connote that they are “dead” from laughing.

    1. I+went+to+school+with+only+1+Jennifer*

      wut.

      I am further convinced of the superiority of written-out-words. They’re much less open to complete mis-interpretation.

      Besides, everyone knows that “I ded” is for cute animal videos.

  15. Reality.Bites*

    Tail-end of the baby boom here. My vision still lets me read text without glasses. Vision does not let me tell one face emoji from another. If understanding the emoji seems important, I copy and paste it into google.

  16. IndustriousLabRat*

    LW#2, Congratulations! What an amazing accomplishment; I’ve been living vicariously through all y’all crazy thru-hikers on The Trek and marvelling at how people have chosen to deal with the worsening conditions on the PCT as a result of wildfire after wildfire. I’ve been huffing and puffing my way through little long-weekend section hikes on the local rocky-but-predictable bits of the AT/LT and just cannot wrap my brain around having to work out fire detours on the fly… for 2650 miles…

    Much respect to you!

    1. Slow Gin Lizz*

      I too have been section hiking the AT/LT. It’s a blast but I wish I lived on the other coast so it’d be easier for me to section-hike the PCT since it seems like it’s a lot more beautiful. Oh well, I’m pleased I live here in humidityland so I don’t have to deal with wildfires, because that would be quite scary. Congrats to OP!

    2. #2*

      The fires were intense this year – very few people managed to do a true continuous hike. Most of us flip flopped or skipped large sections. I ended up flipping from Northern California to Northern Oregon because of the Mckinney and Windigo fires, hitting the terminus and then flipping back down to NorCal to continue North. A day after I hit the terminus, it closed due to five fires surrounding it. A week later large sections of the rest of Northern Washington were on fire. As I started back in NorCal, I was in haze for a week but there were no fires near the trail all the way up. Until, of course, another fire closed the trail near Central Orgon. It wasn’t quite as crazy as 2021 when all of California National Parks closed for a month but it wasn’t great.

      Fires are scary but that said, the trail is a communication highway. Anytime you saw smoke, you would be messaging people on Garmins and people were talking all up and down the trail, so it isn’t quite as disconnected as it would seem.

  17. Avery*

    LW 2 is inspirational for me… I’ve been toying with the idea of going on long backpacking/hiking trips (not quite PCT level, but a month or two) and wasn’t sure how my work would respond. I know every workplace is different, but it’s reassuring to hear that at least some places are totally fine with it. I’ll have to think on it a bit more, maybe do some test runs for a couple days first… and of course, mid-winter isn’t exactly the best time to go for a long hike, so I definitely have some time to think it over first!

  18. Elenna*

    Congrats, LW2! I just found the backpacking community on YouTube and have been toying with the idea of buying equipment to do some short weekend trips, but money is tight right now… maybe someday!

  19. Emojis don't mean the same thing to everyone*

    Given that emojis are supposed to connote something specific (in the mind of the person who posts them at least), and given that the recipients may have totally different interpretations, I am kind of baffled that they are used in work settings. So many opportunities for misunderstandings and negative feelings. What is the upside, besides showing how up-to-date you are (or maybe not)?

    1. MCMonkeyBean*

      I only use the smiley face sometimes as I have been told my emails come across idk cold or something in the past so I started adding in more exclamation points and smiley faces and never got comments on that again. :)

  20. DJ Abbott*

    #3, I’m glad you told your colleagues about her so they’ll know she’s done it before if she tries it on them.
    Also, glad she didn’t escalate like I expected. When we were discussing this before, I thought it was an office environment. From what I saw at the grocery store I worked at, it was a lot stricter about following rules of inclusion. Maybe that’s keeping her (almost) in check.

  21. I+went+to+school+with+only+1+Jennifer*

    For everyone talking or dreaming about doing long hikes, I recommend this very funny book:

    A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail
    by Bill Bryson

    There’s a wikipedia entry for it, but I’m not linking it because links go to moderation and I trust you to be able to do online searches. (Apparently there’s a movie too? But I’ve never seen it.)

    1. rebelwithmouseyhair*

      I can confirm, it’s excellent!
      I’ve loved just about everything he’s written, he can be hilarious and very often hits the nail on the head with his musings.

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