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“Yeah, he’s a pretty decent guy, championing female coders and even pregnant coders, if you can believe it. Most men shy away from ‘women issues’ but not this guy. There are good benefits here, and six months of paid maternity leave although the company actually doesn’t have to offer anything by law.”
Man, that was eye-opening. Paid maternity leave is almost pure overhead for corporations because a woman gets full salary although she’s out. So I respected Pictogram’s female-friendly stance.
“Plus, Mr. Wainwright funnels a considerable amount of money into coding programs for underprivileged kids,” Sophie added helpfully. “A real do-gooder in some respects.”
Crossing my arms, I said thoughtfully, “So basically, aside from sleeping with an obscene amount of women, Theo Wainwright is an otherwise good guy.”
Eunice and Sophie shared a glance before speaking in unison.
“Kind of, yes.”
And my heart thrilled because these women wouldn’t lie. I was the It G
irl famous for giving the middle finger to brogrammers, so they’d tell me if Theo was horrible. And yet, they were saying the opposite. My lover was fair and kind, even considerate to some extent.
Suddenly, I felt awful for exposing Theo like I had. Just because I’d been upset about my photo going viral and being snatched up by Marc Janow without my knowing didn’t mean he deserved to have his private affairs out in the open.
Shit. I’d acted just like the teenage boy who lives down the street, trolling for dirty photos with no idea of what he’s doing or the harm he’ll cause. I was no better than a child in some respects.
And now, with more information, it was clear the attack had been unwarranted. The news was skewering Theo, but in truth, the way he treated women off the clock was unrelated to how he treated women at work. People have personal lives and professional lives, and unfortunately, in this case the wires had gotten tangled.
Sophie laid the poster on my desk. “I know you hate this photo, but…” She paused with a beseeching smile. “Do you mind signing it?”
I laughed. “Of course not. Happy to,” I said with a quick scrawl of the pen.
Eunice smiled, pulling out the latest issue of Fashionista. Flipping through the pages, she stopped on the Marc Janow ad.
“Would you mind signing mine too, Mia? I know you have mixed feelings, but still, you’re such an icon.”
I looked down at my photo, and a smile tugging at the corners of my lips. Okay. It wasn’t awful. The more I saw the image, the more it grew on me.
And after Sophie, Eunice, and Mr. Dooey strode off, I signed up for an account on Pictogram. As an employee of the company, it was important to have a user account. After all, what better way to get to know the product inside out? I had to start from somewhere, and an account was square one.
Scrolling through the site and hitting up various profiles, I realized what Theo said was right. I was definitely in the minority. Users were dying to be the next Kim Kardashian and selling their personal “brands.” It was literally the main reason most people even used the app.
I followed the profile of a Picto-famous girl from last year, recognizing her from an interview on a hilarious political commentary show on The Comedy Channel. Interestingly, this woman had spun her Picto-fame into being a huge proponent of environmental protection. Her photo uploads often offered educational tidbits about the environment and ways to get involved.
Hmm. That was food for thought. Suddenly I felt dumb.
Because my assumption had been that most Picto-famous It Girls were scantily clad women who featured designer clothes and vacations in their photos. They wanted you to be envious of their lifestyles, putting forth an aspirational brand. But I’d been pleasantly surprised. Activists were just as often Picto-famous celebrities, pitching meaningful messages and not just products.
I searched for Theo’s profile and found that it was private. Well after what Anonimo had done to him, it was understandable. I’d make my profile private too given what had happened, but with a press of a button, a friend request buzzed his way.
Sure enough, a little after noon, Theo messaged me on the site.
TheoW: Thought I’d never see the day you’d be on here. What do you think?
MiAnonimo: Honestly, it’s an awesome product. Nowhere near as awful as I thought. The technological engineering is phenomenal.
TheoW: Thanks, glad to hear. Wish I could take you to lunch today, but have an important meeting.
MiAnonimo: I understand :) It’s not a problem.
TheoW: You were awesome up on the stage this morning btw. I wanted to kiss you in front of everyone.
MiAnonimo: Glad you didn’t! It’s my first day. ;)
TheoW: Can I see you later?
