Life Advice

Emotional Hardbody answers: Coworker's copycat behavior not taken as a compliment

Editor's note: For the second installment of Christina Pesoli's new advice column, Emotional Hardbody takes on copycat behavior in the workplace. It's time to get creative.

Dear Emotional Hardbody,

There’s this coworker of mine who keeps copying me in this one way: Every time I change purses, within a day or two she shows up to work with a purse that is remarkably similar, if not identical, to the one I'm carrying.

They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. But I don’t feel flattered, I just feel annoyed.

Any suggestions on how to handle this?

Signed,

Annoyed

Dear Annoyed,

First things first: Whatever you do, don’t rent the movie Single White Female.

In all seriousness, I can tote-ally understand why you are not flattered. Your coworker’s behavior is creepy enough to get to you, but not creepy enough to warrant a chat with your HR representative.

But not to worry, I can coach you through this. Follow my advice and the solution to your problem is in the bag. Go buy a plain tote bag at Target and get some fabric paint from Hobby Lobby. Then customize your tote bag with the following message: “Stop copying me!”

Once Copy Kate Spade spots you with that purse, I’m Prada sure she’ll stop clutching onto your style and find her own instead.

If that doesn’t work, you could try going in the complete opposite direction and stop carrying a purse at all for a while.

The bottom line is this: There are many creative ways you can attempt to get your coworker to stop copying you, while having a little fun in the process. But, at the end of the day, if she persists, you’re going to have to put her behavior in the same category where I put tie-dyed clothing: It’s one of life’s little annoyances that you sometimes encounter but can’t really do anything about.

Purse-onally yours,

Emotional Hardbody

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Got a hard question? Get an Emotional Hardbody answer. Email your questions to Christina, and you could be featured in an upcoming article.

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Daring to care

Kindhearted Plano ranks among the 10 most caring cities in America

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Plano is one of the happiest and most caring places to be.

Plano has some of the kindest, most generous residents in the country. So says a new report that ranks the Dallas suburb the No. 10 most caring city in the United States.

The personal finance website WalletHub compared 100 of the most populated U.S. cities across 38 metrics across three key dimensions for its study, "Most Caring Cities in America (2025)". They include caring for the local community, caring for the vulnerable, and caring in the workforce.

The north Dallas suburb made a big leap over its 2023 ranking as the No. 17 most caring American city.

Out of the three main categories, Plano performed the best for its "caring for the community" rank (No. 8), which was determined based on the city's crime rates, the civic engagement of its residents, the share of a household's income donated to charity, and more.

Plano also cares for its community in other ways, whether it's through maintaining its long-held family-friendly reputation or by maintaining a pristine park system. All of these reasons contribute to why so many people are choosing to live in the second-happiest city in the nation.

Plano also ranked fairly well in the overall "caring for the vulnerable" category (No. 12), which covers child and adult poverty rates, adoption rates, availability of paid family leave, the number of rehab centers per capita, pet shelters and rescue services, and the "disability-friendliness" of employers.

Plano still has plenty of work to do when it comes to caring for its workforce, however, as the city ranked No. 71 out of all 100 U.S. cities. This metric focused on the number of first responders, healthcare professionals, teachers, and counselors per capita.

WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo says there are many factors that make cities like Plano a true "caring" and supportive place for its residents.

"The most caring cities donate a lot of money to charity and have high volunteer rates, but being a caring city overall requires much more than just giving time or money," Lupo said. "In addition, the top cities have low crime rates, environmentally-friendly residents and low rates of poverty and homelessness."

But small steps are important, too. Community care is as simple as helping an elderly neighbor unload groceries from their car, keeping a vigilant eye out for porch pirates or suspicious activity, and spending quality time with loved ones.

Plano was once again the highest ranked Texas city in WalletHub's list. Other North Texas cities that earned spots in the report include Irving (No. 36), Garland (No. 39), Fort Worth (No. 54), Arlington (No. 58), and Dallas (No. 77).

Elsewhere in Texas, Austin ranked No. 45, while San Antonio (No. 89) and Houston (No. 91) barely skirted onto the list.

The top 10 most caring U.S. cities, according to WalletHub, are:

No. 1 – Virginia Beach, Virginia
No. 2 – Scottsdale, Arizona
No. 3 – Boston, Massachusetts
No. 4 – Gilbert, Arizona
No. 5 – Chesapeake, Virginia
No. 6 – Fremont, California
No. 7 – San Diego, California
No. 8 – Madison, Wisconsin
No. 9 – Colorado Springs, Colorado
No. 10 – Plano, Texas

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