# I Showed Up to a Reddit Offsite in a Full Pirate Costume

*March 21, 2024*

Reddit IPO'd today, which means it's story time.

The scene: summer 2017, San Francisco. I had just barely squeaked through the Reddit interview process. The final round involved implementing constant-time CRUD actions for a hypothetical virtualized comment tree -- which, as it turned out, wasn't so hypothetical. It was the first iteration of the commenting system I'd eventually get to work on during the great Reddit redesign.

I accepted the offer. Good vibes all around. And riding that wave of new-job energy, I got invited to the next Reddit offsite on Angel Island so I could meet the team before my start date. Cool. Great. Love an offsite.

One small detail the recruiter mentioned: the offsite was going to be pirate themed.

Now, a normal person would hear "pirate themed" and maybe throw on a bandana. Perhaps an eye patch if they were feeling bold. Maybe a striped shirt. But I am not a normal person. I am a person who, upon hearing "pirate themed," went full cosplay. I showed up in my Dread Pirate Roberts halloween costume -- the whole thing -- thinking I was about to make the best first impression of my career.

No one else dressed up. Not a single person. The company was about 200 people at the time, and every last one of them was in normal human clothing. Jeans. T-shirts. Maybe a Patagonia vest if they were feeling fancy. And then there was me, standing on a ferry to Angel Island, dressed like I was about to commandeer the vessel.

I'd love to tell you that everyone thought it was hilarious and I became an instant legend. The truth is more like polite smiles and a lot of "oh, you actually... okay." It was the kind of social moment that builds character, which is what people say when they mean it was mortifying.

Lesson learned: when attending quasi-themed corporate functions, always hedge your bets and pack all costume apparel in a backpack. Scout the vibe first. Escalate only if the environment supports it. This has been a public service announcement.

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© 2026 Hunter Hodnett

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