116. Female Teacher Who Subscribes To The Nation

I’m a writer for The Nation magazine, and I’m on deadline for an article that I’ve basically forgotten to do. Just as I'm packing the car with my boyfriend -- we're about to go on a trip -- I remember the article, stop packing the car, and go dash off a draft. Then I take it to the office. I know it’s not very good but I’m hoping to get away with it.

Hillary Clinton and Keith Olbermann are the editors and they read it on the spot. Clinton asks me if I understand the meaning of the word homogeneous, which is a word I use in my article. I can’t think of its meaning, which makes me angry, since I understand it in context but just can’t think of how to define it.

They continue to be quite rude to me. Olbermann gives me a really arrogant and over-the-top dressing down in front of Clinton and a bunch of other staff who come in to watch him yell. I end up in a huge childish fight with them, screaming and giving them the finger before I run out.

I return to my boyfriend, crying. He tries to comfort me and tells me he’s often done a shoddy job on articles for The Nation, and I should relax. I know he works harder than I do on his articles, and this makes me more angry, and I get in a huge fight with him, too.

We cancel our trip and I end up by myself, taking the dog for a walk and crying.