What I Do When I've Had A Bad Day

My last job before law school was a mixed blessing. It came along when I needed it most and gave me stability and a whole new set of skills. My primary boss (the VP) was fabulous-a kind kind man with a wonderful heart-but my supervisor was the devil incarnate.

Towards the end, things got pretty ugly. I knew in March of that year that I was going to law school and would be quitting in July. She cornered me one day in late March to talk about "my future."

She confronted me about how miserable I was at work, and demanded an end game- what was I going to do to get myself out of this unhappy place?

Much to her surprise, my end game was clear- I was getting the hell out of there and going to law school, thankyouverymuch. I didn't plan on telling her until the absolute last second, but the conversation was so uncomfortable that I just spilled the beans.

WELL. She was pissed. And probably jealous, now that I think about it. But April, May, and June of that year were even worse than normal at work. This woman was a pain in the keister and would not leave me alone.

One day it was so bad that I got back to my desk after another lecture from her and was so frustrated that all I could do was write haiku about how much I disliked her.

Eventually the haiku became full blown sonnets- 14 lines, iambic pentameter, appropriate rhyming schemes, the whole nine yards. I found that the more restrictive the form and the more rules I had to follow, the more cathartic the results of my poetic efforts. I find that this set of rules makes for a wonderful release of negative energy, should you decide to sonnet your way out of a crappy day at work.