Sad

Was hoping to post my best received work email of all time, which was actually one written by my daughter Samantha in her last year at school: “Sam’s Agony Aunt or whatever replies”, September 2015.  I got so many emails and comments from colleagues “she’s so clever/witty/funny/charming/talented” – far more than I ever got for my own work – that it soon became clear that writing ability, like male pattern baldness, is something that skips generations. It was a faux advice column that she wrote for her school magazine, unfortunately never published by them. The most bizarre part of the whole episode was that someone in our department wrote a list of agony aunt type questions regarding life in the department, that they wanted Samantha to answer (eg. my tech keeps giving me cheek, and won’t stop even after I’ve sprayed him with a syringe of propofol. What should I do?). The unsigned note was left on my desk in our office. I’m guessing that person thought that the whole thing was an elaborate hoax on my part. I never found out who it was, and unfortunately I didn’t keep the letter. Even worse, now I can’t find Samantha’s original article – wiped somehow by google docs. I must somehow persuade her to keep writing.