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The Fine Print and The Golden Rule: Where Codependence Meets Common Sense
I can’t say it was my first real job after college, but it was the first job where I imagined I could start at the bottom of the ladder and work my way up into a ‘grown up’ career. When I was 24 years old, a man who played a pivotal role in my professional growth hired me to be an administrative assistant in the Healthcare practice at a large, prestigious public relations firm in Washington, D.C. I sat at an open desk in a common area and assisted the higher ups in healthcare with everything from travel plans to copyediting. Occasionally we’d have a VERY BIG DEAL — a Request for Proposal, to compete for new business, which included, for me, a lot of copyediting and making copies. Think Jane Fonda in 9 to 5.
Early on, maybe even my first RFP, after thousands of copies were made and long hours worked by a whole team of people, my boss Tom, caught a copy editing error that I missed. I’d missed that the name Michael was spelled Micheal throughout the documents. This was a ridiculous mistake that easily should be been caught…by me. Further enhancing my appearance of ineptitude, I happened to be following in the footsteps of the very most detailed copyeditor ever. Miss Perfect. Who was also really nice. People who read my work or know me probably have a kind impression that I am a substantive person, but there were many years…
