To the Queen who wrote Story 246:
As a lifelong “short short” essay obsessive, you nailed it. The art form asks the writer to do less so the reader can feel more. Excess is forbidden; every word carries weight, every sentence must move the idea forward or deepen it. What’s left unsaid is the point.
You have a gift. Thank you for sharing it with us.
(For those unfamiliar with the format, I suggest Vladimir Nabokov’s “The Wood-Sprite” is worth your time.)
Lindsey Graham, the warmongering Trump-bootlicker died today, holding his seat for 24 years. For some reason, it made me depressed to think about the reality women face at work. I worked at Wells Fargo’s Wealth & Investment Management group for many years. The number of mediocre men who failed-up cannot be reasonably counted. [REDACTED] ran…
To Story 264. Fraser appeared to do a lot for women when she first became CEO; I’ll give you that. But it’s clear now that it was a performative kiss-ass to the Biden administration. The minute Donald Trump was in office, she dismantled DEI, going so far as to forbid anyone from attending or supporting…
112: your story resonated deeply. What you’ve documented at Wells Fargo isn’t isolated—I witnessed the same repeating pattern at Citi in Tech & Data. A C15 role came open. There was a highly qualified female candidate with a proven track record. Instead, an Indian male had been pre-appointed. When the hiring MD was confronted privately,…
I joined Citi as an aspiring analyst in structured products. The desk didn’t have the best reputation, but I genuinely believed that hard work and commitment could change things — and that I could earn my place. I worked mostly with a French director. On good days, she was responsive and willing to teach. On…
Watching commentators on the Golf Channel discuss Phil Mickelson’s banishment from his club got me thinking about how when action against influential people occurs, it’s natural to wonder what happened behind the scenes. The public rarely has access to the full story, but organizations clearly understand that removing a prominent figure carries costs of its…
1/2 I work in finance, which loves to believe it’s hyper-rational and merit-based. My wife’s a Korean pediatric dentist – excellent at what she does – but she still deals with patients second-guessing her, assuming she’s not the doctor, or making the usual awkward comments about where she’s “really” from. It’s rarely dramatic, just constant…