Commas

There are a number of reasons why I dislike what I do for a living. One of them is that I am not particularly interested in the subject matter. I could live with that though because at times I manage to get a certain kind of (very limited) satisfaction from just solving a problem or understanding something totally esotheric and removed from everyday reality. This is how I feel maybe 20% of the time. I still want to do a good job and I want my bosses to be satisfied with my performance. And they seem to be - for the most part. But there is a quality, which I don't have - "attention to detail" is how they describe it in job postings; more accurately I would describe it as an "anal-obsessive fight with commas." I have nightmares about heaps of commas and semi-colons attacking me, wanting to be erased or added in random places in 300-page documents. So you leave out one and that's it. It doesn't matter if you can think something through, draft a document (don't get me started on the bizarre meaning that "drafting" has over here) or make an annoying client happy if you lose the fight with the commas. Winning that fight is what makes you a good lawyer here. I had forgotten that and I was reminded of it today.