And some days you just wake up feeling small

Last night I was berated by one of my supervisors all night long.

Well, at least in my nightmare I was.

My unconscious mind cooked up a vivid dream starring one of the higher-ups at work. In real life, I don't have much contact with her, but in my dream, she hauled me into her office for what seemed like hours of belittlement.

There was the issue of my clothing -- she didn't like them. "Do us all a favor and don't wear those pants again."

And my desk -- I wasn't properly "marketing myself" using my office. "You should use your office to sell yourself, not to put up pictures of dogs and cats. I walk into your office and all I see is dogs and cats." For the record, I have only a dog calendar -- no actual photos of pets.

And on and on like that.

Finally, clearly angry, I stood up (in dreamland) and said, "So, what you're telling me is that the quality of work I do doesn't really matter -- it's all this other stuff -- my clothes, my hair, my desk?"

She looked at me and said, "Well, yes."

I woke up feeling drained, depressed, and more sure of what I already suspected.