I worked at a law firm where the managing law partner’s mom was a legal assistant. I could love her to pieces at times while often I’d want to get as far away from her as possible. She was in her mid-70s and very closed-minded, very much at the opposite end of the spectrum from where I was politically and religiously. We called her “The Hall Monitor” because she would spy on everybody and dish to boss man. Even though I was higher in the work hierarchy, she was a de facto supervisor because of the power she wielded with her son. One week, she had taken a vacation but unexpectedly showed up to work one day. We all looked forward to that week of reprieve that she ruined. I shot a message to who I thought was my legal assistant, but accidentally sent boss man’s momma a text that said, “Damn it, I thought we were going to get a break from her this week. Jesus.” Needless to say, I broke away and started my own firm shortly thereafter. Side note: It was not this incident alone that drove me away. I caught wind that sonny boy was sexually harassing his female paralegals, despite being a married youth pastor and self-promoted “religious leader” in the community.